Our feature story this morning, “Exposing the Epstein Cover-up,” is from our new print issue, now online. It is a sobering look at the corruption not only within America’s leadership but also among its populace—exactly the type of behavior for which the nation is suffering terrible curses.

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Benjamin Netanyahu has been fighting two wars at once: One is the multifront war against Israel’s enemies: Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, even Syria and much of the world. The other is the fight for his political survival playing out in rogue Israeli courts.

Imagine if Winston Churchill had to show up in court every day while also trying to win World War II.

A Daily Mail article published yesterday reveals the Israeli prime minister’s astonishing determination not to allow the legal circus to which he is being subjected to prevent him from defending his nation. It well illustrates the point Gerald Flurry made in his inspiring cover story from our last print issue: “Netanyahu: Israel’s Rising Lion.”

After the atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel began its counterattack against Hamas, Netanyahu’s sham trial was suspended—for a few weeks. Despite the intense military challenges facing the nation, the courts resumed their political persecution over claims that Netanyahu had traded favors for gifts like cigars and champagne, pushed for media-friendly legislation, and tweaked regulations for positive press coverage.

The men close to him were dumbfounded both by the unyielding legal attacks and by Netanyahu’s focus, the Mail reports:

“If he was interrogated from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., at 12:30 p.m. he would meet the U.S. secretary of State,” they add. “He doesn’t care. It’s as if it’s someone else’s trial. That’s how he works. He is only focused on the relevant target.”

Even as he was planning the Iran operation for months, Netanyahu was regularly appearing in hearings—while top military officers, unsuccessfully, secretly pleaded with judges to reduce their frequency.

In the final hours before the June 12 offensive began, Netanyahu didn’t want to tip his hand to Iran. The 75-year-old pulled an all-nighter to finalize the attack so he could appear in court the next morning. “He hadn’t slept, but he had to play everything normal,” an official told the Mail.

It is astonishing and shameful how these radical judges and prosecutors have prioritized politics over national security. And it is amazing that Prime Minister Netanyahu has managed to accomplish so much while facing such pressure. It truly is an example of lionlike leadership.

China, the latest debt addict? China wants to boost its economy by encouraging its citizens to borrow money. The government will offer subsidized loans to householders and businesses, it announced yesterday.

China already has a debt problem. In a country of 1.4 billion people, a small uptick in the percentage of unemployed can produce entire armies of disgruntled young men. The resultant fear of social unrest has led China to prop up failing businesses, usually by giving them loans. Yet these businesses often struggle to repay the loans, shifting the burden to China’s banks.

• In a Communist country, the government can do a lot to keep struggling banks and businesses going. But it blocks the “creative destruction” of the free market, where poor performing companies are replaced by more efficient rivals. It thus leads to growing debt and inefficiency.

In addition, China’s local governments can’t sustain themselves solely on tax revenue, so they finance themselves through land sales and the real estate market. Since COVID, that sector has collapsed. Empty “ghost cities” dot China, leaving local governments with $8 to 10 trillion in off-the-books debt.

To address the problem, China is turning to this different type of debt: Rather than directly bailing out businesses, it is encouraging consumers to borrow and spend. This is certain to have negative consequences for China.

As Herbert W. Armstrong often said, our lives, including our finances, are governed by definite laws set in motion by God. Financial laws of cause and effect apply to nations too. The Trumpet often focuses on America, Britain and other Israelite nations breaking these laws and warn of the consequences. But the same laws apply to China. When it won’t confront the cause of the economic problems but simply kicks the can down the road, it too is heading for economic crisis.

Bible prophecy indicates China could be taken down a peg. It prophesies of a great Asian alliance that includes China—but is led by “the prince of Rosh,” or Russia. The senior partner is Russia, not China. Right now China looks the more powerful of the two. But Russia, already boycotted by most of the world, is much less susceptible to financial pain. A Chinese debt crisis would help cement Russia as the senior partner.

IN OTHER NEWS

Chemical weapons in Yemen? The Houthi terror group in Yemen has been importing chemical weapons, the Yemeni National Resistance claims. The YNR, a militia loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government, said it seized 750 tons of weapons, apparently including chemical weapons, from Iran bound for the Houthis. While Iran is losing influence in places like Syria and Lebanon, it maintains its hold on the Red Sea area. It appears this includes arming the region with weapons of mass destruction.

Europe surpasses U.S. in Ukraine arms supply: For the first time since Russia’s invasion, European nations are supplying Ukraine with more newly produced military equipment than the U.S. An August 12 report from Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimates that, between February 2022 and June 2025, European defense manufacturers delivered equipment worth $41.1 billion—$5.2 billion more than the U.S. Led by Germany, Europe is transforming into a military industrial powerhouse. In the end, however, this will not be for Ukraine’s benefit.

The U.S. national debt surges past $37 trillion, a record high. The increase was driven by heavy borrowing during the COVID-19 pandemic but passed the new mark “sooner than pre-pandemic projections,” AP reported. And the Big Beautiful Bill recently passed by Congress, with its combination of tax cuts and spending, is projected to add $4.1 trillion to the debt over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This story is far more significant than a single paragraph in our “In Other News” section would suggest, considering its implications for national survival. Read Andrew Miiller’s “The Bankruptcy of Uncle Sam” in our latest Trumpet issue to learn more.

Gabbard released another condemning tidbit about Russiagate: DNI Tulsi Gabbard declassified a 2016 e-mail from her predecessor James Clapper to NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers demanding that he get behind the bogus intelligence assessment ordered by President Obama. “Clapper admits that it was a ‘team sport’ that required ‘compromise on our “normal modalities,”‘” Gabbard wrote. It shows that Admiral Rogers did not want to go along with the Russiagate lies but, sadly, lacked the courage to stand by those convictions.

Film festival won’t show October 7 documentary out of deference to Hamas: The Toronto International Film Festival canceled the screening of a documentary, The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, about the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel because Hamas didn’t give permission to use its footage. That’s right: Festival officials are so desperate not to show this film, they said the horrific clips of the barbarity that terrorists posted on social media for all the world to see needed to first receive legal clearance from Hamas.

Trump considering law-enforcement options: After deploying the National Guard to protect the streets of Washington, D.C., President Trump is considering the establishment of a permanent “reaction force” to quell unrest in other cities. Read the details, and what prophecy says about the outcome, in Andrew Miiller’s In Brief.