Yahoo News - A Decade of Discovery: Sun-Watching SOHO Turns Ten
Space.com reports, "The Sun-watching SOHO spacecraft turns 10 this Friday, Dec. 10, having survived a trio of near-death experiences and outlasted its original mission timeline by eight years." :: Humans now have the technology to monitor changes in solar activity and predict changes to the Earth, a capability relatively new to the species. We are poised to observe major signs in the sun. [Signs in the Sun, Luke 21:25]

Yahoo News - Busy hurricane season ends, but get used to it
Reuters reports, "The busiest and costliest Atlantic hurricane season on record finally ends on Wednesday but meteorologists cautioned that it may be years before the tropical Atlantic settles down." [Roaring Seas, Luke 21:25]

My Way News - Strong Earthquake Rattles Iran, Killing 10

AP reports, "An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 5.9 shook a sparsely populated area of southern Iran on Sunday, flattening seven villages, killing 10 people and injuring 70, officials and state-run television said. The temblor was felt as far away as Oman and the United Arab Emirates." [Quakes, Matthew 24:7]

My Way News - Smooth Debut for Palestinian-Run Border
AP reports, "It was a smooth debut Saturday for the first Palestinian-run border. Hundreds of travelers zipped through passport control without having to submit to Israeli security checks, savoring their new freedom after 38 years of military occupation."

CBS News - Earthquake in Central China Kills 14
AP reports, "An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 5.5 shook part of central China on Saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring nearly 400." [Quakes, Matthew 24:7]

My Way News - U.N. Says Some HIV Rates Are Decreasing
AP reports, "HIV infection rates are starting to decrease consistently in some countries for the first time, indicating that prevention programs set up over the last five years are finally yielding results, the United Nations said. However, the AIDS virus continues to expand its reach, with the estimated number of people living with the virus now passing 40 million, according to this year's AIDS epidemic update report, published Monday by the United Nations." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]

ABC News - Sharon Quits Likud to Pursue Peacemaking
AP reports, "Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday he gambled and broke away from his hardline Likud Party because he did not want to squander peacemaking opportunities created by Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip or waste time with political wrangling." This is an event with far-reaching implications for prospects for Mideast peace. [Covenant with Many, Daniel 9:27]

My Way News - Quake Off Indonesia Triggers Tsunami Alert
AP is reporting, "An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6.2 struck off the coast of Sumatra on Saturday, triggering a tsunami alert, officials said. There were no immediate reports of a tsunami, damages or casualties." [Quakes, Matthew 24:7]

Yahoo News - Report: China Arrests Priests, Seminarians
AP is reporting that, "Chinese authorities have arrested a priest and 10 seminarians from that nation's underground Roman Catholic Church, a Vatican-affiliated news agency said Friday." [Believers Persecuted, Matthew 24:8]

Agape Press - Gospel for Asia Responds To Unbiblical Teaching
Preparations are being made for next year's launch of an evangelical Christian television network based in India. The network, called Yathra TV or "Spiritual Journey," is being spearheaded by Gospel for Asia (GFA), a ministry that trains and equips native missionaries to share the gospel... throughout India as well as other Asian countries. [Gospel Preached to All Nations, Matthew 24: 14]

SpaceWeather - Big Sunspot
SpaceWeather.Com reports that, "An impressive sunspot, "NOAA 822," has appeared on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Measured from end to end, it is wider than Jupiter, and it is crackling with M-class (medium-sized) solar flares. So far none of the explosions has hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. Geomagnetic storms and auroras are possible, however, if this 'spot unleashes a major flare in the days ahead." [Signs in the Sun, Luke 21:25]

Yahoo News - China Confirms First Human Bird-Flu Cases
AP reports, "China reported its first human cases of bird flu on the mainland Wednesday, including at least one fatality, as health workers armed with vaccine and disinfectant raced to inoculate billions of chickens and other poultry in a massive campaign to contain the virus." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]

