The Austrian singer, who is a drag artist, triumphed at this year's Eurovision with her song Rise Like a Phoenix. However, Patriarch Amfilohije of Montenegro said he believed the floods, which have forced almost 150,000 people from their homes, were divine punishment for her success. According to e.novine.com, he said: "God sent the rains as a reminder that people should not join the wild side."

Patriarch Irinej, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, also reportedly said that "God is thus washing Serbia of its sins". The comments are reminiscent of those made by Ukip councillor David Silvester earlier this year, after he claimed that the Somerset floods were the result of the government's decision to legalise gay marriage. He was expelled from the party in the wake of his remarks.

Whereas the word "religion" generally refers to organised forms of worship and a wider faith community, "spiritual" often describes people's private individual beliefs. A few minutes on Google revealed that SBNR is more than just an acronym. One in three Americans defined themselves as spiritual but not religious. Millions of people now think of themselves as on their own personal spiritual path, but not affiliated to any specific religion.

Whereas my biggest problem with SBNR is the opposite. It's that it often retains the mumbo-jumbo, aspects of religion. People have rejected the shelf with the ready-made religious beliefs, and gone straight around the corner to the pick'n'mix shop to buy a more or less random set of beliefs which are, if anything, even more incredible. Many people who are spiritual but not religious reject the organisation but hang on to the supernatural bit. But I don't want to be required to have faith in a supreme being or miracles or reincarnation, or any entity for which there is no scientific evidence.

Sociological research shows that involvement in organised religion is good for our health and well being. So this week, why not find a time to sit in silence with your fellows, or sing with them, or read a holy book with them, or commune with them. Take a moment to reflect on your place in the universe and your obligations towards others. Belief in God is strictly optional.

Miss Naouai pointed out that Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson had friends among Hitler’s high command and met the Fuhrer himself. She added that Prince Philip’s sister Sophie married into the Third Reich and mentioned how Prince Harry dressed in a Nazi uniform for a fancy dress party. The New York-born but Moscow-based journalist added: “If anyone knows real Nazis, it’s the Royal Family.”

In a further twist, the ­Russian Imperial House of Romanov – descendants of Moscow’s royal family – criticised Prince Charles. Alexander Zakatov, head of the Romanov administration, said: “It is very regrettable that His Royal Highness has worded this in such a way. He must watch his temper. Prince Charles is the future king.”

We are told the mainspring of their resentment is the fact that millions of Russians died in order to defeat Hitler. True. But Stalin happily signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler when Britain stood alone, didn’t he? Cheers for that, Uncle Joe. We lost a lot of our own people too but that doesn’t stop us calling officious car park attendants or town-hall officials “little Hitlers”. And if they were to bleat in response: “How dare you call me that, my grandad died defeating fascism,” we’d think they were not only pompous twits but also slightly round the twist.

No, the reason for all this bluster and faux outrage is the usual one in such cases: what has just been said happens to be the awkward truth. Hitler dreamt of seizing his neighbours’ territory and so does Putin. The similarity of Germany’s land-grab of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, mostly full of pro-Germans whose first language was that of their big neighbour, and Putin’s annexing of the overwhelmingly pro-Russian Crimea, is so hideously obvious that it hardly needs pointing out.

Putin, like Hitler, is obsessed with race. Hitler wanted to integrate what he called the “Volksgenossen” – which literally translates as “racial comrades” – of German-speaking Europe into his Third Reich. Putin wants to absorb the “sootechestvennikie” (which translates into the more innocent sounding “compatriots”) into an expanded Russia. It’s the same thing. And of course there are more personal similarities between the two leaders. While unpredictable and dangerous both cut irredeemably comic figures. Vainglorious men never realise how funny they are.

Barclays said it "very much regrets the situation" that led to the fine. The FCA found the bank failed to "adequately manage conflicts of interest between itself and its customers", in relation to fixing the price of gold. "Barclays has undertaken a significant amount of work to enhance our systems and controls and is committed to the highest standards across all of our operations," said Antony Jenkins, group chief executive.

