Milan -- The rise of the Islamic State with its trail of bloodshed, devastation and death; the withdrawal of the presidential decree recognising his patriarchal authority, a wound that remains open; the exodus of Christians which, over 20 years, has reduced Iraq's original population to a third of its former size.
Cairo -- A powerful theatrical portrayal of the suffering and resilience of the Assyrian people earned international acclaim this week as Krawa, produced by Iraq's Bema Theatre, captured the festival's highest honor at the Cairo International Monodrama Festival. The production won Best Performance, while playwright and director Thamer Mikhael received the Best Director award.
Baghdad -- Promises by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to encourage the return of Iraq's Christians and the Assyrian people to their ancestral towns, provide access to residential land allocation projects, and support investment in the health and education sectors have been welcomed by Christian communities in Nineveh Plains, Mosul, and the diaspora.
Archbishop Mor Anthimos Jack Yakoub, Vicar Patriarchal of the Syriac church in Jerusalem, together with a number of other Palestinian Christian leaders, assured me that they need our love and prayers--but they also badly need practical support if Christianity is not to die in our lifetime in the land that gave birth to our common religion.
Hundreds of Syriac Christians from across Türkiye and Europe gathered in Midyat's Bağlarbaşı neighborhood for the inaugural mass, as clergy entered the church to traditional prayers. High-ranking clergy, including Turabdin and Mor Gabriel Monastery Metropolitan Mor Timotheos Samuel Aktaş, led the four-hour service that coincided with Mor Kuryakos Day.
A fragment of an ancient stele dating to the reign of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal 2,600 years ago was discovered at the Bab Shamash archaeological site in Iraq's Nineveh province. The stele's discovery, announced on social media in late June by both the Nineveh Antiquities Inspectorate and Iraq's Antiquities and Heritage State Board, was unearthed by a joint Iraqi-American archaeological...
Discovered in the ancient Assyrian Empire, the Nimrud Lens remains at the center of scientific debates about its true function, as researchers investigate whether the object had an optical use or served other purposes. The Nimrud Lens is considered one of the most curious artifacts in the archaeology of the Assyrian Empire.
The Chaldean Church patriarch, Paul III Nona, held a series of meetings this week with Iraq's top authorities, including President Nizar Amedi and Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi, who both reaffirmed the importance of the Christian presence in Iraqi society and pledged to protect the country's religious and cultural diversity.
Although the Middle East existed for centuries as a majority-Christian region, many now commonly call it "the Muslim world." Its Christian past, as well as its indigenous non-Muslim communities, are often ignored. One such community is the Assyrians, also known as Syriacs. Ancient Mesopotamia was home to a number of different groups of peoples and civilizations.
An ancient Persian inscription, preserved since the inauguration of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro in 1909, was finally deciphered after remaining untranslated for about 117 years. Furthermore, the discovery was made by professors Alex Mazzanti, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and Matheus Treuk, from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj).
Munich -- The Higher Regional Court in Munich has convicted an Iraqi couple, both former members of the Islamic State (ISIS), of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for their role in the enslavement and torture of two Yezidi girls from Shigur (Sinjar / Shengal) during ISIS's control of territories in Iraq and Syria. The court sentenced the husband, identified as H. S.
Israel has suspended a planned parliamentary vote that would have formally recognized the Assyrian Genocide 1915, which acknowledges only the Armenian victims, delaying a decision that many had viewed as a historic shift in Israeli policy and prompting renewed calls for equal recognition of the Assyrian and Pontic Greek genocides.
(AINA) -- The historical relationship between the designations Assyria, Syria, and Syriac has long occupied a central place in discussions of Near Eastern history, historical linguistics, and communal identity.
Glane, Netherlands (AINA) -- An Assyrian Genocide memorial has been erected at the St. Ephrem Monastery in Glane, Netherlands. This is the 23rd Assyrian Genocide monument in the world. The Assyrian Genocide occurred between 1915 and 1918 during World War One, and was perpetrated by Ottoman Turkey, with the help of Kurds, who were hired as the henchmen of Turkey.
(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 indigenous Assyrian people continue to face immense pressure in their ancestral homeland, the land of Assur, Assyria. Our ancestral homeland remains under the control of authorities who occupy our historic lands and, according to numerous reports from members of our community, are pursuing policies that marginalize the indigenous Assyrian population through intimidation, restrictions...
(AINA) -- In the realm of International Law, the efficacy of the historical claims of transnational communities does not depend on the moral legitimacy of their narratives, but rather on their rigorous adaptation to prevailing normative categories. The Assyrian cause, backed by a highly mobilized global diaspora, stands at a strategic crossroads of great consequence.
An ancient Persian inscription, preserved since the inauguration of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro in 1909, was finally deciphered after remaining untranslated for about 117 years. Furthermore, the discovery was made by professors Alex Mazzanti, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and Matheus Treuk, from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj).
On 10 June 2026, the NEAstr project team held its second workshop, on the theme of 'Late antique astronomical sciences in medieval compendia'. Few pre-medieval witnesses of late antique scientific works survive, and most manuscripts available to scholars were copied centuries after the composition of the texts.