We have compiled some of the best Merry Christmas images to honor one of the most festive holidays of the year.
The Christian holiday season is in full swing with Christmas Eve festivities taking place tomorrow night, while the following day will be celebrated with plenty of gifts to go around.
Many consider Christmas to be a family day, but we are not always able to be with all our family members, especially our extended family. Additionally, our friends make up an important part of our support system.
In order to show both our family members and friends how much we love them in this special time of the year, share the holiday spirit with a joyous image that captures the essence of Christmas.
Over the next few slides, you can check out nine images for christmas that you can post on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Browse through the slides and check them out.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas with Lyrics Christmas Carol & Song Kids Love to Sing
Theresa May probably thought she was playing clever politics when she put Boris Johnson, a potential rival, into the Foreign Office. First, he would be abroad much of the time and therefore out of the limelight and unable to plot against her. Second, the Foreign Office requires diplomacy and, whatever Johnsons merits, that isnt among them. May set him up for isolation, obscurity and failure.
It hasnt worked. Johnson is too accident-prone for a department that runs tangible public services make him Home Secretary and half the nations prisoners would have escaped within a week but, short of war breaking out, the Foreign Office holds few risks for an ambitious politician. Johnsons gaffes threatening the Italians that we wont buy their Prosecco, blaming the Saudis for wars in the Middle East arent gaffes at all. They are calculated attempts toget himself noticed, win public approval for putting foreigners in their place and challenge May to fire him and make him a martyr. So far, his gaffes are working.
Buying Sky
Dont expect the government to try to stopRupert Murdochs 11.2bn bid, predicted in this column in October, to buy the 60 per cent of Sky that he doesnt already own. Asimilar bid was withdrawn in 2011 after a public outcry over phone-hacking. Sky was then called BSkyB and the bidder, now 21st Century Fox, was News Corp. But Murdoch was and is behind them all and not much else has changed: if anything, hacking turned out to be even more widespread in his papers than was then thought.
May met him in September. An understanding was almost certainly reached. Dont believe denials. It was persistently denied that Murdoch had met Margaret Thatcher to discuss his bid for the Times and Sunday Times in 1981, which Thatchers government refused to refer to the regulatory authorities. Three decades later, Thatchers private files showed that the meeting indeed took place.
What goes around
It is hard not to laugh at Americans indignation over Russias alleged meddling in the US elections. For at least a century, the US has done everything possible to influence the outcomes of other countries elections.
Just after the Second World War, the CIA lavished money on Italys Christian Democrats and invented s*x scandals to discredit left-wing leaders. In Iran in 1953, the CIA launched a successful coup to overthrow the democratically elected Muhammed Mossadeq. In Chile in 1964, it spent $4m on covert action projects to stop the socialist Salvador Allende winning an election. After Allende won the presidency at his fourth attempt in 1970, the CIA organised a coup to oust him. As US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton herself opposed the reinstatement of the elected president of Honduras after amilitary coup in 2009.
Americans should be thankful that they are unlikely to suffer a coup because, as the Latin American joke has it, theres no US embassy in Washington.
The climate deniers are winning
At a reunion of former Observer hacks (I worked there from 1968 to 1975), I talk to Geoffrey Lean, formerly of the Daily Telegraph and Independent on Sunday as well as the Observer, and widely described as the doyen of environment correspondents. How fares the planet, I ask. Not well, he says. The year 2016 is poised to be the hottest on record, beating 2014 and 2015, the previous record-holders. Wasnt October unusually cool? Only by recent standards, Geoffrey explains. It was hotter than any October before 1998 and this November beat all previous Novembers for warmth.
