Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part of Christmas festivities, with many people choosing to shop for deals on Boxing Day. It originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in several Commonwealth nations. The attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place on 27 or 28 December if necessary to ensure it falls on a weekday. Boxing Day is also concurrent with the Christian festival Saint Stephen's Day.

In parts of Europe, such as Catalonia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Romania, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Latvia and the Republic of Ireland, 26 December is Saint Stephen's Day, which is considered the second day of Christmas.

Saint Stephen's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Christianity. In Western Christian denominations, Saint Stephen's Day marks the second day of Christmastide.

It is an official public holiday in Alsace-Moselle, Austria, the Balearic Islands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Switzerland and Newfoundland. The date is also a public holiday in those countries that celebrate Boxing Day on the day in addition to or instead of Saint Stephen's Day, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

In the Isle of Man and in parts of Ireland, it is also known as Wren Day. It was traditional to hunt a wren, which would be paraded around the neighbourhood on top of a staff decorated with holly, ivy and ribbons.

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Britain's longest-serving Royal Mail postman has recalled hand-delivering turkeys, kippers and last-minute gifts for Christmas as his record 60 years comes to an end.

Robert Hudson, from Leyton, east London, started his career in December 1964 - aged 16 – as a messenger in the Whitechapel Delivery Office distributing telegrams.

The 76-year-old, known as Rocky, will carry out his final shift overnight on 28 December at the Docklands Delivery Office - where he has spent the last four decades working.

Looking ahead to retirement, Rocky said it will be strange to be turning off his early alarms, but he is ready to "relax" and to spend time gardening and seeing his family.

Christmas parcels back in the 60s were also a strange affair as Rocky recalls hand-delivering perishable festive goods through the post such as turkeys "wrapped up in brown paper or a cloth with a leg sticking out".

Salmon, kippers and cream were also part of his deliveries and Rocky remembers seeing the joy on someone's face as he handed them a last-minute gift from a loved one.

"We often wear Santa hats and go around at Christmas, seeing the look on the kids' faces when you're at the door is so nice," he told the PA Media news agency.

"People used to say, 'here comes Father Christmas'.

"The amount of work we get around Christmas is incredible, it's so busy, but you push through and get it done – there's nothing left behind."

BBC Scotland has agreed a new contract to televise up to 30 Scottish Championship matches per season and show web-based highlights of second-tier games and League 1 and 2 matches.

The existing deal allowed the broadcaster to show up to 20 live Championship games every season.

The weekly highlights programme showing action from that division and the third and fourth tiers will be streamed on the BBC Sport website and app each Monday and will begin early in the new year.

The new arrangements are add-ons to the deal between the BBC and Scottish Professional Football League that runs until the end of the 2028-29 season.

Nato has said it will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea, and Estonia has sent a patrol ship to protect its Estlink1 undersea power cable, after Russia was accused of sabotaging its main power link in the Gulf of Finland.

A ship named as Eagle S is suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 cable and Finnish coast guard crew have boarded the oil tanker and steered it into Finnish waters.

The EU said the Eagle S was part of "Russia's shadow fleet" and the failure of the undersea cable was the "latest in a series of suspected attacks on critical infrastructure", external.

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said the Raju had set sail early on Friday and he believed Finland would join the operation to protect the remaining cable.

He told Estonian public radio that the Raju's task was "to ensure that nothing happens there and that our critical connection with Finland remains operational".

The Kremlin has declined to comment on the damage to the cable, describing it as a "very narrow issue" and not an issue for the Russian presidency.

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said on social media that he had spoken to Finland's president, Alexander Stubb, adding that Nato would boost its presence in the Baltic, external. A further statement by the alliance said only that "Nato remains vigilant and is working to provide further support".

Hundreds of football fans have helped save their grassroots club after its grounds were badly damaged in an arson attack.

Thorne Colliery's facilities, in Doncaster, were burnt in the fire with the club being unable to host any games since October after its clubhouse was condemned.

Fans and the community responded to a DIY SOS-style fundraising plea to enable new changing rooms to be ready in time for a derby match, which took place earlier.

First team manager James O'Neil described the effort from those who had pitched in as "phenomenal".

The club's first team had celebrated winning promotion to Division One of the North East Counties League just six days before the fire on May 10.

Despite extensive damage from the blaze, the changing rooms at the ground were still useable until the building was fully condemned in October.

The club had feared being dropped from their league because the facilities did not meet the required standard.

However, after people rallied round to transform temporary cabins into useable facilities, the club is now back up and running.

