SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (EP) - The Mormon church is fighting efforts by Utah's tourism and hospitality industries to loosen liquor regulations. In a hearing before the state liquor board, a spokesman for the church stated that "existing policies on alcohol use are sound and should not be liberalized. The state should strictly control the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages." Liquor laws in Utah are among the nation's strictest. Grocery stores are permitted to sell only beer with a 3.2 percent alcohol content, while wine and distilled spirits are limited to state-run liquor stores and a controlled number of licensed restaurants and clubs. About 70 percent of the population of Utah belong to the Mormon church, a Christian cult which disfellowships members who admit to consuming alcohol.

SEOUL, South Korea (EP) - Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon is a "con man," according to his former daughter-in-law. Nansook Hong, a member of Moon's family for 15 years, filed for divorce from Moon's son, Hyo-Jin, in 1995. She told the CBS news program "60 Minutes" that her husband used cocaine, beat her, and threatened to murder their unborn child. When she complained to Moon, she was told that she was responsible for her husband's behavior and must endure his abuse. Hong also claimed that Moon had several extra-marital affairs, which he insisted were part of "God's mission that he had to fulfill." The Unification Church is a cult which emphasizes marriage and family, and worships Moon as the second incarnation of Jesus.

LONDON, UK: According to London's Sunday Times, a 69 year old Swiss woman named Erika Bertschinger, but who now calls herself "Uriella," has predicted "the third world war will break out before the end of the year." She also claims to have "predicted the recent stock market falls." More on the bizzare side, she claims "a meteorite will soon hit the North Sea, destroying much of northern Europe." Another meteor is supposed to hit North America, and "two-thirds of the world's population will have been wiped out by floods, famine and pestilence." before the new millennium.

"Uriella" landed on her head in a horseback riding accident in 1973. According to the Sunday Times story, from that time forward she has "believed herself to be the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary." She claims Christ puts her into a trance and speaks through her. "Then I speak his words without knowledge of what I am saying. I am his mouthpiece."

She has apparently obtained a following, as the Sunday Times reports that "several hundred people from across Europe have joined [her] sect in the Black Forest." Estimates of her following have been as high as 750. The group goes by the name of "Fiat Lux," which means "Let There Be Light," in Latin. <http://www.Sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/98/09/06/stifgneur03002.html?000999>

The Watchtower Society, which claims to be the fifth-largest Christian group in Russia, will be tried in Moscow in November under the religious law that curtails the rights of non-Russian Orthodox churches. The Department of Justice, responsible for religious registration, is a party to the case.

The Moscow city prosecutor filed a suit against the Society last year. Four separate criminal investigations against Jehovah's Witnesses have already been dropped for lack of evidence.

Yaroslav Sivulsky, the public affairs representative for the Society in Russia, claims that the prosecution has accused the Society of destroying families and restricting their members from receiving some forms of medical treatment.

LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley stated in Paris in June that the Christ he believes in is not the same Christ as the one followed by those outside the LDS Church.

To critics who question whether the LDS worship the same Jesus, Hinckly replied, "No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness [sic] of Times" (Deseret News, June 20, 1998>

Hinckley nonetheless maintains that he is a Christian. "Am I Christian? Of course I am. I believe in Christ. I talk of Christ. I pray through Christ. I'm trying to follow Him and live His gospel in my life" (Ibid.).

BONN, Germany (Reuters): A political party long associated with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation that calls itself the Natural Law Party fielded 300 candidates for Germany's 1998 general elections. The party claims to be active in more than seventy countries, and to have "more than five million voters worldwide."

They launched their campaign with "a pledge to dramatically reduce public spending by means of yogic flying and transcendental meditation," which they claimed would reduce the level of stress, disease, illness and crime. It was also to "enhance creativity by making people aware of their inner consciousness and potential." All in all, the parties "policies could save Germany 600 billion marks ($350.9 billion) per year and the greatest savings would come in the area of health care and natural medicines," according to party spokesman and number one candidate, Reinhard Borowitz.

The party claims it is not interested in political power per se, but only wants to "encourage governments to adopt their policies."