Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- As many as half a million Ukrainians have participated in a pro-European Union rally in the capital Kyiv, where many toppled the statue of late Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and called for the president to step down. Sunday's rally was the biggest demonstration since the pro-freedom Orange Revolution in 2004.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife MAKHACHKALA/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- The pastor of the largest Pentecostal church in Russia's violent, mainly Muslim republic of Dagestan, has died after being shot in the head, in an apparent bid to intimidate converts from Islam, Christian rights activists and police said Friday, July 16.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife OSWIECIM, POLAND (BosNewsLife)-- Government leaders and survivors are among those marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation by Soviet forces of Nazi-death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in ceremonies overshadowed by new concerns over rising anti-Semitism in Europe, and a row between Poland and Russia. Tuesday's event in Poland was expected to be the last big anniversary in which remaining elderly survivors would be able to come and pay their respects at the former camp, which became a symbol of the Holocaust.

Listen to this report from Stefan Bos:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BERLIN/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- After his release from a Russian jail, former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said he does not want to return to business or politics, but would fight for those he considers political prisoners. Wearing a sharp suit and smiling, the now 50-year-old Khodorkovsky spoke at his first news conference since his release from prison, which was held at a museum commemorating the Berlin Wall from the Cold War era.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Hungary is commemorating its crushed 1956 Revolution against Soviet domination and the 20th anniversary of its declaration as an independent republic, marking the end of communism.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife  KYIV/AMSTERDAM (BosNewsLife)-- Ukraine has ordered the withdrawal of all its forces from Crimea, following the Russian takeover of the peninsula. Monday's announcement came while Western concerns over Ukraine was expected to dominate a nuclear security summit in the Netherlands.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BUDAPEST/MOSCOW (BosNewsLife)-- Russia has stripped several Christian institutions of their right to offer higher education, several sources...

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Initial election results of Sunday's blood-stained referendum in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region claim nearly nine out of 10 voters want to breakaway from the country.

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.  

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KYIV/BUDAPEST (Vatican Radio)-- A tense calm has returned to the streets of Ukraine's capital Kyiv's following clashes between pro and anti-government demonstrators. It comes at a time when protesters are remembering those who died in more than two months of unrest.