World News and Trends: Blizzard of catastrophes ahead for Russia?
A series of disasters-the sinking of a nuclear submarine, a fire in a Moscow television tower and nuclear-plant shutdowns-may be a harbinger of greater catastrophes, warns a Russian parliamentary commission.
"Russia is afflicted by three fundamental destructive trends, which will converge in 2003 to accelerate and magnify all our problems," said commission member Viktor Opekunov.
Of immediate concern is the nation's infrastructure, said to be literally crumbling. Roads, bridges, railways, oil pipelines, the electric-power grid, houses and even the once-vaunted military are collapsing. Power blackouts in recent months led to emergency shutdowns at several military bases and nuclear-power plants.
A study found that in the last decade investment in basic infrastructure was only a fourth that of 1989. "We live amid the functioning relics of the Soviet age as if in a museum, and no one is building anything new," observed Alexander Yashin, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's industry-and-construction committee. "The point of massive, self-sustaining breakdown is approaching within three years."
If that isn't bad enough, in 2003 Russia's foreign debt is expected to balloon, potentially leaving the government with even less money to address critical problems.
Beyond that is a predicted major demographic crisis caused by shrinking birth rates and increasingly early deaths. Currently there are three working-age adults for every pensioner; that ratio is expected by some to reverse in less than 20 years. For more about Russia's problems see "Russia's Time of Troubles" on page 14. (Source: The Independent on Sunday [London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: November - December 2000
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Melvin Rhodes
Melvin Rhodes is a member of the United Church of God congregation in Lansing, Michigan.
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
