News and Prophecy Staff

“A new study estimates that Paraguay’s illegal economy was equal to 40 percent of the country’s GDP last year, a huge number that points to how pervasive a wide range of illicit activities are in this Southern Cone nation.” This number has quadrupled since 2002 in a nation usually considered low in corruption when compared to its Latin American neighbors, Colombia and Mexico (Latin American Post, December 6, 2016).

“Freedom of expression on abortion is currently being challenged in France. The French administration makes it every day more difficult for pro-life associations to express their ideas and to promote pro-life choices” (LifeNews, November 29, 2016).

At a time when “growth in military spending is slowing down in the volatile Middle East” and Latin America, military spending is surging ahead in Asia, where a number of countries are “positioning themselves for future conflicts” (Business Insider, February 11, 2016).

NBC News reports, “Researchers have found a rare and frightening superbug gene on a U.S. pig farm and say their discovery suggests raw meat could carry the dangerous germs into the human population” (December 6, 2016). According to the report, the gene imparts bacteria with resistance to carbapenems, a family of antibiotics used in “last resort” cases when nothing else will work.

Reports coming out of Syria describe the desperation of people trapped in the besieged city of Aleppo. One young man who posted videos of the death and destruction occurring in the city said in a clearly worried voice, “I can’t see what is happening in street, but I hear bombs approaching… There is no safe building left. Possible that we (will be) exposed to bombing any moment” (USA Today, December 13, 2016).