News and Prophecy Staff

Reports indicate that the Islamic extremists of ISIS are “planning to capture the city of Arar in Saudi Arabia” which is close to the Iraqi border and within a day’s drive of Mecca. The leaders of ISIS know that “if you want to control Islam, you have to control Mecca…ISIS knows the only way to enhance legitimacy among Muslims for its ‘Caliphate’ is to control Mecca” (The Times, September 26, 2014). 

As EU leaders met in Brussels earlier this month, former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, thrashing the Europeans for their grandiose ideas and their chronic inattention and inaction. He noted, “One hundred years ago, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, setting in motion a swirl of events that brought decades of devastation to the entire continent.

The Canadian weekly Maclean’s recently ran a sobering article on the USA by Scott Gilmore (Maclean’s, September 10, 2014).

As EU nations met in Wales to discuss the ISIS crisis in Iraq, former Israeli president Shimon Peres met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Mr. Peres’ aim was to encourage the Pope to create “a ‘United Nations of Religions’ to counter the rise of religious extremism” (The Times, September 5, 2014). “Mr.

“A new athletic program at Robert Morris University in Chicago is offering scholarships for videogamers—to play on the school’s League of Legends team” (The Wall Street Journal, September 1, 2014). The University is giving creative scholarships in order to counter its declining enrollment.