News and Prophecy Staff

The once close relationship between Syria and Turkey has rapidly deteriorated due to Syria’s continued violence toward its own protesting citizens.  This week, “Turkey… suspended its joint oil exploration projects with Damascus and threatened to cut off electricity supplies to its neighbor in response to the continued violent suppression of Syria’s popular uprising” (Deutche Welle, November 16, 2011).  The Arab Spring has slipped out of view of some media sources, but civil unrest and violent government crackdowns are still ripe in Syria.

For some time, Catholics Come Home advertisements have aired in select media markets around the U.S.  An ad campaign in Phoenix, Arizona in 2008 resulted in more than 3,000 people returning to the Catholic church, according to a spokesperson from the Diocese of Phoenix.  Now, the church is poised to blanket the U.S. with 400 ads in more than 10,000 cities across the country, between December 16 and January 8.  The hope is that the $3 million campaign will motivate about a million Catholics to return to the church.

The crisis in Europe has generated a myriad of opinions about its ultimate outcome. Some suggest a long and protracted period of crisis management.  Others see a sleeker version of a two-speed Europe (The Economist, November 10, 2011).  Some think Germany should leave the EU and take its friends with it (The Telegraph, November 16, 2011).  Some are calling for a New Europe (Reuters, November 9, 2011).  Still others hold to the idea that the EU can be saved only by making the “tough” decisions.

Three months of flooding across the nation has left more than 500 dead and one-quarter of Thailand’s 76 provinces still feeling the effects of flood waters. For three weeks, much of the nation’s capital, Bangkok, has been submerged under waist-deep water.  The sad part is that the water has nowhere to go and is predicted to remain for several more weeks.

Currently, the Australian dollar is relatively strong on the world currency markets.  However, Australia’s increasing reliance on exports to China concerns some experts. In recent years, Chinese companies have been hoarding metals—especially copper—to use as collateral.  With the slumping value of copper, Australian exports to China are predicted to drop drastically, which will negatively affect the Australian dollar (Money and Markets, October 22, 2011).