News and Prophecy Staff

According to the World Bank, Argentina is now the country with the second highest rate of food inflation (AP News, May 12, 2023). Food prices in the nation have seen a 115 percent increase over the last twelve months—surpassed only by Lebanon, where food prices have increased over 300 percent! Argentina’s general annual inflation rate has also increased by over 100 percent.

The people of Lebanon are suffering under severe inflation, turning the U.S. dollar into the preferred local currency over the Lebanese pound (Deutsche Welle, May 8, 2023). Prices for goods are doubling, including the price of olive oil, the crucial, locally produced cooking staple. For many, this once-ubiquitous household product is now beyond their financial reach. This, in a country where the national minimum wage for private employees is about $94 USD or €84 per month.

China’s aggressive regional actions are seen as a threat by many of its neighbors—which, in turn, are looking to gain support from allies. As the war in Ukraine continues, Germany and Japan are working more closely. In March, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz led a high-level delegation of German cabinet ministers to Japan for talks on strategic collaboration (Deutsche Welle, March 18, 2023).

Over a quarter of the European continent is currently in drought, and summer has not yet arrived (Politico, April 28, 2023). “A key reservoir serving millions of Catalans is dwindling away. A conflict over water triggered clashes in France, where several villages can no longer provide their residents with tap water.

Lawlessness abounds in the Caribbean nation of Haiti, and the sitting government appears helpless to arrest it (Deutsche Welle, April 28, 2023). Public lynchings are increasing, and the government seems powerless to stop them. About two weeks ago, a dozen suspected gang members were pulled off a bus, stoned, and burned alive by a mob—a horrifying instance of vigilante justice that occurred in broad daylight in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince.