News and Prophecy Staff

The UK’s “spy chief” and head of MI5 recently observed that the threat for terrorism in Britain “is multi-dimensional, evolving rapidly and operating at a scale and pace we’ve not seen before… It’s at the highest tempo I have seen in my 34-year career. Today there is more terrorist activity, coming at us more quickly, and it can be harder to detect” (The Guardian, October 17, 2017).

Last week’s re-election of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seen by most as a referendum on his political objectives. One of his key aims is to revise the constitution to allow for the development and deployment of offensive military power. “His goal is to rewrite the war-renouncing Constitution by 2020” (Japan Times, October 23, 2017).

Wildfires and arson-set fires are burning out of control in northwest Spain and Portugal, fueled by dry conditions and strong winds from Hurricane Ophelia (Deutsche Welle, October 16, 2017). More than 30 deaths have been caused by over a dozen fires, and more than 5,000 firefighters are working to contain the blazes. These fires follow on the heels of the deadliest fire in Portugal’s history, which occurred in June.

Reuters reports that, according to the German foreign minister, “If the United States terminates the Iran nuclear deal or reimposes sanctions on Tehran it could result in Iran developing nuclear weapons and raise the danger of war close to Europe” and that such a move “would give Iranian hardliners, who are against negotiations with the West, the upper hand” (October 14, 2017).

According to a recent article in Der Spiegel, “the U.S. is in the process of forfeiting its position of economic supremacy” (September 11, 2017). At the same time that American economic influence is declining, the EU and the euro are growing in the world’s estimation. “It [the EU] is certainly in better shape than the United States.