In Other News
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi completed a six-day tour of African nations yesterday, underscoring China’s ongoing efforts to boost its power over the resource-rich continent. Wang’s visits to Ethiopia, Lesotho and Tanzania further advance China’s global Belt and Road Initiative, in which the Chinese regime loans vast amounts of money to smaller nations to help build ports, railroads, highways, airports and other infrastructure improving their links to the Chinese economy. The terms of the deals often enable China to gain full control over these and other trade assets. China is continuing to develop the massive, anti-American trade bloc prophesied in the Bible.
“If we have a referendum, I would vote for the unification with Romania,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu told British podcast The Rest Is Politics on Sunday. The small East European country, which borders Romania and Ukraine, has been targeted by Russian hybrid warfare, according to Sandu. She fears that Moldova, home to a population of only 2.4 million, will not “survive” on its own. The late Herbert W. Armstrong often referred to the “fear of Russia” as a trigger for Europe unifying into an empire. In 1980, he wrote that Romania could be one of the 10 nations that Revelation 17 prophesies will constitute this empire. As he and Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry have also stated, it is feasible that the prophesied “ten kings” will rule over nation-groups.
Yesterday, Pope Leo xiv met with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado in a private audience at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. The Vatican has not released any details about the discussion, but Machado said she asked the pontiff to help pressure Venezuela’s regime into releasing political prisoners. The United States arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro for drug trafficking on January 3, and President Trump said the U.S. will essentially “run the country.” Although the Vatican’s influence might seem slight at this point, Bible prophecy forecasts that it will soon exert much more influence in Venezuela—to the detriment of the United States.
Israel and Germany signed a major counterterrorism and cyberwarfare agreement in Jerusalem on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said cybersecurity “is one of the main threats to our internal security, and in many ways also our infrastructure and other threats.” Netanyahu said Israel and Germany “are natural partners” in countering cyberthreats, citing Israel’s recent sale of its Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany. That sale was announced on the same day it was expanded by another $3.1 billion. Israel may see Germany as a close strategic partner it can depend on for intimate security, but Bible prophecy warns that such cooperation is actually setting Israel up for a heinous betrayal.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa visited Syria and Lebanon on Friday, meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to discuss economic issues and the return of many Syrian refugees residing in Europe, then meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to discuss regional stability and the disarmament of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Earlier in the week, Costa visited Paris for a meeting on the Ukraine war, Cyprus for its opening ceremony for the European Council presidency, and Jordan for the first EU summit in Amman, which was also attended by von der Leyen. Watch Europe’s involvement: Iran once dominated Syria and Lebanon, but Bible prophecy says they will soon be dominated by a European superpower.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in India on Sunday to help bolster relations between the two nations. Europe is working to replace its past economic reliance on the U.S. with other nations, including India. The two nations have even planned a sale of German submarines to India. Bible prophecy forecasts that if Americans, who descended from the ancient Israelites, continue to rebel against God, they will suffer the same types of devastating consequences as their predecessors. It even specifies that much of this suffering will come from Europe, along with other nations disconnecting from and besieging the economy of the U.S., weakening it prior to a devastating military attack.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will arrive in China tomorrow to meet with Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping, the first such visit by a Canadian prime minister in over eight years. Carney intends to reduce Canada’s dependence on the U.S., which has purchased about 75 percent of Canadian exports for decades. “We’re forging new partnerships around the world,” he said on Wednesday, “to transform our economy from one that has been reliant on a single trade partner, to one that is stronger and more resilient to global shock.” The Bible prophesies that global shocks are coming and that China and Europe will wage economic war on the U.S. Canada could provide a devastating vector for attack in this coming conflict.
Early Saturday morning, a fire blazed through the Beth Israel Synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, the city’s only synagogue and the target of a 1967 bombing by the Ku Klux Klan. Local and federal authorities arrested a suspect by the end of the day, but have not yet publicly identified the individual. The attack, which is being treated by the fbi as a hate crime, is the latest demonstration of anti-Semitism, as brazen attacks against Jews increase worldwide.
A Oreshnik missile struck western Ukraine this morning, only the second time the powerful weapon has been used in four years of warfare. The strike was part of a night of air attacks that killed several and knocked out power to the capital Kyiv and other areas. The Oreshnik is categorized as an intermediate-range ballistic missile and flies at up to 10 times the speed of sound. This one carried conventional explosives, but it is also designed to carry nuclear warheads. “It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake ‘Putin residence attack’ that never happened,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha posted on X. “Putin uses an irbm near EU and nato border in response to his own hallucinations—this is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses.” As Russian aggression intensifies, watch for Europe to increasingly unify and militarize.
