
‘Are you still a believer in Santa?’: Trump asks 7-year-old
President Donald Trump asked a 7-year-old boy if he still believed in Santa Claus while taking calls from children on Christmas Eve.
“Are you still a believer in Santa? ’Cause at 7 it’s marginal, right?” Trump said while he and First Lady Melania Trump answered telephone calls from children following the Santa tracker operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad.
“Happy Christmas. You just take care of yourself and say hello to your family, OK? Say hello to everybody. OK, thank you,” Trump said in an exchange in which only his side could be heard by reporters.
The event took place on Monday night at the White House, where Trump is staying for the holiday after scrapping plans to travel to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida because of a partial government shutdown.
Trump told reporters after talking to the children that there was “nothing new to report” on the federal funding lapse triggered on Saturday after he and congressional Democratic leaders failed to reach agreement over money Trump wants for a US-Mexico border wall.
On Monday, the third day of the shutdown, there was a US market rout, with the S&P 500 plunging almost 3 percent to end at a 20-month low. It was the worst final session before the Christmas holiday on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Trump and the first lady later headed to Washington National Cathedral to attend a Christmas Eve service.
Every year on Christmas Eve, hundreds of volunteers staff telephones and computers “to keep curious children and their families informed about Santa’s whereabouts and if it’s time to get to bed,” according to Norad, a US-Canadian agency that keeps watch over North American airspace for possible attacks.
Norad’s tracking site stems from a December 24, 1955 call made to the organization’s predecessor from a child seeking information on Santa’s whereabouts.
Also Read: Girl, 8, sets off balloon with Santa wish list. She gets all and more

US announces sanctions on Russian officials, businesses for Navalny's poisoning
- The sanctions are the first ordered by President Joe Biden against Russia and will help set the tone for his relations with Putin.

Taliban collecting funds openly, Pak govt turning blind eye: PTM leader Afridi

Merck to help make Johnson & Johnson's single-shot Covid-19 vaccine: Report

Sri Lanka approves new port development with India and Japan

Covid-19: Which countries have most number of fully vaccinated people?
- The number of fully vaccinated people are nowhere near the number of doses administered since most of the countries are using Covid-19 vaccines that require a two-doses regimen.

Multiple sclerosis patient sues Austria over health impact of climate change
- The case being filed next month before the European Court of Human Rights is supported by the environmental group Fridays for Future, which is helping to crowdfund the legal costs.

Media watchdog seeks German investigation of Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi

On the Covid-19 frontline, half of French care home workers don't trust vaccine

China airs video confession of blogger booked for insulting PLA soldiers

Lebanese currency hits record low amid country's worsening crisis

Mikhail Gorbachev, last Soviet leader, to mark 90th birthday on Zoom

'Pawri' power: 5-second social media clip pulls India, Pakistan closer
- The short video shot by Dananeer Mobeen in the Nathaigali mountains of northern Pakistan and uploaded onto Instagram shows a group of youngsters enjoying themselves by a roadside.

After Myanmar's 'bloodiest' day of protests, Aung Suu Kyi hit with more charges

Media watchdog files lawsuit in Germany against Saudi prince over Khashoggi
- Under the German legal system, anyone can file an allegation with prosecutors and there is an obligation for them to look into the accusations.
