It’s a sober New Year’s Day after at least 40 revelers died and 100 were injured when a crowded bar caught fire in southwestern Switzerland. Most of the injured are in serious condition. The blaze is believed to have started accidentally. The celebrations included lit sparklers—and once the fire started, it spread quickly.

Last night’s celebrations were already more subdued in major cities around the world in fear of terrorist attacks.

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• Bondi Beach’s New Year’s Eve event was canceled, due to both the aftermath of the December 14 terrorist massacre and sensitivity to its victims.
• Paris’s live concert on the Champs-Élysées, which typically attracts a million people, was canceled due to security concerns and replaced with a prerecorded concert broadcast on television for revelers to watch in the comparative safety of their homes.
• Tokyo’s New Year’s Eve countdown at Shibuya Crossing was closed due to fears that the large crowds would pose a risk.
• Chicago enforced a 10 p.m. curfew for all unaccompanied minors, and a law enforcement threat assessment warned that the city’s fireworks celebration was “an attractive target for both foreign terrorists and domestic extremists.”

Many celebrations in other cities like London and New York went forward, but with stepped-up security.

Christmas markets across Europe also feared Islamist terror attacks. The Catholic Herald described the security of Germany’s Christmas markets this year as “the tightest … seen in peacetime Europe.”

God warned that if we disobey Him, “I will even appoint over you terror,” and that “ye shall flee when none pursueth you.” We are seeing the result of man’s rebellion all around us.

Where will Cyprus’s EU presidency take Europe? Cyprus assumes the EU’s six-month rotating presidency today. This role is just one of many in the EU’s bureaucratic system. However, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides “can make quite a lot out of very little,” Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote on December 29.

Christodoulides’ primary goal is to make the EU more autonomous through “security, defense and readiness.” But while the EU’s primary security concerns are centered on Russia’s war in Ukraine, Christodoulides wants the EU to focus more on the Middle East—and here Cyprus may play a crucial role.

• When presenting his priorities on December 21, Christodoulides said that the EU needs to be “capable of responding swiftly and effectively to crisis situations.”

Cyprus has often been described as “unsinkable aircraft carrier.” Its proximity to the Middle East allows for swift deployments into the region. Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kombos said:

Normally this part of the world is associated with crises and Europeans get engaged when they have a crisis to manage. But this is also a region of opportunities.

Christodoulides’ goals for Cyprus’s EU presidency must be closely watched, as they align with Germany’s goals—and with Bible prophecy.

“Why should you be concerned about this small island in the Mediterranean?” Gerald Flurry asked in our May-June 2013 Trumpet. “Cyprus is one of the world’s most strategic pieces of property. It will play a significant role in the near future, and will probably be the launching pad for World War iii!”

Mr. Flurry’s article “Why Germany Conquered Cyprus” reveals that Cyprus is being prepared to serve as a military staging ground for Europe’s prophesied conquest of the Middle East.

Bulgaria adopts the euro: Today Bulgaria replaced its currency, the lev, with the euro and became the 21st member of the eurozone. This cements Germany’s control over the Balkans.

This decision is controversial:

• Nearly half (47 percent) oppose using the euro as Bulgaria’s only currency.
• 40 percent don’t want the euro at all.
• Roughly 25 percent approve.

Many Bulgarian citizens resent the fact that their politicians did not call a referendum for making such a drastic change, and they question the economic advantages. A Bulgarian store owner told Euronews:

Economic indicators improve, but the population becomes poorer … more big businesses profit.

By some measures, Bulgaria is the European Union’s most corrupt country, behind Hungary. Now it can borrow money with greater ease. It’s also the poorest, with an average income of around $20,000 per person—half the EU average. When Greece, a similarly turbulent and debt-happy country, joined the eurozone, it culminated in a major financial crisis. Investors assumed Germany would never allow a eurozone country to go bankrupt.

