News and Prophecy Staff

In September 2011, in the wake of a plagiarism scandal that resulted in the stripping of his doctorate by his alma mater, Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg resigned his position as German Defense Minister and left Germany for a self-imposed exile.  His plan was to spend two years in the U.S. on a type of “sabbatical,” in order to “rethink his political career” (Der Spiegel, September 6, 2011).   Now fast-forward just four months…

“Nigerian authorities were putting emergency measures in place on Thursday [22 December] to prevent an oil spill from a Royal Dutch Shell facility, the biggest leak in Nigeria for more than 13 years, washing up on its densely populated coast.”  The oil company used airplanes to drop dispersants on the slick before it reached the Nigerian shoreline.  “A U.N.

New intelligence suggests that Iran could have a nuclear bomb in a year or less. Because of this, U.S. policy toward Israel and Iran recently shifted.  Israel’s Defense Minister noted that “the mind-set in Washington was ‘different two years ago,’ and that the US position vis-à-vis Tehran’s nuclear agenda today mirrors the one held in Jerusalem.”  Further, “the Iranian threat is ‘militant and nuclear and only the naive still believe it is peaceful… [the US] completely understands this now.’”

Vladimir Putin envisions a Eurasian Union that will put Moscow as a top leader among the world’s nations by 2015.  The Russian Prime Minister “has a vision for a Soviet Union-lite he hopes will become a new Moscow-led global powerhouse.”  On January 1, 2012, Russia moved one step closer to this goal with an agreement with Belarus and Kazakhstan to allow free movement of goods and capital across their borders.

Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay (a land-locked nation) have backed Argentina’s recent ban of boats carrying the Falkland flag from docking in their ports.  And Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner “claimed Britain was ready to use its military to steal natural resources ‘anywhere, anyhow.’”