Asia/Pacific

By BosNewsLife Asia Service PYONGYANG/SEOUL (BosNewsLife)-- There was concern Tuesday, November 19, that Christians were likely among some 80 people who were recently executed by North Korean officials across the country. Last week, a South Korean newspaper, the JoongAng Ilbo, reported that the coordinated killings of what officials considered "criminals" took place in seven different cities on November. 3.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- A major Christian church in China's central Henan province was "paralyzed" Sunday, November 17, after its pastor, his sisters and dozens of church workers were detained, local Christians told BosNewsLife.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- Chinese security forces have detained a key pastor and his two sisters while "beating up" church members demanding their release in a new crackdown on devoted believers, Chinese Christians told BosNewsLife early Sunday, November 17.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- One of Pakistan's leading Christian lawyers confirmed Monday, November 11, that he has survived another apparent assassination attempt by suspected Islamic militants. "I am being targeted by extremists who want me to end my legal support to victims in blasphemy cases," said Sardar Musthtag Gill, director of the advocacy group Legal Evangelical Association Development (LEAD).

By BosNewsLife Asia Service PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian missionary spent another day locked up in a feared North Korean labor camp Tuesday, November 5, becoming the longest known American detainee since the end of Korean War hostilities, Christians and activists said.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service HANOI, VIETNAM (BosNewsLife)-- Two Vietnamese Catholics, whose arrest sparked mass protests in Vietnam's Nghe An Province last month, have been sentenced to six and seven months imprisonment, trial observers told BosNewsLife Thursday, October 31.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service PESHAWAR/GRANGEMOUTH(BosNewsLife)-- A Church of Scotland pastor who lost his mother and other close relatives in a suicide attack on a church in Pakistan has said he forgives their killers. Reverend Aftab Gohar's 79-year-old mother, nephew, niece, two uncles and other friends and relatives were among the up to 171 people who were killed in the September 22 blasts at Peshawar's All Saints Church.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI (BosNewsLife)-- Seven Indian Christians were preparing Friday, October 18, to appeal lifetime sentences handed down for the murder of a prominent Hindu leader, which sparked India's deadliest anti-Christian riots on record

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Three Pakistani Christians face a possible death sentence on what a lawyer says are "trumped up charges" of "blasphemy" against Islam, while other Christians are reportedly forced to become Muslims.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos HANOI, VIETNAM (BosNewsLife)-- More than 60 Christian pastors and church leaders remained locked in "deplorable conditions" in four prison camps around Vietnam Monday, October 14, just days after religious leaders accused authorities of "attempting to destroy religions" in the Communist-run nation, activists and Christians told BosNewsLife.