In Other News
At least 30 people have been reported dead in the wake of Hurricane Melissa crossing the Caribbean. The slow-moving category-5 hurricane made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, leaving more than 77 percent of homes without electricity by Wednesday evening. It also caused flooding in Haiti, where 25 of the deaths occurred. Rescue missions are ongoing. Consider “The Question Raised by Melissa’s Devastation.”
Judge Susan Illston issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from serving reduction-in-force notices until the government reopens. Article ii of the Constitution gives the president authority over all members of the executive branch, so the absence of career bureaucrats during a government shutdown should not affect the authority of the chief executive. President Trump would like to permanently fire 10,000 bureaucrats during the shutdown; activist judges are doing everything they can to protect the “deep state” by thwarting him.
The Communist country will buy 40 Russian Su-35 fighter jets in a secretive $8 billion deal, the New York Times reported Monday. This is Vietnam’s largest arms deal yet using “money flow[ing] through joint oil-and-gas ventures [with Russia] instead of traditional cross-border banking channels,” United24 wrote. This is part of the nation’s recent shift from the West and comes one month after Russia proposed building a Vietnamese nuclear power plant. This deal furthers the prophesied Russia-led Asian alliance that will include Vietnam.
The Dutch are voting in their third election in five years today. The anti-Islam Geert Wilders is expected to come in first place but not to govern. Wilders refused to compromise his anti-migration stance in June, triggering the end of the previous coalition. As a result, the other major parties have ruled out working with him. With four different parties all polling close to Wilders’s, it is hard to know who the next leader of the Netherlands will be. Last time it took nearly six months to negotiate a coalition. This is another symptom of Europe’s leadership void.
Belgium is becoming a narco-state, a senior judge warned in an open letter on Monday. “We are facing an organized threat that is undermining our institutions,” she warned. “Extensive mafia structures have taken hold, becoming a parallel force that challenges not only the police but also the judiciary.” “An attack with a bomb or weapons of war, a home invasion, or a kidnapping are all easily ordered online,” she wrote. “You don’t even have to go to the dark web; a Snapchat account is all it takes Moreover, it’s not even expensive; often a few hundred euros is enough.” This is yet another social crisis for Europe that is largely caused by mass immigration.
Abc News’ Jonathan Karl’s upcoming book Retribution says former President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “privately agreed to abstain from making any endorsements” and that “the Obamas were not happy” when many influential Democrats—including Pelosi—endorsed Harris less than 24 hours after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in 2024. Obama reportedly responded to Pelosi’s endorsement with an angry phone call. In a July 6, 2024, lecture—weeks before Biden dropped out—Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry said God was “blotting out … the power [Obama] has.” Based on Bible prophecy, he said Obama was “being silenced, and we can expect more of that.” To learn more about the prophecies of Obama and his silence, read Mr. Flurry’s article “America’s Supreme Court Has Fulfilled Bible Prophecy.”
America’s second-largest private employer is laying off 14,000 corporate employees to make the company leaner and less bureaucratic while it looks to invest in artificial intelligence. “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones),” wrote Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology. “We’re convinced that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and businesses.” Both Meta and Microsoft have also recently laid off employees due to AI innovation. This technology revolution could spike unemployment as the economy adjusts.
President Trump negotiated a trade and critical minerals agreement with Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia during an asean-U.S. Summit in Malaysia on Sunday. This pact comes as China, which has a near monopoly on critical rare earths, has imposed stricter controls on them. Though the pact is a positive development for U.S. manufacturing, the Trumpet expects its benefits to fade as China increases its influence over smaller Asian nations.
A series of recent incidents are a clear reminder of the mercilessness and violence of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Russian soldiers murdered three Ukrainian civilians in Pokrovsk, Ukrainian troops claimed on October 19. On Wednesday, Russia attacked the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with drones, killing four civilians and injuring 19. One drone struck a kindergarten, killing one and injuring five. Russia has also intensified attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure; less than half of Ukraine’s energy capacity is still functional compared to prewar levels, as reported on October 20. In the Chernihiv Oblast, infrastructure cannot be repaired due to constant Russian drone surveillance. Bible prophecy shows we can expect the brutality to continue.
