Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday book is all over the news this morning. The U.S. House Oversight Committee recently released the book’s contents, which include an infamous lewd note allegedly written and signed by Donald Trump. Another note from President Bill Clinton praises Epstein’s “childlike curiosity,” and an unknown cartoonist depicts a younger Epstein giving out a lollipop to kids before receiving a massage from topless girls 20 years later. Here in the UK, the biggest story is the inclusion of Lord Mandelson’s photographs and his long birthday note in which he refers to Epstein as “my best pal.” Mandelson was a senior figure under former Prime Minister Tony Blair and is currently Britain’s ambassador to the U.S.

Is any of it real? President Trump is suing the Wall Street Journal for reporting that he composed the card, claiming that it is “false and defamatory.”

I don’t know the answer—but I do know there’s a lot of evil to be exposed at the top of our governments. Our main story, “Exposing the Epstein Cover-up,” reveals not only what this scandal exposes about our leaders, but also about our entire society.

Israel strikes Qatar: Hamas’s leadership has enjoyed safety and luxury in Qatar while bringing terror and war to Israel and Gaza. Last night, that ended as Israel struck top Hamas leaders at a residential property in Doha. Qatar accused Israel of a “blatant violation” of international law. Presumably, it does not consider it illegal to knowingly harbor terrorists and murderers. Veteran journalist Melanie Phillips posted:

At last. The farce of Qatar acting as the “honest broker” in the war to wipe out Israel has just ended. Let’s hope the Israelis have eliminated all the Hamas leaders responsible for the slaughter in Israel on October 7 and who have been sheltered in Doha ever since. Qatar, which has bought control of so much and corrupted so many in Western public life, IS Hamas. High time to clean out the West’s own Augean stables.

Gerald Flurry condemned Qatar in the July Trumpet issue:

They are also longtime, well-known sponsors of terrorism. They funded al Qaeda for years. They support the Muslim Brotherhood. They bankroll Hamas, the butchers of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. They are in league with murderers and rapists! And they send billions of dollars to American universities to turn students into disciples of Hamas.

But Qatar hosts a U.S. military base and gifted President Trump an airplane. They believed this would shield them from the consequences of their murderous acts.

Once again, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is boldly going after the enemies of the free world. “I believe that just as God used the courage of Churchill to save Western civilization,” Mr. Flurry wrote, “God has used the fighting spirit of Netanyahu to hold off [Iran’s] atomic forces of evil.” This kind of courage, displayed again last night, makes Netanyahu Israel’s “rising lion” and an example to everyone of how to confront evil.

France’s government fell yesterday: Prime Minister François Bayrou faced his do-or-die bid to get spending under control and lost, 364 to just 194. Even parts of his own coalition helped vote him out.

There’s no easy way out of France’s political chaos, even as it hurtles toward economic collapse. President Emmanuel Macron can still move forward on foreign and security policy, but he must now try to find someone who can somehow command a majority in France’s sharply divided National Assembly and appoint his seventh prime minister in eight years. Some want Macron out, some want fresh elections, and—with a new protest movement, #blockeverything, set to kick off tomorrow and credit rating agency Fitch expected to downgrade French debt on Friday—some speculate that this crisis could end France’s entire Fifth Republic.

The turmoil is starting to feel a lot like the French Revolution, a crisis that only ended with the rise of a strongman, Napoleon Bonaparte. Europe at large is experiencing similar chaos, and the appetite for a new Napoleon is growing.

IN OTHER NEWS

France is not the only country unhappy with its government: A series of new German polls paints a clear picture. A record-low 21 percent of Germans have a favorable impression of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s economic policies, according to a Forsa survey published today. Another Forsa poll found that 73 percent believe the government is unable to fulfill its duties. Meanwhile, support for Germany’s far-right AfD has reached a record-high 25.5 percent, according to an insa poll published yesterday. Europe’s sorely desired strong leader is coming—watch for him to arise not from France but from Germany.

Were you expecting a new Spanish inquisition? Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an arms embargo and a partial blockade of Israeli goods yesterday. Spain recognized a Palestinian state months ago and was the launching point for activist Greta Thunberg’s “blockade busting” flotilla. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Spain of anti-Semitic policies, and Spain responded by recalling its ambassador. This is another example of the world unfairly and disproportionately picking on the Jews. As Chapter 9 of our recently updated Key of David book brings out, there are deeper spiritual reasons behind this.

$83.3 million is “fair and reasonable”: That is the opinion of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the amount President Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll. The Elle columnist had accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in 1996, he denied it and attacked her on social media, she sued him for defamation, and a jury awarded her millions. The president’s legal team appealed the award, arguing that the court should apply last year’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity. The president plans to continue fighting the accusation. This is only one of many legal cases in which judges are waging lawfare on the president.

India is shopping for weapons: The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently negotiating to acquire more S-400 antiaircraft missile systems from Russia. The U.S. hoped to attract India away from Russia with diplomatic, energy and trade deals, as well as military procurements, but President Trump dropped the carrot and went with the stick last month, placing 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods. Meanwhile, Modi recently attended China’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, where Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to him as a “dear friend.” Watch for India to work more and more closely with both Russia and China, to the direct detriment of the United States and the West.