Biden Accused; Trump Infected

 Newsmax wrote on June 8:

“An executive of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings paid then-Vice President Joe Biden $5 million as part of a bribery scheme, according to the FBI document that is part of the House Oversight Committee probe into the incident, Fox News reported Thursday.

“Biden’s son Hunter Biden was a member of the Burisma board.”

The New York Post wrote on June 8:

“Former President Trump says he has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he mishandled classified material by keeping hundreds of sensitive documents from his time in the White House at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida… ‘The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,’ Trump wrote… that went on to criticize President Biden’s handling of classified material. 

“‘I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States… I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!’ Trump wrote.  ‘This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline…’”

On the same day President Biden is accused of obtaining illegal payments from Burisma, former President Trump gets indicted. The timing is far too obvious than to be ignored; especially since the prosecutor is a left-wing Democrat, and no criminal charges have been filed against Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and even Hillary Clinton, even though “investigations” involving them have been going on for many years. Many have reacted to the news by saying that America has indeed become a third world Banana Republic. 

Debt Ceiling Bill Enacted

ABC News wrote on June 1:

“The Senate on Thursday night passed legislation to lift the nation’s debt ceiling… The final vote was 63-36…

“Schumer painted the debt limit deal as a broad victory for Democrats late Thursday night during a press conference just after the legislation passed… Schumer’s comments come after an aggressive effort by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to cast the bill as a GOP victory. But Schumer pointed to the vote margins in the House and Senate, noting that the bill enjoyed more support from Democrats than it did from Republicans in both chambers…

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act, the product of weeks of contentious negotiation between Biden and McCarthy, will raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025, while also implementing some caps on government spending and policy changes… The compromise legislation was met with opposition from wings of both parties — hardline Republicans and progressive Democrats…”

Biden signed the bill on Saturday, June 3.

What the suspension of the debt limit until January 1, 2025 means is that it “essentially gives the Treasury Department the latitude to borrow as much money as it needs to pay the nation’s bills during that time period, plus a few months after the limit is reached, as the department employs accounting maneuvers to keep up payments… the debt limit will be set at whatever level it has reached when the suspension ends… The suspension will kick the next potential fight over the nation’s debt load to 2025 — past the next presidential election” (The New York Times, dated June 2).

However, another fight is just around the corner, when federal funding is set to run out in October 2023. As the Huffington Post reported on June 3:

“Senate Republicans are demanding that Congress pass additional legislation to boost defense spending… such a bill could also prove convenient for sending additional money to Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Of course, any additional spending this year would need the approval of the GOP-led House, where skepticism of more aid to Ukraine runs rampant.

“Another part of the bill could cause chaos this year by automatically cutting defense and nondefense funding if lawmakers fail to wrap up the dozen bills to fund government agencies by the end of the year…

“Given the razor-thin margin Republicans have in the House, they’ll likely need Democratic help to pass the funding bills. And the Republican opponents of the debt limit deal meant to ease the annual budget process are unlikely to make things any easier.”

The US Government Becomes More and More Totalitarian

The Rutherford Institute wrote on or about May 31:

“To be convicted of seditious conspiracy, the charge levied against Stewart Rhodes who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for being the driving force behind the January 6 Capitol riots, one doesn’t have to engage in violence against the government, vandalize government property, or even trespass on property that the government has declared off-limits to the general public.

“… This is about the long-term ramifications of empowering the government to wage war on individuals whose political ideas and expression challenge the government’s power, reveal the government’s corruption, expose the government’s lies, and encourage the citizenry to push back against the government’s many injustices.

“This is about criminalizing political expression in thoughts, words and deeds. This is about how the government has used the events of Jan. 6 in order to justify further power grabs and acquire more authoritarian emergency powers. 

“This was never about so-called threats to democracy… Indeed, by the government’s own definition, America’s founders were seditious conspirators based on the heavily charged rhetoric they used to birth the nation.

“Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Marquis De Lafayette, and John Adams would certainly have been charged for suggesting that Americans should not only take up arms but be prepared to protect their liberties and defend themselves against the government should it violate their rights. Had America’s founders feared revolutionary words and ideas, there would have been no First Amendment, which protects the right to political expression, even if that expression is anti-government.

“No matter what one’s political persuasion might be, every American has a First Amendment right to protest government programs or policies with which they might disagree... Unfortunately, the government is increasingly losing its tolerance for anyone whose political views could be perceived as critical or ‘anti-government.’…

“For years now, the government has used all of the weapons in its vast arsenal—surveillance, threat assessments, fusion centers, pre-crime programs, hate crime laws, militarized police, lockdowns, martial law, etc.—to target potential enemies of the state based on their ideologies, behaviors, affiliations and other characteristics that might be deemed suspicious or dangerous…”

“Republicans Fiscally Irresponsible Act”

In his weekly column, Ron Paul wrote the following on June 5:

“The political and financial class breathed a sigh of relief when Congress passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. The bill suspends the debt ceiling for two years, thus avoiding the establishment’s nightmare of a government default on its debt. Rather, it allows the government to continue adding trillions of dollars of debt that will be monetized by the Federal Reserve.

“Of course, this default will be felt by the people in the form of an inflation tax. This inflation tax may be the worst of all taxes, because it is both hidden and regressive. Politicians love to point the finger at greedy corporations, labor unions, and even consumers for increasing prices instead of taking responsibility for the legislation they pass that incentivizes the Federal Reserve to create more inflation.

“Republican supporters of the bill claim it begins to roll back the excessive spending of the Biden years. While the bill does rescind $28 billion of unspent COVID funds, it  just recycles that money into the Fiscal Year 2024 budget. Thus it does not save taxpayers a dime. The bill does cap domestic discretionary spending for Fiscal Year 2024 at $704  billion and spending for Fiscal Year 2025 at $711 billion. However, these caps come from a budget whose baseline includes the increased COVID spending. The bill only cuts spending by 0.1 to 0.2 percent of gross domestic product over the next two years  – assuming Congress does not reverse the cuts. Of course, it makes no attempt to actually cut spending, much less eradicate any illegitimate and unconstitutional government agencies, cabinet departments, or programs. 

“Even though ‘defense’ is the third largest item in the budget (behind social security, Medicare, and interest in the national debt), our annual military budget alone is more than the combined  budgets of the next ten biggest spending countries. The Fiscal Responsibility Act doesn’t take a penny away from the military budget; instead it matches President Biden’s request for a 3.2 percent increase.  This increase comes despite the fact that the Pentagon has never complied with the law requiring it to pass an audit.  

“Biden’s military budget is the largest in United States history and probably world history. Deep State Republicans like South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham never met a war he didn’t love.  Graham and his allies threatened to block passage of the bill unless the military spending was increased and more taxpayer money—and Ukraine and Russian lives — wasted in the Ukraine Russian conflict…

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act will result in increased government spending, debt, and deficits. It will also further erode the value of the United States Dollar, thus making it more likely that the US dollar will lose its world reserve currency status sooner rather than later…”

King James Bible Prohibited in US Schools

Newsmax wrote on June 2:

“The King James Bible is being removed from elementary and middle school libraries [for the 72,000-student Davis School District north of Salt Lake City, Utah] after a complaint that it contained passages describing sex and violence. High schools in the county will still be able to keep the scriptures on their library shelves.

“A three-person committee, appointed by the county school district to determine if the Bible is appropriate for students to see, found it contained vulgarity or violence…”

The Associated Press added on June 2:

“The committee published its decision in an online database of review requests and did not elaborate on its reasoning or which passages of the Bible it found overly violent or vulgar…

“The reviews are handled by a committee made up of teachers, parents and administrators in the predominantly conservative community where most people are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints…

“Most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints read the Bible along with other scriptures, including the Book of Mormon…

“The Bible has long found itself on the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books and was temporarily pulled off shelves last year in school districts in Texas and Missouri…”

This is the epitome of nonsense and appalling abomination… but the Bible has been prohibited before, including for many decades by the Catholic Church. Obviously, Satan has always been behind those movements to suppress the Truth of God’s Word.

Now the Book of Mormon?

The Salt Lake Tribune wrote on June 2:

“The Utah school district… received a new request Friday targeting another religious text: the Book of Mormon… The request calls for the book to be reviewed for containing violence, which includes battles, beheadings and kidnappings among its stories. Members of the faith believe the text was translated from golden plates by church founder Joseph Smith.

“The complaint is the latest in a snowballing process for reviewing school literature in Utah. A law was passed in 2022 to allow parents to submit requests for removal of books containing any ‘pornographic’ or ‘indecent material.’…

“Now with the Book of Mormon challenge, the district will form another committee to review that book to determine if it violates the law… [Davis spokesperson Christopher Williams] said there have not been complaints filed on other religious texts, such as the Quran….”

Biden Not Fit Mentally and Physically

The New York Post wrote on June 4:

“Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, is continuing to raise flags over President Biden’s health, concluding that he is ‘not fit mentally or physically’ after the president fell on stage Thursday during a commencement ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy… ‘I think his lack of physical ability and his physical decline is now starting to highlight the cognitive decline that we’ve been watching for so long now,’ Jackson said.

“‘It’s… becoming a national security issue for us… To think that this man thinks he can be president at the age of 86 when he’s 80 right now [and] could be in office for another six years is just malpractice on part of the White House in the West Wing to allow this to be happening, for him to even be talking about running for another term… Somebody needs to be held accountable. People like Jill Biden and people that surround him and are supposed to love him and care about him, they should be doing something about this, and they should be stopping this because it’s a shame.’…

“Jackson… said he does not ‘honestly think he can finish the time he’s got left, but should he finish that time, there’s no way this man can be our president for another four years.’

“Jackson previously served as the White House physician to former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and has repeatedly questioned whether Biden is cognitively fit for office…”

In a related article, the New York Post wrote on June 3:

“It was alarming to watch Joe Biden take a tumble Thursday at the Air Force Academy commencement. But the really scary thought is that if he had landed head-first, Kamala Harris would be sitting in the Oval Office. Talk about terrifying!… the sensible Americans who make up a majority of the nation would be living in fear of the human word salad playing with the nuclear football and the possibility that her cackle could be the soundtrack of Armageddon…”

Scary indeed…

Kennedy vs. Trump

Fox News reported on May 31:

“Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. lashed out at former President Donald Trump Tuesday, blasting him over what appears to be his deep ties to Big Pharma. ‘Donald Trump owns stock in Pfizer and J&J, who bought fancy tickets to his inauguration and placed pharma shills high in his administration,’ Kennedy tweeted, linking to a separate tweet from a journalist detailing what he framed as a number of conflicts of interest between Trump and the pharmaceutical industry during his time in the White House. ‘That’s how Washington works. It is not the exception, but the rule. It is a form of legalized bribery,’ Kennedy added. ‘This kind of thing is so normalized that a lot of people take it for granted as normal. I promise you, corruption will no longer be normal when I am President.’

“The journalist Kennedy referenced, Pedro Gonzalez of Chronicles Magazine, noted in his tweet Pfizer’s donation of $1 million to Trump’s presidential inauguration committee following his election victory in 2016. Gonzalez also pointed to the subsequent nominations of former Trump administration officials Scott Gottlieb and Alex Azar, and their connections to the pharmaceutical industry as an executive and lobbyist respectively…

“Gonzalez claimed Trump ‘killed’ plans for a vaccine safety commission, which he said would have included Kennedy, because of his connections to Big Pharma.”

And let us not forget that Trump’s unwise policy – to say the least – was largely responsible for lockdowns, prohibition of tourism entering the US, and other unreasonable Corona restrictions, and the push for unsafe vaccines. And Trump has not changed his mind, as the next article shows.

LifeSiteNews wrote on June 2:

“Former President Donald Trump doubled down yet again on his support of the COVID-19 jabs this week, dismissing the concerns of an Iowa voter who suggested the controversial shots resulted in her community having ‘lost people.’… It is not clear if she was referring to lost lives due to vaccine-related deaths or lost jobs due to vaccine mandates. ‘Everybody wanted a vaccine at that time,’ Trump responded. ‘And I was able to do something that nobody else could have done, getting it done very, very rapidly. But I never was for mandates. I was, I thought the mandates were terrible…’

“Trump’s refusal to acknowledge evidence of the shots’ risk has long been one of the biggest points of contention with former supporters… In January of this year, he dismissed potential safety issues by suggesting that ‘problems’ were in ‘relatively small numbers,’ while stressing that ‘some people say that I saved 100 million lives worldwide.’ At the time, mRNA technology pioneer and prominent COVID establishment critic Dr. Robert Malone revealed that he once filmed a video meant to encourage Trump to change his mind on the subject, but it had ‘no impact.’

“DeSantis too was an early supporter of the COVID vaccines, although the governor’s position has changed as more data about their harms has come to light. For more than a year, DeSantis and his administration have spoken about the ineffectiveness of the shots, and his administration began conducting its own studies, which concluded that they should not be taken by younger men. In December, the Florida Supreme Court approved DeSantis’s request for a grand jury investigation into the claims of the vaccines’ manufacturers….”

Better late than never…

OK! added on June 1:

“[Gonzalez also wrote:] ‘That’s also why Trump killed the vaccine safety commission Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was supposed to lead. That and the fact Trump cared more about the counsel of people like Bill Gates on vaccines than his own supporters…’

“According to a 2018 report by The Guardian, the group Trump killed was made of vaccine skeptics and was going to investigate a potential link between childhood vaccinations and autism. Kennedy claims he was contacted by the Trump White House to join the group, but then they went radio silent.”

Kennedy stated in an interview with Newsmax on June 2 that he is not against vaccines which are proven to be safe, but that for most of them, such proof has been lacking.

Trump Refused to Fire Fauci. Why?

Newsmax wrote on June 5:

“The campaign for Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is firing back at COVID-19 barbs hurled by Donald Trump, trolling the former president for refusing to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci... sharing a campaign video ad… The ad… cuts to then-President Trump talking about how he cannot fire Fauci during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns… ‘Today I walk in, I hear I’m going to fire him,’ Trump is shown during one of his 2020 pandemic daily press briefings. ‘I’m not firing him. I think he’s a wonderful guy.’

“The DeSantis War Room campaign ad then turns to multiple interviews where Trump admitted he did not fire Fauci because of ‘a firestorm on the left,’ saying he was not ‘allowed to,’ and even Trump admitting that Fauci was a problem. ‘Every time he goes on television there’s a bomb, but there’s even a bigger bomb if you fire him,’ Trump says in a TV interview in the ad…

“DeSantis has famously called Fauci ‘an elf’ who needed to be ‘chucked across the Potomac River.’…”

There can be no doubt that Trump’s refusal to fire Fauci was one of his biggest mistakes during his presidency.

Revocation of Johnson and Johnson COVID Vaccine

LifeSiteNews wrote on June 5:

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revoked the emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. The revocation happened officially due to the manufacturer’s own request…  The Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID inoculation is produced by its subsidiary Janssen Biotech and was authorized for emergency use on February 27, 2021…

“While J&J’s EUA was officially withdrawn because all the available doses in the U.S. have expired and the pharma giant decided to discontinue the product, the FDA and others have raised concerns about the safety of the J&J injection in the past.

“In May 2022, the FDA limited the use of the J&J COVID vaccine for some adults due to increased risk of blood clots. A year earlier, in April 2021, the FDA and CDC had temporarily put a ‘pause’ on the J&J shot after cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) occurred within a week or two after receiving the inoculation. 

“Moreover, in July 2021, the FDA added the risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can cause paralysis, as a potential side effect of the J&J COVID shot after preliminary reports of GBS following vaccination had been recorded.

“‘The FDA should have revoked the emergency approval long ago because, first, there is no emergency and, second, J&J has an evidently unfavorable risk-benefit ratio,’ German author and university professor Stefan Homburg opined on Twitter. ‘But then the agency would have admitted its mistake. This is an elegant way to get out of it.’”

Open Criticism of Putin on Russia’s State TV

The Daily Mail wrote on June 1:

“A Russian politician has launched an extraordinary attack on Vladimir Putin, calling for the despot to be ousted from office and replaced during an appearance on state TV. Opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who has criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said on Russia’s NTV channel that Russians must choose a different leader in the country’s 2024 elections…

“It marked the first time anyone had called for Putin to be replaced on Russian state-approved TV since the war began in February 2022, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said. Nadezhdin said that under Putin’s rule, ‘there is no way for us to come back to Europe’…

“While Putin’s propagandists have openly criticised the state of Russia’s military and the war efforts, they have steered clear of condemning Putin – but Nadezhdin has done just that…”

Putin’s Puppet Belarus

Politico wrote on June 2:

“‘The only mistake’ Russia and Belarus made was ‘that we didn’t resolve this issue in 2014-2015, when Ukraine had no army and wasn’t prepared,’ Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said. In 2014, Russia illegally invaded Crimea and annexed it from Ukraine, and Kremlin-backed fighters seized territory in eastern Ukraine.

“Lukashenko’s comments… indicate that Lukashenko has fully embraced his transformation into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s puppet… helping Moscow launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and agreeing to host Russian nuclear weapons on his country’s soil…”

Belarus, or White Russia, is part of the biblical Medes, as are many Ukrainians. They will ultimately be united with Russia against Europe.

Switzerland Votes Against Arms Transfer to Ukraine

Bild Online wrote on June 1:

“The Swiss parliament has voted against a law that would have allowed third countries to transfer arms produced in Switzerland to Ukraine. On Thursday, the National Council in Bern voted 98 to 75 against the draft law known as ‘Lex Ukraine’.

“In view of the Russian invasion, a discussion has flared up about Switzerland’s traditional strict neutrality. Despite intense pressure from Kiev and its supporters, Switzerland refuses to allow countries in possession of Swiss-made weapons to export them to Ukraine.

“Applications from Germany, Spain and Denmark were rejected with reference to the Swiss War Physical Substance Act (Kriegsmaterialgesetz), which prohibits arms deliveries to war zones.”

EU Extends Import Restrictions on Ukrainian Grain

Bild Online wrote on June 5:

“The European Union (EU) extends restrictions on grain imports from Ukraine. The Brussels authorities announced that the trade restrictions will remain in place until September 15.

“The restrictions affect Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, where certain types of grain from Ukraine can no longer be traded freely. However, the transit of goods to other EU countries is permitted. Due to the Russian invasion, no tariffs are currently being levied on Ukrainian grain.”

Zelensky Concerned About Trump Re-Election

Breitbart wrote on June 4:

“In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted he has concerns about the possible re-election of Donald Trump next year, saying that he was unsure how exactly the Republican leader would have reacted had Russia invaded during his presidency. The Ukrainian head-of-state also praised the response of the Biden administration, which has regularly handed over billions of dollars worth of weapons aid to the Eastern European nation since Moscow’s invasion began last year.

“Asked how he felt about Donald Trump, Zelensky admitted that he was more comfortable with dealing with Biden and that the return of a Republican-led government could end up being difficult for his war effort… He also appeared uncomfortable with Donald Trump’s claim that he would be able to negotiate a peace settlement to the Ukraine War within 24 hours, adding that the 45th American leader did not seem to care that Ukrainian territory — namely Crimea — was being ‘occupied’ by Russia during his presidency after being illegally annexed under the Obama administration in 2014…”

Tucker Carlson’s First Independent Show

 Breitbart wrote on June 6:

“Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released the first episode of his revamped talk show on Twitter Tuesday evening, criticizing the establishment’s unwavering support for the Ukraine war effort and its silencing of alternative narratives…

“Carlson opened his show by discussing reports that the Nova Kakhova dam in southern Ukraine blew up, and he criticized establishment media figures who quickly blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin… ‘the Kokovka dam was effectively Russian, it was built by the Russian government. It currently sits in Russian-controlled territory,” Carlson noted. ‘The dam’s reservoir supplies water to Crimea, which has been for the last 240 years home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Blowing up the dam may be bad for Ukraine, but it hurts Russia more. And for precisely that reason the Ukrainian government has considered destroying it.’

“Carlson said a ‘fair person would conclude that the Ukrainians probably blew it up, just as you would assume they blew up the Nord Stream Russian natural gas pipeline last fall.’… Carlson also chided Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and presidential hopeful Nikki Haley (R) for their unwavering support of the Ukrainian war effort…”

Newsmax added that the show garnered about 80 million views, perhaps more.

 Most Germans Extremely Unhappy with their Government

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 2:

“Never before have voters in Germany been this unhappy with the current coalition government: Only one in five says they are doing a good job…

“The far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the main beneficiary. Its approval ratings have gone up by another 2% since May and, if elections were held now, would win 18% nationwide putting them on a par with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD. In several eastern states, the AfD has long been the strongest party…

“In the latest survey, the pollsters paid particular attention to the AfD sympathizers. They asked them what their main reason would be to vote for the far-right and found that it is mainly dissatisfaction with all the other parties, and especially the government. Only 32% claim to fully support the AfD’s policies.

“When asked about the issues that prompt them to vote for the AfD, an overwhelming majority of respondents named the far-right’s critical stance on immigration. 47% said they side with the AfD in its opposition to the government’s climate and environment energy policies, and 43% said they were concerned about the economy…

“Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has drafted a law to come into effect in 2024, mandating that all new heating systems installed would have to use 65% renewable energy instead of oil or natural gas… 49% [of voters] oppose it. 67% say they are worried that they won’t be able to shoulder the financial burden of installing the new heating systems.

“… Only 28% of respondents in the latest survey support the delivery of German fighter jets to Ukraine… Overall, support for weapons deliveries to Ukraine is declining, only a minority believes that the arms deliveries should be stepped up.

“The call for diplomacy is mounting: 55% now say the German government’s attempts at reaching negotiations to end the fighting should be intensified…”

Germany—Europe’s Economic Engine—Is Breaking Down”

On May 27, 2023, Bloomberg published the following article:

“Germany has been Europe’s economic engine for decades, pulling the region through one crisis after another. But that resilience is breaking down, and it spells danger for the whole continent.

“Decades of flawed energy policy, the demise of combustion-engine cars and a sluggish transition to new technologies are converging to pose the most fundamental threat to the nation’s prosperity since reunification. But unlike in 1990, the political class lacks the leadership to tackle structural issues gnawing at the heart of the country’s competitiveness…

“Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s make-shift coalition has reverted to petty infighting over everything from debt and spending to heat pumps and speed limits as soon as the risks of energy shortfalls eased. But the warning signals are getting hard to ignore…

“With Scholz’s messy three-way coalition racked with bickering, Germany is poised for instability…”

Left-Wing Extremism in Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 3:

“Germany’s domestic intelligence agency says left-wing extremism is growing… left-wing violence was directed ‘primarily at the police and right-wing extremists, but also … at business enterprises, especially in the real estate sector.’…

“[The] domestic intelligence agency report saw a ‘high level of radicalization’ among violence-oriented left-wing extremists…”

Germany’s Problem with Patriotism

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 4:

“The problem of German patriotism is virtually as old as the Federal Republic itself, with scars from the wounded pride that came in the aftermath of World War II still felt today… Germany’s history obviously means that patriotism is always going to be deeply problematic…

“The German national colors — black, red and gold — have had a highly politicized history, and rarely served to unite all Germans in the same way that, say, the US Stars and Stripes or the British Union Jack always did.

“The black-red-gold colors were first waved by individual corps of the Prussian army fighting to liberate Europe from Napoleon. They established themselves as the German Confederation’s national colors in the early 19th century, and the flag itself was adopted by the national assembly following the 1848 revolutions, when national identity, liberty and individual rights became intertwined with an anti-monarchist surge.

“But the colors went out of fashion as Prussia’s power increased and the monarchy reasserted itself and in 1871, black, white and red became the colors of the new German Reich. The black-red-gold pattern was readopted by the Weimar Republic in 1919 after the fall of Kaiser Wilhelm II, only to be dropped yet again by the Nazis in 1934…

“Germans have become less squeamish about flying the national colors in the past two decades, especially when supporting the national sports teams…

“Yet in the past few years, the black-red-gold colors and the issue of patriotism have been increasingly co-opted by far-right political forces like the Islamophobic PEGIDA movement and the anti-immigration political party AfD, founded in 2013.

“[Germany’s biggest opposition party, the] CDU [is] trying to bring back ‘constitutional patriotism’. The CDU has now made it its business to win back national pride from the far right…”

Patriotism—or more accurately stated, nationalism—will see a comeback in Germany.

Poland Attacks France

Express wrote on June 3:

“Poland has slapped down French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent charm offensive to Eastern Europe amid suspicion in Warsaw that France is prepared to sell out Ukrainian territory in a peace deal with Russia. The fresh Polish criticism of Mr Macron comes just days after the French leader offered an olive branch to the countries of NATO’s Eastern flanks, openly admitting the region’s concerns over Russia had been ignored.

“Attacking both the French and German response to Putin’s barbaric war, Polish diplomat [and former Minister of Defense] Jacek Saryusz-Wolski [said:] ‘There is a huge appetite for freezing the conflict although not openly admitted. I think all the dreams of Macron and Scholz are to have peace at the prize of giving up part of the territory of Ukraine and to have the frozen conflict as you know which could last for decades. [Macron] says nice things, he is a master of lies…’”

Ten Nations Against Israel

The Times of Israel wrote on May 27:

“A consortium of diplomatic missions across Europe, led by the Office of the European Union Representative to the West Bank and Gaza, called on Israel to stop all demolitions of schools and other structures that were built with humanitarian help in the West Bank, and allow humanitarian organization workers to operate freely in the territory and in East Jerusalem.

“In a press statement Friday, the consulates general of Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and the representative offices of Denmark, Finland, Germany and Ireland, as well as the EU office to the West Bank and Gaza, slammed Israel for the recent demolition earlier this month of an EU-funded school in the Palestinian village of Jubbet al-Dhib near Bethlehem, and the ‘threatened demolition of another 57 schools in the West Bank.’

“In early May, Israeli Civil Administration engineers razed the school in Jubbet al-Dhib, which Palestinians constructed in 2017 without a permit in the Herodium national park in the West Bank. The demolition followed a District Court ruling from March, in which the structure was defined as a safety hazard at risk of imminent collapse. The EU harshly criticized the move…”

Britain (Ephraim) is still mixing itself among the nations of the EU, as a burned unturned cake (Hosea 7:8), unaware or unwilling to admit that its prior power is gone (verse 9).

Erdogan Sworn In

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 3:

“Turkish President Recap Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in for his third consecutive term on Saturday after winning a runoff election last weekend… Erdogan’s new five-year mandate will allow him to continue pursuing an increasingly authoritarian program domestically while charting an independent path as a regional military power amid global crises…

“Afterwards, he will attend a ceremony at the Presidential Palace followed by a dinner attended by 21 heads of state and 13 prime ministers, as well as high-level officials from other countries like the United States and China… NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is due to attend the ceremony, and he will also hold bilateral talks with Erdogan on Sunday.

“Turkey has been in the spotlight after Finland and Sweden moved to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Ankara was among the last NATO members to ratify Finland’s membership in March. But it has held out on allowing Sweden to join over Stockholm’s reluctance to extradite exiled members of Kurdish groups that Turkey claims to be ‘terrorists’ with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“The NATO secretary general previously said his visit to Turkey aimed to ‘ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden’ to the military alliance… ‘My message is that Sweden has delivered, and the time has come to ratify Sweden,’ Stoltenberg told reporters on Thursday.”

It is unclear in what way Sweden has “delivered.”

The Sign of the Cross

Aciafrica wrote on June 4:

“Each time that a Catholic makes the sign of the cross, it is a reminder that God is a communion of love, Pope Francis said Sunday… ‘God is love. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he [who exactly?] gave his life for us, so we make the sign of the cross,’ he said… Pope Francis pointed out that one way to picture the Holy Trinity is to think of ‘the image of a family gathered around the table, where life is shared.’…

“‘The invitation he [speaking of the Holy Spirit] extends to us, we might say, is to sit at the table with God to share in his love. This is what happens at every Mass, at the altar of the Eucharistic table, where Jesus offers himself to the Father and offers himself for us.’”

Such confusion and ignorance. The Holy Spirit is NOT God or a Person; God is NOT a Trinity; and Christ gave His life for us ONCE… He is not sacrificed every time when the “Eucharist” is taken.

The Problems With Electric Cars

Express wrote on June 4:

“Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson has written a very considered piece about why he feels ‘duped’ by the electric car trend and the realities of their overall impact on the environment… Rowan Atkinson… got an electric hybrid 18 years ago and his first all-electric car nine years later… [He wrote in the Guardian:] ‘When you start to drill into the facts, electric motoring doesn’t seem to be quite the environmental panacea it is claimed to be. The problem with the initiative is that it seems to be based on conclusions drawn from only one part of a car’s operating life: what comes out of the exhaust pipe.’

“He was writing in response to the government’s proposal to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. He cited figures released by Volvo in the lead-up to the Cop26 climate conference. They revealed that greenhouse gas emissions in the production of an electric car were 70 per cent higher than in the manufacturing of a petrol one due to the resource-sapping lithium ion batteries… He pointed out that ‘solid-state’ batteries, which will revolutionise the game are ‘years away’ from going on sale…

“Aside from a love of cars, Rowan is actually fully qualified to offer his opinions on this. He studied electrical and electronic engineering at university before gaining a subsequent master’s in control systems…”

The Sun added on June 4:

“‘Electric motoring isn’t the environmental solution it is claimed to be,’ he wrote in an essay for the Guardian. He accused car makers of following a ‘fast fashion’ model and urged motorists to keep their vehicles for longer… Mr Atkinson claims when friends ask if they should make the switch to electric he asks them to ‘hold off for now’.

“Meanwhile, it’s been revealed recharging electric cars at public points costs more to run than petrol motors.”

And it takes a lot longer than just putting gasoline in your car. It has also been claimed by mechanics that electric cars are dangerous and that most essential parts are only manufactured in China.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

The Debt Ceiling “Deal”—Nothing to Boast About

The New York Post wrote on May 28:

“Kevin McCarthy trumpeted a debt-ceiling deal Sunday, but increasing debt another $4 trillion with minimal concessions is nothing to boast about… McCarthy’s one dealbreaker should have been his promise to defund President Biden’s massive $80 billion to turbocharge an already weaponized IRS. 

“This was the totemic centerpiece of his pitch to become speaker. It was the most memorable promise of the Republicans’ midterm campaign to win back the House… ‘Our very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents,’ McCarthy vowed…

“In the debt-ceiling deal… McCarthy has allowed the lion’s share of that extra IRS funding to remain unmolested: preserving $78.1 billion of the $80 billion…

“If anything, the IRS is worse today than it was during the Obama administration, when Lois Lerner presided over the targeted harassment of Tea Party groups and other conservatives. Not a single IRS employee was held accountable for the scandal. Lerner retired on a full pension without even a slap on the wrist. 

“This is the same IRS which went after journalist Matt Taibbi last December, three weeks after he started reporting on the so-called ‘Twitter Files,’ which revealed that censorship on the social-media platform had been coordinated by federal government agencies such as the FBI and CIA. On March 9, when Taibbi was testifying in Congress about, ironically enough, the weaponization of the federal government, IRS agents showed up unannounced at his New Jersey home…

“Under questioning from Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, the IRS has claimed it had concerns about ‘identity fraud’ with Taibbi’s 2018 and 2021 tax returns, and that he was sent two letters before the home visit. Yet Taibbi says he and his accountant never received any letters. 

“Even more ‘unnerving’ as Taibbi puts it, was the fact that an IRS case agent had compiled a dossier on him which included personal information such as his voter registration records and whether he had a concealed-weapons permit or a hunting or fishing license.  Unlike Hunter Biden, Taibbi didn’t owe the IRS any taxes and in fact was due a refund. And yes, this is the same IRS which removed its entire investigative team from Hunter Biden’s case on DOJ orders after two senior agents complained about DOJ interference…

“This is the IRS that is still getting almost $80 billion of taxpayer money to double down on its malfeasance in the countdown to the 2024 election — with the benign approval of the House Republicans who promised to stop it.”

This is an incredible scandal indeed.

Debt Ceiling Bill Passes

 CNBC wrote on May 31:

“A bill to raise the debt limit and cap government spending passed in the House by a wide margin late Wednesday, sending the bill to the Senate just days before Monday’s U.S. default deadline. The Fiscal Responsibility Act passed 314-117, with support from both Democrats and Republicans…

“The reaction from the White House was measured… For McCarthy, the vote was a personal victory worth celebrating… Yet amid the celebration, some Republicans were left fuming…

“The fact that McCarthy’s bill passed with 165 Democratic votes, yet only 149 from Republicans, came as a surprise to many… 71 Republicans bucked McCarthy and voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act [That is about a third of the GOP caucus]…

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act is the result of a deal reached between McCarthy and Biden, which essentially handed conservatives several ideological policy victories in exchange for their votes to raise the debt ceiling beyond next year’s presidential election and into 2025.”

This means, more Democrats voted for the bill than Republicans. The bill suspends the debt limit with no cap through Jan. 1, 2025, while also cutting non-defense spending; capping growth at 1% for the next two years; and proposing non-mandatory caps for the four years after.

DeSantis: “Abolish the IRS”

Newsmax wrote on May 28:

“The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has become ‘a corrupt organization’ and Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis would ‘chuck it out the window’ for a ‘single-rate’ taxation system. ‘So, the answer’s yes,’ DeSantis told ‘The Dana Show’ podcast on whether he would sign a law to abolish the IRS…

“When the Biden administration put in an expansion of the IRS with 87,000 new agents in place, DeSantis condemned it as a ‘middle finger to the American public.’ ‘Of all the things that have come out of Washington that have been outrageous, this has got to be pretty close to the top,’ DeSantis said last August…”

All these corrupt organizations such as the IRS, the FBI and the CIA should be abolished immediately. But there is more to be reported on the absolutely scandalous conduct of certain terribly corrupt American organizations and people. Note the next article.

The Durham Report: “Democracy’s Horror Story”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on May 27:

“Hillary knew. She knew her campaign paid for Russian disinformation… to be washed through a report by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. She knew the information was false but could potentially allow her to win the election. Hillary lied to the FBI about all this, and lied to the American public...

“The FBI knew. They knew none of the information in the Steele Report could be corroborated, and they knew most of it was false. They turned a blind eye, purposefully and with the intent to defeat Donald Trump in the 2016 election… When Trump won the election anyway, the FBI continued to use this information to assault the loyalty and viability of President Trump and ultimately tried to use the information via the Robert Mueller investigation to impeach or indict Trump.

“Only one person went to jail for all this, a minor player named Kevin Clinesmith for providing false info to the FISA court. No changes are planned for the FBI. No charges are to be brought against Hillary Clinton. The Deep State came within an eyelash of bringing down an unwanted president as surely as they are believed to have done in Dallas ’63. Words were the weapon this time, not bullets.

“These are the conclusions of the final Durham report released last week… The Durham Report confirms on August 3, 2016, the Russiagate allegations were briefed to President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and FBI Director James Comey by CIA Director John Brennan at an Oval Office meeting. None of the men briefed, and none of the agencies involved, did anything to intercede in the FBI’s efforts alongside the Clinton Campaign to manufacture collusion between Trump and Russia…”

This is the current status of the United States of America. And God is extremely ANGRY about this. And so should we be!

Texas AG Ken Paxton Impeached

The Associated Press wrote on May 27:

“Texas’ GOP-led House of Representatives impeached state Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday on articles including bribery and abuse of public trust, a sudden, historic rebuke of a fellow Republican who rose to be a star of the conservative legal movement despite years of scandal and alleged crimes. The vote triggers Paxton’s immediate suspension from office pending the outcome of a trial in the state Senate and empowers Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to appoint someone else as Texas’ top lawyer in the interim…

“The 121-23 vote constitutes an abrupt downfall for one of the GOP’s most prominent legal combatants, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Joe Biden’s electoral defeat of Donald Trump. It makes Paxton only the third sitting official in Texas’ nearly 200-year history to have been impeached.

“Moments after the vote, Paxton’s office said the impeachment was ‘based on totally false claims’ and pointed to internal reports that found no wrongdoing…

“Texas’ top elected Republicans had been notably quiet about Paxton this week. But on Saturday both Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, came to his defense, with the senator calling the impeachment process ‘a travesty’ and saying the attorney general’s legal troubles should be left to the courts. ‘Free Ken Paxton,’ Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, warning if House Republicans proceeded with the process, ‘I will fight you.’”

Could Paxton’s stance on the outcome of the 2020 election have anything to do with his impeachment?

Kennedy a Thorn in Biden’s Flesh?

Fox News wrote on May 27:

“Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. may be here to stay as new polling shows Democratic voters are unenthusiastic about re-electing President Biden 2024… CNN’s most recent polling [is] showing the environmental lawyer controlling 20%… The Democratic National Committee announced it would not be hosting primary debates for the 2024 cycle…

“With enough money and support, Kennedy could potentially mount an independent campaign without the Democratic Party’s backing that could damage Biden’s re-election effort.

“Kennedy could be a spoiler in the election if he keeps his momentum up, plays his cards right and keeps up his media push that will likely take him to Twitter for an interview with billionaire owner Elon Musk. That possibility also becomes more of a reality should Williamson drop out of the race and the majority of her supporters fall into Kennedy’s camp.

“However enticing that path may be to some, becoming a presidential spoiler in America’s two-party system is a rare feat that requires that a candidate spend a lot of money… Still, Biden’s political bleeding serves as a warning to his campaign that his re-election is not as buttoned-up as the campaign may believe it is.”

Less and less Americans are enthusiastic about another four more years for Biden, especially with the real possibility, which is horrifying to many, that Kamala Harris might replace him midstream. Kennedy was asked whether he would support Biden if Biden were to be elected, and Kennedy’s answer was: I want to become President. I have no plan B. He also made some interesting statements, as the next article shows.

Kennedy Speaks Out Against Unconstitutional COVID Restrictions

Fox News wrote on May 26, 2023:

“Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned that U.S. leaders have potentially set an ‘ugly precedent’ that hearkens back to the Civil War when President Lincoln was judicially admonished for suspending habeas corpus.‘…they suspended the First Amendment: religion; freedom of association when they did the lockdowns,’ he said.

“‘[They restricted] freedom of speech. They banned jury trials against vaccine companies – that’s [a violation of] the Seventh Amendment. They abolished property rights [which violates the] Fifth Amendment [when] they closed 3.3 million businesses with no due process, no just compensation, although there was no pandemic exception in the United States Constitution…’

“Kennedy said that at no previous time in history was the Bill of Rights so collectively suspended as it had been during the coronavirus pandemic… ‘So now we have this very, very ugly precedent… the government has withdrawn those mandates now, but they have not said “we’re never going to do it again” — And there’s a whole pipeline of new emergencies, whether it’s terrorism or all these new diseases,’ Kennedy said…

“‘The Constitution was written for hard times, and we need to restore that,’ Kennedy said. ‘There’s no excuse for suspending our Constitution. There certainly is not a pandemic exception in the Constitution.’

“Later in the interview, host Laura Ingraham asked if Kennedy would consider – should the GOP defeat the Democratic nominee – serving in a Republican administration. Kennedy said he ‘would think about that’ because he could do ‘a lot of good for the country’ in the Department of Health & Human Services.”

Ingraham responded: I hope you would.

More Dictatorial Requirements from the Biden Administration

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on May 25:

“On the first day of May, the Biden administration announced that, starting on May 12, mandates President Joe Biden had imposed that many individuals take experimental coronavirus ‘vaccine’ shots would be rescinded. The press release announcing the policy change included this listing of individuals who would be relieved of the mandates:

“‘Today, we are announcing that the Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for Federal employees, Federal contractors, and international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends. Additionally, HHS and DHS announced today that they will start the process to end their vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border.’

“Not mentioned were immigrants to America. On May 4, a short statement from the United States Department of State suggested immigrants would not have relief under the change, noting that ‘starting May 12, noncitizen nonimmigrant air passengers will no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to board a flight to the United States.’

“Indeed, a coronavirus shots mandate remains in place for immigrants six months old and older. In all, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) web page detailing this and other shots requirements for immigrants lists shots related to 16 diseases as mandated for US immigrants. Notably, no such US government mandates apply to people who obtained citizenship upon birth by being either born in America or the child of a US citizen. There are, though, varying shots mandates imposed by states as a condition of school attendance. While the CDC web page says that immigrants can request a waiver ‘based on religious or moral convictions,’ many immigrants will feel pressure not to do so, fearing making such a request will put at risk their immigration effort.

“Why keep subjecting immigrants to this pressure to take the coronavirus shots plus shots related to 15 other diseases? It can help keep out of America independent thinkers who are determined to make their own decisions on medical and other matters. It can also help cement in new immigrants’ thinking from the get-go that they must submit to the US government’s expansive desire to micromanage how people live their lives. Welcome to America; now do as you are told. The shots mandates for immigrants are also among the many examples of the US government helping pharmaceutical companies move their products and increase their profits.”

All of this is SO wrong… and another example of the oppressive and dictatorial nature of the authoritarian Biden Administration.

Trump Promises to Abolish Part of the Constitution

The Huffington Post wrote on May 31:

“Donald Trump vowed in a campaign video released Tuesday to end birthright citizenship on ‘Day One’ of his presidency if he wins the 2024 election.

The former president claimed the constitutional guarantee of U.S. citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, was ‘not working’…

“Trump, the current GOP front-runner, vowed to nullify the clause of the 14th Amendment via a simple executive order… ‘As part of my plan to secure the border on Day One, my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship,’ Trump said in the video…

“Trump also floated the idea when he was president… But he never acted on his vow.

“Section 1 of the 14^th Amendment states:

“‘All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’

“In his new video, Trump didn’t detail exactly how he’d navigate the process of nullifying the right enshrined in the Constitution. He also didn’t explain why he reneged on his promise to do so during his first term in office.”

In fact, Trump announced in the past that he would end “chain immigration” and deport Dreamers. Even though he was not able to do so at the time, his ideas pertaining to immigration are quite frightening.

America’s Devastating Housing Market

MSN published the following article on May 27:

“Housing demand surged during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. People fled large cities, as ‘work from home’ allowed them to move to places where housing costs were lower and the quality of living was higher. Another driver of the phenomenon was historically low mortgage rates, which fell below 3% in some cases. This made homes more affordable. Those days are over.

“The average rate on a long-term mortgage averaged 6.57% last week. People without good credit will need to pay 7% or more. ABC reported… People who got 3% mortgage rates during the last decade will hang on to homes because they have relatively low payments. And people who cannot afford homes because of high-interest rates will stay out of the market. It is a perfect storm to keep the supply of housing low.

“Often, buyers do not understand how much a 7% mortgage costs them monthly compared with one at 3%. That is, until they make a calculation. A mortgage payment of $1,000 two years ago has changed to one that will likely be at least $1,500 today. As was the case in March, people can’t afford to buy houses–again.”

A terrible assessment. But the highly inflated bubble of astronomically high housing prices will burst soon.

EU Furious with Musk

Breitbart wrote on May 28:

“Elon Musk has pulled Twitter out of the EU’s ‘Code of Practice’, a pro-censorship project aimed at countering so-called ‘disinformation’ online, prompting fury from those in Brussels… Musk’s decision to pull Twitter out of the EU’s voluntary censorship programme appears to indicate a worsening tension between the company and the transnational union.

“Although the crusade against disinformation is voluntary for now… the bloc’s Digital Services Act will soon mandate that major social media companies preemptively censor certain content, statements, views and opinions deemed impermissible by Brussels.

“Under the coming regulations, any platform that refuses to abide by the rules risks massive fines, as well as facing a potential ban from operating within the union…”

This is just one example to show how autocratic and dictatorial the EU has become. And most Turks, living in Germany, have voted for autocrat Erdogan. As the following articles point out, Erdogan’s victory will only accelerate Turkey’s decline into more dictatorship.

Erdogan’s Authoritarian Dictatorship Will Continue and Worsen

Breitbart wrote on May 28:

“Longtime Turkish strongman leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared victory on Sunday evening in the second and final round of this year’s presidential election in the country…

“The voting ends a dramatic, and often violent, campaign that many international observers denounced as neither free nor fair. Erdoğan has been prime minister or president of the country for over 20 years and wielded that power to imprison political dissidents, shut down dozens of media outlets his regime could not control, and paralyze potential organized opposition movements against the AKP.

“In one of the Turkish government’s most egregious acts under the Erdoğan regime, police detained the head of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtaş, shortly before the 2018 presidential election, forcing him to campaign from prison, where he remains to this day. Erdoğan made Demirtaş a campaign issue by branding him a terrorist, without evidence…

“The CHP accused the AKP of fraud in the first round of voting and of using violence to intimidate potential secularist voters…”

In spite of knowing all these things, hypocritical world leaders congratulated Erdogan on his victory. See the article below.

World Leaders Congratulate Erdogan

Time of Israel wrote on May 29:

“US President Joe Biden on Sunday congratulated Erdogan, tweeting: ‘I look forward to continuing to work together as NATO Allies on bilateral issues and shared global challenges.’ He made no mention of recent tensions in the bilateral relationship. [Of course not.] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken… praised Sunday’s high turnout rate and the country’s ‘long democratic tradition.’ [Was he joking?]

“Ties between Turkey and the United States have been tested in recent years, including over crackdowns on dissent, military operations in Syria, Erdogan’s close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin even amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and Ankara’s protestations over a bid by Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“Putin said Erdogan’s victory Sunday was ‘clear evidence’ that the Turkish people support his efforts to ‘strengthen state sovereignty and pursue an independent foreign policy.’ [To put it differently, They support Erdogan’s dictatorship, as many in Russia support Putin’s dictatorship.] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was counting on building the partnership between the two countries and strengthening cooperation ‘for the security and stability of Europe.’ [Zelensky looks for partners wherever he may think he can find them.. but he might become terribly disappointed.]

“Earlier, Israeli President Isaac Herzog also sent his congratulations to Erdogan, tweeting: ‘I am convinced that we will work together to strengthen and expand the good ties between Turkiye and Israel.’ [Now that is the epitome of hypocrisy.]… Palestinian terror group Hamas released a statement congratulating the longtime Turkish leader and hoped for a new era of ‘strengthening Islamic-Arab ties and support for the Palestinian issue.’ [Of course they would.] Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also released a statement hailing the incumbent’s victory…

“Erdogan, the country’s longest-serving leader, was tested like never before in what was widely seen as the country’s most consequential election in its 100-year history as a post-Ottoman republic…

Opposition supporters viewed the election as a do-or-die chance to save Turkey from being turned into an autocracy by a man whose consolidation of power rivals that of Ottoman sultans… Erdogan, a 69-year-old Muslim, is set to remain in power until 2028…”

This is not good news for Turkey [biblical Edom] or the Turkish people.

Spain to Dissolve Parliament; New Elections in July

Politico wrote on May 29:

“Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday said he would dissolve parliament and call for a snap election for July 23, a day after conservatives and the far right posted strong gains in regional and municipal polls. Spain was due to hold general elections by the end of the year, but the Socialist leader announced his decision to move up the date following Sunday’s local polls, which saw his party suffer heavy losses across the country… Sánchez took personal responsibility for his party’s poor showing in the municipal elections, which concluded with nearly all of the country’s largest cities in the hands of the centre-right Popular Party (PP), including longtime Socialist stronghold Seville…

“The decision to call an early general election is a bold one for Sánchez, who is wrapping up his four-year term at the helm of the first coalition government in the country’s history…

“Holding the national elections in late July also adds an all-bets-are-off element to the vote. A large number of Spaniards will be on vacation — and it’s unclear how many of them will be willing to go home to vote. While citizens can vote by mail, recent scandals involving the purchase of these ballots in some cities that means increased use of this system will likely be the source of turmoil. If the past few summers are any indication, Spaniards will also be voting in the midst of yet another prolonged, deadly heat wave, and at a time when wildfires often ravage the country’s interior. Participation could be heavily impacted by any of these factors and prove decisive for the outcome.

“The elections will also take place just three weeks after Spain takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. With the Socialist party polling 6 points behind the PP, there is a strong possibility that the rotating presidency may begin with Sánchez as prime minister but conclude with PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo as Spain’s head of government. That kind of shift could prove to be a major distraction in the midst of the last, full Council presidency prior to next year’s European Parliament election.

“These six months were meant to be a ‘golden’ period when much of this term’s landmark legislation is finalized, but the wrap-up of parliamentary activity in Brussels may ultimately be overshadowed by political turmoil in Madrid.”

Spain is to be expected to become one of the core nations of Europe which will then give their power to the “beast.” Developments in Spain are therefore of tremendous importance.

The Ukraine War—Angela Merkel’s Fault?

Ukraine Today wrote on May 26:

“German society is rethinking Merkel’s 16-year rule, which seemed like a golden age, but led to a nightmarish war. In April this year, Angela Merkel received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for Germany, the country’s highest honor, previously awarded only to the first post-war chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and to the uniting chancellor of East and West Germany, Helmut Kohl. 

“The fact that Merkel was placed on a par with the creators of modern Germany forced German society to seriously reconsider its assessment of the seemingly successful 16-year rule of the first woman chancellor. Especially in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, writes The Wall Street Journal: ‘Merkel was a key architect of the agreements that made the economy of Germany and its neighbors dependent on energy imports from Russia. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine destroyed this strategic partnership, forcing Germany to look elsewhere for oil and natural gas, at a huge cost to businesses, government and households’, – notes the publication.

“… during the years of her rule, defense budgets were cut year after year. On the day of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the commander of the Bundeswehr, Lieutenant General Alfons Mays, said that the once powerful German army was now so weakened that it was no longer capable of repelling a Russian attack of this magnitude.

“Particularly outrageous for Germans today is the fact that after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, Merkel not only did not refuse to buy energy from the Kremlin, but worked to double her gas imports from Russia. Many German pundits and even former Merkel allies now believe that this alone gave Vladimir Putin the courage to launch a new invasion eight years later.

“‘At an event last year, Merkel recalled that after the annexation of Crimea, Putin told her that he wanted to destroy the European Union. But she continued to promote plans to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline despite US protests…

“The publication states that after leaving the post of chancellor and the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, Merkel did not admit mistakes and did not apologize for them…

“Another strategic mistake Merkel is called by many is her decision to completely abandon nuclear energy, which has just happened in stages to this day. The decision… made Germany even more dependent on Russian gas.

“It is Merkel who is considered to be the person who blocked the movement of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO membership in 2008…

“The WSJ notes that a number of experts are coming to exactly this conclusion: the failure of the West to draw red lines and continued economic cooperation with Germany prompted Putin to launch a full-scale attack in 2022…

“In April, Angela Merkel gave an interview to German journalists, in which she again stated that she considers her policy towards Russia to be correct and does not see her guilt in the fact that this policy led Europe to the largest war since the Second World War… At the same time, commenting on the realities of the internal agenda in Germany, Merkel lamented that the Germans today are more concerned about the war in Ukraine than climate protection issues.”

For a long time, Merkel had been completely overrated. Many in Germany should have seen what Merkel’s political agenda was all about, but did not see it or chose to ignore it. And the politic of appeasement regarding Russia is still continuing under Olaf Scholz. Note the next article.

Restricted Use of Weapons for Ukraine?

MSN published the following article on May 26:

“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that the weapons provided by Western countries to Ukraine must be used strictly on Ukrainian territory…

“When asked about the possibility of the hostilities moving to Russia, the heads of the Baltic states were less categorical than Scholz. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stressed that, according to the UN Charter, every country has the right to defend itself. ‘And this also means that Ukraine can use the weapons that have been given to them…’

“Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karinš pointed out that ‘it’s very clear that… Ukraine is in the business of defending its own country.’

“And Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonite said that ‘it’s quite strange to think that the war can only be in that other territory that you invaded, there might be incidents that happen on your own territory, as a matter of fact’.

“In February, Olaf Scholz stated that there was a consensus with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that weapons provided by the West would not be used to attack Russian territory.”

This is such a joke, propagated by a chancellor who seems to be living in a fantasy world.

Is This a Joke? “Zelenskyy Praises the Determination of Chancellor Scholz”

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 31:

“Zelenskyy has praised the ‘determination’ of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in providing aid to the war-torn country. Zelenskyy, in his nightly video message, said he spoke to Scholz by phone and thanked him for providing air defense systems that were crucial in saving the lives of many Ukrainians from attacks by Russia.

“‘And I thank Olaf, Mr. Chancellor, for his personal determination, which in many ways becomes the determination for all of Europe,’ he continued in the video message.”

