Although science and research dominate our lives, many people continue to believe in miracles. There are understandable reasons for this.
Tag: christmas
Father Petro Balogh recalls the later books of the Old Testament, and especially in the New Testament, where personal faithfulness and holiness do not necessarily guarantee deliverance from earthly enemies or suffering — look at the story of Jesus himself.
According to psychology research, lying to kids about the subject of Santa Claus risks ruining their confidence and altering the parent-child relationship.
T’is the season to spend money — but is there a way of lessening the “pain of paying”? Economist Jay L. Zagorsky shares his thoughts — and preference for cold, hard cash.
Once hailed as a groundbreaking act of compassion, Band Aid’s legacy is as complex as its catchy tune. While it redefined fundraising, it also fueled debates on “poverty porn,” cultural stereotypes and the ethics of celebrity-driven charity. Four decades on, its impact still resonates — and divides.
Manufacturers of toys are now finally working to reduce the environmental impact of their products, using more eco-friendly materials and promoting recycling and repairs. But are parents ready to buy second-hand toys or pay more for an eco-designed product? And do kids actually care?
A patient tells our Naples-based psychiatrist about his questionable plans for Christmas dinner.
Each year, millions of trees are sacrificed for the sake of Christmas — an ecological disaster and a denial of what trees represent for humanity. There are, however, some green alternatives to buying (and killing) your own private tree each year.
The practice of gift giving exists in every culture in the world, and has for as long as recorded history. What does it tell us about the nature of human society?
As Christmas revelers around the world are busy buying the ingredients necessary to cook up a feast for their loved ones, we take you on a global tour of the yummiest and yuckiest this time of the year brings to the table.
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The Problem With Easter
Not all holidays are celebrated equal. Why’s that? wonders our Neapolitan psychiatrist.
He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice… But he doesn’t always wear a red suit. From Aruba to Finland and Liberia, here’s what Christmas looks like around the world.
Trasite!
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No Kindness Under The Christmas Tree
T’is the season for depression …
Few see reason right now for holiday optimism, though Christmas ceasefires have happened multiple times since the conflict in Donbas started in 2014. A new call by religious leaders has raised hope for at least a pause in the fighting.
The director of the 1997 episode complained that TV executives are being “too sensitive.”
While retreating from Kherson, Russian troops forcibly removed more than 2,500 Ukrainians from prison colonies and pre-trial detention centers in the southern region. Those removed included prisoners as well as a large number of civilians who had been held in prisons during the occupation, according to the Ukrainian human rights organization Alliance of Ukrainian Unity. […]
Warsaw says that the missile that hit Poland was probably a Ukrainian air defense missile that went astray. The Russian-made missile fell on the Polish village of Przewodów, near the border with Ukraine, killing two people late Tuesday. [shortcode-Subscribe-to-Ukraine-daily-box] Even though the missile was made in Russia, initial US assessments indicated that it had originated […]
The topic of COVID is dividing siblings, old friends and parents at daycare centers. So maybe we need an experiment and stop sharing opinions, from the dinner table to your local news outlet.
? העלא* Welcome to Thursday where some hopeful reports on the effects of the new COVID variant, a new symbolic crackdown takes place in Hong Kong and the Bard of Malibu phones it in when it comes to Christmas decorations. We also feature a report from Warsaw daily Gazeta Wyborcza on the deteriorating conditions for […]
The European Commission’s efforts to push for more inclusive language are important. But we should be careful and make sure we make room for differences.
Not your average case of lost and found.
Our roving Swedish reporter’s darkish holiday dispatch from Sofia, Bulgaria.
