The Ministry of Higher Education in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has approved the opening of a Syriac Language Department, in its Eastern dialect (Sureth), at the College of Education at Nohadra (Dohuk) University, starting from the current academic year.
Starting modestly at the city of Ashur, the ancient Assyrian state became a regional power with the Old Assyrian Empire from the late 21th century to the mid 18th century BC. Later, Assyria became a huge political entity, which, during the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-608 BC), reached from the Caucasus (the present-day Armenia) to the Nile (Egypt).
On June 22, 2025, a suicide bomber entered Saint Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus during a packed evening worship service and unleashed unimaginable carnage. After opening fire on the congregation, the attacker detonated an explosive vest, killing nearly 30 people and injuring more than 60.
Thrissur, India -- Mar Aprem Metropolitan, who had led the Assyrian Church of the East in India for five decades, died July 7 following a brief hospitalization for age-related ailments in Thrissur, Kerala. He was 85. The funeral and other rituals will be decided after consulting with the Church leaders in Iraq, the Church sources in Thrissur said.
Wiesbaden, Germany -- Members of the Syriac (Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian) community in Germany gathered on Saturday for a vigil in Wiesbaden's central square to honor the martyrs of the June 22 terrorist attack that targeted the Mar Elias Greek (Rûm) Orthodox Church in the Douileh neighborhood of Daramsuq (Damascus), Syria. The vigil, held at 6:00 p.m.
The Khabur Genocide remains one of the darkest and most tragic chapters in the recent history of the Syriac--Assyrian community. This extensive report, meticulously compiled by the Khabur Committee, seeks to document in comprehensive detail the events, experiences, and enduring impacts of the genocide perpetrated by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015 that took place along the Khabur River Valley.