WorldWatch
Europe
On January 1, the European Union passed a couple of major milestones. Bulgaria replaced its currency, the lev, with the euro, becoming the 21st member of the eurozone. This cements Germany’s control over the Balkans, even though it is supported by only 51 percent of Bulgarians. The addition also makes the euro less stable. By some measures, Bulgaria is the EU’s most corrupt country behind Hungary. Now it can borrow money with greater ease. It’s also the poorest, with an average annual income of around $20,000 per person, half the EU average. The addition of Bulgaria could accelerate another eurozone crisis that will ultimately result in the paring down of the EU to a 10-nation superpower.
On the same day, Cyprus took over the rotating presidency of the European Commission. Cyprus’s leaders emphasized the need to boost the EU’s military, with a focus on the Middle East rather than Russia. “Normally this part of the world is associated with crises, and Europeans get engaged when they have a crisis to manage,” Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kombos said. “But this is also a region of opportunities.” In the May-June 2013 Trumpet, Gerald Flurry asked, “Why should you be concerned about this small island in the Mediterranean? 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!” Over the next six months, Cyprus’s presidency will provide Europe and Germany with plenty of opportunities to expand its control over the Mediterranean.
After more than 25 years of negotiations, a massive trade agreement between the EU and four South American countries overcame one of its final obstacles in early January, and seems set to be law. Representatives from 21 of the EU’s 27 nations voted to approve the EU-
mercosur Partnership Agreement, a big step toward creating a new trade zone comprising more than 700 million people, the largest trade alliance on Earth. This interim agreement is part of a much wider partnership the EU and mercosur are developing.
The Bible shows that Germany’s interest in this agreement goes far beyond beef, cars and other economic considerations. Deuteronomy 28 reveals the curses to come on modern America for disobeying God. Verse 52 warns of an economic siege orchestrated by a “nation of fierce countenance” (verse 50). Based on this and a parallel prophecy in Isaiah 23, the Plain Truth under Herbert W. Armstrong warned: “The United States is going to be left out in the cold as two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce.” Mr. Flurry explained this prophecy in “America Is Being Besieged Economically.”
Germany’s neo-Nazi Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has remained Germany’s most popular party, a Forsa poll conducted in December found. It is also becoming mainstream: Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the Munich Security Conference, invited an AfD delegation to the high-profile security policy forum in February. Last year, U.S. Vice President JD Vance complained that it had been excluded. As the AfD receives wider acceptance, could it finally become part of a ruling coalition? That could aid in the rise of a strong authoritarian leader in Germany.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the man Mr. Flurry has identified as that potential leader, said that Donald Trump might be the best thing that has ever happened to Europe. He has expressed hatred for Trump, but pointed out that the EU has been lazing on the “comfortable sofa” and “has always relied on others.” But it now faces “someone who turns the world upside down, or the other way around, and we are forced to act.” Clearly he has long wanted Germany to take action. Watch for Germany’s government to become much more authoritarian, and watch Guttenberg.
Middle East
Reports suggest Iran is on the cusp of acquiring weapons of mass destruction. The Italian Institute for International Political Studies think tank reported on Dec. 24, 2025, that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has “decided to give the green light to the development of compact warheads for ballistic missiles.” The report claims that after Israel and the United States struck Iran in June, Iran’s leadership has concluded that “the only true deterrent that could save the Iranian regime in the event of a conflict against Israel and its U.S. allies, short of a humiliating surrender to the Americans, would be nuclear weapons.”
“Informed military sources,” meanwhile, told Iran International that Iran is also “developing biological and chemical warheads for the country’s long-range ballistic missiles” (Dec. 29, 2025).
Since the 1990s, Gerald Flurry has identified radical Islam, led by Iran, as “the king of the south” prophesied in Daniel 11:40, a power that will ignite a worldwide cataclysm. Weapons of mass destruction would give Iran’s radicals the ability to start the turmoil described in Daniel 11. Read “Why the Trumpet Watches Iran’s Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons.”
Israel and Syria restarted U.S.-brokered security talks on January 5, after negotiations stalled in November. This was the first time Israel has sent civilian representatives in addition to military officials to speak with the regime of President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Israel and Syria agreed to establish a “dedicated communication cell” to share intelligence and to deescalate military conflict, which will be overseen by the U.S. and based in a neutral country.
