In Other News

Iran-backed Iraqi militias have sent dozens of drones into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states during the Iran war, targeting oil infrastructure, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. This further increases the resolve of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations to fight Iran, which matches Bible prophecies that the Gulf states will ally with Germany to destroy Iran.

• United States President Donald Trump’s ceasefire with Iran was supposed to expire last night. He extended it indefinitely, until Iran’s “leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.”
• Iranian leadership is clearly divided between political actors, who appear to want to negotiate, and the radicals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who do not. It’s clear now that the irgc holds the power in Iran.
• The U.S. military will continue its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the meantime. Trump is likely hoping to suffocate Iran back to the negotiating table as it loses an estimated $455 million a day in trade.
• Iran attacked three ships in the strait after the ceasefire was extended.
• Despite Iran’s doubletalk, President Trump seems desperate to make a deal to end the war, another symptom of America’s fundamental weakness.

Russia is using artificial intelligence to conduct mass cyberattacks against Europe, the Dutch military’s 2025 report, released Tuesday, warns. The report notes that Russian hackers can now “partially automate their attacks” using AI. Technological advancements and increased belligerence in cyberwarfare will motivate Europe to build up its own cyberwarfare capabilities, which will be used for more than just defense.

Israeli diplomats and embassies have been targeted about 30 times since Oct. 7, 2023. Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Monday that in addition to these acts of terrorism, Israel is the country most frequently attacked militarily and politically. To learn why the surge in anti-Semitism is an ominous trend for the whole world, read “The One Minority Society Loves to Hate.”

New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington, and its surrounding region were under a state of emergency yesterday as heavy rains brought flash floods and landslides. People in low-lying areas were asked to relocate, and over 100 schools closed. As of yesterday, one man was declared missing. The damage could have been far worse. But as our Trends article brings out, weather disasters like this one are more than just happenstance. They are a warning.

Yesterday, a grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, handed down an indictment charging the Southern Poverty Law Center with 11 criminal counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. Between 2014 and 2023, the organization funneled more than $3 million to individuals associated with the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, the National Socialist Party of America and other extremist groups. fbi Director Kash Patel said, “They lied to their donors, vowing to dismantle violent extremist groups, and actually turned around and paid the leaders of these very extremist groups ….” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “The splc is manufacturing racism to justify its existence.” In defense, the Southern Poverty Law Center said these funds were to pay informants. This is an evil group, but looking at the amount of money—$3 million, over 10 years, to at least eight different organizations—they are probably telling the truth; it would be too little money to significantly fund these groups. However, the Bible reveals that America is being artificially divided over the issue of race and led into a devastating civil war.

Following the deadly campus shooting at Florida State University last year, Florida is investigating the possible role of Chatgpt, a popular artificial intelligence chatbot made by OpenAI. State Attorney General James Uthmeier said yesterday that prosecutors determined that Chatgpt “offered significant advice to the shooter before he committed such heinous crimes.” At an event in Tampa, he said, “If this were a person on the other end of the screen, we would be charging them with murder. Just because this is a chatbot in AI does not mean that there is not criminal culpability.” Florida is also pursuing criminal and civil investigations into OpenAI regarding child sex abuse material and the encouragement of self-harm and suicide. Despite these kinds of abhorrent evils, developers are racing to develop AI further.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk discussed defense cooperation including the extension of France’s nuclear deterrence to Poland, joint exercises and intelligence sharing. Tusk stated the two countries’ cooperation “whether in the nuclear domain or in joint exercises … knows no bounds.” These serious ongoing discussions are designed to separate European strategic defense from reliance on the United States military.

North Korea announced on Monday that it test-launched ballistic missiles equipped with cluster bomb warheads on Sunday. This follows a similar test from earlier this month. Cluster munitions are banned by more than 100 nations due to their massive and indiscriminate destructive yields. North Korea’s growing military capabilities will complement the Asian superpower prophesied by the Bible.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentinian President Javier Milei signed the Isaac Accords in Jerusalem on Sunday. The agreements are designed to stop Iran’s expansion by strengthening relations between Western Hemisphere nations and Israel. However, Bible prophecy reveals South American nations like Argentina will soon ally against Israel.

