News and Prophecy Staff

Following World War II, Japan's constitution was developed to prevent future military conquests by the Japanese. However, recent provocations by China and North Korea have caused the Japanese to reconsider the 70-year-old ban on a military (Reuters, May 15, 2014).

The “hot topic” of same-sex marriage is heating up in more surprising ways (Washington Post, April 28, 2014).

A recent report “recounting a litany of near-misses in which nuclear weapons came close to being launched by mistake concludes that the risk of potentially catastrophic accidents is higher than previously thought and appears to be rising” (The Guardian, April 29, 2014).

The European Union is pushing for a financial transaction tax (FTT) and Britain is pushing back (BBC, April 30, 2014). Of particular interest to students of Bible prophecy is that 11 of 27 EU member states are going ahead with the FTT, even though the particulars have yet to be decided upon. The eleven nations are: “Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Slovakia and Estonia” (ibid.).

This week, severe weather spawned tornadoes across Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, killing more than 30 people (New York Times, April 29, 2014).