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nasa plans to build a permanent “city on the moon,” nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman announced yesterday.

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• Imagine modular, prefabricated units brought from Earth, or even inflatable structures, hosting astronauts who spend their days exploring the lunar surface.

The $20 billion initiative aims to serve as a stepping-stone for deeper space exploration, including future Mars missions. It’s an impressive scientific ambition with visionary implications.

The three-phase road map starts right away:

• From now through 2029, nasa will conduct up to 21 landings, deploying rovers, helicopter drones and scientific equipment to scout for water ice and suitable settlement sites.
• Phase two (2029–2032) focuses on early human habitation. Some 24 landings will deliver dozens of tons of cargo, install solar and nuclear power systems, and construct basic infrastructure.
• By 2032, the program aims to have a sustained presence with routine crew rotations and annual cargo deliveries. Over time, astronauts will use moon resources, including 3-D printing with lunar dust, to build a sprawling complex covering hundreds of square miles.

Experts compare the setup to Antarctic research stations. But Antarctica, besides being much closer, is positively cozy compared to the inhospitable moon:

• No atmosphere means that temperatures swing from a scorching 200 degrees Fahrenheit in daylight to 150 degrees below zero at night. Moon dwellers would also face constant threats from radiation exposure, micrometeorite impacts and clouds of abrasive moon dust.

But this is what we do. Humanity’s ambition and pioneering spirit have fueled exploration and settlement across our planet and are now drawing our hearts up into the cosmos.

The Bible reveals that God made us in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). He implanted within us the capacity to think and reason, with a desire to create and explore. “He has put eternity in their hearts,” Ecclesiastes 3:11 says (New King James Version).

• God created the universe for a purpose—and mankind is at the heart of that purpose. As Trumpet publisher Gerald Flurry showed in his recent article “God’s Space Program,” man’s destiny is not merely to plant flags or build shelters on our little moon. The Bible shows it is to colonize other planets.

When we do this in God’s time and according to His plan, you can be sure we won’t be huddling in inflatable pods for protection from extreme temperatures and other harsh conditions. God will use us to “plant the heavens” (Isaiah 51:16), transforming lifeless cosmic deserts into thriving gardens and homes for families.

Iran War Update

• Iran threatened retaliation against the United States on Tuesday, claiming that Monday’s strikes against its assets were a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire and saying it will “leave no act of hostility unanswered.”
• Iran could send its enriched uranium to China in a deal to formally end the war, media reports are claiming. China’s Foreign Ministry stated in a Tuesday press conference that China is “willing to continue to play a constructive role in the political and diplomatic resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.”
• Europe may not be able to meet its energy demands through the summer. European Union nations’ natural gas storage levels are currently at just over a third of full capacity, significantly lower than the usual 50 percent for this time of year. Executives at Equinor, a major Norwegian energy corporation, claimed Europe may be unable to sustain its natural gas needs if the Strait of Hormuz blockade continues for one to three more months.

Russia Warns of German Military Advancement

Germany “has become virtually the global leader in the production and sale of new types of weapons,” Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said on May 20. At the UN Security Council briefing on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, he warned:

A country that twice initiated world wars has now become one of the leading donors to armed conflicts, inter alia [among other things], by supplying weapons for use in territories where its army was deployed twice in the 20th century alone.

It’s easy to dismiss Nebenzia’s warning, given Russia’s own military atrocities. However, Russia is concerned about something the entire world should be concerned about: By engaging on foreign battlefields, Germany is regaining its long-dormant military lethality—at an alarming pace.

• Currently, Germany is the second-largest arms exporter to Israel and the largest to Ukraine. Both countries have engaged in modern warfare for an extended period, cooperating closely with Germany.
• Russia unduly criticizes Ukraine’s and Israel’s wars of self-defense. However, it correctly recognizes that Germany’s military support is not altruistic.

Germany has signed strategic cooperation agreements with both Israel and Ukraine. Nebenzia noted that it is also the recipient of Israel’s largest arms export in history, the Arrow 3 missile defense system, with an overall value exceeding $6.7 billion.

Referring to a cooperation agreement in cybersecurity and the use of new technologies between Germany and Israel, signed in January, Nebenzia claimed:

This news is causing concern, insofar as the use of artificial intelligence during the war in Gaza has become notorious worldwide.

However, this news should be viewed through the lens of another report stating that, as part of the Brave Germany program, Berlin and Kyiv have agreed to provide grant support to so-called Ukrainian and German start-ups working in the field of defense technology and developing new approaches to warfare. This involves uncrewed systems, artificial intelligence, next-generation communications technologies, and the development of missile systems. It is crystal clear what kind of “start-ups” are being referred to here—these are industrial capabilities of Germany.

It’s easy to see why Russia is alarmed. Its “special military operation” that was supposed to last a few weeks has been dragging on for more than four years. It is suffering major setbacks on the battlefield. Its allies, such as Iran and its proxies, are also absorbing damage from Israel and the United States.

• But the military edge Germany is gaining from this battlefield should be even more alarming to Russia and to the world!

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry highlighted in “Germany Is Arming for World War III”: “The rapid development in AI … could lead to the sudden overthrow of major superpowers. … Germany’s expertise in these new technologies is bringing potentially revolutionary change to the battlefield!”

