Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed the shooting down of two Russian fighter jets on Christmas Eve, saying “This Christmas sets the right mood for the entire year ahead.”.

The typically bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus looks like a ghost town on Christmas Eve, with celebrations in Bethlehem called off due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Mostly clear & warm throughout the evening, plan for a soggy Christmas

Partly cloudy with above seasonal temperatures.

Models have backed off on rain for Christmas Eve and put it all on Christmas Day and Tuesday.

Cloudy and Warm before the Holiday Storms

Police officers in South Florida were able to return to their rightful owners packages that had been stolen by a “porch pirate” on Christmas Eve.

A sheriff’s deputy in the Florida Panhandle was fatally shot Christmas Eve during a standoff with a suspect who was being served a warrant.

A battering winter storm has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the United States.

With morning lows in the 20s Saturday, we had a frosty start to Christmas Eve. We might not be seeing a "white" Christmas this year but Jack Frost is certainly visiting and our viewers were eager to share what he left behind.

A woman and two men from Jacksonville capped a Christmas Eve theft spree in Nassau County with a deputy chase that ended with their arrest, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities say a South Florida man shot and wounded another man on Christmas Eve in a dispute over loud music.

Scottish singer Tom Walker has praised the piano skills of the Duchess of Cambridge after the pair recorded a Christmas tune that was shown during a carol concert.

The staff is tired, the omicron variant is bearing down and the intensive care unit beds are filling fast at a hospital in the French city of Marseille.

Amid the surge of coronavirus cases across the U.S., numerous churches have canceled in-person Christmas services.

From Bethlehem and Frankfurt to London and Boston, the surging coronavirus dampened Christmas Eve festivities for a second year.

Citing a “nationwide spike in Omicron cases,” United Airlines on Thursday announced it is canceling some of its Christmas Eve flights.

Not quite sure how to fill the time with the in-laws? It can be tough to find affordable options for out-of-town guests.

An assembly line of holiday films to make the heart sing is the Hallmark Channel's blueprint, and it works every year like mistletoe or eggnog.

The European Union and Britain are back to quarreling less than a year after finalizing Brexit.

The Pentagon has announced it will keep a Navy aircraft carrier in the Middle East to provide protection for the more than 10,000 American and coalition troops withdrawing from Afghanistan in coming weeks.

UK chief trade negotiator David Frost looks on as Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement at 10 Downing Street, London Wednesday Dec. 30, 2020. (Leon Neal/Pool via AP)BRUSSELS – Britain’s Parliament voted resoundingly on Wednesday to approve a trade deal with the European Union, paving the way for an orderly break with the bloc that will finally complete the U.K.’s long and divisive Brexit journey. With just a day to spare, lawmakers in the House of Commons voted 521-73 in favor of the agreement sealed between the U.K. government and the EU last week. She noted that the deal protected trade in goods but did not cover services, which account for 80% of Britain's economy. “We have a deal in trade, which benefits the EU, but not a deal in services, which would have benefitted the U.K.," May said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thunderstorms that swept through Northeast Florida on Christmas Eve spawned a tornado in Starke that left two people injured, according to the National Weather Service Jacksonville. Crews surveyed the damage left in Bradford County in the wake of the strong storms and said it’s consistent with a tornado with maximum winds of 105 mph, classifying it an EF1. The NWS said the tornado developed just after 6 p.m. and left a damage path of about 4.13 miles. The tornado caused damage to trees, fences, and roofs on manufactured homes along its 4-mile path, NWS said. News4Jax saw damage along Highway 100 near Starke, where trees fell onto two homes and a car.

The CDC has recommendations for those who traveled for the holiday:It recommends getting tested three to five days after returning home. If you receive a negative test, they recommend still isolating at home for seven days to be safe. “This virus is tricky,” said Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious disease expert. If you traveled, @CDCgov recommends getting tested 3-5 days after returning home. The site offers rapid testing, antigen testing and PCR tests with no appointment needed.

I will spend Christmas at home alone because I don't have anyone to spend them with. “I don’t feel like celebrating anything,” Otero said as she sat down to eat a plate of salmon with potatoes. “We have missed one another these Christmas holidays,” Cano said. I am one of the last ones left. I will spend Christmas at home alone because I don’t have anyone to spend it with.”___AP writer Joseph Wilson contributed to this report.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A line of strong storms that moved quickly across Northeast Florida on Christmas Eve left power outages and downed trees in its wake. Another home had a large tree fall in the backyard. STORM DAMAGE: This surveillance video shows patio furniture being tossed around by wind and rain. Also in Mandarin, a power outage didn’t stop the Mandarin Presbyterian Church from holding its Christmas Eve Service. Take a look:In Lake City, Jerry Norenberg said he was getting ready to eat food with his roommates when a tree came crashing through their home.

