Zoo Elephants Eat Berlin’s Leftover Christmas Trees
Berlin’s unwanted Christmas trees have ended their days as a festive snack for zoo elephants and stocking fillers for some of their fellow residents.
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Armed Standoff Ends After SWAT Member Sings Christmas Carol
Authorities say an armed man who held off SWAT members for 10 hours surrendered after one of them sang him a Christmas carol.
Read moreTrump Tells Boy That Believing in Santa at 7 Is ‘Marginal’
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Christmas Eve took calls from children anxious to find out where Santa was on his gift-giving journey.
Read moreChristmas Festivities Begin in West Bank Town of Bethlehem
Palestinians are preparing to host pilgrims from around the world in celebrating Christmas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Read moreNativity Scene
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of an Indiana man claiming Fulton County put up a Christian nativity scene outside of its courthouse in violation of the First Amendment’s ban on the endorsement of a particular religion.
Read moreThe Gift of Giving
When I was a child, the most thrilling day of my year was the day the Sears and J.C. Penney holiday catalogs arrived in the mail. Always the size of a coffee-table edition of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” the catalogs held the secrets of how to make a child’s Christmas merry and bright – in high-color glossy detail.
Read moreArchdiocese Seeks En Banc Review of Christmas Ad Ruling
The Archdiocese of Washington is seeking an en banc review of a D.C. Circuit ruling that said a metropolitan transit authority was within its rights when it imposed a 2015 ban on religious ads.
Read moreSeventh Circuit Approves High School’s Christmas Concert
The Seventh Circuit found an Indiana high school’s Christmas Spectacular concert constitutional after the school added Hanukkah and Kwanzaa songs and replaced its live nativity with mannequins.
Read moreHigh-Price Public Christmas Tree Causes Uproar in Belgrade
Authorities in Serbia’s capital are facing outrage over the purchase of a plastic Christmas tree that reportedly cost the equivalent of $98,000 and has sparked corruption allegations. An anti-corruption website has described the 59-feet tree as the most expensive in the world — four times the price of the one outside Rockefeller Center in New York.
Read moreDC Circuit Order Means No Christmas Ads on Buses This Year
The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday denied the Archdiocese of Washington’s request for an injunction while it appeals a federal judge’s ruling that the Capitol’s regional transit authority does not have to display the church’s Christmas advertisements on buses.
Read moreReligious Parts of Christmas Fading From Public Life, Study Finds
A shrinking number of Americans actually believe in the biblical stories surrounding Christmas and a growing number see the holiday as a cultural one, not a religious celebration, according to a Pew Research Center study released Tuesday.
Read moreChristmas Ads on DC Buses Rejected by Judge
A federal judge on Friday rejected the Archdiocese of Washington’s request that she force the D.C. regional transit authority to post its Christmas advertisements on its buses.
Read moreArchdiocese Argues Transit Authority Ban on Christmas Ad Unreasonable
A federal judge heard oral arguments Tuesday from the Archdiocese of Washington about whether the court should force the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to run its Christmas-themed advertisements on public buses.
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Archdiocese Says DC Public Transit Is Stifling Its Christmas Message
The Archdiocese of Washington claims in court that it will suffer irreparable harm if the city’s public transportation system is allowed to reject advertisements the church wants to purchase on D.C.-area buses.
Read moreSeventh Circuit Hears Dispute Over High School’s Live Nativity
A venerable Seventh Circuit judge asked an ACLU lawyer Tuesday if a high school performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. Matthew’s Passion” would violate the U.S. Constitution. Reacting to the lawyer’s unfamiliarity with the piece, Judge Frank Easterbrook said, “Oh dear, that is a problem,” before lecturing the lawyer on the sacred oratorio’s importance as one of the greatest pieces “in the history of music.”
Read moreGun-Toting Santa Says State Fired Him Illegally
A disabled Army veteran sued Michigan on Friday, claiming its Department of Health and Human Services fired him unconstitutionally, for posting a holiday picture of himself dressed up as Santa Claus with an assault rifle.
Read moreMariah Carey Accused of Not Paying Choir for Christmas Shows
A choir of Broadway singers claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York County that pop star Mariah Carey reneged on paying the singers for a series of Christmas concerts last year.
Read moreWidow Says Ex-Cop Stole Money From Dying Husband
A widow claims in court that a former Texas City police officer found her husband unconscious on the side of the road with more than $2,000 in cash meant for Christmas gifts and stole the money, just before the man died.
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