The former comedian Zelenskyy has to be careful that he doesn’t return to his old line of work and becomes incredibly ridiculous and embarrassing. Procrastinating, hesitant and ineffective Chancellor Scholz shows no determination at all, and to assign a leading role to him in Europe is a blatant joke. In view of the dissatisfaction of many Germans with Scholz and his governing coalition, Mr. Zelenskyy should be careful not to lose all sympathy in Germany.

Die Welt reported on May 30:

“There were drone strikes in Moscow early Tuesday morning. Ukraine stressed that it had ‘nothing directly’ to do with it.”

Who is supposed to believe that?

Escalation in Kosovo

The Associated Press wrote on May 31:

“International efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo intensified Wednesday as ethnic Serbs held more protests in a northern town where recent clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers sparked fears of renewed conflict in the troubled region… The rising tensions have fueled concern about another war like the 1998-99 fighting in Kosovo that claimed more than 10,000 lives, left more than 1 million people homeless and resulted in a NATO peacekeeping mission that has lasted nearly a quarter of a century…

“Russia is a close Serbian ally, although Belgrade populist leaders claim to be seeking European Union membership… A former province of Serbia, Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence is recognized by Washington and most EU nations but not by Belgrade, Russia or China…

“Serbia put the country’s military on its highest state of alert and sent more troops to the border with Kosovo…

“The 1998-1999 war in Kosovo erupted when ethnic Albanian separatists launched a rebellion against Serbia, which responded with a brutal crackdown. The war ended after NATO bombing forced Serbia to pull out of the territory. The Balkan region is still reckoning with the aftermath of a series of bloody conflicts in the 1990s during the violent breakup of the former country of Yugoslavia.”

German Critic of Pandemic Restrictions Acquitted

JTA wrote on May 24:

“A German microbiologist… was acquitted on Tuesday of incitement to hatred for comments about Jews and Israel. In a 2021 campaign video for the fringe political party die Basis (The Basis), Sucharit Bhakdi, 74, a well-known critic of Germany’s pandemic restrictions, had said that the Jews had learned evil under Hitler and are utilizing it in Israel to spread more evil…

“Prosecutors… had argued that Bhakdi’s comments could lead to the targeting of Jews in Germany. But a judge concluded that it couldn’t be determined without reasonable doubt that Bhakdi had been spreading antisemitic hatred toward Jews, rather than a specific criticism of the Israeli government and its vaccination policies…

“Germany has strict laws about Nazi-themed hate speech…”

It is a fact that Israel had adopted some of the most radical Corona pandemic restrictions in the world.  

German Hysteria and Overreaction?

The New York Post wrote on May 26:

“British rocker Roger Waters defended himself Friday after German police launched an investigation into the Pink Floyd co-founder over the Nazi-style costume he wore to a concert in Berlin last week. ‘We are investigating on suspicion of incitement to public hatred because the clothing worn on stage could be used to glorify or justify Nazi rule, thereby disturbing the public peace,’ said Berlin police spokesman Martin Halweg.

“Waters donned a long black coat, black gloves and black sunglasses — complete with a red armband –- during a portion of his May 17 performance in which he fired an imitation machine gun at the crowd while flanked by men dressed in military regalia. ‘The clothing resembles the clothing of an SS officer,’ Halweg said.

“The 79-year-old defended his costume choice and said that it was a clear statement ‘in opposition to fascism, injustice, bigotry in all its forms.’ ‘My recent performance in Berlin has attracted bad faith attacks from those who want to smear and silence me because they disagree with my political views and moral principles… Attempts to portray those elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated. The depiction of an unhinged fascist demagogue has been a feature of my shows since Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” in 1980.’

“Scores of Twitter users rushed to lambast the rocker, including the state of Israel. ‘Good morning to every one but Roger Waters who spent the evening in Berlin (Yes Berlin) desecrating the memory of Anne Frank and the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust,’ it wrote.

“Other German cities including Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne tried to cancel Waters’ concerts after Jewish groups accused him of anti-Semitism for his support of Palestine… ‘When I was a child after the war, the name of Anne Frank was often spoken in our house, she became a permanent reminder of what happens when fascism is left unchecked. My parents fought the Nazis in World War II, with my father paying the ultimate price,’ he said…

“The efforts to halt his performances across Germany were unsuccessful — the final tour date in the country is scheduled for May 28 in Frankfurt.”

One can certainly disagree with Waters’ conduct and methods, as well as with his political views, but it is ludicrous to investigate him because of “incitement to public hatred” against Jews, given his background and his family’s history. But this is another example of paranoia and hypocrisy, especially in Germany where politicians and media outlets are anxious to proclaim friendship with Israel and the Jews, while at the same time collaborating with the Palestinians against Israel.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Faith Declines in the USA

The Hill wrote on May 22:

“Only half of Americans now say they are sure God exists… Not quite 50 percent of Americans say they have no doubt about the existence of God, according to the 2022 survey… As recently as 2008, the share of sure-believers topped 60 percent…

“That is not to say Americans are not spiritual. Nearly three-quarters of people believe in life after death…

“Mainline Protestantism, the backbone of faith in many American communities, is ‘collapsing’… nearly 15 percent of the population reports no religious upbringing…”

With these figures, there is no wonder that the USA is collapsing.

US Bank Branches Collapse

MSN wrote on May 21:

“Bank branches are going the way of video stores and pay telephone booths, and there’s nothing financial consumers can do about it.

“In Philadelphia, Wells Fargo has closed 17% of its local bank branches since 2020. Regional kingpin PNC is not far behind, shuttering 15% of its branches in the Philadelphia area… Bank of America has gotten into the act, closing 5% of its physical locations in the region, as well.

“Big banks are closing branches in New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Washington, D.C., Illinois, and Michigan, as well as out west in Nevada, California, and Arizona… If the trend of current bank branch closings continues there may be no bank branches left in 10 years…

“This aggressive drawdown of in-person service will have negative consequences everywhere – but especially in rural, lower-income, and majority-minority communities…”

It’s plain stupidity. Whatever ignorant, corrupt and greedy people and companies can do to accelerate the downfall of the USA!!!

The Fight Surrounding the Debt Ceiling

AFP wrote on May 24:

“The White House and Congressional Republicans are still locked in crunch talks to try and avert the first debt default in US history, which Treasury officials have warned could come as soon as June 1. The U.S. borrows more than it brings in through taxes, and so Congress periodically has to authorize an increase to the US debt limit, known as the debt ceiling, which currently sits at more than $31 trillion.

“While the probability that policymakers fail to lift or suspend the debt ceiling remains low, the risks of the United States stumbling into a situation where it cannot meet all its financial obligations — known as the ‘X-date’, rises with every day that passes.

“If the US Treasury hits the debt ceiling and — as many analysts predict — it prioritizes debt repayments, it will be forced to pause spending on federal programs that provide crucial financial support to tens of millions of Americans… Deferring payments, even for a few days, could have severe consequences for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs which help tens of millions of people with pension and healthcare costs…

“On June 1, for instance, the Treasury is due to make a payment of $47 billion to Medicare providers, with $25 billion in Social Security payments due the following day. Further such payments are scheduled over the next few days. Past and present military personnel would also likely be hit if the US misses the X-date, as a large share of their pay and benefits are paid on the first of the month…

“Pausing or delaying payments may help the US government survive a few days on the other side of the X-date, but it will only work for so long. If the tug-of-war between Republicans and Democrats continues, the federal government may need to consider an even less palatable scenario: choosing which bills to pay and which to skip. Such an eventuality could have severe knock-on effects for the most vulnerable Americans, including pensions going unpaid, healthcare providers refusing to take care of patients with Medicare or Medicaid, and insurance premiums rising…

“With many of the Treasury’s options after the X-date unpalatable to politicians on both sides of the aisle, both parties are backing the talks between Biden and McCarthy, and hoping negotiators can secure a deal before then.”

Fox News added on May 24:

“It appears very unlikely there is any chance to get a deal on the debt ceiling over the next couple of days.”

“Travel Advisory for Florida”?

Newsmax wrote on May 21:

“The NAACP, the liberal civil rights organization, over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by DeSantis and Florida’s Republican-held supermajorities in the state legislature are ‘openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.’

“The move appears part of a growing leftwing effort to censor and boycott government states, organizations and companies that disagree with woke ESG and other ‘inclusion’ policies.

“‘What a joke,’ DeSantis said in response during a speech Sunday. ‘We’ll see how effective that is. You know, just remember, during COVID, these people would be on CNN and all this stuff, slamming Florida, saying we were so bad, don’t go to Florida, and then they would end of being spotted on the beach somewhere, vacationing in Florida.’…

“The NAACP… joined the League of United Latin American Citizens… and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories… The liberal civil rights organizations also said DeSantis’ efforts to ban promotion of gay and transsexual lifestyles in elementary schools contributed to their decision.”

This is SO ludicrous and blatantly hypocritical! BUT, the promotion of gay and transsexual lifestyles in elementary schools should be banned!

DeSantis Announced His Candidacy for President

The Associated Press reported on May 24:

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday with firm words but a disastrous Twitter announcement that did little to counter criticism that the 44-year-old Republican may not be ready to take on former President Donald Trump. While he tried to project confidence, DeSantis’ unusual decision to announce his campaign in an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk ultimately backfired. The audio stream crashed repeatedly, making it virtually impossible for most users to hear the new presidential candidate in real time…

“In choosing Twitter on Wednesday evening, DeSantis tried to take a page out of the playbook that helped turn businessman-TV celebrity Trump into a political star. It did not go as planned…

“DeSantis, who likely would not have become the Florida governor without Trump’s endorsement, has adopted the former president’s fiery personality, his populist policies and even some of his rhetoric and mannerisms… Aware of DeSantis’ draw, Trump has been almost singularly focused on undermining his political appeal for months. Trump and his team believe that DeSantis may be Trump’s only legitimate threat for the nomination….”

At this point, Trump has a 31-point lead over DeSantis. According to CNN, 53 percent of Republicans support Trump.

Unrepentant FBI Gets an “F”

On May 21, the New York Post published the following article by Miranda Devine:

“It’s been a horrendous week for the FBI. With its credibility already at rock bottom, each day brought a fresh scandal, and yet from the bureau’s unctuous public statements, there is no remorse…

“Here are the top scandals of the week:

“1) The Durham report. Here is the official record, for the history books, that the FBI’s ‘Russia collusion’ investigation was cooked up by Hillary Clinton to denigrate Donald Trump by tying him to Russia ‘as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server’ — and that, despite knowing it was bogus, the FBI went ahead and launched the ill-fated Crossfire Hurricane investigation, while dropping four probes into the Clinton Foundation…

“2) On Thursday, three wrongfully suspended FBI employees testified to the House weaponization subcommittee about the shocking abuses they observed, and the vicious retaliation they suffered from the bureau after they made protected whistleblower complaints… The three men accused the FBI of targeting Catholics, pro-life groups and parents attending school board meetings; of cooking the books on domestic terrorism; of unconstitutionally using SWAT teams to intimidate nonviolent January 6 suspects; of investigating Americans for nothing more than taking a bus to Washington to hear their president speak; of coercing Bank of America to turn over credit card transactions of anyone who came to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, whether they went to the Capitol or not…

“3) On Friday, a FISA court order revealed that the FBI has been misusing a surveillance tool almost 300,000 times in 2020-2021, including doing 23,000 searches on Jan. 6 suspects and 20,000 searches on a congressional candidate’s donors. The FBI also refused to comply with a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee to hand over a document alleging that Joe Biden accepted bribes to change US policy while he was VP. 

“In the light of just one week of FBI shame, the latest Harvard Harris Poll showing deep public mistrust in the FBI comes as no surprise. Not only do 69% of voters believe the FBI violated its own standards in the Russia collusion probe, 70% are concerned that the bureau will interfere in future elections. 

“The FBI is out of control and everyone knows it.”

It would be high time to get rid of the FBI altogether. In the world tomorrow, organizations such as the FBI will not be allowed anymore to exist.

Biden’s Major Mistake?

MSN wrote on May 19:

“… the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Joe Biden want South Carolina to hold the first primary in 2024, but New Hampshire has a law that says it is the rightful first primary. Now it looks like Joe Biden may not even be on the ballot in New Hampshire and that could allow Democrat White House hopefuls Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson to be potential winners of the primary. That would be a big embarrassment for the president…

“… the Biden campaign tried to reward South Carolina Democrats for giving the president his critical primary victory in 2020 that launched him successfully toward the nomination. He and the DNC want South Carolina to hold the first primary and then New Hampshire and Nevada to have their contests on the same day a week later. However, the governor and legislators from the Granite State… say they will not change the law that requires New Hampshire to hold the first presidential primary.

“There’s a June deadline for alleviating this mess, but Democrats in New Hampshire show no signs of changing the statute that requires New Hampshire to be first. Now members of the DNC are thinking of giving New Hampshire more time to decide to do the ‘right thing’ and give in to the ‘wisdom’ of national Democrats. New Hampshire Democrats are indignant. They are going first… and if the DNC wants to have Biden on the ballot, they need to back off and let New Hampshire do what is required by law…’

It would be ironic if Joe Biden would not even be on New Hampshire’s ballot, due to the DNC’s political maneuvering.

F16 Fighter Jets for Ukraine

Business Insider wrote on May 21:

“President Joe Biden said he received ‘flat assurance’ from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine would not use F-16 fighter jets to attack Russian territory… It’s the latest development marking a drastic shift by US President Joe Biden and US officials, who have long rejected authorizing F-16s in Ukraine…  on Friday, the US authorized Western allies to provide F-16 jets to Ukraine to defend itself, assist in training pilots, and possibly send fighter jets from American stockpiles… Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the UK and the Netherlands would build an ‘international coalition’ to help the country procure the fighter jets…

“The US president also announced another $375 million in military assistance to Ukraine to help support its long-running and bloody battle with Putin’s regime.”

These “flat assurances” are of course ridiculous. Biden’s constant change of position is embarrassing and worrisome at the same time. Germany’s inconsequential Chancellor Olaf Scholz jumped on the bandwagon after his “mentor” Biden had a “change of heart”…

Fox News wrote on May 24:

“A drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month was most likely orchestrated by Ukraine, which has conducted a series of attacks on Russian targets, U.S. officials said.  Russia has claimed Ukrainian forces attempted to kill President Vladimir Putin in the failed attack on May 3.

“Two drones were used in the ‘assassination attempt’ at the president’s residence within the Kremlin compound, but were disabled by Russian defense systems, Russia said.”

Russia Warns USA and Europe

Newsweek wrote on May 20:

“Russia has warned that the Western supply of F-16 jets to Ukraine presents ‘colossal risks’ following the announcement that the U.S. had agreed that Kyiv could receive the aircraft it has long called for… the F-16s can launch precision bombs guided by laser and are more adept at targeting and destroying enemy ground-based radars.

“Former British intelligence officer Philip Ingram told Newsweek that the F-16 announcement was significant, ‘but it is unlikely we will see them being used in the conflict before the winter… It takes months to convert trained pilots to fly and fight them but it is showing that the West is in for the long haul when it comes to supporting Ukraine,’ he said. ‘They will be in for decisive Ukrainian attacks in 2024…’”

… with no end in sight? But the end is already predetermined… if one understands biblical prophecy.

More Help for Ukraine

Breitbart added on May 20:

“This package [of $375 million in military assistance] is being sent on top of an extra $3 billion worth of aid allocated to Ukraine earlier this month due to a so-called ‘accounting error’.  In total, according to the Keil Institute, the U.S. taxpayer has so far paid $46.6 billion in weapons shipments to Ukraine, $26.4 billion in financial aid and $2.9 billion in humanitarian help since last year’s invasion by Russia. The U.S. government under Biden has committed to far more spending on the war-torn country, however, having already committed to over $113 billion, more than the military budget of most nations.

“The staggering amount of cash sent to the former Soviet state for military hardware, weapons, and ammo from America is more than that sent from all the European nations combined, despite the conflict being on the EU’s doorstep…”

Biden’s Ukraine Debacle?

In his latest weekly column, Ron Paul wrote on May 22:

“When the smoke finally clears, President Biden’s Ukraine debacle will go down – along with Afghanistan and Iraq – as one of the greatest foreign policy disasters in US history. Hundreds of thousands have been killed on both sides…

“With Russian control established in the strategic city of Bakhmut over the weekend, the… Ukraine project…  looks to be progressing rapidly toward failure…  when it comes to endless spending on Project Ukraine, with a few exceptions the two parties are in lockstep. At least when looking at Republican party leadership… After all, 20 years fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan got us…the Taliban in Afghanistan! With a cost of perhaps three trillion dollars. But the military-industrial complex and the think tanks pushing war and the mainstream media glorifying war all got paid well…

“The mainstream media is in a panic over the fact that of the $48 billion appropriated for Ukraine, only $6 billion remains. That won’t be enough to sustain ‘Project Ukraine’ for more than a few weeks… the tide of US public opinion is turning overwhelmingly against [giving] more money  [to Ukraine]…”

Sadly, the glorification of war, resulting in the death of many people and the wasting of much money, has never resulted in lasting peace.

Hungary Threatens to Block EU Attempts to Send More Weapons to Ukraine

Breitbart wrote on May 21:

“Hungarian government officials have expressed their fury at Ukraine in recent days, decrying the country as being ‘hostile’ after the country’s alleged plans to blow up an oil pipeline leaked in the Washington Post last week.

“As detailed by the leaks, Zelensky has reportedly been considering an attack on Russia’s Druzhba pipeline that supplies oil to Hungary in what would appear to be an attempt to sabotage the country.

“Kyiv has also blacklisted Hungarian bank OTP, listing the firm as a sponsor of Russia’s invasion, causing further anger in Budapest.

“According to a report by the Associated Press, senior officials in the Hungarian government say that they are blocking EU attempts to send more weapons and ammo to Ukraine in retaliation for the blacklisting. ‘We cannot support the allocation of another half a billion euros from the European Peace Facility for arms transfers to Ukraine, and we will not give it the green light as long as OTP is on this particular list,’ the country’s Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, remarked, decrying the singling out of OTP as ‘scandalous and unacceptable’.

“He also denounced Zelensky’s alleged plans to blow up the Druzhba pipeline, saying overall that there was evidence that ‘Ukraine is behaving more and more hostile towards Hungary… such a threat is obviously against Hungary’s sovereignty because the security of the energy supply is a matter of sovereignty… Therefore, if someone calls for Hungary’s energy supply to be made impossible, they are in effect attacking Hungary’s sovereignty.’

“Responding to Hungary’s threat of blocking further aid to Ukraine, one anonymous EU diplomat reportedly told The Guardian that the feud between the two nations comes at a critical time of the conflict…”

The Infamous Secret Bilderberg Meeting

The Dossier wrote on May 18:

“The world’s most powerful and influential geopolitical voices are meeting from Thursday to Sunday in Portugal to navigate several global crises (many of which they’ve helped to facilitate), and oddly enough, the corporate media has no interest in reporting on this secretive gathering of powerful figures.

“The attendees list for this year’s infamous Bilderberg Meetings has just been released, and just like years prior, global heavyweights inundate the 2023 roster. The list includes America and Europe’s top spy chiefs, several heads of state, and some of the world’s most powerful business executives…

“As The Dossier explained in our piece Wednesday: ‘Although it is significantly staffed by publicly elected officials, the discussions that happen during Bilderberg conferences remain a closely guarded secret. Unsurprisingly, this has led many to suspect that the powerful globalist ideologues who attend these closed-door wargaming discussions are up to no good. Organizers defend the secretive nature of the conference by claiming that it allows attendees to speak informally among peers.’

“Bilderberg meetings are held under Chatham House rules, which means that participants ‘are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor of any other participant may be revealed.’… There remains a media blackout of the Bilderberg Meeting this weekend in the corporate press…”

WHY is this the case???

More Plans for the Third Temple

On May 17, i24 NEWS reported the following:

“Haim Dotan, an acclaimed architect who has won several international awards and also serves as a professor of architecture at leading institutes in China, recently became involved in the ambitious project of designing the third Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

“Known for his extravagant projects, such as the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge in China – renowned as the tallest glass-bottomed bridge in the world – Dotan last year joined the right-wing activist and literature scholar Professor Hillel Weiss and pitched a session of the Jerusalem International Conference…

“The conference, scheduled to take place this summer in Jerusalem, will be organized by the Yad Ben Zvi Institute, a prestigious research center in Israel. Dotan’s pitch, ‘Building Jerusalem, the temple city, and the road to peace,’ was divided into three sections. 

“The first was dedicated to the transportation and economy of the future ‘temple city’ of the Israeli capital. The next pitch, entitled ‘From Vision to Practice,’ described future plans for the Jerusalem of the Third Temple era, inspired by biblical sources…

“Several questions remain open in the proposal: Who would be in charge of the new temple? What would happen to the Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the most sacred sites in Islam, located on the Temple Mount? What would the consequences of rebuilding a new Jewish temple be amid the complex flashpoint geopolitical atmosphere of the Middle East? The fact that a prestigious architect – who is secular and doesn’t have any political background – is involved in such a project makes this case all the more interesting, if not more tangible.

“Plans to rebuild the third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, are not new but have mostly faced strong resistance. In 1990, a deadly riot erupted on the Mount after a fringe Jewish group tried to lay the cornerstone of a third temple…”

Still, a Third Temple is prophesied to be built in Jerusalem prior to Christ’s return.

Ben Gvir Condemned for Visiting the Temple Mount

Times of Israel wrote on May 21:

“National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem Sunday, declaring it a demonstration of Israel’s ownership of the flashpoint holy site and drawing fierce condemnations from Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states… ‘We are in charge here,’ Ben Gvir declared as he toured the site. ‘I am happy to go up to the Temple Mount, the most important place for the Jewish people.’…

“Palestinian Authority presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh called Ben-Gvir’s visit a ‘blatant attack’ on the Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry called it ‘a provocative step that is condemned, and a dangerous and unacceptable escalation.’ Neighboring Egypt, which like Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel, also issued a condemnation.

“The United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry slammed the ‘storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque’… Turkey also called Ben Gvir’s visit a ‘storming’ of the site… The foreign ministries of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which do not have relations with Israel, also released statements fiercely denouncing Ben-Gvir’s trip…”

Naturally, the Biden Administration condemned the move as well. Note the next article.

Biden vs. Israel

Israel 365 News wrote on May 22:

“Rabbi Shimshon Elbaum noted the significance of Ben-Gvir’s visit, saying, ‘[It] gives meaning to the slogan “The Temple Mount is in our hands” which recently turned 56 years old.’…

“The US State Department released a statement saying [the visit] was ‘provocative’… ‘The United States stands firmly… for the preservation of the status quo with respect to holy sites in Jerusalem,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a White House briefing. ‘Any unilateral action that jeopardizes the status quo is unacceptable.’ Jean-Pierre did not explain why a Jew visiting the Temple Mount jeopardized the status quo…

“Hamas, the elected government in Gaza, published a declaration in response that called for an armed response from Arabs living in Israel…”

JTA wrote on May 22:

“Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman,… also said the Biden Administration was ‘deeply troubled’ by an Israeli decision on Sunday to allow the return of settlers to a segment of the northern West Bank evacuated in 2005 along with settlements in the Gaza Strip… The Biden administration rebuked Israel two months ago for passing legislation that paved the way toward Sunday’s decision… ‘Advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution,’ [according to Miller].

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading a government with far-right partners in senior roles, including Ben-Gvir, which has been a sticking point with the Biden administration. President Joe Biden has rejected appeals by Netanyahu to invite him to Washington for a White House visit in part because of the actions and rhetoric of Ben-Gvir and others in the far-right bloc.”

The relationship between Biden and Israel continues to deteriorate.

Kenya in Support of Israel

Israel 365 News wrote on May 22:

“Dennis Nthumbi, an evangelical Christian and senior adviser to Kenya’s president, was part of President William Ruto’s delegation when he visited Israel in May. The delegation made headlines when they prayed at the Western Wall, a visit not all political guests choose to make. Nthumbi said in a prayer that the people of Kenya and Israel ‘be united in peace as one people at the Kotel [Western Wall].’ 

“Kenya does not officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but Nthumbi referred to the city as

such. Perhaps even more controversial was the location of his announcement: the Temple Mount, where he was accompanied by former Knesset member and Temple Mount Advocate Rabbi Yehudah Glick one week ago. ‘The fact that the Temple Mount is not accessible to people of all faiths should not be tolerated.. ‘It is time that the veil of hypocrisy be lifted, and the issue faced head-on.’”

While Kenya speaks out, the USA and Europe remain silent.

Israel Must Attack Iran?

Israel Today wrote on May 21:

“Israel’s economy minister and the former mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, told Channel 14 News at the weekend that it was time to adopt the policy of former US President John F. Kennedy in regards to rocket attacks on the Jewish state. Barkat noted that during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, Kennedy warned that a single missile fired from Cuba toward the United States would result in an American missile strike on Moscow…

“Israel, insisted Barkat, needs to start doing the same in response to rocket attacks from Lebanon and Gaza. It’s Iran pulling the strings, so why waste time, resources and political capital on operations against Hezbollah and Hamas? That’s just what the ayatollahs want. Instead, Barkat suggested that the next rocket from either of those territories should result in an Israeli missile hitting Tehran.”

A war between Iran and Israel might very well break out.

The Move Away from the US Dollar

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 20:

“Anyone in Iraq who wanted to buy a car or a house this week got a nasty shock. Last Sunday, the Iraqi government announced a ban on doing personal or business deals in US dollars… For decades, the US dollar has been the best currency to have in the Middle East if you don’t have enough dirhams, dinars, riyals or pounds on hand…

“Many Iraqi politicians have complained [that] their country is too dependent on the US dollar… In February… Iraq said it would do business with China using the yuan instead of dollars…

“Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s finance minister said his country was also ‘open’ to selling oil using different currencies, including the euro and the Chinese yuan. The United Arab Emirates has said it will work with India, using the Indian rupee.  Last year, Egypt announced plans to issue bonds — financial securities that help governments raise money — in Chinese yuan. It had already issued bonds in Japanese yen.

“Additionally, several Middle Eastern nations — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Algeria and Bahrain — have said they want to join the geopolitical bloc known as BRICS, an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Russia has already said that at an upcoming June meeting, the alliance will discuss the creation of a new kind of currency for cross-border trade between members. [According to other sources, this will be discussed in August].

