Americas

By BosNewsLife Africa Service KHARTOUM/ROME (BosNewsLife)-- A Sudanese mother who was spared a death sentence for refusing to renounce Christianity has been flown to Italy, after more than a month in the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Italian officials confirmed Thursday, July 24.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine has released what it says are intercepted phone calls in which pro-Russian separatists admit to shooting down a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane, killing all 298 people on board. The Boeing 777 went down in eastern Ukraine while on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Most of the victims, 293 according to Dutch officials, came from the Netherlands.

By BosNewsLife Americas Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos HAVANA, CUBA (BosNewsLife)- An evangelical pastor and his family were homeless Monday, July 7, after government forces destroyed their home in eastern Cuba which was used as a house church, Christians said.

By BosNewsLife Americas Service MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (BosNewsLife)-- Local authorities in southern Mexico have threatened to cut water supplies to additional evangelical Christian families because they refuse to actively participate in traditional religious Catholic ceremonies, investigators said Tuesday, April 29.

By BosNewsLife Americas Service MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (BosNewsLife)-- Christian activists on Monday, March 10, welcomed a report by the top human rights authority of Mexico's southwestern Oaxaca state which recommends to compensate evangelical Christians for "torture" and damage done to their forcibly closed church building. In a report, the Oaxaca State Ombudsman’s Office confirmed what it views as serious religious freedom violations in the municipality of San Juan Ozolotepec.

By BosNewsLife Americas Service HAVANA, CUBA (BosNewsLife)-- A Baptist pastor remained under house arrest in central Cuba Monday, January 27, after he was reportedly detained by the Communist island's political police and state security forces as part of a larger crackdown on dissidents, ahead of a regional summit. The troubles began Sunday, January 25, after police surrounded the home of Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso, who is pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Taguayabon, Christian rights investigators said.

By BosNewsLife Americas Service with reporting by Vatican Radio's James Blears BRASILIA, BRAZIL (BosNewsLife)-- Local authorities in Brazil continued investigating Sunday,  January 12, the murder of an evangelical pastor at his church in the city of Belo Horizonte.

By BosNewsLife Americas Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (BosNewsLife)-- Devoted Christians in south-eastern Colombia face a difficult Christmas amid reports that at least 150 churches have been closed down by leftist rebels. Open Christian worship and other religious activities are forbidden in the rural areas controlled by the rebels, known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), BosNewsLife monitored Thursday, December 19.

By BosNewsLife Americas Service MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (BosNewsLife)-- Rights activists have urged Mexico's government to prosecute local officials responsible for "the unjust imprisonment" and "torture" of four evangelical Christians from November 5-8 in the western state of Oaxaca.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN/LOS ANGELES (BosNewsLife)-- An American pastor who was detained in Iran after staging a protest outside a Tehran prison to demand the release of Iranian Christians, will return to the United States Wednesday, October 23, his daughter told reporters.