Iranians are heading toward a third week of unrest, as tens of thousands or perhaps millions continue to protest the regime, resulting in massive shows of open defiance, arson, violent clashes, thousands of arrests and dozens of deaths. Demonstrations have taken place in all 31 of the nation’s provinces, with protest sizes expanding in Kurdish-majority areas. The regime has blocked the Internet across the country and taken the rare move to deploy troops from its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. These protests could be a turning point in Iran’s political system, but the Bible prophesies that Iran will remain radically Islamic and forcefully belligerent.
The Lebanese military announced yesterday that the terrorist group Hezbollah has been completely disarmed in southern Lebanon and that the military now has operational control throughout the region, except for places controlled by the Israel Defense Forces. In a statement, Israel expressed concerns that “Hezbollah is rearming faster than it is being disarmed,” but called the Lebanese government’s actions “encouraging.” Hezbollah, backed by Iran, dominated Lebanon for decades, but Bible prophecy foretold its collapse. Expect Iran’s grip on Lebanon to continue to loosen—and for another power to seize even more power in Lebanon and to display even more aggression.
Reports have emerged this week that the long-standing leader of Saxony-Anhalt will resign. Reiner Haseloff, a member of the Christian Democratic Union, has led the German state since 2011. If the coalition agrees on Monday, his proposed successor, Sven Schulz, could succeed him as state premier. State legislators were slow to support Schulz, but that has changed due to fear of the far-right AfD party, which is now polling at nearly 40 percent in Saxony-Anhalt. Many fear the AfD could win the September election. Germany’s intractable state and federal political chaos is contributing to the emergence of a strong German leader.
Pope Leo spoke out against the persecution of Christians during his annual meeting of ambassadors to the Vatican. Christian persecution is affecting 380 million people, he said. “I would especially call to mind the many victims of violence, including religiously motivated violence in Bangladesh, in the Sahel region and in Nigeria, as well as those of the serious terrorist attack last June on the parish of Saint Elias in Damascus,” he said. “Nor do I forget the victims of jihadist violence in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.” He also expanded his warning beyond violent persecution: “At the same time, we must not forget a subtle form of religious discrimination against Christians, which is spreading even in countries where they are in the majority, such as in Europe or the Americas.” Watch for the Vatican to push Europe to become more Catholic and even more outspoken and belligerent as global religious conflicts intensify.
Australia is experiencing a brutal heat wave, with some southern cities recording temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Meteorologists say conditions are the worst in six years, when bushfires destroyed wide swaths of southeastern Australia in what became known as the Black Summer. Several fires are burning now, and three people are missing. Such temperatures are common in northern Australia, but relatively infrequent in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. For the significance of environmental disasters, read Why ‘Natural’ Disasters?
Reports have emerged that White House officials are currently discussing offering lump sum payments to Greenlanders to convince them to secede from Denmark and join the United States. According to four anonymous sources speaking to Reuters, White House aides have discussed figures ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 for each of the territory’s 57,000 people. Denmark, which technically controls the semiautonomous and strategically important landmass, has repeatedly told Donald Trump that Greenland is not for sale, but the Greenlandic people are working to organize an independence referendum for 2029. For more information on this trend, read “Buying Greenland Is Not as Crazy as It Sounds.”
A United States Customs and Border Protection agent wounded a detained motorist and a passenger in Portland, Oregon, yesterday, after the motorist reportedly tried to strike him with the vehicle. The Department of Homeland Security identified the female passenger as a Venezuelan who was in the U.S. illegally and connected to a Tren de Aragua prostitution ring. This comes after Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen who was part of an anti-federal “ice Watch” group, was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent while in her vehicle in the middle of an enforcement action. Thousands of protesters have demonstrated in Minneapolis, New York City, Phoenix and Portland, with some burning American flags and some chanting, “Save a life, kill an ice.” The Bible prophesies rioting, looting and civil war-like conditions in cities if Americans continue to rebel against God (Isaiah 1:7; Ezekiel 5:12). These incidents are warning signs of much greater internal conflicts to come.
Negotiations between the European Union and the trade bloc mercosur continue, and recent tweaks by the European Commission have enabled part of the deal to pass. By offering more funding for farmers in the 2028–2034 budget period and temporarily suspending tariffs on fertilizers, Italy gave its support, giving the EU enough votes to pass this aspect of the trade agreement. However, France is still opposed, and other aspects require unanimous consent from all member states. In the same week that President Trump made a strong move to counter anti-U.S. foreign influence in Venezuela and enforce the Monroe Doctrine, the Europeans have quietly taken important steps to bring Latin America into their trade empire. For more information on the significance of this deal, read “America Is Being Besieged Economically,” by Gerald Flurry.
