Bethlehem rings in more hopeful Christmas
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Thousands of pilgrims and a new Palestinian leadership are celebrating Christmas in the town of Jesus&#39;s birth with prayers for peace after the death of Yasser Arafat.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- The floors are polished, a Christmas tree glitters near the bar, and the dining room is ready for hundreds of guests: The luxury Paradise Hotel is open for business for the first time since the latest Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000.
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VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II offered Christmas wishes yesterday for a world where he said timid but hopeful efforts at peace coexist with worries over Iraq, the Holy Land, and Africa.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank Israel is passing out candy as it allows people to freely travel into Bethlehem this Christmas Eve. Officials say they expect some five thousand people today and tomorrow to visit the town where Jesus was born.
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Gloom was banished from Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for the first time in years on Monday as Christian pilgrims from all over the world flocked here to celebrate Jesus' birth in an atmosphere of renewed tranquility.
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Retailers look set to see a pick-up in Christmas trade in the coming days, despite grim predictions earlier in the season.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Hundreds of millions around the world prepared Friday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a Christmas festival of religious joy for many and commercial excess for others, against a backdrop of continuing global security
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Bethlehem souvenir store owner Mike Canawati is gearing up for his merriest Christmas in years.
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Four UK church leaders are to make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem just before Christmas.
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A limited easing of security tensions raises hopes for a better Christmas.
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Christians around the world celebrated Christmas Saturday with Pope John Paul II leading prayers for peace and a more tranquil future, as pilgrims flocked to Bethlehem, and Iraqis
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By American News, Aberdeen, S.D.  Dec. 14--The choir of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Groton will present a Christmas musical, called "Journey of Hope," Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. at the church.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Muslims and Christians united in the hope that the festive season will herald a new dawn after four years of violence, attending midnight mass in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
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TIKRIT, Iraq, Dec. 25  -- The roaring bonfire licked the dark sky as Jennifer and Jeremiah Pray leaned closer to the pulsing warmth. Their faces glowing, their eyes bright, they relished their first Christmas Eve together in more than three years of marriage, not to mention the brief respite from the war going on around them.
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Israel is taking special steps to insure a merry Christmas in Bethlehem, an Israeli military official said Thursday, raising hopes for a gentler holiday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus after four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Several thousand pilgrims celebrated Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus yesterday, voicing hopes for peace in the Middle East.
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25 December 2004 -- Hundreds of millions of Christians are celebrating Christmas today. Many of those are turning their. thoughts to a small Palestinian West Bank town where many people believe Jesus Christ was born 2,004 years ago.