Patrtriarch Kirill of Moscow has been removed from an EU-sanctions list of Kremlin-associates after a last-minute intervention by the government in Hungary. The intervention took place during a meeting of EU member-state ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday.

Hungary’s move surprised diplomats: ambassadors believed that consensus on the package’s provisions — the EU’s latest response to Russian aggression in Ukraine — had been reached at an extraordinary summit of EU heads of state on Monday. Diplomats assumed that the Thursday meeting was merely to formalising the agreement and make technical arrangements for the imposition of the new, wider sanctions.

For some hours, however, the whole list of sanctioned individuals was in doubt, as Hungary’s representative refused to accept the package unless Patriarch Kirill’s name was removed.

The sanctions package, the EU’s sixth in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, covered both personal measures against leading figures in the Russian regime (freezing their assets and banning them from travel in the EU), and corporate moves to severely restrict imports of Russian oil to the EU single market.

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“Patriarch Kirill is a religious leader. Respecting fundamental principles of religious freedom, the government of Hungary considers it inappropriate for the EU to include his name among those who would be specifically sanctioned.”https://t.co/RdW2KgQvy8

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 3, 2022

Russian officials have raised increasingly frustrated requests for greater support during discussions with Beijing in recent weeks, calling on China to live up to its affirmation of a “no limits” partnership made weeks before the war in Ukraine began. But China’s leadership wants to expand assistance for Russia without running afoul of Western sanctions and has set limits on what it will do, according to Chinese and U.S. officials.

Moscow has on at least two occasions pressed Beijing to offer new forms of economic support — exchanges that one Chinese official described as “tense.” The officials familiar with the talks spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

They declined to share specifics of Russia’s requests, but one official said it included maintaining “trade commitments” predating the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, and financial and technological support now sanctioned by the United States and other countries.

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More Chinese officials speaking (anonymously) to US media abt how they are not helping Russia. "Moscow has on at least two occasions pressed Beijing to offer new forms of economic support — exchanges that one Chinese official described as “tense." https://t.co/bykSjkYHJa

— Julian Ku 古舉倫 (@julianku) June 3, 2022

Just as I’m thinking “This sounds like Holden Caulfield. Is he channelling J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye?”, William Leith mentions Karl Ove Knausgaard. Knausgaard’s series of books, My Struggle, chronicles his thoughts and feelings, beginning with his father’s death. Leith orders the series, and when it arrives in the post he is terrified – he feels “dread”, wants to put the books on a high shelf with the spines facing the wall. Then, when he begins reading the first volume, A Death in the Family, he is gripped. Leith often depicts himself having two opposed reactions. In his earlier memoir, The Hungry Years: Confessions of a food addict (2005), he writes: “I am always too empty, and yet too full. I am always too full, and yet too empty”. There’s quite a lot of that here.

Leith came early to the confessional writing game. A Guardian article published in 2005, by which time his tortured relationship to food, drink, money and drugs had become a staple of his journalism, described him as the “poster boy of binge living”. His binge living was driven by anxiety, and the writing about it, displaying his appetite for self-harm and honing his expertise in liking himself less and less, gave him a living. The Cut That Wouldn’t Heal has a present-tense immediacy, beginning ten seconds before his father’s death, but some of the material is recycled from earlier writings. The “cut” of the title is on his father’s leg, and Leith doesn’t press the obvious metaphorical application to himself. Beginning with his birth, which his father didn’t welcome, and continuing through a childhood in which his father was mostly absent, physically and emotionally, Leith charts the many ways he failed to be good enough. His father, a psychologist, apparently didn’t notice or didn’t care that his son was bleeding.

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'Beginning with his birth, which his father didn’t welcome, and continuing through a childhood in which his father was mostly absent, physically and emotionally, Leith charts the many ways he failed to be good enough.’ (@nclarke14)https://t.co/V78ggSbLX4

— The TLS (@TheTLS) June 3, 2022

O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: Grant that we who remember before thee the blessed martyrs of Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom they gave obedience even unto death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

We salute the Uganda Martyrs for their steadfastness, despite being new converts to the Christian faith. They paid the ultimate price of death but did not die in vain. Their fortitude and endurance continue to win souls for the Kingdom of God. https://t.co/Wms87G8iIl. pic.twitter.com/028c8y1SUs

