Christmas is under way for Christians following Orthodox traditions.
In Ethiopia, crowds gathered to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ while Egypt’s Coptic Christians also went to church to mark the feast day.
In Russia, the families of service personnel killed in the Ukraine conflict were remembered at a gathering attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, held in Christian tradition to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, it was the turn of the Orthodox branches of Christianity to mark the occasion.
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There had been muted celebrations in December when western Christian traditions held their festivities, with the conflict in Gaza casting a long shadow.
