News and Prophecy Staff

“North Korea threatened Thursday to bolster its war capability and conduct a fourth nuclear test to cope with what it calls U.S. hostility that led to the approval of a landmark U.N. resolution on its human rights violations… to refer the North’s rights situation to the International Criminal Court” which could lead to North Korea’s absolute leader Kim Jong Un being targeted as a criminal in the coming weeks (Reuters, November 20, 2014).

In a recent interview, the Soviet Union’s former premier Mikhail Gorbachev warned “The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that it has already begun” (Agence France-Presse, November 8, 2014). He cautioned, “Let us remember that there can be no security in Europe without German-Russian partnership” (ibid.).

“Anglicans are increasingly looking to the Vatican to take the lead in standing up for Christians around the world, a prominent bishop has said” (The Times, November 1, 2014).

Anglican and Eastern Orthodox church leaders continue their efforts to mend long-standing differences. “For more than 1,500 years, a theological row has festered to become one of the biggest and bitterest schisms in Christian history. While the two wings of the faith may never be fully reconciled… the boil was lanced this week. The ink is drying on a document that brings together the Anglican Communion and its counterparts in the Middle East in an agreement on the nature of Christ.

In October, leaders of the Catholic Church held a two-week synod to discuss homosexuality, divorce, remarriage, and homosexual couples (Reuters, October 19, 2014). The goal of the synod was to enable the Roman church to develop more definitive doctrinal revisions on these family-related issues. During the synod, which was filled with heated debate, the pope commented “God is not afraid of new things.