News and Prophecy Staff

“America smashed the record for billion-dollar weather disasters this year with a deadly dozen, and counting.  With an almost biblical onslaught of twisters, floods, snow, drought, heat and wildfire, the U.S. in 2011 has seen more weather catastrophes that caused at least $1 billion in damage than it did in all of the 1980s, even after the dollar figures from back then are adjusted for inflation...  Extreme weather in America this year has killed more than 1,000 people, according to National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes.

Last Tuesday, Herman Van Rompuy sent a confidential report to all EU leaders asking them to “respond vigorously by immediate action” to financial issues in Europe.  It directed them to take decisive actions to save Europe.

Last Friday, EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss an intergovernmental treaty that will enforce stricter financial laws among EU members.  Four nations initially rejected the treaty but with “a strong diplomatic push… the Czech Republic, Hungary and Sweden entered the fold later.”  Britain was the only one of the 27 EU nations to reject the treaty.

As of last Monday, the whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak in three Illinois counties included more than 500 diagnosed cases.  Public health officials say the actual number of cases is much higher, but that the 500 represent solely “medically diagnosed” cases.  In McHenry County alone there were 172 cases on Monday—up from just nine cases during the entirety of last year.  Officials do not know the exact reason for the outbreak.

In another groundbreaking announcement this week, the White House highlighted its “wide-ranging effort to use U.S. foreign aid to promote rights for gays and lesbians abroad, including combating attempts by foreign governments to criminalize homosexuality.”  Aid typically used to support and establish democratic governments, fight oppressive dictatorial regimes, and feed the hungry, will now be further diluted in order to support the rights of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender individuals.  This broad-reaching edict will affect the following U.S.