The doll symbolizing the Baby Jesus has been stolen by suspected anarchists from the manger in Thessaloniki’s main square, police said yesterday.

A previously unknown group calling itself “The Mothers of Aristotelous Square” claimed it was behind the stunt and demanded the release of two activists arrested earlier this year when the European Social Forum was held in Athens.

This is the third time since 1993 that the Baby Jesus has been stolen from the Nativity scene, which is set up next to the Christmas tree in Aristotelous Square.

“No matter how many times they take the doll… nothing can remove Christ and the Christmas spirit from our hearts,” said Thessaloniki’s Deputy Mayor Vassilis Gakis.

Police said that the doll was stolen while the security guard was on a break.

Airwide Solutions announced expectations of an all-time peak in SMS volumes during the upcoming New Year’s celebrations.

Volumes typically increase each year, but this year Airwide predicts higher than average increases in SMS volumes, particularly in countries with developing mobile networks, such as Eastern Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia. In addition to this, a number of Airwide’s operator customers are making improvements in their messaging infrastructure specifically for the coming festive peaks.

This year, the race is on around the world to reach the 200 million SMS message milestone. The U.K. is the most likely contender, with Airwide anticipating New Year celebration SMS volumes to easily exceed 200 million, up from 165 million last year. However, Poland’s fast growing mobile penetration and high number of expatriates now living in Western Europe contribute to expectations of 200 million text messages, up from 147 million last year. Despite the main celebration in China being during Chinese New Year later in the year, Airwide expects SMS volumes for the 31st December to 1st January celebrations in Beijing and Shanghai to each reach the same figure of 200 million.

On a more modest level, but still topping previous growth, Australia could reach 30 million SMS messages as this year the country is poised to exceed the 100 percent mobile penetration mark. Similarly, Airwide is expecting a high of 50 million messages in Ireland and over 65 million in Switzerland. While text messaging has not historically been as popular as in other regions, the U.S. is now seeing dramatic growth, and the country could see a high of 125 million messages over the coming New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Dennis Magaya, Executive Head: Customer Services & Applications at South African operator Cell C, says: “We are expecting record high message peaks this year as increasing numbers of people send greetings by SMS when they are out celebrating. We have made the appropriate investments in our messaging infrastructure accordingly and are confident that we will be able to handle the anticipated peak in traffic and continue to deliver a reliable service to our subscribers during the festive season.”

“Dramatic peaks in messaging traffic are becoming more frequent and more pronounced, not only due to the continued increase in popularity of SMS and other messaging types, but also because of increases in A2P and P2A traffic.” says Jay Seaton, CMO of Airwide Solutions. “While increased traffic provides great revenue potential for operators, it also presents the challenges of ensuring that the underlying infrastructure does not become congested while subscribers send these time-sensitive messages, and that the operators’ networks and subscribers are protected from mobile fraud, spam and other security threats.”

Despite the impressive festive peaks in SMS volumes everywhere, the largest peak will no doubt be in the Philippines, where a typical day sees over 400 million messages sent.

A German taxi driver who shouted “Oh, for Christ’s sake, it’s Christmas Eve!” when a robber put a gun to his head scared the thief away.

The teen-ager opened the parked taxi’s door in the western town of Bielefeld and demanded money Sunday evening, police spokesman Michael Mehler said.

The driver refused and jumped out, shouting for help. The two scuffled briefly before the thief fled.

“The taxi driver’s resistance and reference to Christmas evidently unsettled the bandit,” Mehler said Monday. An 18-year-old and his 16-year-old accomplice were later arrested.

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Mary (not Merry) Christmas, first born of Bob and Peggy Christmas, has lived with Christmas jokes all her life, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

“People ask me all the time, ‘What were your parents thinking?’” Mary said, according to AP. “I never minded.”

There are six children in the Christmas household, and Christmas in the Christmas household is like any other Christmas. That’s a lot of Christmases.

Yes, Christmas will continue to live, in the Christmas household 365 days a year. But that’s not all. Ever since Bob’s brother married a girl named Cathy Holiday … well, you get the picture.

Sofia turns out Christmas lights in solidarity with death row nurses

Sofia turned off its Christmas lights on Sunday in a show of solidarity for five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya along with a Palestinian doctor. Floodlights on the parliament and presidency buildings were cut for five minutes, plunging the Bulgarian capital’s landmarks into blackness, and Christmas lights were switched off in the city. The gesture initiated by Sofia’s Mayor Boiko Borissov was mirrored in several cities across the country.

“Ho ho ho!” may become “ouch ouch ouch!” for Santa Claus impersonators seeking to wing it with a fake beard.

Sweden’s national testing institute has tested six models of beard on sale in the Scandinavian country and found that two of them turned into a raging inferno when coming into contact with a naked flame.

“We placed the beards on a peg in a laboratory. We placed a small flame underneath for two seconds to simulate a situation where Father Christmas gets too near to a candle or match,” fire expert Per Thureson said in a statement.

One of the firms selling one of the dangerous beards has called on customers to return their furry appendages. Another has told worried Santas they can return them if they wished.

“Taken into account that numerous Father Christmases are not completely sober at Christmas, there is a risk they may hurt themselves,” the statement said.

A British group says the holidays bring a special form of torture to some employees, in the form of endless loops of Christmas carols.

The U.K. Noise Association is considering legal action on behalf of retail workers … claiming that being forced to listen to the same songs over and over is “no different to being tortured.”

Lawyers say any lawsuit would have to demonstrate that holiday music could make employees physically ill. But one labor union insists that Christmas Carol overload could create an unhealthy working environment, saying “it must drive people to distraction.”