I. U.S. relations with Lebanon could hinge on June 7 elections
The 128-member legislature must be half-Christian and half-Muslim, with the Christians divided among Orthodox and Catholic parties and Muslims among Shi'ite, Sunni, Druze and Alawite sects. The prime minister must be a Sunni, so Hezbollah would need allies from that sect. The president, elected last year, is always a Christian. When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Beirut last month and expressed support for "voices of moderation," many here took it as a sign that the United States is worried about a victory for the so-called March 8 alliance of Hezbollah, another Shi'ite party called Amal, and the Free Patriotic Movement of former army commander, retired Gen. Michel Aoun. The Iran-backed Shi'ite group, which combines a political party with a massive social welfare network and an armed militia, has 11 seats in the current parliament but is running in only 10 constituencies. Its coalition now has 58 seats, while the rival March 14 group holds 70 seats.
II. Religion key to foreign policy - ‘Religious ideas inform national identity’
As President Obama and his new administration seek to redirect U.S. foreign policy back toward more emphasis on diplomacy and less on the use of force, they should not overlook Orthodox Christianity as a resource. They are relevant in three parts of the world where the Obama administration seeks to hit the “reset” button — Russia, the Middle East, and Europe. The relationships Orthodox churches have with their national governments are unquestionably different from those of churches in the West. Policymakers tend to see religion broadly as a threat to U.S. interests. But they also tend to forget the role that religion, specifically Christianity, has had historically in nation building in the United States. Orthodox Christianity figured into high-level American thinking during the Cold War. President Dwight Eisenhower and his secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, understood the importance of Orthodox Christianity in Russia, Ukraine, and also the post-Ottoman space” of Southeastern Europe and the Middle East. Those parts of the world are relevant again — or still — as the Obama administration seeks to create “change you can believe in.”
III. Angry nation: Brits are the angriest people in Europe
Last year a study by the Mental Health Foundation found that one in four Britons is battling an anger problem. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Britons get angry more often than anyone else in Europe.
IV. Full list of Eurovision finalists revealed
The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest has finished in the Russian capital. Nineteen countries have been battling it out for the last ten places in Saturday's showdown. And of those, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Croatia, Lithuania, Moldova, Estonia, Denmark, Norway, Greece and Albania made it.
V. European Commission sues Poland
European Commission has started a lawsuit against Poland in European Tribunal of Justice. The case was made as, according to Commission officials, the number of norms concerning sex equality and other kinds of discrimination are not sufficient in Polish law. At the moment law in Poland is not fully compatible with European legal system. The only hard law regulation existing in our country is a prohibition of discrimination in Labor Law Code.
VI. Battle Of Crete Remembered
The Battle for Crete in May 1941 was the one of the most dramatic battles of the Second World War. Over 7500 New Zealanders, along with British, Australian and Greek troops and Cretan civilians, battled to repel the huge German airborne attack, and came very close to succeeding. The battle was a major defeat for the Allied Forces with 15,743 casualties. New Zealand casualties numbered 671 killed and 967 wounded, while another 2180 were taken as prisoners of war. The Royal Navy endured huge losses, with six destroyers sunk and more than 2,000 naval personnel killed.
VII. Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox Share Celebration
The Jubilee Year of St. Paul was declared by Pope Benedict XVI to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the apostle’s birth. It opened on June 28, 2008, and will close on June 29 this year. The pope opened the year in Rome with a strong ecumenical tone, accompanied by Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and representatives of Orthodox and Anglican churches. The year has been observed both by Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.