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

Germany’s ‘Coalition of Losers’

On January 12, Germany’s leaders emerged from a marathon 26-hour negotiation and declared that they had made a breakthrough in forming a coalition. That breakthrough was merely an agreement to a roadmap for eventually forming a coalition. “[B]efore the ink was even dry on the roadmap for her new administration,” Agence France-Presse wrote, “observers branded [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel and the team she’s likely to lead a ‘losers’ coalition with little ambition or power to tackle the major challenges facing the country and the continent.” Der Spiegel called the proposed new government a “paleo-coalition” of political dinosaurs.

A political crisis is brewing in Germany, and it will shake the whole world.

More Germans Turning to Left- and Right-Wing Extremism

In 2017, German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to appease the extremes in Germany. But far-right and far-left violence proliferated on both sides. The two seemingly opposite ideologies live on the support of a common audience: the unsatisfied citizen. Together, the two camps hold power that only a few in history have dared to fuse.

While Merkel does not dare tap into that power, another leader soon will.

Violence Erupts in Tunisia on Anniversary of Arab Spring

What started as peaceful protests against government austerity measures in Tunisia on January 3 has since devolved into looting and vandalism. According to the Tunisian Interior Ministry, more than 900 people have been arrested. At least 100 security forces have been injured. One protester has been killed in a confrontation with police.

What’s happening in Tunisia is ominous: The spark that lit the Arab Spring seven years ago is burning again.

Turkey’s Strongman Grows Stronger

On December 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Sudan and signed $650 million worth of bilateral agreements on trade, tourism, education, forestry, mining, science, technology and, most significant of all, strategic and military cooperation.

Sudan agreed to lease its strategic Suakin Island to Turkey indefinitely to allow the Turks to rebuild it as a hub for tourists and Muslim pilgrims bound for Mecca, Saudi Arabia. But there’s more to Turkey’s interests in Suakin than tourism and religious journeys, according to some analysts.

Suakin Island could become Turkey’s third foreign military base, joining its overseas bases in Qatar and Somalia.

China to Construct Afghan Military Base on Afghanistan-Tajikistan Border

China will build a military base along the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan for the Afghan armed forces, according to a January 7 report by EurasiaNet. The plan calls for China to supply the base with weapons, uniforms and gear, and also for Beijing to move military vehicles through Tajikistan into Afghanistan.

Building a military base in this region fits in with China’s growing security ties to Afghanistan and its increasing presence in Central Asia. And it’s prophetically significant.

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