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Easter is a Christian festival marking the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Preceded by Lent - a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance - Easter begins on Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the Last Supper of Christ and his disciples. Good Friday symbolises Christ's crucifixion and subsequent death while Pentecost Sunday celebrates the day Christ rose from the grave. Families traditionally attend church services and Easter parades during this period, and children join in egg hunts and receive chocolate eggs.
Hong Kong shops and restaurants, already suffering, lost out as hundreds of thousands of citizens ventured to mainland China to take advantage of the long Easter weekend.
The city has come a long way from the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022. But the needed recovery remains challenging.
- Islamist bombers hit three churches and three hotels, killing more than 279 people – including 45 foreigners – during the Easter carnage of 2019
- Grieving families say they are still waiting for justice, with the UN’s top envoy to the country on Sunday highlighting its ‘accountability deficit’
Most sought-after mainland destinations include Greater Bay Area cities such as Foshan, Dongguan and Huizhou, travel agency boss says.
Number of visitor arrivals drops 35 per cent compared with pre-pandemic 2018, with restaurant industry leader saying high-end establishments hit hardest.
The Israeli military said it struck a command centre of the Islamic Jihad militant group and claimed the hospital’s functioning was not affected.
Trump and fellow conservatives attacked the US president after he announced that Transgender Day of Visibility would be recognised on Easter Sunday.
‘With their eyes children ask us, why all this death and destruction?’ said the 87-year-old, who also condemned ‘walls of selfishness and indifference’.
About 376,000 people had entered Hong Kong on Saturday as of 9pm.
The 87-year-old pontiff’s sudden no show is likely to renew concerns about his declining strength.
In a country with the third-largest Catholic population in the world, the seven days from March 24 holds special significance till Easter Sunday.
Official figures show at least 589,654 residents left city across all border points as of 4pm on Friday
Seriously injured 8-year-old child is sole survivor after bus plunged off bridge and caught fire in province of Limpopo. President Ramaphosa earlier appealed to South Africans to take care when travelling.
Hong Kong has launched a dozen high-profile arts and culture events this month as part of ‘Art March’ drive, coinciding with an earlier-than-usual Easter break.
About 9.5 million land border crossings expected over Easter break and Ching Ming Festival, with another 1.5 million by air and sea.
Hobbled by bad knees and respiratory problems, the pope, 87, also did not take part in procession of cardinals around the obelisk in St Peter’s Square on Sunday.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday signed a law moving the official Christmas Day holiday to December 25 from January 7 with the goal of ‘abandoning the Russian heritage’.
The ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the thousand-year-old rite takes place, was built over the site where Christian tradition says Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected.
US president, 80, hosting Monday’s festivities on White House South Lawn, said he plans to participate in ‘at least 3 or 4 more Easter egg rolls, maybe 5’.
The death toll, tallied from 67 drowning incidents since the start of April, came as many Filipinos ‘got excited’ to visit beaches and resorts around the country, the police said.
Catering sector still clawing way back to pre-pandemic levels, with mainland Chinese customers not playing big role over long weekend.
The International Pentecost Holiness Church blesses polygamous unions, common in some African communities, and the church says are authorised by the Bible.
Christian Easter coincided with Jewish Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, against a backdrop of surging Israeli-Palestinian violence
The pope, who was in hospital due to bronchitis last week and suffers from a knee condition, approached the altar in a wheelchair. He is expected to celebrate the Easter Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square.
It is the first time the pope will not preside at the ‘Via Crucis’ service since he was elected in 2013. The last pope to do so was Pope John Paul II, during the last weeks of his life in 2005.
One of city’s biggest Easter egg hunts makes comeback after two years of online events.
At one procession that stuck to church grounds, some participants wore masks, with one Christian saying rules impinge on right to practise religion.
Catering industry will experience a 20 per cent drop in business between Friday and Monday compared with pre-Covid levels, federation boss says.
From themed events for children to shopping deals, the Post gives a rundown of activities between April 7 and 10.
