News and Prophecy Staff

Ursula von der Leyen, nick-named the Crown Princess by the German press, is Germany’s first female defense minister (The Times, February 9, 2014). With her eyes on the chancellorship, von der Leyen “has been striving to create a cross-party alliance in favor of challenging the 69-year-old taboo against military action” (ibid.).

The winds of change are blowing in Germany. “Since the end of World War II, Germany has pursued a relatively tame foreign policy. But over the past week, Berlin appeared to have acknowledged the need for a fairly dramatic change. German leaders… have called for a new framework that contravenes the restraint Germany has practiced for so long.

Many German primary and secondary schools are teaching about diversity to break gender stereotypes and help children view homosexuality as natural. However, one classroom teacher created a petition against this attempt to promote “an educational, moral, and ideological reeducation” in German schools. He says that the curriculum is one-sided and that it fails to highlight the risks of a homosexual lifestyle (Deutsche Welle, January 12, 2014).

“ALARMING numbers of pregnant women are putting their unborn babies at serious risk of being born with alcohol poisoning. Shocking statistics have just uncovered an almost 50 per cent rise in Foetal Alcohol Syndrome in the past two years, with more than 300 children significantly affected last year” (Sunday Express, February 9, 2014).

In a move to stem the flow of poor migrants into its nation, “Swiss voters on Sunday (9 February) backed a call to cap migration from EU countries” (EU Observer, February 10, 2014). The vote, backed by 50.3 percent of voters, goes directly against the four fundamental EU freedoms: “free movement of people, goods, capital and services” and has drawn criticism (ibid.).