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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Christmas

Christmas stories: 100 news summaries

21 - 40 of 100 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>

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UPDATED

Police Find More Santa Shooting Victims in Ashes

Charred bodies at suburban LA home where 3 already confirmed dead

Dec 25, 08 12:58 PM CST
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Los Angeles • Christmas • Santa Claus • shooting • house fire • Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

 Wade Gives 
 Displaced Family 
 New Home

Florida family lost all in accidental fire

Dec 25, 08 12:48 PM CST
(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... More »

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Florida • Miami Heat • Dwyane Wade • big gifts • charity • Christmas • house fire

UPDATED

Santa Shooting Suspect Commits Suicide

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

Dec 25, 08 11:35 AM CST
(AP) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Los Angeles • Christmas • Santa Claus • shooting • house fire • fire • Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

 Pope Calls for Peace 
 in Christmas Speech 

Middle East, Africa conflicts must be resolved: Benedict

Dec 25, 08 10:53 AM CST
(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... More »

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Africa • Middle East • Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • children • Rome • Christmas • sermon

 3 Dead in LA 'Santa' Shooting 

Man opened fire at Christmas Eve party

Dec 25, 08 9:39 AM CST
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • marriage • Christmas • party • Santa Claus • shooting • fire

 Calm Is a 
 Tourist Boon 
 for Bethlehem 

West Bank sees record influx, boost to Palestinian economy

Dec 24, 08 7:37 PM CST
(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... More »

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Israel • tourism • Palestine • Christians • Christmas • Bethlehem • Jesus Christ

OPINION

Xmas Spirit Translates Better in Foreign Tongue: Keillor

Writer 'feels the religious fervor' at Spanish mass

Dec 24, 08 7:14 PM CST
(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’... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Christianity • New York • Mass • holiday • Spanish • Christmas • Garrison Keillor

 Santa Gets 
 Help From 
 Cousin 
 Pancho 

Barrio folk hero sports a lowrider, elf entourage

Dec 24, 08 3:02 PM CST
(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... More »

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Texas • Mexico • Houston • San Antonio • Christmas • Santa Claus • Mexican-Americans • Pancho Claus

 Pirate Hostages Brace 
 for Christmas at Sea 

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

Dec 24, 08 1:49 PM CST
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • Iran • Somalia • European Union • Christmas • pirates • hostage • Gulf of Aden

Ahmadinejad:
Jesus Is On
Our Side

British TV will air Christmas address from Iran's leader

Dec 24, 08 12:30 PM CST
(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... More »

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Iran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Holocaust • Queen Elizabeth II • Britain • Christmas

 LiLo: I'm Just 
 Like Britney 

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

Dec 24, 08 11:27 AM CST
(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,... More »

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Britney Spears • Lindsay Lohan • celebrity • blog • infidelity • Christmas • holiday depression • Samantha Ronson • Michael Lohan • blog posts

MARKET Open

 Sleepy Christmas for Stocks 

Investors shrug off negative data

Dec 24, 08 8:47 AM CST
(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... More »

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stock market • Nasdaq • consumer spending • Dow • Christmas • jobless claims • S&P 500

opinion

 Time to Give Joseph His Due  

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

Dec 23, 08 8:30 PM CST
(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... More »

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Christianity • Catholicism • Christmas • Virgin Mary • Jesus Christ • st. joseph

GLOSSIES

 Star Wars' 
 Secret Shame: 
 The Holiday 
 Special 

1978 TV show included singing, dancing, and Wookiees

Dec 22, 08 11:40 AM CST
(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,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • George Lucas • Star Wars • Christmas • Bruce Vilanch • movies

Shoppers
Turn to Funny, Useful Gifts

Boots, joke books, comfort clothes score big in recession

Dec 21, 08 5:05 PM CST
(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
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • Christmas • holiday shopping • economic downturn • Christmas shopping • presents

OPINION

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

Parents sharply divided on whether to pretend for sake of kids

Dec 21, 08 1:32 PM CST
(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... More »

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parenting • children • parents • Christmas • Santa Claus


 What Your Xmas 
 Lights Say About You 

They say you're a pretty princess

Dec 20, 08 10:16 AM CST
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
psychology • decorations • home decoration • Christmas

Sold-Out Kindles Still Available—for a Price

Amazon loses out as savvy buyers trade e-book for big returns

Dec 20, 08 2:09 AM CST
(Newser) - Amazon.com has run out of Kindle e-book readers, sending their prices soaring on the second-hand market and on sites like eBay, reports Bloomberg. Ever since an Oprah endorsement in October cleaned out the online retailer’s stock, those with Kindles in hand have sought to secure a return on... More »

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Oprah Winfrey • Christmas • holiday shopping • Kindle • Amazon.com • ebooks • second-hand • used electronics • bidding war

They Used to Laugh and Call Her Names

Rudolph and Santa's other sleigh-pullers may be ladies

Dec 19, 08 1:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer very likely is a girl, or so say wildlife experts who’ve turned their attention to Santa’s lead sleigh-puller. Male reindeer typically shed their horns before Christmas, so popular images of Rudolph’s team with big, branched antlers would mean they might actually be female,... More »

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wildlife • Christmas • Santa Claus • reindeer • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Economy Spells Weary Christmas for Toy Charities

Donations off as much as 30%, some say

Dec 18, 08 3:04 PM CST
(Newser) - Across the country, charities that dole out gifts to underprivileged kids have seen donations fall off steeply compared to last holiday season, USA Today reports. Some are reporting as much as a 30% decline in giving as the economy flags. “Families that would normally have been helping us... More »

MORE ABOUT:
toys • charity • donation • Christmas • gift • Salvation Army • financial crisis • economic downturn • presents

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