Another Christmas season, another year of hand wringing for Muslim-majority Indonesia's arbiters of piety.

As the Jakarta Globe reports, Indonesia's top Islamic rule-making body (the Indonesia Ulema Council) is again warning Muslims to forego all Christmas "rituals".

In other words, don't plop your kid down on Santa's lap at the mall. And don't even say "Merry Christmas," the clerics warn -- it's a slippery slope towards religious impurity.

Those who've never experienced Christmas in Asia may wonder why clerics would feel compelled to issue such a warning in the first place.

But in malls across Asia -- in Shanghai, Buddhist Bangkok and even Muslim-majority cities such as Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur -- shoppers are deluged with cheesy carols piped through intercoms. And Christmas trees. And neon wreaths and, occasionally, a plump Asian dude waving to tots in a Saint Nick suit.

Directly participating in much of that, the clerics say, is "haram" or forbidden for Muslims.

As for "Merry Christmas"?

“It’s still up for debate whether it’s halal or haram, so better steer clear of it," the council's chairman tells the Jakarta Globe. "But you can say ‘Happy New Year.’ ”

Sombath Somphone is a 60-year-old activist in a country where even a whiff of dissent can draw harsh reactions from authorities.

That's why, in the wake of his mysterious disappearance, Sombath's family and supporters have wasted little time in pointing fingers at the government.

Sombath isn't a hardcore rabble rouser. He's best known for drawing attention to Laos' deep poverty and starting foundations to help Lao people find self-sustaining employment. 

But his family is demanding answers after Sombath went missing earlier this week. As the Associated Press reports, he was en route to meet his wife for dinner five nights ago and never showed up.

They are hardly encouraged by the emergence of grainy closed-circuit footage that appears to show cops stopping Sombath's car and men escorting him to a separate vehicle that drives off into the night.

The Lao government denies any role in Sombath's disappearance. They suggest he may have been kidnapped over personal or business disputes. That hasn't stopped Human Rights Watch from accusing the government outright and insisting that authorities "immediately reveal his location and return him to his family.”

Whoever absconded with Sombath may have underestimated the scholarly, English-speaking activist's international profile. Pressure on the Lao government to make sense of this mystery is likely to increase by the day.

Missing Ravi Shankar? Try foul-mouthed-but-supercool Punjabi rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh -- though not if you're looking for classical sitar.

Best known for a song with an unprintable title (at least in Hindi), Yo Yo Honey Singh is arguably India's biggest non-Bollywood popstar, topping Youtube searches in 2012 with around 9 million viewers for his song "Brown Rang" (Brown Color), according to FirstPost.in.

Coal is slated to surpass oil as the world's top fuel source by 2017, as consumption in China and India outstrips the US.

China and India lead the growth in coal consumption over the next five years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. The report said China's demand for coal will become the world's top consumer during that period, while India will become the largest seaborne coal importer and second-largest consumer, surpassing the US.

"The world will burn around 1.2 billion more tonnes of coal per year by 2017 compared to today, equivalent to the current coal consumption of Russia and the US combined,"India's Hindu newspaperquoted IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven as saying. "Coal’s share of the global energy mix continues to grow each year, and if no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade.”