Niles, Illinois -- After Assyrian families in Skokie, Niles, Morton Grove and Lincolnwood spent nearly a decade advocating for an Assyrian language program at Niles Township High School District 219, the program, the first of its kind in the nation, is enjoying robust enrollment and has received a regional award.
Karm El Tin, Metn District, Mount Lebanon -- The Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, Karm El Tin stands as a witness to long centuries of faith and heritage. Bearing the names of the great apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the monastery is not merely a place of worship, but a deeply rooted spiritual and cultural landmark in the history of the region.
Melbourne -- The Victoria government has pledged 10 million Australian dollars to help build the "Mar Yusuf Assyrian School" in Melbourne, a long-awaited project that the local Assyrian community sees as essential for preserving their language and culture in the diaspora. The announcement was made by Premier Jacinta Allan during the Kha Nisan-Akitu celebrations in Melbourne.
Akitu is the traditional New Year of ancient Mesopotamia and has been celebrated by Assyrians and Babylonians for over 4,000 years. The festival marks the arrival of spring, the renewal of life, and a strong cultural identity that has endured throughout history. The modern date, 1 April, was chosen because it is close to the vernal equinox in the ancient Mesopotamian calendar.
Christians in Syria are once again under attack by Islamic groups affiliated with the country's jihadist regime, headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
Christian communities throughout Syria limited or canceled Holy Week festivities, including Palm Sunday observances, after mobs of Muslim attackers targeted Christian communities this weekend, destroying Christian symbols and looting shops.
The Patriarchs of the Christian Churches in Syria issued a joint statement on March 29, 2026, condemning recent events in Al-Suqaylabiyah (story) and calling for peace and stability across the country. The meeting took place at the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in Damascus, bringing together John X of Antioch, Ignatius Aphrem II, and Youssef Absi.
As Suqaylabiyah, Syria (AINA) -- Tensions broke out in an Christian village in Syria when a young Assyrian woman was harassed by Muslim men from a neighboring village. After Assyrian villagers confronted the men and forced them to leave, the Muslim men returned in large numbers, riding motorcycles and firing guns and vandalizing property.
Celebrations for Akitu, the Babylonian-Assyrian New Year have been cancelled in Iraq due to the ongoing war in the region, the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) announced Saturday. This year's Akitu comes amid near-daily drone and missile attacks across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as the country has been subjected to attacks from both sides of the US-Israel war with Iran.
Suqaylabiyah, Syria (AP) -- An argument between two men in a Christian town in central Syria led to sectarian attacks that caused widespread damage to homes, shops and cars in a reminder of religious violence that followed the fall of longtime leader Bashar Assad two years ago.
Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Syriac Orthodox, has joined the campaign calling for the recognition of the Syriac language and urged its adoption as an official language in Syria.
Tel Tamar, Syria -- Flooding in Hasakah province has become an urgent test of the response capabilities of local authorities and the Syrian Ministry of Disasters and Emergencies, as affected residents search for temporary shelter and call for long-term solutions to prevent recurring crises.
As Suqaylabiyah, Syria (AINA) -- Tensions broke out in an Christian village in Syria when a young Assyrian woman was harassed by Muslim men from a neighboring village. After Assyrian villagers confronted the men and forced them to leave, the Muslim men returned in large numbers, riding motorcycles and firing guns and vandalizing property.
Skokie, Illinois (AINA) -- A flag raising ceremony was held in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago, with a population of 68,000, 25,000 of which are Assyrians. The Assyrian flag was added to the flags of other nations in Sculpture Park. The flag will be permanently displayed there. Skokie is referred to as Little Assyria.
(AINA) -- The Assyrian Arts Institute (AAI) is an organization founded by Nora Betyousef Lacey in 2017 and claims to support Assyrian arts. AAI has sponsored a few events since its founding, including an Assyrian women's choir.
(AINA) -- On July 12 Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashid repealed the decree recognizing the appointment of Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako as head of the Chaldean Catholic Church and which appointed him to the office of the waqf (وقف), the endowment which oversees all church property. The details of the events leading up to this action are exhaustively covered in this report by MEMRI.
(AINA) -- The security situation in northern Syria has reached a critical stage. What was previously described as allegations is now substantiated by multiple field reports and security assessments confirming the existence of established tunnel networks linking Syrian territory with both Iraq and Turkey.
(AINA) -- Iraq is being dismantled deliberately. This destruction is not the result of fate, historical inevitability, or the diversity of its people. It is the outcome of calculated decisions made by political elites who chose loyalty to power, parties, and foreign patrons over loyalty to the Iraqi nation.
Karm El Tin, Metn District, Mount Lebanon -- The Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, Karm El Tin stands as a witness to long centuries of faith and heritage. Bearing the names of the great apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the monastery is not merely a place of worship, but a deeply rooted spiritual and cultural landmark in the history of the region.
Researchers are painstakingly reconstructing the oldest-known map of the night sky -- previously thought lost forever -- by X-raying parchment that contains the star catalog hidden beneath other text. The map of the cosmos is thought to be the work of the renowned ancient astronomer Hipparchus, who lived from around 190 to 120 BCE, long before the invention of the telescope.