EU leaders at eastern summit meeting
This week EU leaders convened in Riga for the eastern partnership summit. They met with officials from the six eastern partners. Latvian foreign affairs minister Edgars Rinkevics hoped it would be ‘an opportunity to look at the challenges the EU faces along its eastern borders’ (namely ongoing tensions with Russia and peace in Ukraine hanging by a thread). During the summit a rally congregated outside urging the EU to grant Georgia and Ukraine visa free regimes and recognise their European future. One of the rally's organisers said the main demand for Georgia and Ukraine to be promised a ‘European perspective’ was not achieved at the summit.
TIME TO SOUND THE ALARM FOR OUR NATION
Our nation is in pain with abused children, broken families, lonely elderly, community tensions and youth with a sense of hopelessness. The Church is called to stand in the gap for change in our communities. The World Prayer Centre, Birmingham believes it’s time for our nation to ‘sound the alarm’ and proclaim the Good News to the nation. They are inviting all Christian believers to come to a National Day of Worship and Prayer at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on Saturday 4 July 2015. Religions and ideologies are rushing to fill a spiritual and moral vacuum created by a society that says, ‘We don’t do God and we don’t need God’. This ‘TRUMPET CALL 2015’ National Day of Worship and Prayer is a day when we can stand together in humility and unity to declare the Lordship of Christ over our nation. Purchase tickets from here or call 0121 633 7393.
Queen's Speech 2015
Yesterday Queen Elizabeth set out the Government's plans for a European Union membership referendum as David Cameron faces pressure to explain when it will be held and what changes to the EU he wants before then. Mr Cameron says he would prefer to stay inside a reformed EU but isn't ‘ruling anything out’ if it fails to change. He was re-elected on a pledge to reshape ties with the bloc before allowing Britons to vote on whether to stay or leave. The new government plans to pass a law in its first year that would allow a referendum on the EU to occur by the end of 2017.
Prince prays for peace in NI visit
On the final day of his tour of both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, Prince Charles visited the country's oldest peace and reconciliation centre. Run by Christians, the Corrymeela Centre played a vital role in bringing together people on all sides of the troubles. Speaking at the centre, he said, ‘By our shared wounds and scars we can, I hope, I pray, share healing and a friendship made all the stronger for the trials it has overcome. We have all suffered too much, too many people's loved ones have been killed or maimed. Surely it is time, as I said in Sligo two days ago, that we became the subjects of our history and not its prisoners. Surely, too, in the roots of Corrymeela, we can discover lessons that can serve as a model to all who strive for peace and reconciliation.’
