News

“Britain Resigns as a World Power” was the sobering title of a recent article in the Washington Post (May 21, 2015). Author Fareed Zakaria observed, “After an extraordinary 300-year run, Britain has essentially resigned as a global power” (ibid.). “Over the next few years, Britain’s army will shrink to about 80,000.

Cosmologist Stephen Hawking believes “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and product engineer of Tesla Motors, warns that AI might be one of the greatest threats facing our civilization. Bill Gates, the former CEO and founder of Microsoft Corporation even considers the danger of machines that could out-think humanity. Are these fears justified? Will AI be the doom of the human race?

“An Air Force general who recently spoke about how God has guided his career should be court-martialed, a civil liberties group is saying. In a speech at a National Day of Prayer Task Force event on May 7, Maj. Gen.

“The extent of decline of religious faith is exposed in new research suggesting that British people no longer turn to God even in the face of death” (The Telegraph, May 18, 2015). “The findings emerge from research carried out by ‘Dying Matters,’ a coalition of 16,000 hospices, charities, care homes and others working with people facing their end of life. (ibid.).

“Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel put himself in the history books on Friday (15 May) by becoming the first EU government leader to marry someone of the same sex The marriage…symbolises how legal rights for gay citizens of the EU have advanced in the past years” (EU Observer, May 18, 2015). “‘Luxembourg can set an example,’ Bettel noted on his wedding day, which was attended by Belgian prime minister Charles Michel…In 2010, Johanna Sigurðardottir, then prime minister of Iceland, married her gay partner.