Unknown assailants on Sunday stoned a two-story building housing a Protestant church in the Black Sea port city of Samsun, Turkey, the pastor of the church said.

In regions afflicted by war, violence is only part of the problem that ordinary families face. Behind the bombs and bullets lies a second battle, the battle to make ends meet. In the second of a series of special reports, Barnabas Fund highlights how the war in Iraq is affecting the ability of Iraqi Christians to provide for themselves, their families, and their futures.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has reassured the people of Bethlehem that neither they, nor the pressures that they live under are forgotten in the West. During a pilgrimage to Bethlehem with other English church leaders, Dr Williams addressed the city's civic representatives, stressing that problems had to be solved by people working together.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has pledged his support for the Christian Communities of the Middle East. Writing in The Times today (Saturday 23rd December 2006), Dr Williams says that factors such as reaction to the war in Iraq, mistrust from surrounding commuities and security measures have combined to put intolerable pressure on Christians in countries across the region including Iraq, Iran, the Holy Land, Egypt and Turkey, to the point where many are migrating away from their homelands.

Thousands of frightened Iraqi Christians are fleeing Iraq, after an escalation in anti-Christian violence.