In Other News
Russia has deployed its entire fleet of nuclear icebreakers to keep Arctic shipping lanes open through the winter. “The deployment sends a clear signal to the West that Russia can sustain year-round Arctic shipping and maintain its natural resource export revenues,” analyst Daniel Ivandjiiski wrote. As the new issue of the Trumpet stresses, Russia is partially isolated from global trade due to its war on Ukraine, but the calculus has changed since Vladimir Putin now leads a war economy.
The United States approved the largest-ever arms sale to Taiwan on Wednesday, worth more than $11 billion. The package includes short-range ballistic missiles, self-propelled howitzers, portable anti-tank missiles and, perhaps most notably, 82 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. These have proved to be vital in Ukraine’s defense against Russia, even with Ukraine receiving fewer than 40 units. China’s long-threatened invasion of Taiwan across 100 miles of ocean would be a logistically nightmarish and costly campaign, and it would be even more challenging against these advanced systems. The Chinese Communist Party issued a statement that essentially said: We are outraged that you would dare to complicate our planned and grossly illegal invasion. The question now is about the delivery times and whether the news prompts China to make a move before this new kit is delivered and operational. In either case, the Trumpet maintains that Taiwan’s days of freedom are numbered.
The draft of a new law gives Germany’s foreign intelligence service authorization to launch counterattacks and sabotage operations to disable enemy weapons systems, an investigative report by wdr, ndr and Süddeutsche Zeitung reveals. Modern forces have become heavily reliant on technology; cyberattacks could cripple a nation’s ability to wage war.
The unit would consist of about 2,500 personnel, the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday. The proposed initiative comes in response to Turkey’s recent military and strategic activities in the eastern Mediterranean. The plans include air and naval support, with potential deployment areas including Rhodes, Karpathos, Cyprus and bases in Israel. Bible prophecy reveals that Cyprus will take on increased military importance in the region—but instead of helping secure Israel, it will serve as a launchpad for an attack against it.
Yesterday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged EU leaders to support a contentious free-trade pact with the South American bloc mercosur. The pact would create one of the largest trade zones on Earth, encompassing 9 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of world economic output. French President Emmanuel Macron says the deal, which has been in negotiation for more than 26 years, is “not ready” and worries that cheap agricultural produce from mercosur countries will hurt French farmers. Austria, Hungary and Poland also say the deal should be delayed. Denmark, Finland, Spain and Sweden support Germany. Italy could emerge as the swing vote, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed readiness to sign the agreement in January if a few concessions to European farmers were added. For more information on the significance of this particular trade deal, read “America Is Being Besieged Economically,” by Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry.
Donald Trump reclassified marijuana, signing an executive order yesterday to make it a less dangerous drug. Changing it from a Schedule i to a Schedule iii controlled substance “will make it far easier to conduct marijuana-related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatments,” he said from the Oval Office. “It’s going to have a tremendously positive impact.” Following compromises on abortion, homosexual “marriage” and other grave cultural battles, caving in on marijuana is another reminder that even American conservatives are morally weak.
The United States will increase its military presence in Australia, it announced on December 8 during the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations in Washington, D.C. The U.S. will upgrade infrastructure at Royal Australian Air Force bases Darwin, Tindal and Amberley to support increased rotations of U.S. military fighter planes, bombers and surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. The announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said the aukus security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. is moving “full steam ahead.” America seeks to counter China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific, and is also pressuring Europe and nato partners to increase their military spending. China is a real danger, but biblical prophecy warns that encouraging Europe to arm is a deadly trap. To see why, read our recent article “America’s New Military Strategy: Make Europe Great Again.”
A recent report from German geodata compiler Michael Bauer International shows a record-high 1,450 global conflicts between January and September, an increase of 52 over last year. And other conflict trackers showed 2024 set a new record for conflict, and 2023 did before that. While leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump brag about making peace, the data indicate otherwise, and Bible prophecy warns that violent conflicts are about to spread worldwide.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced yesterday that the government will further restrict and prosecute people who promote violence, including preachers who promote hate speech, and will add further provisions for canceling or rejecting visas of people it finds to be spreading “hate and division.” This comes in the wake of two radical Islamists murdering 15 people, including a child, at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach. The increase in government power may allow Australian police to better combat Islamic extremism, but it may also be used against other religions and ideologies that the already overbearing federal government finds inconvenient.