Seventy-eight percent of French Jews do not feel safe at home, the Jewish News Syndicate reported yesterday. The report cites an April survey conducted by Ipsos that questioned 1,428 Jews worldwide and found that 55 percent felt unsafe in Europe and 43 percent had experienced anti-Semitic acts personally or against family members in the past year. The highest numbers of those who have experienced these incidents were in Germany and Austria. To learn why rising anti-Semitism is an ominous trend for more than just the Jewish people, read “The One Minority Society Loves to Hate.”

A U.S. State Department delegation visited Cuba on April 10, the first American government plane to land there (outside of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay) since President Barack Obama’s 2016 trip. The visit advances President Donald Trump’s strategy of increasing economic pressure on Cuba to secure a new agreement. The U.S. team warned Cuban officials that time is running out and demanded urgent reforms: expanding private businesses, attracting foreign investment, improving governance, releasing political prisoners, and granting greater freedoms to the Cuban people. Officials also raised concerns over Cuba hosting foreign military and intelligence operations just 90 miles from U.S. shores. While President Trump has hinted at possible military options, he is prioritizing an embargo to compel negotiations. It remains to be seen how this will advance prophecy about this strategically crucial island nation in America’s backyard.

The opposing governments in Libya participated in U.S. special forces exercises in Sirte on Tuesday. This is the first time the rival factions’ militaries have exercised together since before the Second Libyan Civil War started almost 12 years ago. Less than a week before, the two sides agreed on the nation’s first unified state budget since 2013. The Bible prophesies that Libya, bitterly divided for years, will soon become not only united but also a significant ally—of Iran.

The European Union will test its ability to defend itself without nato, Politico reported on April 17. The EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, will hold an exercise in the EU’s Political and Security Committee to test how the union’s mutual defense clause could work in practice on the political level. The 2007 Treaty of Lisbon established that if any member state is attacked, other members must assist it “by all the means in their power,” an equivalent provision to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. The timing of this exercise is notable because it occurs as confidence in nato is dying.

On Wednesday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić called on his nation’s military to create special military units equipped with attack drones as part of its ongoing rapid remilitarization program. This came the day after Vučić announced a partnership with Israel to produce “the best drones” in that “part of the world.” Serbia’s militarization efforts pose a threat to Germany’s dominance in the Balkans, which the Germans are unlikely to tolerate.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry announced on April 16 the completion of the “handover of military sites where United States forces were previously present in Syria to the Syrian government.” U.S. Central Command confirmed it had “completed turning over all of our major bases in Syria.” The U.S. organized a large-scale military presence in Syria in 2011 under President Barack Obama to counter the Islamic State. Yet the U.S. seems to have no qualms handing things over to the current Syrian government, which has connections to al Qaeda. Bible prophecy states that the more the U.S. helps build up Syria, the more it is walking into a trap.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Saturday to speed up government reviews of certain psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine. These powerful mind-altering substances remain illegal under the strictest federal laws. Trump wants faster research to see if they can treat serious problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and addiction—especially for combat veterans who say other treatments have failed. Trump said the order will help suffering people “reclaim their lives” and find real happiness. Yet the Bible gives a different warning. Galatians 5:19-21 list “works of the flesh” that keep people from God’s Kingdom, including “witchcraft.” The original Greek word is pharmakeia, which means the use or administering of drugs—often tied to sorcery and seeking spiritual experiences apart from God. Today, many turn to drugs like these to fill a deep spiritual emptiness. Governments are increasingly approving them, but the Bible shows this path leads to self-destruction not true healing.

From 7 a.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday, local time, Russia conducted major drone and missile barrages against three Ukrainian cities, killing at least 18 people. The attack, which was one of the largest in months, involved 659 Russian drones and 44 missiles, according to the Ukrainian military. This is another example of Russia’s ruthlessness, which the Bible prophesies will get far worse.

