News and Prophecy Staff

Massive forest fires are burning across the western United States. From California up to Washington and from the western coast inland to Wyoming and Colorado, multiple fires have burned millions of acres so far this year (The New York Times, September 11, 2020). As one official put it, “[It’s] becoming sad that every year we’re having this conversation. We say this is the biggest year, and then the next year say this is the biggest year.

A new study of more than 600 children, conducted by a university in Belgium, found that the more exposure children have to “green spaces,” the higher their IQ (Euronews.com, August 24, 2020). Researchers discovered that “a three per cent increase in the greenness of a child’s neighbourhood raised their IQ score by 2.6 points on average.”

As the date for a “hard Brexit” approaches, divisions among the nations of Europe continue to grow, as does the desire of some of them to leave the European Union. In Italy, the new “Italexit” Party began in July—inspired by Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in the UK, with the hope of a similar result.

Due to extreme weather in Britain during the last year, experts predict the wheat harvest could be down by 40 percent (BBC, August 26, 2020). As a result, some millers have already increased the price of wheat flour by 10 percent. And, assuming a “no-deal Brexit,” experts expect those prices to rise still further. The extreme variation between a very wet winter, a very dry spring, and very wet harvesting conditions does not bode well for crop harvests this year.

After serving as Japan’s prime minister for nearly eight years, Shinzo Abe announced last week that he would be stepping down due to health issues (New York Times, August 28, 2020). Mr. Abe has been the longest-serving prime minister in Japan, a country known for prime ministers who often serve very short terms. In recent months, he has drawn considerable criticism related to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.