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What is the state of democracy in today’s world? Countries are still holding elections, even when dictators are clearly rigging them, even amid civil war. It may be a sham, but something about “democracy” still holds claim over us.

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In the last couple of days, several countries went to the polls. Across the board, observers noted restrictions on dissent, uneven playing fields and potential for unrest.

• Myanmar yesterday held its first election since the 2021 military coup. The junta framed it as a step toward democracy, but it is a sham. Voting will happen in three stages, the main opposition party was banned, turnout was low, and large swaths of territory were excluded because of ongoing conflict.
• Guinea is also trying to transition back to civilian rule after a 2021 coup. Mamady Doumbouya, the coup leader, positioned himself as a reformer. Preliminary numbers show him dominating, with no serious challengers. Many of his opponents are exiled or weakened. Yesterday’s election was peaceful, thanks to voter intimidation, suppression of protests, and muted media coverage.
• The Central African Republic has been plagued by civil war since 2013. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, allied with Russian Wagner mercenaries and Rwandan forces, has stabilized parts of the country in exchange for selling off resources. His opposition is fragmented, so once yesterday’s votes are counted, he is expected to win.
• The Ivory Coast held a parliamentary election on Saturday, which the opposition party boycotted since its candidate was banned from running. The result solidifies President Ouattara’s control after his October presidential victory, and it highlights the country’s ethnic and regional divides.
• Kosovo may finally be moving forward after suffering a political deadlock since February’s elections. Germany appears to have gotten the anti-Serbian, pro-EU candidate it wanted. In Sunday’s snap election, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his nationalist Vetevendosje party won 49 percent, up from 42 percent in February, enabling him to form a stable government. This was the one election without significant accusations of fraud.

Disillusionment with democracy has been spreading in recent years, and for good reason. Many nations are shifting toward more overtly authoritarian rule. Such muscularity is better suited for tougher times, such as those the world is entering. But in the end, the coming strongman era will fail even more spectacularly than all previous strongman eras in the prophesied “climax of man’s rule over man.”

Trump pressures Netanyahu on West Bank: President Donald Trump’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago yesterday over the next phase of Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas had serious implications for Israel’s security along its eastern frontier. While the two leaders had many kind words for each other in front of news cameras, one major sticking point, according to Axios, was Israel’s policies in the West Bank.

• Israel has been escalating its counterterrorism operations and skirmishes with Hamas and other terrorist groups in different West Bank communities. President Trump thinks this could jeopardize the work in Gaza.
• A “U.S. source and another source” speaking to Axios, “both with direct knowledge,” said, “The president and his team raised settler violence against Palestinian civilians, the financial instability of the Palestinian Authority, and Israeli settlements expansion.” According to Axios, “The U.S. message was that changing course in the West Bank is critical to repair Israel’s relations with European countries and, hopefully, expand the Abraham Accords.”

The West Bank is by far Israel’s greatest security liability. Whereas Gaza only borders a small corner of southwestern Israel, the much larger West Bank is close to most of Israel’s major population centers, including the capital, Jerusalem.

• Nablus, Jenin and other cities are anarchic safe havens for terrorist groups. Israeli forces regularly go into the West Bank to degrade—but not eliminate—the Palestinian terrorists’ capabilities, for its own citizens’ safety.

President Trump’s use of the comparatively minor issue of settlements and settler violence to pressure Israel to stand down in the West Bank is significant, not only because it pales in comparison to Palestinian terrorism but also because it could lead to the fulfillment of a major Bible prophecy.

Zechariah 14:1-2 state that half of Jerusalem will fall. This could be fulfilled by the Palestinians in the West Bank becoming organized and stronger as Israel is weakened and likely forced to pull back because of international pressure. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry analyzes this prophecy in detail in his free booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy.

Why Minnesota kids aren’t ‘learing’: Somalia-run companies are robbing U.S. taxpayers of billions of dollars in fake day care and health care centers, footage by an independent journalist published over the weekend seems to show. This is in addition to billions in fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid system that First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson alleged earlier this month.

YouTuber Nick Shirley visited day care centers that claim millions in government subsidies, yet showed no evidence that they teach any children at all. These include places like the “Quality Learing Center,” which is licensed to teach 99 children and has received $4 million over two years. These “learing centers” often had blacked-out windows or no windows and empty spaces for playgrounds or no playgrounds. You can get a good overview of his footage in yesterday’s Trumpet Daily.

Overall, Shirley uncovered $110 million in questionable payments to Somali-owned businesses in just one day. Autism and adult health care centers show similar signs of fraud. fbi Director Kash Patel said the apparent fraud is “just the tip of a very large iceberg.”

Scandals like this expose failures on many levels:

• Immigration: The U.S. has brought in millions of people with no real loyalty to their host country and no qualms about defrauding the system.
• Judiciary: Minnesota judges such as Judge Sarah West have overruled unanimous verdicts on similar fraud cases.
• Media: Massive news organizations with big budgets have ignored this story. Instead, it was left to an independent YouTuber to expose it.

This is just one symptom of a disease described in Isaiah 1:5-6: “the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”

IN OTHER NEWS

Has North Korea joined the exclusive nuclear-powered submarine club? The state-run Korean Central News Agency published images on December 25 of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspecting what they claim is the nation’s first nuclear-powered submarine. “We regard the super-powerful offensive capability as the best shield for national security in developing the armed forces,” Kim was quoted as saying. If the claims are accurate, North Korea now poses a much more dangerous strategic threat. Only China, France, India, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom are known to currently operate these advanced vessels. Nuclear-powered submarines can sustain higher speeds for longer periods than diesel-electric models, are far quieter, can stay submerged for months, and can launch nuclear missiles from hidden locations—perhaps the most important capability for nuclear deterrence, counterstrikes and surprise attacks.

Judge lightens sex offender’s sentence because he is black: Justice Frank Hoskins sentenced Omogbolahan Jegede to just two years in prison last week in a Nova Scotia, Canada, court after he was convicted on two counts of sexual assault. One woman testified that the former football player choked her; another woman testified that he raped her. Yet the Impact of Race and Culture Assessment, a report funded under an initiative from Trudeau-era Liberals, said that Jegede was feeling intense pressure around the time of the assaults, that his lack of role models “further exacerbated Mr. Jegede’s vulnerability,” and that the rapist did not have culturally appropriate support to turn to for help. The justice stated that, if not for “mitigating factors” including this report, Jegede’s “sentence would have been much higher.” The Bible, the foundation of Western law, specifies, “One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you” (Numbers 15:16). Modern judges often replace what is left of the biblical rule of law in the West with their own blatantly unjust judgments.

Bondi directs prosecutors to investigate Obama lawfare: In an interview with conservative outlet Just the News on Sunday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she has asked Justice Department prosecutors to investigate Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s roles in an ongoing election-meddling conspiracy. She said, “[E]vidence illustrates that the fbi shielded political figures like Hunter Biden and Hillary Clinton while pursuing conservatives for their beliefs, using legal process and operations that were excessive, instead of protecting Americans from public safety threats posed by an open border and violent crime. They went so far as to serve search warrants that their own department and law enforcement officials believed were excessive.” So many of the crimes Gerald Flurry details in America Under Attack haven’t faced any reckoning. It would be stunning if this effort actually holds the criminals accountable.