Europe
Germany is increasingly gaining the trust of its World War ii enemies.
Britain and Germany are shifting into a new “golden age” of military cooperation, the Telegraph reported on July 21: “Sources familiar with Britain’s defense strategy say they have cast aside a Cold War-era view of Germany as passive and ineffectual.” 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 cooperation is flourishing: German firearms-maker Heckler & Koch acquired a United
Kingdom-based precision-machining firm in February; German AI defense company Helsing opened a factory in the UK to produce autonomous underwater surveillance systems; and Rheinmetall opened a new plant last year to produce the main gun for Britain’s upcoming Challenger 3 main battle tank.
Canada is moving in the same direction, selecting ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems for its largest military procurement contract in history. The Royal Canadian Navy will buy up to 12 attack submarines worth up to $100 billion from the German-Norwegian consortium, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced July 6.
France is preparing to extend its nuclear umbrella over Germany. On July 16, two nuclear-capable French Rafale jets and two German Eurofighter jets participated in the first joint air drill between the two nations. The next day, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron joined the Franco-German Defense and Security Council for a meeting at the Nörvenich military airfield near Cologne, Germany. Macron said the meeting added a “new dynamic” to the creation of a “powerful Europe which unites our strengths.”
The Bible prophesies that Germany will abuse this trust, as explained in “Aiding the Enemy.”
While gaining the trust of Western allies, Germany is secretly maintaining ties with Russia. Germany’s Die Zeit and ARD Kontraste exclusively revealed on July 16 that a secret meeting between former German and Russian officials took place July 12–14 in Azerbaijan. At a joint press conference with Merz on July 21, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev confirmed: “Our territory was used for such a meeting without our knowledge.” There have been at least four meetings in Baku and Abu Dhabi since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin also held a private meeting with former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
The German government denies involvement in the meetings, but Germany and Russia have a history of secretly working together. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has warned that they will plot once more against America and Britain. Read “Germany’s Secret Deal With Russia—Exposed.”
Overnight on August 4 and 5, a drone carrying an explosive device was discovered at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany. Another drone struck a plane as it was aborting its landing. The airport serves as a hub for military logistics supporting Ukraine and nato allies. Investigators believe the target was a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft. German officials described the incident as a new and more dangerous category of security threat. Russia appears to be the most likely culprit.
Germany is conducting “active research and development work” with “a nuclear weapons focus,” the press bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia warned on July 20. The report claims that “the relevant ministries of one of the key nato states are expressing concern” as well.
History teaches the drastic, worldwide consequences that result from German and Russian military ambitions.
Middle East
United States envoy Massad Boulos outlined in a June 17 Financial Times article United States’ mediation efforts to unify Libya’s two rival factions, which have been governing eastern and western Libya separately since 2020. The current plan would give the factions’ leading families key positions in one central government. A central provision of this plan is opening up Libya to American oil companies. Libya has Africa’s largest proven oil reserves, but its political situation has made the oil difficult to extract. With U.S. encouragement, ConocoPhillips and Chevron made arrangements with Libya early this year. Boulos said he believes American investment could “put Libya on the global map of major oil producers.” It appears U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to repeat what he did in Venezuela and use peace talks to turn Libya into a U.S. ally.
Daniel 11:40-43 prophesy that Libya will ally with Iran, the end-time “king of the south.” (Gerald Flurry explains this in his free booklet The King of the South.) Trump believes he can bring peace to Libya and turn it into an American partner. But Bible prophecy states that control of Libya will eventually fall to his main enemy in the Middle East: Iran.
On July 13, the New York Times and Haaretz reported that Israel had been grooming former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as its puppet to take over Iran. Ahmadinejad, who ran the government under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from 2005 to 2013, had apparently split with Iran’s current leadership over corruption issues and had been targeted for cultivation by Israel since at least 2023. When Israel started its bombing campaign against Iran on February 28 with the U.S., it was reportedly hoping amid the chaos to install Ahmadinejad. Once the plan was exposed, Iranian authorities placed him under house arrest by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ahmadinejad is a curious choice for the job. He has said “Zionists are a cancerous tumor” and called for a Middle East where there would be “no trace” of a Jewish state in the Holy Land. There is no indication he has changed his beliefs in Islamic radicalism or end-time theology. The Iranian threat has no easy solution, yet propping up someone like Ahmadinejad to take over is a horrible option. God told the Jews’ forefathers in Jeremiah 17:5-8 that trusting in man to solve national and personal problems results in curses, while trusting in Him leads to blessings. This is the lesson God wants the State of Israel and all mankind to learn.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on August 9 that “Israel does not accept” the 15-point peace plan for Gaza drawn up by the U.S. The plan requires Israel to withdraw its forces in exchange for Hamas storing its weapons in Gaza under the watch of other Palestinian forces, which Hamas would have no trouble infiltrating. Netanyahu said Israel “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed.” He has tried to maintain good relations with President Trump even as the president has pressured him to accept dangerous peace agreements with the Palestinians who massacred his people on Oct. 7, 2023. The August 9 announcement shows Netanyahu is getting bolder and perhaps immovable in standing up to Trump.
