Heaven above, North Korea below

Heaven above, North Korea below

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION / Jia Hao] Known in the north as a winter meteor shower, the 2014 Geminids rain down on this rugged, frozen landscape. The scene was recorded from the summit of Mt. Changbai along China’s northeastern border with North Korea as a composite of digital frames capturing bright meteors near […]

Chicoms busy putting a stop to Christmas and proliferating religious movements

Chicoms busy putting a stop to Christmas and proliferating religious movements

SHANGHAI — China is to publish online details of legal religious venues, the official Xinhua news agency reported, apparently in an effort to identify unsanctioned groups as part of an effort to “root out illegal religious activities”. … [A university in northwestern China banned Christmas, calling it a kitsch foreign celebration unbefitting of the country’s […]

Pope warns Vatican: Forgetting the central role of service causes ‘spiritual Alzheimer’s’

Pope warns Vatican: Forgetting the central role of service causes ‘spiritual Alzheimer’s’

Pope Francis has spoken out against the “sickness” of greed and lust for power at the Vatican in his annual Christmas speech, warning that senior officials forgetting the importance of serving God is a sign of “spiritual Alzheimer’s.” The pope’s direct words left many clerics at the gathering “uncomfortable,” according to observers. “A Curia that […]

Man’s first, up-close look at another world: What Neil Armstrong saw before stepping out

Man’s first, up-close look at another world: What Neil Armstrong saw before stepping out

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, NASA Have you seen a panorama from another world lately? Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing site on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility. Taken by Neil Armstrong looking out his […]

Worldwide vigils vow not to forget the Taliban’s massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar

Worldwide vigils vow not to forget the Taliban’s massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar

WASHINGTON — A vigil was held in the nation’s capital [and in cities with Pakistan communities around the world] in remembrance of those killed by a Taliban terrorist attack at a military-run Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday that killed 132 children and nine staff members. Asad Majeed Khan, deputy chief of Mission at […]

Fear stalks the multiplexes in what once was the season of peace and joy

Fear stalks the multiplexes in what once was the season of peace and joy

As hackers issued new threats of violence on Tuesday, Sony Pictures began telling theater owners who had booked The Interview that they are free to drop the movie, and that the studio will support them whatever decision they make. The situation appears to be very fluid: Neither the National Association of Theatre Owners nor the […]

Chaplain written up for citing his faith to combat suicide in the ranks

Chaplain written up for citing his faith to combat suicide in the ranks

Chaplain Joseph Lawhorn was given a “letter of concern” from a superior at Fort Benning for explaining to the class about how his Christian faith helped him through his depression. Col.l David G. Fivecoat, commander of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning, delivered the punishment: … “You provided a two-sided handout that […]