In Other News

Yesterday, European Council President Antonio Costa called enlargement, “namely to the Western Balkans,” the European Union’s “most important geopolitical investment” and a “geostrategic necessity.” The EU-Balkans summit begins today, which, according to Costa, would involve discussion of speeding up the process of EU membership. Germany, for decades, often through the EU, has fought for control of the Western Balkans. If more nations in this region become EU members or partners, they would become subservient to Germany.

• President Donald Trump will restart active fighting with Iran only “if Tehran kills American troops,” the Wall Street Journal reported on June 3. Yesterday, the president told journalists, “In that part of the world, ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”
• Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire on Wednesday, as mediated by the U.S. Yesterday, Hezbollah rejected the ceasefire. Israel responded by saying Hezbollah wasn’t party to the talks and the ceasefire was more about getting the Lebanese government further involved in disarming Hezbollah.
• Melanie Phillips has an excellent analysis of President Trump’s dispute with Benjamin Netanyahu and his compromising with evil in “President Trump: A Second Obama?”

President Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to bolster Russia’s air defenses after a wave of Ukrainian drones struck deep inside the nation, disrupting the atmosphere around a flagship economic forum in his home city of St. Petersburg. Hours before the event opened, Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal and a naval base in the city, sending up thick columns of smoke that overshadowed the forum. In remarks to international media executives, Putin conceded that the attacks had caused damage and said, “Russia has an air defense system: We need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.” Putin added that Russia would defeat Ukraine militarily if needed, but that his nation is also “willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine through peaceful means.” We should not expect this biblically prophesied warlord to sheathe his sword. Prophecy shows him to be an aggressor who remains fixated on conquest and will cause far larger conflicts ahead.

On Wednesday, Irish Defense Minister Helen McEntee said her nation would advance the European Union’s “security and defense agenda” when it assumes the EU presidency in July. During a meeting with French counterpart Catherine Vautrin, McEntee also noted that Ireland and France will deepen their defense cooperation. In The United States and Britain in Prophecy, the late Herbert W. Armstrong proved that the U.S. and the British Commonwealth descended from the biblical patriarch Joseph; France descended from Joseph’s brother Reuben; the Jews, from Judah; the Irish and Danes, from Dan. Ireland and France’s commitment to the EU defense agenda points to a time when Dan and Reuben will again betray Joseph.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City yesterday to begin his two-day visit and received a blessing from a priest. He then met with Mexican counterpart Roberto Velasco, and together they cochaired a meeting of the German-Mexican Binational Commission. The relationship between Europe and Mexico is built on a foundation of shared religion, and Bible prophecy reveals that this will unite the two against America.

On Wednesday, dozens of Ultra-Orthodox Israelis participated in what has been called a “violent riot” outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg in a West Bank settlement. Authorities arrested 65 people. Two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the legislature’s exemption of Ultra-Orthodox Jews from military conscription was illegal. Since then, the Ultra-Orthodox and their representative political parties have tried repeatedly to get the exemption legalized, including pulling their support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and forcing the dissolution of the legislature and early elections. Thousands of other Ultra-Orthodox protesters this week blocked roads and faced off against police in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. The latest attack signals Israel’s political dysfunction.

Canada released its “AI for All” government strategy yesterday, which aims to cut reliance on American technology and champion Canada as a global AI leader. It calls for educating citizens on the technology, developing an AI supercomputer, and partnering with countries such as Germany to build AI platforms independent of the United States.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Monday that President Donald Trump’s executive order excluding transgender people from military service likely violates their constitutional rights. In a 2-1 decision, the court largely upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking the removal of current active-duty servicemembers who claim they are the opposite sex, but it allows the ban to apply to new recruits. In January 2025, Trump issued an executive order stating that such people harm military readiness and conflict with standards of an honorable, truthful, disciplined lifestyle, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy excluding transgenders from military service. Despite this D.C. appellate court decision, there is no constitutional right guaranteeing anyone acceptance into the U.S. military.

Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton will plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information. A grand jury indicted Bolton on 18 counts in October, but the Justice Department has offered him a plea deal that could allow him to avoid jail time in exchange for paying a $2.25 million fine. After President Donald Trump fired Bolton in 2019, Bolton published a memoir about his time in the Trump administration that federal authorities say contains classified intelligence. Bolton, who clashed with the president over nato, Iran, Russia and other foreign-policy matters, became one of Trump’s most vocal critics after leaving the administration.