Sharaa used to command al Qaeda’s Syrian branch. Since taking power in December 2024, his government has been guilty of everything from grafting foreign jihadis into the national military, to reopening prisons used for torture and repression, to ethnic cleansing. Nevertheless, the U.S. has pushed to reintegrate Syria into the international community, including pressuring Israel to make deals like this one.
A prophecy in Psalm 83 mentions “the Hagarenes” (verse 6) allying with other Middle Eastern peoples so “the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (verse 4). The Hagarenes were the ancient inhabitants of Syria. Based on this, Mr. Flurry wrote in “Deadly Flaw in Mideast Peace Deals,” “While it seems that these nations are moving away from radicalism and violence, we must look beneath the surface. After all, this prophecy reveals that they will take ‘crafty counsel’—subtle and shrewd dealing. This sure prophecy shows that these nations will ally to try to blot out the name of Israel forever! That is intense hatred!”
Asia
Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping pledged in his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing to bring Taiwan under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. The speech came just hours after China concluded its “Justice Mission 2025” military drills at locations around Taiwan, with its forces operating closer to the island than in previous exercises. It also followed a Pentagon report published on Dec. 23, 2025, 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 Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and by the United States’ decision not to halt Putin’s imperialism. “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable,” he said. The Trumpet maintains that mainly due to America’s weak will, the Chinese Communist Party will eventually make good on its pledge to seize democratic Taiwan.
Russia’s Defense Ministry published the first images of its new nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile system in Belarus on Dec. 30, 2025, claiming the system is now “on combat duty.” Called the Oreshnik, the missile’s range is believed to exceed 3,000 miles, placing most of Europe within rapid striking distance. In 2014, when Russia forcibly annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, Gerald Flurry said, based on Bible prophecy, that the move would frighten Europeans, spurring them to militarize and unify. As the peoples of Europe watch Russia’s intensifying full-scale war on Ukraine and its deployment of nuclear weapons on their doorstep, their fear is intensifying. Watch for Europe to fully unify and militarize. Read Mr. Flurry’s landmark September 2023 article, “Russia’s War on Ukraine Is Reshaping Europe.”
The state-run Korean Central News Agency published on Dec. 25, 2025, images of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, inspecting what it claims 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 North Korea is able to complete and operate this vessel, it will pose 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. They are perhaps the most important single military asset for nuclear deterrence, counterstrikes and surprise attacks.
Anglo-America
The United States Justice Department released 300,000 pages of files on the late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein on Dec. 19, 2025, including documents, phone recordings and videos. These files reveal that Epstein deliberately targeted teenage girls for sexual exploitation. Marina Lacerda, who was abused by Epstein from the age of 14, said he required girls to show ID proving they were younger than 18 years old and was furious when an 18-year-old was brought to him for sex, immediately sending her away for being too old.
Photographs in these files feature high-profile figures such as Bill Clinton, Sarah Ferguson, Bill Gates, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Diana Ross, Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker and Donald Trump. One photo shows Trump surrounded by adult women in bikinis. In our September 2025 issue, we wrote, “Before it can truly move on from the Epstein scandal, America must lock up those who have broken the law and dismantle the culture that glorifies pornography, fornication, adultery, homosexuality and pedophilia.” The release of these files may help bring some people to justice, but if America does not repent of pervasive sexual sin among both the elites and everyday people, the nation will experience terrible curses.
The independent aggregator OnlyGuider reported that over the first 11 months of 2025, Americans spent $2.6 billion on OnlyFans, a website infamous for providing young women a means for selling themselves online. OnlyFans does not publish statistics on its users’ content or location, but independent journalists estimate that 70 to 90 percent or more of its posts are pornographic, and more than 1 million publishers to the platform are American. Last year, the most active city, Atlanta, Georgia, spent the equivalent of more than $50 per man, woman and child.
On Dec. 23, 2025, the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s request to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago. The 6-3 decision left in force a lower court ruling that blocked the troop deployment, arguing that the federal government lacks authority to allow the military to execute laws in Illinois. The court’s most conservative justices dissented. Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “The court fails to explain why the president’s inherent constitutional authority to protect federal officers and property is not sufficient to justify the use of National Guard members in the relevant area for precisely that purpose.”
President John Adams told the Massachusetts Militia in 1788, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
