Who's running for president in the U.S

In 2008, our nation broke through a barrier, electing an African-American to be president of the United States.

In 2016, another barrier may very well be broken. All polls indicate that a woman or a Latino has a very good chance of being elected to be our 45th president.

But there is another barrier -- an important one in the eyes of the world -- that is almost certain not to be smashed. Barring an unprecedented political upheaval, the next president of the United States will be a Christian, just like virtually all of his (or her) predecessors. The only exceptions may have been Thomas Jefferson, who abandoned orthodox Christianity, and Abraham Lincoln, who often spoke of God and frequently quoted the Bible, but who never joined a church.

There are more than 300 million people in the United States, and 70.6 percent of them self-identifyas Christians. But that percentage dropped dramatically -- by 7.8 percentage points -- over the course of seven years, and there now are roughly 100 million non-Christians living in the United States.

It's another symbol of the changing face of our country, but it has yet to be reflected at the top level of American politics. Will the United States elect a president who is not a Christian?

Few non-Christians have run for president

A Jewish Democrat, Joe Lieberman, and a Jewish Republican, Arlen Specter, have run for president, but neither succeeded in winning his party's nomination. Lieberman, who was Al Gore's running mate in 2000, was the only Jew ever to run on a national ticket. Bernie Sanders is running for the Democratic nomination in 2016 but he is trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls.

As for all the other religions that are part of the American mosaic, the total number of major-party presidential candidates remains stuck at zero.

There is one Hindu in Congress: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. There are two Muslims: Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Andre Carson of Indiana. There are two Buddhists: Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Sen. Mazie Hirono. None of them has ever been so much as mentioned as a possible president.

I am a Hindu by birth and Indian by origin. I also was born in the United States, and I am proud to be an American. In my travels throughout the world, I have developed a deep respect and appreciation for every religion. I feel the same energy at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem that I do at the Balaji Temple in Tirupati, India. I feel it at both the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

But while this energy has enlightened me, it also has left me thinking about my country's image. The fabric of America has changed dramatically in the last half century, and I'm concerned that our politics are not keeping up with the change.

Other nations more flexible

One has to wonder why the United States has not evolved as quickly as other democracies. Indira Gandhi became prime minister of India in 1966; Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel in 1969 and Margaret Thatcher became prime minister of the United Kingdom in 1979. Yet the United States, a prime model for democracies in the world, has never had a woman president.

One has to wonder why India, a nation of nearly 1.3 billion people, 79.8 percent of whom are Hindu, has had a Sikh prime minister (Manmohan Singh) and a Muslim president (Abdul Kalam), yet for more than a century and a half the chief executive of the United States has always been a Christian.

And this is not a trivial matter. The United States, like no other country in the world, has opened its doors to immigrants. For nearly a quarter of a millennium, it has truly been the land of opportunity. People from all cultures have come here seeking a haven where their hopes and dreams can come true. Or at least most of them.

Donald Trump's suggestion that the United States ban all Muslim immigrants caused an uproar across the world, because it flew in the face of what the United States believes and what people throughout the world believe America stands for: universal acceptance of all people, regardless of their faith or cultural background.

As our country becomes more diverse, it needs to persuade both its own citizens and all those who hope to become citizens that it will always be a land of limitless opportunity for everyone.

Our message has always been one of acceptance. It's ironic that we profess to believe that everyone is created equal, but at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, our leader is inevitably a Christian. And this does not go unnoticed in many parts of the world. How do you get the world to believe what you say when your actions speak louder than words?

Sending a message to the world

Last week, people throughout the world celebrated a glorious event, the birth of Jesus Christ. Even in predominantly Hindu India, Christmas is a national holiday. Perhaps it's time for our schools to start calling off classes for other holidays to build more awareness, as in New York City, where schools are closed for holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Eid al-Adha.

Schools may start calling off classes for Diwali as well, to educate our children from an early age that all religions matter, and that they all are to be respected and celebrated. Maybe this will pave the way so that 20 years from now, the United States will see a president who is Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist or even Muslim.

The demographics of the United States have changed dramatically, but religion remains the elephant in our room. In a poll taken three-and-a-half years ago, 40% of Americans said they would not vote for their party's presidential nominee if he were a Muslim. If the nominee were an atheist, 43% wouldn't vote for him.

