• China Approves Landmark Two-Child Per Couple Policy to Begin Jan. 1, 2016

  Chinese legislators passed a historic decision on Sunday, allowing all couples to have two children in the future, Xinhua News Agency reported. The new birth policy replaces the country’s controversial 37-year-old one-child policy, and will go into effect Jan. 1, 2016. Some claim the one-child policy was ineffective and unnecessary, given the country's aging residents.

  

• Why You Should Recycle Your Christmas Trees; Recycling and Disposal Options

  Rather than kicking natural Christmas trees to curbs for city solid waste pickup, more Americans are donating holiday trees to organizations whose employees and volunteers can repurpose them for wildlife, fish or recreational environments. For example, Missouri Department of Conservation representatives have collected natural Christmas trees for more than 25 years to recycle as fish habitats in local lakes. Other trees nationwide are going toward soil erosion barriers, bird sanctuaries and walki

  

• Six Organizations Join Legal Battle To Remove Ten Commandments' Monument In Pennsylvania High School

  Six organizations this month joined the multiyear legal battle to remove a Ten Commandments' monument from Valley Junior-Senior High School in New Kensington, Penn. A lawsuit originally was waged from an atheist parent who refused to send her daughter to school due to the monument's presence on the school grounds. The monument was donated to the school district by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in the 1950s, part of a nationwide movement in response to the 1956 release of the movie, “The Ten Comm

• Nativity Painting at Tennessee McDonald's Encourages Everyone to 'Rejoice, His Name Is Jesus'

  A photo depicting a handmade painting of a Nativity scene on the front windows of a Spring Hill, Tenn., McDonald's restaurant located on Main Street went viral on social media because it was accompanied with the words "Rejoice, His name is Jesus," taking some people aback.

• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Urges Muslims To Improve Islam's Public Image: 'Choose Right Path'

  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged Muslim country residents to assume the responsibility of improving Islam's public image in remarks he made at a Saturday conference in Tehran. Due to the number of extremist attacks during 2015, people increasingly associate the religion of Islam with acts of violence. He said Muslims "must remove Islam's negative image from today's cyber and real space."