A New ‘Golden Age’ for Britain and Germany

Britain and Germany are shifting into a new “golden age” of military cooperation, the Telegraph reported this morning, writing: “The two sides have bonded over their ‘straightforward’ approach to defense cooperation.”

[BRIEF]

Britain is celebrating Germany’s military turnaround:

• “Sources familiar with Britain’s defense strategy say they have cast aside a Cold War-era view of Germany as passive and ineffectual,” the Telegraph said.
• “The UK for some years wanted Germany to play a role on defense that it just couldn’t politically, but now that’s changed; there is an enormous sense of opportunity,” they quote an anonymous security source as saying.
• “Germany has made the financial commitments; they are spending dizzying amounts. They take a while to make a decision, but once they’ve made it, they really get on with it in this sort of logical Prussian manner,” they quote a source as saying.

Britain is relying on Germany for military help:

• German AI defense firm Helsing opened a new factory in the UK in November to produce underwater surveillance drones.
• Rheinmetall opened a new plant last year to produce guns for Britain’s upcoming Challenger 3 main battle tank.
• German firearms-maker Heckler & Koch bought a UK-based precision machining firm in February to make weapons parts.

The “crown jewel” of this new golden age is a new long-range missile. The project will “probably draw on a combination of German funding and British expertise,” the Telegraph wrote.

• The main obstacle is that Britain may be moving too slowly for Germany. Currently, the missile is scheduled to be ready in 2034, but Germany wants it faster.

Britain is entrusting its safety to Germany, even contributing British expertise to help build up its military power. The Bible specifically prophesies that Britain will turn to Germany for help—and be betrayed. You can read about some of those detailed prophecies in “Aiding the Enemy.”

Germany’s Quandary: Economic Jumpstart, or Sunday Rest?

During Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s efforts to reinvigorate Germany’s economy, one vestige of the nation’s past has so far been largely untouched: Sunday rest. Unlike most other places in the world, most stores in Germany are closed on Sundays—by law.

• Bakeries and pastry shops are already a limited exception, open up to three hours on Sundays. A draft bill from the Federal Labor Ministry, published in early July, would extend that to up to eight hours.

Will Germany end this century-old prohibition due to economic strain?

• Wall Street Journal: “Stagnant Germany Considers the Unthinkable: Sunday Shopping” (July 18)
• Telegraph: “Germans Contemplate Working Sundays to Save Their Economy” (July 19)

Retailers are pushing to end the Sunday shop ban entirely, but Bible prophecy indicates the opposite will happen.

Timo Weber, the ceo of department store chain KaDeWe, said:

Germany needs reforms to help its economy. So every stone is getting turned over, or should be. And we’re saying, “Don’t forget our stone.”

“They face an uphill battle,” the Telegraph wrote. “Churches, trade unions and politicians from across the political spectrum stand in their way. And they’re fighting a tradition that goes back a long, long way.”

• Germany’s current constitution, like its 1919 Weimar predecessor, reads: “Sundays and state-recognized holidays remain protected by law as days of rest from work, and of spiritual improvement.”

Bible prophecy is clear: The Catholic Church will win this battle. In fact, there will come a time when “no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:17).

• As Herbert W. Armstrong proved in his booklet Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?, this mark is Sunday worship, which was once enforced on threat of death in European history.
• Prophecy indicates that the German government, guided by the Catholic Church, may enforce a six-day workweek, with Sunday rest religiously enforced.

Not just in Germany: Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in 1992 that most of the world “is soon going to be forced to keep Sunday—or die.” Study this crucial biblical prophecy by reading Part 2 of Mr. Armstrong’s booklet.

An Arab Nuclear Program Trump Endorses

The United States has agreed to Saudi Arabia starting a civil nuclear program, although the agreement is still informal and awaits President Donald Trump’s final approval.

• The arrangement includes U.S. assistance in starting a Saudi civilian nuclear energy program, dubbed the “123 Agreement.”
• The agreement reportedly does not require Saudi Arabia to implement standard anti-weaponization safeguards, including oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The U.S. is claiming it would offer its own standard of safeguards.
• The early stages of the deal are moving forward, but President Trump has yet to sign it, most likely because it would require a congressional review and could be blocked.

Saudi Arabia is an energy superpower. It is the second-largest producer and exporter of oil after the U.S. The main reason it wants a nuclear program is that it fears an Iranian nuclear bomb and wants nuclear parity.

Starting a nuclear program without UN oversight corroborates this motive.

• In 2023, Bret Baier asked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who runs the government under his father, King Salman, what he would do if Iran got a nuclear weapon. He responded: “If they get one, we have to get one—for security reasons, for balancing power in the Middle East.”
• Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense treaty with nuclear-armed Pakistan last year. Saudi Arabia came close to activating it against Iran during the Iran war’s active fighting.

Saudi Arabia is not Iran. Nobody thinks Saudi Arabia will start a nuclear World War iii intentionally out of religious zealotry. But it is still an autocracy in an unstable part of the world.

• For countries like Saudi Arabia to be rushing toward a nuclear bomb demonstrates the dangerous era we live in.

Jesus Christ prophesied in Matthew 24:21-22 that this nuclear era would culminate in “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be.” Learn more in Gerald Flurry’s free booklet Nuclear Armageddon Is ‘At the Door.’

IN OTHER NEWS

Germany reaches out to Africa to fight rising terrorism: German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul began his third African trip of the year yesterday, with a focus on Mauritania. Germany sees the coastal West African nation as a vital ally and “pillar of stability” for reducing Islamic terrorism in the Sahel. Wadephul said, “There are … threats emanating from Africa. In particular, the Sahel region is characterized by weak state structures and a high level of terrorism. … Mauritania is a pillar of stability that we must continue to support, for our own interest. Because if those terrorist threats spread … this could naturally lead to further migration flows toward Europe.” Expect Europe to continue focusing on Africa in its attempts to fight immigration and radical Islam.

Are Russian deserters being sent back to die at the front? Most asylum applications by Russian military deserters are being denied by German authorities, according to a Deutsche Welle report on Sunday. Figures from Germany’s parliament reveal that 126 people were deported back to Russia in 2025. After detailing a particular case, the article stated: “Many similar applications have been rejected based on the rationale that deserters do not face a ‘real risk’ of severe persecution or deployment to Ukraine upon return.” This ignores “hundreds of reports of Russian deserters being sent directly to the front lines and mistreated,” the article says. Once again, Germany is playing into Russia’s hands.

Russians conduct live-fire off Britain’s coast: A Russian warship conducted a live-fire weapons drill 46 miles off the coast of the United Kingdom yesterday. The incident marks the latest display of military brinkmanship as Russia continues to intimidate European nations and test nato’s resolve.