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Highlights:
How Europe is responding to Brussels
“[T]ime and again over the decades,” observed Vox, “Europe has faced decision points where it either needs to go forward to more integration or backward to less, and the ultimate decision has almost always been in favor of more integration in the end.”As we wrote in “Belgium Attacked—Europe ‘Under Attack,’” citizens and politicians alike will push more and more for a unified and more integrated Europe—one whose militaries are enhanced and integrated to fight Islam home and abroad.Expect “a Europe that moves away from the evils of multiculturalism toward a darker future where the state discriminates among its citizens. A Europe with a Christian identity—where Muslims are not welcome.”It’s a Europe prophesied to deal decisively with radical Islam.Al Qaeda’s lethal comeback in Africa
Defense officials from 27 African and Arab countries met Thursday and Friday in Egypt to discuss counterterrorism cooperation.Their biggest concern appears to be al Qaeda, particularly its al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (aqim) franchise.Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast have been the target of aqim’s most recent attacks.“The group’s latest attacks have put the entire region on edge,” wrote the New York Times. “With each strike, [these] extremists … seem to be checking off countries on the map. … Western-friendly capitals known for religious tolerance are now especially fearful, wondering who will be next.”Europe, as it reacted to the Malian crisis in 2012, will want to make sure that it won’t be next on radical Islam’s hit list.Chinese aggression
China’s “maritime colonialism” in the South China Sea is militarizing one of the world’s most important trade routes and turning it into a springboard for global domination.Once China has control of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion worth of maritime goods transits each year, it will have the economic influence it needs to become a world superpower.As for China’s “economic colonialism,” the Chicago Stock Exchange could become Beijing’s next acquisition.The Casin Enterprise Group buying the exchange is owned in part by the Chinese government.“This proposed acquisition would be the first time a Chinese-owned, possibly state-influenced, firm maintained direct access to America’s $22 trillion U.S. equity marketplace,” wrote members of Congress in a letter to the Treasury Department.“Day after day, Americans read about new cyberattacks and state-sponsored espionage attempts [by China],” said Rep. Robert Pittenger. Trumpet columnist Robert Morley discusses this and more on the Trumpet Hour, in the Trumpet Weekly and in his article “China Is Buying the Chicago Stock Exchange: A Dangerous Signal for the Global Economy.”America: Hooked on painkillers
Opioids are opium-like drugs manufactured by pharmaceuticals as painkillers. But it’s not just pain that they’re destroying.Opioids are just as addictive and destructive as heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Globally, an estimated 36 million people abuse opioids.In 2014, 30,000 opioid junkies in the United States were killed by these drugs.The Food and Drug Administration plans to “solve” this epidemic by emphasizing the safety hazards of opioids on product labels.Cyberterrorism from a likely source
On Thursday, the United States indicted seven Iranian cyberterrorists for attacking a New York dam and at least 46 financial institutions in the U.S., including the Bank of America, nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, “These attacks were relentless, they were systematic, and they were widespread.”The attacks on financial institutions were intended to cripple the U.S. economy. They cost tens of millions of dollars. But the attack on the dam was likely intended to flood parts of the city of Rye, New York. The only reason they failed in that terrorist act is because the dam’s computer systems were offline for maintenance.Other news:
Iran’s next “tourist attraction” could be statues of the American sailors captured in Iranian waters earlier this year. “There are very many photographs of the major incident of arresting U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf in the media,” said Iranian Cmdr. Ali Fadavi, “and we intend to build a symbol out of them inside one of our naval monuments.”An international conference called The Militarization of the Occupied Crimea as a Threat to International Security, assessed that Russia had essentially weaponized Crimea into an “unsinkable military aircraft carrier.”Iranian Gen. Saeed Qasemi said on Sunday that “Bahrain is an Iranian province that was detached from the Islamic Republic of Iran due to … Western colonialism.” He added that “Iran must make efforts to bring Bahrain back into Iranian territory and transform it into a part of [its southwestern province].”Get more details on these stories and more by subscribing to the Trumpet Weekly!