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) June 3, 2022

O God, grant that looking upon the face of the Lord, as into a glass, we may be changed into His likeness, from glory to glory. Take out of us all pride and vanity, boasting and forwardness; and give us the true courage which shows itself by gentleness; the true wisdom which shows itself by simplicity; and the true power which shows itself by modesty.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Woodland walk in ferry meadows 😍📸#photography #photographer #photos #photo #outdoors #ferrymeadows #thephotohour @ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/4EEOG68Eyv

— Cameron Sauter (@VisualsbySauter) June 3, 2022

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD: that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die; that men may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD. He has broken my strength in mid-course; he has shortened my days. “O my God,” I say, “take me not hence in the midst of my days, thou whose years endure throughout all generations!” Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They will perish, but thou dost endure; they will all wear out like a garment. Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away; but thou art the same, and thy years have no end.

–Psalm 102:18-27

"Rugged Beauty"
The Koolau Mountains#BeautyInNature #KoolauMountains #Oahu #Hawaii #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/KnkqoNDHVp

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) June 3, 2022

The Queen is not the only one to be celebrating a Platinum Jubilee — two musicians received lifetime service awards from their church communities last month, with a combined contribution of 135 years.

Heather Braddock has been singing in the choir of Christ Church, Woodford, in the diocese of Chester, since the coronation in 1952, when she was 11 years old. On Easter Day, she was presented with a long-service medal and certificate from the Royal College of Musicians, in recognition of 70 years’ continuous service. The congregation also gave her a new sound system.

Ms Braddock, a former secretary in the NHS, has been running the choir for the past 20 years, and served as the PCC secretary for more than 28 years. She is married to Malcolm; their son, Canon Andrew Braddock, is the Interim Dean of Gloucester Cathedral.

She said: “It has been, and remains, a privilege and a joy to sing in, and serve, the choir here. Thank you to all the church family for their kindness and support. And here’s to our ongoing musical tradition here at Woodford.”

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Two church musicians awarded for long service https://t.co/hPbIrd4tWd

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 1, 2022

In the days before the invasion, all but a few hundred employees were evacuated. Those who stayed worked shifts lasting hundreds of hours under Russian supervision, often not resting for days while trying to keep the station safe and systems running.

Meanwhile, the station’s equipment and information were being systematically stolen or destroyed, said Kramarenko. Now that he’s back in charge, he’s been checking on some of the stolen equipment that had been fitted with GPS trackers. Some are still transmitting location data.

“We see that part of it is located on the territory of Belarus, along the border. And part moves around the territory of Belarus — Gomel, Minsk, other places,” [Yevhen Kramarenko] said.

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During their month-long occupation of Chernobyl, Russian soldiers and scientists stole everything from critical monitoring equipment to fire extinguishers to safety systems, worth $135 millionhttps://t.co/6wMysOSKyS

— Alfons López Tena 🦇 (@alfonslopeztena) June 2, 2022

St. John’s Chapel on the east side of Charleston starting giving out ring cameras in 2018. They wanted to help solve crime on the east side.

So far, they have given out around 70 cameras and hope to give out about 80 more.

St John’s Chapel works to stop crime on the east side through doorbell cameras. (WCIV)

“As a community we must stand together. I think it’s a rally and cry right now for the community to do that,” said Reverend Matthew Rivers of St. John’s Chapel.

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In the News: St. John's Chapel has been providing security cameras to their neighbors—free of charge—to stop crime in their neighborhood. Details: https://t.co/EBlNEGToTi Contact The Rev. Matthew Rivers, Rector of St. John's Chapel, to assist! #StJohnsChapel #ABCNews4 #ADOSC pic.twitter.com/t4T6YdH6Cz

— Anglican Diocese of SC (@anglican_sc) June 2, 2022

South Carolina’s cities are fueling a 1.4 percent increase in the state’s population as younger residents leave rural communities for opportunities in bigger markets, leaving the smaller areas with fewer residents and greater labor force concerns.

The state’s population has grown to 5,190,705 people, recent Census Bureau data shows — up from 5,118,425 residents in July 2021.

Most of the population growth took place in 26 of the Palmetto State’s 46 counties located closest to South Carolina’s biggest cities. At the same time, populations are gradually shrinking in rural areas, particularly those in the southern and eastern parts of the state, said Dan Ellzey, executive director of the state’s Department of Employment and Workforce.

The most significant population declines were in Sumter and Orangeburg counties, where 366 and 177 residents, respectively, left in the past year.