• The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday 215-208, with four Republicans joining the Democrats, to withdraw forces from the Iranian conflict. The bill now moves to the Senate, though the ability of Congress to force the executive to move troops is a contested legal question.
• Iran barraged Kuwait with missiles and drones yesterday, killing one civilian and striking Kuwait’s international airport. This was one of Iran’s biggest attacks on America’s Gulf Arab allies since the ceasefire went into effect.
• President Donald Trump said he would like to meet Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the New York Post reported yesterday. Asked about this in an interview, Trump said: “I would like to meet him, and we probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out.”

Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas announced yesterday that his country is in talks to host American nuclear weapons. Lithuania’s Constitution bans the hosting of nukes; however, President Gitanas Nausėda has suggested changing it. Bible prophecy shows that placing nuclear weapons in Lithuania won’t buy America friends in Europe.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was spotted in Moscow by German media on Tuesday. He’s not the only high-profile German in Russia. Billionaire Thomas Bruch is attending Russia’s International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. Eurointelligence reported that some AfD politicians are also on the guest list for the event. Their presence suggests that Germany still has active ties to Russia.

Amsterdam’s National Holocaust Museum canceled a May 28 event on anti-Semitism; the event occurred at a local church instead. The Dutch king was to host the German president at the museum soon after the scheduled event, and museum staff reportedly feared that graffiti and other residue from possible anti-Israel protests could mar the visit. This is another example of how it is getting harder and harder to be Jewish in Europe.

Gold has become the world’s largest reserve asset, according to the European Central Bank. A report published on Tuesday shows that gold accounted for 27 percent of global central bank reserve assets at the end of 2025, up from 20 percent a year earlier. By contrast, the share of U.S. treasury bonds fell to 22 percent from 25 percent over the same period. Central banks now hold more than 36,000 metric tons of gold, close to the level during the Bretton Woods era when the U.S. dollar was pegged to bullion. Such statistics indicate that central banks are losing faith in the dollar as a reserve currency.

Russia appears to have retained access to its air base in Syria, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Russia’s use of Syrian territory was jeopardized when its main ally, former dictator Bashar Assad, was ousted in 2024, but the Journal cites U.S. officials and satellite imagery to reveal that Russian cargo ships have continued to resupply the base. Bible prophecy, however, reveals Russia’s presence in Syria will soon end, and it will be replaced by another major outside power.

On Friday, Romania ordered $6.6 billion worth of military equipment from Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest defense company. The order includes 298 Lynx armored vehicles, Skyranger air defense systems, ammunition and four naval vessels. Rheinmetall ceo Armin Papperger said the order “confirms our ambition to further expand our role as one of the industrial pillars of European security.” Rheinmetall is transforming Germany and all of Europe into a military powerhouse.

Fabien Mandon, France’s chief of defense staff, warned French senators that France could fall behind Germany militarily within five years, Politico reported yesterday. By 2029, Germany is projected to have a military budget of $178 billion, roughly double France’s projected $88 billion budget. He also warned that France has not “reached the level needed to fully address the challenges ahead.” As the Trumpet has repeatedly forecast, the leader of the coming European superpower will be Germany, not France.

Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed an External Advisory Committee on Anti-Racism on Monday, largely to assess the amount of anti-Semitism in Canada. One member, Omar Alghabra, does not believe the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are “terrorists,” even though Ontario deemed the group a terrorist organization the year prior. He said he “didn’t believe that Hamas wants the elimination of Israel,” even though the group’s 1988 charter calls for fighting and killing Jews and obliterating the State of Israel. Another member, Avnish Nanda, represented two pro-Palestinian groups that staged an anti-Israel protest encampment in 2024 at the University of Alberta. The apparent sabotage of this board is a warning sign of Canada’s social decline. To learn more, read “Welcome to Canada-stan.”

