Archive

WASHINGTON/MONTREAT (BosNewsLife)-- Ruth Bell Graham, who gave up her dreams of missionary work in Tibet to become the "beloved wife of world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham", has died, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) confirmed Friday, June 15.

(ADDS COMMENTS AND DETAILS, CHANGING LEAD)BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Human rights watchdog Freedom House said Thursday, June 14, that democracy is eroding in several new European Union states due to "political polarization" and "reform fatigue" and warned of an "emerging governance crisis" in former Communist nations.

ASMARA, ERITREA (BosNewsLife)-- Twenty Christians, including young children, were reportedly still missing Wednesday, June 13, more than two weeks after being detained by Eritrean security forces for allegedly attending a prayer meeting of a banned independent church.

BEIRUT, LEBANON (BosNewsLife)-- Lebanese Christians, already shaken by several bombings, faced the prospect of civil war Wednesday, June 13, as officials confirmed that a key anti-Syrian legislator and nine others were killed in an explosion in Beirut, apparently from a bomb-rigged car.

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Human rights groups in Pakistan on Wednesday, June 13, still awaited government steps to protect Christians suffering under "draconian" blasphemy legislation, including a man sentenced to death and nurses threatened by militant students.

(ADDS LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN GAZA, COMMENTS PERES)JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- Israel's parliament on Wednesday, June 13, elected Nobel Peace Prize winner and veteran politician Shimon Peres as the country's new president, at a time of growing tensions with the Palestinian Authority over a peace deal and intense fighting in Gaza between Fatah and Hamas factions.

HAVANA, CUBA (BosNewsLife)-- One of Cuba's leading "prisoners of conscience" remained detained Tuesday, June 12, despite growing concern about his health due to "inhumane prison conditions," his family and dissidents told BosNewsLife.

NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)-- Active Christians in rural areas of India, including pastors and evangelists, faced another potentially dangerous day Monday, June 11, after reports that two Christian workers were killed by suspected militants in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh while elsewhere Hindu extremists threatened to burn alive church leaders.

HANOI, VIETNAM (BosNewsLife)-- Vietnam on Sunday, June 10, released a leading dissident and journalist who was jailed after using the Internet to criticize the Communist government.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife)-- A tense calm returned Saturday, June 9, to the Galas district of the Philippines' Quezon City after a seminarian was stabbed to death there by a lone assailant, police said.