Christmas: News Stories From Around the World - Page 16

From Now 'Til New Year's: Baby-Making on the Rise

Dec 28, 2008 6:42 AM CST

From Now 'Til New Year's: Baby-Making on the Rise

Increased leisure time and resolutions the cause

(Newser) - The gifts have been opened, but a special package may be arriving 9 months from now. The days between Christmas and the start of the New Year see more sex than usual, reports McClatchy Newspapers, which cite Trojan condom's pre-New Year's sales as proof. The hanky panky results in...

Winehouse On Again
With Jailed Hubby

Dec 27, 2008 1:37 PM CST

Winehouse On Again With Jailed Hubby

(Newser) - Amy Winehouse is giving jailed husband Blake Fielder-Civil another chance, the Daily Mirror reports. His revelations about their relationship and drug use upset Winehouse last month, but she called him in his jail cell on Christmas to reconcile. “She says the best Christmas present will be to have her...

'Santa' Gunman Hid Son
From Ex-Wife: Cops

Dec 26, 2008 5:32 PM CST

'Santa' Gunman Hid Son From Ex-Wife: Cops

Revelation of child from previous relationship stressed the Pardo's marriage

(Newser) - Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, who police say killed nine others in a Christmas Eve rampage in California, kept a child from a previous relationship secret from his ex-wife, the Los Angeles Times reports. Pardo did not support his physically handicapped 9-year-old son financially, but claimed him as a dependent for 7...

Amazon Has 'Best Ever' Holiday Season

Dec 26, 2008 3:10 PM CST

Amazon Has 'Best Ever' Holiday Season

Online retailer beat the market with HDTVs, iPods, and Wii

(Newser) - The Grinch apparently didn’t sour shoppers on Amazon this year: The company said today the 2008 holiday season was its “best ever,” MarketWatch reports. Amazon sold more than 6.3 million items worldwide on Dec. 15, its peak day, amounting to “a record-breaking 72.9 items...

'Santa' Shooter Had Bomb, Plane Ticket, Cash: Police

Dec 26, 2008 2:03 PM CST

'Santa' Shooter Had Bomb, Plane Ticket, Cash: Police

Death toll at 9 after another body is found in ashes of Calif. home

(Newser) - The discovery of another body in the charred wreckage of a California home brings the death toll in the Christmas Eve shooting rampage to nine, ABC News reports. Police say Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, suspected of shooting his former in-laws while disguised as Santa, had $10,000 in cash and...

Death Toll Hits 8
in 'Santa' Slayings

Dec 26, 2008 3:01 AM CST

Death Toll Hits 8 in 'Santa' Slayings

Engineer carried firestarting device disguised as a gift

(Newser) - The death toll in the Christmas Eve massacre by a California man dressed as Santa Claus has now risen to at least eight as more details of the rampage emerge, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bruce Jeffrey Pardo first shot in the face an 8-year-old girl who answered the...

No Christmas
Miracle for Retailers

RETAIL SALES

Dec 26, 2008 1:57 AM CST

No Christmas Miracle for Retailers

Even luxury sector sales in free fall

(Newser) - It was a bleak Christmas and promises to be a less than prosperous New Year for retailers with consumers tightening their belts and spending less, reports the Wall Street Journal. Retail sales dropped 5.5% in November and 8% in December, compared with the same months last year. Luxury goods,...

Run-DMC's Christmas Jam Made Rap American

OPINION

Dec 25, 2008 3:40 PM CST

Run-DMC's Christmas Jam Made Rap American

Enmeshing the genre with America's one real tradition sealed the deal

(Newser) - If Christmas is one authentic American effort to create traditions in a nation that has mostly imported them, Christmas music is about as American as it gets, writes Morgan Meis on the Smart Set. “When you do the Christmas song you are solid, you are in the club,”...

Police Find More Santa Shooting Victims in Ashes

UPDATED

Dec 25, 2008 12:58 PM CST

Police Find More Santa Shooting Victims in Ashes

Charred bodies at suburban LA home where 3 already confirmed dead

(Newser) - Several more bodies are in the ashes of a suburban Los Angeles home that was the scene of a Christmas Eve massacre, police tell the AP. Authorities would not say how many bodies there were; three people were already declared dead after a man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire...

Wade Gives
Displaced Family
New Home

Dec 25, 2008 12:48 PM CST

Wade Gives Displaced Family New Home

Florida family lost all in accidental fire

(Newser) - Christmas seemed destroyed for Dawn Smith’s family after her nephew accidentally burned down their Florida home, but Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has saved it. He helped Smith move into a new home on Christmas Eve, providing furnishings, clothes, and gifts for the holidays, the AP reports. Wade’s...