One has to wonder what those percentages would be if the poll were taken today. Why are Americans willing to break down some barriers, but not all of them? Why is a candidate's religion a make-or-break issue for so many citizens of a nation that professes to embrace respect and equality for all faiths?

This election cycle has presented us with our most diverse group of candidates ever: two women (Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina), an Indian-American (Bobby Jindal) and an African-American (Ben Carson). But diversity stops at the door of the church. All four, and all the other 2016 candidates, are Christians, with the exception of Sanders, who is Jewish.

We cleared a big hurdle in 2008. We may clear another in 2016. But religion may well be the biggest hurdle of all, especially while we are waging a war against religious extremists who are hell-bent on destroying Western civilization.

But the question nevertheless must be asked: Can we, the citizens of the greatest democracy on earth, elect a president who is not a Christian? And if we do, can we then evolve to the point that the president's religion isn't an issue ... isn't even worth mentioning?

If the answer is yes, it will send a message to the rest of the world that we truly are the "shining city on a hill," where every parent can tell every child that we live in a country that breaks through every barrier, and that he or she truly can grow up to become president of the United States.

Longest flight in the world - 2016 in aviation

Huge airline profits.

New planes.

Longer routes.

Improved airports.

Heightened attention to safety.

Throw in an estimated 3.7 billion passengers for 2016 ... and you've got a seriously busy aviation year ahead.

Air travelers hate to waste time, so let's get to the details:

Airlines

Fuel prices: Record profits to continue?

Most airlines are already having a happy new year as they rake in massive profits thanks to ultra-low fuel prices.

In the United States last July through September, domestic airlines reported profits of $9.3 billion, according to U.S. government statistics.

And, yep, that's after taxes.

Globally, profits are "unprecedented" said Chris Sloan, founder and president of AirwaysNews.com.

But things aren't perfect.

The number of miles airlines sell per seat are actually down -- especially on routes with premium long distance destinations in Asia and South America, Sloan said.

Will airlines pass some of these profits to consumers by lowering fares?

Not likely.

Aviation consultant Shukor Yusof of Malaysia-based Endau Analytics said there's no incentive "for airlines to reduce fares because of low oil prices because they're doing well and the demand is there."

However, low fuel costs do allow legacy airlines like American and Delta to directly take on ultra low-cost carriers like Spirit, Sloan said, "resulting in downward pressure on fares."

The average round-trip fare (without surcharges and taxes), according to the International Air Transport Association, is projected to be $375 in 2016.

That's 61% lower than it was in 1995, adjusted for inflation.

Seats: More legroom

More seats with extra legroom are coming to more U.S. domestic carriers.

But you'll have to pay for it.

Alaska Airlines plans to add more seats with extra legroom on 60 of its airliners in 2016.

American Airlines says it'll debut more seats with legroom in a special section called "Premium Economy" on international flights.

Mileage programs: New award calculations

The trend toward linking frequent flier perks to how much money you spend -- rather than how many miles you have -- continues in 2016.

The next airline to adopt the policy is American Airlines.

Beginning in the "second half of 2016 ... award miles for travel on American marketed flights will be calculated based on what you pay for your ticket," its website says.

Low-cost airlines: New winners

AirlineRatings.com named the best low-cost airline for the new year in each region of the globe.

In the Asia Pacific, the winner was Scoot.

In North and South America, it was Virgin America.

South Africa's Kulula.com won for Africa and the Middle East.

Norwegian got the nod in Europe.

Airplanes

COMAC C919: Chinese aviation vies for global footing

This is the year the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, COMAC, takes to the air with its C919 in its bid to compete with Boeing and Airbus.

It's one of the largest production airliners ever designed and manufactured in China.

The new plane is expected to take flight for the first time in 2016.

Boeing and Airbus shouldn't be worried in the near term, say analysts.

But as China's air travel market explodes in coming decades, 2016 might be looked at as the year COMAC made its first big move as global player.

Boeing 747: Farewell tours begin

Air France will retire its entire fleet of 747s in January 2016, after flying jumbo jets for 46 years, striking an emotional blow to aviation enthusiasts everywhere.

