Christmas Eve

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Thieves Make a Giant Mess in Attempt to Steal ATM

They pull it out of a Texas store with an SUV

(Newser) - It probably went a lot easier in the planning stages, on paper. An early morning smash-and-grab at a 7-Eleven near Fort Worth, Texas, ended with a wrecked store and an abandoned ATM instead of a payday for the thieves, police say. Surveillance video released by the White Settlement Police Department...

Trump Gets in a Coal Joke in Holiday Call With Kids

"Coal is clean and beautiful,' he tells young caller. 'Please remember that at all costs'

(Newser) - President Trump and first lady Melania Trump fielded Christmas Eve calls from kids, and the president took a jokey detour into politics. When a girl from Kansas voiced the age-old wish to avoid getting coal, Trump responded:
  • "Not coal, no you don't want coal—you mean clean, beautiful
...

Faithful Converge on Bethlehem After 2 Years of Chaos in Gaza

Holiday spirit s in full force on Christmas Eve in West Bank city of Jesus' birth

(Newser) - Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem's Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families heralded a much-needed boost of holiday spirit. The city where Christians believe Jesus was born canceled Christmas celebrations for the past two years, with Manger Square instead featuring a Nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by...

Trump Makes Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 Federal Holidays

Move for this year gives many federal workers a 5-day Christmas weekend in 2025

(Newser) - Federal workers can look forward to an unusually long Christmas break this year. President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order giving federal employees Dec. 24 and Dec. 26 off, effectively shutting most government offices from Wednesday through Friday next week, with Christmas Day already a statutory holiday, per the...

Happy ... 'Christmas Adam'?
Happy ...
'Christmas Adam'?
Dec 23, 2024 9:43 AM CST

Happy ... 'Christmas Adam'?

Day before Christmas Eve has its basis in a dad joke; not everyone loves its patriarchal undertones

(Newser) - The term "Christmas Adam" appears in Urban Dictionary , but how many people actually know what it means? In short, it's a holiday of sorts celebrated on Dec. 23, although the New York Times notes that "the Vatican certainly does not recognize it, and many churchgoers have not...

Cops: Teen Angry Over Christmas Gifts Fatally Shot Sister

Teen boys, 14 and 15, are now in custody in Pinellas County, Florida

(Newser) - A Christmas shopping trip ended in tragedy for one Florida family. Per NBC Miami and WFLA , authorities in Pinellas County say a 14-year-old became upset on Christmas Eve after believing his 15-year-old brother was getting more gifts for the holiday and pulled a gun on him at their grandmother's...

US Sees Second Fatal Mall Shooting in Two Days

Man is killed in Colorado Springs this time

(Newser) - A man was fatally shot and three people were hurt as gunfire rang out at a shopping center in Colorado on Christmas Eve, police said Sunday. It's the second fatal mall shooting in as many days in the US. In this one, a fight broke out between two groups...

'Tonight, Our Hearts Are in Bethlehem'
Pope: 'Our Hearts
Are in Bethlehem'
UPDATED
Dec 25, 2023 6:34 AM CST

Pope: 'Our Hearts Are in Bethlehem'

Pope Francis laments victims of Israel-Hamas war in Christmas address

(Newser) - Pope Francis continued his theme about the tragedy of war in his Christmas Day message, denouncing the "instruments of death" that fuel such conflicts, reports the AP . Speaking from St. Peter's Basilica, the pope said he grieved both the "abominable attack" by Hamas on Israeli civilians in...

Pope Scolds Greedy and Power-Hungry
Pope Scolds Greedy
and Power-Hungry
Dec 24, 2022 5:20 PM CST

Pope Scolds Greedy and Power-Hungry

Christmas Eve homily expresses concern for the vulnerable, including children

(Newser) - Recalling Jesus' birth in a stable, Pope Francis rebuked those "ravenous" for wealth and power at the expense of the vulnerable, including children, in a Christmas Eve homily decrying war, poverty, and greedy consumerism. In the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica, Francis presided over the evening Mass attended...

