Netherlands

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Johan Th. Bos in the Netherlands and Stefan J. Bos at BosNewsLife News Center AMSTERDAM/JAKARTA (BosNewsLife)-- The Dutch far right Party for Freedom (PVV) says the Netherlands should demand that Indonesia improves protection of Christians amid reports that hard-line Muslims prepare for a religious war with that country's Christian minority.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with BosNewsLife Special Correspondent Johan Th. Bos reporting from Amstelveen AMSTELVEEN, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- A small Christian party which made world headlines with protests against local government support for a Hindu religious festival has been re-elected in the municipal council of Amstelveen, a strategic town near the Dutch capital Amsterdam, according to local election results.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife ZEIST, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- Dutch Christians have gathered in the central Netherlands to prevent the deportation of an...

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from The Netherlands URK, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- A replica of Noah's Ark was drifting away in a severe storm Wednesday, January 3, at the port of  Dutch town Urk, smashing several boats and prompting the rescue of seven people on board the massive vessel, eyewitnesses told BosNewsLife. There were no reports of injuries, but rescue teams struggled to regain control of the wood-and-steel ark, which has no engine and measures 70 meters (230 feet) long and some 13 meters (43 feet) high.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife HILVERSUM, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- A man brandishing a fake gun demanding airtime stormed the headquarters of Dutch national broadcaster NOS, January 29, briefly abducting a doorman and interrupting a television news program, before being overpowered by Dutch police.

By Eric Leijenaar, BosNewsLife Senior Special Correspondent MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians have set up an underground church in Mecca, viewed by Muslims as the "holiest city in Islam", while tens of thousands of other Saudi Christians are worshipping via the Internet, a mission group confirmed Friday, April 24.

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 URK, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- The Dutch town of Urk, known for its many churches and fishing traditions, says it will not dismiss public servants refusing to officiate at gay weddings, despite a draft law adopted by parliament forcing municipalities to fire registrars opposing same-sex marriage.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian member of the European Parliament has urged the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, to make more rights for Egyptian Christians, also known as Copts, a policy priority and to develop an EU strategy for religious freedom.

By BosNewsLife News Center with BosNewsLife's Senior Special Correspondent Johan Th. Bos reporting from the Netherlands AMSTERDAM/WASHINGTON D.C. (BosNewsLife)-- One of the world's largest mission agencies, Open Doors, named North Korea and Iran Wednesday, November 6, as "the worst persecutors of Christians".