In a beautiful, almost ethereal scene, about 2,000 Christians quietly ascended the Mount of Olives as midnight approached. Following a lighted crucifix, they carried votive candles that flickered in the still darkness of a city devoid of any official celebration of the millennium.
At the top, they planted the crucifix and gathered round, moved by the serenity. Then, switching in a flash from the sublime to the cheesy, it turned into a Dick Clark New Year's Eve special with a Felliniesque cast, set in the heart of the Holy Land.
There, a Franciscan priest stepped on to a rickety sound stage and into an emcee persona. Beckoning the crowd closer, he led a heavily accented English countdown to midnight. An amplified electronic keyboard let loose a bad disco version of Auld Lang Syne. And the people, from the Italian nuns to the Catholic church group from Texas, all ran for cover as sparks from a fireworks display rained on their moment of faith.
In Bethlehem, Manger Square was packed, a Palestinian block party par excellence, culminating in a resounding fireworks show that coincided with the release of 2,000 doves for peace. Stunned, the doves crashed and bumped their way into the night, but the crowd was elated.
"It's a time of looking forward to the future with hope, and not toward disaster and doom and all that," said the Reverend Mitchell Pacwa of Dallas.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from
RESOLVE: The increased expenditure, if approved by the legislature, would likely see Taipei buying more defense articles from Washington, reducing its trade surplus The government aims to increase defense spending to at least 3 percent of GDP this year, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, hours after US President Donald Trump again threatened tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors. At a news conference in Taipei following his first high-level national security meeting this year, Lai said the government would propose a special budget this year to increase the nation’s defense spending to more than 3 percent of GDP. “Taiwan must firmly safeguard its national sovereignty, strengthen its resolve for self-defense and bolster its defense capabilities,” he said. The president also vowed to double down on defense reforms and
RSS