Driver Going to Holiday Dinner Slain in Front of His Children

Vehicle pulled alongside victim's in shooting that police say might have been road rage

(Newser) - A Maryland man on his way to Christmas Eve dinner was shot to death in front of his three children and girlfriend in what police said might have been a case of road rage. Daniel Kelly Jr., 30, of Clinton was behind the wheel when he was shot multiple times...

Christmas Eve Celebrations Around the World
Christmas Eve Celebrations
Around the World
photos
Dec 25, 2021 5:46 AM CST

Christmas Eve Celebrations Around the World

They're more muted than usual because of omicron

(Newser) - From Bethlehem and Frankfurt to London and Boston, the surging coronavirus put a damper on Christmas Eve for a second year, forcing churches to cancel or scale back services and disrupting travel plans and family gatherings. Details, per the AP :
  • Drummers and bagpipers marched through Bethlehem to smaller than usual
...

Pope Francis: Grandeur Isn't the Key

Larger crowd than last year's attends Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica

(Newser) - Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve Mass before an estimated 2,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday, going ahead with the service despite the resurgence in COVID-19 cases that has prompted a new vaccine mandate for Vatican employees. A maskless Francis processed down the central aisle as the...

In Little Town of Bethlehem, a Muted Christmas Begins

Biblical city celebrates under the shadow of COVID for the second year in a row

(Newser) - The biblical town of Bethlehem marked its second straight Christmas Eve under the shadow of the coronavirus—with small crowds and gray, gloomy weather dampening celebrations Friday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. A ban on nearly all incoming air traffic by Israel— the main entry point for foreign visitors...

Yes, There Is a Santa Claus. No, COVID Won't Stop Him

NORAD is tracking St. Nick for the 66th year

(Newser) - Rest assured, kids of all ages: Santa’s coming this Christmas Eve, and a second holiday with COVID-19 won’t stop him. That’s the word from the joint US-Canadian military operation that for 66 years has been tracking Jolly Old St. Nicholas on his global mission and has assured...

Fauci's 80th Birthday Party Was Very Fauci

Wife threw him a surprise 80th party via Zoom

(Newser) - Dr. Anthony Fauci got an early birthday gift in the form of a vaccination from the virus he's battling , but for the good doctor's actual 80th birthday on Christmas Eve, his wife threw him a surprise party—via Zoom, because we currently live in 2020. Fauci's wife...

Trumps Issue Christmas Message
Trumps Issue
Christmas Message
Dec 25, 2020 7:02 AM CST

Trumps Issue Christmas Message

COVID vaccine is 'truly a Christmas miracle'

(Newser) - After what the AP calls "tossing a grenade" on a bipartisan COVID relief bill in a "final raised middle finger to Republicans," the outgoing president of the United States is safely ensconced in his Mar-a-Lago resort for the Christmas holiday. Trump spent Christmas Eve golfing at his...

Kevin Spacey's Christmas Eve Message: 'It Gets Better'

Actor speaks to everyone feeling despondent amid the holidays

(Newser) - Kevin Spacey, apparently like the pope , has delivered his annual Christmas Eve message, but this year the controversial actor struck a less-weird , more somber tone geared at those to whom the holiday season brings utter desolation and hopelessness instead of peace and joy. Spacey posted a 2.5-minute video, dressed...

Bank Worker's Christmas Eve Kindness Gets Her Canned

Emily James fired from US Bank after giving broke customer $20

(Newser) - One of US Bank's core tenets is "We put people first," but when one of its own senior bankers tried to do just that, she was fired. Emily James tells the Oregonian that on Dec. 23, she was working at the bank's call center in Gresham,...

NYC Man Killed in $1 Christmas Eve Robbery

60-year-old man was defending husband against 6 men

(Newser) - Juan Fresnada was walking in the Bronx with his husband, Bayron Caceras, on Christmas Eve when six men approached and demanded money. When the pair refused, ABC News reports that the men attacked, knocking Fresnada to the ground and beating him badly before making off with all of one dollar....

In Bethlehem, No Room at the Inns, Again

As Christmas descends, pilgrims crowd West Bank town where they believe Jesus Christ was born

(Newser) - "All hotels in the city are full today," says Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maaya as thousands of Christian pilgrims descended on the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, ahead of Tuesday's annual Christmas Eve celebrations. The Church of the Nativity, where Christians believe...

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