Christian Science Monitor | All Stories

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:00:00 PST

Echoes of ‘The Wizard of Oz' mix with classic Chinese folk tales in this layered narrative.

Outdoor cats are easy prey for coyotes

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:00:00 PST

Cats are known as hunters but when coyotes come on the scene, cats who go outdoors become the prey.

Atlanta's mayoral runoff may hinge on city's gay voters

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:00:00 PST

A black candidate and a white candidate are facing off in Atlanta's mayoral runoff election Tuesday. But another bloc, gay voters, may well decide the outcome.

Report: Obama's stimulus plan is creating new jobs

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:00:00 PST

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday that the stimulus has yielded between 600,000 and 1.6 million new jobs. But the stimulus's overall economic impact is uncertain, it said.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi, White House partiers, not going away

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:00:00 PST

The couple who allegedly crashed the White House state dinner last week, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, have been invited to testify Thursday before the House Homeland Security Committee. They'd also like to appear on the 'Today' show again.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon convicted of embezzling gift cards

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:00:00 PST

A jury on Tuesday convicted Mayor Sheila Dixon of taking $600 worth of gift cards donated to the needy for her personal use. The verdict throws Baltimore politics into disarray.

A Season of Gifts

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Wry humor and Midwestern sensibility mark this Depression-era tale of Grandma Dowdel and her unorthodox ways.

The political stakes of Obama's Afghanistan war speech

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Obama delivers his Afghanistan war speech Tuesday. The danger for the president is that next fall, disillusioned voters on the left sit out the midterm elections, when the Democrats are already expected to lose seats in Congress.

Iran threatens detained British sailors

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:35:00 PST

Iran detained British sailors who were delivering a yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain, to Dubai. Iran has said it might take 'serious measures' against the five civilians.

Iran: healing the history of conflict

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

A Christian Science perspective.

In the Haut-Jura

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

A poem.

Supreme Court case: Florida v. beach property owners

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Beach property owners in Florida went to court after the state government added sand to the beach in front of their homes, citing erosion, and designated the new stretch public land. The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday.

Israel rejects European Union plan to divide Jerusalem

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Israel's foreign ministry said a Sweden-led initiative to divide Jerusalem, with East Jerusalem as the eventual Palestinian capital, would marginalize the European Union's ability to foster peace.

Stupak, Hatch, and health care: Government shouldn't answer the abortion question

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Both sides of the debate should want government out of the issue – but that means fulfilling a duty to women and children.

What's Obama's exit strategy for the Afghanistan war?

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Like LBJ decades ago, Obama is escalating a war in a poor Asian nation.

Sri Lanka Tamils: freed from camps, their votes may give them new clout

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Sri Lanka Tamils may have been freed from camps because of the politics surrounding upcoming elections as much as international pressure.

In Israeli settlements, residents and builders push back on 10-month freeze

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Israel has begun to enforce a 10-month freeze on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, sending officials out to construction sites to issue stop-work orders.

Obama's speech on Afghanistan war: Will Europe send more troops?

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

President Obama's speech on Afghanistan at West Point Tuesday is expected to appeal to Europe to match his troop surge. Will Europeans provide 10,000 soldiers?

Top universities: Britain pushes Oxford and Cambridge to recruit more widely

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Top universities Oxford and Cambridge draw 43 percent of students from private schools that educate 7 percent of the population. They face pressure to take applicants' social and economic background into account.

World AIDS Day: South Africa to treat all HIV children

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

To mark World AIDS Day, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma announced a major policy shift, offering to provide treatment to all children diagnosed as HIV-positive.

Seattle cop-killer case – the exception, not the rule

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Investigators must look at how suspect Maurice Clemmons slipped through the cracks. But they must be careful not to draw broad conclusions.

Obama's Afghanistan speech: five key points

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:00:00 PST

In President Obama's Afghanistan speech, he announced Tuesday night that he will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. But he's already decided to start bringing them back by mid-2011.

Building a home from the inside out

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

A Christian Science perspective.

The Protestant debate over justification: Here I stand.

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Ignorance about how we get right with God has weakened the church. We must reassert that we're saved by faith alone.

What if interns went on strike?

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Internships have come to replace entry-level jobs, but without advancement. Why should people work for free when there's no reward?

Copenhagen's baby step on climate change: More electric cars?

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

China and US cooperation in promoting such vehicles is a concrete step against global warming. But how to measure claims in miles "per gallon"?

He helps innocent prisoners win their freedom

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Through his Centurion Ministries, Jim McCloskey works to overturn unjust sentences.

Iran's 10 new nuclear plants? Not likely, say experts.

