World News and Trends- The world: on a winding road to nowhere
The state of the world is visibly deteriorating in front of our eyes. The signs are difficult to ignore. You can watch them on your TV screens and read about them in the headlines. Most people know something awful is happening to their world, but can't put their finger on what it all means.
The state of the world is visibly deteriorating in front of our eyes. The signs are difficult to ignore. You can watch them on your TV screens and read about them in the headlines. Most people know something awful is happening to their world, but can't put their finger on what it all means.
One of the latest big crises to hit the media is a sinister terrorist plot to blow up passenger jets bound from Britain to the United States, apparently designed to explode in midair or over several major American cities, potentially taking far more lives than 9/11 did.
British authorities, in cooperation with their American counterparts, were able to discover and counter the threat. More than 20 people are in custody. The financial costs to the airlines will undoubtedly prove monumental. A whole range of highly inconvenient, but very necessary, new security measures look inevitable.
Baghdad has been suffering about 1,000 tragic deaths a month on average. Then in July, according to CNN, that figure jumped to 1,700. Next door, some observers believe Iran is only six to 12 months from having the capacity to construct nuclear bombs. North Korea has been firing test missiles, and previous reassurances about the demise of the Taliban in Afghanistan now ring somewhat hollow. As always, several points in Africa are in violent turmoil or civil war.
In many ways it's a world going mad. Nuclear weapons appear on the verge of proliferating on a major scale. According to an Aug. 1 article in the International Herald Tribune, "Over the past few years, Pakistan has been hard at work building a powerful new plutonium reactor that when completed will be able to produce enough fuel to make 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year." Archrival India is also planning to expand its production to similar levels.
The Institute for Science and International Technology (ISIT) is a U.S. think tank that keeps track of nuclear weapons. It reported that "South Asia may be headed for a nuclear arms race that could lead to arsenals growing into hundreds of nuclear weapons, or at a minimum vast stockpiles of military fissile material" (The Guardian, July 25).
We also learn that "Iran is seeking to import large consignments of bomb-making uranium from the African mining area that produced the Hiroshima bomb" (The Sunday Times, Aug. 6).
Are you concerned about the darkening character of current world news? You should be! Why not find out what it all means for you? Request or download our free booklets You Can Understand Bible Prophecy and Are We Living in the Time of the End? (Sources: The Guardian, The Sunday Times [both London], International Herald Tribune.)
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
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.
