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For over 300 years Scotland has been part of the UK. Now the Scots are set to vote on September 18 on independence from the UK (Telegraph, August 31, 2014). No one knows the exact outcome of the vote, but the Scottish National Party is already preparing—behind the scenes—for a “no” vote and working to obtain greater political powers for Scotland should such a...
“Leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees on Sunday prodded President Barack Obama to take decisive action against what they say are growing threats from Islamic State militants on U.S. soil” (Associated Press, August 31, 2014). According to U.S. lawmakers, “Those militants now are looking toward the United States or Western Europe for their next...
A recent National Post headline tells an important story about the growing influence of Egypt and its President: “Israel-Hamas ceasefire solidifies untested Egyptian president as region’s top power broker” (August 26, 2014). The article noted “The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire… has reinforced Egypt’s central position in the Arab world as the only country able to...
The United States recently attempted the test launch of a hypersonic missile from a base in Alaska. Four seconds after the launch, the missile had to be destroyed (Reuters, August 25, 2014). Hypersonic missiles can travel at about ten times the speed of sound and are designed to reach any target on earth within an hour (ibid.).
Since the Arab Spring, civil unrest has continued in Libya. This past weekend, “air strikes on militia positions around Tripoli’s international airport were reportedly carried out by Emirati fighter jets using bases in Egypt. The Egyptian authorities have denied involvement, and there has been no direct comment from the UAE” (BBC, August 26, 2014). “The BBC’s...
At the eastern European summit in Minsk, Belarus this week, Russian President Putin and Ukraine President Poroshenko traded handshakes and words, but no progress was made on a cease-fire in the Ukraine (EU Observer, August 27, 2014). And with increasing allegations that Russia is illegally crossing into the Ukraine, NATO also drafted a new plan stating that the...
Elephant ivory has been treasured for millennia, but “Researchers believe that since 2010 an average of nearly 35,000 elephants have been killed annually on the [African] continent. They warn that if the rate of poaching continues, the animals could be wiped out in 100 years” (BBC, August 18, 2014). Some areas in Africa are harder hit than others. For example...
Jesus Christ taught that a house divided against itself will not stand (Luke 11:17). He also taught that one of the signs of the end of the age will be “nation fighting nation”—in the inspired Greek, this means “ethnic group against ethnic group” (Matthew 24:7). When we look around the globe, we see these prophecies being fulfilled more and more as Syria, Iraq,...
“He’s an ambassador of peace to a world in great need of it” wrote one journalist during the Pope’s recent visit to South Korea (Catholic News Agency, August 14, 2014). Following a mass in Seoul attended by mostly non-Catholics, the Pope performed the “beatification of 124 Korean martyrs.” A Thai woman in the audience commented “‘I think that the Pope is not...
“A 14-year drought in the southwestern United States has drained reservoirs such as Nevada’s Lake Mead to record lows. But satellite measurements show that the losses are even greater underground” (Nature, July 25, 2014).