“Since 2021, the UAE has also been part of a pilot project run by the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements, a kind of central bank for central banks. This project looks at digital, cross-border payments that might bypass the dollar. Other participants are Thailand, Hong Kong and China… US dollars now make up about 58% of official foreign reserves globally, Bloomberg reported in its story, a fall from 73% in 2001. In the late 1970s, it was 85%…”

Bitcoin.com wrote on May 18:

“Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that Venezuela will shift away from using U.S. dollars in trade, emphasizing that the de-dollarization process is ‘inevitable.’…  Commending Zimbabwe for its initiative to issue gold-backed digital currency, he said, ‘Many alternative initiatives to the dollar are emerging in the world…’

“The Venezuelan president, who previously expressed support for Latin America to have one single currency… condemned ‘the political use’ of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency and its associated financial system by the U.S. to sanction countries, naming China, Russia, India, Iran, Turkey, Venezuela, and Cuba in particular…

“A growing number of countries other than the BRICS nations are pushing to use local currencies instead of the USD. Ten Southeast Asian countries, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), recently agreed to ‘encourage the use of local currencies for economic and financial transactions.’…”

Sadly, this process of de-dollarization will continue…

The New Constitution of the Vatican City State

CNA wrote on May 18:

“… the new law leaves no doubt that the civil government remains very much an absolute monarchy, with the supreme pontiff possessing all ‘legislative, executive, and judicial powers.’…

“Francis’ new constitution is the third Fundamental Law since 1929, the year in which the Vatican City State was founded with the Lateran Treaty… with Pope Francis’ new Fundamental Law, the pope returns to the center of everything… the centralization of the pope’s authority is highlighted in the new constitution by the fact that power is reserved to the pope while other entities are assigned only functions…

“Under the new law, a three-year financial plan approved by the commission is to be submitted ‘directly for the approval of the Supreme Pontiff’ without going through the Vatican economic bodies or the Secretariat of State, as the old law required…

“The Vatican City State remains, in the end, the pope’s domain. Nonetheless, the new law suggests that the city-state is no longer merely considered a support to the Holy See but an entity closer to the secular and modern states, as it has never been in the past…”

The centralization of the pope’s authority and the Vatican City State being patterned after secular states are interesting in light of Revelation 13:11-18.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Elections in Turkey

The Huffington Post wrote on May 12:

“Voters are headed to the polls this Sunday in Turkey for the country’s general election, which has been described as the most consequential global election contest of the year. The stakes are incredibly high for the country and the world, and for incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is narrowly trailing in the polls as he seeks a third term. The head of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has been in power for over 20 years and is the country’s longest-serving leader.

“But the stakes are also high for the opposition, which at last appears to have a real shot at victory… Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the center-left Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was picked to face off with Erdogan by the Table of Six, a coalition made up of six opposition parties… The election is tight, but Erdogan is currently behind in the polls…  If no candidate secures 50% of the vote in the first round, there will be a runoff contest on May 28…

“Voters are increasingly turning on Erdogan due to the failed response to the deadly earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria and killed over 50,000 people earlier this year — the majority in Turkey… The government has been criticized for taking too long to deploy the military and rescue teams to some of the most affected areas after the earthquake. The several buildings that collapsed also exposed the cozy relationship the government had with many construction companies and the lack of enforcement of building regulations despite its pledge to deliver safe housing.

“Many voters are also unhappy with Erdogan’s handling of the economy. He made the unorthodox decision to cut interest rates at a time when most governments and central banks around the world are raising them in response to inflation. That caused the value of the country’s currency, the Turkish lira, to tumble, meaning many Turks can barely afford everyday goods…

“Many voters, including religious conservatives, may not be ready to turn their backs on the current president, and others may think he is more tested than the alternative…

“Turkey has seen a steady erosion of media freedom and political expression under Erdogan…  In the aftermath of the earthquake, the country’s media regulator sought to fine three broadcasters who were critical of Erdogan for their coverage of the natural disaster response. Independent journalists have also been slapped with fines and criminal investigations… Erdogan has also tried to jail his political opponents and those critical of his government…”

That Erdogan has acted as an autocratic ruler is beyond doubt.

Why Does the Outcome Matter to the World?

In a related article, The Huffington Post wrote on May 12:

“Erdogan, a Putin ally, reportedly helped the Kremlin get past some sanctions last year. Turkish companies exported goods to at least 10 Russian companies that were sanctioned by the U.S. for their role in the war… The two countries maintain an important relationship as it relates to energy supplies and Russia is also building Turkey’s first nuclear plant, which is set to be ready next year. An Erdogan defeat could mean the country would reassess its ties to the Kremlin, but not necessarily fully sever them.

“Erdogan has stalled NATO expansion efforts and is currently blocking Sweden’s entry…

“The outcome of the election could also have repercussions for the European Union. While Turkey at one point gained candidate status and was engaged in talks to join the bloc, those negotiations were put on hold for a number of reasons… some officials worry that a Kilicdaroglu win would reignite ascension talks at a time when some member countries appear weary of what the potential entry of a huge country would mean…

“The U.S. and Turkey have also had a tense relationship in recent years, triggered by Ankara’s decision to buy missile defense systems from Russia…  Kilicdaroglu… didn’t clarify how the relationship between the two NATO countries would be repaired.”

Prophetically, Turkey (biblical Edom) will align with Europe against Israel (the state of Israel and also perhaps the USA). The Bible does not indicate a strong end-time military alliance between Turkey and Russia. For more information on Turkey’s future, please read chapter 6 of our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.”

Runoff Election on May 28

Reuters reported on May 13:

“Turkey headed for a runoff vote after President Tayyip Erdogan led over his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday’s election but fell short of an outright majority to extend his 20-year rule of the NATO-member country. Neither Erdogan nor Kilicdaroglu cleared the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second round, to be held on May 28, in an election seen as a verdict on Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian path.

“The presidential vote will decide not only who leads Turkey but also whether it reverts to a more secular, democratic path, how it will handle its severe cost of living crisis, and manage key relations with Russia, the Middle East and the West…

“With almost 97% of ballot boxes counted, Erdogan led with 49.39% of votes and Kilicdaroglu had 44.92%, according to state-owned news agency Anadolu… The results reflected deep polarization in a country at a political crossroads. The vote was set to hand Erdogan’s ruling alliance a majority in parliament, giving him a potential edge heading into the runoff…

“A third nationalist presidential candidate, Sinan Ogan, stood at 5.3% of the vote. He could be a ‘kingmaker’ in the runoff…”

Shockingly, almost 80% of Turks living in Germany voted for Erdogan.

Is Germany Really Ukraine’s “True Friend”?

AFP wrote on May 14:

“Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday called Germany a ‘true friend and reliable ally’ in his country’s battle against Russia… Zelenskyy’s trip to Germany follows meetings in Rome with Italian leaders and the pope, and comes as Kyiv is preparing a much-anticipated counter-offensive… Once accused of reticence in supplying military gear to Ukraine, Germany has since become a major contributor of tanks, rockets and anti-missile systems.

“On the occasion of Zelenskyy’s visit, Berlin unveiled its biggest armaments package for Ukraine yet, including tanks, missile defence systems and combat vehicles worth 2.7 billion euros… He is also expected to head to the western German city of Aachen, which this year is awarding him and the Ukrainian people the Charlemagne prize — an honour awarded for efforts to foster European unity…

“Zelenskyy’s visit rounds off over a year of choppy relations with Germany… Early on in the conflict, Kyiv had accused Germany of being too accommodating to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Berlin’s reliance on Russian energy had proved tricky…

“Britain this week announced it was sending Storm Shadow missiles, becoming the first country to send longer-range arms to Kyiv. Russia described it as ‘an extremely hostile step’ and on Saturday accused Kyiv of using the British missiles to target civilian sites in eastern Ukraine, wounding six children. In Rome, Zelenskyy said he discussed with Pope Francis the fate of ‘tens of thousands of children’ that Kyiv says were deported to Russia, as well as his plans for peace…”

The Associated Press added on May 14:

“While German leaders have expressed strong backing for Ukraine, German voters are divided on whether the country should provide further weapons, particularly advanced fighter jets of the kind Kyiv is asking its allies for.”

Die Welt wrote on May 14:

“Germany was a difficult ally for Ukraine for a long time… It was only under pressure from the USA that Scholz gave in and promised self-propelled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers… The Chancellor also categorically refused the western tanks that Kiev had requested just a few months after the start of the war, for almost a year with varying reasons. Only when the pressure from the allies became too great, did he forge a tank coalition at the beginning of the year, which has now promised 70 modern Leopard 2 tanks and over 100 Leopard 1 tanks, some of which have been delivered…

“The new, cooperative style… could also make it more difficult than before to refuse further requests from Ukraine. Ukraine is working on ‘creating a fighter jet coalition,’ Zelenskyy says on Sunday. He will also contact the German side for this. Scholz looks stoically straight ahead and repeats the types of weapons that are currently being delivered. ‘That’s what Germany is concentrating on,’ says the Chancellor… He emphasized twice that Germany is now in second place in the arms supplier ranking… For Zelenskyj… that is not enough. ‘We hope that Germany will become our biggest supporter,’ he says… The sentence that Ukraine must win did not cross Scholz’s lips that day either.”

Germany’s conduct towards Russia and Ukraine has been more than duplicitous. Often, a far-too-rosy picture of the current friendly relationship between Germany and Ukraine is being presented.

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 17:

“Germany says it cannot join an international coalition to provide Ukraine with air combat capabilities. ‘We cannot play an active role in such an alliance, in such a coalition, because we have neither the training capacities, the competencies or the planes,’ German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said after meeting his British counterpart in Berlin.

“British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said the UK won’t donate fighter aircraft, but ‘what we can, obviously contribute, is training and support, again, within limits because we don’t have F16 pilots.’”

In fact, Germany has declared that it will NOT provide Ukraine with fighter jets. It stated that the US would have to make the decision.

Once Germany’s faltering and failing government is replaced, things will again dramatically change. Please view our recent StandingWatch program, “Is Europe REALLY Supporting Ukraine?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0F5GQZZQ5g

To Strike Or Not to Strike?

The Guardian added on May 14:

“Zelenskiy stressed that while Kyiv would discuss peace initiatives from other states, any proposals had to be based on Ukraine’s position and its peace plan… Kyiv has previously said it wants to regain every part of its land currently occupied by Russian forces and it will not be willing to make territorial concessions. Moscow says it controls the Crimean peninsula and four other Ukraine regions: Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk.”

Express added on May 14:

“The Ukrainian president told reporters [in Berlin] on Sunday that his country had no plans to attack Russian territory, and was only interested in regaining occupied land. Top secret US documents leaked online said Zelensky had proposed ‘strikes in Russia’ and attacks on the invader’s soil so his country would be in a better position to negotiate peace.

“In one classified file seen by the Washington Post, Zelensky also suggested Ukraine could ‘blow up’ a vital pipeline between NATO member Hungary and Russia. Another intelligence document seen by the Post revealed that President Zelensky wanted to attack ‘unspecified locals in Rostov,’ a Russian city near the Ukrainian border…”

It is sometimes difficult to ascertain who is telling the truth.

Viktor Orbán Compares the EU Project with Hitler’s Power Plans

Der Spiegel wrote on May 12:

“Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, compared the EU’s European unification project with Adolf Hitler’s plans for rule. Since the end of the Roman Empire, there have been efforts to restore the empire to its territory, said the right-wing populist in the western Hungarian city of Veszprem. ‘Byzantium, Charlemagne, (the German Emperor) Otto, Napoleon and Hitler – they all dreamed of European unity, on different bases.’

“Today is no different,” Orbán added. ‘The separate national existence and the idea of ​​the empire are present at the same time. National culture and European values. Sovereignty and – as they put it in Brussels – the ‘ever closer union’. The latter term… is in the preamble of the EU Basic Treaty of Lisbon, which applies to all member states.

“Hungary joined the EU in 2004. Orbán, who has governed his country in a more or less authoritarian manner since 2010, has repeatedly fought against the obligations arising from EU membership… Regarding the head of government’s recent derailment, Hungarian opposition leader Ferenc Gyurcsàny said: ‘This person is sick.’ To mention Hitler together with the European idea is ‘a sick, disgusting thought’…”

Orbán described accurately most of the European revivals of the Roman Empire. He missed Charles V., as well as three barbarian nations prior to Emperor Justinian (referred to by Orbán as “Byzantium”). The final and last revival will indeed turn out to be an autocratic, anti-democratic military power bloc. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

EU Must Be “Christian”

Hungary Today wrote on May 9:

“The Hungarian government is working every day to make Europe Christian, the Justice Minister said in Budapest on Monday. The minister referred to the words of Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, who said that Europe will either be Christian or it will not be. Judit Varga said that what is successful in Hungary ‘can also be successful on a large scale in Europe,’ which is why conservative values are being upheld…

“Hungary celebrates peace and unity in Europe on May 9, the day commemorating the Schuman declaration, which is seen as the beginning of the road to the EU…”

The question is, WHAT kind of Christianity will Europe embrace? It will NOT be the Christianity of the Bible.

France vs. the USA

Modern Diplomacy wrote on May 13:

“Macron’s visit to Beijing stirred up controversy, causing divisions within the European Union and between EU countries and the United States. His comments on the need for Europe to achieve strategic independence from America were met with surprise and criticism from some EU countries and the US, who accused him of promoting Gaullism and ingratitude towards America’s contributions to the West, including France.

“Macron believes that the real battle for Europe lies in establishing itself as a powerful political, economic, and military bloc alongside the major global players such as the US, Russia, and China. He views the conflict in Ukraine as a systematic assault on Europe, which underscores the need for Europe to act in its own interests rather than those of others.

“During his visit, Macron reaffirmed France’s support for the ‘one China’ policy, recognizing Beijing as the sole legitimate representative of China and Taiwan as an inalienable part of China. He urged Europeans to adopt an independent stance on the Taiwan issue, calling for peaceful resolution based on Beijing’s proposal of ‘one country, two systems.’…

“President Macron appears to have had enough of the internal protests in France, which have been fueled by the country’s poor economic conditions, high prices, energy losses, and other issues. He believes that the United States bears a significant responsibility for these problems, particularly after canceling the French Australian submarine deal worth an estimated 35 billion euros. The US persuaded Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines under a new deal with the US and Britain, known as Aukus, causing France to suffer significant financial losses…

“During the war in Ukraine, the US requested that European countries participate in the economic blockade on Moscow and not buy gas from Russia in exchange for America’s pledge to supply European countries with gas. However, the price of American gas was significantly higher than that of Russian gas, leading to additional burdens on the French citizen…

“Since becoming president in 2017, Macron has called for strengthening Europe to lead the world by forming a unified European force. He has advocated for the formation of a European army, so that Europe would not remain dependent on NATO, which today consists of 30 European countries as well as America. He believes that leadership should be in European hands, specifically in the hands of France, due to its significant role in the international arena and extensive colonial history. In 2019, Macron declared NATO clinically dead and advocated for seeking another form of alliance in which Europe would have a leading position…

“French support for Ukraine in its war against Moscow was limited compared to that of other European countries. As a result, some European countries, particularly Western European countries, severely criticized Macron for seeking Chinese President Xi’s intervention and employing his relationship with Moscow to persuade it to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis…

“The United States believes that any international system will have only one seat for the European continent, which will most likely go to Germany. Germany seeks to rebuild its military force, allocating an additional budget of 100 billion euros to make its army the largest and strongest in Europe. Additionally, the German economy is the largest on the European continent, contributing 27% of all European industries, followed by Italy with 16% and France with only 11%… It appears that French-American relations will not easily return to their previous state… France has taken practical steps towards distancing itself from its alliance with the US in favor of its own interests, particularly in cooperation with Beijing…

“Macron’s statement on the importance of reducing dependence on the US dollar was seen as a stab by Washington, leading to great indignation in Eastern and Central Europe and parts of Western Europe, where countries felt that his statements were focused on France, not the EU. Hungary’s Prime Minister was seemingly the only leader to support Macron, and he also supported Russia in its war against Ukraine, questioning the usefulness of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow…”

Even though some European nations may not like Macron’s assertions, they may not really disagree with him. In any event, France is a far-too-powerful country in Europe just to be ignored. Ultimately, Macron’s viewpoints will prevail.

Growing Military Collaboration Between Russia and China

ABC News wrote on May 13:

“Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed concern Saturday about Russian and Chinese military cooperation in Asia and said the security situation in Europe could not be separated from that in the Indo-Pacific region… Japan firmly backs Ukraine in the war but China says it remains neutral while declaring a ‘no limits’ relationship with Moscow and blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking the conflict…

“‘China and Russia are strengthening their military collaboration, including joint flights of their bombers and joint naval exercises in the vicinity of Japan,’ Hayahshi said. China, which claims most of the South China Sea as well as Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea, says it has the right to defend its sovereignty and development interests.

“Hayashi also warned that North Korea was ‘escalating provocations’ in the region by conducting ballistic missile launches ‘with a frequency and in a manner that are unprecedented.’… Some of the Indo-Pacific countries, including India and Pakistan, have called for an end to the Ukraine war but stopped short of condemning Russia for it…”

The Bible prophesies that a mighty power bloc, hostile towards Europe, will develop in the Far East, called the “kings of the East,” and all indications are that countries such as Russia, China, North Korea and India will be part of that bloc. Other countries, such as Iran, will support this bloc. The future role of Japan is less clear.

Release of Durham Report—“FBI Acted Improperly”

Breitbart wrote on May 15:

“The long-awaited report by Special Counsel John Durham tasked to look into the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign for Russian collusion was released Monday…

“Durham’s 300-page report found a damning conclusion: ‘Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report. Our investigation also revealed that senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically affiliated persons and entities,’ Durham’s report said, in apparent reference to the Hillary Clinton’ [campaign]…

“Durham said the Justice Department and FBI acted without ‘appropriate objectivity or restraint in pursuing allegations of collusion or conspiracy between a U.S. political campaign and a foreign power,’ he said. He also said the FBI used a different standard when it came to looking at Clinton’s campaign…

“Democrat members of Congress such as Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell also repeatedly claimed there was evidence of collusion, but failed to produce any. Earlier this year, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy kicked both members off the House Intelligence Committee due to their repeated and unfounded accusations of collusion, as well as an alleged sexual relationship with a Chinese spy in Swalwell’s case….”

Fox News added on May 17:

“The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board condemned the FBI and its media allies for pushing the Russia collusion narrative against former President Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign and the years following his election. After consulting Special Counsel John Durham’s final 306-page report on the Russian collusion probe that dropped this week, the board claimed it ‘makes clear that a partisan FBI became a funnel for disinformation from the Hillary Clinton campaign through a secret investigation the bureau never should have launched.’

“The board declared that Durham’s report is ‘a damning account of the corruption of the FBI and its accomplices,’ and claimed it ‘gives a fuller picture of the FBI’s complicity under former director James Comey and deputy Andrew McCabe.’… In conclusion, the Wall Street Journal called the ‘Russia collusion [a] fabrication and deceptive sale to the public’ a ‘travesty that shouldn’t be forgotten.’ 

The corruption and the political role of the Justice Department, the FBI and the left-wing mass media are appalling.

The Curse of Conscription

The Future of Freedom Foundation published the following article on May 12:

“One of the interesting aspects of the Russia-Ukraine war is that the regimes in both countries have resorted to conscription to get soldiers to ‘serve their country.’…

“With conscription, the state commands a citizen to report to a military facility, where he is forced to become an employee of the state, at a wage set by the state. Even worse, his forced labor consists of killing people. Thus, conscription is really just a fancy form of military slavery because the citizen is being forced to provide his time and labor in the killing service of the state.

“One might be tempted to conclude that the United States is different from Russia and Ukraine. Not so. Just like those two countries, the U.S. government also relies on conscription… U.S. officials are not currently conscripting people but that simply is because they… have been successful in inducing a sufficient number of men and women to voluntarily ‘serve their country.’ But the fact is that there is a system of conscription in place here at home, just as there is in Russia and Ukraine. That’s why young men are required to register for the draft when they reach the age of 18.

“If anyone fails or refuses to do so, he will be arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated. That’s what they did to draft resisters during the Vietnam War. Mohammad Ali was a good example of how they target people who refuse to comply with their system of involuntary servitude.

“Make no mistake about it: If the Pentagon and the CIA succeed in embroiling the United States in a war with Russia or China or both, U.S. officials will not hesitate to do what Russia and Ukraine are doing. They will immediately resort to conscripting both American men and women to ‘serve their country.’…”

Conscription may not be enforced on the American people because of a war between the USA and Russia and China (neither one is prophesied), but because of a coming war with Europe (which IS prophesied). Conscientious objectors had better be prepared, and their time of preparation is now.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Stone of Destiny Welcomed to the Abbey

westminster-abbey.org wrote on April 29:

“A service to mark the arrival of the Stone of Destiny at Westminster Abbey was held on Saturday 29th April. The stone, an ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy, will play a central role in the Coronation of HM The King in the Abbey on 6th May.

“The Stone of Destiny was for centuries used in the inauguration of Scotland’s kings. In 1296, King Edward I brought the stone to Westminster. He placed it within the Coronation Chair, the oak seat he commissioned in 1300-1301 and which has been the centrepiece of coronations for more than 700 years. 

“In 1996, the UK government announced that stone was to be returned to Scotland, but would come back to the Abbey for coronations. It has travelled from its home in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle where it is visited by millions of people each year.

“Today’s service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle… Among those speaking at the service was the Right Honourable The Lord Lyon King of Arms, who said in his address: ‘The Stone was taken from its place in the Abbey of Scone to this Abbey Church in 1296 by command of King Edward I in an act of enmity. It was returned to Scotland in 1996 by command of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in an act of amity and now comes again to this place by command of King Charles III as an act of unity and a symbol of friendship.’”

To conduct a religious service for the “stone of destiny” borders on idolatry. Note our two Q&As on the stone of destiny. https://www.eternalgod.org/what-do-we-know-of-the-stone-of-destiny-part-1/ and https://www.eternalgod.org/what-do-we-know-of-the-stone-of-destiny-part-2/

The Veneration of the Cross

The New York Times wrote on May 5:

“The coronation of King Charles III on Saturday will feature a processional cross containing what are said to be two pieces of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Pope Francis recently gave the pieces to the new British monarch. These ‘fragments of the Relic of the True Cross’ were donated by the Vatican in early April ‘as an ecumenical gesture,’ the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said in a statement. The pieces were set, under glass, at the center of a cross that was commissioned by Charles, as Prince of Wales, to celebrate the centenary of the Church in Wales, which split off from the Church of England in 1920.

“Of the many Christian relics that have been venerated over the centuries, the True Cross has been among the most important. The first historical references to it date to the fourth century, and adoration of the relic grew over the centuries — as did the number of fragments said to be from the cross. The theologian John Calvin wrote in a 1543 treatise, ‘If we were to collect all these pieces of the True Cross exhibited in various parts, they would form a whole ship’s cargo’…

“The legend that Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine who decriminalized Christianity in 313, brought pieces of the cross back from the Holy Land, became wrapped up in the Roman Catholic Church’s efforts to give political legitimacy to Christian rulers. Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, sought relics of the cross for his cathedral at Aachen…

“It became common practice for European rulers to ask the pope in power for fragments of the cross, which the Holy See safeguarded in several locations in Rome… The Vatican did not say where the fragments given to King Charles had come from.

“After the coronation, the processional cross… will be shared between the Anglican and Catholic Churches in Wales…”

The veneration of the cross constitutes idolatry and blasphemy. Please read our Q&A on the use of crosses . Also, please read our two Q&As on the origin of the sign of the cross. https://www.eternalgod.org/what-is-the-origin-of-the-sign-of-the-cross-should-christians-make-the-sign-of-the-cross-part-1/ and https://www.eternalgod.org/what-is-the-origin-of-the-sign-of-the-cross-should-christians-make-the-sign-of-the-cross-part-2/

Changed Words, But No Change in Substance

Daily Mail wrote on May 6:

“The words of the Homage of the People were toned down at the eleventh hour… For the first time in history, every citizen of the UK and all the other nations of which the monarch is head of state had been asked to ‘make their homage in heart and voice to their undoubted King’. It was to make the ceremony more of a ‘People’s Coronation’, as previously only members of the aristocracy were called upon to make such a pledge. 

“But Charles reportedly approved the last-minute change which came after a string of commentators criticised the new addition as divisive.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will now ‘invite’ a show of support from the congregation rather than a ‘call’ to those in the Abbey and elsewhere to swear allegiance to the King…”

But they were still supposed to, and they did say:

“I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors, according to the Law. So help me God.”

Swearing allegiance to a man, according to the law of man (which would supersede the law of God), constitutes idolatry and blasphemy.

Many more problems were present during the ceremony. As we previously reported, the fragrant chrism oil that was used to anoint King Charles during his coronation was “made sacred” in Jerusalem. A ceremony took place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the “holy oil” was consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and the Anglican archbishop in Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum. It had been created using olives harvested from two groves on the Mount of Olives, at the Monastery of Mary Magdalene and the Monastery of the Ascension (compare the Guardian, May 3, 2023).

It is true that we read that God anointed David with His holy oil (Psalm 89:20), but the oil with which King Charles III was anointed did not become holy when in a religious ceremony, the oil was consecrated and “made sacred” by Eastern Orthodox and Anglican figure heads; this borders on idolatry and blasphemy.

The entire ceremony crowning King Charles III and his wife Camilla had little, if anything, to do with a service which would have been pleasing to God. The service was also permeated with false religious doctrines and practices. For instance, apart from praying to the Trinity, the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke at one time about the “Father of the Holy Spirit.”

What is important for us to recognize is that another Jewish descendant of David sits on the Throne of David, according to God’s unconditional promise to David that he would never lack a descendant to sit on his throne. This recognition has no bearing on the King’s righteousness and the righteousness of the clergy, the politicians and the people. In fact, God is very angry with the sins of the UK, including the sin of false worship and idolatry, and punishment is looming.

