Europe

Listen to a BosNewsLife shorter version via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BUDAPEST/PRAGUE (BosNewsLife)-- Left-leaning former Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman has won his country's first direct presidential elections with about 55 percent of the vote. The international community was closely watching the voting as it will impact the Czech Republic's future relations with the European Union.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KIEV/MINSK (BosNewsLife)-- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, February 12, that a ceasefire had been agreed in eastern Ukraine, starting February 15.

(AS UKRAINE PREPARES FOR A TURBULENT SPRING, BOSNEWSLIFE RE-PRINTS A KEY STORY BOSNEWSLIFE COVERED IN 2006). CHERNOBYL, UKRAINE

CHERNOBYL, UKRAINE (BosNewsLife)-- Fresh flowers in front of a small statue resembling the Virgin Mary revealed that at least some Ukrainians returned Wednesday, April 26, to the 30 kilometers (19 miles) "exclusion zone" around the country's leaking Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which exploded 20 years ago.

By BosNewsLife News Center ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BosNewsLife)-- Turkish Christians remain concerned about rising nationalism and hostility towards non-Muslims in Turkey, following the killing of a Christian businessman and the attack against an evangelist, BosNewsLife monitored Tuesday, August 11.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KIEV/AMSTERDAM (BosNewsLife)-- The Netherlands has commemorated the nearly 300 people who died on board a Malaysia Airlines plane which was shot down over eastern Ukraine earlier this year. Flags flew at half-mast at government buildings as the nation united to remember one of the worst disasters in modern Dutch history.

By Joseph DeCaro, BosNewsLife International Crrespondent BAKU/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)– A congregation of protestant Christians in the Azerbajani capital Baku potentially faced its last public Sunday worship service April 22, as authorities have threatened to "liquidate" the church, rights activists said.

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 Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Europe is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States amid heightened security after police in Sweden detained four people suspected of plotting a terrorist attack there. Four former Communist nations that joined the EU in the last decade are among the Union's member states commemorating the 9/11 attacks.

Listen to this shorter BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio:   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Bosnewslife PRAGUE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Authorities in parts of Central and Eastern Europe have issued disaster warnings as heavy rain has caused flooding that left several people dead or missing. The situation seemed especially serious in the Czech Republic where Prime Minister Petr Necas said already "200 soldiers have been deployed so far" to help local authorities in the capital Prague and other areas.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio. Click here vatikyrgysztan By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BARSKOON/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- The government of Kyrgyzstan has imposed a state of emergency on a northern district to  protect one of the world's highest goldmines from protesters after clashes with police injured dozens of people.