Middle East

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran has released a detained devoted Christian of the 'Church of Iran' on a massive bail but five other recently arrested members of the evangelical house church movement remain behind bars, a church official told BosNewsLife Saturday, November 17.

By Martin Roth, BosNewsLife Senior Columnist BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife Columns)-- Is it now time for Christians to accept defeat in the face of the Islamic State group's genocidal onslaught in Iraq, and admit that our faith has no viable future – in the short term, at least – in that country? Certainly – and sadly - that's the message that is increasingly being heard from experts.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- The militant Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus loaded with Coptic Christians near the southern city of Minya, which killed at least 29 people, including children.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Egypt have demanded a full investigation after a teenager was reportedly killed in the country's central province of Minya for wearing a crucifix at school.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service (ADDS NEW DETAILS, VICTORY CLAIM, NEW LEAD) TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has lost the presidential election, his challenger said, a development that was expected to be welcomed by Christians seeking more religious rights and the United States, where President Barack Obama seeks new relations with the strict Islamic nation.

By BosNewsLife News Center BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Central and Eastern Europe's first Christian news agency on the Internet, BosNewsLife, has launched a new website (bosnewslife.com) and a strategic partnership with Worthy Ministries, an organization specialized in Christian news "and spreading the Gospel around the world," its founder confirmed Friday, December 5.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian authorities have released two prominent Christian prisoners, but concerns remained Wednesday, January 29, over the future of their church. Shahnaz Jayzan, the wife of a pastor of the evangelical Assemblies of God Church (AoG) in Iran's southwestern city of Ahwaz, was released Tuesday, January 28, some three months before her prison term was due to be completed, Iranian Christians said. Earlier Davoud Alijani, an AoG leader in Ahwaz, was reportedly freed from Karoon Prison on January 13, about 20 days before the end of his sentence.

(ADDS COMMENTS DEFENSE MINISTER, IDF, MORE DETAILS) By BosNewsLife Chief Middle East Correspondent George Whitten reporting from Israel and Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent at BosNewsLife News Center

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BosNewsLife)-- A Dutch priest, who became known for his insistence on staying in the war-torn Syrian city of Homs, was shot dead there Monday, April 7, by suspected Islamic militants, Catholic sources said.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's Islamic leadership has sentenced six Iranian converts to Christianity to long prison terms in recent days, when world attention focused on the country's presidential elections, Christians confirmed Wednesday, June 18.