What its all about.
Nativity scene in the crypt of St Martins in the Fields London.

Photograph E Weatherwax December 2009

The 82-year-old pontiff was caught on camera being dragged to the floor as he proceeded down the main aisle in St Peter’s Basilica.
Although shaken, he got to his feet and continued with the late night service.
French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, broke a leg as he tried to stop the woman reaching the Pope.
The assailant, dressed in a red hooded sweatshirt, was arrested by the Pope’s bodyguards and was described by Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi as “apparently unbalanced”.
He said she had tried – and failed - to carry out the same stunt 12 months earlier.
Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, said it was “surprising” that she had managed to reach the Pope and that security arrangements at the Vatican were now being reviewed.
Mr Lombardi played down the incident and said the Pope showed “great self-control and control of the situation”.
He went on: “It was an assault, but it wasn't dangerous because she wasn't armed.”
Cardinal Etchegaray was taken to hospital.

"Merry Christmas!"

This is one of my favourite films, a wartime production by The Archers who were Michael Powell and Eric Pressburger. They also made One of our Aircraft is Missing and postwar, I Know Where I'm Going and the Black Narcissus.
I mentioned the film here in October last year and was reminded of it by John's comments to his Xth post on Christmas Carols this morning.  The village where most of the action takes place is a the  bend in the road where the Pilgrims whould get their first view of Canterbury and its cathedral. I cannot remember whether these are Pilgrims on the route Chaucer wrote about, from Southwark along the south bank of the Thames (roughly the course of the present A2) or the other historic route further south from Winchester, another great Cathedral and place of pilgrimage. 
This is the Town Clerk at his lecture, on the subject of our connection with our ancestors, do we but extend our focus.

I am intrigued that the most extensive (but much less than the whole film) extracts on Youtube have French subtitles. Canterbury is popular with French visitors, and the French do appreciate the subtleties of cinema which The Archers had in abundance.
The exchange between the English (Cockney) and American soldiers, written into French is rather droll. Enjoy!

WSJ:

DETROIT -- A passenger on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight tried to detonate an explosive device that was strapped to his leg and later told investigators that he was trying to blow up the plane and had affiliations with al Qaeda, according to a senior U.S. official.

The man, who has not been publicly identified by officials, told investigators that he was given the device by Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen, where he was also given instructions on how to detonate it, the official said.

"This guy claims he is tied to al Qaeda, specifically in Yemen," the official said. "He claims he was on orders from al Qaeda in Yemen. Who knows if that's true."

Bill Burton, a White House spokesman, said President Barack Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, was notified of the incident after 9 a.m. local time, and held two secure conference calls with his national security team to discuss the incident, but that his schedule had not changed.

"The president is actively monitoring the situation and receiving regular updates," Mr. Burton said.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that airline passengers should expect to see additional screening measures put in place on both domestic and international flights.

An FBI spokeswoman, Denise Ballew, would only say that the Detroit field office is investigating the incident and would release more information "when it is appropriate."

The explosive, which was apparently carried onto the flight from its originating airport in Amsterdam, was originally believed to be a small firecracker, but the U.S. official said the device was "more complicated than gunpowder firecracker" and caught fire as the man tried to set it off.

One person was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center and was still hospitalized Friday evening. "All I know is it was one person treated from the incident," said U of M Health System spokeswoman Tracy Justice. "Everything else is being handled by the FBI."

Shortly after the plane landed around 11:50 a.m. Detroit time, the Transportation Security Administration put out a statement indicating that "out of an abundance of caution" the jet's passengers were going through a special security screening and the luggage in the hold also was being re-examined.

TSA and FBI officials were interviewing passengers, even as the plane sat at a remote corner of the airport surrounded by a phalanx of law-enforcement and emergency vehicles...

It is now officially being called an act of terrorism.  This passenger account comes from the LATimes:

Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident occurred during the plane's descent, according to the Associated Press. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow and smelled smoke. Then, he said, "a young man behind me jumped on him."

"Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic," he said.

One would imagine other passengers joined in to subdue him.