Readers of most British newspapers can be forgiven if they are only dimly aware of this alarming intelligence. By my calculations, ten global-warming sceptics including the Sunday Telegraphs Christopher Booker, the Mail on Sundays Peter Hitchens and the Timess Matt Ridley have regular columns in the main sections of national newspapers. I ask Geoffrey how many columnists in national newspaper comment sections accept the overwhelming scientific consensus and write about the subject as often as the sceptic ten do. There used to be four of us, replies Geoffrey, whose contract with the Telegraph ended last year. But three of us have been sacked in the past 18 months. The Guardians George Monbiot now stands as the lone warmist.
Amazingly, climate-change deniers still portray themselves as a beleaguered minority, struggling to get a hearing.
Blot on the high street
Loughton, Essex, where I live quietly and unfashionably, is a town of handsome Tudorbethan architecture. Not my description but that of the Daily Mail, which devotes a double-page spread to Loughtons high street, featuring the loss of once-loved independent retailers and the rise of unlovable replacements such as estate agents and coffee shops. I am in sympathy with the Mails general drift, but I cannot quite share the sniffy tone about the spread of beauty clinics, nail bars and Pilates studios. Almost every day, I read reports about how machines will soon destroy most peoples jobs. Then I walk down the high street and marvel at how human beings manage to prosper by selling each other services that nobody previously thought were needed.
Logging off
When I get up on Christmas Day, I shall light a fire. It will be one of a diminishing number of days that I do so. That is partly because of environmental worries but also because, as I get older, logs and coal seem to require too much physical exertion.
As I carry the loads from the cellar, my body simultaneously struggling with the effects of seasonal overindulgence, I shall reflect that my parents did this every day for more than 40 years. Forget motor cars, TVs, vacuum cleaners and washing machines. The most transforming technology of my lifetime was domestic central heating.
HUDSON People of different faiths came together in 7th Street Park on Saturday evening to celebrate Christmas Eve and the first night of hanukkah, which both fell on Dec. 24.
The evening started at 5:30 p.m. with a candle lighting ceremony, hosted by the Rev. Kathryn Beilke and members of First Presbyterian Church. This year marked the first year the annual candle-lighting ceremony would be held outside, in the park, Beilke said.
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2016 American Football Highlights - Army 21, Navy 17
He just couldnt help himself.
The President-elect of the United States took a soft swipe at the quality of the football game he was watching in Baltimore on Saturday between two branches of the armed forces.
During the annual Army-Navy game during which he was loudly cheered by the cadets in the stands Donald Trump was interviewed by CBS Sports Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson. In Trump parlance, he attempted to tell it like it is. In this case, that meant saying the Black Knights and Midshipmen football players werent the best hes seen.
I just love the armed forces, love the folks. The spirit is so incredible. I mean, I dont know if its necessarily the best football, but its very good, said Trump, a majority owner in the short-lived United States Football League. But boy do they have spirit. More than anybody, its beautiful.
The internet buzzed about the unprovoked backhanded compliment. Like just about anything else Trump-related, sides were drawn.
Both football and Trump fans came to his defense, saying the matchup of No. 25 Navy and the Black Knights, which featured little passing and frequent turnovers, was not up to snuff.
Oh, by the way, Army (7-5) ended a 14-year run of frustration against navy (9-4), using an overpowering running game and opportunistic defense to carve out a hard-fought 21-17 victory.
The actress is currently in critical condition. USA TODAY
Carrie Fisher in October.(Photo: Andy Kropa, Invision/AP)
Carrie Fisher is being treated in an intensive care unit after a serious medical emergency on a flight, according to her brother.
On Friday night, Todd Fisher told The Associated Press that his sister was receiving excellent care, but said that he could not classify her condition. He had earlier told the AP that she had been stabilized and was out of the emergency room.
In a subsequent interview,he said many details about her condition or what caused the medical emergency are unknown, and much of what had been reported was speculation.
"We have to wait and be patient," he said. "We have so little information ourselves."
TMZ and theLos Angeles Timesreported that the actress, best known for playing Princess Leia in theStar Warsfilm franchise, was on a flight from London to Los Angeles when she went into cardiac arrest. TMZ reports that the emergency occurred about 15 minutes before landing, and an EMT on the plane administered CPR before landing. The plane arrived just after noon PT and Fisher, 60, was rushed by paramedics to the UCLA Medical Center.