The Power of the Pope

Crux wrote on May 7:

“When King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla were crowned yesterday, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was on hand in Westminster Abbey to represent Pope Francis and the Holy See… he’s considered a contender to become pope himself someday…

“Popes haven’t been crowned since 1963, when Paul VI became the last pontiff to don the papal regalia in a coronation ceremony… in theory a future pontiff could decide to resurrect the triregnum, the three-tiered tiara with which popes were once invested to symbolize their role as ‘father of princes and kings’…

“A pope is still a temporal monarch, albeit over an extremely small state… Francis still is invested with the power to decide all matters, secular and spiritual, within the Vatican’s territory, from doctrine to traffic laws. In ecclesiastical terms the pope’s authority certainly remains absolute. Canon 882 of the Code of Canon Law makes it clear: ‘The Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.’”

The Catholic Church and the Church of England are not that different, as the coronation service of King Charles III clearly showed, which was “Catholic” to the core. The difference is the role of the Pope who was replaced in England with the King. Henry VIII broke with the Pope and the Roman Church simply because Pope Clement VII refused to grant him annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon so he could wed Anne von Kleefes. The desire of the Roman Church to bring the Church of England (one of the daughter churches) back into the fold of the “mother church” has become obvious in recent years.

“Jesus Values” Not Welcome

On May 6, 2023, Fox News reported the following:

“An Arizona School District settled a religious discrimination case Thursday two months after it was accused of illegally terminating a contract while its members blasted the Christian ‘Jesus’ values of a university… On Wednesday evening, the board restored a contract with the university…

“Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented the university, said the school board ‘showed blatant hostility to ACU’s beliefs’ when it questioned how one could ‘be committed to Jesus Christ’ and yet, at the same time, respect LGBTQ students and board members.

“[One] School board member… blasted the university for ‘teaching with a Biblical lens.’”

One thing is clear: If you are committed to Jesus Christ and His teachings, you cannot at the same time believe in the correctness of the LGBTQ movement.

Unemployment Down, But Is This Really Good News?

Thomson/Reuters wrote on May 5:

“U.S. employers boosted hiring in April while raising wages for workers, pointing to sustained labor market strength that could see the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates higher for some time…

“The Fed raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by another 25 basis points to the 5.00%-5.25% range on Wednesday… Fed has hiked its policy rate by 500 basis points since March 2022.

“Some economists… believe that the labor market is overstating the health of the economy, pointing to the divergence between consumer spending and job gains as well as a continued decline in worker productivity. Consumer spending stalled in February and March. Productivity has declined on a year-year basis for five straight quarters, the longest such stretch since the government started tracking the series in 1948.

“Economists also noted that job growth was becoming more concentrated in the leisure and hospitality industry as well as state and local governments… With risks of a recession mounting… the hiring landscape could change quickly…”

Worldwide Financial Bank Crisis

LifeSiteNews wrote on May 8:

“With almost eight months left to run in 2023, this year’s banking collapses already eclipse those of the financial crisis of 2008 – and 2009 – combined… Collectively, the three big banks that have collapsed in 2023 had more assets than all 25 banks that collapsed in 2008 did… Signature Bank, New York, NY and Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, CA collapsed in March 2023, joined by First Republic Bank, San Francisco on May 1.

“… The tree is rotten from the roots… At present, confidence in banks is falling all over the West… Even if only half of uninsured depositors decide to withdraw, almost 190 banks with assets of $300 billion are at a potential risk of impairment…  if a bank run begins in these… institutions, it is likely to lead to a far greater crisis…

“Overall, the outlook for the U.S. banking sector looks dire…

“Reuters reports that billions have been withdrawn from U.K. and European banks by depositors, fearing a repeat of the meltdown of Credit Suisse. The crisis in confidence is not limited to the USA… Four major banks in Britain reported losses from two to eleven billion pounds over the first three months of 2023, with German and French deposits showing falls of up to 8 percent…

“The practice of information warfare is universally degrading. Both the banks and President Joe Biden have reassured the public there is no cause for concern. These remarks must be understood in the context that rumors – especially of the truth – can be fatal to confidence in banks. 

“The truth of the matter is that printing money backed by promises on debt is a fools’ bargain…

“It is astonishing to see the West once again threatened by a major financial crisis…”

Joe Biden: “My Son Did Nothing Wrong!”

Professor John Turley wrote on May 6:

“During an interview with MSNBC Ruhle asked, ‘Sir, there is something personal that’s affecting you. Your son — while there [are] no ties to you — could be charged by your Department of Justice. How will that impact your presidency?’

Biden answered, ‘First of all, my son’s done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him. And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.’…

“Yet, there are mounting allegations over the President’s involvement… and recent allegations of potential criminal conduct by the President… the Justice Department and the media have worked tirelessly to avoid ties between Hunter Biden’s foreign dealings and the President…

“The media continues to struggle to avoid even referencing the allegations against the Bidens…  That is why it was hardly surprising that Ruhle also did not press Biden on his continued false claims of not knowing anything about his son’s business interests despite pictures and a tape recording that clearly refute those denials.

“Ruhle also ignored Biden’s absurd claim that Hunter did ‘nothing wrong.’ Obviously, he has done a great number of ‘wrong things’ from tax violations to gun violations to prostitution violations to a massive corruption scandal. Yet, once again, Biden went unchallenged. There was not even the slightest pushback to ask if Biden seriously did not view these actions as wrong in any way.”

Fox News contributor and New York Post journalist Miranda Devine warned that Biden is setting the stage for pardoning his son Hunter if he was to be indicted and convicted of numerous crimes.

Biden a News Media Evader

The left-wing Washington Post editorial board slammed Biden for not doing more press conferences, calling him a ‘news media evader.’ Here are excerpts from the board’s opinion, entitled “Biden no longer does press conferences. That’s not acceptable,” continuing:

“President Biden hasn’t dropped the microphone; he appears to have lost it. Mr. Biden is turning into a news media evader, and it’s harmful to his presidency and the nation. In the past 100 years, only Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan averaged fewer news conferences than Mr. Biden…

“The president and his team promised transparency. Instead, he is stonewalling the media… Taking questions from the media promotes public accountability. It also shows that the president is willing to defend his positions and instills confidence that he can do the job. It is widely known that Mr. Biden is gaffe-prone and that news conferences are not his forte. But as he runs for a second term, he should be eager to show he can handle all aspects of the job…”

Trump Found Liable in Sexual Abuse Case

Breitbart wrote on May 9:

“A jury in New York found former President Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexual abuse and battery of writer E. Jean Carroll three decades ago, though not liable for rape, and awarded $5 million in civil damages against him.

“The jury also found Trump defamed Ms. Carroll in his reactions to her lawsuit, which was encouraged by anti-Trump lawyer George Conway and backed by Democrat mega-donor Reid Hoffman, an associate of the late convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. The jury reached its decision after a few hours of deliberations, after a trial in which U.S. Judge Lewis Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee, allowed character evidence, including the infamous Access Hollywood tape, to be used.

“Trump decided not to testify in his own defense. Instead, video of his deposition in the case was played, in which he said he did not recall Ms. Carroll and that he would not have been attracted to her (or her lawyer)…

“… the judge controversially allowed other women to testify that they had similar experiences with Trump. Typically, such evidence of character — purporting to prove that a defendant committed a specific act based on an alleged propensity to commit similar acts — is inadmissible except in a few very specific circumstances.

“Because the case was not a criminal case, the plaintiff’s legal team was allowed to comment negatively on Trump’s refusal to testify, and the jury was allowed to draw negative inferences from it.

“Former President Trump reacted on Truth Social, his social media platform, saying: ‘I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!’…. Trump is planning to appeal the jury’s decision.”

The Daily Mail added on May 9:

“Trump… insisted he was denied a fair trial by a biased Manhattan jury and judge… Manhattan is a staunchly Democrat borough, and the former president is widely loathed in his hometown. ‘What else can you expect from a Trump-hating, Clinton-appointed judge, who went out of his way to ensure the result of this trial was as negative as it could possibly be,’ he asked. ‘Speaking to and in control of a jury from an anti-Trump area, which is probably the worst place in the United States for me to get a fair trial. We’ll be appealing this decision…’

“Trump’s comments echo those of his attorney, Joe Tacopina, who said outside court on Tuesday that a Manhattan jury was ‘always’ going to rule against Trump… There is no possibility of Trump being charged with attacking Carroll, as the legal time limit has long since passed.

“For similar reasons, she initially filed her civil case as a defamation lawsuit, saying Trump’s derogatory denials had subjected her to hatred, shredded her reputation and harmed her career. Last fall New York state gave people a chance to sue over sexual assault allegations that would otherwise be too old. Carroll was one of the first to file…”

What more needs to be said?

Robert Kennedy Jr. Favored by the Public

Newsmax wrote on May 5:

“There’s a high likelihood President Joe Biden may not be able to run again in 2024, but Democrats [the DNC or the Democratic National Committee] and the ‘propaganda fake news’ are ignoring Robert Kennedy Jr., a Democratic contender, says former Rep. Devin Nunes… ‘Kennedy is … at 16% of that poll you put on the screen. But I’ve actually seen him at 20% in other polls. And that didn’t bode well, considering that the fake news has totally ignored that Kennedy is even running,’ Nunes said Friday…

‘That tells you there’s something going on underneath in the Democratic Party, where you have 16[%] to 20% of them — with virtually no news coverage — that wants to vote for Kennedy,’ he added…

“Last week, a Fox News poll showed him at 19%. A survey from YouGov published a few weeks ago tested Kennedy’s image alongside a dozen other political figures, including Biden, former President Donald Trump, and other congressional leaders. Nearly half of Americans had a favorable view of him (48%) compared with just 28% unfavorable.”

Kennedy Not to Join Trump

 Newsmax reported on May 10:

“Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shot down speculation Wednesday on whether he would join former President Donald Trump on a ticket for the 2024 election. ‘Just to quell any speculation, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will I join Donald Trump on an electoral ticket,’ Kennedy tweeted. ‘Our positions on certain fundamental issues, our approaches to governance, and our philosophies of leadership could not be further apart.’…

“Kennedy’s comments come a day after a Rasmussen Reports survey found a majority of Democratic voters would back President Joe Biden for the party’s 2024 nomination, despite their ‘admiration’ for Kennedy…

Reaction to Kennedy’s tweet poured in from across the Twittersphere, with many asking him to reconsider…”

Kennedy Warns of Financial Censorship

Fox News reported on May 5:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr., promised Thursday to protect Americans from ‘financial censorship’ if elected president, arguing that financial companies acting out of ‘fear’ of the government pose a threat to freedom that transcends partisanship…

“Kennedy… accused western governments of ‘financial censorship of political enemies’ during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a Twitter thread, he pointed to the Canadian government’s financial sanctions against ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters, comparing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s actions to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s freezing of assets belonging to opposition leader Alexei Navalny. ‘It’s not outlandish to imagine that even here in America, your bank account could one day be frozen because of your politics, or comments you’ve made on social media,’ Kennedy wrote. 

“‘After all, in 2010, Paypal, Visa, and Mastercard suspended WikiLeaks, at the behest of the U.S. State Department. GoFundMe blocked U.S. accounts from sending funds to Canadian truckers… backing down only when faced with a lawsuit. PayPal modified their acceptable use policy to fine users $2,500 for spreading what they deemed to be misinformation, a change they rescinded under pressure. Nonetheless, thousands of customers are currently suing PayPal for the arbitrary seizure of their accounts,’ he continued.”

In addition, Kennedy “blames the CIA for the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy — proclaiming it ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’… ‘The evidence is overwhelming that the CIA was involved in the murder, and in the cover-up.’ The US government’s official investigation… concluded Lee Harvey Oswald acted as a lone wolf in the fatal shooting, and that there was no credible evidence he was part of a conspiracy to assassinate the 35th president” (The New York Post, dated May 7).

That Oswald did NOT act alone should be obvious from all the available evidence.

Kennedy’s Take on the Russian-Ukrainian War

Modern Diplomacy wrote on May 8:

[In an interview, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said the following:]

“Let’s be honest: it’s a US war against Russia… President Biden has said that… his intention [is] to get rid of Vladimir Putin. His Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, in April 2022, said that our purpose here is to exhaust the Russian army… The commander of the special forces unit in the Ukraine… has said 80% of his troops are dead or are wounded and they cannot rebuild the unit. Right now, the Russians are killing Ukrainians at a ratio of either 1:5 or 1:8, depending on what data you believe.

“We need to remove our Aegis missile systems, which house the Tomahawk missiles — nuclear missiles — from 70 miles from the Russian border. When the Russians put nuclear missiles on Cuba, 1,500 miles from Washington DC, we were ready to invade them, and we would have invaded them if they hadn’t removed them. The way they got removed ultimately is: my uncle and father made a deal with Ambassador Brennan and Khrushchev, who they had a close relationship with and they could talk directly to at that point. The deal was: ‘we will remove our Jupiter missiles from Turkey, on your border, because we know that’s intolerable to you.’

“Russia has been invaded twice in the previous 100 years [Actually, Russia was invaded at least three times by European forces]. One could see why they wouldn’t want nuclear missile systems in hostile countries on their border…  my uncle always said, if you want to actually achieve peace, you’ve got to put yourself in the other guy’s shoes and you’ve got to figure out the local pressures on him too…

“What happened in the Ukraine is that the US supported essentially a coup d’etat in 2014, against the democratically-elected government of Ukraine…”

Russia’s Victory Celebration

Thomson/Reuters wrote on May 9:

“Putin has repeatedly likened the war in Ukraine… to the challenge Moscow faced when Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941…

“The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine, but eventually pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in 1945…

“As many as 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured in the Ukraine war, which is now in its 15th month and could well grind on well beyond 2023…

“This anniversary falls less than a week after Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin citadel with two drones in an attempt to kill Putin. Kyiv has denied any involvement…

“Along with the 1812 defeat of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the crushing of Nazi Germany is Russia’s most revered military triumph, though both catastrophic invasions from the west left Russia deeply sensitive about its Western borders.”

Tucker Carlson to Launch His Own Show on Twitter

The Daily Mail wrote on May 9:

“… the fired Fox News host revealed he is relaunching his show on Twitter. The ousted television host made the announcement in a three-minute video posted to his Twitter page on Tuesday, in which he slammed the mainstream media and said anyone who tries to tell the truth ‘will be fired.’

“Sources close to Carlson have previously said he is preparing for ‘war’ against the network (Fox News) as he fights to be released from his $25 million-a-year contract, which prevented him from joining rival networks or starting one of his own.

“But Musk on Tuesday denied any special agreement had been reached with Carlson. ‘I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators,’ Musk tweeted, in response to Carlson’s video.”

Axios added on May 9:

“Carlson… accused the network Tuesday of fraud and breach of contract — and made a host of document demands that could precede legal action… The aggressive letter from his lawyers to Fox positions Carlson to argue that the noncompete provision in his contract is no longer valid — freeing him to launch his own competing show or media enterprise…

“The Twitter move would seem to technically violate Carlson’s contract with Fox, but his lawyers’ letter effectively holds that Fox breached the contract first…”

The Danger of the EU Army

The European Conservative wrote on May 5:

“Before the 2016 EU referendum, leading Remainers insisted that we Brexiteers were ‘dangerous fantasists’ when we warned about the rise of a European Union army. But as the EU accelerates its drive towards a militarised supra-state, we are surely entitled to ask: who are the dangerous fantasists now?

“When European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for a Europe-wide security force in 2015, Leave campaigners led by then-UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP seized upon it as proof that they had been right all along…

“Arch-Remainer Nick Clegg… declared that ‘Jean-Claude Juncker and Nigel Farage are both dangerous fantasists when it comes to this issue. It’s not going to happen.’…

“Meanwhile the forward charge towards a militarised EU has accelerated… Just this week, Brussels unveiled its plan to pump €500 million into European factories producing ammunition shells… European Commission industry chief Thierry Breton urged European manufacturers to get into ‘war economy mode.’

“This is the third of EU leaders’ current three tracks for increased military spending. Track two commits the EU to spend €1 billion on procuring arms and missiles over the next year…

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine provides EU leaders with a plausible pretext for their new ‘war economy’ policies. But… they have been working to turn their dream of a centralised EU security policy into reality for many years: from Juncker’s call for an EU army in 2015, through Chancellor Merkel and President Macron’s explicit endorsement of that idea in 2018, to the EU’s 2022 ‘Military Mobility 2.0’ action plan for the rapid movement of large-scale forces. If it wasn’t for the all-too-real war in Ukraine, they would no doubt have found some other excuse…

“EU member states are now faced with the real prospect of security forces armed and commanded from Brussels. They may have to ask the question that we Brexiteers posed to British voters: in a democracy, who do you want to decide if you go to war? Your elected national government, or a centralised, militarised EU super-state?”

Such a centralized, militarized EU super-state IS prophesied to happen. Please read our free booklet, “The Ten European Revivals of the Ancient Roman Empire.”

European Parliament Displays Jesus with Gay Sadomasochistic Slaves

Fox News reported on May 7:

“Conservative European politicians raged over artwork at the European Parliament in Brussels that depicted Jesus Christ delivering the Sermon on the Mount while surrounded by gay men dressed in leather BDSM outfits. The image, which was part of a photography exhibition by lesbian Swedish artist Elisabeth Ohlson that ran in a restricted part of the EU Parliament building from May 2 to 5, was an attempt to display Jesus as supportive of LGBTQ rights, the artist said…

“Another piece of Ohlson’s work featured in the exhibit depicted a naked Black man in the position of Christ on the cross while a naked White man cradled him…

“The art had previously been rejected for display at the EU Parliament in the early 2000s.

“The art drew condemnation from some Italian, Spanish and Polish members of European Parliament, who described the work as blasphemous...

“Ohlson has stoked outrage before…  She toured Sweden in 1998 with a series titled ‘Ecce Homo,’ which displayed images of Jesus featuring themes promoting homosexuality, transgenderism and BDSM fetishism.”

This is SO blasphemous!

Hungary Wants Trump to Return as President

Newsmax wrote on May 5:

“Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is calling for former President Donald Trump to return to the White House… ‘I’m sure if President Trump were president today, there’d be no war inflicting Europe and Ukraine,’ he continued…

“Earlier this month, Orban urged the former president to ‘keep on fighting’ amid intense legal battles surrounding the Stormy Daniels payment and other controversies.

“In a similar vein, last year Trump praised and endorsed the Hungarian leader as he was seeking a fourth successive term as prime minister against a united opposition. Orban won the election by a 20-percentage-point margin, 54% to 34%…

“Orban has faced some criticism from within the European Union for his populist beliefs…”

Last week’s CBS News and YouGov poll found Trump on top of the field at 58%, a 35-percentage-point lead over DeSantis at 22%. Former United States Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley came in at 4%. Former Vice President Mike Pence tied with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 5%.

EU Bans Ukrainian Grain

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 7:

“An agreement signed by Ukraine and Russia last year, mediated by Turkey, on a Black Sea grain corridor has been poorly implemented. Ukrainian grain exports via the sea route have repeatedly come to a standstill. This has caused the price of Ukrainian grain to drop and fluctuate considerably.

“Large-scale grain deliveries from Ukraine to the European Union only became possible after Russia’s invasion… Just over a year ago, Brussels abolished tariffs and import quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products as a sign of solidarity and as an effort to buoy up Ukraine’s economy.

“On April 7, 2023, however, Poland unilaterally imposed import bans on Ukrainian grains after mass protests by farmers there over falling prices… This was quickly followed by similar bans in Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria. In late April, the EU Commission retroactively legalized this ban, which has now also been extended to include Romania and covers wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil.

“At the same time, the EU Commission emphasized that the transit of Ukrainian grain through these nations to third countries remains permitted. The restrictions initially apply until June 5, after which they can be extended indefinitely…

“Because of the EU import bans, 12 to 15 million tons of grain from last year’s harvest will remain in Ukrainian silos… For Ukrainian farmers, this uncertainty in relations with European business partners is even worse than current financial setbacks… Tensions with the EU weaken Ukraine, making the country even more vulnerable to Russian blackmail…”

It is obvious that Ukrainians are not happy with Europe’s anti-Ukrainian position.

Once You Start Burning (or Prohibiting) Books…

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 9:

“On a rainy night in May, German writer Erich Kästner [“The Parent Trap”] stands among NAZI SA officers and onlookers before a burning pyre that illuminates Berlin’s Opernplatz, now called Bebelplatz. Men in black SA uniforms throw piles of books on to the fire. Kästner listens as his name is shouted into a microphone: ‘Against decadence and moral decay! For discipline and decency in family and state! I hand over to the flames the writings of Heinrich Mann, Ernst Glaeser and Erich Kästner!”…

“It’s the night of May 10, 1933. In Berlin and in 21 other cities in Germany, bonfires are fed with books. It’s an act of barbarism that continues to reverberate to this day…

“Many of the writers and intellectuals whose books were burned had already left Germany by that point… By the time the Nazis seized power and Adolf Hitler became chancellor, on January 30, 1933, it was clear to them that they had no future in Germany… By May 1933, more than 200 writers had been blacklisted; a year later, more than 3,500 written works had been banned…

“Erich Kästner was possibly the only author to witness the burning of his own books on the night of May 10, 1933…He… remained in Germany, somehow keeping his head above water over the next years. As a non-Jew, he was able to survive the period until the end of the Nazi dictatorship in 1945…

“What is today Bebelplatz in Berlin features a memorial to the book burnings, a 1995 work by Israeli sculptor Micha Ullmann titled, ‘The Empty Library’… A plaque nearby says, ‘Where books are burned, eventually people will also be burned.’ 

“Those words, written by the German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine in 1820, became horrifying reality in Nazi Germany… his words referred to book burnings in medieval Spain.

“The Nazis were by no means the inventors of this barbaric act, which has a long tradition. Books (and people) were burned across the centuries-long histories of both Christianity and Islam, as well as in ancient Greece and China, and in more recent times, in Iran and Russia.

“Authoritarian regimes all over the world fear the power held by the free word to call their dominance into question — and in the case of the Nazis, so much so that among the works they burned on May 10, 1933, were those by Heinrich Heine, more than 70 years after the poet died in exile in Paris.”

And today, every time we hear about prohibiting or censuring books or free speech, we should take note and wake up.

Syria Readmitted

Reuters wrote on May 7:

“The Arab League readmitted Syria on Sunday after more than a decade of suspension, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad in a move criticised by Washington.

“The decision said Syria could resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately… Russia, an Assad ally, hailed Syria’s readmission.”

The Arab world, in opposition to Israel, is coming together.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Biden and Harris Announce Bid for Reelection

The New York Post wrote on April 25:

“President Joe Biden formally announced his bid for re-election Tuesday, asking voters to give him another four years as America’s oldest president to help him ‘finish the job’ despite plunging support… He tweeted a more than three-minute video… making clear he will run again with Vice President Kamala Harris… However, the announcement came in the face of overwhelming proof that Americans want him to step down…”

Breitbart added on April 25:

“… his campaign launch video… opens with scenes from January 6th and featured issues such as abortion (‘personal freedom’) and LGBTQ…

“Over images of former President Donald Trump… as well as Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Biden warned that ‘MAGA extremists’ are looking to go after American’s social security benefits, despite the Republican Party opposing such measures.

“Mr Biden will not only face a challenge from the Republicans in his re-election bid, but also from Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. who is already polling in double digits after he announced his bid to enter the race…

“[Kamala Harris’]aspirations to run again are contrary to what the vast majority of voters feel about her contributions up to now, with critics seeing her as stumbling eagerly from one disappointment to the next.”

Biden Should Not Run Again… Say the Right…

Fox News wrote on April 22:

“The Wall Street Journal editorial board… alleged the White House ‘goes to great lengths’ to hide what they speculate is Biden’s declining health. ‘But his decline is clear to anyone who isn’t willfully blind… the risk of an accelerated decline for Mr. Biden is considerable. The chance that he could serve a full second term is hardly assured,’ they wrote. The editors argued that Vice President Kamala Harris would make a poor commander-in-chief and that she would be nearly unelectable should Biden be forced to drop out of the race…”

… and the Left!

Fox News wrote on April 21:

“CNN anchor John King… spoke on his show ‘Inside Politics’ about the issues undermining Biden’s re-electability. King noted that Biden ‘clearly has liabilities’ and said, ‘he’s 80 years old. He will be 82 on Inauguration Day 2025.’  ‘Do the American people want that?’ he asked. ‘Do they want four more years for this president?’

“King then spoke about various political issues that have dogged Biden’s presidency. ‘Immigration is an issue where the Biden Administration, the numbers are not working in his favor, and the Republicans plan to make a very big deal of that,’ he said. ‘Inflation and recession fears, obviously, issue number one…

“He then noted a poll with grim implications for Biden’s electoral chances… ‘Nearly three quarters of Americans say the country is going in the wrong direction. Joe Biden is asking for four more years,’ he said. ‘When 74 percent of Americans think the country is heading the wrong way it’s hard for the boss to say “give me four more years.” This is a giant challenge for the president.’”

Breitbart wrote on April 28:

“Biden’s approval rating among independents in five of the latest national polls registered at 33.2 percent, while an average of 56.2 percent of independents disapprove of his performance…”

Biden Fit for Office?

Express reported on April 29:

“Biden’s latest public blunder saw the US President forget about his trip to Ireland – less than two weeks after it took place… To add further embarrassment, President Biden had to be reminded about the trip by a [three-year-old] child on the White House lawn… The blunder was even more bizarre considering that President Biden spent a significant time in Ireland speaking about his emotional and ancestral connection to the country…

“It comes in the same week that President Biden was caught using a ‘cheat sheet’ during a press conference, which suggested he had advance knowledge of a question from a journalist… President Biden has been ridiculed for relying on detailed cheat sheets in the past…

“Back in February, the White House physician said that the US President remains healthy, vigorous and fit to successfully execute his duties. However, the physical… did not include a cognitive test.”

Biden a Wise Man???

Bild Online published the following comment by Franz Josef Wagner on April 26:

“… to me you are ‘not an old fool.’ You are a wise man to me. You stumble up Air Force One sometimes – … you have age-related spinal arthritis.

“To me, Donald Trump is an old fool who has crushes on younger women…

“Your age and his age cannot be compared. There is much suffering in the face of Joe Biden. His first wife had an accident with her daughter. You were a single father to your sons. Then your son Beau died of a brain tumor. With this suffering he tried to become a decent person.

“Joe Biden has been accused of mumbling. Joe Biden has been a stutterer since childhood. He trained himself to stop stuttering with 100,000 exercises.

