Christmas: News Stories From Around the World - Page 12

Secret Santas
Wipe Away
Strangers'
Layaway Debts

Dec 17, 2011 12:13 PM CST

Secret Santas Wipe Away Strangers' Layaway Debts

Anonymous donors clearing accounts at Kmarts, Walmarts

(Newser) - A nice fad this holiday season: Secret Santas are going around to Kmarts and Walmarts and paying off the layaway accounts of random strangers. It's happening all over, including stores in Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, South Carolina, and Montana. The AP , NPR and Time round up examples of the...

Church Ad Shows Mary Taking Preggers Test

Church Ad
Shows Mary
Taking
Pregnancy Test

Dec 16, 2011 4:35 AM CST

Church Ad Shows Mary Taking Pregnancy Test

Billboard there to spark conversation, church says

(Newser) - A church in Auckland, New Zealand, has irked traditionalists with a billboard showing a shocked Virgin Mary looking at a pregnancy test. St. Matthew-in-the-City Church says the portrait was intended to “spark thought and conversation in the community." Christmas is "about a real pregnancy, a real mother...

Jimmy Kimmel Gets Parents to Prank Their Kids With Awful Christmas Presents

Jimmy Kimmel
Gets Parents
to Prank Kids
for Christmas

Dec 13, 2011 6:58 PM CST

Jimmy Kimmel Gets Parents to Prank Kids for Christmas

They record reactions to lousy gifts

(Newser) - Jimmy Kimmel is establishing a holiday tradition of sorts. On Halloween, he asked parents to tell their kids they ate up all the candy and to record the reaction. For Christmas, he asked parents to give their kids an early but terrible present and again record it for YouTube posterity,...

California Atheists Snap Up Nativity Spaces

Dec 13, 2011 5:00 AM CST

California Atheists Snap Up Nativity Spaces

Christians get just 2 of 21 spaces in Santa Monica park

(Newser) - Santa Monica's Christians are crying foul over a lottery system that has left 18 of the 21 park spaces that usually hold Nativity scenes in the hands of atheists. A Jewish group snagged another spot, leaving the California city's church with just two spaces and only enough room...

Man Dressed as Santa
Drugs 9th Victim at Market

Dec 12, 2011 11:10 AM CST

Man Dressed as Santa Drugs 9th Victim at Market

Girl, 15, may have been given date rape drug

(Newser) - A ho-ho-horrible story out of Berlin, where police say a man dressed as Santa drugged a teenager Saturday night at a Christmas market. The suspect offered the 15-year-old girl and her friend a shot of alcohol; the friend refused, but the victim drank both and soon began vomiting. Police say...

Rhode Island Christians Revolt Over 'Holiday Tree'

RI Christians
Revolt Over
'Holiday Tree'

Dec 7, 2011 8:54 AM CST

RI Christians Revolt Over 'Holiday Tree'

Carolers crash tree lighting as Catholics hold competing event

(Newser) - When Scott Walker rechristened Wisconsin’s Capitol "holiday tree" a "Christmas tree," the atheists revolted ; now, in Rhode Island, the opposite is happening. When the governor unveiled the Statehouse "holiday tree," angry carolers crashed last night's tree lighting, interrupting a children's chorus to...

Now on Twitter: Joseph von Nazareth

Dec 7, 2011 12:23 AM CST

Now on Twitter: Joseph von Nazareth

He tweets in German, is upset about Mary's pregnancy

(Newser) - There might not be room at the inn, but you can always squeeze 140 characters onto Twitter. Joseph of Nazareth, aka Joseph von Nazareth because he tweets in German, has taken to the Twitterverse to broadcast his tiny family's tribulations this Christmas, reports Der Spiegel . "Do you have...

Mariah, Bieber Ruin Christmas

New music video not exactly well-received

(Newser) - Justin Bieber teamed up with Mariah Carey for a new version of her '90s holiday classic, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and the results are just about as bad as you'd expect. A sampling of the reactions:

"Why has the Bieb launched a

...

News Anchor
Hates Santa,
Ticks Off Parents

Dec 2, 2011 1:22 PM CST

News Anchor Hates Santa, Ticks Off Parents

Nonbeliever declares 'there is no Santa' during newscast

(Newser) - A news anchor in Chicago got into hot water with parents for an on-air rant against Santa Claus, reports the Huffington Post . After a segment on how to handle kids' Christmas expectations in a lousy economy, Robin Robinson of Fox Chicago told her co-host: "Stop trying to convince your...

