SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Hundreds of Bosnians have protested against a recent ban on Santa Claus in the city’s kindergartens.
The directors of Sarajevo’s day-care centers, kindergartens and preschools banned Santa. They argued that the capital is predominantly Muslim and Santa Claus is not part of the Muslim tradition.
A multi-religious mix of parents, children and others [...]

With just over a week to go until Christmas, consumers have completed less than half of their holiday shopping - and millions have not even started yet, according to a report released Tuesday.
According to the National Retail Foundation’s “Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions” survey, holiday shoppers said they had finished 47% of their gift shopping [...]

With the economy tanking, it may not be a surprise that nuisance crimes like petty theft and vandalism are on the rise. But even police departments are scratching their heads over the latest hot loot: Christmas trees.
In recent weeks, police across the country have seen an uptick in the theft of trees from commercial lots. [...]

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are appearing in Italian nativity scenes this year, alongside the baby Jesus and wise men, according to Naples craftsmen selling figurines in the run-up to Christmas.
The production of handmade figurines for nativity scenes is big business in this southern Italian city and has been for centuries.
But beyond the [...]

After two consecutive years of strong Christmas sales, seasonal music has lost favor with U.S. music fans.
Some merchants are reporting that seasonal album sales are down as much as 50% from last year. One wholesaler says he has already begun to return Christmas product to the labels because he feels he will have little chance [...]

Given the economic downturn, even the most romantic might balk at the $86,609 price tag for the items in the carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
That’s this year’s cost, according to the annual “Christmas Price Index” compiled by PNC Wealth Management, which tallies the single partridge in a pear tree to the 12 drummers drumming, [...]

In a season that inspires earnest letters about toys, one notable batch is being sent not by kids to Santa’s workshop but by parents to the executive suites of real-world toy makers.
The message: Please, in these days of economic angst, cut back on marketing your products directly to our children.
The letter-writing initiative was launched by [...]

Fans of the holiday classic “A Christmas Story” are celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary with a convention and trips to the house where the movie was made.
The 1983 film, an adaptation of Jean Shepard’s memoir of a boy in the 1940s, was set in Indiana but largely filmed in Ohio. The movie starred Peter Billingsley [...]