News and Prophecy Staff

There are now over 2,000 Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa and over 1,300 deaths in this current outbreak. “The daily number of new Ebola cases has tripled in recent months, according to aid organizations.” There are 15–20 new cases of the disease each day (Deutsche Welle, June 4, 2019).

At a meeting in Tajikistan last weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented Chinese president Xi Jinping with a large box of ice cream and a couple of other items, in celebration of Xi Jinping’s 66th birthday (AFP, June 15, 2019). The nations have developed a close trading relationship in recent years, and the two leaders have developed a close personal friendship.

Every year, dozens of people still die from the bubonic plague, the “black death” that killed tens of millions in Eurasia in the 1300s. This bacterial plague is associated with unsanitary conditions and is transmitted by rodents and their fleas.

Pakistan is experiencing another outbreak of HIV among children whose parents do not have the disease! (BBC, May 21, 2019). Yet, this is not the first HIV outbreak among children in Pakistan as of late.

The Taiwan Strait and other waters off China are becoming areas of increasing confrontation. United States naval vessels have patrolled these waters in the name of keeping them open to international shipping. A recent “near miss” between a U.S. guided missile cruiser and a Russian destroyer has added to already heightened tensions in the region (Deutsche Welle, June 7, 2019). The U.S.