Pakistan

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian man who spent 20 months in a Pakistani prison on charges of "blasphemy against Islam" has been released after a local court acquitted him on all charges, two advocacy officials involved in his case told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- The militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility Sunday, December 18, for the suicide attack that rocked a packed evangelical church in Pakistan's city of Quetta, killing nine people and injuring about 60 others, including women and children.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian man accused of involvement in the lynching of two Muslims after church bombings has died in a Pakistani prison under suspicious circumstances; an advocacy official told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Five Christian families have been forced to leave their village in Pakistan's Punjab province after a Christian teenager was accused of “blasphemy” against Islam on social media, Christians told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Suspected Islamic militants attacked a Christian area in Pakistan's troubled province of Balochistan killing a 7-year-old child and injuring two others, police officials and Pakistani media said.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- European legislators have visited Pakistan amid concerns that Christian Asia Bibi, a married mother of five, may become the first woman to be executed by the State on controversial charges of 'blasphemy against Islam.'

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A 70-year old Christian man who was detained in Pakistan on controversial charges of "blasphemy" against Islam has died, a friend and rights lawyer told BosNewsLife. "Mukhtar Masih, who was released on bail in May this year, died Tuesday, November 2," confirmed Sardar Mushtaq Gill who leads the Pakistan-based Legal Evangelical Association Development (LEAD) group.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife DHAKA, BANGLADESH (BosNewsLife)-- A young Christian evangelist who is being hunted by Islamic militants in his native Bangladesh and elsewhere in Asia has urged the world not to forget non-Muslim minorities in the region including the indigenous Jumma who face a new wave of "murders" and "torture."

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Pakistani Christian has been sentenced to death by a court in eastern Pakistan for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad in text messages, a human rights official, and his lawyer said.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife STRASBOURG, FRANCE (BosNewsLife)-- Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi who faces execution by hanging on controversial charges of 'blasphemy against Islam' has been nominated for the European Union's prestigious Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought by an influential group of European legislators.