"It's with great sadness that the reign of the 'Queen of the Skies' is coming to an accelerated end," said airline analyst Sylvester Pittman of airlineguys.com.

"Many other airlines, including Delta, have announced the retirement of this iconic aircraft."

The Jumbos are getting edged out by more efficient wide-body airliners that burn less fuel while flying long distances.

Airbus A320neo: Introductory tours begin

Qatar Airways was supposed to be the first airline to fly Airbus's super-efficient single-aisle A320neo, but in a last minute switch-a-roo, Airbus told Dow Jones Business News it'll be Germany's Lufthansa instead.

The plane -- which burns 15-20% less fuel than existing models -- is expected to enter service for the first time in early 2016.

Airbus A350XWB: New tech displaces old

In aviation, the uber-advanced Airbus A350XWB family of airliners is kind of a rock star.

So much so, Airbus sent one on a festive tour of North and South America last summer to show it off.

What's so special?

Other than its sleek swept-back wings and curly wingtips, it's the overall engineering.

More than half of the plane is made of strong, lightweight carbon fiber composite, instead of traditional aluminum.

The plane is so efficient that -- with only two engines -- it flies many routes that used to be reserved for older four-engine airliners.

In 2016, the A350 begins its first regular service in the United States, as Qatar Airways starts its route linking Doha with Philadelphia.

Bombardier CSeries: Airborne at last

Bombardier calls it "the first all-new single-aisle plane in 30 years."

After many delays, the Canadian plane manufacturer is finally expected to deliver its first CSeries aircraft -- the CS100 -- to Swiss International Air Lines in 2016. 

It's smaller than a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320, but larger than a regional jet.

"It has struggled mightily to get sales, and Bombardier has found itself in financial trouble trying to support it," said aviation/travel analyst Brett Snyder. 

"But the aircraft's performance looks to be solid, and there's the potential for a rumored order from United on the horizon."

Boeing 737MAX: More of more

It's kind of like a 737 ... to the max!

Thanks to sophisticated CFM International LEAP-1B engines, this plane is 40% quieter and 20% more fuel efficient than its namesake.

"Its wing shape and engine positions smoothly direct air into and around the engine, providing additional efficiency," said David Parker Brown, founder of airlinereporter.com.

The first 737Max rolled off the factory line in Renton, Washington, on December 9.

Boeing test pilots are expected to fly it for the first time early in the new year.

Delivery is expected to the 737MAX's first customer, Southwest Airlines, in 2017 -- half a century after the original 737.

Airports

Technology: Helpful or creepy?

Electronic beacons sense when your smartphone enters an airport.

Then the beacons send you messages to guide you to nearby places, like restaurants and airline gates.

More airports and airlines will start using these kinds of apps in 2016.

One global survey reports 81% of airports plan to invest in beacons and other sensors in the next three years.

Germany: More delays to huge project

Sorry, but this won't be the year when the new Brandenburg airport opens in Berlin.

The ambitious project was originally supposed to open in 2011.

Delays have been blamed on construction problems.

Oh well, maybe in 2017.

New York: LaGuardia upgrades, finally

The first major steps toward rebuilding of the ancient and much-maligned LaGuardia Airport are set to begin in 2016 -- a $4 billion project that will last four to five years.

Airlines now using the airport's four terminals eventually will share a giant, modern unified terminal with convenient connections to ground transit.

"LaGuardia is always working at capacity, so any extra 'ingredient' to the LaGuardia 'soup' creates delays," said aviation analyst Phil Derner, of NYCAvation.com. "I don't think it will create air-traffic delays so much, but there will be delays for passengers during the transition."

New Jersey: iPads coming to Newark

At Newark Liberty International Airport, United Airlines' Terminal C is getting a huge, $120 million makeover.

Get this: they've promised to have an iPad stationed at every seat at 55 different eateries spread across the terminal's 100,000-square-foot space.

It's set to open in 2016.

Los Angeles: Easier domestic-international connections

At LAX, a new building connecting domestic terminals with the airport's international terminal is set for completion in 2016.

This will eliminate the hassle of walking outside or riding a shuttle to change planes from domestic flights to flights in the international terminal.

It'll also let domestic passengers connect to international flights without having to suffer going through security lines again.

