In Other News
Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders rose 60 percent in 14-to-20-year-olds between 1997 and 2023, according to a study published yesterday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The study analyzed more than 12 million people and also found that those born between 2000 and 2004 were 104 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a psychotic disorder at age 20 than those born between 1975 and 1979. Nearly 1 out of every 100 Canadians has been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. There is a cause for every effect, and the underlying cause of these dangerous states of mind is not limited to Canada.
Italy, Spain and the Netherlands announced yesterday that they would send naval assets to Cyprus to protect against Iranian strikes. Greece and France have already sent ships, including France’s aircraft carrier, to the area. These deployments signal that EU nations will reinforce each other, potentially with deadly force, without the need for nato and the U.S.
The Egyptian government’s rhetoric about Iran during the current war has been noticeably understated. Its first official statement condemned Iran’s efforts against peace in the region, but when President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed Iran’s retaliatory attacks, in which it sent hundreds of drones and missiles into sovereign neighboring nations, he conspicuously declined to even mention Iran by name. Mustafa Bakry, a prominent Egyptian figure, called on the Arab world to put aside its differences and unite—not against Iran but against Israel and the United States. The Bible prophesies that Egypt will soon ally with Iran, a dramatic shift in Middle Eastern power and a precursor to a conflict far greater than any other in human history.
German media giant Axel Springer announced today its $766 million acquisition of RedBird imi, the owner of Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. Axel Springer owns German newspapers Bild and Welt, and it acquired U.S. political news firm Politico in 2021. Axel Springer founded his firm in 1946 after starting a successful career in Nazi Germany and divorcing his half-Jewish wife “for career reasons,” according to his biographer. Deutschland Kultur said in 2012: “During the Nazi era, Springer had been jointly responsible for anti-Semitic propaganda.” After the war, he employed several people who had been staunch Nazis. One of Springer’s current editorial guidelines is to support the formation of a united Europe. The Bible warns that this unified empire will suddenly turn against America, Britain and the Jewish nation in the Middle East. Germany has acquired numerous tools to help it shape the narrative.
The U.S. government accused artificial intelligence firm Anthropic of endangering members of the armed forces by adding its own restrictions to the lawful use of its Claude AI software. Consequently, the government labeled Anthropic a supply-chain risk yesterday, a designation normally reserved for businesses from foreign adversaries. The label prohibits the military and its many contractors from doing business with the company. This follows reports that the U.S. military used Claude AI to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and is using it for intelligence analysis and target evaluation in Iran. The military has been ordered to phase out Claude AI and to replace it with one or more of its AI competitors. The dispute highlights the importance of and reliance on artificial intelligence, despite the unknowns and the risks, as highlighted in “Why We Must Develop AI (Even If It Kills Us).”
Donald Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday. According to Axios, “Trump’s firing of Noem was the biggest personnel shake-up of his second term. It showed the backlash against her was so great that Trump was willing to dismiss the nation’s domestic security chief as he’s launching a war abroad.” Noem will be succeeded at the end of the month by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin.
Yesterday, President Trump reacted to commentator Tucker Carlson calling his Iran strikes “disgusting and evil” by saying that “Tucker has lost his way.” He told abc News, “I knew that a long time ago, and he’s not maga. maga is saving our country. maga is making our country great again. maga is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that.” In two recent broadcasts, Carlson asserted the exact claims the Iranian regime makes: that the war serves Israel and not the U.S., that the Gulf states are the real victims, that the ayatollahs will unleash chaos, and that the Jews secretly want to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem on the ruins of Islam’s third-holiest site. Middle East Forum’s Gregg Roman said, “Tucker Carlson has become Tehran’s most effective propagandist.”
Over 70 European companies are building European cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure independent from the United States through project euro-3C, which was announced on March 2 by Spanish Telecom giant Telefónica, along with the European Commission. The project is designed to bypass American services like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Europe is working rapidly to catch up with American and Chinese networking capacity, and Bible prophecy indicates it will more than succeed. For more information, read “The Unknown Future of Artificial Intelligence.”
Yesterday, an Athens criminal appeals court upheld the ruling that far-right Golden Dawn is a criminal organization. The ruling also upheld the conviction of seven former legislators for running a criminal organization and of 11 current legislators for membership in a criminal enterprise. This neo-Nazi party used to have significant support in Greece, with every 10th voter supporting it. While the party has been banned, these sentiments continue to exist.
Shots were fired at a Toronto synagogue on Monday night, just before the Jewish festival of Purim, according to local police who are investigating the incident as a hate crime. No injuries resulted, but the attack, coinciding with a celebration of the Jewish people being saved from genocide 2,500 years ago, highlights the trend of increasingly violent anti-Semitism throughout the world.
More members of Generation Z (ages 14 to 29) believe that wives should obey their husbands than previous generations, a new global Ipsos poll states, including 31 percent of Gen Z men surveyed and 18 percent of Gen Z women. Only 13 percent of men and 6 percent of women in the baby boomer generation (ages 62 to 80) surveyed agreed. Feminists are aghast. “Not only are many Gen Z men putting limiting expectations on women, they are also trapping themselves within restrictive gender norms,” complained Julia Gillard, founder and chair of the Global Institute of Women’s Leadership. This and other trends reflect a growing realization that feminist experiments with new “gender norms” have produced millions of failed families. Many are recognizing reality, prescribed in the Bible in Ephesians 5, Colossians 3 and elsewhere. However, they have yet to realize “The Transcendent Meaning in Marriage.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Tuesday said any European support for the United States and Israel’s strikes on Iran would be an act of war, stating that European nations want to “deprive Iran of its capability and capacity to fight back.” Although any conflict between Iran and Europe could seem to be a mere sideshow, the Bible prophesies that these two powers are heading for a war far greater than any now happening in the Middle East.