White House
Decorations
All About Bo

Dec 1, 2011 1:00 PM CST

White House Decorations All About Bo

First dog is the main theme this year

(Newser) - As Michelle Obama welcomed military families to the White House yesterday, the building was decked out for the holidays—and Bo Obama was everywhere. Each room had a replica of the dog, made of everything from licorice to buttons to trash bags, the Washington Post reports. The dog is also...

NBA Is the New Grinch

OPINION

Nov 28, 2011 11:46 AM CST

NBA Is the New Grinch

League is trying to 'steal Christmas': Jason Gay

(Newser) - The NBA’s Christmas Day return is a bit rich: Does the organization really expect us to abandon our egg nog to watch holiday basketball? Even some within the league think the idea is “presumptuous,” notes Jason Gay in the Wall Street Journal ; it’s not the first...

DC Gets Massive
Christmas Tree

Nov 28, 2011 11:43 AM CST

DC Gets Massive Christmas Tree

63-foot fir arrives from California

(Newser) - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the nation's capital: A 63-foot Sierra white fir tree fresh out of California's Stanislaus National Forest pulled into Washington, DC, today, to serve as the Capitol Christmas Tree. The tree will be put up next to the Capitol...

'12 Days of Christmas'
Gifts Now Top $100K

Nov 28, 2011 6:51 AM CST

'12 Days of Christmas' Gifts Now Top $100K

The swans, in particular, will cost you: $6,300

(Newser) - For the first time ever, the price of obtaining all the presents mentioned in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" has risen above $100,000. Taking home everything from the 12 drummers drumming right on down to the partridge in a pear tree—364 items in total—will cost you...

Scott Walker Rechristens 'Holiday Tree' a 'Christmas Tree'

Nov 9, 2011 11:56 AM CST

Scott Walker Rechristens 'Holiday Tree' a 'Christmas Tree'

Wisconsin atheists not happy with the switch

(Newser) - Scott Walker, never one to shy away from controversy, inflamed atheists on Monday by re-naming Wisconsin’s Capitol Rotunda “holiday tree” a “Christmas tree.” That’s what the tree was called from 1916 to 1985, but for the last quarter-century, lawmakers have called it by the more...

Hot Christmas Gifts: Ferrari, $45K Ping-Pong Table

NEIMAN MARCUS LIST

Oct 19, 2011 10:20 AM CDT

Hot Christmas Gifts: Ferrari, $45K Ping-Pong Table

Fantasy gifts for 2011 unveiled in 'Christmas Book'

(Newser) - It’s that time of year again: time for Neiman Marcus to say, “Recession? What recession?” and urge you to purchase a $250,000 mahogany speedboat for your beloved this Christmas. Yes, the Christmas Book was unveiled yesterday. To really get into the holiday spirit, read on for the...

Christmas Bombings
Spark Unrest in Nigeria

Dec 27, 2010 1:49 PM CST

Christmas Bombings Spark Unrest in Nigeria

Some fear escalating violence ahead of elections

(Newser) - State police are swarming into central Nigeria following a series of Christmas church bombings that killed 38, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Following Saturday's explosions, angry youths barricaded roads and attacked people passing by yesterday, and houses and a truck also were set ablaze. UN chief Ban Ki-moon blasted the...

Storm Could Drop Foot
of Snow on NYC, Boston

UPDATED

Dec 25, 2010 3:14 PM CST

Storm Could Drop Foot of Snow on NYC, Boston

Hundreds of flights canceled

(Newser) - A rare white Christmas in parts of the South complicated life for travelers, and airlines canceled hundreds of flights ahead of heavy snow for the East Coast. The National Weather Service said the storm could bring about a foot of snow to New York City and Boston tomorrow, up to...

Nine Truly Awful
Christmas Movies

Dec 25, 2010 10:54 AM CST

Nine Truly Awful Christmas Movies

Sorry Jim Carrey, but you're no cartoon Grinch

(Newser) - It’s fun to be festive and all, but nobody really needs to see Arnold Schwarzenegger trading Christmas-related quips with Sinbad. On E! , Josh Grossberg lists nine holiday flicks you should skip:

Jingle All the Way: The aforementioned Schwarzenegger-Sinbad vehicle involves jokes that “fall flatter than a drunken department

...

Thank the Druids
for Mistletoe Kisses

Dec 25, 2010 10:25 AM CST

Thank the Druids for Mistletoe Kisses

Mistletoe has long been considered a magical plant

(Newser) - Thank the ancient Druids for finding the magic in mistletoe, the plant that inspires Christmas kisses, writes Christopher Beam in Slate's Explainer column . Mistletoe has long been believed to have magical powers: For the ancient Druids, mistletoe could make barren animals fertile again. In Norse mythology, Loki used a spear...

Your Friendly NORAD Operator: Michelle Obama

Dec 25, 2010 8:48 AM CST