Thousands of Palestinians and foreigners converged on the “little town” in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with Christmas Eve festivities taking place in and around the Church of the Nativity. “Everything is just very meaningful.”Crowds thinned as the church closed to tourists in the evening ahead of midnight Mass. And French Catholics endured a sad moment as Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was unable to hold Christmas Eve Mass for the first time since 1803 — after a fire ravaged its structure in April. “It isn’t the same feeling but it’s still a Christmas Mass,” said 16-year-old Juliette, who had made the 700-kilometre trip from Aix with her family. But in Hong Kong chaos broke out in an upscale shopping centre after pro-democracy protesters planned a series of Christmas Eve demonstrations.

Source: Punch December 24, 2019 22:18 UTC