News and Prophecy Staff

Earlier this month, Japan, Australia, France, and the United States held joint military exercises on Japanese soil (Newsweek, May 13, 2021). These exercises involved nations concerned about China’s naval activities in the region and have understandably been seen in a negative light by China.

Last week, an apparently Russia-based ransomware gang held U.S.-based Colonial Pipeline electronically hostage until it paid $4.4 million in untraceable cryptocurrency (New York Times, May 14, 2021). Colonial Pipeline handles half of the gasoline and jet fuel used on the east coast of the United States.

For the last couple weeks, an intense fight has raged in the Holy Land. Following an Israeli court case to evict several Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem and Israeli police action on the Temple Mount, Hamas began barraging Israeli border cities with thousands of rockets launched from Gaza (Reuters, May 17, 2021). Israel responded with its own targeted attacks on suspected rocket launch sites within Gaza.

While it might seem preposterous, in nations that once composed “Christendom,” believing in and preaching from the Bible is now subject to persecution and threats of criminal charges. Recently, a 71-year-old preacher in London was arrested, hand-cuffed, and jailed for publicly preaching from the book of Genesis that marriage was between one man and one woman (Newsweek.com, May 2, 2021).

As a country, Israel is quite small—smaller than Belgium, about half the size of Costa Rica, and roughly the same size as the state of New Jersey. But as small as it is, Israel is experiencing drastic differences in precipitation across the country (Times of Israel, April 5, 2021).