Spotlight: Christmas season hampered by intranquility, disturbences

In contrast to the usual surge of joyfulness and happiness featuring traditional Christmas elements, the Christmas season around the world this year appears to have been hampered by intranquillity and disturbances either natural or man-made.

"BLACK CHRISTMAS" IN U.S.

On the Christmas Eve, protests erupted in the U.S. cities of Chicago and Minneapolis, Minnesota against two separate police shootings of blacks.

Holding banners such as "Stop Police Terror," "Dismantle systematic racism," nearly a hundred protesters marched along the Magnificent Mile, a bustling shopping district in downtown Chicago, to protest the police shooting of Laquan McDonald on Thursday.

McDonald, a 17-year-old black teen, was shot 16 times to death by Chicago police in October 2014, but the video of his shooting was not released until November this year, leaving many believe cover-up on the police side. Protests have kept erupting ever since.

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, about 100 activists for Black Lives Matter, a U.S. African American civil rights movement, on Wednesday held a protest at the Mall of America, and temporarily blocked the traffic to a local airport, demanding justice for Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police on Nov. 15.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, a gunman, who opened fire and injured one person, was shot dead Thursday by police who responded to reports of a shooting at a mall, U.S. media reported.

The shooting resulted from an altercation involving a group of people inside the Northlake Mall, which was crowded with people on last-minute shopping for holiday gifts on the Christmas Eve, according to the reports.

Meanwhile, at least 11 people died and dozens were injured in severe storms and tornadoes that continued to hit parts of the southern U.S. states of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas on Thursday, according to local authorities.

LOW-PROFILE CELEBRATIONS IN BETHLEHEM

In Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus now under the control of the Palestinian National Authority, low-profile celebrations of Christmas were held due to the clashes between the Palestinians and Israel that have escalated in recent months.

The Ramallah Council of Churches and the Ramallah Municipality decided to dedicate this year's Christmas celebrations to the souls of Palestinians who were killed by the Israeli army since the beginning of October.

Ramallah's streets were not decorated as an expression of solidarity with the families who are until the moment waiting for the Israeli government to return the bodies of their children.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 129 Palestinians, including 25 children and five women, were killed since Oct. 3 during the latest wave of Palestinian-Israeli tension.

PENDING REFUGEE CRISIS

A capsized rubber dinghy that carried a group of migrants from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos earlier this year has been suspended mid-air in a London church in a poignant Christmas homage unveiled on Monday.

It is part of an installation called "Flight" by artist Arabella Dorman that also includes three suspended life jackets, which has been set up in the nave of St. James' Church in Piccadilly, central London.

In Finland, refugees are trying to integrate themselves into local culture by learning the Finnish language and local traditions including the celebration of Christmas.

There are 102 centers run by the Red Cross in Finland to receive the refugees. So far on the Christmas Eve, more than 3,200 foreigners have entered Finland seeking asylum. The majority of the arrivals are from Iraq, while others come from countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea.

SMOG IN ITALY, BALKANS

Italy's two largest cities, Rome and Milan, adopted emergency measures on Thursday to lower air pollution levels during the Christmas season.

Ambient pollution detectors in both cities have registered high levels of micro particles dangerous to health. In some neighborhoods, the levels were over the limit for more than 50 days.

Meanwhile, Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has seen the worst air pollution in decades.0 Due to persistent heavy smog, the local government decided to close all elementary and secondary schools. Flights have been canceled or delayed at the Sarajevo International Airport in the past several days.

FLOOD IN LATIN AMERICA

Flooding dampened Christmas eve celebrations in parts of Latin America on Thursday, leaving at least five people dead and driving about 150,000 people from their homes in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.

Paraguay, the worst hit of the three countries, has evacuated around 100,000 people by Wednesday after the Paraguay River burst its banks.

Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes declared a state of emergency to funnel disaster relief to hard-hit areas, including the capital city of Asuncion.

In Argentina, more than 20,000 people have been affected, according to media reports. Endi