Christmas News

When it comes to festive traditions, Christmas crackers can often disappoint. Bad jokes, flimsy paper hats and useless gifts have long been associated with the yuletide treats.

Christmas came early for children in Wigan's hospitals and schools when sporting stars from the world of soccer and rugby dropped in for a visit.

Christmas is nearly upon us, and you might be thinking about decorating your site for the holidays.

To Steven Walls, it's beginning to look nothing like Christmas, anywhere he goes.

While more people make the switch to energy-efficient lights for their holiday decorations, Walls this year insisted on decorating with the old-style, torpedo-shaped Christmas lights his family has put up for years. But it was no easy feat: To replace the half-dozen or so bulbs that burned out last year, Walls had to visit eight stores before he found any.

Zoo animals have celebrated Christmas early in Leicestershire, breaking into their presents. Chimpanzees in Twycross Zoo tucked into nuts and seeds wrapped up in wrapping paper in their enclosures.

A Russian rocket blasted off from a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan lighting up the frigid Central Asian steppe Monday, shuttling an American, a Russian and a Japanese to the International Space Station.

Freezing weather and the economic downturn failed to deter Christmas shoppers today as the nation went on a spending frenzy on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Dear Abby: With the holidays here, songs about Santa and his reindeer are filling the air.

Forget the plastic icicles, brightly colored balls and tinsel. Some Christmas trees for sale in the Anchorage area are adorned with something truly different this holiday season - live Pacific Chorus frogs.

I am 8 years old. Some of my friends say there is no Santa Claus. My dad says, "If you read it on the Web, it must be so.

(12/17/09) - The Bears of Mount Juliet High School compile their money and resources to give Christmas presents to a 12-year-old.

President Barack Obama says he expects Santa to use the Yellow Room chimney to make his White House entrance this year.

If you were hoping to find massive clearance sales as you finish up your holiday shopping, prepare to be disappointed.

Prospects of a white Christmas are "greater than they have been for a number of years" with temperatures continuing to plunge towards the festive period, forecasters have said.

The House approved a $636 billion defense bill Wednesday that funds the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and provides a 3.4 percent pay hike for military personnel.

GUY RITCHIE will reportedly spend the festive season with his children, after ex-wife MADONNA allowed the director to care for them over Christmas .

There's no doubt in my mind that a gift from the hands is a gift from the heart. It's even more meaningful this year when budgets may be tighter and there's not a lot of "wiggle room" for purchasing gifts.

But you know what? Even if you can afford an expensive store-bought gift, try making something homemade to give, perhaps as an accompaniment to the gift or just as a stand-alone present.

It's never easy choosing the right Christmas present. Do you go for that new Louis Vuitton bag, the Philippe Patek watch or perhaps a 10-metre stretch of road in China and a new loo for a family in Nepal? A growing number of gift-givers are finding the solution to their Christmas present dilemmas lies not in the glitzy shopping malls but on the ...

With only eight days left until Christmas, Santa Claus isn't the only one checking his list twice.

Authorities say thieves have stolen Christmas presents bound for dozens of needy South Carolina children.