“But he’s too old, critics say. What nonsense. Character doesn’t get old. Decency doesn’t get old. I think it’s good that Joe Biden is running for President again. I would choose him.”

This is typical of the propaganda of the mass media with which the German people are kept in ignorance when it comes to the obvious failings of Joe Biden. Examples of his blatant incompetence are basically ignored.

Biden’s Economic Success Story?

The left-wing Deutsche Welle spoke in an article about Biden’s astonishing economic “success story.” Nothing could be remotely further from the Truth. Note the following article by the Sun, dated April 25:

“Biden has faced domestic and international challenges since entering office in January 2021.

“The aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic saw widespread supply chain shortages and energy prices have skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In June, inflation in the US hit 9.1 percent – its highest figure in four decades. Florida Senator Rick Scott claimed that high inflation was Joe Biden’s ‘fault’ and said he was ‘asleep at the wheel.’”

Daily Mail wrote on April 25:

“Financially, the US is still working to manage a cost of living crisis and make up for labour shortages. The IMF warned this month that the US faces a ‘rocky recovery’ as it looks to build back from the uncertainty around the financial sector, high inflation, the war in Ukraine and Covid. The update forecast 1.6 per cent growth for the US this year… down significantly from the 2.8 per cent last year… the overall picture is still ‘clouded’ by uncertainty. The country also faces rising interest rates, affecting the ability to borrow money…

“Abroad, Biden has poured billions into supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion, providing military, humanitarian and financial aid – and slapping Russia with costly sanctions. Trump has positioned himself against Biden, arguing the US should avoid sending aid abroad.”

Living in America, one knows how misleading the claim of Deutsche Welle is. But the German mass media has had a tendency of whitewashing Obama and Biden, while attacking Bush and Trump.

“Did Biden Steal The Election?”

Ron Paul wrote in the Ron Paul Institute, dated April 24:

“On or around Oct. 17, 2020, then-senior Biden campaign official Antony Blinken called up former acting CIA director Mike Morell to ask a favor: he needed high-ranking former US intelligence community officials to lie to the American people to save Biden’s lagging campaign from a massive brewing scandal.

“The problem was that Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, had abandoned his laptop at a repair shop and the explosive contents of the computer were leaking out. The details of the Biden family’s apparent corruption and the debauchery of the former vice-president’s son were being reported by the New York Post, and with the election less than a month away, the Biden campaign needed to kill the story…

“In short, at the Biden campaign’s direction Morell launched a covert operation against the American people to undermine the integrity of the 2020 election… Social media outlets prevented any reporting on the laptop from being posted and the mainstream media could easily ignore the story as it was merely ‘Russian propaganda.’…

“The Democrats and the mainstream media have relentlessly pushed the lie that the ruckus inside the US Capitol on Jan. 6th 2021 was a move by President Trump to overthrow the election results. Hundreds of ‘trespassers’ were arrested and held in solitary confinement without trial to bolster the false narrative that a conspiracy to steal the election was taking place.

“It turns out that there really was a conspiracy to steal the election, but it was opposite of what was reported…  Did the Biden campaign’s disinformation campaign help rig the election in his favor? Polls suggest that Biden would not have been elected had the American electorate been informed about what was on Hunter Biden’s laptop. So yes, they cheated in the election.

“The Democrats and the mainstream media are still at it, however. Now they are trying to kill the story of how they killed the story of the Biden laptop. This is a scandal that would once upon a time have ended in resignation, impeachment, and/or plenty of jail time. If they successfully bury this story, I hate to say it but there is no more rule of law in what has become the American banana republic.”

Biden falsely denied that the Biden family had received a $1.3 million China payout—more evidence that a huge cover-up took place to protect Hunter Biden and, more importantly, Joe Biden. An IRS Whistleblower allegedly said that he will provide evidence that Attorney General Merrick Garland lied under oath to Congress, according to an article by the New York Post, dated April 20.

Biden’s Denial of His Grandchild

Daily Mail wrote on May 1:

“Last week, ironically, at a White House ‘Take your child to work day’ event, Biden was asked how many grandchildren he has… He told the crowd of sweet, trusting, naive kids that he has six grandchildren. But that is a flat lie. Joe Biden has seven grandchildren. The human being that goes without mention is Navy Joan Roberts – Hunter’s four-year-old daughter. She’s persona non grata in the White House…

“Navy was reportedly conceived in a relationship that occurred while Hunter was still involved with his brother Beau’s widow, Hallie Biden. Ms. [Lunden Alexis] Roberts gave birth to Navy in August 2018. Subsequently, Hunter denied paternity of the child, but a 2019 DNA test reportedly proved otherwise and has since gone uncontested. In 2020, Hunter reportedly settled with Roberts for $2.5 million…

“… since Navy’s birth, according to court filings, Hunter ‘has never seen or contacted’ the child and could not pick her out of a photo lineup… if there’s anything that the Washington press corp and the Democratic Party are good for – it’s giving Joe and Hunter a pass. They’ve known about Navy for some time and turned a blind eye…

“The gutting tragedy of all of this is that a sinless child is the victim…

“Let me ask you a question, Mr President. How can you heal a nation if you can’t acknowledge the life of your own grandchild?… I can’t accept that our nation is so far gone that we don’t demand our president speak the name of his innocent grandchild.”

This is so sad and disturbing.

Robert Kennedy, Jr.’s Announcement Speech

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on April 20:

“Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s presidential campaign announcement speech on Wednesday included much that advocates of limiting the power of the United States government can cheer, including strong criticism of the US government’s crackdown in the name of countering coronavirus and of the series of wars in which the US government has engaged from Vietnam to Ukraine…”

According to various polls, Kennedy has an approval rate of about 13% or 14% of Democratic voters who voted for Biden in 2020. The press has been anxious to paint Kennedy in the most unfavorable light, saying overwhelmingly that Kennedy has no chance of succeeding. Still, many Democrats seem to be looking for an alternative to Biden whom they perceive to be too old, feeble and unproductive. Interestingly, Breitbart, Fox News and Newsmax broadcast interviews with and segments on the Democratic candidate, Robert Kennedy, Jr., and had not much to say about him in negative terms, and Newsmax moderator Rob Schmitt even said, in effect, that there is not much which you can disagree with.

“Robert F Kennedy Jr. vs. Democrat National Committee (DNC)

Breitbart wrote on April 24:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed the Democrat National Committee (DNC)… for having a ‘rigged’ primary system, with no debates and moving voting in South Carolina ahead of New Hampshire on the calendar…”

Will Kennedy Jr. continue to run as a Democrat, or perhaps in a different capacity? He also told Breitbart News this weekend that his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, has lost jobs in Hollywood for supporting his campaign. He said that cancel culture exists and it is “alarming.”  Though Cheryl Hines has been critical of her husband’s anti-vaccine advocacy in the past, she did issue a short statement in support of her husband’s presidential run. At the same time, Trump has allegedly said that he would not participate in presidential debates with Republican contenders as he would subject himself to “being libeled and slandered” and because “his poll numbers are so high he has no reason to compete with the rest of the field.”

Opposition to Transgenders in Women’s Sport

Breitbart wrote on April 30:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr…. told CNN on Saturday that ‘biological males’ threaten women’s sports. ‘I am against people participating in women’s sports who are biologically male,’ Kennedy said. ‘I think women who have worked too hard to develop women’s sports over the past 30 years I watched it happen and I don’t think that’s fair.’

“Kennedy said his opposition to trans athletes in women’s sports represents another area where he and Biden ‘differ really dramatically.’ The politician also recently came out in opposition to cancel culture…

“President Biden has been a fierce supporter of transgenders in women’s sports.”

Appalling Censorship by ABC News

The Ron Paul Institute published the following opinion piece on May 1 by Law Professor Jonathan Turley:

“Before he was assassinated, Robert F. Kennedy declared that ‘hand in hand with freedom of speech goes the power to be heard.’ That does not appear to be the view of ABC News, which censored his son who is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination. ABC objected to Kennedy’s views on COVID-19 vaccines, so it simply announced that it was preventing viewers from hearing those views to protect them from dangerous ideas.

“ABC’s Linsey Davis began the interview by introducing Kennedy as ‘one of the biggest voices pushing anti-vaccine rhetoric, regularly distributing misinformation and disinformation about vaccines, which scientific and medical experts overwhelmingly say are safe and effective based on rigorous scientific studies.’ That apparently was not enough. After telling viewers that this is one of his most famous stances (and its own disagreement), it then censored those views.

“After airing the interview, Davis announced “[w]e should note that during our conversation, Kennedy made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines. We’ve used our editorial judgment in not including extended portions of that exchange in our interview.’

“Kennedy tweeted that ‘47 USC 315 makes it illegal for TV networks to censor Presidential candidates but Thursday, ABC showed its contempt for the law, democracy, and its audience by cutting most of the content of my interview with host Linsey Davis leaving only cherry-picked snippets and a defamatory disclaimer.’…

“Putting aside the federal law, this is wrong. ABC can challenge such views, but it is actively seeking to prevent voters from hearing a presidential candidate on an issue of great public interest and debate. It is particularly troubling after prior media censorship has been shown to have been wrong in silencing dissenting scientific views.

“We have seen various journalistic and scientific figures banned for expressing skepticism over pandemic claims from the origins of the virus to the efficacy of certain treatments… The same is true with the debate over the efficacy of masks…

“It is also not clear where ABC draws the line. Joe Biden has made so many false statements that the Washington Post gave him a ‘bottomless Pinocchio.’ Likewise, many view contested claims over climate change and transgender issues to be dangerous. Will ABC now be censoring these other candidates or positions?…”

Sadly, ABC has become more and more one of the left-wing propaganda machines in support of the Biden Administration.

Tucker Carlson Out

Breitbart reported on April 24:

“The political world was shaken Monday after Fox News announced it had parted ways with prime time host Tucker Carlson…”

This development is “a shocker,” sensational and stunning. On Monday, it was also announced that CNN had fired long-time moderator Don Lemon, but it pales in comparison with what appears to be Tucker Carlson’s firing. Speculation is ripe that his apparent dismissal was a somewhat undisclosed part of the highly controversial settlement agreement less than a week before between Fox and election technology company “Dominion Voting Systems” for more than $787 million. In this context, Fox was charged with having violated the freedom of speech by entering in the settlement. It appears Carlson did not know of his “dismissal” on Friday, when he wished viewers a nice weekend and stated he would be back Monday.

It appears Fox News is moving further and further away from its at one-time strong conservative platform. According to Mike Huckabee, Carlson’s audience out-paced that of MSNBC and CNN combined.

Also on Monday, it was announced that Susan Rice was leaving the Biden White House “with world chaos in her wake,” according to former ambassador Ric Grenell, continuing, “Sudan is only the latest disaster she has overseen.”

Tucker Carlson Responds

The New York Post wrote on April 26:

“In a video posted to Twitter, Carlson… accused political leaders on both sides of the aisle of silencing voices and shutting down media outlets that uncover corruption or reveal truths… Both political parties and their donors have reached a consensus on what benefits them and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it. Suddenly, the United States looks very much like a one-party state,’ he added.”

The Hill reported on April 27:

“[The video] racked up more than 57 million views on Twitter as of Thursday afternoon [in less than 24 hours].”

Ukraine to Become Part of NATO AFTER Having Won the War Against Russia?

Breitbart wrote on April 21:

“(NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told cameras [in Germany] that Ukraine’s membership of the alliance [NATO] was coming. Regardless, and possibly to reassure those who fear the consequences of admitting a country already at war into the fold of the NATO nuclear mutual assurance club would mean, Stoltenberg made clear that the present conflict would have to be won first… [He said:] ‘without a sovereign, independent Ukraine there is no meaning in discussing membership’…

“Russia… said in the past that allowing Ukraine to join the alliance would trigger ‘world war three’… Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said preventing Ukraine from joining NATO was one of the key purposes of the war…’”

It does not appear that Ukraine will win this war against Putin, so NATO membership would be a moot issue.

Medvedev Threatens to Destroy Berlin

Bild Online wrote on April 21:

“After Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (63, SPD) said on Thursday evening… that he considered limited attacks by Ukraine on Russian territory in the fight against the invasion acceptable, [ex-Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev freaked out again on Twitter. This time his destination: Berlin!

“‘The German defense minister (…) certainly envies the fame of the warlords of the Third Reich,’ said Medvedev… And the Kremlin’s mouthpiece threatens all of Germany: ‘The German who wants to attack Russia must be prepared for our parade in Berlin.’…

“It’s not the first time that the ex-Russian president and Putin friend has threatened Germany. In March he spoke openly of dropping bombs on Berlin. Reason for the threatening gestures: a possible arrest of the Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin (70) after an arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court…

“Medvedev at the time: ‘The current head of a nuclear state arrives on the territory of, say, Germany and is arrested. What is that? A declaration of war against the Russian Federation.’ Should an arrest take place in Germany, ‘all our means, rockets and so on, will fly at the Bundestag, the Chancellery and so on,’ said Medvedev…”

From the context, it did not appear that Pistorius advocated a German attack on Russia. He spoke about an attack by Ukraine. Medvedev seems to have used that statement suggesting that Germany’s delivery of weapons to Ukraine makes it complicit IF Ukraine were to attack Russia on Russian soil. This is even more interesting as allegedly, Ukraine is preparing for a “big bang” strike to retake Crimea which has been in Russian hands since 2014, according to the Sun, dated April 22, 2023. Military experts seem to think that the key for Ukraine’s victory in the war against Russia is winning Crimea. Also note the next article.

Drone Attacks on Sevastopol

The Associated Press reported on April 29:

“A massive fire erupted at an oil depot in Crimea after it was hit by two of Ukraine’s drones, a Russia-appointed official there [Mikhail Razvozhayev] reported Saturday, the latest in a series of attacks on the annexed peninsula as Russia braces for an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive…

“Razvozhayev said the fire at the city’s harbor was assigned the highest ranking in terms of how complicated it will be to extinguish. However, he reported that the open blaze had been contained. Razvozhayev said the oil depot was attacked by ‘two enemy drones,’ and four oil tanks burned down. A third drone was shot down from the sky, and one more was deactivated through radio-electronic means, according to Crimea’s Moscow-appointed governor, Sergei Aksyonov…. Earlier this week, Razvozhayev reported that the Russian military destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted to attack the harbor…”

Ukraine Allegedly Tried to Kill Putin

Italy 24 Press News wrote on April 26:

“Ukrainian intelligence allegedly tried to kill the Russian president… with a UJ-22 explosive drone on April 23, when he was supposed to visit the Rudnevo industrial park near Moscow. This is what the newspaper ‘Bild’ reveals, adding that the assassination attempt is ‘kept secret by the Russian authorities although it failed’…”

On May 3, yahoo!news reported this:

“The Russian presidential administration said Wednesday that the Kremlin was attacked by drones overnight in an attempt on President Vladimir Putin’s life.

“Moscow residents had reported hearing two explosions behind Kremlin walls shortly after 2 a.m. local time, after which the lights went out. Footage shared by residents in a local Telegram channel captured the incident, as smoke was seen filling the sky above the Kremlin. Videos also appeared to show part of the Kremlin on fire.

“Now, authorities say it was a brazen attack by Ukraine using two drones, both of which they say have been destroyed…

“The Kremlin, describing the incident as a ‘planned terrorist attack’ and ‘assassination attempt on the president of Russia,’ is now threatening to take ‘retaliatory measures.’

“A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied that the country was behind any attack on the Kremlin…”

But reports that Ukraine is trying to assassinate Putin are increasing.

Germany’s Toxic Relationship with Russia

MSN wrote on April 8:

“Over the past 75 years, the Germans have rebuilt Europe in their own image. With its coalition politics, mercantile economics, green ideology and woke culture, the EU is in many ways the Federal Republic writ large…

“Public support for Ukraine’s fight for survival is falling: half the country no longer supports sending arms and four out of five think it is more important to end the war quickly than for Ukraine to win.

“German trade with Russia almost halved by volume in 2022, but the value of imports actually rose by 6.5 per cent. This means that last year Germany alone contributed more than £30 billion to Putin’s war chest… anti-Americanism has surged…

“So why does Germany still have such a toxic relationship with autocracy? The short answer is: because that was the price of German reunification… The fact that the Federal Republic was able to absorb East Germany without violence was seen as a miracle, made possible by Mikhail Gorbachev’s reluctance to use military force. The quid pro quo came with the disastrous Ostpolitik of Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel, which left Germany dependent on Russian energy and virtually defenceless….”

Under a new German government being less friendly towards Russia and China, this may all change.

Switzerland’s Ban on Exporting Ammunition to Ukraine

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 24:

“Swiss ambassador to Berlin Paul Rene Seger said he was surprised by the ‘extent of the criticism that is raining down’ on his country over Switzerland’s ban on reexporting ammunition for Germany’s Leopard (or Gepard) tanks to Ukraine… Seger pointed to Switzerland’s long-running tradition of neutrality, which is one of the basic principles of Swiss foreign policy…

“Until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany had a very similar policy about not sending weapons to hot conflicts as Switzerland’s and often faced criticism in 2022 for its perceived reluctance to provide weaponry for Kyiv.”

Of course, Germany has had a history of violating its policy, when economically advantageous, long before the Ukraine conflict.

On the other hand, the Ron Paul Institute wrote on May 2:

“Washington’s old guard can’t help itself: when it comes to throwing endless streams of our money down a foreign boondoggle they just never refuse. Even if they promise to do so. Speaker Kevin McCarthy is backing off his ‘no blank check’ promise when it comes to Ukraine – even after $100 billion has already been authorized!”

Worldwide Military Spending at an All-Time High

Breitbart wrote on April 24:

“The world has never spent so much on military muscle. Figures released Monday show $2.24 trillion was outlaid globally in 2022 with Europe leading the way due to Ukraine’s demands for continued supplies of battlefield hardware… There was a 13 percent rise in Europe, the steepest in at least 30 years…

“Overall the United States remains by far the world’s biggest military spender. U.S. military spending reached $877 billion in 2022, which was 39 percent of total global military spending and three times more than the amount spent by China, the world’s second largest spender…

“[Following Russia as the world’s third highest military spender,]India’s military spending of $81.4 billion was the fourth highest in the world… In 2022 military spending by Saudi Arabia, the fifth biggest military spender, rose by 16 percent…”

The Associated Press added on April 24:

“… the three largest arms spenders were the United States, China and Russia, who between them accounted for 56% of global expenditure.”

De-Dollarization Attempts

Bitcoin.com wrote on April 27:

“Russia’s former head of state, Dmitry… Medvedev… predicted… late December that the U.S. dollar will be losing its status of global reserve currency in 2023, amid the increasing spread of digital currencies.

“Russia has been working on a digital ruble and a new payment system that officials claim will not restrict digital currency payments. Pressed by Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow also intends to legalize crypto payments in international settlements as part of its de-dollarization attempts.”

It was also reported on the Internet that China plans to create a $58 billion railway system connecting Pakistan and China to reduce Western trade dependence. The South China Morning Post reported on April 27 that “many other train systems could connect China to Turkey and Iran moving forward. China, the world’s largest manufacturer of goods, is bypassing the U.S. dollar dominance by improving and promoting the Chinese Yuan’s utility. If the development goes through, it would open direct access for China to trade with other Asian nations.”

The Challenge of the BRICS Countries

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 10:

“… the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa — are setting themselves up as an alternative to existing international financial and political forums… South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has said worldwide interest in the BRICS group was ‘huge.’ [She said] she had 12 letters from interested countries on her desk. ‘Saudi Arabia is one,’ she said. ‘United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Algeria, and Argentina,’ as well as Mexico and Nigeria… [Subsequently, it was reported that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Algeria have formally requested to join the BRICS alliance; and that Iran has also shown interest in joining].  

“Since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, the BRICS countries have only distanced themselves further from the so-called West. Neither India, Brazil, South Africa or China are taking part in sanctions against Russia. This has become increasingly clear with near-historic levels of trade between India and Russia, or in Brazil’s dependence on Russian fertilizer.”

Watcher Guru added on April 28 that the BRICS countries are moving “to replace the US dollar with a new currency of global stage to settle international trade”; and that they are a challenge to the G7 countries (the US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Japan).

South Africa Wants to Arrest Putin During BRICS Summit?

Newsmax wrote on May 2:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has been warned that he could be arrested if he travels to the BRICS summit in South Africa this August, with officials in the country saying they will have to detain him on the warrant issued this March by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

“According to the South African outlet The Sunday Times, government officials there are trying to convince Putin to attend the BRICS summit in Cape Town by videoconference rather than in person, because as a member of the ICC, South Africa would have to honor Putin’s arrest warrant.”

Earlier, South Africa had assured Putin that they would NOT arrest him if he were to enter their country. Why the sudden change in approach?

Germany’s Unpopular Measures

Breitbart wrote on April 21:

“Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck announced that the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz will back the Building Energy Efficiency Act, which would require that all new heating systems run on at least 65 per cent of so-called renewable forms of energy. This would effectively ban new gas and oil heaters, which would need to be replaced with heat pumps or hybrid systems that only use fossil fuels as a backup.

“According to the draft legislation, the plan would cost the German public some 9.16 billion euros ($10 billion) per year until at least 2028…

“… nearly half of the 41 million households [are] using natural gas for heating and 25 per cent using oil.

“The green agenda push is apparently not appreciated by the German public, who have been suffering under an energy crisis as a result of dried-up supplies of Russian gas…  78 per cent of Germans are opposed to the legislation, as opposed to just 18 per cent who back the bill. Over six in ten people also told the pollster that they believed the move towards renewables would result in their heating bills costing more.

“The push to ban new gas and oil heaters comes just days after Germany closed down its final three remaining nuclear power plants…”

Habeck from the Green party has turned out to be one of the most unpopular politicians in Germany. With Habeck’s insane green-driven woke agenda, how can Germany’s incompetent government survive?

Germany’s “Energiewende”

Forbes wrote on April 20:

“Germany has been at the forefront of efforts to transition away from nuclear power and towards renewable energy sources with its ‘energiewende’ initiative…

“Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power appears to be at odds with the country’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions… Germany’s phaseout of nuclear power is all the more stunning because it comes at a time when Europe is grappling with high energy prices caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine…

“Germany’s nuclear phaseout has angered many, including some environmentalists… Despite the criticisms, German leaders appear committed to their energiewende initiative. This may be premised on the false belief that renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, can completely replace nuclear and coal on the path to zero carbon emissions…”

Swearing Allegiance to the King?

AFP wrote on April 30:

“All Britons will be called on to swear allegiance to King Charles III at his coronation, an oath hitherto reserved for British nobility…

“The office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who will lead the coronation ceremony on May 6 at Westminster Abbey, announced on Saturday that the traditional ‘Homage of Peers’ — during which representatives of the nobility kneel before the king and pledge allegiance to him — would be scrapped. Instead, the ceremony will include a ‘Homage of the People’, with the archbishop calling on all people in the United Kingdom and other places where King Charles is the head of state to swear allegiance…

“The order of service will read: ‘All who so desire, in the abbey, and elsewhere, say together: I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.’

“British parliamentarians, but also Canadians since the British sovereign is their head of state, already swear allegiance to the monarch when they take office…

“At Saturday’s ceremony, women bishops will take part for the first time, as well as representatives of non-Christian faiths…”

Very strange indeed.

Pastor Threatened with Jail for Quoting the Bible

Fox News wrote on April 24:

“An outspoken street preacher is appealing to the Oklahoma Supreme Court after he was slapped with a five-year restraining order that threatened him with jail time if he speaks out in opposition against a local LGBTQ advocacy group…

“Penkoski referenced Bible verses condemning homosexuality, including Romans 1:32 – ‘and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same but also give hearty approval to those who practice them’…

“Penkoski made two additional posts in which he expressed his disapproval of several Pride events in Bartlesville. In one post, he criticized local Disciples Christian Church for sharing photos of children celebrating Pride Month last June…

“… the Rutherford Institute, which represented Paula Jones in her sexual harassment claim against former President Bill Clinton, took on Penkoski’s case because they believe it could set a dangerous precedent that could chill the speech of Christians or anyone else who publicly opposes LGBTQ ideology… Whitehead [a constitutional attorney of the Rutherford Institute] said that if Penkoski fails in his appeal, the First Amendment is ‘dead,’ which he believes ‘would open [the] door for persecution, obviously… He quotes what Jesus Christ says, OK? If that’s a crime, then we’re in a bad state in this country,’ he added.”

We ARE in a bad state in this country!

No Consequence For Breaking the Law

The New York Post wrote on April 26:

“Under the new crop of George Soros-backed, soft-on-crime district attorneys, there is no consequence for breaking the law…

“In Chicago, two teens steal a car, speed down a road and kill a baby. That’s not enough to lock them up…

“Progressives will tell us with a straight face that crime isn’t increasing, and if it is, it has nothing to do with this new breed of no-bail, no-jail prosecutors. It’s ludicrous…

“This experiment in anarchy must end.”

Finally, Some GOOD NEWS–No More COVID Vaccinations for International Travelers

Reuters wrote on May 1:

“The United States will end its COVID-19 vaccination requirements for international travelers and federal workers on May 11, when the coronavirus public health emergency ends, the White House said on Monday. In February, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to lift the requirement that most foreign air travelers be vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the few remaining pandemic travel restrictions still in place.

“The Biden administration last June dropped its requirement that people arriving in the U.S. by air must test negative for COVID but kept in place Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccination requirements for most foreign travelers.

“The Homeland Security Department also said Monday starting May 12 it will no longer require non-U.S. travelers entering the United States via land ports of entry and ferries to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of vaccination upon request.

“The Biden administration’s rules imposed in September 2021 requiring about 3.5 million federal employees and contractors to be vaccinated or face firing or disciplinary action have not been enforced for over a year after a series of court rulings. A federal appeals court in March upheld a decision blocking enforcement of the employee vaccine requirement…”

It was more than overdue to end this insane policy; hopefully, it will stay that way.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

China Threatens Taiwan

BBC News wrote on April 8:

“US President Joe Biden has said on several occasions that the US would intervene if China attacked the island, but US messaging has been murky…

“Taiwan’s status has been ambiguous since 1949, when the Chinese Civil War turned in favour of the Chinese Communist Party and the country’s old ruling government retreated to the island. Taiwan has since considered itself a sovereign state, with its own constitution and leaders. China sees it as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under Beijing’s control – by force if necessary. China’s President Xi Jinping has said ‘reunification’ with Taiwan ‘must be fulfilled.’”

