Today we remember one of the great Fathers of the Church, St. Basil, defined by Byzantine liturgical texts as a "light of the Church." Basil is one of the great Fathers that formulated the doctrine of the Trinity: one God, because he is love, he is God in three persons, who form the most profound unity in existence, divine unity.
Although attempts are made to illustrate "the lighter side of Catholic faith, including appropriate "recipes for feasts and fun," Zmirak obviously has deeper cosmological concerns.
At an energy summit in Berlin, Chancellor Merkel lays the foundations for the government's climate protection policies for the coming years. The meeting is seen as a push to reverse Germany's plan to phase out nuclear energy.
Germany's highest court has rejected a petition from a left-wing party to have reconnaissance jets withdrawn from Afghanistan. Editorialists, however, fear the court, while making the right decision, may have given the government overly broad freedom for NATO missions abroad.
Germany is pushing for a transatlantic emissions trading scheme by 2012 beginning with linking the current EU environment laws with those in certain US states. According to Financial Times Deutschland, Berlin wants to start a greenhouse gas trading scheme with California and other states so long as the US does not have a unified scheme of its own.
There is only one Mormon prophet who doesn't have American citizenship - and he happens to be a retired Lufthansa pilot from Germany. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is growing the world over and even has its sights set on the White House.
Gordon Brown came under renewed pressure to call a referendum on the new European treaty last night after one of Britain's biggest unions joined the campaign for a national vote.
Poland has reaffirmed it will not bow to pressure from its EU partners and is set to push for a fresh debate on the voting system in upcoming talks on a new treaty for the bloc. Warsaw claims it secured a gentleman's agreement at a meeting of EU leaders last month, allowing countries to delay decisions by up to 2 years. "We negotiated 2 years there and it does not appear [in the text] because – let's be clear about this – nobody signed anything there. Everything was verbal. It all took place very fast and in the early hours of the morning, after 2 days of talks."
Russia escalated its war of words with Europe yesterday when the first deputy prime minister threatened to deploy missiles in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, which borders Poland and Lithuania.
Syria is unwilling to accept Israel's claims that the maneuvers of its forces on the Golan Heights are for training purposes only, an analyst on Syrian radio said Wednesday. "Since Olmert said specifically that he is unwilling to enter into a dialogue with Syria, and senior American officials reiterate the same statements, we are unable to believe his lies." He wrote that Syria is expecting Israel to attack it at any time and warned that Israel would make a mistake if it did so.
A Lebanese source has revealed that Prince Bandar Bin Sultan is attempting to organize a coup against Saudi King Abdullah as part of a US plot. "The US is planning a military takeover of Saudi Arabia before it pulls out its troops from Iraq."
Prime Minister al-Maliki went before the media on Tuesday to announce that his cabinet had "unanimously" approved US-backed draft legislation covering the future development of Iraq's vast oil resources. The parliament, he declared, would begin debating the oil law the following day. The legislation embodies the criminal aims and objectives of the US invasion of Iraq more than 4 years ago. Importantly, as far as Washington is concerned, all contracts entered into by the previous regime of Saddam Hussein—such as agreements with French, Russian and Chinese corporations—will be rendered void.
A senior Iranian official ruled out a nuclear "time out" proposal under which Iran would stop uranium enrichment expansion in return for a halt to further UN sanctions. "From our viewpoint, this issue is not on the table."
Iran has put into operation a 24-hour English-language satellite television channel to extend its global reach during a period of growing pressure from the US.
President Bush is giving an obscure White House office new powers this month over regulations affecting health, worker safety and the environment. The House, however, voted last week on a measure to prohibit the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from spending federal money on Bush's order. The House measure "stops this president or any president from seizing the power to rewrite almost every law that Congress passes, laws that protect public health, the environment, safety, civil rights, privacy and on and on," said Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., the measure's sponsor.
For some critics, the clemency for one of Cheney's closest friends cemented the perception of a vice-president who considers himself above the law and beyond accountability to Congress or Americans. Cheney is widely considered the most powerful vice-president in US history because of his close personal relationship with Mr. Bush and his behind-the-scenes efforts to restore presidential powers that were eroded after Watergate.
It was by finally accepting defeat in what at that time was a relatively unimportant part of the world that Britain was able to focus on what really mattered - continuing to build its influence and empire across the globe. The sound of the first shot fired at Lexington in 1775 echoed across the world. So too did the firing of the last shot 6 years later at Yorktown. That second echo brought salvation for Britain, and ultimately great benefit to the entire world.
A derivative blow-up at the Italian bank Italease has sent tremors through Milan's banking fraternity and exposed the hidden dangers of exotic credit instruments. The bank has paid off 610 million euros in recent days to counter-parties in what amounts to a massive margin call after interest rate rises in Europe caused hedging and derivative losses by clients to mushroom out of control.
The European Central Bank is widely expected to keep eurozone interest rates on hold at 4% following its latest meeting. Meanwhile, with the Bank of England expected to raise UK rates to 5.75%.
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