Two ascendant world powers dominated the news this week: China and Germany. China launched its first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier, significantly enhancing the reach of its military, particularly in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Germany signed significant defense cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia, one of its most critical allies in the Middle East.

Here are the five most important news stories this week, as well as relevant links to the full articles and videos here on theTrumpet.com.

Should We Trust Germany?

As Brexit continues to unravel the leadership of the European Union, and as the United States continues its political and military disengagement from Europe, some world leaders are looking to Germany to fill the apparent power void in the Continent.

But should the world trust the chief perpetrator of World Wars i and ii?

German author, journalist, profusely apologetic son of a Nazi war criminal and self-professed nationalist, Niklas Frank, warned in a recent interview with the bbc: “Don’t trust us.”

“As long as our economy is great, and as long as we made money, everything is very democratic,” Frank said. “But let’s wait, and hopefully not see, if we have five to 10 years of heavy economic problems, and the swamp is a lake and as a sea, and we swallow again everything.”

German Interior Minister: Our Culture Trumps Multiculturalism

Immigrants to Germany need to conform to German culture, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière wrote on April 30 in German newspaper Bild.

Deutsche Welle summarized Maizière’s article as advocating “a dominant culture in Germany.”

In times past, cultural wars in Germany have morphed into bloody wars that, in turn, have gone global.

Saudi Arabia Seeks Stronger Military Ties With Germany

On April 30, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Saudi Arabia and agreed to help build up the Saudi defense industry.

Saudi Arabia is currently the third largest receiver of German weapons.

Saudi Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Mohammed al-Tuwaijri told Spiegel Online that his nation “want[s] to make Germany one of [its] most important business partners.” That cooperation has previously been complicated by Germany’s strict export guidelines and Saudi Arabia’s repeated humanitarian violations.

The solution? Chancellor Merkel said, “We cannot have German soldiers anywhere in the world, but we can very well pass on our know-how.”

The German and Saudi governments also signed a joint declaration of intent for future police cooperation.

China Launches First Homegrown Aircraft Carrier

China officially launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier on April 26.

The new carrier is conventionally powered and equipped with a “ski jump” flight deck. The homegrown carrier can hold about 32 aircraft, and it is more advanced than its Soviet-made Liaoning aircraft carrier.

“With each new aircraft carrier, China is sending a signal that it has no peer among its neighbors,” said Patrick M. Cronin, the head of the Washington-based Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

Nankai University military specialist Sun Haidong said, “[The carrier] symbolizes the rise of China, which will also boost China’s ability in dealing with territorial disputes.”

China’s rising military power and its increasingly aggressive stance in the South China Sea is steering the world toward war, as Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned last year.

Decline of Religious Freedom

A report released on April 26 by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom noted that “the state of affairs for international religious freedom is worsening in both the depth and breadth of violations.”

The report highlights just what a rare commodity religious freedom is in this world. The fact that most people living in the United States and Britain have enjoyed religious freedom for the last three centuries has been a historical aberration.

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