Alaska — American children writing to Santa may not get a response, according to the Metro, a U.K. newspaper.

Prior to this holiday season, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) had been delivering any mail addressed to “Santa Claus, North Pole,” to an Alaskan town called North Pole where volunteers write personal responses. This year, the USPS has stopped Operation Santa after it was discovered that one of the program’s volunteers was a registered sex offender.

Until tighter restrictions are placed on the volunteer force, the program will not operate, and local officials report it “unfeasible” for these actions to take place in time for this year’s holiday.

Letters not addressed to the North Pole specifically may continue to see response, as these letters may be forwarded to other outposts of Operation Santa.

United Kingdom — According to the Mirror, a U.K. newspaper, one of this holiday’s top-selling calendars in the United Kingdom is a gory compilation of road kill photography assembled by Kevin Beresford.

Beresford, 57, travelled the United Kingdom for the photographs, and while he claims to be inundated with orders, some stores refuse to sell his unusual calendar.

He claims that the calendar pushes boundaries and that he has offered an alternative to “Peter Andre’s six-pack.”

Manchester — David “Shrek” Holyoak, 33, has been deemed “too ugly” to commit crimes, according to the Metro.

During his three-and-a-half-year jail sentencing Saturday, an officer commented that “this man only needs to look at himself in the mirror to realize crime is not for him.”

With distinctively large ears and “rotund” facial features, Holyoak is considered easily recognizable and a liability to any gang to which he belongs.

Oregon — A resident of Oregon has been monitored for enacting sexual activity with a stuffed giraffe outside the children’s store Bug A Boo, according to the Metro.

24-year-old Sean McDowell was seen in a state of deep inebriation approaching the 4-foot-tall plush animal and simulating intercourse with it twice over the evening.

“He was pretty enamored with it and decided he was taking it home,” Sergeant Bob Smith said.

After noticing the police attention at his first encounter, McDowell left but returned later to continue his exploits.

The giraffe was removed from the storefront after he left the second time.

Beijing — According to the Metro, a husband in China is threatening to divorce his wife if she doesn’t stop baking.

31-year-old Cheng Yu claims his wife, Tian Mae, 27, forces him to eat cake for every meal. While initially pleased with her confections, Yu claims now to feel “like a bakery dustbin,” as his wife continues to make egg cake, fruit cake and chocolate cake.

Yu has left Mae, while the status of their marriage is in flux.

Reach columnist Matthew Jackson at news@dailyuw.com.