Vladimir Putin can invade other countries to protect the rights of Russian citizens living abroad under a bill that passed its first reading in the lower house of Russia’s parliament, the Duma, on Tuesday.

At first glance, this is no big deal. The Duma will do whatever Putin tells it to. New law or no, it will approve any invasion the Russian president wants.

• But this bill is about making a clear and public threat. The Baltic states are home to over 800,000 ethnic Russians—who are also members of nato.

Putin is publicly laying the legal groundwork to attack nato. As Russian journalist Farida Rustamova put it:

It seems that the purpose of the document is not to grant Putin additional powers (he has plenty of those) but to intimidate unfriendly countries with possible operations by Russian intelligence services and the military.

Putin is doing this at the same time that European nato nations actively obstruct the United States’ attack on Iran—and as President Donald Trump considers a reduction in U.S. support for the alliance.

• As the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, European leaders are informally working to set up their side of nato to stand alone without the United States.
• The EU often moves at a leisurely pace. Russia’s bill is a reminder that it doesn’t have that luxury.

When Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote, “The fear you see in Europe because of events in Crimea is going to cause 10 leaders in Europe to unite in a sudden and dramatic way—and in precise accordance with the Bible’s description of that European empire!”

Now Russia is openly threatening EU states. Watch for Europe’s political forcefulness and military rearmament—already dramatic—to accelerate even further.

Iran Blockage Causing Global Deficits

American and Israeli attacks on Iran, and Iran’s subsequent terrorism against civilian energy shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, is causing energy shortages and government deficits around the world, the New York Times reported yesterday.

• $1.9 billion in revenue will be lost by the German government after it lowered fuel taxes for the next two months on Monday.
• $1.7 billion will be lost by Canada after it cut taxes on gas, diesel and aviation fuels until September on Tuesday.
• Austria, India, Ireland, Kenya, the Philippines, Poland and Spain are among the other governments with similar plans and projected shortfalls.

Dozens of countries have cut taxes, subsidized energy bills, or given cash relief to their populations at the cost of increasing their national debts.

• The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that the conflict could cause a global recession, and advised it governments to take measures like these to help cut costs for the average consumer. However, the next day, it stated that many nations are simultaneously accumulating unsustainable levels of debt.

Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are failing, further exacerbating the economic strain.

Iran’s power: Due to its willingness to use military-grade weapons to commit terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s radical Islamist regime wields outsized leverage against the U.S. and the rest of the world.

• Additionally, its Houthi proxies in Yemen have displayed a willingness to terrorize shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

The Bible prophesies that radical Islam’s power is about to drastically increase. Watch for its ability to wreak havoc on the world’s oil market to escalate.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has warned that Iran will use its strategic leverage and its ideological zealotry to spark a conflict that will plunge the world into a nuclear World War iii.

U.S. Bishops Rally to Pope’s Defense

Yesterday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement defending Pope Leo xiv’s teachings on war and peace after U.S. Vice President JD Vance publicly questioned them. The first American pontiff said on April 10:

God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, argued that such statements overlook the Catholic Church’s long-standing just war theory and pointed to World War II as an example, asking how God could not have been on the side of the Allies as they fought Nazi Germany and liberated Holocaust concentration camps.

• Vance added that the pope should “be careful” when opining on theology and ensure such comments are “anchored in the truth.”

On Wednesday, Bishop James Massa, chairman of the U.S. Bishops Committee on Doctrine, stated that the Roman Catholic Church permits “just war” only in strict cases of legitimate self-defense against an aggressor who is actively waging war, only after all reasonable efforts to achieve peace have failed, and said that the pontiff’s comments align with this.

• Massa also stressed that the pope was speaking as the supreme pastor of the universal church; he was not merely offering personal opinions but was rather exercising his authority as the “vicar of Christ.”

Notwithstanding, Vice President Vance has raised a legitimate criticism.

• The Islamic Republic of Iran has spent the last 47 years waging war on America, Israel and the Western world through murderous terrorist atrocities, destabilization, threats and pursuit of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads. Like the Nazi regime, the Islamist regime poses a threat to the U.S. and even more so to Israel.
• Negotiations and diplomacy, which have heavily favored Iran—and which Iran has repeatedly violated, have been exhausted.
• The current conflict constitutes “strict cases of legitimate self-defense against an aggressor,” and the Vatican’s stark refusal to acknowledge this and effectively aid the Iranians is morally reprehensible.