Asia
Russia and China conducted joint naval patrols July 13–29 that strengthened their ability to project a combined military force far from their own shores and to challenge control of the world’s critical sea lanes. The “Maritime Cooperation 2026” patrol began off the coast of Qingdao in China’s Shandong province, with a force consisting of guided-missile destroyers as well as a comprehensive supply vessel and naval corvette. They conducted drills in and around the Miyako, Etorofu and Soya straits and in key littoral areas of the western Pacific, Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. These areas contain some of East Asia’s most strategically important maritime corridors. Biblical prophecy shows that these emerging capabilities will ultimately be weaponized against the United States and some of its allies. Read “Preparing to Storm America’s Castle.”
Japan must further strengthen its national defense to counter China’s rapidly expanding reach into the Pacific, Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a white paper released on August 4. Describing China as “an unprecedented and … greatest strategic challenge” to Japan’s security, the paper said that the Japanese must not only increase military spending but also build a more robust defense industrial base and bolster its military alliances. This is the latest evidence showing that Japan and China’s rivalry is intensifying, driving each to further strengthen its military. Yet prophecy reveals that these two nations will ultimately unite under Russia, as our free booklet Russia and China in Prophecy explains.
North Korea is deploying a missile unit to Russia that will soon enter the war against Ukraine, Reuters reported on August 5, citing Ukraine’s military intelligence agency. The unit consists of 90 military personnel operating six missile launchers, armed with an initial arsenal of 120 ballistic missiles. The development is particularly ominous for Ukraine, which is critically short of advanced air defenses. Since late 2023, North Korea has supplied Russia with vast quantities of artillery shells and other munitions. Since 2024, it has provided ballistic missiles and troops. At least 14,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to fight alongside Russian forces. Biblical prophecy warns of a colossal multinational Asian force led by Russia that will include China and several smaller Asian nations, including North Korea.
Anglo-America
Andy Burnham became Britain’s prime minister on July 20, replacing Sir Keir Starmer and becoming the nation’s seventh head of government since the Brexit referendum 10 years ago. Britain faces heavy debt, high immigration and record levels of crime. In the 1970s, the nation suffered 25 percent inflation, top tax rates of 83 percent, and a three-day workweek caused by strikes. Margaret Thatcher reversed that decline. Yet Burnham has said he wants to undo many of her policies.
On June 23, three candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America won Democratic primaries in New York. All three oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. provision of military aid to Israel. These results show U.S. voters rejecting what is left of the biblical virtues that helped make America a free and prosperous nation.
On July 29, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared before a Senate committee under subpoena. He repeatedly refused to answer questions about the origins of COVID-19, citing the Fifth Amendment. Sen. Rand Paul argued that a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden meant Fauci should testify rather than invoking his right not to testify against, and possibly incriminate, himself. Nearly 400 pages of documents released by former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard indicate Fauci helped fund gain-of-function research at a Chinese lab, worked to downplay the lab-leak theory, and denied under oath that he was involved.
On June 30, the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s executive order that would have ended birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and temporary visitors. In a 6-3 decision in Trump v. Barbara, the majority said the 14th Amendment requires citizenship for almost everyone born on U.S. soil. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch said the majority-opinion justices had their history wrong. Justice Samuel Alito called the ruling a serious mistake that encourages illegal entry. The decision keeps borders open, matching Bible prophecies about broken border defenses (Deuteronomy 28:52; Isaiah 59:14).
The worst drought in 1,200 years is fueling wildfires across the American West. In late June, 79 fires burned in 10 states. Utah’s Cottonwood Fire burned nearly 100,000 acres and destroyed about 150 buildings. A warm, dry winter and long-term drought had turned grass and trees into fuel. Tree-ring studies show the years 2000–2018 were among the driest in the Southwest in a millennium. The Bible links such droughts to curses that come when modern Israel turns away from God (Leviticus 26:19).