News and Prophecy Staff

In a recent speech in Poland, U.S. President Donald Trump made the following bold statement about the international challenges facing the West: “Just as Poland cannot be broken, I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken… Our values will prevail, our people will thrive and our civilization will triumph” (Fox News, July 6, 2017).

According to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, “95% of American citizens use some form of digital technology an hour before they go to bed,” and 60 percent of Americans also experience sleep problems almost every night (zmescience.com, April 23, 2017).

In a clearly expressed response to what has been called U.S. isolationism, “The European Union and Japan have formally agreed [on] an outline free-trade deal. The agreement paves the way for trading in goods without tariff barriers between two of the world’s biggest economic areas… They also want to send a clear message internationally that the EU and Japan, highly-developed democracies, remain committed to a liberal, free-trading, rules-based world, and they will seek to shape it even if the U.S.

China is now Africa’s largest trade partner. “The economic powerhouse has focused on securing the long-term energy supplies needed to sustain its industrialization, searching for secure access to oil supplies and other raw materials around the globe” (Council on Foreign Relations, July 12, 2017). A new report projects that Chinese investments in Africa could triple over the next eight years to over $440 billion.

As political correctness becomes further entrenched in Western societies, the British government is requiring private religious schools to teach immoral behavior that is contrary to their basic doctrines. According to The Telegraph, “A private Jewish girls’ school which teaches children aged up to 8 has failed three Ofsted inspections because it does not teach pupils about homosexuality or gender reassignment” (June 25, 2017).