British journalist Melanie Phillips wrote on Monday:

The pope’s refusal to support a war to end one of the world’s greatest evils has called to mind the disturbing example of Pope Pius xii during the Holocaust. In 1933, he signed the Reich Concordat, which secured for the German Catholic Church protection from the Nazis and effectively bought its silence over the extermination of the Jews. Arguably, Leo’s stance is yet more shocking, because even Pius didn’t say it was morally wrong to fight Hitler.

Bible prophecies in Isaiah 47 and Revelation 17 foretell a future military conflict between the U.S. and a Catholic-dominated Holy Roman Empire. Despite 56 percent of American Catholic voters supporting Donald Trump in the last election, we are about to see hostility between the U.S. government and the Vatican escalate rapidly. Washington and Rome are on a collision course.

IN OTHER NEWS

Germany signs another billion-dollar drone contract: Yesterday, the Bundestag’s Budget Committee approved a contract for German defense giant Rheinmetall to manufacture more loitering attack drones, weapons that hover over conflict zones to identify and strike targets. The drones will be used by German troops stationed in Lithuania. Initially valued at $345 million, the contract could expand to $1.2 billion, depending on legislative approval and Rheinmetall capacity. This allows for large stockpiles of thousands of drones. The government signed similar contracts with German start-ups Helsing and Stark Defense in February, but this new contract represents confidence in the adaptability of its well-established military industry. Meanwhile, Germany is cooperating closely with Ukraine to evaluate battlefield data and optimize its drone warfare capabilities. Bible prophecy warns that Germany will once again shock the world with new military advances.

Report: Cuban troops fighting Ukraine: “Cuban nationals have emerged as one of the largest identifiable groups of foreign fighters supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine,” an April 8 presidential report to Congress states. The Trump administration claims that up to 5,000 Cuban troops are fighting alongside Russian forces and that there is a strong indication the Cuban government “knowingly tolerated, enabled or selectively facilitated the flow.” Bible prophecy indicates that Cuba will join a global alliance that will economically cripple the U.S., so Cuba’s ties to American enemies and growing tensions with the U.S. bear scrutiny.

Iran using Chinese satellites to fight America? Iran used a Chinese spy satellite secretly acquired in 2024 to monitor American military bases in the Middle East, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing Iranian military documents. The satellite has been used during the current war to identify targets such as the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, which is used by U.S. forces. China denies the report, but if true, this is yet another example of America’s enemies working together and another indicator that Iran’s radical Islamist regime will survive, as the Trumpet has consistently forecast based on Bible prophecy.

Deal to end Iran war approaching? The United States is indicating it could be close to a proper deal to end the war with Iran. While President Donald Trump has not sent any high-ranking officials to the Middle East for talks, a mediator in Pakistan has reportedly made progress. A U.S. official told Axios: “We want to make a deal. And parts of their government want to make a deal. Now the trick is to get the whole of government over there to make a deal.” President Trump told Fox News yesterday that he viewed the war “as very close to over.” As many have noted, it appears that the U.S., for all its power, and President Trump, for all his willingness to use it, is somewhat desperate to end hostilities despite the Iranian regime remaining unchanged.

Trump whistleblower referred to DOJ for possible crimes: Yesterday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s office sent criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, indicating that former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson could have committed crimes when he allegedly skipped normal checks, exceeded his authority, and lodged an anonymous complaint that helped start the impeachment of President Trump in 2019. Atkinson flagged Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukraine’s president as an “urgent concern,” but the Office of the Director of National Intelligence says it has evidence that this, along with an apparent “coordinated effort” among former intelligence agents, may have violated federal law. The odni said that former intelligence workers may have violated federal law in a “coordinated effort” to cause the impeachment. Gabbard said her office has records exposing “deep state actors” whose goal was to overturn the 2016 election results. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has consistently said since 2018 that radical leftists, including Barack Obama, were guilty of treason in their actions against President Trump.

Two Turkish school shootings in just two days: Yesterday, a 14-year-old shooter killed nine people and wounded 13 others at a middle school in Turkey, a country where firearms are heavily restricted. This followed an unrelated shooting in another Turkish school on Tuesday in which 16 people were wounded. These atrocities highlight the reality that violence is increasing throughout the world, as prophesied in 2 Timothy 3.