News and Prophecy Staff

Tensions have been steadily rising between the United States and Iran, especially with the recent U.S. decision to try, through sanctions, to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero (Reuters, May 14, 2019). In recent weeks, four oil tankers—including two from Saudi Arabia—were attacked near the United Arab Emirates, and two Saudi oil pumping stations were attacked with armed drones.

So read the title of a recent article by Newsmax (April 2019). Several other articles have been published by various publications with similar titles. With Russia’s troop advances in Europe, China’s new hypersonic missile and stealth fighters, India’s recent destruction of a satellite with a ground-based interceptor system, and the United States’ new F-35 fighter, war is changing. Artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, autonomous weaponry, and growing successes in quantum computing continue to push the limits of mankind’s destructive capabilities at an unbelievable pace.

A dairy farmer in the state of Maine is facing the financial ruin of his 100-year-old dairy farm because milk from his cows was proven to be tainted with harmful chemicals from a questionable source (Reuters, March 19, 2019). Subsequent testing showed the harmful chemicals are present in ground water and soil on the farm, and public health officials believe the contamination is associated with a fertilizer program that the farm participated in from the 1980s through the early 2000s.

In 2016—the most recent year for which global statistics are available—roughly 9.5 million people died from heart disease (World Health Organization). About six million died from stroke and three million died from lung diseases. The same year, the top ten causes of death worldwide resulted in just under 31 million deaths.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has apparently warned his top generals in a secret meeting that “there will be a war with Israel this summer and that he may not be around to support them”—because he and other top officials may be killed by Israel in the near future (Jerusalem Post, April 21, 2019).