If you want to have an old-fashioned Christmas, then head to the historic Lido Theater in Newport Beach. This recently restored Art Deco showplace, opened in 1939, is holding its second annual “12 Days of Christmas Movies” festival, with a roster of classic holiday favorites every night.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and shows start at 7 p.m. promptly, because there are no trailers. Tickets cost $12.50 each.  There’s free parking off of Finley Avenue, just after Via Lido, behind the theater.

Incidentally, although their official festival doesn’t start until Dec. 12, they’re actually already playing Christmas movies, so check their schedule.

• Dec. 12: “Die Hard” (R) Is this Bruce Willis action flick really a holiday movie? Of course it is. It’s set on Christmas Eve. Get ready for some action with villain Alan Rickman. 7-9:15 p.m.
• Dec. 13: “The Grinch” (PG) This is the 2018 extended animated version of the Dr. Seuss tale by Illuminations, with the excellent Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Grinch. 7-8:45 p.m.
• Dec. 14: “Love, Actually” (R) The merits of this Christmas-themed ensemble romantic comedy are debated by fans and detractors each holiday season.  There’s a great cast — Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Keira Knightley and … Alan Rickman. 7-9:15 p.m.
• Dec. 15: “A Christmas Story” (PG) For many, the holidays just aren’t complete without seeing Ralphie Parker and his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun. Enjoy Ralphie’s pink bunny suit on the big screen. 7-8:30 p.m.
• Dec. 16: “The Polar Express” (G) Robert Zemeckis adapted Chris Van Allsburg’s beloved children’s book into this modern holiday classic, starring Tom Hanks, on a journey to the North Pole. 7-8:45 p.m.
• Dec. 17:  “White Christmas” (G) Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney sing and dance their way through this holiday favorite from 1954, the second Crosby film to feature Irving Berlin’s iconic song. This was the first movie ever released in widescreen VistaVision.  7-9 p.m.
• Dec. 18: “Christmas with the Kranks” (PG)  Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis star as a couple who try to skip Christmas one year, but it won’t let go of them that easily. 7-8:45 p.m.
• Dec. 19: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (PG-13) With funny man Chevy Chase reprising his role as Clark Griswold and Beverly D’Angelo. Whatever mishaps you experienced putting up your Christmas lights can’t compare to these.  7-8:45 p.m.
• Dec. 20: “Home Alone” (PG) Yes, it’s really been 35 years since this movie about an 8-year-old kid left behind by his family at Christmas introduced the world to Macaulay Culkin. 7-8:45 p.m.
• Dec. 21: “Elf” (PG) Irvine native Will Ferrell‘s holiday comedy achieved classic status many Christmases ago. 7-8:45 p.m.
• Dec. 22-23: “It’s a Wonderful Life” (G) Yes, it’s on TV every year, but this Christmas classic by legendary director Frank Capra is worth seeing on the big screen, even if just to enjoy Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed in the bathrobe scene. 7-9:10 p.m.

Where to go: Lido Theater, 3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach thelidotheater.com

By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was awarded the new FIFA peace prize on Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw — giving the soccer spectacle to set matchups for the quadrennial tournament even more of a Trumpian flair.

Trump, who has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Price, had been heavily favored to win the newly created FIFA prize. He and FIFA president Gianni Infantino are close allies, and Infantino had made clear that he thought Trump should have won the Nobel for his efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.

The certificate that Infantino handed Trump recognizes the U.S. president for his actions to “promote peace and unity around the world.”

“This is what we want from a leader — a leader that cares about the people,” Infantino said about Trump, who wore a gold medal around his neck and was presented with a gold trophy with his name on it that depicts hands holding up the world. The FIFA leader said to Trump “this is your prize, this is your peace prize.”

Trump thanked his family, including his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and praised the leaders of the other two host nations — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum — in his brief remarks.

“This is truly one of the great honors of my life,” Trump said.

Infantino has often spoken about soccer as a unifier for the world, but the prize is a departure from the federation’s traditional focus on sport.

FIFA has described the prize as one that rewards “individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world.”

It comes during a week where Trump’s administration has been under scrutiny for lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and as Trump hardens his rhetoric against immigrants.

The Nobel this year was eventually awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who said shortly after receiving the prize that she was dedicating it in part to Trump for “his decisive support of our cause.”

By RAJESH ROY and AIJAZ HUSSAIN

NEW DELHI (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at an annual summit and agreed to diversify mutual economic ties, as the United States presses India to revise its decades-old partnership with Russia.

The 23rd Russia-India Summit comes at a pivotal moment as the U.S. pushes for a Ukraine peace deal while seeking global cooperation. It will test New Delhi’s efforts to balance relations with Moscow and Washington as the nearly four-year war in Ukraine grinds on.

Putin was received by Modi at an airport in New Delhi on Thursday. The Indian leader gave Putin a bear hug and a tight handshake with the gusto of an old friend.

