Mayor of St Edmundsbury and Gatehouse chairman Julia Wakelam with volunteers Katie Bexon and daughter Ella Nobbs and guest Susan Buckle In Bury St Edmunds, the annual Christmas meal was held by the Gatehouse charity at St Benedict’s Catholic School, in Beetons Way. Charity chief executive Amanda Bloomfield said: “It’s fantastic.
Category: Holidays
Wind warning issued for all of P.E.I.
Winds forecasted to gust at 90 km/h across province, while blowing snow expected in central and western eastern P.E.I. It is a windy Christmas Day on Prince Edward Island with northwest gusts expected to reach 90 km/h this afternoon. Environment Canada has issued a warning for the entire province that there is a significant risk of strong winds that could cause damage as well as blowing snow.
Mali’s Christians Return to Church under Police Protection
As the sun starts to fall, the call to prayer at the mosque echoes throughout Gao, a predominantly Muslim town in northern Mali. At that same moment, a small church bell nearby also rings.
German town evacuates on Christmas morning for WWII bomb
Police help a man to leave his apartment in Augsburg, Germany as the town was evacuated so authorities could disarm a World War II bomb. FRANKFURT, Germany – Thousands of people in the southern German city of Augsburg have left Christmas presents and decorations behind, forced to evacuate while authorities disarm a large World War II aerial bomb.
Abbas welcomes UN resolution, calls on Israel to talk peace
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas congratulates Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa , apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, during the Christmas Midnight Mass in Saint Catherine’s Church at the Church of the Nativity, on December 25, 2016 in Bethlehem, West Bank Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday night that the UN Security Council’s resolution condemning Israeli settlements was a step in the right direction for his people, asserting that it posited the “legal basics” for a two-state solution to the conflict and appealing to Israel to make peace.
Chandigarh, neighbouring areas receive showers
Chandigarh, Dec 25 : Giving a break to a prolonged dry spell this winter, Chandigarh and parts of neighbouring Punjab and Haryana received rainfall early on Sunday. [NK Punjab] The rain came as a relief on the occasion of Christmas for revellers who were planning to drive to hill stations like Shimla and Kasauli in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.
Faith-filled New Zealanders still keep Christ at the centre of Christmas
It was a full house at St Mary’s Peace Hall in New Plymouth with parishioners flocking to celebrate Christmas with their church community. It was the first Christmas service following the closure of the cathedral earlier this year, which stands as the oldest stone church in New Zealand but requires an extensive amount of earthquake strengthening.
The Latest: Trumps attend church services on Christmas Eve
Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to “greatly strengthen and expand… The president-elect and his wife, Melania, arrived Saturday night at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea. The soon-to-be first couple were married at the church in 2005.
Thousands of faithful celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem
To continue reading up to 10 premium articles, you must register , or sign up and take advantage of this exclusive offer: A Palestinian dressed as Santa Claus takes a picture on Christmas Eve in Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity, built atop the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016. BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the world together with local Christians gathered in the biblical town of Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus, with spirits lifted by a slowdown in recent violence and cool, clear weather.
Thwarted terror plot draws Christmas crowds to St Paul’s Cathedral
The threat of terrorism at St Paul’s Cathedral was not enough to keep the community away from Christmas Day morning services. If anything, it had the opposite effect.
Letters from the Front on a frosty Christmas morning
The image of soldiers from both sides leaving their trenches for an impromptu kick about and carol concert belongs in the pages of a fairy tale, not on the bloodiest battlefield of the First World War. For most men, though, there was no fairy tale, no truce, just the hope of gifts from home and perhaps something special for lunch.
Pope says Christmas ‘hostage’ to materialism, God in shadows
Pope Francis holds the book of the gospels as he leads the Christmas night Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican December 24, 2016. Pope Francis kneels as he leads the Christmas night Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican December 24, 2016.
Super typhoon Nock-Ten to strike Philippines on Christmas Day
The U.S. military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said Nock-Ten was a super typhoon with winds of up to 240 kph late Christmas Eve local time, though it was expected to weaken before landfall. The Philippines’ own weather bureau said the province of Catanduanes was likely to see sustained winds of up to 170 kph by the afternoon as the storm reaches its shores.
