It is hard to imagine flowers blooming outdoors in February, but the Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) delights gardeners with its charming pure white blooms that emerge from the plant even when frost and snow lie on the ground.

Christmas concert to include Salvation Army story

The vast majority of Americans are a few missteps and a bit of bad luck away from facing abject poverty.

Euro zone sales tumble at Christmas, no sign of growth

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Retail sales in the euro zone tumbled unexpectedly in December, the biggest drop in the Christmas period in three years, data showed on Friday, with rising joblessness and stubborn inflation undercut signs of a stabilization in Europe's economy. Sales across the 17-nation single currency area fell 0.4 percent in December from November, well down from the 0.3 percent rise ...

Christmas, Auto Racing, Lights, and a Baby

When you think of Christmas, auto racing might not come to mind. But the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon has turned a mile long race course into a Christmas display featuring more than a million LED lights. NHPR’s Brady Carlson took his family to see the show and has this report. I’m not really a light kind of guy – in fact, the first thing I do when I host All Things Considered is turn ...

Operation Christmas Card touches servicemanâs heart

Cathy Perfect/Kern Valley Sun The project – belatedly dubbed Operation Christmas Card – took planning. It took time. And, in the end, some finger-crossing.