Middle East

By George Whitten, BosNewsLife Jerusalem Bureau Chief JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife) -- Nearly half of Israelis want the Biblical Temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem according to a major opinion poll, commissioned by Israel's Knesset Television Channel and monitored by BosNewsLife Saturday, July 24.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A well-known Iranian pastor faces execution after two judges agreed to make him "liable to capital punishment," as part of a crackdown on the growing Protestant church movement in the Islamic nation, BosNewsLife learned Tuesday, July 13.

By George Whitten, BosNewsLife Jerusalem Bureau Chief JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife) -- The son of a founder of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, who became a Christian and spied for Israel, will be granted political asylum in the United States as the Department of Homeland Security dropped its objections, BosNewsLife established Thursday, July 1.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BEIRUT, LEBANON (BosNewsLife)-- Lebanese security forces prepared to crackdown on Islamic insurgents Friday, June 25, after threatening leaflets were found calling on Christians to leave a key port city and a bomb blast that killed at least one person in a predominantly Christian town.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Over 20 Afghan Christians have been detained in Afghanistan after high-level leaders called for the arrest and execution of converts to Christianity in the Islamic nation, an advocacy group said Friday, June 25.

By George Whitten, Jerusalem Bureau Chief JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Benedict XVI has urged the creation of a "true world political authority" to "guarantee the protection of the environment" and to manage the global economy, BosNewsLife learned Tuesday, June 22.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's security forces detained eight members of a nationwide Protestant church movement in Tehran Friday, June 18, as part of a government crackdown on the growing number of Christians in the strict Islamic nation, a Christian leader told BosNewsLife.

By George Whitten, BosNewsLife Jerusalem Bureau Chief WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (BosNewsLife) -– Masab Hassan Yousef, the son of a prominent Hamas leader who became a Christian, is facing a deportation hearing on June 30 in San Diego because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security views him as "a threat to America’s national security", Worthy News learned Monday, June 14.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BosNewsLife)-- A Turkish court on Friday, June 4, charged a Turkish man with murdering a Roman Catholic bishop -- the latest in a series of violent attacks against the country's tiny Christian minority.

By BosNewsLife News Center KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christian aid workers in Afghanistan faced legal challenges Wednesday, June 2, after authorities ordered two Western church groups to stop their activities amid suspicions they were converting Muslims to Christianity -- an offense that carries the death penalty under Afghan law.