Skip next section NORAD: Santa’s reindeer won’t be delayed by mystery dronesDecember 24, 2024
NORAD: Santa’s reindeer won’t be delayed by mystery dronesThe Santa tracker began in 1955 and his movements can now be followed by voice assistants like Siri and AlexaImage: NORAD/AP/picture alliance US Air Force General Gregory Guillot, whose agency traditionally “tracks” Santa on Christmas Eve, has insisted that the recent mystery drone sightings over the northeastern United States won’t impact deliveries of gifts.
The sightings, which US agencies say are either aircraft, stars or hobbyist drones, have sparked curiosity worldwide that they could be unidentified flying objects (UFOs) from another planet.
“Of course, we are concerned about drones and anything else in the air,” Guilliot, who is commander of the US-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), told Fox News. “But I don’t foresee any difficulty at all with drones for Santa this year.”
You can follow Santa’s progress in real time on a 3-D map on NORAD’s website.
NORAD reported Tuesday that Santa and his reindeer were making stops in Russia and Iran after visiting countries in East Asia over the past few hours.
As of midday Tuesday US time, some 2.5 billion Christmas presents had been delivered, according to NORAD.
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Skip next section Sydney New Year’s fireworks saved from cancelationDecember 24, 2024
Sydney New Year’s fireworks saved from cancelationImage: Roni Bintang/Getty ImagesA strike by railway workers threatened to cancel Sydney’s New Year’s fireworks until a last-ditch deal was reached between union representatives and Australia’s government.
The unions and the government are at odds over pay, and the workers have threatened a walkout. Ministers had feared that too many people would struggle to find their way home after the NYE show if railway operations are hindered.
The unions have now agreed to cancel the strike, although pay negotiations are due to resume in the coming weeks.
Up to 250,000 people are expected to travel into the city next Tuesday to see the colorful show, featuring over 8.5 tons of fireworks and pyrotechnics, many launched from the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
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Skip next section German president: Christmas market attack casts ‘dark shadow’December 24, 2024
German president: Christmas market attack casts ‘dark shadow’Speaking just days after the deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there was a “dark shadow” hanging over this Christmas.
“Mourning. Pain. Horror. Bewilderment over what happened in Magdeburg just a few days before Christmas,” the president said in his traditional end-of-year speech.
Steinmeier went on to say that “we can only imagine” what the relatives of the victims are going through after losing their loved ones.
“You are not alone in your pain. The people throughout our country feel for you and mourn with you,” he added, while also thanking police and the medical staff for their work after the attack.
Speaking about the attack’s effects on society, Steinmeier called for people living in Germany to reject division.
“Hatred and violence must not have the final word,” he said. “Let’s not allow ourselves to be driven apart. Let’s stand together!”
He also referred to the Ukraine war, the conflicts in the Middle East as well the collapse of Germany’s governing coalition earlier this month and other pressing issues at home.
“There’s a great deal of dissatisfaction about politics, business, red tape, about injustice. The tone in our country has become rougher, at times hostile, in our everyday lives,” Steinmeier said.
“We have to speak candidly about what is going wrong, about what isn’t working in our country as it could and should. Above all, we must talk about what needs to be done urgently,” he added.
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Skip next section Pope Francis to lead Christmas mass at St Peter’s Basilica December 24, 2024
Pope Francis to lead Christmas mass at St Peter’s Basilica In 2016, Pope Francis proclaimed the Jubilee of Mercy, during which the Holy Door was also openedImage: Andrew Medichini/AP/picture alliancePope Francis is set to open the “Holy Door” of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican to launch Jubilee 2025, a year of events that is expected to draw millions of pilgrims to Rome.
The 88-year-old pontiff will appear in front of 30,000 people and a live TV audience worldwide on Tuesday evening to kick off the occasion, which is also known as Holy Year and takes place every 25 years.
Catholics can be forgiven for their sins in a ritual that involves walking through the imposing bronze Holy Door, which is normally bricked up. Visitors to the Vatican are expected to do so in large numbers over the next year.
Much of Rome has also been given a facelift in preparation, with monuments such as the Trevi Fountain and the Ponte Sant’Angelo cleaned up and roads redesigned to improve the flow of traffic.
Some 700 security officers are being deployed for the Jubilee celebrations, with measures further tightened following Friday’s deadly car-ramming on a Christmas market in Germany.
Later Tuesday, Pope Francis will preside over the traditional Christmas Eve mass at St Peter’s Square.
On Wednesday, he will deliver his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world).
On Thursday, Francis will open a Holy Door at a prison in Rome and preside over a mass in a show of support for the inmates.
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Skip next section Ukraine celebrates its second Christmas in December after Russia snubDecember 24, 2024
Ukraine celebrates its second Christmas in December after Russia snubUkraine is this year celebrating Christmas in December for the second time after the law was changed to move away from the traditional January date observed by the Russian Orthodox Church.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the legislation in 2023 stating the country would “abandon the Russian heritage” of celebrating on January 7.
“For the second time, we celebrate Christmas on the same date as one big family, one country. For the second time in modern history, Christmas unites all Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Tuesday.
“Whether in person or in our minds, we will greet each other, call our parents, kiss our children, hug our loved ones, and remember those we hold dear. In person, from afar, or in our hearts — Ukrainians are together today. And as long as we do this, evil has no chance.”
Between them, Ukraine and Russia are estimated to have lost around half a million soldiers during the nearly three-year war. More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed.
According to reports, around 150,000 Ukrainian soldiers remain at the frontline, out of a total of 2.2 million strong military personnel.
Millions of Ukrainian refugees are spending their third Christmas abroad, having been offered shelter in neighboring European countries when the war began.
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Skip next section Christmas in Bethlehem scaled back due to Gaza warDecember 24, 2024
Christmas in Bethlehem scaled back due to Gaza warThe procession to the Church of the Nativity was led by Patriach Pierbattista PizzaballaImage: Hazem Bader/AFPOvershadowed by the Gaza war for the second year in a row, the traditional Christmas procession has arrived in Bethlehem, which Christians believe to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, led a convoy of vehicles from Jerusalem and walked the stretch to the Church of the Nativity.
Due to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, this year’s celebrations in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, are rather subdued, with many events called off and most tourists staying away.
Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of the city’s income — almost all of it earned during the Christmas season.
Traditionally, a grand Christmas tree would light up Manger Square, but local authorities opted against elaborate decorations for a second year.
Prayers, including the church’s famed midnight mass, will still be held in the presence of the Patriarch.
Palestinian security forces have kept up a presence around the Church of the Nativity in case of violence.
There are about 182,000 Christians in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the US State Department.
mm, kb/rm (AFP, Reuters)
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