January 2002 Vol.5, No. 1 Contents Europe at the Crossroads-What Does It Mean? by John Ross Schroeder Restoration: Going Safely Into the Unknown by Darris McNeely Imagine a World Without the United States by Melvin Rhodes Asking the Tough Question: Has Religion Failed? by Cecil E. Maranville The Biblical Origins of the Arab Peoples by Gary Petty In Brief...World News Review by John Foster, Cecil E. Maranville, Ken Martin and Jim Tuck This Is the Way...How Strong Is Your Tea Bag? by Robin Webber In Brief... World News Review Brushfires Ravage Southeastern Australia Saudi Crown Prince Cautions Islamic Leaders Algeria's Woes In Search of the Next Pope Brushfires Ravage Southeastern Australia "There are many broken-hearted people here," wrote an Australian citizen to a member of our World News and Prophecy staff about the nightmarish brush fires ravishing the New South Wales state in Australia. As we go to press, the fires are well into their third week and constitute the greatest disaster of this type that Australia has seen, according to New South Wales Emergency Services Minister Bob Debus. After 15 days of burning, the fires have destroyed more than 170 homes and a million hectares or 1.235 million acres. Thankfully, there hasn't yet been any loss of human life, although some firefighters have been injured. The destruction is devastating enough in itself, but adding to the grief is the fact that many of the fires have been started by arsonists. As of Jan. 6, 2002, 26 people have been arrested and charged with arson. The public anger is justifiably great, and there is talk of creating a public register of arsonists similar to that for pedophiles. Additionally, a new law requires convicted arsonists to be confronted by the victims of the fires they set and to help regenerate burned out land. More than half of the beautiful Royal National Park has been destroyed in the fires, killing countless animals and injuring hundreds that survived. On the positive side, several types of plant life have already begun to put forth new shoots in the park. Included are the phenomenal banksias, an evergreen shrub or plant whose seeds actually open only in the intense heat of such a fire. The encouraging early growth in the park shows the marvelous capacity for survival that God designed, even in the face of disaster. Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0201/inbrief0201.htm Related Information on UCG Sites: Table of Contents that includes "World News Review Jan 2002" Saudi Arabia: _World News Review June 2000 _World News Review Feb 2002 _World News Review Aug 2002 _World News Review July 2004 _A Page on the World: Secrets of the Kingdom _World News Review January 2007 _Anger Mounts Following 1991 Gulf War _World News and Trends - Mar/Apr 2004 Australia: _The View From Down Under _World News Review Dec 2002 _The Growing Menace of Gambling _Massive Drought Grips Australia _Australia: A Nation Changes Direction _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Sep/Oct 2000 _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Sep/Oct 2001 _Australia: An Underappreciated Nation _Gambling: Why It's a Bet Nobody Wins _World News and Trends - January/February 2008 _Australia's Identity Crisis: A Foretaste of What's to Come? _World News & Trends Jan 2009 Pope: _Man of the Century: The Life and Times of Pope John Paul II _Papal Power in Perspective _Religious Deception in the Post Modern World _World News Review Jan. 1999 _The Message of Mitch _World News Review June 1999 _Pope John Paul II Advocates Sunday Keeping _Hitler's Pope: The Roman Church and the Third Reich _Pope's Spiritual Journey Very Political _World News Review January 2001 _World News Review Nov 2001 _Beware of Prophecies! _The Man Who Would Be Pope _A Celebrity Pope _Which Way Europe? _A Page on the World: The Rise of Benedict XVI _European Demographics and Bible Prophecy _Pope Benedict XVI Puts His Church "on Edge" _Papal Authority, Protestants and Prophecy _The "Christian Caesar" _Europe and the Church, Part 7: Charlemagne, Father of Modern Europe _The Making of Emperor and Empire _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Jan/Feb 1997 _World News and Trends - Nov/Dec 1997 _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Jan/Feb 1999 _The Papacy: Growing Role in the Coming Years? _Papal Visit Highlights Middle East Problems _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Jul/Aug 2001 _An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Sep/Oct 2002 _World News and Trends - Jan/Feb 2005 _Pope Benedict XVI Faces Major Challenges _Death of a Titan: John Paul II's Impact on Europe and the World _World News and Trends - January/February 2007 _World News and Trends - September/October 2007 _Europe and the Church, Part 8...Otto the Great, Founder of the First Reich _The Uneasy Relationship Between Church and State _Rome's "Right Face" _Europe and the Church, Part 9: Charles V's Empire Upon Which the Sun Never Set _Pope Calls for New "World Political Authority" _Europe and the Church, Part 12: A Period of Change for the Papacy Search Our Site Key Subjects Index General Topics Index Biblical References Index Good News Magazine Index Booklets and All Literature Index Home Page of this site