News and Prophecy Staff

The last couple of weeks have been filled with anticipation and action across Europe.  The Finnish parliament voted for a new prime minister, EU finance ministers approved a bailout package, EU leaders discussed the Greek debt situation—Greece is expected to need another bailout in the future—and the International Monetary Fund’s former head—until recently, a likely candidate for the French presidency—Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is now embroiled in a sex scandal.

The UN predicts that by the year 2050, the number of people living in cities will double.  However, a recent study warns of an increasing risk for disease outbreaks in cities, “Cities become incubators where all the conditions are met for outbreaks to occur.”

Britain just held a national referendum on revising the voting system for the House of Commons.  But was this a pointless exercise?

In April, China posted an $11.4 billion trade surplus—up significantly from the previous three months, and far above the predicted $1 billion surplus.  Imports and exports also rose significantly in April, over one year ago (Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2011).  China also maintains over $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.  Although China is wrestling with inflation, their workers’ salaries are rising, giving greater ability to purchase Chinese-made goods within China, and further fueling its economy.

While Australia, Colombia, and the American Midwest are suffering from catastrophic flooding, much of the state of Texas is experiencing some of its driest conditions in history.  Additionally, vast portions of the state are ablaze!  Since the fire season began in November 2010, more than 9,100 fires have been responded to, 2.5 million acres have burned, and hundreds of homes have been destroyed (Reuters, April 20, 2011; Texas Forest Service, May 4, 2011).