News

  By Jonathan S. Landay WASHINGTON – McClatchy Newspapers– A U.S. raid on a farm in eastern Syria is thought to have killed an Iraqi smuggler who oversaw the infiltration of foreign fighters into Iraq for the al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group, a U.S. official said Monday. The smuggler, whom …

  Abdirahim Saeed Mosul – BBC — Mosul in northern Iraq remains a fierce battleground for al-Qaeda militants. Violence against the city’s Christian community spiked in early October, prompting more than 13,000 Christians to flee. BBCArabic.com spoke to a few of them sheltering in villages north of the city. SOOAD, …

  By Frances D’Emilio VATICAN CITY – AP — Pope Benedict XVI decried the killing of Christians in Iraq and India and appealed on Sunday for political and religious leaders to defend them. In India, anti-Christian riots and rampages by Hindu extremists have claimed at least 38 lives since late …

  By Albert Aji DAMASCUS, Syria – AP — Syria’s government says U.S. military helicopters have attacked an area along Syria’s border with Iraq, killing eight people. A government statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency said the attack was on the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of …

  By Susan Abram NORTH HOLLYWOOD – dailynews — The murder of more than a dozen Assyrians in Iraq this month and a mass exodus of Christians from their ancestral homeland drew 100 residents Sunday to a memorial service to pray for an end to what they call a systematic …

  By Nuri Kino Sweden – AINA — Two queues, on each side of the same street. One of them leads to the new City Hall in Södertälje, where a stunt with two central operators takes place: The American embassy and Södertälje’s municipality management have initiated cooperation. It’s a way …

By Kenneth Timmerman Iraq – washingtontimes– Assyrian Christians are fleeing Iraq in record numbers, following a spate of recent bombing attacks and targeted killings of Christian families in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Over the last month, 13 Assyrian Christians have been murdered in targeted killings in Mosul. A …

  Baghdad – AP– Iraqi officials say few Christians are returning to the restive city of Mosul despite government pledges of financial support and protection. Local migration official Jawdat Ismaeel says every Christian family that comes back to Mosul will receive about $865 on orders of the prime minister. But …

       Baghdad – AINA — The auxiliary bishop of the Chaldean Church of Babylon in Iraq, His eminence Shlemon Warduni, expressed support on Friday for the establishment of an administrative area for the minorities living in the Nineveh Plain. Speaking to the reporter of the webzine ankawa.com, the high …

     Syria – UN — The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is helping hundreds of Iraqi Christians who fled the northern city of Mosul to neighbouring Syria, which is already hosting at least 1.2 million refugees from the strife-torn nation. “Many Christians from Mosul have been systematically targeted …