On the same day that Bethlehem’s Mayor Anton Salman inaugurated the Christmas holiday season earlier this month with an impressive fireworks display and tree lighting in the town square, residents of the West Bank city’s three refugee camps — Aida, Dehaishe and Jibrin, also known as Azza Camp — continued their daily protesting against the Palestinian Authority. The protests, which have included burning tires and blocking roads, aim to gain the release of several Palestinians arrested by Palestinian security forces for waving banners of Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine during the funeral of 14-year-old Amjad […]
? Mandi!* Welcome to Monday, where Gabriel Boric becomes Chile’s youngest president ever, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai retracts sexual assault claims and a Hungarian grandma goes all out for Christmas decorations. Persian-language magazine Kayhan reflects on how the trial in Sweden of a former Iranian justice official finally gives judicial weight to the decades […]
? སྐུ་གཟུགས་བཟང་པོ།!* Welcome to Thursday, where the UK reports highest daily COVID cases, one of the biggest storms of 2021 hits the Philippines and Australia’s new musical hit makers are… birds. And for German daily Die Welt, writer and historian Karl-Heinz Göttert looks at how the Nazis attempted to use Christmas for their own ends. […]
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When The Nazis Stole Christmas
Both the Nazis and East German Communist Party tried to use Christmas for their own ends, and distance it from its Christian meaning. Writer and historian Karl-Heinz Göttert looks at the attempts to hijack Christmas throughout German history, and why it matters today.
The racy pastry scene in the holiday shop window in the city of Seville is no joking matter in the traditional Catholic country. Now “Josephallus” and family might land this local wafflemaker in court.
Play is a fundamental part of childhood development. But when it comes to toys, as one nursery in Bavaria has shown, there’s something to be said for moderation.
After a year that’s been as trying as it is troubling, the holidays are finally upon us, and for many there’s a temptation to treat the upcoming festivities as a welcome catharsis. But for governments, this “most wonderful time of the year” represents a real conundrum: How to allow for some much-needed Yuletide joy while […]
Welcome to Thursday, where Israel announces a 3rd national lockdown, a Brexit deal looks imminent, and we’ve got the price for zooming with Santa in Lapland. We also look at the effects the pandemic is having on the gig economy. SPOTLIGHT: JOE BIDEN’S REAL CHALLENGE: MOVING BEYOND ANTI-TRUMPISM President-elect Joe Biden’s ample support base is […]
Welcome to Tuesday, where Trump’s Attorney General resigns, Somalia cuts diplomatic ties with Kenya and we meet one weird-looking dinosaur. Meanwhile, t’is the season to look at how the world is getting ready for a very special kind of Christmas. SPOTLIGHT: EUROPE IS RIGHT TO CALL UP BIG GUNS AGAINST BIG TECH Europe is moving […]
The celebration of Christ’s birth was always a little bit pagan for its associations with the Roman imperial religion. But the modern West has turned into a pure carnival of pleasures.
There is a lot of planning behind the Christmas window decorations you find around the French capital, and keeping it traditional matters.
-Analysis- MUNICH — At first glance, the video footage looks like a harmless Advent promotional clip. It showed cheerful people walking between decorated stalls, tinsels, Christmas trees, Santa hats. But back in 2000, the Strasbourg Christmas Market was already a prime target for terrorists, and this video was the most important piece of evidence against […]
He’s laughing and blushing, but he’s not having any of this Christmas singing stuff. No way!
Make it stop! That’s the message delivered this week by an organization of Protestant churches in El Salvador, Central America’s smallest but deadliest country. The group, known as the Pastoral Initiative for Life and Peace, or IPAZ, is hoping that for the week between Christmas and New Year, gang members, security forces, operatives of so-called […]
Another week that will be stained in blood. For people in the West and throughout the (non-Orthodox) Christian world, this happens to be the week before the Christmas holiday, which leads us toward a new year. Few, at this point, have any illusions that 2017 can really be any less dreadful than 2016. Monday’s attacks […]
“Fear of terrorism in Berlin,” read the front page of Berlin-based daily Der Tagesspiegel on Tuesday, a day after a seven-ton truck plowed into a Christmas market in the heart of the German capital, killing 12 and wounding dozens. German police are investigating the event as a terrorist attack. Early this morning, police raided a […]
CERIGNOLA — Franco Metta is the mayor of the small town of Cerignola, located in the southern Italian region of Apulia. He recently received a box of biscuits as a Christmas gift from a local businessman, but upon opening the box he discovered 20,000 euros ($21,120) expertly rolled into two packs of 10,000 each — […]