News and Prophecy Staff

Two weeks ago, the eruption of an underwater volcano off the coast of Tonga sent ash tens of thousands of feet into the sky and tsunami waves across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean (New York Times, January 15, 2022). The eruption set off tsunami warnings around the Pacific Rim and along the entire west coast of the United States, where some residents were told to avoid low-lying coastal areas. The “boom” from the eruption was heard 1,430 miles away in New Zealand.

Deutsche Welle reports that, at a recent meeting of five of the world’s nuclear powers—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—leaders “pledged to prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms and have also said that nuclear war is not an option” (January 3, 2022).

When America pulled out of Afghanistan four months ago, it left a power vacuum that the Taliban quickly filled. Over the decades, the Taliban have shown themselves to be far more interested in their own agenda than in serving the people they rule. Since the departure of the U.S. and other coalition nations, Afghanistan has plunged further into chaos and poverty.

In a November 2021 interview, Iranian Armed Forces spokesman General Abolfazl Shekarchi set forth his and Iran’s government’s ideological view of the West (MEMRI.org, December 22, 2021).

In the last couple weeks there have been mass riots in several cities in Kazakhstan, a Central Asian nation the size of Western Europe (BBC, January 6, 2022). Rioters have looted, burned down buildings, and caused additional destruction, and some have been shot by the state military.