SIDON, Lebanon: Like many Syrian Christian refugees, Bassam Qaloumi and his family, originally from Syria’s Maaloula, are celebrating Christmas
this year in Lebanon, clinging to the hope one day they’ll return to
their town that has been affected by the lingering war next door.
On occasion of New Year, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All
the East John X Yazigi presided upon mass at the Marimaite Cathedral
of Damascus on Wednesday.
The US National Security Agency is
trying to develop a computer that could ultimately break most encryption
programs, whether they are used to protect other nations' spying
programs or consumers' bank accounts, The Washington Post reported on
Thursday.
The New York Times and Guardian
newspapers called Thursday for US leaker Edward Snowden to be granted
clemency for his revelations on US government spying.
From Father Christmas in Madagascar to lighting
candles in India, OCC247 looks at how Christmas is being marked
around the world.
A Madagascar Father Christmas walks in the dusty street
of Ambohibary, 150km from Antananarivo, greeting children days after
Madagsacar went to the polls to vote in a presidential election.
TARPON SPRINGS — The city’s featured annual event is back: Feast Day of Epiphany.
Thousands are expected to pour into Tarpon Springs to attend
the Monday morning and afternoon’s event celebrating the baptism of
Christ in the Jordan River.
The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople emphasized the importance
of the family and the dignity of the unborn child in his Christmas
encyclical letter.
At
least 70,000 Christians were killed in 2013 for their
faith.According to the statistics of the previous year, 100,000
Christians were killed in 2012. The situation in 2013 has
not become less dramatic.
Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery, or Saint Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery, or Holy Trinity-Saint Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery is a monastery of nuns (convent) near Sarov (12 km), and near the city of Nizhny Novgorod (185 km), in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urged Turksto rally around him in fighting what he termed a dirty plot by
foreign-backed elements targeting "the bread on your table, the money
in your pocket, the sweat of your brow".
VATICAN CITY - More than 6.6 million people attended events with
Pope Francis at the Vatican from his election in March to the end of
2013, figures released on Thursday showed, compared to 2.3 million for
former Pope Benedict in all of 2012.
Syrian computer hacker conglomerate, the Syrian Electronic Army
(SEA), has kicked off the New Year with a number of cyber-attacks,
compromising Skype’s Twitter, Facebook accounts, and its official blog.
While January 1 marks the beginning of the civil new year—and we
wish every blessing of the season to our readers—it also marks the Feast
of the Circumcision of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
On the eighth day after His Nativity, our Lord Jesus Christ was
circumcised in accordance with the Old Testament Law. All male infants
underwent circumcision as a sign of God’s Covenant with the holy
Forefather Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:10-14, Leviticus
12:3).
Sofia. The Orthodox Church celebrates on January 2 St. Silvester,
Pope of Rome with a cleansing feast. According to the traditions, the
remains of Christmas are ''cleared away'' by male carolers who arrive to
the rich homes with music and songs to pick up a bag filled with meat
and wine left for them in the barn.
Most Australians are opposed to Google handing over Australian data
to American spy agencies and want greater privacy protection following
the revelations of US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden. There
is also strong support for greater government regulation to force the
internet giant to pay more tax in Australia.
It
is said that Mikhail Vrubel sold his soul to the devil.
So, it is no coincidence, people said, that all his
problems and tragedies began when he was working on the
“Demon Downcast” painting.
Vrubel's “Demon” is a symbol of a man who
wanted to fly too high, as high as God himself - and was
downcast for his presumption.
The
first ancient DNA study in South Asia has revealed that
a 400-year-old bone relic kept in St. Augustinian
Church in Goa is likely to be a remnant of Queen
Ketevan of Georgia (eastern Europe), who was born in a
royal family in 1565 in the medieval period.
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