Responding to an attack on a British base in Cyprus, apparently by the Iran-aligned Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, Greece has dispatched two warships to the island nation. France has announced the deployment of a warship to Cyprus and an aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean. Britain is sending a Royal Navy destroyer, due to arrive next week. Europe’s eagerness to defend Cyprus points to Bible prophecies that the Europeans will soon use the island to go to war in the Middle East.
On Tuesday, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stated his country was willing to engage in talks with France over a European nuclear arsenal and defense agreement. Such talks are designed to end dependence on U.S. nuclear and conventional forces. This follows France’s announcement on Monday that it could deploy nuclear-capable warplanes to Germany and other European nations.
The United States sanctioned the Rwandan military and four of its top commanders on Monday for continuing the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In December, President Trump proclaimed peace when he mediated a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Dem. Congo after two years of fighting. However, the fighting never really stopped, a fact that these sanctions acknowledge. The Bible prophesied not only the conflicts of our time but also the many failed attempts to make peace.
Chinese submarines will soon be able to strike the U.S. mainland from positions closer to China than to the U.S., American naval commanders testified to Congress yesterday. Vice Adm. Richard Seif, commander of U.S. Navy submarine forces, said the ballistic missile submarines, currently under production, will soon “challenge the U.S. Navy’s long-standing undersea dominance.” Read more about this trend in “The Rise of China As a Superpower.”
Germany’s largest weapons manufacturer completed its purchase of shipbuilder nvl on Saturday. With this acquisition, Rheinmetall will create a “German systems house for the development and manufacture of state-of-the-art navy and coast guard vessels, as well as maritime autonomous surface systems,” according to its Monday press release. Rheinmetall is becoming a “one-stop shop” for weapons systems and platforms; it expects sales in its new shipbuilding division to rise by 30 percent annually. Rheinmetall’s ongoing expansion is concerning to those who remember the firm’s dark history.
The Canadian government signed three agreements with the Musqueam Indian Band recognizing “their aboriginal rights” on their “traditional territory,” which essentially consists of the Vancouver metropolitan area. The band was granted greater control over fisheries and a “nation-to-nation” relationship with Canada.
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that parents have the right to know if their child is pretending to be the opposite sex at school. In a 6-3 order, the court said that the student privacy policy enforced in California infringes on parents’ rights and the free exercise of religion. Lower court litigation is ongoing.
Pakistan attacked Afghanistan in what it called “open war” against the Taliban. Pakistan has alleged that the Afghan Taliban has been sponsoring the Pakistani Taliban in terrorist attacks against Pakistan’s military. Pakistan has responded with cross-border and aerial attacks against Kabul, Bagram Airbase and other important targets. The fact that this major conflict is being crowded out of the headlines by other conflicts reflects what Jesus Christ prophesied in Matthew 24:6-7 regarding the proliferation of “wars and rumours of wars.”
France is expanding its nuclear arsenal for the first time in decades. “I have ordered an increase in the number of nuclear warheads in our arsenal,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday at a naval base in Île Longue. “To be free, you must be feared.” This comes after Germany and France have officially entered discussions about developing a European nuclear umbrella independent of the United States. Prophecy reveals that France will give its power to a German-dominated Europe.
Germany’s Interior Ministry is pushing for legislation that would allow law enforcement agencies to attack cyberthreats by hunting down foreign threats, shutting down foreign computer networks, and redirecting data. The draft law states, “Like law enforcement, prevention of threats does not stop at national borders when it comes to combating cyberattacks.” Watch for laws like these to pass and for German agencies to become shockingly powerful, aggressive and effective.
Germany’s Bundeswehr added a record number of soldiers under the age of 18 in 2025, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. A total of 3,131 (an eighth of all new recruits, and 1,000 more than the previous year) joined at age 17 with parental consent. Although 638 minors left the Bundeswehr early last year, it’s clear that there is increased interest from young Germans in joining the military.
On Thursday, the Bundestag amended Germany’s air security law, allowing the military to shoot down drones. Previously, such incursions, including those by Russia, were considered the responsibility of the police, who were often ill-equipped to respond. Flying drones into airport airspace is also now punishable by up to two years in prison. Expect Germany to rapidly progress in combating—and deploying—drone technology as it becomes a larger factor in national security.
Yesterday, a man armed with a pistol and a rifle opened fire in a busy nightlife district of Austin, Texas, killing two people and wounding 14 others. The gunman, 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, was wearing a shirt with an Iranian flag design on it underneath a hoodie printed with “Property of Allah.” Originally from Senegal, he entered the U.S. on a short-term tourist visa in 2000, before marrying a U.S. citizen. Authorities are working to conclusively determine whether the gunman was motivated by U.S. strikes against Iran.
Yesterday, Børge Brende, the president and ceo of the World Economic Forum, resigned after admitting that he had three business dinners between 2018 and 2019 with the late Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of having sex with a child in 2008. In a separate statement, the cochairs of the forum, which hosts many of the world’s most powerful people at its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, said that its independent review into Brende’s ties with Epstein had concluded. For more information on the potential prophetic significance of the World Economic Forum, read “World Economic Forum: Fascism Revives.”