Brazil: Olympic upgrades

Rio de Janeiro's Galeao airport is gearing up for the 2016 Olympics in August.

The airport is putting up a new building for arrivals and departures, along with 26 new jet bridges and dozens of new passenger check-in desks.

Routes

Vietnam: More service

Low cost airline Vietjet Air is expected to become increasingly aggressive in opening new markets in Vietnam, which aren't serviced by legacy carriers, said analyst Yusof.

Cuba-U.S.: More access

Havana and Washington have restored direct, regularly scheduled commercial flights between the United States and Cuba for the first time in more than half a century.

Assuming aviation regulators can work out the details, a flood of tourism from the states is expected in 2016.

New ultra-longhauls: More time in the sky

Could you handle spending 12 hours-plus in a plane?

Airlines are adding more ultra-longhaul nonstop routes in 2016.

United plans two of these from San Francisco International Airport: one to Xi'an, China (lasting more than 12 hours) and the other to Tel Aviv, Israel, lasting more than 14 hours.

Both flights will use 787 Dreamliners.

Emirates is getting the most attention for its nonstop linking Dubai and Panama City, Panama.

When this Boeing 777-200LR flight starts in February, it will be the longest nonstop flight in the world: 17 hours, 35 minutes across 13,800 kilometers (8,580 miles).

Safety

Aviation regulators in Southeast Asia are concerned following the investigation report of AirAsia Flight 8501 and the downgrading of Thailand's safety rating for its entire aviation system.

Indonesia: Increased pilot training

Officials will be spending much of 2016 inspecting all of Indonesia's Airbus A320 airliners -- same as Flight 8501 -- looking for a technical glitch partially blamed for the 2014 crash that killed all 162 people aboard.

The nation also will require all airlines to increase pilot training as a result of the crash.

"I'd like to see them in 2016 pay more attention to safety and engage perhaps with the likes of Americans or Europeans to come help them with their infrastructure and to overhaul their aviation systems in terms of air traffic and maintenance and the whole mechanics of it," said aviation consultant Yusof.

Regionally, he said, there's "more urgency" now to create a single Southeast Asian safety framework, because many more airplanes are crossing between national air control zones.

Thailand: System makeover

A huge national overhaul of virtually all safety rules and procedures is expected to last into August.

It all started in 2015, when the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) "red flagged" Thailand.

An audit raised questions about the nation's airline safety oversight.

Next, South Korea, China and Japan placed restrictions on new Thai flights.

Then Singapore, Australia and the EU ordered enhanced inspections.

And then, the U.S. FAA downgraded Thailand's safety rating.

U.S. drones: New rules

Whether you call them drones or UAVs -- these tiny unmanned aerial vehicles keep getting in the way of U.S. airliners.

Government regulators are still trying to get a handle on the problem.

In 2016, the FAA is expected to release new rules for an estimated hundreds of thousands of drone operators.

These will be aimed preventing drones from crashing into commercial airplanes or being sucked into their jet engines and triggering a disaster.

Preventing another MH370

Remember after the 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, when everyone was talking about better ways to track airliners across oceans?

Back then, the ICAO was expected in 2016 to adopt an airline standard for tracking planes by satellite.

But if an industry working group has its way, that standard will be put on hold for up to two years to consider unexpected circumstances surrounding the tracking technology.

Flooding in South America

Floods displaced more than 150,000 people in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay this week after days of torrential rains blamed on El Niño.

In Paraguay, which was the hardest-hit, more than 130,000 people were evacuated. In Alberdi city, residents fled as walls holding back water appeared on the verge of collapse, authorities said.

Argentina had 20,000 evacuees, half of them from Concordia city, which President Mauricio Macri will visit Sunday.

At least 38 cities were inundated in Brazil, with Rio Grande do Sul state the most affected, authorities said.

Uruguay had at least 9,000 evacuees, mostly in Salto.

El Niño is a warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean and affects global climate fluctuations. The phenomenon is especially strong this year, and may lead to the worst effects in 15 years, scientists say.

A strong El Niño heats up the atmosphere and changes circulation patterns around the globe, especially the jet stream over the Pacific. With the changes, it dumps more rains and intense storms over the western U.S. and west coast of South America.