The FCA also fined the trader, Daniel James Plunkett, £96,500. "A firm's lack of controls and a trader's disregard for a customer's interests have allowed the financial services industry's reputation to be sullied again," said Tracey McDermott, the FCA's director of enforcement and financial crime. "Barclays' failure to identify and manage the risks in its business was extremely disappointing."

Mr Plunkett was a director on the precious metals desk. He was responsible for pricing and managing Barclays' risk on a contract that was specifically linked to the price of gold at 3:00pm on 28 June 2012. If the gold price was above $1,558.96 (£925.57) at that time then Barclays would be required to make a payment of $3.9 million to its customer. But if the price was below that benchmark Barclays would not have to make the payment.

Mr Plunkett created fake orders with the intent of pushing the price of gold below $1,588.96, which he succeeded in doing. The result was Barclays was not obligated to make the $3.9 million payment to its customer, and Mr Plunkett booked a profit of $1.75 million for the bank.

When asked what the pope particularly intends to talk about during the visit, Parolin revealed he would talk about "on the one hand, Israel's right to exist in peace and security within internationally recognized boundaries."

On the other side, the pope would talk about "the Palestinian people's right to have a homeland, sovereign and independent, the right to move around freely, the right to live in dignity," according to Parolin. In fact, the Vatican recognized the "State of Palestine" in 2012 amid the United Nations (UN) vote to confer "Palestine" non-member observer state status, a status until then only held by the Vatican.

Despite the pope's insistence that his visit is "religious not political," his decision to begin his trip from Jordan directly by helicopter with a stop in Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled Bethlehem has been greeted by Arab sources as a move to "recognize Palestine" and help "end the occupation."

Israel Hasson, Knesset member of the Kadima Party and former Shin Bet deputy director, said, “I don’t know what Bar and Regev were trying to do, and what they did stems from a lack of understanding of the issue, in my view. This is, of course, dangerous.” Hasson also told Al-Monitor, “The Temple Mount is the brain stem, by any definition. It is considered an all pan-Arab element, and even at Camp David in 2000 [former Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak made clear to [former Prime Minister] Ehud Barak that [the late PLO leader] Yasser Arafat has no right to conduct negotiations over Jerusalem. A second and no less important thing is that the Temple Mount is part of our intimate relationship with Jordan. Those who run that place are the Jordanian Waqf, so such a law can bring about an unnecessary clash with Jordan.”

“Nonsense,” Regev told Al-Monitor. “Such talk doesn’t deter me.” Regev, formerly chief army spokeswoman, said she was also approached by the Shin Bet, but it did not succeed in persuading her to back off her involvement with the Temple Mount.

She is not bothered that Bar withdrew his support for the bill. Even before he did so, she said she would sign up other Knesset members from the right and move on with the legislative process. “This is a law that enacts justice,” she said. “They scare him with the Jordanians and the Shin Bet, but the fact is that in the Tomb of the Patriarchs it works well. I have no intention of stopping, despite the threats of a third intifada. Just as I make sure that Father Gabriel can enter the church in Nazareth, so I want every Jew to be able to pray on the Temple Mount.”

RT: A number of Western business people have boycotted the St Petersburg economic forum. Are they going to lose out?

Paul Craig Roberts: I think it is just a symbolic way of accommodating Washington. I don’t think it means anything, I do not think the firms in Germany, for example, want to harm the relationships with Russia, nor do they want it in France. So I do not think it means much. What is much more significant is that the number of Asian countries that are coming to this forum, and the energy deal signed by Russia and China, is an indication that the world will be moving away from American financial hegemony.

This large energy deal will be conducted outside the dollar system, so here is the beginning of the de-dollarization, the beginning of the de-Americanization. This is an indication that the two large countries, Russia and China, are forming a strategic alliance because they are tired of being harassed and cut out of the Western mechanisms, they are tired of the threats. So they are moving in a new direction, and they will take much of the world with them. I do not think the European countries that have strong economic relations with Russia will want to lose those.

This is a beginning of a turn from Russia toward the East. Previously Russia was focused on being accepted by the West, being accepted by the Americans. It waited for years to be allowed to join the WTO. I think this was a mistake on Russia’s part because the West is not the rising part of the world. The rising part of the world is the East.