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It's the perennial question for many children this time of year: Is there really a Santa Claus? Yes, Virginia, there is. His name is Oliver Deuker. And he's a 42-year-old German television news reporter, who won that country's first Santa Claus championships.

The alleged mistreatment of detainees at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay sets off a heated Senate debate. Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, compared a description of mistreatment -- submitted to a Pentagon investigator by an F-B-I agent -- to actions carried out by Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Some Republicans accused Durbin of maligning American military personnel.

One of the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives, polygamist Warren Steed Jeffs, has been arrested in Nevada. Jeffs, who leads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was detained outside of Las Vegas on Monday night.

President Bush has nominated Kentucky doctor James Holsinger to be the nation's new surgeon general. If confirmed by the Senate, Holsinger's impact in the office will likely depend on his relationship with the Bush administration.

The Port of San Diego has been keeping two different books for their expenses. One of them has not shown million-dollar losses for years.

San Diego editors review the top stories that impacted the region in 2009 and how they may play out in 2010.

D.G. Wills

Pope Benedict meets with Turkish leaders in Ankara, on his first visit to a majority-Muslim country. The pontiff urged all religious leaders to refuse to support any violence in the name of faith, but he also expressed concern that the risks of more conflicts and terrorism are growing in the Middle East.

What are the effects of technology such as Facebook, Twitter, texting and email on social interaction and etiquette? We speak with technology etiquette expert, Elaine Swann and experts on social networks, James Fowler and Noah Arceneaux about the relationship between new technology and social behavior.

In the TV era, nearly every State of the Union address has been followed by a presidential road trip meant to emphasize the points the president made. But this trip by President Bush seemed much more subdued than usual.