News and Prophecy Staff

We live in a world where children are often abused and even treated as a commodity. Many children grow up without a parent or without both parents, and too many know lives with little hope—but plenty of fear. As a new UNICEF report highlights, “Early exposure [to violence] can cause toxic stress, affecting brain development, and lead to aggression, substance abuse, and criminal behaviour.

“Germany is developing an app to help people locate the nearest bunker in the event of attack. Sweden is distributing a 32-page pamphlet titled If Crisis or War Comes. Half a million Finns have already downloaded an emergency preparedness guide” (The Guardian, November 29, 2024).

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is currently hearing a case that seeks to define what a woman is (Associated Press, November 26, 2024). A conclusion that was once possible for a child in kindergarten to draw—whether someone is a man or a woman—now requires a panel of five adult judges with decades of legal and life experience.

The European Union has viewed itself as progressive, liberal, and left-leaning. But as a recent analysis in The Guardian suggests, “For the first time in its history, we could be looking at a genuinely rightwing European Union” (November 18, 2024). The incoming parliament is the most right-wing in history and will be responsible for backing the conservative agenda of Ursula von der Leyen’s second term.

The nations of Southern Africa are no strangers to drought. Historically, one in five years is a drought year in the region. But in recent decades, that number has risen to once every three or four years (The Guardian, November 14, 2024). Experts say the current drought is a once-in-a-century situation.