CIS (ex-USSR)

Listen to this BosNewsLife News  report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent  BosNewsLife TBILISI, GEORGIA (BosNewsLife)-- Georgia's parliament has approved a billionaire as the former Soviet nation's new prime minister and endorsed his government, following the recent October 1 parliamentary elections. Bidzina Ivanishvili began his first official full working day Friday, October 26, after lawmakers voted 88-54 for his cabinet.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos ASTANA/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Authorities in three Central Asian nations have launched a crackdown on evangelical Protestant churches and several believers are reportedly mistreated, fined and detained, BosNewsLife learned Wednesday, October 24.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Russian authorities briefly detained an evangelical pastor and "bulldozed" what was left of his Moscow church complex as part of a wider crackdown on non-Orthodox congregations, a mission group confirmed to BosNewsLife Friday, October 19.

BosNewsLifeRadioJournalist Listen here to the BosNewsLife Radio News report via Vatican Radio By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International correspondent MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Tributes are paid Sunday, October 7, to Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was killed exactly six years ago by a still unknown gunman in an attack that critics have linked to her journalistic work.

BosNewsLifeRadioGeorgiaUpdate Listen here to BosNewsLife's news report via Vatican Radio  By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TBILISI/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili has conceded defeat for his party in Monday's parliamentary vote. Appearing visibly upset on national television, Saakhasvili acknowledged his first major political setback since he became the country's head of state following the 2004 'Rose Revolution' protests against rigged elections.

Listen to BosNewsLife's news report via Vatican Radio BosNewsLife News Center with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TBILISI/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Exit polls and early results show the party of Georgia's pro-Western president Mikhail Saakhasvili has suffered a major setback in Monday's parliamentary elections, amid reports of voting irregularities and public dissatisfaction with poverty and high unemployment of over 16 percent.

BosNewsLifeRadioGeorgiaElections Listen to BosNewsLife's report via Vatican Radio  By BosNewsLife News Center TBILISI/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Voting began Monday, October 1, in heavily Orthodox Georgia in parliamentary elections with the party of the pro-western president facing a strong challenge following mounting criticism over his policies and a prison scandal.

By BosNewsLife News Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos ASTANA/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Kazakhstan has detained an Uzbek house church pastor who is wanted in his home country for "illegal" religious teaching and Christian literature distribution, according to local Christians and rights activists.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- A congregation of evangelical Christians in Russia's capital Moscow were without a church building Tuesday, September 11, after workers with bulldozers and other equipment destroyed their Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church complex, backed by local police, witnesses said.  

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest, Hungary BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- The Hungarian government on Monday, September 3, condemned a decision by Azerbaijan to immediately pardon and release an officer convicted of murder, after he was extradited from Hungary.