Will America REALLY intervene militarily if China invades Taiwan? This is highly doubtful.

EU and China: Is Taiwan Really Europe’s Problem?

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 23:

“Macron caused international consternation by stating… that Europeans should not simply be ‘followers’ of the US amid escalating tensions with China over the east Asian island, nor get caught up in ‘crises that aren’t ours.’

“His words prompted backlash in Washington and raised eyebrows in EU capitals, most notably in Warsaw…

“But the controversy Macron’s comments caused doesn’t mean Macron is wrong, said Jeremy Shapiro, research director for the European Council of Foreign Relations. ‘I suspect that the vast majority of [European leaders] agree in terms of wanting to maintain some independence from the United States, to have a relationship with China, and in fact, how Taiwan isn’t really their problem,’ he told DW…”

The division between the USA and Europe is getting greater.

Baerbock’s Position Regarding China

Reuters wrote on April 13:

“German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock…said Europe needed to maintain a close exchange with Beijing, one of the bloc’s biggest trade partners, but also to draw lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine by tackling ‘unhealthy’ dependencies on China… ‘A military escalation in the Taiwan Strait … would be a worst-case scenario globally and affect us as one of the biggest industrial nations in particular,’ she added of Germany, the EU’s largest economy…

It’s all about money. Baerbock’s controversial comments are well known; for instance, when she declared that NATO was at war with Russia.

Washington’s Worst National Security Breach

The Guardian wrote on April 11:

“US intelligence reportedly warned in February that Ukraine might fail to amass sufficient troops and weaponry for its planned spring counter-offensive, and might fall ‘well short’ of Kyiv’s goals for recapturing territory seized by Russia, according to one of a trove of leaked defence documents.  

“The leaked documents also revealed fraught relations with supposed allies and partners, including some who appear to lean more towards Moscow…

“The disclosure of the highly classified material represents Washington’s worst national security breach in many years…

“One of the latest leaks claims Egypt was planning to covertly supply Russia with rockets and other munitions…”

Suspected Leaker Arrested—How Could It Have Happened?

The Associated Press reported on April 14:

“The emergence of Teixeira as a primary suspect is bound to raise questions about how such a profound breach, one that the Pentagon termed a ‘very serious risk to national security,’ could have been caused by such a young, low-ranking service member…”

The Sun added on April 14:

“A treasure trove of classified documents was shared on Discord, Twitter, and Telegram, containing bombshell US intelligence gathered on other countries… and reports that the US has been spying on key allies.

“… intelligence experts fear the most damaging revelation of all is the simple fact that the US appears to have lost the ability to keep its secrets safe.”

America’s reputation is steadily diminishing.

Possible Motives?

JTA wrote on April 14:

“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the influential Republican congresswoman from Georgia… has come to Teixeira’s defense. She tweeted that ‘Teixeira is white, male, christian, and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime’…

“The Post… quoted a friend who said he was a ‘devout Catholic’ who often spoke of God in the chats. He also reportedly referred to government raids on far-right compounds in the 1990s, events that have spurred extremist antigovernment anger.

“The documents Teixeira allegedly leaked exposed weaknesses on both sides in Russia’s war against Ukraine…

Breitbart added on April 14:

“Greene [also] tweeted, ‘Jake Teixeira… told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more. Ask yourself, who is the real enemy? A young, low-level national guardsmen? Or the administration that is waging war in Ukraine, a non-NATO nation, against nuclear Russia without war powers?’”

There are indeed many troubling questions. Note the next article.

“Something Is Not Right”

The Ron Paul Institute published the following article on April 16:

“The media obsession in vilifying Jack Texeira for ‘leaking’ TOP SECRET and SECRET documents and judging him guilty without any benefit of doubt, is just another symptom of the authoritarian fever that grips many inhabitants of the United States…

“One of the major revelations from this leaking incident is that most of the press in the United States have rejected the fundamental mission of the media — expose truths the Government wants to hide from the public… Fifty years ago the New York Times and the Washington Post led the way in defying the Nixon Administration’s effort to quash the publication of the highly classified Pentagon Papers. Those documents revealed that the U.S. Government, under both Republican and Democrat Presidents, lied to the American public about the war in Vietnam. And today? Those two media outlets are enthusiastically helping the U.S. Government identify the leaker and smear him in the process. So much for the viability of the First Amendment.”

Is the mass media too quick again to convict a person of a crime without having all the evidence?

Ukraine Will Cease to Exist?

aa.com.tr wrote on April 8:

“Ukraine will ‘disappear’ as ‘no one needs it,’… Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said [continuing] Europe does not need Ukraine because it is already experiencing ‘a financial and political hell’ provoked by its support to Kyiv… The US also does not need Ukraine, he argued, saying that while some US politicians use Ukraine to ‘make publicity’ on the matter, ordinary Americans do not understand why their government is busy with Ukraine and send lots of money to Kyiv instead of dealing with its own problems…

“Medvedev emphasized that Moscow does not need ‘parts of Russia named as Ukraine in 1991,’ it instead needs ‘Big Great Russia.’… ‘Such a Ukraine is not needed by anyone on the planet. That is why it will not exist,’ he concluded.”

AFP wrote on April 14 that Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has demanded of the USA to cease and desist from supporting Ukraine militarily. He also said that the EU should start speaking about peace.

According to Focus on April 15, Medvedev said that Poland will disappear too. In this, he is wrong. In other news, the Guardian reported on April 14 that “China approved the provision of lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine but wanted any shipments to remain a secret, according to leaked US government documents.”

The Kings of the East are coming together, and Ukraine will indeed cease to exist in that it will become part of Russia.

Finland Joins NATO

The Sun wrote on April 4:

“Finland becomes the 31st member of the military alliance serving a heavy blow to… Putin…

“Finland and Russia share a painful 810 mile border with one another… Russia has vowed to ‘strengthen our military potential in the western and northwestern direction’…

“Olga Skabeyeva, Russia-1 host… claimed the Finnish territory as ‘our historical land’… She said: ‘We have to liberate the brotherly Finnish people.’…

“Finland [is] the sixth Nato nation to share a border with Russia, joining Norway, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. The Finnish contribution [adds] more than 257,000 troops to the combined forces.”

Ultimately, Russia will invade Europe, including Finland.

Russia’s New Hostile Neighbor

Breitbart wrote on April 15:

“Norway declared 15 Russian diplomats persona non grata on Thursday… saying it had discovered the individuals were actually ‘intelligence officers’ that were either handlers running other spies, or were ‘specialists’ actively intercepting communications…

“Russia itself responded to the expulsion with characteristic bluster and bombast, declaring that in removing Russian citizens Norway had revealed itself to be a hostile state and that repercussions would follow…”

Russia and Norway share a long land border in northern Europe.

What we said about Finland equally applies to Norway.

Turkey vs. Israel

The Jerusalem Post wrote on April 7:

“Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi over the phone that the ‘Islamic world should be united against Israel’s attacks in Palestine,’ Turkish media reported…

“Erdogan condemned the Israeli police’s actions at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Wednesday, calling such acts in the mosque compound a ‘red line’ for Turkey… “

Turkey will be part of an alliance of Arab nations against Israel.

Christians Persecuted in Israel?

The Associated Press wrote on April 13

“The head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land has warned in an interview that the rise of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government has made life worse for Christians in the birthplace of Christianity. The influential Vatican-appointed Latin Patriarch, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, told The Associated Press that the region’s 2,000-year-old Christian community has come under increasing attack, with the most right-wing government in Israel’s history emboldening extremists who have harassed clergy and vandalized religious property at a quickening pace…

“‘The frequency of these attacks, the aggressions, has become something new,’ Pizzaballa said… ‘These people feel they are protected … that the cultural and political atmosphere now can justify, or tolerate, actions against Christians…’

“‘The right-wing elements are out to Judaize the Old City and the other lands, and we feel nothing is holding them back now,’ said Father Don Binder, a pastor at St. George’s Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem… 2023 is shaping up to be the worst year for Christians in a decade, according to Yusef Daher from the Inter-Church Center…”

Alleged or real persecution of Christians, and especially Catholics, in Israel will contribute to the false prophet’s invasion of the “Holy Land.” An additional factor is the infighting of Christian sects in Israel. Note the next article.

Christian Sects Are Fighting in Jerusalem

DNYUZ wrote on April 15:

“As Orthodox Christians descended on Jerusalem this Easter week to visit the holiest site in their religion, a more earthly concern hovered over the holiday: Would rival monks keep the peace this year or again engage in clashes? In a centuries-long conflict, Egyptian Coptic monks and Ethiopian Orthodox monks have competed for the control of a small monastery located on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built at the site where Christians believe Christ was crucified, entombed and resurrected…

“‘When I first arrived in Jerusalem I was shocked,’ said Markos Alorshalemy, an Egyptian monk. ‘I was expecting to see a holy land, where everyone is living in peace and light. But instead, I found a place where everyone is constantly fighting, even inside the holiest church’…

“Rival sects of Christians have been jostling for control of their faith’s holy sites in Jerusalem for nearly two millenniums, and the sprawling Church of the Holy Sepulcher is at the heart of these contests… Six Christian denominations try to share control over the church, which is really a tangled knot of several chapels, monasteries and shrines, a complex and sometimes chaotic arrangement that has contributed to the occasional bloodshed…”

Syria to Come Out of Isolation?

The Times of Israel wrote on April 14:

“Arab countries gathered in Jeddah on Friday to discuss ending Syria’s long spell in the diplomatic wilderness, as regional relations shift following Saudi Arabia and Iran’s decision to resume ties. Ministers and top officials from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — plus Egypt, Iraq and Jordan are meeting at Saudi Arabia’s request.

“Up for discussion in the Red Sea city is Syria’s suspension from the Arab League, imposed when President Bashar al-Assad’s government launched a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011. Backed by Iran and Russia, Assad has been shunned by many Middle Eastern countries and is a Western pariah over the war, which has killed more than half-a-million people and forced about half of Syria’s pre-war population from their homes.

“But on Wednesday, in the latest sign of an easing in tensions with Damascus, Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Jeddah, the first such visit since the war began. Mekdad and his Saudi counterpart discussed ‘the necessary steps’ to end Damascus’s isolation, according to a Saudi statement on Wednesday.

“Any recommendation to reinstate Syria in the 22-member Arab League, whose next meeting is due to be held in Saudi Arabia in May, is likely to draw protests from Western capitals…  late on Wednesday, gas-rich Qatar and its tiny but strategic Gulf neighbors Bahrain agreed to re-establish relations, putting aside a long-running diplomatic feud…”

For more information on Syria, please read our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.” https://www.eternalgod.org/booklet-2187/

Sudan in Turmoil

The Wall Street Journal reported on April 15:

“Heavy fighting broke out in Sudan’s capital and other cities between the national military and a powerful militia—a dangerous escalation of tensions between the country’s top two generals, who worked together to oust Sudan’s longtime dictator, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019.

“In competing statements, the military, commanded by Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, a state-sponsored militia led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, blamed each other for starting the conflict…

“The vast country of around 45 million is perched between Egypt and Ethiopia along the Red Sea… Both Gen. Burhan and Gen. Dagalo have been building international alliances, including with Gulf countries and Russia…

“In February 2022, days before Russia invaded Ukraine, Gen. Dagalo visited the Kremlin for talks with President  Vladimir Putin to discuss the continued export of gold to Russia, the purchase of Russian arms and construction of a new military port on the Red Sea…”

Peace vs. War

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 9:

“Thousands of people took part in Easter peace marches across [the nation] to call upon the government to push for an end to Ukraine war. The rallies, organized by the Peace Cooperative Network, called for an end to German arms exports to Ukraine and a rollback of the plans to expand and rearm the German armed forces…

“The Easter rallies —  that first began in the 1960s and gained momentum during the 1980s to oppose war and militarization — have once again regained significance against the backdrop of the Ukraine war. Even though Russia’s invasion last year represented a ‘Zeitenwende’ or a ‘change of times’ for Germany, the public opinion on Germany’s increased defense spending in the second year of the war remains divided…

“Zelenskyy said that there was ‘no alternative’ for Ukraine other than the return of Crimea into its control…”

Germany will clearly continue to “rearm,” but may not continue supporting Ukraine for long.

Germany’s Controversial Move to Shut Down Last Three Nuclear Plants

Fox News wrote on April 15:

“Germany has begun dismantling its nuclear energy infrastructure, claiming the country will aim for a 100% renewable energy systems. The European financial power is shutting down its final three reactors — Emsland, Neckarwestheim II, and Isar II…”

Breitbart wrote on April 15:

“[The] end to nuclear in Germany is being celebrated by the country’s hardline political left, with the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) holding a ‘nuclear phase-out festival’ in Munich to mark the day… officials from within the country’s green agenda-loving government have insisted that the end of nuclear power will mark the beginning of an era of renewables in Germany.

“Such a claim is hard to believe considering the country is already in the midst of a major energy crisis, with green technologies already failing to pick up the slack left by Russian oil and gas that has ceased to be regularly available since the invasion of Ukraine…”

Deutsche Welle added on April 16:

“[FDP] Party leader Christian Lindner, who is Germany’s finance minister… said if it was up to him, Germany would retain the last three power plants in reserve.

“Opposition conservative politicians were also disappointed, including Markus Söder, premier of the southern state of Bavaria, who told the Focus Online website on Thursday that he wanted the plants to stay online and three more to be kept ‘in reserve.’ [According to Bild Online, dated April 16, Söder is even willing to carry on with Bavaria’s own nuclear power plant.] Söder accused the coalition government’s decision of being ‘purely ideological,’ adding that it was a ‘serious mistake to exit nuclear energy at this point in time.’…

“Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chief Friedrich Merz on Friday insisted that the last three nuclear plants ‘are the safest in the world.’…

“The decision goes against plans by many other countries, such as the United States, China, France and Britain, who are counting on nuclear energy to replace planet-warming fossil fuels. Even Japan has walked back plans to phase out nuclear power…

“Meanwhile, two-thirds of Germans favor extending the lifespan of nuclear reactors or connecting old plants back to the grid, with only 28% backing the phase-out, a survey by the Forsa Institute showed earlier this week…”

Ironically, Finland has just launched Europe’s most powerful nuclear reactor. As Newsmax reported on April 16, “It will help Finland to achieve its carbon neutrality targets and increase energy security at a time when European countries have cut oil, gas and other power supplies from Russia, Finland’s neighbor.”

Germany’s government is becoming less and less popular. Everything seems to be demanding change.

Queen Camilla

The Sun wrote on April 5:

“BUCKINGHAM Palace has dropped Camilla’s ‘Consort’ title from Coronation invitations — and she will now be known as the Queen… When Camilla married Charles in 2005 it was announced she would take the title Princess Consort when Charles became King. But last year the late Queen upgraded her to Queen Consort…

“The Palace said Queen Consort is Camilla’s ‘rank’ while Queen will be her title. She will officially be called Queen ­Camilla in all royal documents from the day of the Coronation…”

The Stone of Destiny

BBC News wrote on April 6:

“… this year, in the run up to the coronation of Britain’s latest king, Charles III, visitors are paying particular attention to the Coronation Chair, the seat on which English monarchs have been crowned since 1308.

“Despite its age, the chair is only part of the coronation story. Underneath the seat… is a wooden platform. This was designed by King Edward I to house the Coronation Stone, a sacred rock with mysterious origins that he brought from Scotland in 1296.

“The platform is currently empty – but before the coronation on 6 May, the stone will be brought from Edinburgh Castle (where it’s housed alongside the Scottish Crown Jewels) to the Abbey when Charles III is crowned king of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“The Coronation Stone – also known as the Stone of Scone or Stone of Destiny – is an ancient symbol of Scottish sovereignty with links to Ireland and Spain…

“According to legend, it was the same stone used by the biblical figure Jacob (the father of the Israelites) as a pillow in Bethel when he dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven. From here, one of Jacob’s sons is said to have taken it to Egypt, from where it travelled to Spain and later to Ireland…

“There it was placed on the sacred Hill of Tara near Skryne in County Meath and named the Lia Fail…

“… the stone was taken to Scone Abbey in Perthshire after Kenneth I – who united the Scots and Pictish kingdoms and is known as the first King of Scotland – moved his capital from Western Scotland to Scone in around 840 CE. This ‘Stone of Destiny’ was used for centuries in the coronation ceremonies of Scottish monarchs.

“But following his victory at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296, England’s King Edward I marched north, seized the stone from Scone Abbey and had it fitted into the base of a specially crafted wooden Coronation Chair on which English – and later British – monarchs have been crowned inside London’s Westminster Abbey ever since…

“This same procedure will be repeated later this year, when the stone is brought to London for the crowning of King Charles. Once the stone is laid under the Coronation Chair, they will be moved from their place by the West Door to the Coronation Theatre, an area in the middle of Westminster Abbey… ‘Here the king will be anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury…

“The Abbey will also be closed to the public in the days leading up to 6 May – as will Edinburgh Castle when the Stone of Destiny is removed. Given the stone’s history and significance, the exact details of when and how it will be transported are a closely guarded secret… the coronation will serve as a reminder of their history – a history that is entwined with that of the British Isles, and perhaps even the ancient father of the Israelites.”

The Daily Mail wrote on April 1:

“A cloak-and-dagger operation is under way to transport the sacred Stone of Destiny from Edinburgh Castle to Westminster Abbey ahead of King Charles’ Coronation next month. The Stone has had huge significance in coronations for centuries and is steeped in controversy – which is why exact timings of the carefully planned military operation to move it are being kept secret. There are fears the relic, also known as the Stone of Scone, could be hijacked by republican groups or angry Scottish nationalists…”

For more information on the Stone of Destiny, please see our two Q&As, https://www.eternalgod.org/what-do-we-know-of-the-stone-of-destiny-part-1/ and https://www.eternalgod.org/what-do-we-know-of-the-stone-of-destiny-part-2/

Biden Hates Britain?

Daily Mail wrote on April 4:

“[Biden’s] obvious disdain, which I am prepared to call out as both monarchy and Britain-hating, has continued throughout his presidency. Be it consistently backing Ireland and the EU during highly sensitive Brexit negotiations, slamming ex-PM Liz Truss publicly for trying to cut taxes, or siding with the ghastly Prince Harry and Meghan Markle over their fake Royal Family racism claims to Oprah Winfrey…

“If Biden were prepared to show respect for the UK, there could be no better way than turning up at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6, alongside dozens of other heads of state the world over, including all three presidents of our political enemies over at the EU.

“Sure, Biden is already travelling to Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement later this month and describing the 80-year-old gaffe-prone leader as doddery is being kind to him… US officials want to avoid the decision being seen as a snub and will possibly send the First Lady Jill Biden, but the damage has been done…

“Biden’s anti-English stance is indicative of the way the left internationally have started slowly turning on the UK and our Royal Family as some sort of walking talking manifestation of colonialism, which they deride for political purposes on a daily basis, forgetting the many wonders the British Empire brought to the world. Whatever one thinks of him, I have not a shadow of doubt that Donald Trump would have moved mountains to attend the King’s coronation…

“Biden might think his snub is clever, delighting his leftie base and impressing his Californian pals the Sussexes, but he’s missed the chance to make royal history – and the British public won’t forget his barely concealed hatred towards our great country.”

Breitbart wrote on April 14:

“Although the American leader’s four-day long tour of the island has been warmly welcomed by many Irish politicians, it has rubbed officials in Britain and Northern Ireland the wrong way, with the President repeatedly being accused of being ‘anti-British’ both before and during Biden’s stint abroad.

“How much damage such anger the trip may cause to future U.S. foreign policy does not appear to have been on the forefront of the commander-in-chief’s mind on Thursday however… who described his Ireland visit as a return home for him… adding that both Ireland [and] the United States must stand together on the international stage. ‘The United States will be Ireland’s closest partner,’ he insisted…”

The relationship between the USA and Great Britain will ultimately deteriorate.

America’s Shameful Blindness

Newsmax wrote on April 9:

“Constitutional law expert Alan Dershowitz has ‘never seen a weaker indictment,’ but he told Newsmax that ‘there’s no chance of a fair trial or dismissal’ for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump. ‘It’s a scandal; it’s a shame,’ Dershowitz, a self-proclaimed liberal Democrat [said]… ‘And I’m appalled that so many good lawyers in his office… went along with this travesty of justice.’…

“For Dershowitz, arguably the most renowned constitutional law expert of our lifetimes, to not find a legal standing for this case speaks volumes… ‘I don’t understand what crimes are being charged. Probably the reason he doesn’t list them in the indictment is there are no valid crimes there… I just couldn’t find anything illegal, and I was shocked…’

“Dershowitz broke down all four cases Democrats and anti-Trump operatives are using to try to keep Trump from running for president again… there is nothing to any of the four cases,’ Dershowitz concluded.”

Of course there isn’t. This is indeed a shameful left-wing political witch-hunt against Trump.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s Class Action Lawsuit Against Biden

Clark County Today wrote on March 27:

“On Friday, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Children’s Health Defense (CHD) et al., filed a class action lawsuit against President Joe Biden and numerous other federal agents and agencies in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Monroe Division. The complaint alleges that the defendants have colluded with, encouraged and pressured social media companies to suppress speech that the government does not want the public to hear and to silence specific speakers who are critical of federal policy.

“The complaint calls the government’s campaign to censor online speech one of ‘the gravest threats to free speech this country has ever faced.’”

This class action lawsuit is more than overdue, but it will in all likelihood have no chance of success.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Running for President

The Associated Press wrote on April 5:

“Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and scion of one of the country’s most famous political families, is running for president… Kennedy, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of his slain brother Robert F. Kennedy, was once a bestselling author and environmental lawyer who worked on issues such as clean water. But more than 15 years ago, he became fixated on a belief that vaccines are not safe. He emerged as one of the leading voices in the anti-vaccine movement, and his work has been described by public health experts and even members of his own family as misleading and dangerous. Kennedy had been long involved in the anti-vaccine movement, but the effort intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic and development of the COVID-19 vaccine…

“Kennedy released a book in 2021, ‘The Real Anthony Fauci,’ in which he accused the U.S.’s top infectious disease doctor of assisting in ‘a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy’… Kennedy has appeared at events pushing the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and with people who cheered or downplayed the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A photo posted on Instagram showed Kennedy backstage at a July 2021 Reawaken America event with former President Donald Trump’s ally Roger Stone, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and anti-vaccine profiteer Charlene Bollinger. All three have promoted the lie about the 2020 election being stolen…

“Kennedy has repeatedly invoked Nazis and the Holocaust when talking about measures aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19, such as mask requirements and vaccine mandates… “

The propaganda, with which the Associated Press reports on Kennedy whose concerns are very important, is more than telling.

Imagine… America’s Downfall

Times Life News wrote on April 13:

“Imagine a country that just a few short years ago was the only superpower on earth and suddenly it loses all stature and credibility throughout the world.

“Imagine a country if you will, that at one time was both respected and feared, and now that country’s friends don’t trust them and their enemies don’t fear them.

“Imagine a country that would have left behind $81 billion dollars’ worth of military equipment to a militant culture that hates Christianity, mocks equality, and dismisses human rights.

“Imagine a country if you will, that is so short-sighted and led so strongly by the military industrial complex that it successfully ran its two strongest enemies into the arms of each other. Now that union, China-Russia, is about ready to destroy the American dollar and the dollar will no longer be the world’s reserve currency…

“Imagine a country that makes biological males ‘Female Athlete of the Year.’ Imagine if you will, a country where abortions are considered ‘healthcare’ while being pro-life is thought to be sexist. Imagine a country if you will, where those that said the 2016 election was stolen are acclaimed, while those who said the 2020 election was stolen are imprisoned.

“Imagine if you will, a government that calls many of its political enemies Nazis and fascists, while at the same time ignoring the Nuremberg Codes and forcing its citizens under penalty of law to take an experimental, dangerous, and ineffective vaccine…

“Imagine if you will, a government and its president and its military allowing a rival antagonist nation to fly a spy balloon over the entire country gathering classified military information; and this government does not shoot the spy balloon down until it is finished gathering top secret material.

“Imagine if you will, a country and its leadership that allows for the arrest of their political opponents. Imagine if you will, a political party that ignores the difference between felonies and misdemeanors, ignores the statute of limitations, and leaks lies from official departments to taint jury pools. Imagine bowels of government so corrupt that they would set up to destroy the legally elected president…

“Imagine if you will, the writings of Dr. Seuss being censored from school libraries while the writings of Mao, Marx, and Nietzsche are taught in glowing terms..

“Imagine a country… that claims a 12-year-old can have a sex change but a 19-year-old cannot drink a beer…

“Imagine if you will, a country’s leadership that calls evil good and good evil. Imagine a country’s leadership that calls quoting directly from the Holy Bible ‘hate speech’…

“Imagine a place where its political leadership preaches ‘Global Warming’ and states that the seas are rising is ‘settled science,’ while these same leaders buy multi-million dollar homes on the coastline…”

Just imagine such a country! But it’s not imagination; it is far too real. And it is testimony of a country going downhill and falling into the abyss.

Fear of HUGE Earthquake in the USA

The Sun wrote on April 14:

“EXPERTS are on high alert amid fears a crack at the bottom of the ocean could trigger an apocalyptic earthquake. The hole, just 50 miles off the coast of the US state of Oregon, is spewing hot liquid that scientists warn could spark a magnitude-nine earthquake with the potential to devastate the west coast. It is located along a 600-mile fault line that stretches from California to Canada known as the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

“…the liquid coming out is a so-called ‘fault lubricant’, which allows tectonic plates to move easily. Therefore, the more fluid that is in the cracks of the faults, the less pressure there is between the two tectonic plates. Without it, pressure beneath the earth’s crust can grow, leading to an unbelievably powerful quake.

“Scientists believe the Cascadia Subduction Zone will be responsible one day for the Big One, an earthquake of such destruction not seen for centuries that could devastate many cities in the western continental United States.

