India launches lunar mission

India has successfully launched its first unmanned mission to the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 blasted off from the Sriharikota space center in southern India into the dawn sky today on a two-year mission aimed at laying the groundwork for further Indian space expeditions.

Chief among the mission’s goals is mapping not only the surface of the moon, but what lies beneath.

La Paz, Bolivia

Draft constitution referendum OK’d

Bolivian legislators Tuesday approved a national referendum on the country’s controversial draft constitution, a major victory for leftist President Evo Morales in this divided nation.

The new constitution provides autonomy for indigenous groups and clears the way for more socialist reforms by a president who already has moved to nationalize the nation’s energy and telecommunications sectors.

London

Atheists plan ad campaign

British atheists announced Tuesday a high-profile advertising campaign to put posters on London buses that say: “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

Within hours, more than 2,500 donors had given about $60,000 on a Web site set up to take contributions to fund the ads.

“We wanted it to be a positive message,” said Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, which plans to advertise on buses starting in January. “It’s about telling people that it’s OK if you don’t believe in God. If it raises a smile, too, good.”