Yesterday, President Donald Trump appointed Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard when she steps down at the end of the month. As a federal housing regulator, Pulte aggressively pursued mortgage fraud accusations against the president’s Democratic opponents and was a leading voice in efforts to remove then Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He has no intelligence experience, despite a federal statute requiring extensive national security credentials in the role. This fact has prompted many to speculate that the appointment signals preparations to prosecute Trump’s domestic political enemies. Generally, the attorney general handles domestic prosecutions, while the director of national intelligence focuses on protecting America from foreign threats like drug cartels and terrorist cells.

European Union lawmakers and member nations provisionally agreed on the Return Regulation yesterday. Proposed in 2025, it allows member nations to crack down on illegal immigration through the construction of detention centers outside the EU, called return hubs. It also provides increased powers to raid premises and deport those who are illegally in the EU. The law, according to Euronews, could be formally approved and enacted as early as next month. Europe is recognizing the immigration crisis it’s facing and is finally taking steps to fix it. This will promote a more authoritarian Europe, just as the Bible prophesies.

Bloomberg reported yesterday that the European Union’s cyberagency is gaining access to Anthropic’s new Mythos AI model that can identify and exploit thousands of unknown cybersecurity vulnerabilities with minimal human intervention. Anthropic has limited public access to the model because the company fears it could be used by America’s enemies. “Let’s not forget that Mythos is not [a] one-off: A new wave of powerful models [is] coming to the market,” European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said. “This is a shared challenge, and we are intensifying our discussions with like-minded partners, including the United States.” U.S. cooperation with the EU could help Germany better understand America’s defense against these models and find ways to exploit them.

Denmark has a new, more unstable, minority coalition government after four parties announced an agreement yesterday. Mette Frederiksen, who has been prime minister since 2019, will remain in office, leading a coalition of her center-left Social Democrats, the Socialist People’s Party, the Social Liberals and the Moderates. Even with four parties, the coalition controls only 82 seats in the 179-member parliament, still eight short of a majority. It will probably rely mainly on the Red-Green Alliance, a far-left group, to pass legislation. Two months after its general election, Denmark is the latest European country forced into an unstable coalition with extreme elements as support for mainstream parties plummets. It’s a symptom of unhappiness with mainstream parties and fuel for further unhappiness, as these coalitions struggle to get anything done. Watch for Europeans to reject their coalitions of chaos and instead embrace a strongman.

Israeli lawmakers voted unanimously today for a bill to dissolve the Knesset. Triggered by fractures in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition—particularly over ultra-Orthodox parties’ demands for military service exemptions—the move could advance voting from the scheduled October 27 date to as early as September. Polls suggest Netanyahu’s Likud party would struggle, potentially losing its governing majority amid ongoing security challenges and political fatigue following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and the Gaza war. The dissolution reflects deep divisions on religion-state relations, conscription and leadership stability.

Based on Sunday’s first round of presidential voting, Colombia’s right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella is leading left-wing Iván Cepeda by more than 2 percent with 43.7 percent of the vote ahead of the June 21 runoff election. Espriella describes himself as a conservative nationalist and has campaigned on developing closer ties with the United States and cracking down on crime. However, Bible prophecy warns that Latin America will work much more closely with a united Europe than with the U.S.—in order to economically besiege America.

Wildfires cost $54 billion in direct insurance losses in 2025, more than any other year, according to a study led by the University of East Anglia published on Sunday. Perhaps $100 billion more was incurred in indirect losses from the Los Angeles wildfires alone. Wildfires also caused 90 deaths and the evacuations of 300,000 people throughout North America, Europe and South Korea last year. The study’s authors used that information as an opportunity to call for the reduction of fossil fuels; however, the Bible warns in Matthew 24 that severe environmental disasters are a sign of the end of the age.

• Whiplash—war or peace? After it appeared a peace agreement was all but assured on Friday, fighting resumed over the weekend. The United States struck Iranian targets near the city of Goruk and on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and Sunday, claiming this was in retaliation for Iran downing an American drone. Iran retaliated by attacking a U.S. Air Force base in Kuwait. All this as both the U.S. and Iran have claimed their blockades of Hormuz are over.
• Iranian president resigns? Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has offered his resignation to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran International claimed yesterday. Citing a source familiar with the matter, Iran International claimed Pezeshkian is frustrated that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leadership has sidelined him from the country’s decision-making. If the report is accurate, it should be confirmed soon.