If you would like to get a date formatted in a different locale than default, you can get it in this way:
$CMS_VALUE(#global.now.format("EEEE d MMMM yyyy", "en"))$
Output:
Friday 2 July 2010
Date format without locale:
$CMS_VALUE(#global.now.format("EEEE d MMMM yyyy"))$
Output:
Freitag 2 Juli 2010