U.S. troops join displaced Iraqi Christians for Christmas Eve Mass
BARTELLA, Iraq — For the 300 Christians who braved rain and wind to attend Christmas’s Eve Mass in their hometown, the ceremony evoked both holiday cheer and grim reminders of the war raging around their northern Iraqi town, and the distant prospect of moving back home. Displaced when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria seized their town, Bartella, in August 2014, the Christians were bused into town from Irbil, capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region where they have lived for more than two years, to attend the lunchtime service in the Assyrian Orthodox church of Mart Shmoni.
In pictures| Christmas eve celebrations from across the globe
People walk through a light installation titled “Universal Journey,” comprised of 824,961 light bulbs, at Universal Studios Singapore as part of the celebrations. Bubbles fill the air as Christmas is celebrated at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park in London, England.
Iraqis celebrate first Christmas near Mosul after IS pushed out
India’s demonetisation plan was intended as a way to crack down on illegal activities. But its abrupt implementation has inflicted unnecessarily high costs on the Indian economy.
Senior citizens enjoy traditional Christmas lunch
A total of 79 elderly people, from organisations such as the White Lodge Care Home, Stokenchurch Day Centre, Fingest Tea Club, and Marlow Age Concern, sat down to eat a festive three-course meal on December 15 and opened presents. The dull December day was also brightened by some festive entertainment from the Hambleden Village choir, led by Christine Wells, and the audience joined in with carol singing.
All-night talks fail to reach DR Congo deal
Kabila’s second and final five-year term ended on December 20, but he has shown no intention of leaving office soon, sparking violent protests that have left at least 40 people dead this week, according to the United Nations. President Joseph Kabila.
Berlin attack victims included Israeli, Pole and Italian
Twelve people were killed and dozens were injured Monday when a truck smashed into a Berlin Christmas market. German authorities have described it as a terror attack most likely perpetrated by a Tunisian with ties to Islamic extremists.
Ask for traditional surgery rather than pelvic mesh implants, says study out this week
Sling the Mesh campaign logo by March-based artist Michelle Deyna Hayward. Sling the Mesh was launched in England in June 2015 by Archant Newspapers journalist Kath Sansom Mesh implants to fix pelvic organ prolapse have higher risks than traditional surgery but no extra benefits, according to a report released this week.
Christmas in Bethlehem means souvenirs
Christmas is approaching and pilgrims and tourists have begun to arrive, crowding the souvenir shops that line the narrow streets and alleys of Bethlehem, the biblical town revered as Jesus’ birthplace. But when visitors choose to take a piece of the Holy Land back home with them, they better check the labels.
Norwich church hosts production of A Christmas Carol
Moss Banks Productions is presenting a stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at St John Maddermarket Church, in Norwich. Photo: supplied by Moss Banks Productions.
Weak UK pound an early Christmas present for Irish shoppers
A border crossing south of Newry, Northern Ireland, is marked only by billboards for money-changing kiosks and cut-price fuel in this image taken Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. The introduction of the European Union common market allowed the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom to remove all customs searches and import restrictions from the 310-mile Irish border a quarter-century ago.
Thousands of faithful celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem
Thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the world together with locals began Christmas Eve celebrations in Jesus’ traditional birthplace of Bethlehem on Saturday, raising spirits after a tense year that saw a spike in violence between Palestinians and Israelis. The faithful braved the chilly weather outside Manger Square as traditional Christmas songs like “Jingle Bells” played in Arabic over loudspeakers and scout groups paraded with bagpipes and sang carols.
Britain’s 90-year-old Queen to step back from some charity work
FILE PHOTO : Britain’s Queen Elizabeth takes part in the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph in Westminster, central London, Britain November 13, 2016. FILE PHOTO : Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip bid farewell to Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia de Santos following their state visit, at Buckingham Palace in London, Britain November 3, 2016.
Guardian recommends
Churches will be holding Christingles and midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day services. Children can bring a noiseless toy to St Andrews Church, Worden Lane, Leyland, Sunday from 10.30am.
