| Christmas Day Posted: 24 Dec 2011 09:00 PM PST  Profile America — Sunday, December 25th. Today is Christmas Day — honoring the birth of Jesus and one of the happiest days in the long calendar of the year. The shopping is over, the presents have been opened, and yards of crumpled wrapping paper are headed for recycling. Outside, children are trying out their new treasures, from skateboards to bikes, while inside, others are busy with video games and iPods. Many of the two-thirds of adults who are members of Christian churches will have attended services to honor the day. And in many of the more than 117 million households in America, holiday music and lights will be joined by the inviting smells of a special dinner to be shared with family and friends. The men and women of the U.S. Census Bureau across the nation wish you and your loved ones a joyous holiday.
Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2011, p. 611
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 59, 75
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012edition.html  
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| U.S. First Lady Helps Children Track Santa Posted: 24 Dec 2011 07:08 PM PST U.S. first lady Michelle Obama spent some time Saturday answering calls from children across the country who were hoping to find out where Santa Claus was on Christmas Eve.
Just as she did last year, the first lady took calls from the NORAD Tracks Santa program, run by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The military base has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955, when a local newspaper advertisement giving a telephone number to speak to Santa mistakenly directed children to a military defense operations center. Officers on duty answered the children's questions and NORAD has been doing the same ever since.
Last year, more than 1,200 volunteers took shifts at NORAD's facility in the western state of Colorado to field more than 80,000 calls and countless emails from children asking where Santa was and when he might be coming to their homes to deliver presents. Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters. 
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| U.S. ‘Disappointed’ Cuba Will Not Release American Prisoner Posted: 24 Dec 2011 06:26 PM PST The United States says it is "deeply disappointed" that American contractor Alan Gross is not among the nearly 3,000 prisoners in Cuba that President Raul Castro has promised to release.
A State Department spokesman said on Saturday that the United States deplores the fact that Cuba did not include Gross in the humanitarian release, "especially in light of his deteriorating health."
Gross is serving a 15-year term in Cuba after he was convicted earlier this year of crimes against the communist state. He was arrested two years ago this month for bringing communications equipment into the country.
The case has further strained relations between the United States and Cuba, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, only "interests sections" that are technically part of the Swiss embassies in each other's capitals.
President Castro announced the pardons on Friday in a speech to lawmakers. He said 86 foreigners from 25 countries would be among the 2,900 inmates slated for release.
Earlier, Cuban media said the prisoners being freed would include some convicted of crimes against the security of the state, along with inmates who are more than 60 years old or are ill, women and young people who do not have long criminal records. The reports said those convicted of serious crimes like drug trafficking, murder or espionage will not be released.
The announcement comes two weeks after Pope Benedict said he planned to visit Cuba next year before the Easter holiday. Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters. 
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| Pilgrims Flock to Bethlehem to Celebrate Christmas Posted: 24 Dec 2011 06:00 PM PST Thousands of pilgrims have converged on the West Bank town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations hosted by the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian boy and girl scouts kicked off festive Christmas Eve celebrations with a march through Manger Square. It was a combination of Palestinian nationalism and religion. The square was decked out with Christmas trees and lights, as well as Palestinian flags and a big poster of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Religious ceremonies began with the arrival of the Latin Patriarch, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land.
The patriarch led a procession of priests and monks in white robes into the ancient Church of the Nativity, which is built over the spot where it is believed Mary gave birth to Jesus.
Thousands of pilgrims from around the world thronged to Bethlehem to join the celebrations and visit the Grotto of the Nativity. Abbe Itohan Mericy came from Rivers State, Nigeria.
"By seeing the places I had read [about] in the Bible, it gives me joy. The birthplace of Jesus Christ is a wonderful feeling, so it gives me a sense of fulfillment," said Mericy.
For Palestinian Christians, like Noel Yaakoub Yasser, the holiday is bittersweet.
"I feel so happy. I love to be here on Christmas," said Yasser.
But Bethlehem is surrounded by Israel's separation barrier, which was built about eight years ago after a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings. Yasser said the wall is collective punishment.
"What can we do? They built the wall and nobody can stop them. It feels like a prison," said Yasser.
Bethlehem Mayor Victor Betarseh said he hopes that Christmas next year will be celebrated in an independent Palestinian state. 
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| Blast at coal mine in northern Afghanistan kills 11 Posted: 24 Dec 2011 05:30 PM PST KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Eleven miners were killed on early Saturday morning when an explosion caused a coal mine to collapse in the northern region of Afghanistan, officials said. Several others were able to escape unharmed. A spokesman for the governor's office said the accident happened at a coal mine in the Nahrin district of Baghlan province, which is located in the country's north, while about a dozen miners were working to extract coal from the mine. Officials confirmed eleven miners were killed when an explosion caused the mine to collapse. Several others were able to escape the mine, which was reportedly operating illegally, unharmed. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. Although fatal accidents are relatively rare, safety conditions at mines in Afghanistan are among the worst in the world. Some mines employ children as young as 10 years old and miners usually work by hand and have little ventilation, equipment or safety gear. Saturday's accident was the country's deadliest mine accident so far this year. (Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.) 
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