Thousands of people attended a neofascist rally in Rome yesterday. The annual event, organized by admirers of 20th-century Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, commemorates the shooting of three neofascists by left-wing terrorists on Jan. 7, 1978. Hundreds at yesterday’s rally made Mussolini’s fascist salute, their right arms outstretched and hands open. The salute was perhaps the most iconic aspect of Mussolini’s movement to restore the Roman Empire. In the years leading up to and during World War II, Herbert W. Armstrong repeatedly warned that this restoration was prophesied in Revelation 17. Mussolini and Adolf Hitler represented the sixth resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire, and a seventh is prophesied to arise in our time. The current veneration of Mussolini in Italy, seen even among Italian leaders, shows that the fascist spirit is still alive.
President Trump proposed to hike the Pentagon’s budget from $901 billion in 2025 to $1.5 trillion for 2027 yesterday. “This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us safe and secure, regardless of foe,” Trump posted on Truth Social. He added that he feels comfortable boosting spending on the military because of increased revenue brought in through tariffs. Yet the Penn Wharton Budget Model projects only $566 billion in conventional tariff revenue for 2027. A $600 billion increase in military spending would increase the federal government’s budget deficit, which currently represents about 6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending U.S. support for 66 organizations, including the United Nations’ population agency and the UN treaty that establishes international climate negotiations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “The Trump administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms and general prosperity.” This marks a resurgence in American sovereignty, but unless Americans repent toward God, this show of strength will likely contribute to America’s isolation and downfall. To understand why, read The United States and Britain in Prophecy.
Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping hosted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Beijing on Monday, just one week after Chinese Communist Party forces conducted military drills around Taiwan. South Korea and Taiwan are U.S. allies, but Myung said he is aiming for a “new phase” in South Korea’s relationship with China and is seeking “feasible alternatives together for peace on the Korean Peninsula.” This is a significant open door to China and a mild rebuke of the U.S. Xi said he wants to “increase exchanges and maintain frequent communication” and for the two countries to “further align their development strategies … and achieve more cooperation results in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence.” Cooperation between Asian powers is prophesied in the Bible and explained in Russia and China in Prophecy, which states: “Watch for coming agreements between Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and others to harness the maverick North Korea and muscle the U.S. out of Oriental diplomacy in Korea and Taiwan.”
Africa’s first heavy-haul desert railway was completed on December 30, part of China’s global Belt and Road Initiative, Business Insider Africa reported, the “largest single infrastructure built by a Chinese firm in Algeria.” Some 360 miles of rail will now enable the transportation of an estimated 22 million tons of iron ore per year. China is buying economic power in developing countries like Algeria, part of an intensifying economic cold war that will soon turn deadly.
High school students spend 70 minutes on their phones during school, according to a study published by JAMA on Monday that analyzed 640 student phones from September 2022 to May 2024. Most of those 70 minutes were lost to social media and video games, despite nearly all schools claiming to have rules against such smartphone usage. Students with “problematic behavior” spent an average of 80 minutes on their phones during school. This is yet another study showing the negative fruits of smartphones, which the Trumpet has warned against for years.
Taiwanese officials view Donald Trump’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro as a notable deterrent to China’s planned seizure of the island, a senior official in Taiwanese defense told Bloomberg on Monday. Besides confirming President Trump’s willingness to use military force to further U.S. interests, the capture also demonstrated that American airpower can operate with apparent impunity against even advanced Chinese and Russian air defense systems. “The level of sophistication of U.S. equipment, compared with the weapons Venezuela obtained from Russia and China, was fully exposed in this operation,” Deputy Minister of Taiwan’s National Defense Hsu Szu-chien said of the capture. This measure may have bought Taiwan some time, but some fear it could inspire China to attempt its own decapitation maneuver in Taipei. In either case, the Trumpet maintains that Taiwan’s days of freedom are numbered due to America’s weak will in standing up to China.
Israel announced Friday the identities of two Palestinian staffers with the non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders who belonged to terrorist groups. Fadi al-Wadiya belonged to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, assisting in rocket technology. Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif al-Shalfouh was a Hamas sniper. On Thursday, the Israeli group ngo Monitor announced the identities of three other Doctors Without Borders employees who had terrorist affiliations. The revelations are shocking but not isolated. The Gaza crisis was in part created by humanitarian concern from the international community.
