In Other News

Vladimir Putin could attend a United Nations peace conference without threat of arrest, the Moscow Times reported yesterday, based on a June 8 announcement by the International Criminal Court.

• U.S. government divided: The Senate yesterday passed a non-binding resolution demanding congressional approval for any additional military operations against Iran. The measure, which originated in the House, highlights that the U.S. government cannot even agree with itself on the conflict.
• Iran defiantly rejects limits: President Masoud Pezeshkian announced yesterday, alongside Pakistan’s leader, that Iran’s missile program was never part of the U.S. memorandum of understanding and “will never be.”
• Iran claims control of Hormuz: Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator with the U.S., declared on Monday that “international regulations will be observed, but Iran will administer the Strait of Hormuz.” Freedom of transit for oil shipments may now be gone for good.
• Trump accuses Iran of lying: President Donald Trump yesterday blasted the Iranian government for making “false statements” after it claimed it had not agreed to International Atomic Energy Agency inspections.

France held a “top secret” meeting with Hamas—the first European nation to do so since the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023—Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Aswat reported on Monday.

Romania’s parliament rejected prime minister-designate Adrian Vestea’s proposed government on Monday, prolonging political instability in yet another European government.

In New York City’s recent primaries, Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed socialist candidates over more moderate, establishment Democrats. His preferred candidates won. This outcome reflects a broader shift among a significant part of America further to the left, embracing socialist policies and figures.

• U.S. sanctions waivers now allow Iran to sell oil in U.S. dollars, the United States Treasury Department announced yesterday. This is the first time it has allowed this since 2016 through 2018 under Barack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
• The sanctions relief comes hours after Vice President JD Vance claimed Iran had agreed to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor its nuclear program. Iranian state media disputed the claim, stating Iran hasn’t made any such new commitments.

Five Taliban officials will travel to Brussels to meet with EU officials to discuss deporting Afghan citizens from the European Union, the New York Times reported yesterday. The EU is searching for ways to solve its migrant crisis, a search that will ultimately lead it to find a more authoritarian government.

Christian Freuding, inspector of the German Army, stated its “top priority is to achieve full operational readiness for the Lithuania Brigade next year,” Germany’s Bild reported Friday. The Lithuanian brigade is Germany’s first permanent foreign-stationed brigade since World War ii. The Army’s “top priority” shows that Germany is focused on becoming the new defender of Europe, a role which Bible prophecy warns it will use against Europe’s old defender.

Russia’s military has pushed into the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine and is now trying to surround the strategic city, the Institute for the Study of War reported Saturday. Kostyantynivka is viewed as a gateway to the rest of the Donbas since Russian forces could use footholds there to push toward the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the last real strongholds in the Donbas region. The infiltration shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains viciously determined to conquer Ukraine and may be approaching a breakthrough in that goal. Whatever the outcome of this conflict, Bible prophecy shows that he will eventually lead a vast Asian military that will wage far larger wars.

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces are preparing a major offensive on El Obeid, Sudan War Monitor reported yesterday. This is the same group whose October assault against El Fasher slaughtered so many civilians; some estimates place the death toll immediately following the attack at 70,000. Analysts fear El Obeid’s fall would end with a similar genocidal rampage. Stories like this often make people wonder how a loving God, if He exists, could allow such horrors. Chapter 4 of Mystery of the Ages, by Herbert W. Armstrong, reveals the Bible-based answer.

Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombia’s Trump-backed candidate, won yesterday’s run-off presidential election, defeating left-wing Iván Cepeda by a narrow margin. Espriella has campaigned on developing closer ties with the United States. However, Bible prophecy warns that Latin America will work much more closely with a united Europe than with the U.S. to economically besiege America.

The United States Treasury Department announced today a general license for Iran to produce and export its oil without sanctions. This measure, promised by last week’s memorandum of understanding, lasts for 60 days. The license doesn’t allow Iran to sell oil to North Korea or Cuba, but apparently it exempts China, one of Iran’s main backers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent linked this to Iran’s commitments “to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit International Atomic Energy Agency (iaea) inspectors into their country.” The U.S. and Iran have yet to sign a lasting peace deal that commits Iran to specific obligations. Yet the U.S. apparently trusts Iran’s “goodwill” enough to give it concessions based on little more than its word.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced yesterday that Germany is ready to deploy two ships and 140 personnel to the Strait of Hormuz. He told reporters, “As we speak, our minesweeper Fulda and the supply ship Mosel are sailing through the Suez Canal toward the Red Sea.” Although the vessels do not yet have a mandate from the government, experts have serious concerns and wonder “whether the German Navy was operating in the strait at Iran’s invitation or whether the mullah regime would at least tolerate the warships,” Bild reported today. These concerns go beyond the life and safety of the military personnel. The mission could get Germany into a direct confrontation with Iran—which is prophesied to happen.