Germany sent $7.8 million worth of weapons exports to Israel in the first four weeks of its war against Iran, according to official numbers reported yesterday by Deutsche Presse Agentur. This is a small amount but a contrast with the complete cutoff of weapons to Israel from several other major nations. Many German politicians are pushing for Germany to follow suit, yet Israel and Germany are working together on ballistic missile defense. Watch for this “friendly enemy” tension between Israel and Germany to result in the Israelis finally coming to trust their former World War ii enemies—to their own peril.

A survey published today by broadcaster zdf shows that satisfaction with Germany’s governing coalition of the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union and the Social Democrats has dropped to 27 percent, down from 34 percent in March. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is even less popular, with 30 percent approval, as are Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil and Economy Minister Katherina Reiche. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany, polling at 26 percent, has overtaken the cdu-csu, which stands at 25 percent. The German people are becoming increasingly disillusioned with their democratically elected leaders. Bible prophecy reveals that this will pave the way for another dictatorship.

Julius Malema, the head of South Africa’s far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party, was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for firing an automatic rifle into the air during a 2018 political rally. The Economic Freedom Fighters is a Marxist group that advocates race war with white South Africans. Malema has publicly stated, “Kill the Boer” and “Our revolution will require us to kill.” Malema, who is appealing the sentencing, may be his movement’s biggest agitator, but imprisoning him won’t fix South Africa’s racial tension, and it just might make him a political martyr.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has now made its bold ambition official. Its budget report, sent to Congress on Wednesday, announced plans to deport 1 million people each year in 2026 and 2027. The agency says it has the officers and resources to meet this goal. The agency carried out 442,637 removals in 2025, about 171,000 more than in 2024 under Joe Biden. A 2018 Yale study estimated 16 to 29 million undocumented immigrants were already in the U.S., and millions more entered during the Biden years. Even in perfect conditions, it would take decades to deport them all. But Bible prophecy warns this will not go perfectly. Instead, the “strangers” in the land will bring destruction and burn our cities with fire (Deuteronomy 28:52; Isaiah 1:7).

Yesterday, the Bundestag’s Budget Committee approved a contract for German defense giant Rheinmetall to manufacture more loitering attack drones, weapons that hover over conflict zones to identify and strike targets. The drones will be used by German troops stationed in Lithuania. Initially valued at $345 million, the contract could expand to $1.2 billion, depending on legislative approval and Rheinmetall capacity. This allows for large stockpiles of thousands of drones. The government signed similar contracts with German start-ups Helsing and Stark Defense in February, but this new contract represents confidence in the adaptability of its well-established military industry. Meanwhile, Germany is cooperating closely with Ukraine to evaluate battlefield data and optimize its drone warfare capabilities. Bible prophecy warns that Germany will once again shock the world with new military advances.

“Cuban nationals have emerged as one of the largest identifiable groups of foreign fighters supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine,” an April 8 presidential report to Congress states. The Trump administration claims that up to 5,000 Cuban troops are fighting alongside Russian forces and that there is a strong indication the Cuban government “knowingly tolerated, enabled or selectively facilitated the flow.” Bible prophecy indicates that Cuba will join a global alliance that will economically cripple the U.S., so Cuba’s ties to American enemies and growing tensions with the U.S. bear scrutiny.

Iran used a Chinese spy satellite secretly acquired in 2024 to monitor American military bases in the Middle East, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing Iranian military documents. The satellite has been used during the current war to identify targets such as the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, which is used by U.S. forces. China denies the report, but if true, this is yet another example of America’s enemies working together and another indicator that Iran’s radical Islamist regime will survive, as the Trumpet has consistently forecast based on Bible prophecy.

The United States is indicating it could be close to a proper deal to end the war with Iran. While President Donald Trump has not sent any high-ranking officials to the Middle East for talks, a mediator in Pakistan has reportedly made progress. A U.S. official told Axios: “We want to make a deal. And parts of their government want to make a deal. Now the trick is to get the whole of government over there to make a deal.” President Trump told Fox News yesterday that he viewed the war “as very close to over.” As many have noted, it appears that the U.S., for all its power, and President Trump, for all his willingness to use it, is somewhat desperate to end hostilities despite the Iranian regime remaining unchanged.