In Other News
On Saturday, French police foiled a planned terrorist bombing on a Bank of America office in Paris. One suspect was arrested on Saturday and two more on Sunday. Iran is suspected of having been involved in the plan. As Europeans continue to be threatened by terror attacks, expect them to react more and more powerfully against their source: Iran.
Iran said on Monday its ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammed Reza Shibani, was defying Beirut’s demand to leave. The Lebanese government has the right to arrest Shibani, and although this seems unlikely, it shows the depth of division between Iran and its former proxy state. The Bible prophesied that Iran would lose power over Lebanon. Iran’s last-ditch efforts to hold onto its Lebanese influence will fail.
On Sunday, the European Commission approved the $1.7 billion European Defense Industry Program for 2026 and 2027 to boost production capacity for munitions and other assets and to develop anti-drone weaponry. Roughly $300 million will be used to modernize Ukraine’s defense abilities, and $115 million will be used to support European defense start-ups. Europe’s rapid militarization continues.
Somalia’s army conquered part of the largest city in the South West state yesterday, Baidoa, two weeks after the state severed ties with the national government. The national forces are stronger, but they are also fighting a war with al-Shabaab terrorists, and South West forces possess geographical advantages. Attacking Baidoa, which hosts several international peacekeeping deployments and humanitarian agencies, could also hurt Somalia’s relations with international supporters. Turkey and Egypt support Somali forces, and Ethiopia supports South West state. Bible prophecy indicates we can expect conflicts in the Red Sea region to escalate further.
The Trump administration declined to order the interception of a Russian tanker delivering oil to Cuba on Sunday, despite largely blockading the island. Up until now, the U.S. has disallowed tankers from reaching the island and threatened nations that sent oil to the Communist country. However, even though two cutters in the region could have attempted to stop the Russian tanker, no order was given. Though the reason behind this is unknown, it’s speculated it was done to avoid a standoff with Russia.
Air Canada ceo Michael Rousseau’s retirement was announced yesterday after uproar in Quebec. The main reason? His condolence message following the tragic and deadly Air Canada collision at LaGuardia Airport last week was written in English. Those who thought he should have also posted it in French included Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said Rousseau showed “a lack of judgment” and “compassion.” The French-English rift in Canada is more than just a curiosity: It connects deeply to Canada’s most important history and its perilous future.
A poll published yesterday by the Jewish Electorate Institute found that 55 percent of American Jew respondents oppose the U.S. war against Iran. Only 32 percent said they approved, 13 percent said they were undecided, and 41 percent agreed that “we should not go to war without clear provocation.” Our article “Israel’s Last Lion” states in the quip, “In a world overrun by appeasers, one man keeps warning—and the world keeps hating him for it.” Many Jews are against Israel’s Churchillian leader.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed 10-year defense agreements with Qatar and Saudi Arabia during his visit to the Gulf states from Thursday through Sunday. Zelenskyy said a similar defense agreement would also be finalized with the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf states hope to benefit from Ukraine’s drone warfare technology, while Ukraine seeks to boost its supply of air defense missiles. These agreements show that the Gulf states are looking to diversify their partnerships from the United States, as prophesied.
Reuters reported on Friday that only one out of every three Iranian missiles has been confirmed destroyed by U.S. intelligence services. It’s likely that another third has been at least partly damaged. This differs from President Trump’s narrative that Iran has “few rockets left.” When one of the war’s most straightforward and attainable aims appears to be unfulfilled, the Trumpet’s decades-long forecast that the U.S. has won its last war holds up to scrutiny.
Syria’s former top terrorist turned interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, arrived in Berlin yesterday for his first state visit to Germany. Syrian Muslims greeted him by exclaiming “Allahu Akbar,” which means “God is great” but is also used as a war cry in jihad, which Sharaa is all too familiar with. Germany’s president greeted him with a red carpet in the morning, and the chancellor met with him in the afternoon. Syria and Germany are reestablishing relations after Sharaa’s semireformed terrorist forces helped oust Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Sharaa needs funds to rebuild Syria, and Germany wants to send back many of the 1.3 million Syrian refugees it has taken in. Bible prophecy reveals that these two nations will form a close alliance that will cause far greater terror than Sharaa ever did.