Leaders outline Russia-India expanding ties

After the talks, Putin and Modi announced that India and Russia have finalized an economic cooperation program until 2030, which will help diversify mutual businesses to boost annual trade to $100 billion by 2030. They also emphasized strong energy ties.

Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $68.7 billion in the last fiscal year ended March. The trade is heavily skewed in favor of Russia with deep deficits for India, which it is looking to bridge by pushing exports.

“To achieve this significant goal, a program for the development of Russian-Indian economic cooperation until 2030 has been agreed upon,” Putin said. He said work is underway on an agreement for India to establish a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union, a Moscow-dominated economic grouping of several ex-Soviet nations, adding that it could help increase trade.

“Russia is a reliable supplier of energy resources and everything necessary for the development of India’s energy sector,” Putin said. “We are ready to continue ensuring the uninterrupted supply of fuel for the rapidly growing Indian economy.”

Before the summit talks, the Russian leader said the two countries “have a very trusting relationship when it comes to military-technical cooperation.”

Modi said after the talks that the two countries will work toward early conclusion of a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union. He also announced that India will soon start issuing free electronic visas for Russian tourists and groups visiting the country.

The Indian leader said energy security has long anchored India-Russia ties, with civil nuclear cooperation spanning decades. He added that such cooperation will continue, alongside collaboration in clean energy, shipbuilding, fertilizers and labor mobility.

US seeks to push India away from Russia

While India has historically maintained deep ties with Russia, critics say Putin’s visit could strain relations with the European Union and the United States and might jeopardize negotiations for major trade agreements with both that are seen as critical for India’s exports.

U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50% in August, citing New Delhi’s discounted Russian oil. India has been the second biggest importer of Russian crude after China.

The U.S. says purchases of Russian oil help finance Moscow’s war machine. In October, the U.S. sanctioned two of Moscow’s biggest oil producers to force countries like India to cut down on imports. Indian officials have said New Delhi has always abided by international sanctions and would do so in the case of Russia oil purchases.

India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri told reporters that the recent sanctions imposed on Russian oil were discussed.

Without specifying India’s position on its purchases, Misri said the government’s priority was to secure the energy needs of its 1.4 billion people.

Misri said India’s private and state-run oil companies make decisions based on evolving market dynamics and commercial issues they confront while sourcing supplies.

“We are continuing our cooperation between the two countries,” he said.

India and the U.S. set a target for the first tranche of a trade deal by the fall, but the deal hasn’t come through yet amid strains in relations, mainly because of New Delhi’s unabated imports of Russian crude.

India is also in the final stages of talks on a trade agreement with the EU, which sees Russia’s war in Ukraine as a major threat.

Given the timing and geopolitical context, Putin’s India visit “underscores New Delhi’s strategic tightrope walk between the West and the rest, chiefly Russia,” said Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group.

Donthi said India’s tilt toward Russia dates back to the Cold War and persists despite its official nonaligned position. “The significant change now is its desire to be a strategic partner with the U.S. at the same time, which will be a diplomatic challenge,” he added.

Defense and trade expansion on cards

Indian officials earlier said that Modi in the meeting with Putin would push for faster delivery of two further Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. It has already received three under a 2018 deal worth about $5.4 billion. The delay has been tied to supply chain disruptions linked to the war in Ukraine.

Misri said the defense ministers of India and Russia met Thursday.

In a joint statement following the summit, the two sides said they have agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts and components for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defense equipment. This would be done through transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures.

India and Russia signed a pact in February to improve military cooperation, exercises, port calls, disaster relief assistance and logistics support. Moscow’s State Duma ratified the same ahead of Putin’s India visit.

India is also expecting to upgrade its Russian-made Su-30MKI fighter jets and accelerate deliveries of critical military hardware.

India is keen to increase exports of pharmaceuticals, agriculture and textiles to Russia and is seeking the removal of non-tariff barriers. New Delhi is also seeking long-term supplies of fertilizers from Moscow.

Another key area where the two countries hope to finalize an agreement is the safety and regulation of skilled Indian migrant workers to Russia.

Putin last visited India in 2021. Modi was in Moscow last year, and the two leaders briefly met in September in China during a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

Hussain reported from Srinagar, India.

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has taken his biggest step yet to correct one of Pope Francis’ more problematic financial moves, canceling a special Holy See fundraising commission that was announced under questionable circumstances while Francis was hospitalized.

Leo on Thursday formally suppressed the fundraising commission, abrogated its statutes and fired its members. He decreed that its assets would go to the Holy See as a whole, and that the Vatican patrimony office would oversee the commission’s extinction.

A new working group would be formed, with papally approved members, to come up with fundraising proposals and an appropriate structure going forward, the decree said.

The decree was the latest sign that as 2025 comes to an end, history’s first American pope is wrapping up the loose ends of Francis’ pontificate. Leo is correcting problems as needed and fulfilling Francis’ Holy Year obligations as he looks ahead to the new year when he can focus more on his own agenda.