British police accidentally released a notorious rapist instead of deporting him on Friday, exposing the country’s massive incompetence on migration. Hadush Kebatu sparked a nationwide protest movement when he raped a 14-year-old. Angry locals protested outside migrant hotels up and down the country. On Friday, Kebatu was supposed to be deported; instead, he was released and handed £76. Police launched a three-day manhunt before they finally tracked him down. Meanwhile, the House of Commons’ Home Affairs Committee accused the government of wasting billions of pounds by failing to pay attention to and enforce contracts with hotels to house migrants. The government rents three hotels from the Chinese Communist Party, which means they also benefit from the windfall. God calls modern Britain a “silly dove” directly in the context of migration and foreign policy (Hosea 7:9-11). It’s hard to think of sillier decisions.
King Charles dedicated a new memorial to homosexuals who served in the British military today. The sculpture at the National Memorial Arboretum is to commemorate those who were pushed out of the military under the homosexual ban. Those affected have already received monetary compensation. “Society is embracing terrible family-destroying perversions like gender-fluidity, same-sex ‘marriage’ and transgenderism,” wrote Gerald Flurry. “The royal family is throwing its support behind this movement. Even Diana, a generation ago, was promoting this cause. Is that a legacy you want to sustain? The royal family isn’t promoting God-plane marriage. At the same time, it is supporting what God and His Bible label an abominable, Sodom-plane relationship!”
Argentinian President Javier Milei and his La Libertad Avanza party enjoyed a resounding victory in yesterday’s midterm legislative elections, capturing nearly 41 percent of the vote and outperforming the Peronist opposition by nine percentage points. Milei hailed it as a “tipping point” for his radical economic reforms, including deep spending cuts that tamed inflation from over 200 percent to around 30 percent. The Trump administration endorsed Milei and tied a $40 billion bailout to the election’s outcome. The results position Milei strongly for a potential reelection in 2027.
New Yorkers will elect their new mayor on November 4, and the front-runner candidate, Zohran Mamdani, is not only a Communist but also a believer in the 12th imam, a messianic figure in Shiite Muslim theology. This is the same figure the Iranian regime is preparing for by waging jihadist war against the West. This means the man who may soon lead America’s largest city has more in common with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei than most Americans. As Gerald Flurry writes in Chapter 4 of Ezekiel—The End-Time Prophet, America is being overrun by destructive foreign influences.
Two Russian military aircraft entered Lithuanian air space yesterday. This incursion follows other recent Russian military activities in nato air space, which have put Europe on high alert. Lithuanian Armed Forces detected a Russian fighter jet and a tanker aircraft near Kybartai, which Lithuania’s president called “a cruel violation of international law and the territorial sovereignty of Lithuania.” Russia’s provocations are causing Europe to band together.
European firms Airbus, Leonardo and Thales released a statement yesterday proposing a new space firm that will employ 25,000 Europeans and form a “leading European player in space” by 2027. “This proposed new company marks a pivotal milestone for Europe’s space industry. It embodies our shared vision to build a stronger and more competitive European presence in an increasingly dynamic global space market” the companies’ executives said in a joint statement. This development comes amid Europe’s rapid military modernization. Bible prophecy warns of a European superpower that will rise in the end time, and this deal could help Europe catch up to and surpass American power in space. For more, read “Germany’s Astonishing Military Rise.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford approved political advertisements showing clips from a Ronald Reagan speech about tariffs. President Trump claims this is Canada’s way of trying to influence American court cases on the legality of the tariff policies. Ford, who leads Canada’s largest province and most powerful economy, has been one of the president’s most vehement critics. As the Trumpet wrote in February, the signs are multiplying that a “Canada-U.S. Trade War Looms.”
