World-first surgery: Swiss ophthalmologist pioneers new glaucoma treatment Lausanne/Switzerland | 26.01.2004 | Switzerland Swiss ophthalmologist André Mermoud and his team have performed, at the Ophthalmic Hospital Jules Gonin in Lausanne ,Switzerland, a world-first surgery for the treatment of glaucoma. It consists in implanting a tiny tube (diameter of 50 microns) behind the iris in order to eliminate the excessive pressure in the eye. The surgery, performed under local anesthesia, lasts about 30 minutes. Dr. Mermoud, a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, is Head of the Glaucoma Department of the University-based Oph
Salvation Army, Adventist Theologians Meet in Dialogue Silver Spring, Maryland, USA | 14.01.2004 | Ecumenism Culminating a quarter century of informal contacts, theologians from the Seventh-day Adventist Church and The Salvation Army met for four days of theological dialogue January 5 to 8, 2004. "As with relationships with other Christian world communions, we recognize there are more things that unite us than divide us," declared Colonel Earl Robinson, secretary of The Salvation Army's Office for Spiritual Life Development and International External Relations. Both delegations, the seven-member Sal
Adventist Filmmaker’s “Good Bye Lenin” Gets Raves, Communicates Family Message Berlin/Germany | 04.01.2004 | Media Christoph Silber is a rising star in German cinema. The screenwriter is a devout Seventh-day Adventist who’s most recent project, “Goodbye Lenin,” won six top prizes at the European film awards in Berlin earlier this month. “Good Bye Lenin” tells the story of an East German woman who falls into a coma in October 1989. It’s not the best of times for the woman who is an activist for social progress and improvement in socialist Germany. Her son Alex finds himself in a bind when she awakens
36 Journalists Killed For Their Work In 2003 New York, N.Y./USA | 04.01.2004 | Media A total of 36 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is a sharp increase from 2002, when 19 journalists were killed. The war in Iraq was the primary reason for the increase, as 13 journalists, more than a third of this year's casualties, were killed in hostile actions. In fact, according to CPJ's statistics, the death toll in Iraq was the highest annual total from a single country since 24 jour
Adventist Satellite Television Channel For Europe Launched London, United Kingdom | 04.01.2004 | Media In the first week of January 2004 the Seventh-day Adventist Church launched its new 24/7 satellite channel for Europe. The "Hope Channel" began test transmissions from the powerful Hotbird 6 satellite on December 18, 2003, and right from the start the signal was clear and stable. Up to thirty million homes across Europe now have the potential to receive the channel, with receiving dishes as small as 60 cm in diameter in the South-East of England. At present the programmes being broadcast on t
Adventist Church To Open Permanent Representation to the UN in Geneva Geneva/Switzerland | 04.01.2004 | International The opening of a Permanent Representation to the UN in Geneva in January 2004 marks a historical development for the UN Liaison office of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. This month an internship program starts at the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. Until now the activities of the UN Liaison Office in New York and Geneva were mainly directed from the New York office. Its mandate is to provide a channel of communication and influence at the United Nations, working with the ma
