A 60-year-old man has been beaten in Paris in what seems to be a religious hate crime, newspaper Le Parisien reports. The man had gone shopping for Christmas and was carrying a present wrapped in Christmas gift paper. As he left the metro Alesia (XIVth arrondissement) with arms loaded and was walking to the Avenue du Maine (XIVth arrondissement) he was ambushed. A stranger approached him, jostled... 

If there were no presents at all, would you still want to celebrate Christmas? 100 years ago, a little seven-year-old boy named Homer Mellen sent Santa Claus a letter asking for “a box of paints, also a nine cent reader, and a school bag to put them in.” And he added that if Santa happened to have “any nuts, or candy, or toys to spare” that he would love to have some. My, how times have changed....