In Other News
China announced a zero-tariff trade agreement with Venezuela, Fox News reported Wednesday. This came after President Donald Trump identified Venezuela’s regime as an oppressive and illegitimate dictatorship guilty of smuggling drugs and criminals into the U.S. and after he began applying economic pressure and threatening imminent military action. Gordon Chang, an expert on China’s global trade strategy, told Fox: “This really looks like China is going to completely take over the Venezuelan economy.” This matches Bible prophecies stating that China, as well as Europe, will create a worldwide anti-American trade bloc.
United States President Donald Trump hosted the inaugural Board of Peace meeting yesterday. The board announced that Albania, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Morocco will send peacekeepers to Gaza. All five are Muslim-majority countries, but most are countries Israel has cordial relations with. Indonesia has no diplomatic relations with Israel, but neither is it a historic enemy. Two countries hostile to Israel, Qatar and Turkey, have considered sending peacekeepers, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have convinced Trump and his board to forgo this for now. The Board of Peace appears to be progressing in its goals for Gaza, but this is illusory.
Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated on Wednesday that Estonia is willing to host nato nuclear weapons. His comment comes after Polish President Karol Nawrocki floated the idea of Poland developing nuclear weapons earlier this week and amid discussions between Germany and France regarding a European nuclear arsenal independent of the United States.
France and Algeria agreed to restore security cooperation on Tuesday following a visit by French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, another indication that two years of strain in their relationship is easing. Algeria is important to France and Europe as a supplier of natural gas and as a strategic location to advance European interests in northern Africa.
Iran and Russia held “anti-terrorism and vessel protection operations” yesterday in the Gulf of Oman. According to Iranian Rear Adm. Hassan Maghsoudlou, its aim was “to enhance security and sustainable maritime interactions in the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean.” The drills come amid Iran’s temporary shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz for live-fire naval exercises and are designed as responses to the deployment of two U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike groups to the region. Iran’s aggressive assertion of its control over the strategically important Gulf of Oman with Russia’s help will further provoke Europe to get involved in the region.
Citing administration officials, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the 12-year presence of U.S. forces in Syria will officially end in the next two months. The Bible prophesied that America’s influence over Syria would deteriorate. The U.S. withdrawal clears the way not only for Syria’s new Islamist regime to consolidate power but for a new, imperialistic power.
A large weapons sale to Taiwan is in question after Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping cautioned U.S. President Donald Trump not to approve it, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Xi has repeatedly vowed to acquire Taiwan and has spent years preparing a military capable of conquering it by force if necessary. He aims to further tilt any future conflict in China’s favor by leaving Taiwan inadequately armed, and he is using a trade deal to entice Trump into aligning with this objective. Following a February 4 phone call between Xi and Trump, an unnamed U.S. official described Trump’s advisers as “vacillating” on the decision, the Journal said. A second official said Trump wished to safeguard a trade truce with Xi ahead of his planned visit to Beijing in April and characterized the weapons sale decision as being “carefully considered” in internal discussions. The Trumpet has warned for decades that America’s lack of resolve will be the primary factor enabling the Chinese Communist Party to absorb Taiwan.
Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company, has signed a deal to acquire the world’s 10th-largest: Israel’s Zim Integrated Shipping Services. Zim’s board of directors approved the $4.2 billion deal. It now awaits Israeli government approval, though some Israelis hope the government will reject it. Zim has helped Israel in emergency logistics during wartime. Israel’s port authority called the sale an “existential threat,” while 800 of Zim’s workers staged a strike. The Bible warns that Germany will build a massive commercial empire that will ultimately shut Israel, Britain, America and other nations descended from the ancient Israelites out of world trade. Germany acquiring Israel’s largest shipping company could simultaneously help it build that empire, develop a closer relationship with Israel, and give it the means to besiege it economically. Chapter 5 of Ezekiel—the End-Time Prophet explains more.
Canadian Member of Parliament Matt Jeneroux of the Conservative Party has switched allegiance and joined Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal caucus. He is the third Conservative M.P. to defect to the Liberals since November. Carney’s government now controls 169 members of Parliament, two shy of a majority government. The Liberals are close to gaining even more power to continue their fundamental transformation of Canada.
Oil prices are spiking to their highest levels since last summer as United States President Donald Trump reportedly convenes with advisers for possible military action against Iran. Sources speaking with Axios claim preparations are underway for a potential “joint U.S.-Israeli campaign that’s much broader in scope—and more existential for the regime—than the Israeli-led 12-day war last June.” President Trump and his staff may feel that they can remove or drastically change Iran’s leadership, but Bible prophecy indicates that Iran’s Islamist clerics will not only survive this crisis but ultimately grow even stronger and even more belligerent.
