Sacred fire

Israel is working with foreign governments and Orthodox Christian leaders in the Holy Land to make sure that one of their most ancient and mysterious rituals - the Holy Fire ceremony - is not extinguished by the coronavirus outbreak, officials said Friday.

A lantern carrying a flame lit in Jerusalem's Holy Sepulcher Church has been welcomed to Greece with honors reserved for visiting heads of state on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

But a senior cleric boycotted the ceremony, miffed that the holy flame wasn't arriving at the airport within his territorial jurisdiction.