Israeli officials have closed several holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and al-Aqsa Mosque, citing safety concerns due to Iranian strikes. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, was barred from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre yesterday, “the first time in centuries, the heads of the church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” the patriarchate stated. The Jordanian government, which serves as the custodian of Muslim holy sites in the city, condemned the closure as a “flagrant violation of international law and historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem.” The closures have been partially lifted, but watch for the religious struggles over Jerusalem to become far more intense and violent.
Today, the Knesset will vote on a law that would significantly lower the threshold needed for capital punishment and force courts to sentence terrorists to either death or life imprisonment. Legislators are also considering a bill that would impose the death penalty on those convicted for crimes on Oct. 7, 2023. Currently, Israeli law allows the death penalty only for someone convicted of war crimes, and only two prisoners since its 1948 founding have received this sentence, the last instance occurring in 1962. The legislation has intensified Palestinian animosity against Israel, animosity that will ultimately explode into a violent uprising larger than October 7.
Handala Hack, an Iran-linked hacker group, accessed fbi Director Kash Patel’s personal e-mail and leaked several photos and messages. Earlier this month, the group hacked American medical equipment manufacturer Stryker. This hack serves as a warning of the danger of cyberattacks, which Bible prophecy indicates will contribute to America’s demise.
There are 9,745 operational nuclear weapons worldwide, an increase of 141 from last year, a March 26 report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons reveals. The power of those warheads is estimated to equate to 135,000 Hiroshima bombs. The report warned, “As of early 2026, the risk of the use of nuclear weapons remains real and immediate.” Based on prophecies spoken by Jesus Christ and the biblical prophets, the world is heading into a nuclear conflict that will result in near-total annihilation.
Yesterday the European Parliament approved a law allowing the deportation of rejected asylum seekers to facilities outside the European Union. The law also allows permanent bans and up to two years of detention, and it will likely limit the power of appeals to pause deportation. Once finalized, pending further negotiations, this EU Return Directive will strengthen the EU’s shift against immigration and toward authoritarianism.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and German counterpart Boris Pistorius signed a memorandum of understanding in Canberra, Australia, yesterday for a global early-warning system for space. “In space, China and Russia are our immediate neighbors. They have expanded their offensive capabilities in space. They can jam, blind or destroy satellites,” Pistorius said. “We need to know what’s happening up there. That’s the only way we can protect our own systems.” On his trip, Pistorius visited the defense contractor eos, which is in early production of its Apollo laser system that can shoot down up to 30 drones per minute and is developing an Atlas high-power laser for blinding or destroying satellites. The two countries also agreed to reduce restrictions on exchanges of military personnel. While Australia sees Germany as a partner against Russia and China, Bible prophecy warns that Germany will betray Australia and the other English-speaking nations.
Catholic churches are experiencing major spikes in attendance, the New York Times reported yesterday. For instance, this Easter, the archdiocese of Detroit expects to add 1,428 new members, a 20-year high; the archdiocese of Washington, D.C., expects to add 1,755 members, a 16-year high; the Galveston-Houston archdiocese expects a 15-year high, and Des Moines’s diocese attendance has already increased 51 percent. Expect Catholicism to become increasingly popular, as is prophesied in your Bible.
Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping believes U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambivalence toward Taiwan “opens a historic opportunity for China,” the Wall Street Journal wrote Wednesday. The Chinese Communist Party has never ruled the island republic, yet it considers it a rogue territory that must be brought under Communist control, by force if necessary. Taiwan has stayed independent for decades thanks to American military equipment, political support and a strong implication of protection in the event of invasion. But President Trump sees Taiwan “more transactionally” than his predecessors in the White House, the Journal wrote, making his commitment to the island “uncertain.” The strongest evidence of this came after a February 4 phone call between Xi and Trump when the latter paused a $13 billion arms sale to Taiwan, apparently to safeguard a trade truce with China. The two are set to meet in Beijing in May. For decades, the Trumpet has warned that America’s lack of resolve will be the main factor enabling the Chinese Communist Party to seize Taiwan.