Sanae Takaichi said during her first major policy speech today that her government will drastically enhance Japan’s already powerful military. “The free, open and stable international order that we were accustomed to is violently shaken in the face of historic change of power balance and intensifying geopolitical competitions,” she said. “In the region around Japan, military activities and other actions from our neighbors China, North Korea and Russia are causing grave concerns.” She plans to raise military spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by March, up from 1.2 percent in 2023. With Japan currently a U.S. ally, its rapid rearmament may seem like a positive development for global stability. But Bible prophecy forecasts something much different: “Japan’s Coming Betrayal of America.”
American high school students are entering “romantic relationships” with artificial intelligence. A study of 1,030 students by the Center for Democracy and Technology shows 1 in 5 students have had such a “relationship” or know someone who has, more than half have “conversations” with AI at least once a week, and 16 percent converse daily. Over a third claimed it was easier to talk to AI than their parents. About 12 percent of respondents said they knew somebody who was depicted in artificially generated deepfake pornographic material. Read “The Unknown Future of Artificial Intelligence” for a biblical perspective on the future of this rapidly advancing technology.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency withheld disaster aid from Trump supporters for years, the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday. An internal investigation found that, from Hurricane Ida in 2021 through Hurricane Milton in 2024, fema employees in Joe Biden’s administration collected and logged political data on victims and were told to avoid “homes advertising Trump.” dhs Secretary Kristi Noem has mandated stricter oversight in the agency and referred the case to the Justice Department for potential prosecution. The Bible prophesied that President Trump would return to office to save America from the “bitter affliction” inflicted by Barack Obama and Joe Biden. This prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes.
China has overtaken the U.S. as Germany’s top trading partner, Reuters reported yesterday. From January to August, Chinese-German trade totaled about $190 billion, exceeding U.S.-German trade by about $1 billion. The U.S. had overtaken China last year, but President Trump’s tariffs forced Berlin to turn back to Beijing. Bible prophecy says China and Germany will soon lead a worldwide trade alliance that targets the U.S. and its allies. Expect increased economic unification between these two nations.
American diplomats Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff recently met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with Saudi and U.A.E. officials, Israel Hayom reported today. This was apparently to calm these nations’ nerves about America’s growing relationship with Qatar. “A senior Saudi official told Israel Hayom that [America’s close relationship with Qatar] effectively means Qatar would work to keep Hamas in Gaza and help it return to power at the first opportunity. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have threatened to pull out of Gaza reconstruction efforts” as a result. It appears Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates can see what President Trump’s envoys cannot: Qatar is a dangerous sponsor of terrorism.
Will Israel annex the entire West Bank? Israeli legislators are debating that question right now. Yesterday, a preliminary annexation bill passed an initial vote, 25–24. The Knesset has 120 members; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party mostly boycotted the vote. The bill faces further votes, extensive deliberation and strong opposition from Netanyahu’s government before it has a chance of becoming law. The issue of Israel’s sovereignty over the rest of the Holy Land is of greater importance than most realize. Chapter 2 of Gerald Flurry’s free booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy explains why.
Austria, France and the Netherlands are urging the European Union to tighten oversight of funding organizations that undermine EU values and to intensify the government’s criminal and operational response to hate speech and hate crimes, citing a rise in racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents since Oct. 7, 2023. The EU is already using hate speech as an excuse to crack down on free speech, part of its biblically prophesied tendency toward authoritarianism.
Germany’s military police began a large-scale exercise, “Marshal Power,” in Bavaria yesterday, deploying soldiers, drones and convoys. Through October 29, 500 armed soldiers and 300 police, fire department and rescue personnel are responding to simulated military and nonmilitary attacks. Unlike typical maneuvers, the exercises are occurring in public areas rather than restricted military grounds. In one instance, a police officer called by local residents mistakenly shot a soldier, who sustained minor injuries. Personnel are training in the real world, and civilians are being mentally prepared for war.
America’s total debt hit $98.9 trillion in the second quarter, even as the U.S. government debt hit $37.8 trillion. This represents a debt-to-gdp ratio of 123 percent, an increase of $1.7 trillion since the debt ceiling was raised in July. The U.S. government is facing a $1.8 trillion deficit, and interest payments now surpass defense spending. For decades, the Trumpet has warned that America’s debt is one of its worst national security vulnerabilities.
