News and Prophecy Staff

Britain just held a national referendum on revising the voting system for the House of Commons.  But was this a pointless exercise?

In April, China posted an $11.4 billion trade surplus—up significantly from the previous three months, and far above the predicted $1 billion surplus.  Imports and exports also rose significantly in April, over one year ago (Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2011).  China also maintains over $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.  Although China is wrestling with inflation, their workers’ salaries are rising, giving greater ability to purchase Chinese-made goods within China, and further fueling its economy.

While Australia, Colombia, and the American Midwest are suffering from catastrophic flooding, much of the state of Texas is experiencing some of its driest conditions in history.  Additionally, vast portions of the state are ablaze!  Since the fire season began in November 2010, more than 9,100 fires have been responded to, 2.5 million acres have burned, and hundreds of homes have been destroyed (Reuters, April 20, 2011; Texas Forest Service, May 4, 2011).

January witnessed devastating floods across Australia. Colombia has been and is currently experiencing “some of the heaviest rains” in its history—with hundreds dying, more than 140,000 homes damaged or destroyed, and more than three million affected (Seattle Times, April 29, 2011)!  The central U.S. is flooding too.

New data suggest that a sexually transmitted bacterium, gonorrhea, is becoming resistant to the only remaining antibiotic that still kills it. Should it become totally resistant to the drug, gonorrhea could be unstoppable. Untreated gonorrhea usually results in sterility—the inability to have children.