NASHVILLE (Reuters) - When it comes to the holidays, country singers often turn their thoughts to home and traditions -- spending time with family, memories of special gifts, visiting friends and catching up on news.

In recent weeks, Reuters has interviewed several country music stars and asked them to share some of their thoughts about this time of year. Here is what ...

The fear of kidnappings, a dwindling number of worshippers, and shrinking church finances mar the first Christmas in Muslim-majority Sudan since the Christian South separated, church sources say.

"We are going to have a Christmas like parents without children," said one source.

Like others, he asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue -- in particular the alleged ...

PORTSMOUTH, Va (Reuters) - Christmas is indeed a jolly time of year for some former Virginia tobacco farmers who have switched to a more health-friendly crop.

On a 25-acre Christmas tree farm at Mouth of Wilson, in remote Appalachian Virginia, Ron Cooper has a spring in his step as he awaits the arrival of his seasonal workers.

It's just after ...

The table has been set, the wine has been poured and the Christmas turkey is brought out for everyone's approval.

Oh dear.

Applause is short-lived, as the assembled host witness a calamitous case of what turkeyphiles call stuffing creep.

It's that moment when stuffing, expanding in the heat of the oven, rudely pushes its way out of the ...

Plump turkeys adorned with red ribbons, proud capons trussed up in tinsel -- the finest poultry is again the star of the show as French cooks shop for Christmas in Paris' biggest market.

While the French capital sleeps, a vast fleet of trucks and delivery vans perform a ballet in the freezing mist, shipping vast quantities of meat, cheese, vegetables and ...

BOSTON (Reuters) - Parts of the Northeast may have a white Christmas but most of the rest of the country will be missing a coating of snow for the holiday, forecasters said on Wednesday.

Soggy weather leading up to Christmas on Sunday is more likely to be rain than snow in the northeast, said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Paul Walker.

Still ...

Europeans are tightening their belts and spending less on Christmas gifts this year as they struggle with incomes hit by austerity measures or fear the economy could worsen in 2012.

Mother Nature is helping retailers in many countries this year as there have been no snow storms keeping consumers home and playing havoc with deliveries.

However sharp spending cuts and ...