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On Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs S V Lavrov expressed confidence that the Russian and Serbian Orthodox churches would manage to overcome the present “turbulent times” with dignity, whereas some in the Church in other countries play political games. Speaking at the solemn dedication of the new mosaic in the dome of St Sava Church in Belgrade, Lavrov said:
Today’s event symbolises the spiritual and cultural affinity of our peoples and our churches. It seems to me especially important to demonstrate this unity at a time when both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church are undergoing a test of their strength. We all see how churches are playing around with politics, whether in the Ukraine, or in Montenegro, or in Macedonia. Our Churches will overcome these turbulent times with dignity, as was always the case with Orthodoxy.
The new mosaic in the dome of St Sava depicts Christ. No other mosaic in the world is comparable to it. The total area of the mosaic is 1,248 square metres (13,434 square feet). It took nine months to create the work, done in a traditional early New Roman style. Seventy artists worked on the mosaic, the construction of which required 40 tonnes of glass. St Sava Church is one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world; it can accommodate 10,000 believers.
22 February 2018
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=69341
Editor:
Sadly, there are many in the OCA and ROCOR who are playing around with rightwing politics. It’s a sad day for the Church that Alexander Webster is now part of Holy Trinity Seminary… it means that the rightwing group around Potapov now controls the ROCOR. It means that the CIA is in the driver’s seat, just as it was in the Cold War. Did Langley dangle money in front of Jordanville? Probably… will Lebedeff defend this as he did the dalliance of Jordanville with the CIA during the Cold War (“We needed the money and we were grateful for it”)? Will this lead to the ROCOR repudiating its union with the Mother Church? Stay tuned… the hateful Vlasovtsy crowd around Potapov is in charge and nothing is set in stone anymore.
BMD
Voices from Russia 
Gun Control: Big US Firms Cut Ties to NRA as Anti-Assault Weapon Movement Grows
Tags: Gun control, Gun culture, Gun law, gun violence, guns, National Rifle Association, NRA, political commentary, politics, Republican, Right to keep and bear arms, United States, USA
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On Friday, major car rental agency Hertz tweeted that it’d stop providing discounts on cars to members of the notorious National Rifle Association (NRA), following last week’s massacre at a Florida high school. This week, USA-based rental car firms National Car Rental, Enterprise, and Alamo also announced that they’d cut ties with the NRA, a lobbying group that consistently funds legal challenges to common-sense gun control measures in the USA. These companies are part of a rapidly-growing list of corporations and investment entities that discontinued business relationships with the NRA following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida last week that killed 17 people (mostly teenaged students) and wounded 14 others. According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) statistics cited by the New York Times, the USA sees over 33,000 people each year… many of them children… shot and killed by high-powered military-grade assault rifles and handguns,.
On Thursday, the First National Bank of Omaha (the largest privately-held bank in the USA) announced that it’s severing ties with the increasingly-rightwing NRA by not issuing NRA-branded VISA credit cards. A recent Bloomberg analysis revealed that many big investors divested gun company holdings while others push NRA members within the industry to adopt intelligent gun control laws in the USA. Bloomberg also reported that an increasing number of pension funds and municipalities demand that stock portfolios eliminate companies that manufacture or sell firearms. According to Gizmodo, one of America’s largest security software companies, Symantec, also ended a business partnership with the NRA. Symantec (maker of Norton antivirus software) acquired LifeLock, an identity theft protection company, in 2017 and the branch likewise ended discounts for NRA members.
24 February 2018
Sputnik International
https://sputniknews.com/us/201802241061965178-big-US-firms-cut-ties-to-NRA-anti-assault-weapon-movement-grows/