Fisher"s daughter, Billie Lourd, was spotted at the hospital, as was Fisher"s French bulldog, Gary.
The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed that they responded to a call from the airport, but would not release any additional information, including the name, age or gender of the patient.
At 12:11 pm the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call from LAX for a patient that was in cardiac arrest," Erik Scott, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, told USA TODAY."Firefighter paramedics provided advanced life support and aggressively treated the patient whom was transported to a local hospital.
Peoplereports that Fisher was in London to film Season 3 of sitcomCatastrophe, which streams on Amazon in the USA. Co-star and co-creator Sharon Horgan shared a photo with Fisher on her Instagram last week, captioning it, "Me, General Leia and Kylo Ren"s hand on the set of #catastrophe3."Horgan"s co-creator,Rob Delaney,tweetedWednesday that the third season of the show was "in the can."
Celebrities immediately took to social media to express their well-wishes for Fisher, including herStar Warsco-star Mark Hamill.
Fisher has been making waves recently promoting her latest memoir,The Princess Diarist, based on the diaries she kept while starring in the original Star Warsfilm as a 19-year-old. In the book she reveals, among other things,that she and herco-star Harrison Ford had an affair on the set that they kept secret for decades. She reprised her world-famous rolein the seventh film of the sci-fi series,The Force Awakens, which hit theaters in December 2015. She also appears in the upcoming Episode VIII, which is in post-productionand set for release Dec. 17, 2017.
The actress, who is the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and singer/dancer/actress Debbie Reynolds,is also known for roles inBlues BrothersandSoapdish. She"s appeared in guest-roles on TV shows likeThe Big Bang Theory,30 Rockand most recently Bravo"sGirlfriend"s Guide to DivorceandCatastrophe.
Fisher"s reps did not immediately respond to USA TODAY"s request for comment.
According to court documents, he was found in possession of Tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC.
The 35-year-old was taken to jail on a $20,000 bond. Paul Wall and rapper Baby Bash, whose real name is Ronald Ray Bryant, were part of a group of 10 people -- all of which were facing drug charges.
All 10 were arrested at Paradise Smoke Shop in Houston. One of the owners there was also arrested and said they were at the smoke shop because Wall was holding a private party collecting toys for disadvantaged children.
Paul Wall and Baby Bash later bonded out of jail.
"Got caught up with a lil weed yall..no biggie," Bash tweeted. "Lol #cannabiscommunity." The post was later deleted.
Jewelry and grill designer Johnny Dang is a business partner of Paul Wall. They opened a new multi-million dollar jewelry store newsroom in the Galleria-area in October.
Dang said Paul Wall has no reason to be involved in the drug trade because he"s a successful rapper and businessman.
"I, 100 percent, don"t believe it," Dang said. "I"ve been knowing Paul Wall for 10 years. We just opened this jewelry store."
Arnaecia Alridge, Paul Wall"s publicist, said the charges will be withdrawn.
"These are all simply misconceptions and we are confident that after the case is fully investigated, he will be exonerated. Things are not what they appear. These are just allegations and he"s innocent until proven guilty," Aldridge said in a statement.
Jolanda Jones, an attorney representing the rapper, said her client doesn"t deserve the charges.
"He"s innocent until proven guilty," Jones said. "That"s why we have constitutional protections."
Jones also issued a statement saying, "It is early in this case. We are confident that after a thorough investigation of these allegations, Mr. Slayton will be proven not guilty. I will fight vigorously to defend my client."
Those also charged were Alfred Diller, 26, Homer Villarreal, Jr., 32, Paige Cooper, 24, Thomas Wissing, 25, John Sanchez, 50, Luis Amaya, 23 and Dolegario Ramirez, 21.
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