Christmas

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Ana Brnabic on Friday extended her Christmas message to Serbian Patriarch Irenaeus and believers who observe the Julian calendar, wishing that they may spend the holiday in peace and good mood, with their families and friends.

The share of retailers who reported a decline in sales over the Christmas period has dropped below 50 percent for the first time in the last few years, according to a survey by the Institute of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Enterprises (INEMY-ESEE).

Serbs who visit a church in the western Kosovo town of Gjakova/Djakovica for Orthodox Christmas each year have cancelled their trip after local Kosovo Albanians said they would stage a protest.

Attacks against migrant workers, and Pakistani nationals in particular, in the Piraeus suburbs of Renti and Nikaia have spiked since Christmas, a rights group warned on Thursday, saying the assaults bear the hallmarks of Golden Dawn's so-called "assault divisions."

After Christmas and New Year's Holidays, it usually takes a while for most of the people to get back into working rhythm. If this is difficult for you, you can relax by pointing your thoughts to planning the next break.

Dreams of a white Christmas have turned into a nightmare in the northeastern U.S. city of Erie after a storm dumped a record-breaking 1.5 meters of snow in a 48-hour period, forcing officials to declare an emergency.

Pope Francis on Dec. 25 called for peace in Jerusalem in his traditional Christmas address and highlighted the plight of children scarred by conflict, after urging the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics not to ignore migrants.

Spain’s King Felipe VI in a Christmas speech on Dec. 24 urged Catalan lawmakers to respect their region’s diversity and avoid another confrontation over independence.

The holy night of Christmas was celebrated across Turkey late on Dec. 24, gathering Christians in Turkey and people of all religions and cultures visiting from around the world.

Eight years into the debt crisis which has shaken Greek economy and dramatically changed Greeks' everyday life, positive financial indexes and retail turnover results indicate that Greece is recovering. Athens and international creditors are set to celebrate the exit from the bailout era next summer.