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South Carolina’s cities are fueling a 1.4 percent increase in the state’s population as younger residents leave rural communities for opportunities in bigger markets. https://t.co/j7GgVTYZ1Z

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 1, 2022

Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we who keep the feast of the holy martyrs Blandina and her companions may be rooted and grounded in love of thee, and may endure the sufferings of this life for the glory that shall be revealed in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

#metmuseum
Title: Ste. Blandine et Ses Compagnes (St. Blandina and Her Companions), June 2nd, from Les Images De Tous Les Saincts et Saintes de L'Année (Images of All of the Saints and Religious Events of the Year)
Author: Jacques Callot pic.twitter.com/Ms2AdfgwRq

— Artwork of the Day (@artwrkotd) April 13, 2022

'We give you thanks for the reign of your servant Elizabeth, our Queen.' 🙏🏾

Join us in praying for Her Majesty The Queen as we celebrate the #PlatinumJubilee.

👑 @RoyalFamily pic.twitter.com/Yw4RXXTIzA

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) June 2, 2022

Her Majesty The Queen, the first Monarch in British history to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.

To mark the beginning of the #PlatinumJubilee Celebration Weekend, a new portrait of The Queen has been released.

📷 Ranald Mackechnie pic.twitter.com/nmQFf2Zpmy

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 1, 2022

O Saviour of the world, I cry to Thee; O Saviour, suffering God, I worship Thee; O wounded beauteous Love, I kneel to Thee; Thou knowest, Lord, how I would follow Thee, If of Thyself Thou give Thyself to Me.

The view from the roof#PlatinumJubilee pic.twitter.com/VhRU0gXey3

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 2, 2022

And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, take up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

–Matthew 9:1-8

Dolgran am 5:30 bore ‘ma…amser gore’r dydd…Bore da 👌🏼😃

Dolgran at 5:30am…the best time of the day…Bore da👌🏼😃@StormHour @ThePhotoHour @ItsYourWales @FfotoC @S4Ctywydd @Ruth_ITV @nationalwales @LocalWales #Westisbest🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❤️ pic.twitter.com/DXILJmHmAi

— Aled Hall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@AledHall) June 2, 2022

The 2008 Lambeth Conference displayed the divisions that had broken out across the denomination five years earlier, when Gene Robinson of New Hampshire was elected as Anglicanism’s first openly gay bishop by the U.S. Episcopal Church. About 230 conservative bishops from different countries, many from Africa, stayed away to protest the presence of bishops from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, some of whose congregations had begun to bless same-sex marriages.

That year, a group bound by adherence to a conservative reading of scripture, including the proscription of homosexual acts, founded the Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON.

“There is no running away from the choice between following the teachings of the Bible or following the culture of our time,” says Nigerian Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi, general secretary of GAFCON, who hasn’t attended a Lambeth Conference since 1998 and said he won’t attend this year.

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After decades of division, the Anglican Communion seems no closer to resolving the doctrinal issues that caused many US Episcopal churches to form the Anglican Church in North America. The Archbishop of Canterbury seems destined to displease everyone. https://t.co/X5eKqn4sit

— Law and Liberty (@lawandliberty1) May 30, 2022

A pregnant woman, a 17-year-old girl and a Charleston police officer were among 10 people hospitalized after a mass shooting at a late-night Memorial Day party in the city’s East Side neighborhood, authorities said.

Four people remained in critical condition the afternoon of May 31, Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds said at a news conference. No deaths have been reported, and police indicated the pregnant woman did not lose her baby.

A police officer came under fire after responding to a noise complaint around 11:40 p.m. at 41 South St., Reynolds said.

Two bullets struck his police cruiser as he took cover and called for backup, Reynolds said. The officer was not shot, but he suffered minor injuries from shattered glass. At least one bullet was found lodged in the headrest of the squad car, police said.

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A pregnant woman, a 17-year-old girl and a Charleston police officer were among 10 people hospitalized after a mass shooting during a late-night Memorial Day party in Charleston’s East Side neighborhood, according to authorities. https://t.co/RFtPCggBci #chsnews #scnews

— Caitlin Byrd (@MaryCaitlinByrd) May 31, 2022

You invited all Orthodox Christians to reject Moscow’s spiritual yoke. Are you specifically addressing those 400 Russian Orthodox priests in Ukraine who have called for a church tribunal against Patriarch Kirill?

