In recent weeks, two earthquakes in Iran have caused significant damage and death.  “A powerful earthquake struck a border area of southeast Iran on Tuesday killing at least 35 people in neighboring Pakistan, destroying hundreds of houses and shaking buildings as far away as India and Gulf Arab states… It was the second big quake to hit Iran in a week.

Bible prophecies warn of curses to come on the Israelite-descended nations because of their outright rejection of God and His laws. One of God’s punishments for disobedience will be “your highways shall be desolate” (Leviticus 26:22). Recent events in the United States and Canada reveal how this prophecy might be fulfilled.

It has been only a few months since the “Definition of Marriage Bill” was introduced in the New Zealand Parliament, yet it has raced through the parliamentary process with blistering speed.  The bill’s third reading, which passed emphatically with 77 votes to 44 on Wednesday evening, now means that men can legally marry men and women can marry women in New Zealand.

In a recent, unprecedented move, China publically released a military White Paper detailing its military structure and size (BBC, April 16, 2013).  “The army has a total of 850,000 soldiers, while the navy and air force have a strength of 235,000 and 398,000,” for a total of more than 1.4 million soldiers (ibid.).

During Monday’s Boston Marathon, two bomb blasts near the finish line caused devastation, death and injury and brought an early end to the race (The Lookout, April 16, 2013).  More than 170 people were reported injured, 17 were in critical condition, and three died at the scene.  Several of the injured underwent amputations due to the severity of their injuries.  The bombs were laced with nails and other metallic debris—apparently intended to cause maximum h