BosNewsLife - Christian News Agency

NEWS ALERT: Belarus Evangelical Church Faces Imminent Eviction By Security Forces

June 2, 2009

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife

2009_05_22cerkov1MINSK/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- There was uncertainty about the future of one of the largest evangelical churches in Belarus Tuesday, June 2, after authorities ordered it to abandon its building in the capital Minsk.

NEWS WATCH: European Union Budget Chief Wins in a Landslide in Lithuania

May 17, 2009

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife

grybBUDAPEST/VILNIUS (BosNewsLife)-- The European Union's budget commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite has won Lithuania's presidential election getting roughly 69 percent of the vote according to official results.

Christians In Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan Face New Restrictions

May 16, 2009

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest

BUDAPEST/MOSCOW (BosNewsLife)-- Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliev was to receive for signing the final version of controversial legislation "limiting freedom of religion" while Christians elsewhere in Central Asia faced similar restrictions Saturday, May 16, rights investigators and local believers said.

Mounting Concerns Over Detained Uzbekistan Pastor

May 12, 2009

By Eric Leijenaar, BosNewsLife Senior Special Correspondent reporting from the Netherlands and BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos at BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest

272TASHKENT/BUDAPEST/AMSTERDAM (BosNewsLife)-- An international protest was underway Tuesday, May 12, to obtain the release of a detained, frail, evangelical pastor in Uzbekistan, who came to symbolize what rights investigators described as widespread persecution of Christians and other minorities in Central Asia.

Azerbaijan Pastor Receives “Corrective Labor” Sentence

February 23, 2009

By BosNewsLife Correspondents Stefan J. Bos and David Haggith

nevtelenBAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife) -- A well-known Baptist pastor in Azerbaijan was weighing his legal options Monday, February 23, after receiving a two-year "corrective labor" sentence for allegedly possessing an "illegal" weapon, trial observers said.

Belarus Deports Danish Christians

February 15, 2009

BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest

belarus_map1BUDAPEST/MINSK (BosNewsLife)-- Two Danish men are being deported from Belarus on charges of expressing "ideas of a religious nature", after dozens of foreign Christians were already expelled from the former Soviet republic.

Kazakhstan Constitutional Council Objects “Restrictive” Religious Law

February 14, 2009

Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, BosNewsLife

reukazakhstanpresident_BUDAPEST/ASTANA (BosNewsLife)-- A global Christian rights group welcomed a "landmark decision" by Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Council to reject as “unconstitutional” a draft law which would “further restrict freedom of religion and belief in the country," BosNewsLife learned Saturday, February 14.

Russian Orthodox Church Enthrones New Leader

February 1, 2009

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife, reporting from Budapest
patriMOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- The Russian Orthodox Church enthroned Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Sunday, February 1, the 16th patriarch of at least an estimated 75 million followers, amid pressures to overcome internal divisions and to reach out to non-Orthodox believers.

NEWS ALERT: Minsk Church Threatened With Closure; Evangelicals “Fasting”

January 30, 2009

Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife

prayingMINSK/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Members of one of Belarus' largest evangelical churches continued a five-day “fasting and prayer” action, Friday, January 30, amid attempts by authorities to seize their place of worship as part of an alleged crackdown on non-Orthodox groups.

NEWS WATCH: Hungary, Eastern Europe Face Cold Without Russian Gas

January 9, 2009
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest
gas1BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- European Union monitors arrived in Kiev Friday, amid international pressure on Ukraine and Russia to settle their dispute over natural gas prices that has effected shipments to at least 20 countries.