Covid-19 dampens Christmas cheer in Bethlehem, Rome and beyond
By: Agun Dila
Tags: France, News, Europa, Covid 19, News Articles

Bethlehem on Thursday ushered in Christmas Eve with a stream of joyous marching bands and the triumphant arrival of the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, but few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

Pope Francis called in his Christmas message on Friday for nations to share Covid-19 vaccines, saying walls of nationalism could not be built to stop a pandemic that knows no borders.

Harold Butler travaille aussi à pousser Citi à faciliter l’accès des Afro-Américains au crédit immobilier et à soutenir les banques gérées par des minorités.

“J’ai la chance de participer aux efforts engagés en interne pour changer le discours et les pratiques sur la diversité, mais aussi au travail fait en dehors de la banque auprès des communautés”, se réjouit-il.

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Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are as of now in the last phases of buying a plot of land in a restrictive territory nicknamed “tycoon shelter,” close to Miami Beach, Florida, as indicated by a source acquainted with the exchange.

The part, which is barely short of two sections of land and sits on Biscayne Bay, was recorded at $31.8 million and the couple offered some place in the scope of $28–30 million, the source said. The deal is forthcoming under agreement, which means the purchaser’s offer has been acknowledged by the merchant, who turns out to be unbelievable Spanish singer Julio Iglesias.

A representative for Trump declined CNN’s solicitation for input on the exchange.

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The New York Post’s PageSix.com first revealed the deal.

The dollar sum is staggering, however equivalent to the next 29 domains and 11 parcels that make up Indian Creek Island, a super private “town,” as one neighborhood land master depicts territory.

“(Indian Creek Island) is one of Miami’s generally private and searched after areas, frequented by high total assets people looking for protection,” said Dora Puig, who has during her vocation sold more than $3 billion worth of land and is the proprietor of an extravagance boutique business in the region. (Puig was not engaged with the deal or acquisition of the Trump-Kushner exchange.)

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Puig said the outrageous safety efforts at Indian Creek appreciated by occupants is one of the principle reasons well off individuals are eager to pay into the several millions for a land parcel and perspectives on the water encompassing it, waters observed nonstop by furnished private security.

New contentious Ivanka Trump sparkles inquiries concerning her future

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“The security entryway at the passage and day in and day out watch fills in as an approach to guarantee just mortgage holders, their visitors, and individuals enter the island. This is a vital explanation that VIPs, for example, Julio Iglesias, Adriana Lima, Carl Icahn, Jeffrey Soffer, Eddie Lampert and Peter Breton — among numerous others — have lived there,” she said.

site:https://zenodo.org/communities/regarder-demon-slayer-le-train-de-l-infini-streaming-vf-film-2020/?page=1&size=20

As little girl and as a counsel of President Donald Trump throughout the previous four years, Ivanka Trump can not, at this point live in lack of clarity, not that she did pre-White House, but rather her profile has now raised dramatically. She and Kushner, likewise a senior Trump consultant, have three small kids.

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It’s not simply the wellbeing that attracted Trump to Florida, it is simply the expected political chances of the state itself, said a source who has been working with the Trump family.

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Trump has not precluded a not so distant future pursue position, nor has she freely denied she has political aspirations of her own. Florida, which President Donald Trump won in 2016 and 2020, gives a likely occasion to Ivanka Trump, should she decide to enter governmental issues.

Les chaises ont valsé vendredi soir à la direction du groupe nordiste Tereos, qui a remplacé ses principaux dirigeants au terme d’un coup de force organisé par des coopérateurs opposés à la stratégie du deuxième groupe sucrier mondial.

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Etre Noir à Wall Street, c’est faire face aux préjugés, se sentir souvent seul, mais aussi parfois avoir la satisfaction de lutter pour améliorer les perspectives de sa communauté. Chaque histoire est unique. Trois professionnels de la finance racontent leur expérience.

- “J’ai lu 200 fois le Top 25 des Noirs à Wall Street” -

Avant de fonder son propre cabinet de conseil, Dale Favors a longtemps travaillé dans des établissements prestigieux de la finance comme Morgan Stanley, CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada ou Piper Jaffray.

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Il se remémore encore vivement l’importance qu’a eue pour lui la publication, dans le magazine Black Enterprise, de la liste des 25 Noirs les plus importants à Wall Street, en octobre 1992.

“J’ai lu le numéro de la première à la dernière page, peut-être 200 fois”, se rappelle-t-il. “Cela m’a permis de m’identifier aux noms et aux visages de personnes me ressemblant et j’ai su que je pouvais y arriver”. Il les a appelées individuellement.