Fbi Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced yesterday that he will step down in January after less than a year in office. Bongino thanked President Donald Trump, fbi Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi “for the opportunity to serve with purpose,” but did not specify why he was leaving. Political commentator Mark Bradman opined on the Conservative Treehouse blog that “Bongino faced a big challenge with Director Patel refusing to accept institutional corruption was the biggest issue. You cannot correct problems of great consequence until you admit the core of the problem.”
Yesterday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said a “clear signal” from the German government caused the EU to shelve plans to ban the internal combustion engine by 2035. German and European vehicle manufacturers are not ready to transition to electric vehicles, and Chinese electric cars threaten to destroy the entire business model. The European Commission is instead calling for a 90 percent reduction in emissions compared to 2021. “More openness to technology and more flexibility are the right steps to take in order to better align climate targets, market realities, businesses and jobs,” Merz said. This is another clear signal that Germany rules the EU.
Germany and other EU countries want to make it easier to deport migrants to countries where they have never lived and to outsource asylum procedures to non-EU countries. Today, the conservative European People’s Party (epp) in the European Parliament voted in favor of the proposal put forward by the European Commission. The leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, Erik Marquardt, accused the epp of working with “right-wing extremists, climate deniers and Putin lobbyists” to pass the vote. Radical-leftist policies are finally prompting a European conservative backlash—but how far to the opposite extreme will they go?
Last night, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela.” Due to the nation’s support of terrorism and the drug trade, he said, “the Venezuelan regime has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization.” Based on Bible prophecy, the Trumpet projects where this attempt at regime change could lead.
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted yesterday of publishing seditious material and “colluding with foreign forces,” and now faces possible life in prison. His only real “crime” was criticizing the Chinese Communist Party (ccp) and its unlawful repression of Hong Kong. Thus, the verdict confirms that the ccp now rules Hong Kong as fully and repressively as the mainland. When Britain handed Hong Kong over to Chinese rule in 1997, the ccp pledged not to interfere with its economic, political and judicial autonomy for at least 50 years. But in the early 2000s, the regime began a creeping oppression that culminated in the 2020 passage of a national security law permitting the ccp to prosecute any Hong Konger seen as insufficiently submissive to the Party. The conviction rate in ccp courts is higher than 99.9 percent. Lai’s conviction exemplifies China’s use of politicized law to crush dissent and signals that the world is sliding into a darker, more authoritarian era.
The Chinese Coast Guard blasted water cannons at Filipino fishermen in Philippine waters on Friday, injuring several and destroying two boats. The belligerence occurred near Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, which lies well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. China ignores international law and claims almost the entire South China Sea, including this Philippine region. China’s Communist regime is using repeated threats and violence in a dangerous attempt to assert full control over this key maritime region. “China is intimidating the nations of Southeast Asia into submission to its will,” Gerald Flurry wrote in 2016. “It is forcing these countries to do what it wants. Everything is headed in the direction of war.”
Yesterday the leaders of Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the European Union published a statement of Europe’s position on a possible resolution to the war in Ukraine. The provisions include a European-led “multinational force Ukraine,” supported by the U.S., that “will assist in the regeneration of Ukraine’s forces, in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine.” Russia is unlikely to agree to such a force, so the statement seems intended as a show of solidarity. It will prolong negotiations and the war. Before the statement was published, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Rossiya 1, “The Europeans are playing their own game. It still looks like they want the war to continue.” Germany has an interest in continuing the war, which it could have prevented early on. As Mr. Flurry wrote in 2023: “I believe Germany has already given Ukraine to Russia in a secret deal.”
The Czech Republic is expected to move its embassy to Jerusalem next year, according to an anonymous official, Jewish News Syndicate reported today. New Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka stated at a Hanukkah event in Prague, “I personally am very much looking forward … to be present when one of the symbols of solidarity becomes the fact that the Czech Republic finally moves its embassy to Jerusalem. It should have been there a long time ago.” Israelis and Czechs had close relations even during the days of Czechoslovakia, but the new Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, may not stay friendly. See what to watch for in this relationship in “Introducing Europe’s Eastern Strongmen.”
