In Other News
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.”
Yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that if the European Union cannot agree to an economic reform plan by June, it should resort to “enhanced cooperation.” This means that a group of nine or more nations can advance a project on their own without the involvement of the rest of the union. Macron supports the creation of eurobonds (common debt), which German Chancellor Friedrich Merz opposes. Germany and Italy in the meantime are pushing to expand financing for venture capital. Disagreements continue, but Merz said there is a “strong sense of urgency” to pass reforms. The EU’s inability to agree on these and other decisions reflects its “iron and clay” nature, as the Bible prophesied. But the Bible also prophesies that these disagreeing nations will solidify into a fearsome and aggressive union led by “ten kings” with one “king of fierce countenance” wielding its power. To understand these prophecies in Daniel and Revelation, read “Europe: Where Iron and Clay Unite.”
The local-regional government for Belgium’s capital city was finally agreed upon yesterday, after a 613-day impasse that involved seven arguing parties, linguistic divides and confusing laws. The city, which serves as the capital of the European Union and Belgium, has a history of such political instability. This 20-month paralysis came as all of Europe struggles with the same issue: division.
Over 50 percent of college-age job seekers have had their parents sit with them during an interview, according to a January survey by Résumé Templates. Julia Toothacre, a career coach at the survey group, told College Fix that she has never before seen parents this involved in their children’s job searches. The survey, which polled 1,000 Gen Z adults ages 18 to 23, also found that 35 percent of respondents had their parents either write a cover letter or perform a test assignment for them. Young men were more likely to report repeated involvement by their parents than young women.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited United States President Trump in Washington, D.C., yesterday to advocate for Israeli security as Trump pursues nuclear negotiations with Iran. Trump said the meeting reached “nothing definitive” and that he “insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated.” Netanyahu was a vocal opponent of the U.S. negotiations with Iran under Barack Obama and Joe Biden. President Trump appears to be treating Israeli security in much the same way. But with a second U.S. carrier strike group potentially entering the Middle East theater and an escalation of Iranian oil tanker seizures on the table, some think the public spat could be a diversion similar to what preceded direct Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program last July. Tension in the Middle East—and between these troubled allies—remains high. President Trump’s next move could either make the region a safer place or push it closer to major war.
The United States Congressional Budget Office released “The Budget and Economic Outlook” report yesterday, projecting that by 2036, gross federal debt will rise from $38 trillion to $64 trillion, with the annual deficit exceeding $3 trillion and the ratio of debt to gross domestic product reaching 120 percent. The U.S. government currently owes foreign investors more than $9 trillion. The Trump administration’s disregard for debt is projected to drastically exacerbate the problem that many analysts call America’s worst national security vulnerability.
The editorial board of the New York Times walked back its previous stance on marijuana legalization on Monday in an editorial titled “It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.” The New York Times has “long supported marijuana legalization,” it wrote. Part of this campaign, a six-part series comparing the federal ban on marijuana to the prohibition of alcohol and advocating for its repeal, described marijuana addiction and dependency as “relatively minor problems” and said that legalization “might not lead to greater use.” Its editors now admit that “many of these predictions were wrong,” and that the legalization of the drug “has led to much more use,” citing data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, indicating that 18 million Americans use marijuana almost daily, up from about 6 million in 2012 and fewer than 1 million in 1992. Read the Trumpet’s warning against this dangerous drug in “What’s Wrong With Marijuana?”