The Bible prophesies that Germany and Russia will work together to overthrow the United States economically (Ezekiel 27). But this doesn’t mean that Russia trusts Germany. In fact, the Germans worked with Russia in World War II, then betrayed it—and they will do so again. The explosion of mass bloodshed that will result will affect everyone on the planet.

Will Trump Give Iran Pallets of Cash?

President Donald Trump is on the brink of giving Iran $24 billion in return for peace, according to rumors circulating around Washington. Citing “regional officials,” cbs reported that a “memorandum of understanding” is close to being finalized that establishes a 60-day ceasefire with the following conditions:

• The Strait of Hormuz will reopen, and the U.S. will stop blockading Iran.
• Fighting will cease on all fronts, including Israel’s bombing of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
• Iran will promise to never use nuclear weapons and dispose of its enriched uranium in “a mechanism that both sides will agree on.”
• The U.S. will lift sanctions on Iran and unfreeze Iranian assets.

This last provision would effectively send Iran pallets of cash, once again. “The president wants to bribe the regime—and sell that as victory,” wrote Park MacDougald in Tablet.

“For a president who promised an overwhelming victory,” the Telegraph wrote, “the transfer of funds seems less like a decisive military campaign and more like a ransom payout to stop the bleeding.”

The picture is still fuzzy, with different outlets reporting slightly different details from different anonymous officials. And President Trump has walked away from bad deals in the past.

But some of the leaks claim America would hand over $24 billion in frozen Iranian funds, with half of it delivered upfront. MacDougald wrote:

The United States has undoubtedly set back Iran’s nuclear program (and we’ll see what happens with the “nuclear dust”), but beyond that, it has failed to achieve its core strategic objectives. Trump set out to effectively wipe Iran off the geopolitical map. Now, he’s haggling over bribes with a regime he’s claimed on dozens of occasions to have already annihilated. Even for Trump, who is above all a salesman, it’s hard to sell that as a victory.

Even this does not buy a permanent peace. Instead, it is merely a ceasefire and a “framework for future negotiations.”

“For eight decades, our unprecedented military strength has been spent in vain because Americans are steeped in sin,” the April issue of the Trumpet states. “Sin naturally saps our fighting spirit. And God lays on additional curses to help us wake up and see the destruction we are bringing on ourselves.”

It’s not a foregone conclusion that America will pay the bribe and run away. But Bible prophecy showed us right from the start of this conflict that an unrepentant America would lack the moral strength of will to wipe the undemocratic, oppressive, terroristic Iranian regime off the geopolitical map. To understand why, read “Will America Win?”

IN OTHER NEWS

Russia uses powerful missile for third time: Russia used its nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile for the third time ever to attack Kyiv on Sunday in a strike that involved about 90 missiles and 600 drones and killed at least four and wounded at least 83. The residence of Albania’s ambassador to Ukraine was also struck. This latest attack is further proof of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ruthlessness, which is shocking Europe into action.

The Baltic states and Finland scramble under incoming Ukrainian drones: Last Wednesday, Lithuania’s president and prime minister rushed to bunkers following a drone incursion. In recent weeks, Lithuania’s Baltic Sea neighbors, Estonia and Latvia, have also become targets, as has Finland, which advised citizens to go indoors, move to a room with solid walls, and await further government instructions. Russia has allegedly been transmitting false navigation signals to Ukrainian drones to redirect them into nato airspace. “This is a deliberate strategy from Russia trying to destabilize our democratic societies,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday at a joint press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, standing alongside Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian heads of state. “When Baltic states are being tested, Europe as a whole is being tested.” Despite setbacks on the battlefield, Russia is advancing its technological capabilities and further frightening Europe.

Germany wants closer ties with China despite European opposition: German Economics Minister Katherina Reiche is visiting Beijing from Tuesday to Friday to strengthen Germany’s business ties with China. This news comes despite a call from France, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Spain to resist Chinese manipulation. Germany continues to push for closer ties with China despite opposition within Europe because they share a common enemy: the United States. The Bible prophesies that Germany and China will align their trade policies for a short period to economically besiege the U.S.

German-aligned party wins Cypriot parliamentary election: The Democratic Rally kept its first-place spot, with 27 percent of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election in Cyprus, a notable benchmark for the 2028 presidential election. The far-right National People’s Front took a record 11 percent of the vote, and two other new parties entered parliament, reflecting the nation’s increasing political fracturing. Democratic Rally is part of the conservative European People’s Party, which is led by German Member of European Parliament Manfred Weber and includes Germany’s powerful Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union. This is more evidence that Cyprus is a vassal state of Germany.

Al Qaeda attacks Benin: Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Africa’s Sahel region, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, announced on Monday that it had attacked and captured two barracks belonging to the military of Benin. The attacks, reportedly near Benin’s border with Burkina Faso, likely show the group’s intentions to expand its operations to more countries. To learn how these hostilities could fit into Bible prophecy, read “Is the Sahel About to Fall?”

Ken Paxton wins Texas Republican Senate primary: Yesterday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff. President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton last week, calling him a “true maga warrior” and characterizing Cornyn as a fair-weather supporter. Paxton will face Democrat nominee James Talarico in the November 3 general elections. Cornyn joins Rep. Thomas Massie on the list of incumbents felled by Trump-backed challengers. However, analysts say Paxton is a much weaker candidate than Cornyn for the general election and will require significantly more spending by the Republican Party to avoid the Senate seat flipping to the Democratic Party.