The commentary by Bro. R. E. Streeter on the book of Revelation published in the mid-1920s and recently reprinted by the PBI has been relatively well-known. Much less known is his commentary on the book of Daniel. This book was printed in 1928. According to its preface Bro. Streeter died before completing it. Based on notes found in his study and the reference works he had been using, others completed the book for publication.

Because of the positive reaction to the reprinting of his Revelation book, the Institute has now reprinted the Daniel book as well. It is comparable in size and appearance to the Revelation book with half as many pages.

We expect to receive the books from the printer by the end of February. The price of the book sent anywhere in the world is only $6. A convenient order form is enclosed in this issue.

Please note that the first-class mail option is available only to addresses with a U.S. zip code. This option is listed on the enclosed insert.

We ask that our Heavenly Father will continue to bless your efforts in bringing more glory to his glorious name and we ask for your prayers for us too.

Eric and Pat Williams, England

Changing times we are in, are they not-a famine in the land for hearing the sure word of God.

W. A. Smith, Australia

Kidnapping in Mexico has become such a growth industry that crime gangs are encouraging young members to snatch targets such as dogs to give them experience at an early age. Children, pets, ranchers, millionaires-all are considered fair game. Kidnappings are rarely confirmed and numbers are sketchy. But security experts say since its economic crisis in 1995, Mexico has experienced a crime explosion. Control Risks, the London-based security company, says that the actual number of kidnappings may be as high as 2,000 per year. That is not to mention the "fast-food kidnaps," in which taxi users are seized at gunpoint and released only after they have withdrawn an instant ransom from a bank machine.

Financial Times, 9/21/97

Rising youth crime has spilled over into U.S. schools. The violence is so serious that one of eight national Education Goals for the year 2000 calls for schools that "will be free of drugs, violence and . . . firearms." Juvenile arrests for serious violent crimes rose 67% from 1986 to 1995. More than half of all crimes against teen-agers happens on or near school property. Almost one-fourth of all violent crimes against teens occurs at school. According to the Justice Department, no other setting sees such a concentration of violence, other than prisons. Recent studies suggest that social factors-mainly the lack of a father at home-play a prominent role in the rise in violence and misbehavior. Studies also point to an increase in emotional problems and a lack of internal restraint in kids. The out-of-wedlock birth rate is five times as high today as it was 30 years ago.

Investor's Business Daily, 11/13/97

Iran's missile capability is providing Israel with new worries. As tensions escalate between the US and Iraq, Israelis have been advised to check their gas masks, last worn in 1991 when Iraq fired Scud missiles at Israel. However, Israeli defense and foreign policy experts say Iran is developing to be a much bigger threat. Iran is developing non-conventional long-range missiles capable of reaching Israel. US and Israeli intelligence officers say that Russia is supplying material to Tehran. Israel is lobbying Europeans to forge a united policy towards Iran, but is finding it difficult to rally support from Russia, the European Union and its immediate Arab neighbors who are fearful of radical Islam. Israel has lost the support of even its moderate Arab neighbors. Even though they loathe Islamic fundamentalists, they deeply distrust Benjamin Netanyahu. Senior Israeli officials say that if they fail to convince their friends of the threat, the country would have to adopt an effective deterrent themselves. That deterrent, the nuclear one, already exists in Israel.

Financial Times, 11/12/97

Despite dire warnings by politicians and doctors of the medical system's impending financial collapse, Israel is the second healthiest country in the world, according to a statistical analysis compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. Only Sweden came out ahead of Israel in the analysis, which considered a dozen different health care indicators, rather than just life expectancy. The criteria included deaths from cancer, infections, and heart and respiratory disease, the HIV infection rate, the number of doctors and nurses per 100,000 residents, immunization rates, and maternal and infant mortality. The report notes that Israel has a very high rating "even though this particular state is a regular target for terrorist attacks."

Jerusalem Post, September, 1997

According to Temple Institute spokesman Rabbi Chaim Richman, detailed blueprints for building the Third Temple have existed in Israel for the past four years. The plans were drawn according to the primary sources for this information: the Bible, Jose-phus, and Middot. Additions to these ancient specifications have included the use of electricity and other modern improvements that agree with the Law. Other structures pertaining to the Temple's function have also been planned or actually built. A group of Rabbis has completed computerized visualizations and blueprints. Priestly robes and garments, sacrificial urns and elements, and other items associated with the sacrifices have already been created by the Temple Institute. Spokesmen for the Institute publicly state that they believe the original Ark of the Covenant still exists in a secret chamber located under the Temple Mount.

Israel My Glory, December/January, 1997/1998

Gangs armed with knives and axes methodically slaughtered 412 peasants in northern Algeria cities in the worst massacre of the Muslim insurgency. The massacre started on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It was clear that the Muslim gangs had grouped their victims together before killing them. Many survivors said they planned to move to a nearby port of Oran. "Leaving is better than dying" said one villager. The responsibility of the violence fell on the Armed Islamic Group, the insurgency's most violent movement. The group seeks to bring down the government and install a strict Islamic regime. The insurgency intensifies every year around Ramadan, as the militants see their mission as a holy war.