U.S. plans for nuclear war

U.S. plans for nuclear war in 1959 included the "systematic destruction" of major urban centers like East Berlin, Moscow and Beijing -- with the populations of those cities among the primary military targets.

The National Archives and Records Administration has released a detailed study produced in 1956 that includes a list of the United States' targets were nuclear war to break out between the superpowers in three years.

The Strategic Air Command's study offers new insight into the Cold War planning -- and worries that United States warplanes would have to unleash overwhelming destruction in an all-out war with the Soviet Union.

The list was made public as a result of a 2006 records request by William Burr, a senior analyst at George Washington University's National Security Archive who directs the group's nuclear history documentation project. It is titled the "SAC (Strategic Air Command) Atomic Weapons Requirements Study for 1959."

"Their target priorities and nuclear bombing tactics would expose nearby civilians and 'friendly forces and people' to high levels of deadly radioactive fallout," Burr wrote this week in an analysis of the government's plans.

"Moreover," Burr wrote, "the authors developed a plan for the 'systematic destruction' of Soviet bloc urban-industrial targets that specifically and explicitly targeted 'population' in all cities, including Beijing, Moscow, Leningrad, East Berlin, and Warsaw."

The primary aim of the U.S. plan was eliminating Soviet Union air power -- which was regarded as key in the event of the Soviets attempting to deploy their own nuclear weapons, since today's long-range missiles and submarine launchers didn't yet exist.

There were plans to follow that up with a series of "final blows" delivered by atomic bombs eight times the yield of the "Little Boy" bomb that destroyed Japan's Hiroshima -- much larger than necessary to destroy specific targets, suggesting that collateral damage was an aim.

The list includes "population" targets. Though the exact targets still aren't public, that indicates wiping out people, rather than specific industries or military facilities, was one goal.

The top priorities were Moscow and Leningrad. The list includes "designated ground zeroes," or sites for bombings -- with 179 in Moscow and 145 in Leningrad.

The study also calls for the development of a 60 megaton bomb. That would have produced 70 times the explosive yield of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

Iraqi forces closing in on ISIS

Iraq's military is just a half-mile away from the ISIS-held government compound in Ramadi in Iraq's battle to retake the city from the terrorist group, the head of Iraq's joint forces said on state television.

Talib Shighati said soldiers are "cleansing" Ramadi's liberated neighborhoods from ISIS terrorists, a task made more difficult by the many IEDs planted "almost everywhere."

With the help of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, Iraqi forces are in the second day of a coordinated attack on Ramadi, a city about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Baghdad and the capital of Anbar province.

The Iraqi flag has been hoisted over two recaptured Ramadi neighborhoods, Iraq's Joint Operations Command said.

ISIS took over Ramadi in May after a year of fighting there, spurring tens of thousands of civilians to flee.

But tens of thousands of civilians remain in Ramadi, and "ISIS is surrounding them and preventing them from leaving," Hikmet Suleiman, an adviser to the governor of Anbar province, told CNN.

Iraqi forces had control of areas in Anbar province before the latest push into the center of Ramadi.

Two weeks ago, security forces started to encircle the city. On Tuesday, they were able to bridge a canal of the Euphrates River and close in on the city center, said to Col. Steven Warren, a spokesman for the coalition.

The presence of Iraqi forces around Ramadi is "like a boa constrictor, a squeezing of ISIL out of that city," Warren told CNN, using another name for ISIS.

He credits the yearlong U.S. training of Iraqi security forces for the successful advances.

"That training is starting to take hold," he said.

Ramadi matters

Ramadi has strategic importance, because Anbar is the heartland of Iraq's Sunni Muslim population and because the city is close to Baghdad.

It also has symbolic significance. After Iraqi forces pulled out of Ramadi in May, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter questioned whether the Iraqis had the "will to fight."

Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, later said Carter had bad information. But Salim al-Jabouri, speaker of the Iraqi parliament and arguably the country's most powerful Sunni politician, said that even the Prime Minister didn't know of the withdrawal until after it happened.

Ramadi was one of "three R's" identified as the core of a triple-pronged U.S. strategy against ISIS that Carter floated before U.S. lawmakers in October. The others were raids by special operations forces and Raqqa, the extremists' de facto capital in Syria.