Before today’s celebrations began, Israeli authorities said three Palestinians involved in attacks against Israelis were killed in violence across the west Bank.
Advertisement
PM Narendra Modi’s Pakistan visit was pre-planned, says Congress
During the Cold War India was the Soviet Union’s closest military ally and a major importer of its military hardware. Before heading for the Kremlin, Modi laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier here.
Annual festivities in the city’s Manger Square were not postponed or canceled due to the violence, the network reported.
Storms continue to batter United States south
Heavy damage was inflicted in the south, causing seven deaths in MS alone, according to the state’s Emergency Management Agency. A tornado touched down near Birmingham, Alabama , Friday afternoon and destroyed several houses, though no one was killed.
Palestinian stone throwers run to take cover after Israeli security forces fired tear gas canisters during clashes following a demonstration next to the Israeli controversial separation wall in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Dec. 18, 2015.
Jose Mourinho issues statement, rules out sabbatical after Chelsea exit
Chelsea captain John Terry believes interim manager Guus Hiddink can help lead his team near the Premier League’s top four. Hiddink has been appointed Chelsea manager till the end of the season after the sacking of Jose Mourinho .
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said one incident involved a stabbing of two security guards in the Ariel settlement, which wounded them “moderately”. “There’s lights, there’s carols, yet there’s an underlying sense of tension”, Paul Haines of Cornwall, England, who arrived in Bethlehem following a four-month trek from Rome, told the Related Press. She stated she was glad she made the trip ’cause “it was one of my dreams to come here”.
A Palestinian security officer said Friday the suspects set fire Wednesday to the tree in Zababdeh, a Christian majority village near Jenin.
This year, her tree looks like any of the millions of others going up at Christmas time around the world.
In recent years, Bethlehem had enjoyed a relative calm and thousands of revelers and pilgrims poured into Manger Square each Christmas.
The mass commemorating the birth of Jesus will be dedicated to victims of violence and their families, Twal said, with celebrations “moderate” due to violence in the Palestinian territories, Israel and the world.
“From Jerusalem I wish Israel’s Christian community, and Christians everywhere, a very joyous Christmas and a happy new year”, said Netanyahu in a video message. Second reason you are talking about the political situation that’s going on at the moment, even if it’s not that unsafe in Bethlehem. But vendors and hotel owners in the city have already complained of sagging business this Christmas season.
Minister of Tourism Rula Maaya said she too hoped the year’s festivities would offer some relief at a time that has otherwise seemed bleak to many. Over the last century, Christians had gone from comprising 20 percent of the Palestinian population to just over 1 percent, he said. “But God willing, we’ll overcome it and celebrate”.
Amid an unusually heavy security presence in Saint Peter’s Square over fears of a jihadist attack, the visibly pale pope, who has been suffering from the flu, in a hoarse voice called on believers to resist fear.
Later, speaking mostly in Arabic, he will deliver Midnight Mass in the Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where it is believed Jesus was born.
He said in his homily that everyone should allow the simplicity of the child Jesus, born into poverty in a manger despite his divinity, to infuse their spirit and inspire their lives.
Advertisement
A wave of violence has led to a sharp decline in pilgrims visiting Bethlehem and the rest of the Holy Land this year, and only a sparse crowd was on hand to welcome Twal’s procession.
