The waning moon shines close to the king of the planets on Dec. 7.

The Geminids return with near-perfect viewing conditions, offering skywatchers up to 150 meteors an hour under dark December skies.

The president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, was sworn in for a third term on Monday three months after a disputed general election. Opposition parties and civil society rejected the results of the election, which the Constitutional Council said that Touadéra won with 77.9% of the vote. The Central African Republic is one of the countries where Wagner, a Russian mercenary group, was first active in Africa.