News and Prophecy Staff

“Thousands of homes in the north of England have been affected by severe flooding, some for the second or even third time in the past few years. In South America, where El Niño flooding has been responsible for at least eight deaths, more than 144,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Paraguay, at least 20,000 in Argentina and several thousand in Uruguay and southern Brazil” (The Guardian, December 28, 2015).

Pope Francis recently received the Charlemagne Prize, awarded to the “outstanding contributor to the modern cause of European unity” (The Economist, December 27, 2015). “He is the first non-European pope in 1,300 years.

In 2014 Dr. Paul Church, a urologist in Boston, was fired for comments he made about the health risks of homosexuality. “The evidence is irrefutable that behaviours common within the homosexual community are unhealthy and high risk for a host of serious medical consequences, including STD’s, HIV and AIDS, anal cancer, hepatitis, parasitic intestinal infections, and psychiatric disorders… Life expectancy is significantly decreased as a result of HIV/AIDS, complications from the other health problems, and suicide.

“Victorian age” diseases such as tuberculosis, scarlet fever, scurvy and cholera, once thought to have been eradicated, are making a comeback. According to a report by the National Health Service in the UK, “there has been a 300% increase in instances of cholera in the last 5 years, a 38% rise in scurvy and 136% rise in scarlet fever” (The Times Gazette, December 26, 2015). Tuberculosis “caused more deaths during 2015 than AIDS and HIV together.

According to a document obtained in a raid in Syria by U.S. Special Forces, “Islamic State has sanctioned the harvesting of human organs in a previously undisclosed ruling by the group’s Islamic scholars, raising concerns that the violent extremist group may be trafficking in body parts” (Reuters, December 25, 2015). The translated report states: “The apostate’s life and organs don’t have to be respected and may be taken with impunity… The removal of that type is...