Mr O'Neil said: "The work that the people behind the scenes have put in, the community have really chipped in to get us here. It's been phenomenal.

"To get a non-league football standard facility built in three weeks is incredible."

Mr O'Neil said they had been inundated with messages from people offering both their time and financial support.

"Non-league clubs like us are built on community spirit, so people want to help and get behind their local sports teams," he added.

"It's just wonderful to be back at our home ground playing football again."

South Yorkshire Police have previously said two boys, aged 15 and 16, and a man, 19, had been arrested and bailed in connection with the blaze.

Hundreds of pieces of Lego lost at sea off a cargo ship 27 years ago have been found this year, including the first ever shark.

A freak wave swept 62 shipping containers of Lego off the Tokio Express cargo ship 20 miles (32km) off Land's End on 13 February 1997, one of which held 4,756,940 pieces, much of it sea-themed.

Since then, Lego parts have been found in south-west England, the Channel Islands, Wales, Ireland and as far away as the Netherlands and Norway.

Tracey Williams who founded the project Lego Lost at Sea said this year had seen a rise in the number of yellow spear guns found of the 53,120 that were lost.

On the trail of Scotland's mysterious big cats

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g2pgjj00ro

Former US President Jimmy Carter has died aged 100, the centre he founded has confirmed.

The former peanut farmer lived longer than any president in history and celebrated his 100th birthday in October.

The Carter Center, which advocates for democracy and human rights around the world, said he died on Sunday afternoon at his home in Plains, Georgia.

The Democrat served as president from 1977 to 1981, a period beset by economic and diplomatic crises.

After leaving the White House with low approval ratings, his reputation was restored through humanitarian work which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

"My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love," his son, Chip Carter, said in a statement.

"The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honouring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs."

Carter - who prior to becoming president was governor of Georgia, a lieutenant in the US navy and a farmer - is survived by his four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

His wife, Rosalynn, who he was married to for 77 years, died in November 2023.

Since 2018 and the death of George HW Bush, he was the oldest surviving US president.

Carter stopped medical treatment for an undisclosed illness last year and instead began receiving hospice care at his home.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden said the world had "lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian".

Describing him as "a dear friend" and "a man of principle, faith and humility", they added: "He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong."

"The challenges Jimmy faced as president came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans," President-elect Donald Trump wrote on social media.

"For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude."

Carter's presidency will be remembered for his struggles in dealing with acute economic problems and several foreign policy challenges, including the Iran hostage crisis, which ended with the deaths of eight Americans.

There was, however, a notable foreign policy triumph in the Middle East when he helped broker an accord between Egypt and Israel, signed at Camp David in the US in 1978.

But that seemed a distant memory two years later, when voters overwhelmingly chose Republican Ronald Reagan, who had portrayed the president as a weak leader unable to deal with inflation and interest rates at near record highs.

Carter lost the 1980 election by a landslide, winning only six US states plus Washington DC.

In the aftermath of such a heavy defeat, Carter was frequently held up by Republicans as an example of liberal ineptitude.

Meanwhile, many in his own party either ignored him or viewed his presidential shortcomings as evidence their brand of Democratic politics or policy was a better way.

Today many on the right still deride the Carter years but as the decades passed, his humanitarian efforts and simple lifestyle began to shape a new legacy for many Americans.

After leaving the White House, he became the first and only president to return full-time to the house he lived in before politics - a humble, two-bedroom ranch-style home.

He chose not to pursue the lucrative after-dinner speeches and publishing deals awaiting most former presidents, telling the Washington Post in 2018, external that he never really wanted to be rich.

Instead, he spent his remaining years trying to address global problems of inequality and disease.

He also teamed up with Nelson Mandela to found The Elders, a group of global leaders who committed themselves to work on peace and human rights.

In accepting his Nobel prize in 2002 - only the third US president to receive it - he said: "The most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and the poorest people on Earth."

In a statement, former President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary Clinton said he "worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world", noting his humanitarian, environmental and diplomatic efforts.

"Guided by faith, President Carter lived to serve others - until the very end," they added.

Former President Barack Obama paid tribute to Carter's "decency" and said "he taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service".

Republican former President George W Bush, meanwhile, said Carter "dignified the office" and that "his efforts to leave behind a better world didn't end with the presidency".

President Biden said a state funeral would be held in Washington DC.

Comment deleted by Article Creator

Jimmy Carter obituary:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c163e0wzgn3o

Taught bible study well into his 90s, what a guy.