initially on persecuted Christians and other religious groups in the ex-Soviet Union and its former satellite states.
Based in Oslo, Norway, Forum 18 News Service or "F18News" (www.forum18.org) is "a group committed to religious freedom for all on the basis of Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights," said Editor Felix Corley in a statement to BosNewsLife.
The service, which will send e-mails to subscribers, will report "on threats and actions against the religious freedom of all people, regardless of their religious affiliation, in an objective, truthful and timely manner," throughout Eastern Europe, the organization said.
F18News comes after the U.K. based Keston Institute said earlier this year it had stopped its well known Keston News Service because of financial difficulties and personal changes.
Church leaders and human rights activists had expressed concern that this would undermine the monitoring of religious persecution in Eastern Europe, although BosNewsLife has stepped up efforts to report about the church in the region.
F18News plans to also "expand to cover other areas" amid reports of growing persecution of Christians around the globe, from China to the Middle East. Subscription to F18News is free and can be received several times or once a week, Corley said.
