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Several big news items this morning, including the fallout from Israel’s strike on Qatar, France’s new prime minister, and fresh revelations about the transgender Nashville shooter from two years ago. But we begin with …

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Putin puts NATO on edge: Russian suicide drones flew into Polish air space early this morning during an attack on Ukraine. Poland scrambled jets and shot them down—the first time Russian drones have ever been downed over nato territory—then called on nato to activate Article 4, a united response to a threat against a member. nato obliged.

Besides ramping up tensions, the incident belies Vladimir Putin’s peace posturing and shows that hopes for a negotiated end to the war are false.

• nato Secretary General Mark Rutte denounced Russia’s “reckless behavior” and warned, “My message is clear: Stop the war in Ukraine … stop violating allied air space, and know that we stand ready, that we are vigilant, and that we will defend every inch of nato territory.”

• “Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas said. She said “indications suggest [the air space violation] was intentional, not accidental.” Several European leaders said Russia is intentionally escalating the war.

• This came just three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack of the war on Ukraine hit a key government building in Kyiv.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned, “We are closer to war than any time since World War ii.” Of course, by “we” he means that all of Europe could get dragged into the war Ukraine has already been fighting for 3½ years.

Why would Putin poke nato like this? His other recent moves have generally fit into two categories: 1) pretend to want peace, and 2) fight like a beast and gain ground on the battlefield. This accomplishes neither.

But Putin may be trying to expose nato’s weakness, or to send Poland a message to back away from America. (Or maybe Ukraine has anti-drone technology that pitched the drones over into Poland.)

nato’s response does give us a glimpse of a prophecy Gerald Flurry has been drawing attention to for over 20 years: of Europe responding aggressively to provocations from the Russian bear.

Putin has been inciting Europe since his election in 2004. European leaders are already in militarizing mode thanks to the Ukraine war and American isolationism. More indignities from Russia’s unpredictable despot add fuel to this fire.

Who did Israel hit in Qatar? We have more details on Israel’s strike on a Hamas meeting in Doha. In attendance were:

• Khaled Mashal (senior Hamas leader)

• Human al-Hayya (son of Hamas’s chief negotiator)

• Jihad Labad (director of the chief negotiator’s office)

• Abdullah Abdul Wahid, Moamen Hassouna and Ahmed al-Mamluk (lower-level Hamas members)

• Badr Saad Mohammed al-Humaidi (Qatari security official)

These attendees are confirmed by Hamas to have been killed, with the notable exception of Mashal.

Qatar has actively provided funding and a haven for Hamas terrorists for years. But this strike shows that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will conduct anti-terror operations even in the capital of a country that enjoys significant favor from the United States.

Was the U.S. involved? The White House claims that President Trump found out about the attack only as it was happening, but some Israelis are claiming that the president gave Israel the green light beforehand. Trump publicly gave Hamas a “last warning” on Sunday to accept a hostage deal.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates condemned Israel’s strikes, as did Western leaders. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said they violated Qatari sovereignty and “risk further escalation across the region.” French President Emmanuel Macron said the strike is “unacceptable, whatever the reason may be.”

This shows just how much influence Qatar has in the West. Countries like Iran and Afghanistan are rightly labeled pariahs, but no matter what shady business Qatar gets involved in, it seems to always get a free pass. Our article “In Qatar’s Pocket” examines how Qatar gets away with its activities and the broader implications for the U.S. especially.

New prime minister appointed—as France riots. Former Defense Minister Sébastien Lécornu was President Emmanuel Macron’s surprisingly speedy pick for his third prime minister in the last year. He’s a loyalist, close to Macron, and reportedly uncharismatic enough not to be a threat. But if Lécornu fails, it would damage Macron as well.

Failure seems likely. Lécornu doesn’t need a majority in the legislature to take office, but he does need that majority to get anything done, including passing a budget for 2026. He’ll need support from two of the three main groups: the far left, the center left and the center right.

The socialists are unhappy. Their alliance of parties won the largest number of seats in the 2024 election, and they believe they should provide the prime minister.

This is fueling unrest across France. The bloquons tout (“block everything”) protests were planned long before Lécornu was appointed, but he is unpopular with the far leftists who form the majority of the protesters. Over 300 people have been arrested across France; hundreds more arrests are expected by the end of the day. Demonstrators aim to shut down whatever they can, with around 100,000 expected to participate. Police in Paris fired tear gas at a young crowd blocking a high school entrance. Other protesters shut down main roads or tried to storm train stations. Protesters have tried to use burning barricades to keep people out.

Meanwhile, France’s debt keeps growing by €12 million (us$14 million) per hour, as it has for the last 20 years. This is a nation-ruining problem, but efforts to confront it are exactly what took down the last prime minister.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote:

Europeans are facing great crises, including economic instability, terrorism and illegal immigration, rising threats from Asia. In times of crisis, people are less concerned about democratic norms. They need strong leadership. That has to come from Germany, which dominates and even domineers Europe today. It is the powerhouse.

In the end, 10 kings will give their military might to one man, and will form a superpower that will shock the world! … Europe’s present leadership void creates an opening.

The chaos in France creates an appetite for strongman-type leadership. It also ensures France lacks the capacity to dominate Europe, leaving the field clear for Germany. To learn more, read Mr. Flurry’s article “Europe Is About to Be Hijacked.”

Turns out, the Nashville shooter was demon-possessed: It’s been two years and five months since a transgender murdered three 9-year-olds and three staff members at Nashville’s Covenant School—and the FBI just now released pages from her diary (thanks to truth-seekers who sued them). There are two stories here:

1. The Biden administration deliberately covered this up to avoid turning public opinion against transgenders. (Four days after the shooting, Biden issued a statement that claimed, “Transgender Americans shape our nation’s soul.”)

1. This murderer was, like many other mass shooters, clearly demon-possessed. In her diary she calls herself “the devil’s apprentice,” speaks of “monsters chewing up my soul,” takes on the personas of demons, and fills her pages with devils, serpents, upside-down crosses and such. Satan the devil is real.

Our feature story this morning, “A Prescription for Violence” by Jorg Mardian, details one factor that is opening people up to demonic harassment: drugs. Dozens of prescription drugs are linked to violence, including several medications commonly given to children.

IN OTHER NEWS

Anti-government protests in Nepal turned violent yesterday, causing at least 29 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Protesters, mainly young Nepalese, began demonstrating last week after the government blocked several social media sites, including X, Facebook and YouTube. The government reversed the ban, but by then the protests had spiraled into a movement reflecting wider discontent with the nepotistic ruling class, in a nation where 20 percent of youth are unemployed. As the rage intensified, demonstrators burned the nation’s palatial parliament building and homes of numerous government officials, stormed several prisons, forced the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, and stripped and beat the finance minister while marching him through a river. At present, Nepalese soldiers are guarding the streets of the capital, aiming to enforce a curfew and restore order, but the anger of the youth toward the government remains undiminished. Mr. Flurry writes in his booklet God’s Family Government, “In man’s entire history, we have not found one government that will truly serve the people. This whole world is in a crisis, and the major problem is government.”

Supreme Court favors Trump in ice case: The Trump administration landed a major legal victory Monday morning when the Supreme Court issued a stay in the Perdomo v. Noem case that blocked the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out immigration operations in the Los Angeles area. The lower court ruling said it was unlawful racial profiling to snatch people off California streets for questioning based on how they look, what language they speak, or what work they do. Yet the Supreme Court has decided to let the Trump administration continue questioning people, since they only deport those who are actually in the country illegally. This 6-3 vote helps President Trump enforce U.S. immigration law, which has gone unenforced for the past four years.