WASHINGTON - President Bush says a terrorist surveillance bill now being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives is dangerous to national security, and he would veto it.At the White House Thursday, Mr. Bush said the House bill has serious flaws. He said it would reopen dangerous intelligence gaps and would not provide retroactive immunity […]

NEW YORK - The United Nations’ mission in Kosovo is calling on Serbia to stop interfering in Serb areas of the territory following the declaration of independence issued by leaders of its ethnic Albanian majority.The mission is in charge of maintaining order in the former Serbian province, until European Union replacements are deployed as expected […]

NEW YORK - New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has resigned following a sex scandal that rocked the state and stunned political observers across the country. The resignation takes effect next Monday in order to give Lieutenant Governor David Paterson time for an orderly transition. Paterson will become the state’s first African-American leader. 
Spitzer’s resignation has been […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush says Congress should approve a free-trade agreement with Colombia in recognition of President Alvaro Uribe’s fight against violence and drug trafficking. Mr. Bush says failing to approve that agreement this year would embolden U.S. adversaries, including Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.
President Bush says time is running out for a free-trade agreement with […]

UNITED NATIONS - Serbia’s foreign minister says the responsibilities of the U.N. mission in Kosovo must not be transferred to any other organization, such as the European Union. He also told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that Belgrade would not accept Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence and urged countries that have recognized the breakaway province […]

PENTAGON - A photo exhibit was dedicated at the Pentagon last week, portraits of nine American World War I veterans, all of them more than 100 years old.
The large, vivid photos are remarkable. A man in red with a wide smile, holding his World War I medals mounted in a frame. Howard Ramsey, age 108. […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The U.S. State Department has released its annual report on human rights, shining the spotlight on governments around the world it says are repressing their people while attacking champions of democracy and the rule of law.
The 2007 report says countries where power is concentrated in the hands of unaccountable rulers remain the […]

PENTAGON - The senior U.S. military officer responsible managing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and U.S. military engagement throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and East Africa, has decided to retire this month after a magazine article said he opposed administration policy toward Iran.
Admiral William Fallon informed Defense Secretary Robert Gates Tuesday he wants […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. stocks soared on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve and other major central banks worldwide said they would provide more than $200 billion to banks and mortgage providers struggling for cash.The Fed - acting in coordination with the central banks in Canada and Europe - offered $200 billion and said it could increase […]

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
SAMSUN, TURKEY (ANS) – Christians in Turkey are living under a shadow of fear as the result of a violent backlash by nationalist hardliners.
According to a story by Laurence Lee on the Al Jazeera web site, there are about 120,000 practicing Christians, and while they are legally free […]

WASHINGTON - A newly published scientific study says growing more corn to produce ethanol and reduce U.S. use of foreign oil could have a negative impact on marine life in the Gulf of Mexico.The study, published Monday, says increased corn cultivation will worsen an expanding “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. The water in […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to the Middle East, following on last week’s trip to the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Cheney will be encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to move forward following an outbreak of violence in Gaza, and new concerns about Israel’s settlements policy.
The vice president leaves […]

WASHINGTON - The commander of coalition forces in western Iraq says he expects al-Qaida in Iraq fighters to try to return to the region as they are pushed out of other parts of the country, and possibly to try to launch large-scale attacks. But the commander says his forces, and Iraqi units, are ready.
Speaking from […]

JERUSALEM - An unofficial truce has taken effect in the Gaza Strip where Palestinian militants have nearly stopped rocket attacks against Israel. This lull follows a violent period in which more than 120 Palestinians were killed in recent Israeli military offensive. 
Israelis who live along the Gaza border and Palestinians inside Gaza are breathing a sigh […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush says the United States will help modernize the Polish military as part of a deal to put components of a missile defense system in Poland. The announcement came as the president completed talks at the White House with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
President Bush says he understands Poland’s concerns, and […]

WASHINGTON - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will meet with President Bush Monday, in Washington to discuss U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in Poland.Officials in Warsaw have expressed readiness to host 10 interceptors as part of a global missile defense shield, but they have made modernizing Poland’s military a condition for installing […]

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
AMMAN, JORDAN (ANS) – Evangelical Christians are being criticized in Jordan where dozens of seminary students and missionaries have been deported, a report said.
According to a report by United Press International (UPI), the deportations could affect Jordan’s $2.3 billion tourism industry, which markets the country’s Biblical sites heavily […]

JERUSALEM - Israel has unveiled a controversial new plan for settlement expansion, putting further strain on the peace process. The announcement may be connected to a deadly Palestinian terrorist attack last week.
Israeli Housing Minister Ze’ev Boim announced that Israel plans to build more than 1,000 new homes in the occupied territories. He said the plan […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush vetoed legislation Saturday that would have banned U.S. intelligence agents from using waterboarding and other controversial interrogation methods.In his weekly radio address, Mr. Bush said he vetoed the measure because it would end practices that have prevented terrorist attacks.  He described the intelligence program to interrogate terror suspects one of the […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush says he will not end the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba until the government there releases all political prisoners.
President Bush met with former Cuban political prisoners to mark the five year anniversary of mass arrests on the island. Teachers, librarians, and journalists were among those detained five years ago this […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush says he knows Americans are concerned about the U.S. economy but he is confident that tax rebates and business incentives will help.  The president’s comments follow the release of new figures that show the economy shed 63,000 jobs in February.
February job losses were the biggest in nearly five years and […]

JERUSALEM - Funerals were held Friday for the eight victims of Thursday night’s terror attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva, or rabbinical seminary. Police imposed a security clampdown on Arab East Jerusalem where the Palestinian gunmen who carried out the attack lived.  
There was grief in Jerusalem on Friday as thousands of Israelis converged on the Mercaz […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush has met with the last surviving American veteran of World War I.Mr. Bush said it was his honor to welcome Frank Buckles to the White House Thursday. He said the 107-year-old Buckles’ mind is sharp and his memory is crisp.
The president said Buckles, who signed up for the Army at the […]

WASHINGTON - A small explosive device damaged a military recruiting station in New York City’s Times Square early Thursday.
Police say someone threw the device at the recruiting station several hours before dawn. The blast shattered a large portion of the building’s front window, but no injuries were reported.
Police and fire crews cordoned off Times Square […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush says America’s search for alternative sources of fuel is a national security priority as well as an economic necessity. Mr. Bush wants to expand the use of nuclear power in developing nations.
President Bush told a renewable energy conference in Washington that America’s dependence on foreign oil is a challenge to […]