Ukraine says it shot down Russian fighter jets and drones as the country officially marks Christmas
Kyiv, UkraineAP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday hailed the shooting down of two Russian fighter jets on Christmas Eve and said “this Christmas sets the right mood for the entire year ahead.” In a Christmas message marking the first time the country has officially observed the holiday on 25th December rather than 7th January, […]
In Christmas Day message, Pope decries Gaza’s “appalling harvest” of civilian deaths
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis said in his Christmas message on Monday that children dying in wars, including in Gaza, are the “little Jesuses of today” and that Israeli strikes there were reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians. In his Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the city and world”) address, Francis also called the […]
Christmas in China brings glittering decor and foreign influence concerns
Beijing, China Reuters Giant Christmas trees adorned with lights, tinsel and gift boxes greet shoppers at glittering malls in big Chinese cities like Shanghai and Chongqing, but in many parts of China, extending season’s greetings is out of the question. In southwest Yunnan province, a property management company issued a notice to shopping mall tenants […]
Israeli airstrikes kill dozens in one of war’s deadliest nights, Gaza officials say
Cairo, Egypt/Gaza/Jerusalem Reuters Israeli airstrikes killed at least 78 people in Gaza, Palestinian health officials said, in one of the besieged enclave’s deadliest nights of Israel’s 11-week-old battle with Hamas. Strikes that began hours before midnight persisted into Christmas Day on Monday. Residents and Palestinian media said Israel stepped up air and ground shelling against […]
In Moldova, the Christmas spirit is conflict and rivalry for parishioners
Chisinau, MoldovaReuters The head of Moldova’s largest Orthodox Church, subordinated to its Russian parent church, has complained that his ranks were coming under attack in the run-up to Christmas – marked on two separate days by rival churches in the former Soviet state. More than 90 per cent of residents of the country, which lies […]
Ukraine’s new Christmas Day unites Catholic-Orthodox family
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Ukrainian couple Lesia Shestakova, a Catholic, and Oleksandr Shestakov, an Orthodox believer, will for the first time celebrate Christmas together on 25th December. Ukraine, like Russia, officially observed Orthodox Christmas on 7th January according to the Julian calendar until Kyiv passed a law earlier this year shifting the date to 25th December in […]