The world is preparing for a second pandemic Christmas

With the explosion of the Omicron variant, the pandemic will again darken the holidays for billions of people around the world who await Saturday the passage of Santa Claus and family reunions under restrictions. For the second year in a row, the outbreak of infections is putting a damper on festive projects, from Sydney to Seville. In Bethlehem, where Jesus was born according to Christians, the hotel industry, which was expecting an influx of tourists, shows its disappointment. After an almost total lockdown in 2020, Israel closed its borders again. As in 2020, midnight mass will be reserved for a small circle of the faithful, by invitation only. At the Vatican, thousands of people are expected on Friday for the traditional Christmas mass presided over by Pope Francis at 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. GMT) in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, compared to only 200 in 2020. (11:00 GMT) its eighth Urbi et Orbi blessing from St. Peter's Square.

Bangladesh: 32 dead in ferry fire

At least 32 people died in a ferry fire on a river in southern Bangladesh on Friday, police said. "The three-story Obhijan 10 caught fire in the middle of the river. We recovered 32 bodies. The toll could rise. Most died in the fire and a few drowned after jumping into the river," local police chief Moinul Islam told AFP. The drama unfolded early in the morning near the town of Jhalokathi, 250 km south of the capital Dhaka. The accident is the latest in a series of similar disasters in this low-lying country located around a delta formed by many rivers. Experts in this country of 170 million inhabitants in South Asia point to the lack of maintenance, lax safety standards and saturation of ferries.

JO-2022 in Beijing: Japan does not "plan" to send government officials

Japan will not send ministerial officials to the Winter Olympics in February in Beijing, the Japanese government announced on Friday, after diplomatic boycotts decided by several Western countries, including the United States. On the other hand, the president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Seiko Hashimoto will go there, as well as the president of the Japanese Olympic committee Yasuhiro Yamashita, said Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno. Ms Hashimoto will travel to Beijing "to express gratitude and respect to the athletes and others who supported the Tokyo Games" held this summer, he added. By contrast, Japan "does not plan to send government officials" to the Winter Olympics in China, the spokesperson said. Tokyo's stand came after the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada announced in December a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games (February 4-20, 2022) in order to denounce human rights abuses in China.

IN SHORT

Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, sentenced to 20 years in prison for a resounding corruption scandal that precipitated her dismissal in 2017, has been pardoned, the justice minister announced on Friday.

The pill against Covid-19 from the Merck laboratory, intended for high-risk adults, was urgently authorized on Thursday by the American Medicines Agency (FDA), the day after the authorization of a similar pill developed by Pfizer.

Brazilian soccer legend Pele has been cleared to leave hospital in Sao Paulo where he was admitted two weeks ago for chemotherapy treatment.