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:30:00 PST

Experts say Iran's plans to build 10 new nuclear plants is not within its capabilities for years, but Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said they would manufacture 500,000 new centrifuges.

Rwanda scores coup with Commonwealth entry, renewed France ties

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Former Belgian colony Rwanda was accepted this weekend to the Commonwealth of former British colonies and re-established diplomatic relations with its long-time arch-nemesis, France.

Somali pirates seize oil tanker. Where are the anti-piracy forces?

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

The Greek-owned Maran Centaurus was seized Sunday more than 800 miles east of Mogadishu fully loaded with an estimated 2 million barrels of oil heading for New Orleans from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Supreme Court decision lets Pentagon keep detainee photos secret

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

The Supreme Court Monday threw out a federal appeals court ruling requiring the release of photos that allegedly show abuse of US-held detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. The court cited a new law that allows the Defense Secretary to withhold such photos.

Questions in Iran about NPT, as nuclear program set to expand

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Iran says the 10 new nuclear sites are for energy, not weapons, but sent mixed messages on whether it will remain in a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In Uruguay, former guerrilla wins by moving away from Chávez

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

José "Pepe" Mujica won 51.7 percent of the votes in Sunday's run-off, extending the power of the ruling center-left Broad Front coalition.

Saudi Arabians use Facebook to vent fury over Jeddah flood deaths

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

After flooding in Jeddah killed more than 100 people, Saudi Arabians have flocked to Facebook to press the government for better drainage. A Katrina moment for Saudi leaders?

Catalina bison get birth control to keep numbers down

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Conservationists on Catalina Islands, off the coast of southern California, are experimenting with birth control injections to control the wild bison population.

Swiss minaret ban reflects European fear of Islam

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

The Swiss vote to ban minarets comes at a time when Muslim populations are growing and Europeans worry about losing traditional Christian culture.

Will words fail us at the Copenhagen conference?

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Linguist George Lakoff maintains that humans lack good ways to verbalize complex issues like climate change; the Monitor's language columnist tries to imagine things otherwise.

Why Morocco went Hollywood

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

For decades, it's been a stand-in for Saudi Arabia, Tibet, Egypt, the American West – and now, Iraq.

Six Picks: Recommendations from the Monitor staff

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Norah Jones's latest CD, a contemporary 'Alice in Wonderland' on the Syfy Channel, acclaimed Pixar-animated movie shorts on ABC, and more.

Honduras election: conservative close to victory. Is Zelaya crisis past?

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

In Honduras election, conservative opposition candidate Porfirio Lobo is ahead with most of the votes counted. Many Hondurans want to move on from the political crisis with or without Manuel Zelaya.

Supreme Court rejects case of valedictorian who mentioned Jesus

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

A high school valedictorian argued that her free-speech rights were violated when she was forced to apologize to the student body for talking about Jesus in her graduation speech. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case Monday.

Swiss minaret vote and vague fears about Islam

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

General concern about creeping Islamic power, rather than a critical national problem with mosques, appears to have produced the Swiss minaret vote banning construction of the towers.

Swiss minaret ban: Can Europe learn to trust its Muslim citizens?

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Switzerland's ban on minarets is based on inflamed stereotypes that Islam is in conflict with Swiss values.

John Demjanjuk, alleged Nazi death camp guard, goes on trial in Germany

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

John Demjanjuk, who prosecutors alleged worked as a Nazi guard at the Sobibor death camp, went on trial in Germany Monday. His is likely the last high profile case over WWII war crimes.

The roots of Iran's nuclear program

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

It's quest to develop a nuclear program has taken a circuitous path through history – and includes early cooperation with the US.

After Dubai World debt panic, UAE guarantees all bank deposits

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

The United Arab Emirates central bank guaranteed all deposits in the banking system Sunday, seeking to calm markets made nervous by Dubai World's debt payment crisis. Asian markets rose Monday on the news.

Seattle police ambush: cop-killing rampages up this year

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Sunday's police ambush near Seattle was the fifth shooting in which more than one police officer died. The 15 officers killed this year in multiple-shooting incidents is the highest since 2000.

Tiger Woods car crash breaks down his wall of privacy

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Tiger Woods car crash, photos of his damaged SUV, and rumors on the Internet are confronting the golfer with the sort of public-relations challenge that he has always been so adept at avoiding.

After space station is built, what will ISS crew do up there?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

For years to come, the International Space Station will be the site for experiments benefiting earth research and extended space flight.

Ford County

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:00:00 PST

Thrillmeister John Grisham tries his hand at a collection of short stories set in rural north Mississippi.