By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Moscow is considering its response to what some Russian politicians have called a "diplomatic war" with the United States. The developments came after the U.S. ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two trade missions in retaliation to what Washington called "unwarranted" Russian action.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reports from Moscow MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Russia buried its first post-Soviet Orthodox patriarch, Alexy II, Tuesday, December 9, after a funeral attended by presidents, foreign emissaries and the country's political elite.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)--The recent attack which left at least five people dead in Stavropol, in southern Russia, has heightened security fears ahead of the Olympic Winter Games due to take place in the Black Sea resort of Sochi next month. The United States, which will send 250 athletes to compete in the games, says the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will have dozens of people in Moscow and some in Sochi to assist the Russians.

By BosNewsLife News Center TASHKENT/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Two Christian families in Uzbekistan faced uncertain future Wednesday, May 14, after receiving massive fines for meeting in a private home to read the Bible and pray together, church members and rights investigators said. Alisher Abdullayev and Veniamin Nemirov were fined along with another member of their home church in October 2012 for unregistered religious activity and teaching religion "illegally".

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Fighting raged Sunday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk despite a request from the pro-Russian separatists for a cease-fire to prevent what they called a "humanitarian catastrophe." At least one person was killed and 10 injured in the latest shelling that started early Sunday and continued throughout the day, officials said.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV/MOSCOW (BosNewsLife)-- Western leaders have expressed concern that Russia may move into other regions after it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, where at least one person was injured this weekend in a Russian takeover of two Ukrainian bases. NATO and German officials said Sunday, March 23, the conflict could expand to eastern parts of Ukraine, and even the nearby former Soviet republic of Moldova.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Uzhhorod, Ukraine UZHHOROD, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine’s detained former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has launched a hunger strike to protest alleged vote rigging in Sunday's parliamentary election. Western observers have also expressed concerns about the ballot, in which the ruling Party of Regions claimed victory, while a far-right party entered the political arena for the first time.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest TASHKENT/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- An influential evangelical organization, which claims to represent over 400 million Christians worldwide, expressed concerns Tuesday, June 1, about police raids on Protestant congregations in Uzbekistan and the detention of several Christians in the former Soviet republic.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife

KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- The NATO military alliance has warned Russia against making what it calls an "historic mistake" by supporting calls for secession in eastern Ukraine, that Moscow itself admitted could spill into a civil war.  

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest and border areas BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Four people remain detained after the decomposing bodies of 71 migrants fleeing war and poverty, including eight women and four children, were found in a truck on Austria's main highway after apparently arriving from neighboring Hungary. Hungarian police said they detained the suspects as part of a wider investigation into human smuggling.