100 Arrested for Doomsday Rumors

This is not such a nice way to spend the end of the world, is it? Chinese authorities have arrested more than 100 people—nearly half of whom belong to a fringe Christian group—for spreading rumors that the world will end on Friday, state media reported on Tuesday. Police seized leaflets, video discs, books and more materials that predicted the world will end on Dec. 21, a date some have believed the Mayas had predicted. Nearly half of those arrested belong to a group known as Almighty God, also known as Eastern Lightning, a so-called Christian group that believes that Jesus reappeared as a woman in central China—and has been accused of kidnapping Christians and allegedly trying to beat them into conversions.