It's a new year, but the weakest season for holiday retail sales since at least 1970 could worsen still.

It might not be the good news that e-commerce vendors were hoping for, but there is a silver lining to the dismal sales reports of online retailers during the holiday shopping season: offline retailers did worse.

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s ruble rose for a second day against the dollar and the euro during limited holiday- period trading. The currency gained 0.17 percent to 29.1425 per dollar at 10:19 a.m. in Moscow, from 29.1922 yesterday. Against the euro, the ruble increased 0.79 percent to 39.4935.

At least 278 Thais have died in road accidents during the New Year holiday, with drink driving causing more than 41 percent of the crashes, the interior ministry said Saturday.

Just a couple of weeks after the close of holiday spending, Wall Street is starting to forecast the financial carnage that retail stores will likely report soon.

DOZENS of holiday-makers cheated death after a series of daring rescues and near tragedies across Victoria.

Microsoft said its Xbox 360 had the strongest holiday season of its lifetime, while Sony and Nintendo both tout their own sales success.

MANITOWOC Manitowoc County residents and businesses may drop off their natural holiday trees at the Basswood compost site from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.