In Brief... World News Review: Austria and Switzerland Move Right
Controversy over politicians ideas about the Holocaust.
Today left-of-center governments dominate much of Western and Central Europe. However, there are signs of a movement towards the far right in certain European states.
Most alarming is the recent emergence of Jorg Haider's Freedom Party as the second largest political force in the Austrian legislature. He is known for his pro-Nazi pronouncements and qualified praise of Hitler. More recently, Haider has been in London trying to silence alarm bells in the West in reaction to his controversial statements about the Third Reich. The response in Israel was immediate. Jerusalem threatened to sever diplomatic relations with Austria if Jorg Haider is permitted to join the coalition government.
Three weeks after Austrian voters had boosted the ultra right, neighboring Switzerland seems set to follow suit. Polls show that Christopher Blocher's extreme Swiss People's Party is likely to finish second in upcoming elections, which would place him in a position to play a significant role in a future coalition government. He is known for his highly controversial views about the Holocaust.
Perhaps much less serious is the case of Emin Xhinovci, a fierce fighter with the recently disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). He recently opened a bar in Mitrovice, Northern Kosovo known as the Pizzeria Hitlericomplete with a prominent swastika, which French NATO troops promptly removed. Coupled with his pro-Nazi pronouncements, Xhinovci has attracted attention by deliberately enhancing his physical likeness to Adolph Hitler. Reporters say general reaction by international authorities has been weak and muted (The Guardian,Sunday Times,Sunday Telegraph,Independent on Sunday,Daily Mail,all London).
An Article from:
World News and Prophecy: November 1999
Course Content
Darris McNeely
Darris McNeely works at the United Church of God home office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and his wife, Debbie, have served in the ministry for more than 43 years. They have two sons, who are both married, and four grandchildren. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. He also is a resident faculty member at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching Acts, Fundamentals of Belief and World News and Prophecy. He enjoys hunting, travel and reading and spending time with his grandchildren.
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.
Peter Eddington
Peter serves at the home office as Interim Manager of Media and Communications Services.
He studied production engineering at the Swinburne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and is a journeyman machinist. He moved to the United States to attend Ambassador College in 1980. He graduated from the Pasadena campus in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and married his college sweetheart, Terri. Peter was ordained an elder in 1992. He served as assistant pastor in the Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo, California, congregations from 1995 through 1998 and the Cincinnati, Ohio, congregations from 2010 through 2011.
