Persecution of Christians

Macedonia: Archbishop Jovan released on parole

SKOPJE -- Head of the Orthodox Diocese of Ohrid Archbishop Jovan Vraniskovski has been released on parole.

The Court of Appeal in Skopje rejected the appeal by the public prosecutor, who wanted Vraniskovski to continue serving his sentence.

An Egyptian man has delivered a financial blow to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), after reportedly becoming the ?emir? of its alms department before fleeing to Turkey with almost $1 million.

SKOPJE - Head of the Christian Orthodox Diocese of Ohrid Archbishop Jovan Vraniskovski has been released on parole after the Court of Appeal in Skopje rejected the appeal by the public prosecutor, who wanted Vraniskovski to continue serving his sentence.

The court decision to release Vraniskovski is valid until March 23, 2017, according to the Macedonian news agency MIA.

Kurdish forces have found the remains of about 25 members of the Yazidi minority killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in a mass grave in northwest Iraq, officials said Feb. 2.
      

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) condemns "in the firmest terms" the execution of Japanese citizen Kenji Goto by the terrorist organization ISIL, a release of MAE remitted on Sunday to AGERPRES shows.

Photo credit: (c) Grigore POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Turkey has taken a new step in its struggle against the flow of foreign fighters heading to Syria via its soil, establishing ?risk desks? at airports, border gates and ports in order to prevent potential foreign fighters from passing into conflict-driven Syria.

Jordan vowed on Feb. 1 to do all it could to save an airman held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group after the jihadists killed a Japanese journalist they had been holding.

Boko Haram fighters on Feb. 1 launched a fresh attempt to take over the strategically crucial northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, a brazen attack on a state capital just two weeks before national elections.

Turkish authorities give AFP unusual access to its anti-ISIL security teams and risk analysis center at airport Everything seems normal as the passengers stream out of a routine flight from a Middle Eastern country after landing at a major Turkish international airport.

An air strike killed a chemical weapons specialist with the ISIL in Iraq who once worked for Saddam Hussein, the US military declares A U.S.-led coalition air strike killed a chemical weapons specialist with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq who once worked for Saddam Hussein, U.S. military officers said Jan. 30.