Israel assassinated top Hamas commander Raed Saad in Gaza over the weekend, and Axios reports that U.S. President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he was jeopardizing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. One U.S. official told Axios: “The White House message to Netanyahu was: ‘If you want to ruin your reputation and show that you don’t abide by agreements, be our guest, but we won’t allow you to ruin President Trump’s reputation after he brokered the deal in Gaza.’” The two leaders portray a public image of unity, but divisions behind the scenes are growing and may soon lead to a break, and to Israel looking for a new ally.
Britain’s Reform party welcomed backing from one of the world’s most prolific pornographic actresses after she proclaimed her support for the party in the Spectator. Tia Billinger obtained global notoriety under her stage name with her shocking sexual stunts, but Danny Kruger, one of Reform’s few members of Parliament, said the party wants “all the support we can get” and that they would not be “judgmental” about supporters. The awful reality is that Britain’s family breakdown is at the root of many of its national problems. A party that makes these kinds of alliances will never be able to give Britain the reform it needs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Berlin today to negotiate a possible peace agreement. While it appears unlikely that Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to a cessation of hostilities, Bild reports that the German government is working on a 10-point plan for intensive military cooperation with Ukraine, so this meeting may benefit both Ukrainian and German armed forces. Whatever the imminent future of the war in Ukraine, prophecy reveals German militarization will continue.
Russia poses an “aggressive, expansionist, and revisionist” threat to the world far beyond Ukraine, the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service will warn today. Blaise Metreweli’s statement, released ahead of her first speech to the public, warns, “The front line is everywhere.” It also states, “The export of chaos is a feature not a bug in the Russian approach to international engagement, and we should be ready for this to continue until Putin is forced to change his calculus.” Though more are waking up to the undeniable danger, Britain and the West will not force Putin to change. Biblical prophecy shows that his violent push against the current global order will only intensify in the years ahead.
That is what the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran head Mohammed Eslami told the media today. “There must be a protocol in place for inspections of nuclear sites that have been attacked before permission can be given,” he said of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. “The agency, which neither condemned the attacks nor has any guidelines for such situations, has no right to claim inspections.” This comes as recent reports suggest Iran’s uranium stockpiles in those sites have survived. Even though U.S. President Donald Trump declared Iran’s nuclear program “completely and totally obliterated,” it seems Iran’s nuclear program lives on.
Over the weekend, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley provided Just the News with fbi e-mails showing that Department of Justice leadership repeatedly obstructed investigators probing Hillary Clinton’s pay-to-play corruption scheme. While Clinton was secretary of state under Barack Obama, her nonprofit Clinton Foundation solicited hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign and U.S. interests that had business with the State Department. The fbi started investigating the conflict of interest, but Obama’s deputy attorney general, Sally Yates, said to “shut it down.” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s book America Under Attack, originally published in 2013, warned in detail that Obama, Clinton and others were engaged not only in corruption and false accusations against Donald Trump but also in the systematic destruction of the American republic.
“We are Russia’s next target,” nato secretary general Mark Rutte said in a speech in Berlin yesterday, “and we are already in harm’s way. Russia has brought war back to Europe, and we must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured.” His speech emphasized the level of Europeans’ fear of Russia. When Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, 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!”
Ukraine struck two Russian ships in the Caspian Sea, it announced today. The Composer Rachmaninoff and Askar-Sarydzha were both under American sanctions for transporting military equipment between Russia and Iran. Russia is stuck in Ukraine, Iran is licking its wounds from an American-Israeli attack earlier this year, and both dangerous regimes are subject to international sanctions—yet they are still cooperating and still pushing.
The Chinese Communist Party led the inaugural meeting of its new United Nations group, Friends of Global Governance, on Tuesday, “responding to the needs of the people” and offering its “wisdom to uphold international fairness,” said Ambassador Fu Cong. The party’s Foreign Ministry said the group “aims to build a more just and equitable global governance system” and make a “new contribution to world peace and development.” It also said that the other member nations of the group, which include Cuba, Iran, North Korea and about 40 other nations, “commended China’s leading role in global governance.” The world’s most oppressive and belligerent nations forming such a group further highlights the UN’s tragically farcical failure to establish peace.
