In peace or war, the Church Year was a large factor in the home life of the Imperial family, as it was for many of their subjects from Tyrol to Transylvania. Charles and Zita loved Christmas; during Advent Charles taught his children to make small sacrifices. For each of these they could put a straw into the empty manger of the Nativity scene. By the time the Christ Child would be installed on Christmas Eve, there was generally a good supply of straw!

If Brussels wants to keep the project of the EU going, it must abandon its imperial trajectory.

They shed tears of gratitude, knowing themselves unworthy of the boon they were making off with. Joined by the forty-seven pilgrims, the crew now departing totaled sixty-four, eight groups of eight, and like the eight reindeer pulling his sleigh, they set sail with Santa Claus among them.

On a single silent night when all was still and all was bright, Christian Germans and Christian Brits sang together and then climbed out of their trenches to greet each other—and celebrate the birth of Christ.

Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, has just announced that he would put an end to the public subsidy previously granted to the branch of Institut d’Etudes Politiques located in Grenoble due to its “ideological and communitarian drift.”

The rise in gang-related violence, which includes the use of firearms and even explosive materials, had been signaled in a report, which noted that at least 44 people had died in shooting incidents this year so far. It concluded that “despite extensive and offensive police work, the trend has moved in a negative direction and shootings and explosions remain at a high level.”

Vice Admiral Schonbach said the deployment is “like a teaser;” a signal of German commitment to increased engagement in Asia. “We’re here for the first time after 19 years to check the battlefield,” he said. “The next step, I hope that we can come on a regular basis.”

How could an ‘innocent’ citizens’ initiative for democracy bring about powers of government that would pose any threat to our freedom? To answer this question, we first need to remember that freedom is not only lost to boots and bayonets. We can, actually, vote away our own freedom. By giving up our rights to government, small slices at a time, we can lose control over our lives just as definitively as if it happened through open oppression.

This year, Austria’s embattled government, presently led by Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), recorded a total of 28,288 asylum application submissions from January to the end of October, well over twice (144%) the number recorded during the same period last year.

The choice of Katalin Novák allows him to highlight the work she has done to promote family values in Hungary. They will remain the priority of Novák’s focus, in contrast to Áder for whom environmental issues were the subject of his attention. The promotion of a woman to the highest office also allows Orbán to respond to accusations that his policies are outdated. 

Placing little faith in verbal assurances, Putin called for legally binding agreements. “We know the price of such verbal assurances, words, and promises,” he asserted.

In it, von der Leyen seeks to ameliorate the EU’s relationship with the Pope after a proposed internal directive for EU officials not to use Christian language was leaked, causing outcry across Europe. The document has since been withdrawn.