We’re under a Weather Authority Alert through 8 p.m. because of a line of strong, possibly severe storms that may produce damaging wind gusts as they move quickly across our area. The showers and thunderstorms began to move into our inland areas, from Waycross to Lake City around 4 p.m. Just before 5 p.m., Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were up for Clinch and Columbia counties. The greatest threat for damaging wind gusts lies within the initial line of storms, the showers that follow will be less intense. On Christmas Eve, the showers and strong storms at best will be disruptive to your Christmas Eve plans, at worst you could see damaging winds. Christmas Eve StormsGood news: The storms will not affect Santa’s rounds.

In this photo provided by Maitrise Notre-Dame de Paris soprani singer Julie Fuchs and the Notre Dame Cathedral choir recording a Christmas concert on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The concert will be broadcasted on French television on Christmas. (MSNDP/Musique Sacree Notre-Dame de Paris via AP)PARIS – Wearing hard hats and protective suits, members of the choir of Notre Dame Cathedral sang inside the medieval Paris landmark for the first time since last year’s devastating fire for a special Christmas Eve concert. The public was not allowed and isn’t expected to see the insides of Notre Dame until at least 2024. The Notre Dame choir used to give 60 concerts a year inside the cathedral but has been itinerant ever since, moving among other Paris churches.

Few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened Christmas Eve celebrations. The Philippines prohibited mass gatherings and barred extended families from holding traditional Christmas Eve dinners. On Christmas Eve in Italy, church bells rang earlier than usual. In Athens, Christmas Eve was eerily silent. The schedule for Christmas Eve and Christmas day included Masses in English and Spanish, and a bilingual jazz vespers service.

Christmas Day starts out hovering near freezing and only warms up to 48° under sunny skies. Expect a widespread freeze Christmas night, with temperatures sinking as low as 28° at the airport. Saturday starts out as some of the chilliest weather we’ve seen all year and only warm up into the upper 40s under sunny skies. Sunday will be a tad nicer, starting out around 32° but climbing into the upper 50s under sunny skies. We’re back into the 60s on Monday and Tuesday with mostly sunny skies.

(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)BEIJING — Authorities in China’s northeastern port city of Dalian are testing millions of residents after seven new coronavirus cases were reported there in the last 24 hours. It has a deal to secure up to 100 million doses of the potential vaccine produced by AstraZeneca. Koca said the first shipment of three million doses of CoronaVac would be shipped to Turkey on Sunday and arrive Monday. He said Turkey could get 4.5 million doses until the end of March and would have the option buy up to 30 million doses. Indonesia has reported nearly 700,000 COVID-19 cases, the largest caseload in Southeast Asia and second in Asia only to India’s 10.1 million confirmed cases.

It took more than three years of wrangling before Britain left the bloc’s political structures last January. If Britain were to quit the EU with no agreement governing trade, the two sides would reinstate tariffs on each other's goods. Even with a trade deal, goods and people will no longer be able to move freely between the U.K. and its continental neighbors without border restrictions. ”“And the difference that a trade deal makes is not going to be obvious to most people from that,” he said. ___Follow all AP stories on the Brexit trade talks at https://apnews.com/Brexit

Stocks are ticking higher on Wall Street Wednesday, Dec. 23, following a mixed set of reports on the economy. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)Stocks closed slightly higher on Christmas Eve, as investors went into the holiday weekend not bothered by President Donald Trump’s threat not to sign a major economic stimulus package approved by Congress this week. Relatively safe investments like utilities and real estate were among the biggest gainers, while energy stocks fell. Trump has asked for higher individual payments to Americans, something Democrats support but which is unlikely to get a vote in the Republican-held Senate. Consumers pulled back on their spending by more last month than economists expected, mainly because of a drop in income.

Airports also recorded around 1 million travelers on each of the five days between last Friday and Tuesday. It took 292 days to reach 1 million cases on Nov. 11. Nurses are exhausted, terrified of what’s next and angry at those who ignore pleas to stay home and stay safe. “I wish they could just walk down our unit for a day and look at the faces of some of these patients,” said Holy Cross nurse Jenny Carrillo, her voice breaking. Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, and Shelley Adler in Fairfax, Virginia, contributed to this story.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you’re looking to get tested for COVID-19 before Christmas, expect to be waiting in line. Susan Rudgick said she arrived at the Regency Square testing site at 9 a.m. Wednesday to get a test before a trip to New York. Legends Center Test Site: Please DO NOT visit the Legends Center Test Site if you are not already in line. For a list of other testing sites in Duval County, go here. For Florida testing sites beyond Jacksonville, go here.

After resolving a few remaining fair-competition issues, negotiators tussled over EU fishing rights in U.K. waters as they worked right into Christmas Eve to secure a provisional deal for a post-Brexit relationship after nine months of talks. A trade deal would avert the imposition of tariffs and duties that could cost both sides billions in trade and hundreds of thousands of jobs. Johnson has always insisted the U.K. will “prosper mightily” even if no deal is reached and the U.K. has to trade with the EU on World Trade Organization terms from Jan. 1. Rumors of a pre-Christmas trade deal surfaced in recent days based on progress on the main outstanding issues, other than fishing. On Wednesday, brokering on quotas and transition times for EU vessels to continue fishing in U.K. waters was in full swing, with progress reported from several sides.