The United States will review its military position in Europe over the next six months, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yesterday at a meeting with nato defense ministers, to “ensure that nato is moving fast and irreversibly towards Europe stepping up to take primary responsibility.” Losing American firepower actually will not weaken Europe but rather motivate it to build a deceptive and deadly superpower.

Britain is now ready to oust its prime minister, Keir Starmer, after his key challenger, Andy Burnham, won the election necessary to challenge him. Burnham won 55 percent of the vote in Makerfield, returning him to Parliament after soundly defeating Nigel Farage’s Reform party. In the wake of the victory, 100 Labour M.P.s have called on Starmer to step down. As Britain prepares for its seventh prime minister in 10 years, it’s clear the nation has a substantial leadership crisis.

The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago opened yesterday after 10 years of construction and $850 million in spending and amid ongoing disputes by builders who say they haven’t been paid. Former presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton attended, along with several popular musicians. Obama used the occasion in part to praise people who resisted immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota. The center’s museum opens to the public today, “Juneteenth.”

Poland, Lithuania and France are conducting military exercises from June 16 to 26 involving about 10,000 personnel. The drills will focus on defending Poland’s Suwałki Gap, a 40-mile-wide area bordering Lithuania and separating Russia’s heavily militarized Kaliningrad exclave from its close ally, Belarus. In the event of a conflict between Russia and nato, the narrow strip will likely become a key battleground.

Finnish lawmakers voted yesterday to remove a ban that denied allies the ability to station nuclear weapons on Finnish soil. “The weapons would only be allowed into Finnish territory to defend the country or to enable nato’s defense operations and cooperation,” Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said. This comes as France has signed agreements to defend other nato allies with its nuclear arsenal.

Russia and Iran expect to fully connect their banking payment networks within two months, Iran’s central bank chief announced during a visit to Moscow on Tuesday. The move is part of a broader effort to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar and shield their economies from Western sanctions. While it won’t dethrone the dollar on its own, the integration represents yet another crack in the foundations of the dollar-centric global financial system that has underpinned American power for decades.

A new report into Muslim rape gangs published by British M.P. Rupert Lowe has shone a spotlight on one of Britain’s most disgusting crime waves. The report highlights a genuine problem that politicians refuse to address, though flaws in its research will make it easier for them to ignore. The report states that 250,000 young white girls were attacked by these gangs but offers limited evidence to support such a shockingly high figure. Footnotes often point to smaller blogs and lead to a fruitless search for original sources. But this is actually a symptom of the same problem: Government departments and major news organizations have more resources for a more comprehensive report, yet have refused for years to compile one. Britain’s embrace of mass migration and multiculturalism has caused tremendous destruction that authorities refuse to look at.

France’s General Directorate for Internal Security will replace its reliance on American tech company Palantir with French company ChapsVision, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said yesterday, to reduce “strategic dependencies in the digital sphere” and reliance on the “goodwill of certain partners.” The process will take years, but this is another confirmation that the 85-year alliance between Europe and the U.S. is dying.

The Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian Navy frigate, fired warning shots toward a British yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday. The incident occurred outside of British territorial waters, and no damage was reported, but it reminds Britain and Europe that Russian aggression remains an imminent threat.

Major League Baseball warned several San Francisco Giants players yesterday about writing Bible verses on their uniform caps during the team’s game on June 12, marketed as “Pride Night.” Players wore special caps incorporating the rainbow lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer-plus flag into the team logo. Pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker added references to Genesis 9:12-16 on their hats, which records the origin of the rainbow and God’s promise to never again flood the Earth. MLB said writing of any kind breaks uniform rules and implied that future violations could lead to fines. People openly sinning against God are using their power to stamp out even minor attempts to honor Him.

Yesterday, Montenegro reached agreements on health, consumer protection and the right of EU citizens to work anywhere in the bloc, meaning that the Balkan nation has closed 16 out of 33 chapters of accession negotiations. If it joins the EU by 2028, as intended, this will further consolidate Germany’s control of the Balkans.

Yesterday, a two-thirds majority in Hungary’s new parliament passed a constitutional amendment that limits prime ministers to eight years in office. When officially signed into law, it will prevent Viktor Orbán, who has already served as prime minister for 20 years, from running again. But current Prime Minister Peter Magyar may be setting up his own autocratic rule.

Winston Churchill deliberately starved millions of Indians, according to a video exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The script claims that Oliver Cromwell “starved people, en masse, a little like the willful starvation of the Indian population by Winston Churchill.” It also accuses Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately starving Gazans. “The accusation that [the famine] was deliberately visited upon Bengalis by Churchill is foul and vile,” wrote historian Andrew Roberts. “It is also historically ludicrous.” Over 50 peers, including Churchill’s grandson Lord Soames, signed Lord Roberts’s letter, which was sent to the gallery’s board on Monday. For more on why Churchill’s reputation so often comes under attack, see our main story today.