Christmas

Read the most recent news stories about Christmas on Newser.com

Stories 301 - 320 | << Prev   Next >>

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
 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
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
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

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
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

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
 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

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

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

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

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
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
 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
 Sleepy Christmas for Stocks 
MARKET Open
Dec 24, 2008 8:47 AM CST

Sleepy Christmas for Stocks

Investors shrug off negative data

(Newser) - There was plenty of bad news for the market today, but investors largely shrugged it off and turned their minds toward Christmas dinner. The Dow rose a mere 3.64 points at the open, while the S&P gained 2.32 points. Consumer spending fell 0.6% last month, and...

Time to Give Joseph His Due
 Time to Give Joseph His Due  
opinion
Dec 23, 2008 8:30 PM CST

Time to Give Joseph His Due

Priest sees stolid husband to Jesus's mother as a role model

(Newser) - Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and even the Three Kings come to mind at Christmastime, but rarely do Christians think of humble Joseph. James Martin, a Jesuit priest, writes in Slate that forgetting the man who raised Jesus—the reason for the season—is unfair. "It's time to take a...

Star Wars' Secret Shame: The Holiday Special

1978 TV show included singing, dancing, and Wookiees

(Newser) - It sounded like a good idea at the time. In 1978, Star Wars was huge, but a sequel was 2 years away. So why not make a TV special? Why not a holiday special? Centered on Wookiees? "The only sound they make is like fat people having an orgasm,...

Shoppers Turn to Funny, Useful Gifts

Boots, joke books, comfort clothes score big in recession

(Newser) - Christmas shoppers are thinking small this year, and the gifts they're buying reveal how Americans are coping with recession, USA Today reports. Here's a list of today's trends:
  • Practical: Nearly half of the most popular items searched for online were boots, according to one mall inventory service. Gifts that help
...

The Kids Are All Right: Let's Drop the 'Santa Debate'

Parents sharply divided on whether to pretend for sake of kids

(Newser) - As if shopping for the last Malibu Barbie weren’t hard enough, Christmas is testing parents' psyches in more insidious ways, Carl Honoré writes in the Washington Post. “The Great Santa Debate,” about whether to keep up the St. Nick myth for children, “feeds into a broader...

What Your Xmas Lights Say About You

They say you're a pretty princess

(Newser) - Your neighbor’s yard is strewn with lit-up Santas, blinking stars, and a waving snowman. Think he’s trying to tell you something? It turns out he is, psychologists tell the Chicago Tribune. They consider decorations a manifestation of our need to communicate. “It’s a very basic tendency...

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