Rescue helicopters have discovered debris in the Black Sea from a Russian military transport plane which went off radar en route to Syria. Most of the passengers on the Tu-154 were members of the famous Alexandrov Ensemble army choir. According to preliminary reports, the Tupolev transport plane had 92 people on board, including 84 passengers […]
A powerful explosion in the town of Midsayap, Northern Philippines, wounded nine civilians and one police officer, local media reported Saturday. MOSCOW(Sputnik) — The bomb placed under a police car went off at 9 p.m. local time [13:00 GMT] near a church, where a Christmas Eve mess was being held, the ABS-CBN broadcaster reported. The […]
A fire on Thursday engulfed at least 140 buildings in Itoigawa, Japan. The inferno injured, by varying reports, at least eight people. The coastal town in the northern prefecture of Niigata’s many traditional wooden buildings burned easily, fanned by winds of 56kph (35mph). Narrow streets hampered firefighters. “Sparks of fire flew around,” one local resident […]
Thirteen people were killed and over a dozen others were wounded in a bus accident in Malaysia, local media report. MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The accident occurred in the Muar District of Johor State on Saturday morning, The Star newspaper said citing Johor Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Mohd Yusof Mohd Gunnos. The bus driver, […]
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the nation’s top Muslim cleric group, issued a fatwa recently prohibiting companies from forcing employees to dress as Santa Claus or wear Christmas-related clothing. MUI claims that the fatwa respects Indonesia’s diversity, while human rights activists challenged the council, stating it failed to anticipate the fatwa’s destructive effects. Meanwhile, Islamic […]
PanARMENIAN.Net – Israel lashed out at U.S. President Barack Obama over a UN Security Council resolution passed Friday, December 23 demanding it halt settlements in Palestinian territory, while vowing it would not abide by it, AFP reports. “Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms,” a statement […]
China’s atheist ruling Communist Party remains uneasy about the public celebration of Christmas, placing restrictions on events to mark the festival, which is seen by the powers that be as a dangerous foreign import, Christians told RFA in recent interviews. In the eastern province of Zhejiang, which has a large Protestant population, a hotel was […]
Australian police have arrested a group of Daesh-inspired people that was reportedly plotting attack on Christmas Day in the country’s southeastern city of Melbourne. MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Police arrested seven people in Melbourne on Friday morning on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack on Christmas Day in the capital of Victoria state. “In relation to […]