Yahoo News - Panel: No Religious Freedom in N. Korea
AP reports, "There is no freedom of religion in North Korea although there are four churches in the capital of Pyongyang, where some elderly people worship, an independent federal commission reported Tuesday. All religion was suppressed a half-century ago by founding ruler Kim Il Sung, whose son and successor, Kim Jong Il, has made worshipping his father a quasi-religious cult, said David Hawk, a human rights advocate and author of the report." [Persecution, Matthew 24:8; False Christs Matthew 24:4]

CNN - Japan quake prompts tsunami alert
AP reports, "An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 has struck off the east coast of Honshu, Japan's main island, the US Geological Survey says." [Quakes, Matthew 24:7]

Seattle Post - Muslim Crowd Burns Two Pakistan Churches
AP is reporting that churches are being burned in Pakistan, "Hundreds of Muslims attacked and burned two churches in Pakistan on Saturday after reports that a Christian man had desecrated Islam's holy book. No one was injured in the blazes. A school, student hostel and the home of a priest were also torched by the crowd of about 1,500 Muslims near the town of Sangla Hill, about 80 miles northeast of Lahore..." :: Let's pray for believers in Pakistan. [Persecution, Matthew 24:8]

My Way News - Amman Long Viewed As Prime Terror Target

AP reports, "Jordan's capital has long been a prime target for al-Qaida terror strikes, both because it serves as a gateway to Iraq for U.S. workers and because terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi holds strong hatred for his homeland's rulers." [War & Aman, Matthew 24:6 & Daniel 11:41]

My Way News - Suicide Bombers Kill 57 at Jordan Hotels

AP reports, "Suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S.-based hotels in the Jordanian capital Wednesday night, killing at least 57 people and wounding 115 in what appeared to be an al-Qaida assault on an Arab kingdom with close ties to the United States." [War & Aman, Matthew 24:6 & Daniel 11:41]

Guardian Unlimited - State Dept. Cites Saudi Arabia on Rights
A report on the release of the annual U.S. State Department report on religious freedom:

The State Department cited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for denying religious freedom to non-Muslims and found fault to a lesser degree with other allies including Israel, Belgium, France, Germany and Pakistan...Burma was accused of severe violations of religious freedom. China was
faulted for showing insufficient respect for freedom of religion, Cuba for controlling and monitoring religious activities, and North Korea for not permitting religious freedom at all. Listed as hostile toward minority or nonapproved religions were Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, as well as Saudi Arabia. The State Department said that in Iran, Sunni Muslims, Bahais, Jews and Christians reported imprisonment, harassment, intimidation and discrimination based on religious belief.Burma was accused of severe violations of religious freedom. China was faulted for showing insufficient respect for freedom of religion, Cuba for
controlling and monitoring religious activities, and North Korea for not permitting religious freedom at all. Listed as hostile toward minority or nonapproved religions were Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, as well as Saudi Arabia. The State Department said that in Iran, Sunni Muslims, Bahais, Jews and
Christians reported imprisonment, harassment, intimidation and discrimination based on religious belief.

More info can be found on the State Department website. Let's agree to pray for the persecuted church in these countries, that they will persevere and continue to shine the light of hope amid dark oppression. [Believers Persecuted, Matthew 24:8]

My Way News - Archaeologists Unveil Ancient Church Site
AP reports, "The discovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, near the biblical Armageddon, was hailed by experts as an important discovery that could reveal details about the development of the early church in the region. Archaeologists said the church dated from the third century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity across the Byzantine Empire."

Yahoo News - Big Meteor Shower Puts on Show in Alaska
AP reports, "A spectacular sky show is playing over Alaska this month as Earth passes through the fiery remnants of a comet. Fireballs and bright streaks of light seen in the sky around Anchorage Thursday were part of the Taurid meteor shower, the annual spray of comet dust over the Earth's upper atmosphere, according to a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist." [Signs and Wonders in the Heavens, Luke 21:11]