It doesn’t relate only to those priests. This is for all those in the Russian Orthodox Church. In Ukraine, it is the one state institution that has a connection to Moscow. That’s why I call all Orthodox people to unite around Kyiv, because the spiritual part of it is very important. Putin very successfully uses the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. But we see that gradually Ukrainian people understand all this.

According to the latest poll taken at the beginning of March, before the atrocities in Bucha were revealed, 70% of Ukraine was Orthodox Christian. Among them, 52% support (the Orthodox Church) of Ukraine. Only 4% support the Russian Orthodox Church. Last year in December, they had the support of 15%.

That’s why I am convinced that eventually we will all be in one local Orthodox Church of Ukraine. As long as we have the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, it creates some illusion for Putin. He had an illusion before the full-scale invasion that in three, four days he will capture all Ukraine. He thought Ukraine would accept him, meet him with flowers, but it didn’t happen. Every parish in Ukraine has to have a free choice.

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Metropolitan Epiphanius of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine sat down with Religion News Service in an exclusive interview on the grounds of St. Michael’s golden-domed monastery in Kyiv.https://t.co/8m1bHvEUu3

— Religion News Service (@RNS) June 1, 2022

Amerie Jo Garza, 10, a jokester who made the honor roll. Tuesday, 2 p.m.

Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10, who excelled in school and learned how to sew from YouTube videos. Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Irma Garcia, 48, and Joe Garcia, 50, the parents of Lyliana, Alysandra, Cristian and Jose. Wednesday, 10 a.m.

Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10, called Josecito and Baby Jose, who collected toy trucks and played Little League. Wednesday, 2 p.m.

A week after a gunman stormed into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, funerals began on Tuesday for the 19 young students and two teachers killed — as well as the husband of a victim whose fatal heart attack was attributed by his relatives to his overwhelming grief. Stretching into mid-June, the coming days will be packed with services, visitations, rosaries and burials, memorializing each of the victims whose deaths are the sum of a community’s agonizing loss.

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Nearly two dozen funerals will be held in Uvalde, Texas, in the coming days as the city mourns those killed in last week’s school shooting. https://t.co/KEAy8cPDFY

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 1, 2022

“This food we call Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake, except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Saviour being incarnate by God’s word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus. For the apostles in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, thus handed down what was commanded them: that Jesus, taking bread and having given thanks, said, ‘Do this for my memorial, this is my body’; and likewise taking the cup and giving thanks he said, ‘This is my blood’; and gave it to them alone.'”

–Justin Martyr, First apology 66, trans. Edward Rochie Hardy

Today is the Feast of Saint Justin, martyr. He was born in the Holy Land and is remembered for his defence of Christian belief and practice. He was martyred c 165. He is patron Saint of Philosophy and Philosophers. pic.twitter.com/BXp0YMyaOy

— CatholicNewsIreland (@CatholicNewsIRL) June 1, 2022

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst find thy martyr Justin wandering from teacher to teacher, seeking the true God, and didst reveal to him the sublime wisdom of thine eternal Word: Grant that all who seek thee, or a deeper knowledge of thee, may find and be found by thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today is the Feast of St Justin, Martyr:

'Your light must shine in the sight of men,
so that, seeing your good works,
they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.'

Today's Mass Readings:https://t.co/sRh8xr95EY pic.twitter.com/gwEUoxSLEQ

— StThomasMoreSurrey (@surrey_st) June 1, 2022

Lord, I will seek your face and continually search for your face as much as I can and as much as you render me capable of doing. Lord, my God, my one hope, hear me lest exhausted I lose the will to seek you. May I ardently seek you always. Give the strength to seek, you who have given the desire. And when the strength is sufficient, add to the desire that which you have given. May I always remember you, understand you, and love you until, faithfully remembering you and prudently understanding you and truthfully loving you, O Triune God, according to the fullness which you know, you reform me to your image in which you have created me. Amen.

🎶It's a beautiful morning🎶 Behold today's beautiful sunrise from the Statue of Liberty camera! (📸: EarthCam) pic.twitter.com/Pqy8VRwgHZ

— Katie Chrystler (@kchrystler) June 1, 2022

In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. It will be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

–Isaiah 4:2-6

Good morning and wishing you all a fabulous 1st of June 😍

📸 IG/lizzie_takes_photos pic.twitter.com/mkMUI4rs64

— Love North Yorkshire (@LoveNorthYorks1) June 1, 2022