The United States signed a trade deal with Argentina on February 5 that threatens to weaken a much larger trade deal 25 years in the making. It follows the January 17 signing of the EU-mercosur Partnership Agreement, which is now subject to ratification. Argentina is mercosur’s second-largest economy. “Whichever agreement is ratified first could give the EU or the U.S. a first-mover advantage, with the runner-up possibly being told that Argentina has already made a commitment on the matter,” Politico wrote on February 16. Stefano Bonaccini, an Italian Member of European Parliament, said, “If Europe wants to be a geopolitical giant, it must be able to decide without wasting time.” The EU is prophesied in your Bible to become a “geopolitical giant” and to wage and win the largest and worst trade war in human history.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat representing New York, filed legislation on February 15 to grant what is known as the lgbtq+ pride flag the same federal legal protections as the American flag and U.S. military flags. This move comes just after a Trump administration directive to remove the unauthorized rainbow-style lgbtq+ flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, the site of 1969 riots by homosexuals against police at the Stonewall Inn bar. The bill is unlikely to pass without bipartisan support, but Democrats’ actions—let alone the fact that a site defined by homosexuality, prostitution, exploitation and rioting is officially an American national monument—show that America has barely addressed its deep sexual sickness and depravity.
A survey of citizens in France, Greece, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom found that 26 percent of respondents agree with the statement, “If there was a capable and effective leader in my country, I wouldn’t mind if they limited democratic rights and were not accountable to the citizens for their actions,” Politico reported yesterday. The survey was commissioned by the Progressive Lab think tank and conducted by the Greek polling firm AboutPeople. In every country except Sweden and the UK, most were dissatisfied with how democracy functions within their country. Though the minority, the percentage of Europeans who admit they could support a dictatorship is significant. Bible prophecy says they will soon get their wish.
“I’m going to say something I should never say, but I will anyway: You can jailbreak an F-35 just like an iPhone,” Dutch Defense Secretary Gijs Tuinman told bnr in a podcast posted on Saturday. The Netherlands is one of 19 nations that have purchased the fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter from America. Purchasing the F-35 was widely debated in Europe, with some expressing concerns that the U.S. could remotely disable the aircraft. In this context, “jailbreaking” refers to bypassing a manufacturer’s software restrictions. The U.S. denies that it can remotely shut down the F-35, but Europeans want to be sure they can use the F-35, which can carry nuclear weapons, for whatever they want. The controversy shows how sharp the divide between America and Europe has grown and how foolish it is for the U.S. to trust Europe with such weapons platforms.
“Multiple Western officials” told the Telegraph that the United States plans to use gangs of criminals to help govern Gaza if and when Hamas is removed from power. In the past, Israel has supported similarly suspect groups, such as the Popular Forces, as a way to counter the “greater evil” of Hamas; Hamas has killed many members of these groups. Removing Hamas and empowering these “lesser evils” appears to be the Trump administration’s plan, despite the gangs’ possible links to drug smuggling and other crimes, the Islamic State and terrorism. This is another sign that the Gaza “peace deal” will produce even more bloodshed.
Poland needs its own nuclear weapons, according to Polish President Karol Nawrocki. “We should pursue the path toward developing our own Polish nuclear potential—in compliance with all international regulations, of course,” Nawrocki said in an interview with Polsat television on Sunday. “We must create the conditions necessary to work toward this goal. We are a country on the brink of armed conflict.” Poland plans to start building its first nuclear power plant in 2028. This East European nation, overrun by Russia in World War ii, has taken drastic actions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, more than doubling its spending on conventional military weapons. It is part of nato and an ally of the nuclear-armed United States, but statements like Nawrocki’s show that the Poles no longer trust American nuclear protection. The late Herbert W. Armstrong forecast during the Cold War that Poland would break from the Soviet Union and contribute its military might to German-dominated Europe.
After Elon Musk’s SpaceX blocked Russia’s illegal use of its Starlink satellite Internet service on February 1, Russian casualties have drastically risen. A Ukrainian intelligence official told the New York Post yesterday that the ratio of casualties between Russian and Ukrainian troops is usually 5:1 or 8:1, but with Starlink down, it is 13:1. Blocking Russia from Starlink has coincided with Ukrainian troops reclaiming territory faster than in 2024 or 2025, including close to 80 square miles between Wednesday and Sunday, according to one analysis. Though Ukraine’s position remains dire, the development illustrates the power of tech companies like SpaceX and the reliance of modern militaries on information technology.