What’s in it for Germany? Political control. Germany’s guarantee of financial solvency for smaller EU states comes with a price. Bulgaria’s use of the euro extends Germany’s financial power further southward and eastward. As a eurozone member, Bulgaria’s financial policy is now largely controlled by the European Central Bank.

The Trumpet forecasts the EU will shrink to 10 nations or groups of nations, based on Bible prophecies found in Daniel 2, Revelation 17 and elsewhere. That implies a major crisis will shrink the 27-member EU and the 21-strong eurozone. In the meantime, the euro will remain a powerful tool for extending Germany’s control.

IN OTHER NEWS

Xi Jinping rings in New Year with renewed vow to conquer Taiwan: Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping pledged during his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing to bring Taiwan under control of the Chinese Communist Party. The speech came just as China concluded its “Justice Mission 2025” military drills at locations around Taiwan, with its forces operating closer to the island than in any previous exercises. It also follows a Pentagon report published last month saying China will attain the military capacity to capture Taiwan by the end of 2027. Xi’s speech made clear that he feels emboldened by the gains of his ally Russian Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and by the decision of the United States not to halt Putin’s imperialism. “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable,” he said. The Trumpet maintains that due to America’s weak will, the Chinese Communist Party will make good on its pledge to seize Taiwan.

3,300 Jews fled France for Israel in 2025, a 45 percent increase over 2024, the Israeli government reports. Another 3,500 left the United States for Israel. Why? One major reason is the sharp rise in anti-Semitism in these countries and around the world. France recorded 646 anti-Semitic incidents in the first six months of 2025 alone, according to the French Ministry of the Interior. To understand why anti-Semitism is increasing, read “We Need to Talk About Anti-Semitism.”

Mamdani first mayor sworn in on the Koran: Zohran Mamdani became the first mayor of New York City to be sworn in on the Koran at a landmark inauguration ceremony which took place shortly after midnight on January 1. Mamdani actually used two copies of the Islamic holy book for the ceremony, one belonging to his grandfather and another centuries-old copy on loan from the New York Public Library. This represents a major shift in American culture. The U.S. Muslim population has more than doubled in the last 20 years as the younger generation gives up on Christianity and turns not only to atheism and agnosticism, but even to Islam and other religions and spirituality.

Court: Trump can defund Planned Parenthood: On Tuesday, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that President Trump has the legal authority to ban Medicaid payments to abortion organizations. July’s “Big Beautiful Bill” banned Medicaid payments beyond $800,000 for these organizations and affected 22 states, plus Washington, D.C. Planned Parenthood claims these cuts have caused 20 of their facilities to close. A lower court had blocked the Trump administration, but the First Circuit Court decision is one of several key court decisions, particularly in the Supreme Court, that will empower President Trump. To learn about the judiciary’s role in supporting the president, read Chapter 10 of America Under Attack.

Minnesota brought to justice? The United States federal government is moving toward holding the Minnesota government accountable for allegedly funding radical Islamic terrorism in Somalia with taxpayer dollars. Yesterday, James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announced the group will hold “Part 1” of a hearing concerning the fraud next week. This announcement came a day after Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced a pause on federal taxpayer funding to Minnesota. Though these actions are unlikely to properly bring the perpetrators to justice, this story does illustrate the fulfillment of a prophesied trend. The Bible foretold President Trump’s return and said he would lead an American resurgence, during which many of the nation’s evils would be exposed and stopped.

More Biden corruption exposed: $5.8 billion in taxpayer funds went to “questionable” rental assistance recipients in 2024, the New York Post reported Wednesday. The article, citing a December 18 report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, stated that 30,000 “deceased tenants” and “thousands” of potential noncitizens received payments in the last year of Joe Biden’s term. Though funds were sent to dead recipients in all 50 states, California, New York and Washington, D.C. received a “large concentration” of suspicious funds. An estimated 82 percent of these recipients received more money than allowed. The department plans to further investigate the scale of the fraud and perhaps pause funding or make criminal referrals. This is yet another example of the evils being exposed during the prophesied American resurgence.