Russia has increased military aid and intelligence sharing with Iran, strengthening the regime’s ability to target and attack American and Israeli forces, the Telegraph reported Thursday. Russia has supplied Iran with upgraded components for Shahed drones designed to improve their navigation, communication and lethality, with greater resilience against jamming, control through local telecommunications networks enabling operators to alter strike paths in the final phase, and the capability of striking with thermobaric and incendiary munitions. Drawing on its extensive use of Shaheds in Ukraine, Russia has also advised Iran on optimal flight profiles and strike mass. The report also confirms earlier intelligence showing that Russia is providing satellite imagery to Iran to enable precision targeting of high-value U.S. and Israeli assets in the region. This will increase Iran’s capacity to absorb prolonged strikes while exerting disproportionate force beyond U.S. and Israeli expectations and potentially beyond the limits of public tolerance. The Trumpet maintains that, whether due to Russian help or a broader array of factors, the current war will not neutralize the Iranian threat.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly commanded his military to destroy as many Iranian arms industry targets as possible within the next 48 hours. This order reportedly came in reaction to President Trump offering a 15-point plan for ending the war. America’s attempts at peace in the region may soon override Netanyahu and Israel’s efforts to stop Iran. This trend is prophesied in the Bible.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, is pushing President Trump to continue his war against Iran, the New York Times reported Tuesday. Sources informed by American officials say Crown Prince Mohammed sees Iran as a long-term threat that will be solved only when its current regime is ousted. He sees the current war as a “historic opportunity” to do this. This underscores the prophesied development of Saudi Arabia being part of an anti-Iran alliance.
This week Germany announced that one of its frigates, the Sachsen, will replace Britain’s hms Dragon as the flagship of Standing nato Maritime Group 1, an immediate reaction force that operates in the North Atlantic, Baltic and North Sea, after the Dragon was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The group remains under the command of British officers, but the fact that they are aboard the Sachsen is a reminder that Britain’s Royal Navy is dangerously weak. Prophecy shows that relying on Germany will prove to be a fatal mistake.
Yesterday, the U.S. Justice Department settled a lawsuit with Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.), former national security adviser to President Donald Trump. The agreement resolves Flynn’s 2023 claim of malicious prosecution during the 2017–2019 probe into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Flynn had sought at least $50 million; the government agreed to pay him $1.2 million and called the settlement an important step in addressing the probe, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2021 and died last week at age 81. Gerald Flurry’s book America Under Attack exposes how the Obama administration conspired to smear General Flynn in a plot to realign the nation’s interests with those of Iran, the world’s greatest terrorist-sponsoring nation and a regime Flynn had repeatedly warned about.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that Iran’s ambassador, Mohammed Reza Shibani, must leave no later than Sunday. Lebanon also recalled its ambassador to Iran for consultation. This marks a major change in Lebanese politics. For decades, Iran has largely ruled Lebanon through the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Hezbollah labeled the Foreign Ministry’s decision a “sin.” Soon after the announcement, Iran launched a missile into Lebanese airspace (which was intercepted). Hezbollah’s political entrenchment in Lebanese politics and physical entrenchment in Lebanon’s south are weakening. Successful Israeli campaigns over the past few years, including the current Iran war, have weakened Hezbollah and thereby Iran’s influence. Bible prophecy shows that Iran will lose control of Lebanon and that Lebanon will become part of a new Middle Eastern alliance, one even more dangerous than Iran’s “axis of resistance.” Learn more in “The Fall and Rise of Lebanon.”
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats once again earned a plurality from Denmark voters, but they received only 22 percent of the total, their weakest result in more than a century, which prompted Frederiksen to resign. Neither the center-left Social Democrats and its left-wing bloc nor any other alliance has a majority, which means that, once again, another European democracy could struggle to form a coalition and suffer political paralysis.
Back-to-back storms have caused Hawaii’s worst flooding in more than 20 years, sweeping homes off foundations, floating cars out of driveways, and leaving floors, walls and countertops covered in thick, reddish volcanic mud. First responders have conducted 233 rescues statewide, but no deaths have been reported. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said the damage to roads, homes, schools, airports and a hospital in Kula on Maui could reach $1 billion. For a biblical perspective on such calamities, read Why ‘Natural’ Disasters?