Commission raised questions

The Vatican had announced the creation of the commission, its statutes and members on Feb. 26, while Francis was in the hospital battling double pneumonia. At the time, he was being visited by the top officials of the Secretariat of State.

The commission included only Italians with no professional fundraising experience. Its president was the assessor of the Secretariat of State, the very same Vatican office that Francis had previously stripped of its ability to manage assets after it lost tens of millions of euros in a scandalous London property deal.

The concentration of financial power back in the Secretariat of State, the lack of qualified fundraisers and absence of any Americans on the board — U.S. Catholics and dioceses are the biggest donors to the Vatican — immediately raised questions about the commission’s credibility.

To some, it smacked of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after Francis took its 600 million-euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund away and gave it to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco.

The decree by the American pope thus appears to be an effort to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. Donations are a crucial source of revenue to the Holy See and wealthy American donors in particular had been looking to Leo, the American math major pope, to impose greater financial transparency and accountability on the Vatican’s books.

Financial situation looking up

Leo’s move comes on top of recent good financial news from the Vatican’s economy ministry, which last week reported the Vatican’s structural deficit had nearly been halved in 2024, from 83 million euros ($96.6 million) to 44 million euros ($51.2 million).

The Holy See ended 2024 with a surplus of 1.6 million euros ($1.8 million), up from a deficit of 51.2 million euros ($59.6 million) the previous year, according to the 2024 consolidated financial statement.

External donations to the Holy See increased significantly after a long period of decline, reaching 237.6 million euros ($276.6 million), up some 20 million euros ($23.2 million) from the previous year, the statement said. That extra revenue, plus better performance at Vatican-run hospitals and the Vatican’s commercial real estate, boosted revenue by 79 million euros ($91.9 million).

Personnel and administrative costs rose 6%, but the report attributed the rise mostly to increased spending for real estate maintenance. Because of its cash crunch, the Vatican has struggled for years to fund the necessary investments in its vast real estate portfolio to be able to command higher rents.

The Association of Lay Vatican Employees, the closest thing the Holy See has to a labor union, expressed skepticism at the report’s positivity and asked for further information, including about the status of the Holy See’s pension fund, which was so underfunded that Francis warned it required serious reforms to be able to meet its obligations.

Leo not losing sleep over finances

Francis, who was elected on a mandate to reform the Vatican’s finances, had made significant strides in cleaning up the Vatican’s murky books, imposing new accounting and transparency standards on the oftentimes reluctant Holy See bureaucracy during his 12-year pontificate.

Leo inherited the structural deficit and pension fund shortfall, but says they’re not nearly as bad as believed and that Francis had put in place the necessary starting blocks on which to build.

“I’m not saying we can relax and say the crisis is over,” Leo told Crux in an interview over the summer. “I don’t think the crisis is over, I think we have to continue to work on this. But I’m not losing sleep over it, and I think that it’s important that we communicate a different message.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will be expanding its ban on travel for citizens of certain countries to more than 30, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, in the latest restriction to come since a man from Afghanistan was accused of shooting two National Guard members.

The expansion would build on a travel ban already announced in June by the Republican administration, which barred travel to the U.S. for citizens from 12 countries and restricted access to the U.S. for people from seven others. In a social media post earlier this week, Noem had suggested more countries would be included.

Noem, who spoke late Thursday in an interview with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham, would not provide further details, saying President Donald Trump was considering which countries would be included.

In the wake of the National Guard shooting, the administration already ratcheted up restrictions on the 19 countries included in the initial travel ban, which include Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran and Haiti, among others.

Ingraham asked Noem whether the travel ban was expanding to 32 countries and asked which countries would be added to the 19 announced earlier this year.

“I won’t be specific on the number, but it’s over 30. And the president is continuing to evaluate countries,” Noem said.

“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?” Noem said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment about when an updated travel ban might go into effect and which countries would be included in it.

Additions to the June travel ban are the latest in what has been a rapidly unfolding series of immigration actions since the shooting Thanksgiving week of two National Guard troops in Washington.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who emigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal, has been charged with first-degree murder after one of the two victims, West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, died of wounds sustained in the Nov. 26 shooting. The second victim, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, was critically wounded. Lakanwal has pleaded not guilty.

The Trump administration has argued that more vetting is needed to make sure people entering or already in the U.S. aren’t a threat. Critics say the administration is traumatizing people who’ve already gone through extensive vetting to get to the U.S. and say the new measures amount to collective punishment.

Over the course of a little more than a week, the administration has halted asylum decisions, paused processing of immigration-related benefits for people in the U.S. from the 19 travel ban countries and halted visas for Afghans who assisted the U.S. war effort.

On Thursday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it was reducing the time period that work permits are valid for certain applicants such as refugees and people with asylum so they have to reapply more often and go through vetting more frequently.