On Friday, the French Interior Ministry reported 2,489 offenses targeting religious minorities in France last year, 1,320 of which were anti-Semitic. A total of 843 were directed against Christians, and 326 were directed against Muslims (an 88 percent increase compared to 2024). Jews are by far the largest target, even though they make up only 0.6 percent of the population. (France is roughly 10 percent Muslim and 60 percent Christian.) By opening its gates to large Muslim populations and by repeatedly siding against the State of Israel, French society is becoming hostile to Jews. There is a reason why this is “the one minority society loves to hate.”
The heads of Britain’s largest banks are scheduled to hold their first meeting this week to establish a new payments company as an alternative to Mastercard and Visa. Currently, about 95 percent of credit card transactions in the United Kingdom use these two U.S.-based payments companies. Some warn that U.S. President Donald Trump could use this as leverage against Britain’s best interests. The move is a sign of Britain’s distrust both of the Trump administration and the U.S. economy.
A gunman who dressed as a woman murdered two people and injured three more at a high school hockey match in Rhode Island yesterday. Robert Dorgan, 56, shot his wife and three of his children, one federal agency told Fox News. This comes six days after a “gunperson in a dress” killed eight people in British Columbia. The connections between sexual deviancy, mental illness and mass shootings are becoming harder than ever to ignore. There is clearly something evil about the so-called lgbt movement: It involves “Modern-Day Child Sacrifice.”
The European Union imported $8.8 billion worth of Russian liquefied natural gas in 2025, a mere 3 percent decrease from 2024, according to Eurostat. EU countries continue to rely on Russia for more than 15 percent of their liquefied natural gas, paying into Vladimir Putin’s war machine four years into his invasion of Ukraine. This is another indication that Russia and Europe, Germany in particular, have a secret deal like the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact that propelled the world into World War ii. As Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry summarized in the July 2022 issue, “It is in both Germany’s and Russia’s interest to weaken everyone else and strengthen themselves and each other.”
A joint statement from Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden released on Saturday confirmed what most already suspected: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Russian government in prison. The specific toxin used, they said, is extracted from a poisonous frog and is likely only feasible for use by a government-level agency. Russia is believed to have also poisoned other victims, including using dioxin against Viktor Yuschenko, Gelsemium against Alexander Perepilichnyy, and Polonium-210 against Alexander Litvinenko. Using such poisons against political opponents violates international law and further highlights the reality that Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator, just as Bible prophecy specifically describes him.
On Saturday, 250,000 people gathered in Munich to protest Iran’s Islamist regime and support exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s call for Western nations to apply further pressure. The protests coincided with the prestigious annual Munich Security Conference, where numerous Western leaders gathered. Similar protests occurred in Toronto, Los Angeles and other Western cities. The growing desire to do something about the regime’s radically violent brand of Islam will not moderate Iran’s overall trajectory: The Bible shows that it will dramatically disrupt European security, and that Europe will strike back.
The United States is preparing for what Reuters on February 14 called “the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders an attack.” The U.S. is pursuing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program and has sent the uss Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and now the uss Gerald R. Ford to the Middle East. The blood of tens of thousands of Iranian protesters killed by the regime last month is still fresh, and tensions in the Middle East remain strained. President Trump said regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.” But as Trumpet managing editor Joel Hilliker explained in “Is Iran’s Regime Finished?”, even if Iran suffers a major blow, Bible prophecy indicates the radical Islamists in Tehran will retain their deadly grip on power.
Yesterday, the European Space Agency launched its largest and heaviest rocket, the Ariane 64, for the first time from its launch facility in French Guiana. The rocket successfully delivered its 20-ton payload of 32 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit. The agency stated, “The success of this launch confirms Europe’s readiness in heavy lift launch capability and is key to ESA’s efforts to ensure autonomous access to space for Europeans.” To learn the prophetic significance, read “Germany Races Into Space.”
Germany opened its Industrial AI Cloud in Munich on February 4. Deutsche Telekom, which filled the 2.5-acre facility with an estimated 10,000 advanced graphics processing units and other advanced computing equipment, said it’s powerful enough to serve artificial intelligence-level computing to all European Union citizens simultaneously. Rather than serving the average Internet user, this computational power is specifically designed for industrial digitization and AI use cases. It is also “a secure and sovereign infrastructure” and “stands for digital sovereignty ‘Made in Germany,’” meaning it gives the German government more power within the field of AI generally and industrial AI specifically. For more about this trend and Germany’s role, read “The Unknown Future of Artificial Intelligence.”