Associated Press, 1/3/98

Pope John Paul said anti-Jewish prejudice deadened the "spiritual resistance of Christians to the Nazi persecution of Jews." The Pope told 60 scholars from around the world that their work would deepen the dialogue between Catholics and Jews and aim at a purification of memory. The Pope stopped short of confronting the issue of alleged church complicity in the Holocaust.

Bloomberg News, 10/31/97

The American Jewish Congress expressed gratification over Pope John Paul II's statement before theologians condemning anti-Semitism, calling it a clear sign that "the Roman Catholic Church will never again tolerate and never again accept the rank hatred of Jews that was an historical fact for so many centuries." Executive Director Phil Baum expressed regret that the Pope "did not take this opportunity explicitly to confront the role the Catholic church itself played in the long and painful history of anti-Jewish hatred."

PR Newswire, 10/31/97

Wall Street Journal, 12/30/97

South Korea's financial crisis, so much worse than anyone had predicted, is forcing business executives and political leaders to rethink the way they have done things for decades. The current crisis emerged from a tight collusion between companies and government. Widespread bribery, politically motivated loans and corrupt practices exposed by the recent crisis was of a much broader scale than anyone -imagined. "The old order is shriveling," wrote Mark -Clifford, an American journalist. The system built around personal empires is unlikely to survive in its current form.

New York Times, 1/4/98

Europe's planned common currency will begin on January 1, 1999. Economists believe that the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is a gigantic, real-life crapshoot. Never before has such an undertaking been tried. Almost a dozen nations will simultaneously throw out their currencies and willingly cede their monetary sovereignty to an independent, pan-European central bank. "It's uncharted waters," says Norbert Walter, chief economist of Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt. "We're on a discovery route. It's nothing short of revolutionary." If it works, the world economy will change. Nearly all of Europe will become a fully integrated market of almost 300 million consumers. Europe will gain real economic and -political clout. If it fails, it could lead to deflation, higher unemployment, social turmoil and a rise of nationalism, some warn. Says Noel Goutard, chairman of French autoparts maker Noel Goutard, "Three years after its launch, we're going to be wondering why we got into this." Some leaders worry that issues could spark serious tensions within Eur-opean societies or between countries. If Europe's economies perform poorly, many fear that the governments who promoted EMU could be ousted.

Wall Street Journal, 12/28/97

The financial crises that destabilize huge economies in a single day appear increasingly connected to political crises. There is growing fear that the market calamities in 1997 could produce national security crises in 1998. The concern comes from the seizure of financial institutions which required the support of the International Monetary Fund. Indonesians fear that their country's problems would have worsened without the intervention of the International Monetary Fund. Generals in Indonesia's military structure threatened to exploit the crisis as a way to push aside President Suharto. The last time such an event occurred half a million people died. When a similar financial crisis occurred in South Korea, 37,000 American troops were put on alert. US Pentagon strategists warned that hard-line generals would try to capitalize on Korea's moment of weakness to overthrow the democracy there. Advisors say that the hope that the end of the cold war would make the world easier to manage has vanished.

New York Times, 1/4/98

Japanese financial markets are facing what some refer to as a "death spiral." "It's difficult to know what the authorities can do" says Ryoji Musha of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in Tokyo. The difficulties of the stock market collapse has surfaced in the value of banks and insurance companies who hold the securities. The Japanese economy is weaker than it was last year. Prospects of a total collapse look increasing alarming.

Financial Times, 12/23/97

No matter what the outcome of the studies, scientists generally agree that it will be impossible to stop the practice, since too many American farmers are convinced of the benefit.

Financial Times, 11/97

As science improves, the gloomy forecast of global warming is looking more and more like hot air. Many of the forecasts were formed in the late 80s, when climate experts were using crude computer models to study the greenhouse effect. Experts then warned that the quick buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would cause huge jumps in global temperatures. However, as the computer models have grown more sophisticated, the forecasts have gotten rosier. The predicted temperature rise has fallen, and the expected rise in sea level has not occurred. Meanwhile, the political pressure to do something has increased. But even assuming the models of old are correct and hot days are ahead, the new treaty for global warming won't prevent anything. It will only push back the day of reckoning. Meanwhile, the new models show a distinctly different scenario, which hardly encompass the flooding of major cities around the world. The dreaded sea-level rise predicted in the 70s of 25 feet has been pushed back today to only a foot and a half.

Investors' Business Daily, 10/30/97

The Learning Company, Inc. announced an agreement with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to -develop a special version of the popular Cyber Patrol Internet filter to screen out sites promoting anti-Semitism, bigotry and hatred. ADL will compile a special list of hate sites that will be part of the software. The ADL has published an 86-page booklet on how extremist organizations are using the Internet to promulgate hate crime.

PR Newswire, 12/16/97

The human genome-the mass of genetic data it takes to make a human being-was placed under the protection of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The set of rules bans any cloning of human beings. The declaration adopted in Paris by the UNESCO General Assembly sets out an international standard of ethical behavior for both scientists and political leaders.