CLOSED: London Paddington will be closed for six days as improvement works take place
THERE could be chaos for commuters this Christmas as Great Western Railway will not be operating services from London Paddington. No train services will be able to operate from Christmas Eve up to and including Thursday, December 29 between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway.
Truck mows through German holiday market, killing 9
A passenger in the truck, which stopped after running down several vendor stands, was among the dead in a Berlin market. – A truck rammed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin on Monday evening, killing at least nine people and injuring around 50 as it tore through tables and wooden stands.
Chris Evans is in festive spirits for BBC Christmas party
Chris Evans is in festive spirits for BBC party: DJ, 50, wears snowflake jumper and Santa hat to Christmas lunch Making his way to the party in London after his Breakfast Show at the BBC Radio 2 studios, the 50-year-old sported a snowflake jumper and Santa hat with cycling shorts, leggings, and multicoloured Nike trainers. Playing Sir Derek Jacobi’s on-screen wife in the hit BBC series Last Tango In Halifax has sparked some real-life tension between the thespian and his co-star Anne Reid.
A Christmas tale of thievery
Sylvia was partial to the idea of spending Christmas in New York City, of seeing the big tree, shopping at the original Macy’s and such. But Tom had that TV preacher’s spiel bouncing around in his head: Christmas in the Holy Land.
Ap Photos: Editor selections from the past week in Asia
In this Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, share a light moment during their visit to the Kodokan judo hall in Tokyo. Russia and Japan agreed Friday to hold talks on joint economic development on four islands at the center of a territorial dispute between the countries.
On this day from Monday, December 19 2016
At the Memorial Hall Mr S W Free of Bristol won the prize for Best In Show with a sable called Rex. 1960: A large congregation attended a Carol service given by the Newspaper House Choir Swindon at Chiseldon Parish Church.
Prince Harry’s ordinary Christmas wish is a world away from average
For the ordinary person, an ordinary Christmas is not something for the Santa list. Christmas, for your ordinary person, is the time of year when we strive for exceptional.
Early morning rail delays into London
Early morning rail services between East Anglia and London were disrupted after Network Rail engineering work overran between Seven Kings and Shenfield. The first trains got through the work on what is expected to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year at about 9.30am.
Community search for child who sent letter to dead dad in heaven by attaching it to a balloon
A CHILD’S Christmas letter to their dad has sparked a hunt for its author after it was found in a field in Scotland attached to a balloon. The heartfelt wishlist told of how much they were missing their daddy in heaven and how they dreamed that he could leave them a note under their pillow.
Troubles drive tourists away from Turkey, home of St. Nick
The jagged Taurus Mountains rise on one side of the church, while the Mediterranean Sea gleams in the distance on the other. The bougainvillea is in bloom, the orange trees bursting with ripe fruit.
UK faces strike-hit Christmas by post, train and air
The United Kingdom faces a Christmas of discontent as labour unions threaten to disrupt airports, rail services and mail deliveries. The Unite union and aviation services company Swissport announced negotiation plans Saturday intended to avert a Dec. 23 walkout by 1,500 baggage handlers, check-in staff and other workers at 18 regional airports from Belfast to Bournemouth.
Appeal launched to send ‘tokens for Faith’ to bring a smile to…
Faith Constance has been diagnosed with cancer. To raise her spirits her parents have launched an appeal on Facebook called “Tokens for Faith” and more than a hundred people have sent letters and gifts.
Festive misery for travellers as airport crews vote to strike
TENS of thousands of festive travellers are facing the prospect of holiday misery after unions announced a series of strikes at Scotland’s three biggest airports in the days running up to Christmas. Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen are among 18 UK airports targeted by the Unite union as more than 1500 check-in staff, baggage handlers and cargo crew stage a 48-hour walk-out in the runup the December 25. Members of Unite employed by Swissport will walk out on December 23 and 24 at other airports including Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Doncaster, East Midlands, Gatwick, Heathrow, Leeds/ Bradford, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton and Stansted.
Santa Claus and Rudolph Spotted Riding Motorcycles in Dublin, Ireland
Martha Hudson filmed Santa and Rudolph on their joy ride as she was driving with her sister. Her 5-year-old daughter and her 7-year-old nephew were in the backseat.