Santa Shooting Suspect Commits Suicide

UPDATED

Dec 25, 2008 11:35 AM CST

Santa Shooting Suspect Commits Suicide

'Person of interest' in SoCal deaths found dead: cops

(Newser) - Police say the man suspected of opening fire last night at a Christmas party in suburban Los Angeles while dressed as Santa Claus has killed himself, the AP reports. The body of 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo was found at the home of his brother early today. Police would not say...

Pope Calls for Peace
in Christmas Speech

Dec 25, 2008 10:53 AM CST

Pope Calls for Peace in Christmas Speech

Middle East, Africa conflicts must be resolved: Benedict

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI passionately called for peace in the Holy Land during his annual Christmas message, delivered from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica. “The horizon seems once again bleak for Israelis and Palestinians,” he said, praying for hope against war, terrorism, and injustice. He also appealed...

3 Dead in LA 'Santa' Shooting

Dec 25, 2008 9:39 AM CST

3 Dead in LA 'Santa' Shooting

Man opened fire at Christmas Eve party

(Newser) - Three people are dead and as many injured after a man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire at a Christmas Eve party, CNN reports. The suburban Los Angeles house was engulfed in a fire when police arrived, the AP adds, and Santa walked off in street clothes. Police are looking...

Calm Is a
Tourist Boon
for Bethlehem

Dec 24, 2008 7:37 PM CST

Calm Is a Tourist Boon for Bethlehem

West Bank sees record influx, boost to Palestinian economy

(Newser) - More than 1.3 million visitors took advantage of the relative peace between Israel and Palestine to visit Jesus Christ’s birthplace this year, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The streets around Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity—abandoned except for Israeli military jeeps just 6 years ago amid an...

Xmas Spirit Translates Better in Foreign Tongue: Keillor

OPINION

Dec 24, 2008 7:14 PM CST

Xmas Spirit Translates Better in Foreign Tongue: Keillor

Writer 'feels the religious fervor' at Spanish mass

(Newser) - Garrison Keillor is no Scrooge, but can find it hard to get the Christmas spirit, he writes for Salon. In New York for “the general dazzlement and variety,” and a holiday unbound by obligations of small-town homogeny, Keillor finds Yuletide spirit in a Spanish-language mass at St. Patrick’...

Santa Gets
Help From
Cousin
Pancho

Dec 24, 2008 3:02 PM CST

Santa Gets Help From Cousin Pancho

Barrio folk hero sports a lowrider, elf entourage

(Newser) - Santa's been getting a little help from his South Pole cousin, Pancho Claus, the lowrider-driving barrio folk hero who doles out gifts on both sides of the Texas border. Pancho takes different forms—sporting a red zoot suit in Houston and a sombrero and black beard in San Antonio—but...

Pirate Hostages Brace
for Christmas at Sea

Dec 24, 2008 1:49 PM CST

Pirate Hostages Brace for Christmas at Sea

More than 260 remain off Somalia's coast in 14 hijacked vessels

(Newser) - More than 260 hostages will spend Christmas with pirates off Somalia’s coast, CNN reports. At least 14 vessels remain in pirate custody as a tumultuous year—with nearly 100 attacks on cargo ships, oil tankers, and yachts—nears its end. The EU, China, and Iran have stationed naval vessels...

Ahmadinejad:
Jesus Is On
Our Side

Dec 24, 2008 12:30 PM CST

Ahmadinejad: Jesus Is On Our Side

British TV will air Christmas address from Iran's leader

(Newser) - Iran's ever-controversial president will deliver a Christmas address on British television tomorrow in which he will argue that if Jesus were alive today, he would "fight against the tyrannical policies of prevailing global economic and political systems, as he did in his lifetime." Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's address is billed...

LiLo: I'm Just
Like Britney

Dec 24, 2008 11:27 AM CST

LiLo: I'm Just Like Britney

Starlet not exactly full of holiday cheer in MySpace post about public trials

(Newser) - In a rambling post on her MySpace page, Lindsay Lohan says she’s “going through a lot right now,” just like Britney Spears did. LiLo praises the “amazing” Brit for chasing her dreams despite publicity and other distractions, then recommends the pop icon’s album to fans,...

Sleepy Christmas for Stocks

MARKET Open

Dec 24, 2008 8:47 AM CST