Quand il entame sa carrière à Morgan Stanley, dans une équipe de vente et négociation de titres à revenu fixe, il aime tout de suite le métier.

Similar subdued scenes were repeated across the world as the festive family gatherings and packed prayers that typically mark the holiday were scaled back or canceled altogether.

On Christmas Eve in Italy, church bells rang earlier than usual. The Italian government’s 10 pm curfew prompted pastors to move up services, with “Midnight” Mass starting Thursday evening in some churches as early as a couple hours after dark. Pope Francis, who has said people “must obey” civil authorities’ measures to fight the spread of Covid-19, fell in line. This year, the Christmas vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica was moved up from 9:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Normally, seats at the vigil Mass are quickly snapped up, by Romans and by tourists, but the pandemic has reduced tourists in Italy to a trickle. In keeping with social distancing measures, barely 200 faithful — instead of several thousand — spaced out in the basilica’s pews and wearing masks, attended Francis’ celebration of the Mass. A row of fiery red poinsettia plants warmly contrasted with the sumptuous cold marble of the basilica.

Francis in his homily offered reflections on Christmas’ significance. “We often hear it said that the greatest joy in life is the birth of a child. It is something extraordinary and it changes everything,” he said. A child “makes us feel loved but can also teach us how to love.”

“God was born a child in order to encourage us to care for others,” said Francis, who has made attention to the poor and unjustly treated a key theme of his papacy.

Celebrations elsewhere in Europe were canceled or greatly scaled back as Covid-19 infections surge across the continent and a new variant that may be more contagious has been detected.

In Athens, Christmas Eve was eerily silent. In normal times, voices of children singing carols while tinkling metal triangles can be heard all day. The decades-old custom, in which children go house to house and receive small gifts, was banned this year. Groups of children managed to honor the tradition by singing to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis by video link.

Throughout the pandemic, one of the hardest-hit churches in New York City has been Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan. Church leaders say more than 60 members of the congregation — which numbered about 800 before the pandemic — have died of COVID-19, almost all of them part of the community of some 400 who attended services in Spanish.

Despite their own heartbreaks, congregation members — many of them immigrants — donated coats, scarves and other winter clothes for more than 100 migrant minors at a detention center in Manhattan.

While many other New York City churches have resumed in-person services, Saint Peter’s continues to offer its Masses only online. The schedule for Christmas Eve and Christmas day included Masses in English and Spanish, and a bilingual jazz vespers service.

In Bethlehem, officials tried to make the most out of a bad situation.

“Christmas is a holiday that renews hope in the souls,” said Mayor Anton Salman. “Despite all the obstacles and challenges due to corona and due to the lack of tourism, the city of Bethlehem is still looking forward to the future with optimism.”

Raw, rainy weather added to the gloomy atmosphere, as several dozen people gathered in the central Manger Square to greet Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa. Youth marching bands playing Christmas carols on bagpipes, accompanied by pounding drummers, led a joyous procession ahead of the patriarch’s arrival early in the afternoon.

“Despite the restrictions and limitations we want to celebrate as much as possible, with family, community and joy,” said Pizzaballa, who was to lead a small Midnight Mass gathering later in the evening. “We want to offer hope.”

Thousands of foreign pilgrims usually flock to Bethlehem for the celebrations. But the closure of Israel’s international airport to foreign tourists, along with Palestinian restrictions banning intercity travel in the areas they administer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, kept visitors away.

The restrictions limited attendance to residents and a small entourage of religious officials. Evening celebrations, when pilgrims normally congregate around the Christmas tree, were canceled, and Midnight Mass was limited to clergy.

The coronavirus has dealt a heavy blow to Bethlehem’s tourism sector, the lifeblood of the local economy. Restaurants, hotels and gift shops have been shuttered.

It was not the usual raucous Christmas eve in Mexico City. The big celebration was a ceremony where the country’s first coronavirus vaccine shots were administered.

On Christmas Eve, parents usually take their kids to a downtown plaza where actors dress up as the Three Wise Men or Santa Claus and pose in front of elaborate backdrops resembling the sets of popular children’s movies.

But this year, the Wise Men and Santas were banned. Mexico’s other grand tradition, Midnight Mass, was canceled in many parishes.

Still, Zoé Robledo, director of Mexico’s social security system, said the start of the country’s COVID-19 vaccine program made it “an unforgettable Christmas.”

Rio de Janeiro’s iconic beaches remained open, but a City Hall decree aimed at limiting gatherings prevented drivers from parking along the shore. Rain also kept beachgoers at home.

Thomas Azevedo and his 9-year-old son braved the bad weather to set up a small stand, selling beer and caipirinhas made from fresh fruit. By early afternoon, he hadn’t sold a thing.