All most people wanted for Christmas after this year of pandemic was some cheer and togetherness. Instead many are heading into a season of isolation, grieving lost loved ones, worried about their jobs or confronting the fear of a new potentially more contagious virus variant. Peruvians won't be allowed to drive their cars over Christmas and New Year to discourage visits even with nearby family and friends. South Africans won’t be able to go to the beach on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. There are no nationwide travel restrictions in the United States, but health officials have urged people to stay home and limit gatherings.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you’re looking to get tested for COVID-19 before the Christmas holiday, expect to be waiting in line. Not only are more people getting tested in preparation to travel for the holidays, but local and state sites will be closed Thursday, Christmas Eve, and Friday, Christmas Day. On Monday, the Regency Mall testing site set a record for most tests in a single day, with 3,499 tests completed. The site offers rapid testing, antigen tests, and PCR tests with no appointment required. For a list of other testing sites in Duval County, go here.

SEOUL – South Korea will prohibit private social gatherings of five or more people and shut down ski resorts and major tourist spots nationwide starting from Christmas Eve as it contends with surging coronavirus infections. The capital area has been at the center of a viral resurgence in past weeks that has overwhelmed hospitals and increased death tolls and raised questions to how the government is handling the outbreak. Forty-eight COVID-19 patients have died in the past 48 hours, the deadliest two days since the emergence of the pandemic. The viral resurgence has put pressure on the government to raise social distancing restrictions to maximum levels, something policymakers have resisted for weeks out of economic concerns. The mass outbreak in Samut Sakhon was revealed over the weekend when authorities reported more than 500 new cases, the country’s biggest single-day increase by far.

The risk of heart attack peaks at 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve, especially for older and sicker people, according to a study in the British Medical Journal. Researchers found a 37% higher risk of heart attacks on the holiday, as well as increased risk on News Year’s Day and Christmas Day. These activities can raise blood pressure and set off a “fight or flight” response in the body that’s hard on the heart. Signs of a heart attack include:Chest painDiscomfort in other parts of the body like arms, back, neck, jaw or stomachShortness of breathNauseaCold sweatLightheadednessIt’s very important to not ignore these symptoms when they happen. If you experience any heart attack warning signs, don’t ignore them.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville’s annual “Silent Night” program that aims to empty animal shelters for the holidays will soon be in full swing. Animal Care and Protective Services (ACPS) and the Jacksonville Humane Society (JHS) are inviting everyone to foster a cat or dog. The goal is to empty the shelters by Christmas Eve. Animal lovers can visit the two shelters Dec. 17-24 to be matched with and pick up a furry friend. The JHS facility, located at 8464 Beach Blvd., is open from noon - 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. on weekends (closed Christmas Day).

NEW YORK – Christmas is still a few weeks away, but Mariah Carey is already orchestrating her dinner menu. 1 hits really going to sweat over a hot stove? “Magical Christmas Special” is another example of diverse, family-friendly holiday programming that hasn’t always been allotted by Hollywood. “As a kid, if I had to select one holiday, of course I’m going with Christmas. And while the pandemic has halted a number of projects, 2020 has been busy for Carey: In September she released her candid memoir “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” which debuted at No.

(AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)BRUSSELS – Please leave a chair empty at this year's family Christmas dinner as a precaution, or face the possibility of having that chair empty forever. That's the stark dilemma Belgium's prime minister has set to urge smaller festive family gatherings, as Europeans battle with containing the surging COVID-19 pandemic over the holiday season. Britain, with the continent's highest death rate at 57,031 yet a Christmas tradition unlike few others, could not resist the temptation of relaxation. Like Belgium, Italy, where the pandemic initially struck hard in Europe, is taking a hard line at Christmas. In Oberndorf, home of the world's most famous Christmas carol, they hope its lyrics will not be taken too literally.

The Heisman Trophy will be presented Jan. 5, but without the usual ceremony held in New York City, and the finalists will be revealed on Christmas Eve. The deadline for Heisman voters to submit their ballots is now Dec. 21, two days after the conference championship games are scheduled to be played. Before college football schedules were revised because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Heisman was set to be handed out Dec. 12. Now it will be awarded during the 10 days between the College Football Playoff semifinals on Jan. 1 and the championship game on Jan. 11. ___More AP college football coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Man killed on Christmas Eve in Norwood shopping center leaves behind young son, friend saysPublished: December 25, 2019, 6:19 pmThe Norwood shopping plaza turned into a crime scene on Christmas Eve following a deadly shooting. Police said a woman was also injured in a shooting.

An arrest was made after a Christmas Eve incident in which shots were fired into a car and a man later died. Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.

An arrest was made after a Christmas Eve incident in which shots were fired into a car and a man later died. Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.