“Subduction systems – where one tectonic plate slides over another – have been responsible for some of the deadliest earthquakes in recent years, including the 2011 quake in Japan that killed some 20,000 people. Scientists believe the last powerful quake in the Cascadia zone was in 1700. That tremor is believed to have been 30 times more powerful than the strongest predicted earthquake along the San Andreas Fault which stretches the length of California…”

These are frightening prognostications. Our only help for individual protection during such troublesome times is in God and in Him alone.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

King Charles’s France Visit Postponed

BBC News wrote on March 24:

“King Charles III’s state visit to France has been postponed after a request by President Emmanuel Macron, Downing Street says. The president said ‘we would not be sensible and would lack common sense’ to go ahead after unions called a day of pension protests during the visit [The retirement age is supposed to be raised from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote]. The trip to Paris and Bordeaux had been due to begin on Sunday. But both cities were caught up in violence on Thursday, some of the worst since demonstrations began in January…

“The decision is a significant loss of face for France and for President Macron. This was supposed to have been a showcase for France, introducing the new monarch to the best of French life and cementing a newly awakened friendship. But the protests made the trip impossible…

“This was a hugely important trip for the King: a first state visit, and to one of the UK’s closest and oldest allies… It may have been a joint decision [to cancel the visit] with the UK government, but he was the one under pressure…

“The King and Camilla were due to travel from France to Germany on Wednesday. Charles’s first state visit will instead begin in Berlin.”

The statement that France is one of the UK’s closest allies is a joke. France and the UK have never been close allies.

Express added on March 24:

“Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said… ‘The postponement of King Charles’s state visit to France, the first of his reign, marks a humiliation for President Macron. The country is descending into anarchy and it was clearly impossible to guarantee the safety of the royal party and to keep to any set schedule where security could be relied on.’”

Words about France’s descent “into anarchy” remind us of terrible events during the “French Revolution.”

Terrorist Attack Likely or Highly Likely in the UK

The Daily Mail wrote on March 28:

“The Northern Ireland terrorism threat level has been raised to ‘severe’ – meaning an attack is considered highly likely. The news comes ahead of a series of events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement – with US President Joe Biden due to visit in the middle of next month.

“Sectarian tensions have been rising for some time, with the most high-profile incident being the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in Omagh last month.

“The situation has threatened to snowball against the backdrop of the row over post-Brexit rules. The DUP has been refusing to participate in power-sharing in protest at the Protocol – with Rishi Sunak’s new Windsor Framework package so far not succeeding in bringing them back to Stormont…

“The threat level for the rest of the UK remains at ‘substantial’, meaning an attack is considered ‘likely’.”

ICC Arrest Warrant for Putin and the Consequences

Breitbart wrote on March 24:

“Following remarks by the German government that if Vladimir Putin happened to visit their country they would be obliged to arrest him, Medvedev railed during a press event: ‘let’s imagine that it has happened. The incumbent head of a nuclear country arrives in, say, Germany and is arrested. What does it mean? A declaration of war against Russia. In such a case, all our weapons will target the Bundestag, the [German] Chancellor’s office and so on’…

“While it is unlikely Vladimir Putin will find himself in Germany — or any other European Union nation — by choice in the near term, he is due to visit South Africa for the BRICS summit in August. South Africa is a signatory to the ICC  [International Criminal Court] and therefore legally obliged to execute arrest warrants. However,… they have ignored this before, arguing that visiting heads of state — even if they have outstanding ICC warrants — have diplomatic immunity…

“While Russia’s threats to bomb the Netherlands for hosting the ICC, and any country that would try to serve the warrant, is extreme, it is not far away from the threats the United States [not recognizing the ICC] has made against that same court in the past. While threatening to arrest judges who attempt to investigate alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan is a bold enough move, there is also the American Service-Members’ Protection Act on the books. Passed in 2002 and better known as the ‘Hague Invention Act,’ the Bush-era law empowers the President to use any means necessary to release U.S. citizens imprisoned by the ICC, including invading The Hague, which is the administrative capital of NATO member the Netherlands.”

If Germany’s government is stupid enough to make these kinds of threats against Putin, they should not be surprised about the reaction. Of course, Austria even tops Germany in stupidity, as the next article shows.

Now Austria

Report 24 wrote on March 25:

“As soon as Sigi Maurer (Greens) casually declared war on Russia in a press conference, the Ministry of Justice (Greens) also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would of course be arrested [in Austria]. Former Russian President Medvedev explained to Germany only yesterday that such an action would be considered as an act of war and would result in the immediate bombing of Berlin…

“The arrest warrant against Putin is ridiculous in itself, because the court in The Hague, which feels responsible, is not recognized by Russia, the USA, or about half of the countries in the world. This did not prevent Germany or the USA from enthusiastic applauding the arrest warrant…

“Actually [the Greens] should act in accordance with the constitution and the law in the exercise of their state offices – i.e. neutrally. But instead they joined Germany’s threat… it is clear that the offer to bomb the German capital also applies to the capital of Austria…”

According to the Bible, Russia WILL ultimately destroy Berlin (and perhaps Vienna).

Germany’s War Against Antiwar Activists

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on March 22:

“Article 5 of the Basic Law grants individuals the right to express opinions, but there are numerous limitations in the Criminal Code, with punishment for ‘inciting hatred,’ racism, anti-Semitism and prison terms for Holocaust denial. Also prohibited are propaganda or symbols of ‘unconstitutional’ organizations, disparagement of the State and its symbols, blasphemy against established religions and especially failure to respect ‘human dignity.’

“Of course, what matters in all these laws is how they are interpreted. The ban on ‘rewarding and approving crimes’ (Section 140), that was originally intended to apply to convictions for violent civil crimes, has now been extended to the geopolitical sphere, namely, outlawing ‘approval or support’ of what it terms ‘aggressive war.’ 

“Antiwar activist Heinrich Bücker’s speech in Berlin last June 22 calling for good relations with Russia on the anniversary of the 1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union was condemned by a Berlin court for ‘approving Russia’s crime of invasion.’…

“Needless to say, Germans were never threatened with criminal prosecution for approving the US invasions of Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan, much less the totally aggressive and illegal 1999 bombing of Serbia, in which they enthusiastically took part. Widely celebrated as a laudable act of humanitarianism, that bombing campaign, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure, forced Serbia to allow NATO to occupy its province of Kosovo, where the Americans built themselves a huge military base. Ethnic Albanian rebels declared independence and thousands of non-Albanians were driven out…”

Germany is marching again to the tune of war.

Nuclear War on German Soil?

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 24:

“If the Cold War had gone nuclear, it would have likely begun on German soil…  Germany… faces the direct risk of nuclear escalation. Former West Germany has been home to a strong pacifist movement, while many in former East Germany hold a less hostile view of Russia…

“Germany’s opposition to nuclear weapons competes with the expectation that it supports the security status quo. NATO nuclear sharing — the US-led military alliance’s long-standing policy that permits the stationing of US nuclear weapons on non-US territory — means German warplanes could carry them in the event of nuclear war.

“As many as 20 such warheads remain at the Büchel Air Base in western Germany…”

Sadly, ultimately, there WILL BE nuclear war on German soil.

Both Russia and Ukraine Guilty of War Crimes?

Breitbart wrote on March 25:

“The Russian and Ukrainian armed forces have been accused of torturing and executing prisoners of war over the past year by the United Nations, which said that such actions could amount to war crimes. A report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) claimed that both Russia and Ukraine have engaged in the summary execution of prisoners of war, which contravenes numerous international human rights laws and treaties on war.

“The OHCHR said that they documented cases of summary executions of at least 25 Russian prisoners of war (POWs) under the authority of Ukrainian forces… The UN body went on to claim to have documented poor treatment of POWs at eight of the 31 transit or permanent camps run by the Ukrainian government, in which they found documented cases of torture and other forms of poor treatment of Russian prisoners, including so-called ‘welcome beatings’ in a prison in Dnipro from March to May 2022…

“Through investigative efforts, including interviewing Ukrainian POWs who were released from Russian captivity, the UN said that they found evidence of the summary executions of 15 POWs at the hands of the Russian armed forces or the Wagner Group mercenary organisation or other contracting groups. They went on to claim evidence of POWs being used as human shields, the death of two wounded prisoners for lack of medical attention, and the use of torture to extract information…

“While often lauded by the West, Ukrainians have previously been accused of wrongdoing in the war by Amnesty International, who alleged that they were unnecessarily endangering the lives of civilians by establishing military bases in residential areas including schools and hospitals, as well as launching attacks from heavily populated civilian areas in attempts to deter retaliation from the Russians…”

War is a cruel and inhumane curse. In every major war, war crimes will always be committed by all parties.

Russia Places Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 25:

“The Russian leader said he struck a deal with his Belarusian counterpart to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, making it the first time Moscow has based the arms outside the country since the mid-1990s.

“‘We agreed with Lukashenko that we could place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus without violating the nonproliferation regime,’ Putin said, according to the TASS report. ‘There is nothing unusual here either: The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies,’ Putin added.”

Putin is correct in that analysis.

Germany’s Immigration Laws

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 21:

“A prerequisite for a visa to join a spouse in Germany is reaching a basic level of German language competency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing — called A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages… if somebody does not live in Germany and knows nothing of everyday life there, it is not so easy for them to answer questions about it…  Each year, more than 10,000 spouses have failed to pass the required language exams abroad and consequently cannot join their partners who are living in Germany…

“In 2022, more than a third of the students from the 30 most important countries of origin failed their A1 test. No language test means no visa. The German Foreign Office told DW that each year for the past few years, between 8,000 and 10,000 visa applications for spouse reunification have been rejected or withdrawn.

“In December, Germany’s government decided to relax the rules but only for skilled personnel. Their spouses can come to Germany without a language test. If [a spouse] were a Greek or Romanian national, if [he or] she came from Brazil, El Salvador, or Korea, [he or] she could bring her husband [or his wife] live with [him or] her without him [or her] passing the A1 language test.

“Spouses of citizens from EU member states and selected other countries are allowed to enter Germany without having to prove their German language competency beforehand. The same applies to spouses of recognized refugees, researchers, self-employed or highly qualified people, and, most recently, skilled professionals, even if neither of them speaks German.”

This bureaucratic lunacy is hard to swallow.

Biden and Trudeau vs. Putin and Xi Jinping

Thomson/Reuters wrote on March 24:

“President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented a united front on Friday against authoritarian regimes as Biden visited the Canadian capital days after the leaders of China and Russia held a Moscow summit… There, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin professed friendship and pledged closer ties…

“At a joint news conference with Trudeau, Biden questioned the level of China and Russia’s cooperation, noting that China has not provided weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine… Addressing Canada’s parliament, Biden said that, as NATO members, the two countries would ‘defend every inch of NATO territory.’”

Two dictators in the Western world unite against two dictators in the East… and do not see that their star is fading while the star in the East is rising… and alarmingly so. Note the next article.

Biden in Denial

Newsmax wrote on March 25:

“President Joe Biden and his administration don’t want to acknowledge the growing danger of Russia and China joining forces or the fact that they and their proxies, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Algeria have formed a ‘ new axis,’ Asia expert Gordon Chang told Newsmax on Saturday… ‘China has been providing lethal assistance to Russia from the beginning of its war against Ukraine, as well as ‘financing this war…’

“Iran is also an issue, considering its partnership with China, said Chang. ‘Iran-backed groups attacked Americans,’ he said. ‘They killed a contractor, wounded five Americans. We’ve got to remember that this is China working through Iran… China’s been flooding the region with weapons through Iran. And so we’ve got to ask the question: Is China killing Americans through Iran?’…”

One must indeed be blind not to see the—biblically prophesied—developing unification of the “kings of the East.”

Trump’s Rage

The New York Post wrote on March 24:

“Donald Trump on Friday threatened ‘death and destruction’ if he’s criminally charged in New York — writing the shocking social media warning after posting an image of himself holding a baseball bat next to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s head. ‘They are HUMAN SCUM!’ the 76-year-old former president raged in one post asking why Bragg ‘refuses to do the right thing and “call it a day?”’…

“Trump… kept on raging until the early hours of Friday with continued incendiary name-calling. ‘What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?’ he asked just after 1 a.m. ‘Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely [sic] hates the USA!’

“He continued posting until 2 a.m. — then started again after 9 a.m., writing: ‘PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!’…

“George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified for Trump’s defense during his first impeachment for pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Biden family, has repeatedly sought to warn the former president of threatening postings…”

According to some reports, Trump subsequently deleted his post showing him holding a baseball bat.

The American Thinker wrote on March 25:

Donald Trump has shot himself in the foot… At least, he realized it, and deleted a Truth Social posting in which he had a picture of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of the corpulent DA… My friend and colleague Andrea Widburg notes that the picture automatically appeared when Trump used a National File article containing it…

“I am afraid that when you have to explain, you are losing. Trump owns Truth Social, and can be expected to understand how images appear. I don’t know how long it took him to delete the post, but it appears that it was not immediate, when he discovered that he had inadvertently posted a questionable image…

“Equally counter-productive was his threat of ‘death and destruction.’… I don’t see this post on Truth Social as accomplishing anything for Trump, and harming himself with people that might be persuaded to support him. Worst of all, he has reinforced the ‘insurrection’ narrative.” 

Still, many feel that the whole affair will help Trump. Bild Online wrote on March 24: „Es scheint bereits fast so, als würde Trump immer irgendwie zuletzt lachen …“ [„It almost appears as if somehow Trump would always laugh in the end…”]

Trump’s Colossal Blunder

The Brownstone Institute wrote on March 24:

“An enduring mystery for three years is how Donald Trump came to be the president who shut down American society for what turned out to be a manageable respiratory virus, setting off an unspeakable crisis with waves of destructive fallout that continue to this day… On March 9, 2020, Trump was still of the opinion that the virus could be handled by normal means. Two days later, he changed his tune. He was ready to use the full power of the federal government in a war on the virus… It was only a week later when Trump issued the edict to close all ‘indoor and outdoor venues where people congregate,’ initiating the biggest regime change in US history that flew in the face of all rights and liberties Americans had previously taken for granted… This action confounded critics on all sides. 

“A month later, Trump said his decision to have ‘turned off’ the economy saved millions of lives, later even claiming to have saved billions. He has yet to admit error. Even as late as June 23rd of that year, Trump was demanding credit for having followed all of Fauci’s recommendations… Something about this story has never really added up. How could one person have been so persuaded by a handful of others such as Fauci, Birx, Pence, and Kushner and his friends? He surely had other sources of information – some other scenario or intelligence – that fed into his disastrous decision…

“On the 12th, Trump shut all travel from Europe, the UK, and Australia, causing huge human pile-ups at international airports…”

We may never know in this lifetime who influenced Trump to make these terribly wrong and disastrous decisions… In addition, Trump’s advocacy of “his” experimental and untested vaccines contributed to a climate of terrible persecution of those who voiced concerns. Of course, under the Biden Administration, the persecution of the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” has continued with full rage.

Running the Country from Prison

The New York Post wrote on March 25:

“Former President Donald Trump could run for the White House — even if he is convicted and sent to prison… It wouldn’t be the first time a major campaign was staged from behind bars.

“In 1920, Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs launched a White House run and garnered nearly a million votes while incarcerated at the federal pen in Atlanta. Debs had been convicted of sedition in 1918 for protesting US involvement in World War I. He was sentenced to 10 years, but that was commuted to time served in 1921 by President Harding…

“In more recent times, former Ohio Rep. James Traficant — who was expelled from the House in 2002 after being convicted in federal court of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion — staged an unsuccessful run for his old seat while incarcerated at Allenwood federal prison in White Deer, PA…

“‘If Trump is in jail, he could run, as Debs did; and if that happens, the uproar over it will surely be exploited by the government, to stoke more rage and panic over “domestic terrorism.” In short, it won’t end well,’ said NYU professor Mark Crispin Miller.”

What a spectacle that would be! But it may not come to that. Note the next article.

Donald Trump INDICTED!

The Associated Press reported on Marcy 30, 2023:

“Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, prosecutors and defense lawyers said Thursday, making him the first former U.S. president to face a criminal charge and jolting his bid to retake the White House next year.

“The charges remained under seal late Thursday, but the investigation centered on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. Prosecutors said they were working to coordinate Trump’s surrender, which could happen early next week, but they did not say whether they intended to seek prison time in the event of a conviction.”

The implications of this indictment and the potential for civil unrest may spin out of control, and a broken America grows more and more divided!

Trump’s First Rally of His 2024 Republican Presidential Campaign

Newsmax wrote on March 25:

“Former President Donald Trump returned to the campaign rally trail Saturday night in Waco, Texas, saying ‘2024 is the final battle’… Trump delivered his pointed rebuke of all his opposing forces, including ‘stupid warmongers,’ open-border fanatics, radical left Democrats, and anti-Trump Republicans. ‘When this election is over, I will be the president of the United States, you will be vindicated and proud, and the thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited, and totally disgraced,’ Trump said…

“Trump denounced the forces working against him as anti-America. ‘For seven years, you and I have been taking on the corrupt, rotten, and sinister forces trying to destroy America… they do get closer and closer with rigged elections… We’ve been the ones in this fight, standing up to the globalists and standing up to the Marxists and communists. That’s what they are.’”

The New York Post quoted Trump as saying the following during his rally:

“‘Either we surrender to the demonic forces demolishing our country, or we defeat them in a landslide,’ Trump warned. ‘Either the deep state destroys America, or we destroy the deep state.’”

The reference to demonic forces is telling, as it is indeed Satan and his demons who rule this evil world; and Jesus did not refute Satan’s claim that the authority over all kingdoms has been given to him (Luke 4:5-6).

Transgender Murders Six People at School in Nashville

“Six people – including three children – are dead after a transgender female shooter opened fire at a private school in Nashville, killing three nine-year-old children and three staff members. The shooter was 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who at one time attended the school. 

“Police said she identified as transgender [meaning, the biologically born woman thought she was a man], and online profiles show Audrey used ‘he/him’ pronouns. At around 10.13am, she opened fire at The Covenant School, shooting and killing nine-year-old Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.  Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the pastor at the affiliated presbyterian church. 

“Substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, head of school Katherine Koonce, 60, and custodian Mike Hill, 61, were also killed…

“It’s unclear what Hale’s motive was… she had detailed, drawn maps of the school and had been surveilling it, according to police… It’s unclear how she gained access to the building. Police say all of the doors were locked. Police arrived at the scene and heard the gunshots coming from the 2nd floor. By 10.27am, she had been shot dead. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun…”

Horrible! Demons are having a field day, but just about no one seems to see the connection and connect the dots. Rather, we are informed that the murderer was suffering from “an emotional disorder.”

Additionally, the stupidity of the mass media seems to know no bounds. Breitbart reported on March 28:

“The New York Times and USA Today complied with radical gender ideology by apologizing for correctly identifying the Nashville Christian School shooting suspect as a woman.”

In other words, they correctly identified her as a woman, but then apologized, as they felt they should have referred to her as a man.

Biden’s Performance—Insensitive and Embarrassing

Fox News wrote on March 27:

“President Biden was criticized Monday for his response to the Nashville school shooting after he joked that he only made a public appearance because he heard there would be ice cream before discussing the tragedy that claimed the lives of three adults and three children at an elementary school earlier in the day.

“‘My name is Joe Biden. I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband,’ Biden said from the White House’s East Room in his first public appearance since a 28-year-old woman shot and killed three students and three teachers at a Christian private school in Nashville. ‘I eat Jeni’s ice cream — chocolate chip. I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream,’ he continued. ‘By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs,’ he added. ‘You think I’m kidding? I’m not,’ Biden told the crowd.

“Biden later called the shooting ‘sick’ and ‘heartbreaking’ while demanding Congress do more to ‘stop the gun violence.’ But critics went after the president for the inappropriate reaction and seemingly playful tone while addressing the tragedy. ‘To say that he misunderstood the moment would be an understatement,’ former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told Fox News later Monday. ‘You know, the president is watching, you’d hope before he comes down there, the awful scenes from the shooting and the reactions of family members and friends of people in that school. And to be coming down, joking about the fact that he’s Jill Biden’s husband and looking for chocolate chip ice cream is hardly the way to start it,’ Christie said… ‘And so there’s no room to joke in that circumstance at all. And certainly not from the President of the United States.’…

“Christie said the president committed the ‘second-worst thing to do’ in a circumstance like this one by invoking the political card (of gun control)  while parents and students across the country grapple with the impact of the horrific shooting… ‘Nobody in their right mind goes into that school and kills three young children and three adults helping to teach those children.’”

Biden is an embarrassment for the USA… and that puts it mildly. The question is being asked whether he is indeed mentally able to run the USA. And to be sure, the shooter was not a person in his or her right mind. Rather, he or she clearly gave in to demonic influence, if not possession.

Netanyahu Suspends Judicial Reform

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 27:

“Prime Minister Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday evening that he was temporarily freezing the bill that would alter the makeup of the Judicial Appointments Committee… [which has] thrown the country into turmoil and unprecedented civil unrest…

“Netanyahu said that either way, his government would bring a reform that will ‘return the balance that was lost between the [government] branches’…

“The prime minister added that the country was on a ‘dangerous path,’ and that he would not allow it to descend into civil war.”

The Associated Press added on March 27:

“The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nation’s judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the court’s ability to review laws.”

 Dissident German Bishops

 Reuters wrote on March 24:

“Pope Francis should take disciplinary action against German bishops who support same-sex unions and hold other ‘heretical’ views, a top conservative cardinal said in an interview published on Friday.

“The German Catholic church is discussing a series of reforms, including on homosexuality, women priests and priestly celibacy, as part of its so-called Synodal Path.

“Speaking to La Repubblica newspaper, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller said some of the bishops taking part in the process have approved ‘heretical texts’ and should be tried under canon law… The cardinal, himself a German bishop, said allowing gay couples to have their union blessed by a priest goes ‘directly against Catholic faith… Blessing homosexual couples is a blasphemy’…

“In July, the Vatican tried to slam the brakes on the German Synodal Path movement, saying it risked causing a schism in the universal Church…”

 Please see our new StandingWatch program, “Catholic Church in Turmoil.”

 Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

Indictment Coming?

Fox News wrote on March 17:

“Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung reacted to the news [of a possible indictment against Trump, BEFORE Trump’s announcement, see below] by… calling [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s]investigation a ‘witch hunt’ and accusing him of being in the pocket of President Biden and ‘radical Democrats.’… ‘This is happening because President Trump is leading in the polls by a large margin against both Democrats and Republicans, and there’s never been anything so blatant in American political history.’…

“‘Everyone knows it’s a sham. In fact, the Department of Justice stocked the DA’s office with top people from DC to help “Get Trump” at a local level. Americans will not tolerate Radical Left Democrats turning our justice system into an injustice system to influence a presidential election, which is all they want to do…’

“The potential indictment stems from the yearslong investigation surrounding Trump’s alleged hush money scandal involving porn star Stormy Daniels. Towards the end of the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen sent $130,000 to Daniels to prevent her from disclosing her 2006 affair with Trump. Trump reimbursed Cohen through installments.”

As the following articles show, this is indeed a witch hunt against Trump which, from a legal standpoint, is destined to failure… but in light of a deeply corrupt “justice” system in New York, which lets criminals go free and goes after others because of hatred for a person who is supposed to be innocent unless proven guilty, and strictly because of political considerations, one never knows. Former mayor Giuliani stated in an interview on March 19 that the conduct by the prosecution in New York is reminiscent of East Germany before the unification of Germany, and must be described as fascist.  

To Be Arrested?

Trump wrote on March 18 on his website “Truth Social” [we refrained from correcting his typographical errors in the post]:

“OUR NATION IS NOW THIRD WORLD & DYING. THE AMERICAN DREAM IS DEAD! THE RADICAL LEFT ANARCHISTS HAVE STOLLEN OUR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, AND WITH IT, THE HEART OF OUR OUR COUNTRY. AMERICAN PATRIOTS ARE BEING ARRESTED & HELD IN CAPTIVITY LIKE ANIMALS, WHILE CRIMINALS & LEFTIST THUGS ARE ALLOWED TO ROAM THE STREETS, KILLING & BURNING WITH NO RETRIBUTION. MILLIONS ARE FLOODING THROUGH OUR OPEN BOARDERS, MANY FROM PRISONS & MENTAL INSTITUTIONS. CRIME & INFLATION ARE DESTROYING OUR VERY WAY OF LIFE…

“NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”

In a post later in the day, Trump wrote:

“THEY’RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”

Trump wrote on Sunday, March 19:

“IT IS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF MANHATTAN WHO IS BREAKING THE LAW BY USING THE FAKE AND FULLY DISCREDITED TESTIMONY (EVEN BY THE SDNY!) OF A CONVICTED LIAR, FELON AND JAILBIRD, MICHAEL COHEN, TO INCREDIBLY PERSECUTE, PROSECUTE, AND INDICT A FORMER PRESIDENT, AND NOW LEADING (BY FAR!) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, FOR A CRIME THAT DOESN’T EXIST… ALVIN BRAGG SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE CRIME OF ‘INTERFERENCE IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION’…”

Subsequently, Newsmax wrote on March 20:

“A law enforcement source told Fox News Monday that authorities do not expect former President Donald Trump to face arraignment until next week…”

The Daily Mail added on March 21 that an indictment WAS expected this week, but that Trump, who presently lives in Florida, won’t appear before a judge in New York until next week.

Legally Pathetic

Breitbart wrote on March 18:

“In an opinion article published in the Hill Saturday, [Professor Jonathan] Turley wrote that the case was ‘legally pathetic’…

“‘While we still do not know the specific state charges in the anticipated indictment, the most-discussed would fall under Section 175 for falsifying business records, based on the claim that Trump used legal expenses to conceal the alleged hush-payments that were supposedly used to violate federal election laws… A Section 175 charge would normally be a misdemeanor. The only way to convert it into a Class E felony requires a showing that the ‘intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.’ That other crime would appear to be the federal election violations which the Justice Department previously declined to charge.’

“He added that Bragg’s office could not prosecute the charge as a misdemeanor, as the statute of limitations is two years. He would have to pursue a felony…”

Timing Suspect in a Political Circus

Newsmax wrote on March 18:

“Regardless of former President Donald Trump’s arrest for a ‘hypercreative’ prosecution, Democrats leading this charge will not stop him from running for president, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz [who is a self-proclaimed liberal Democrat who has not voted for Trump in the past and said he will not do so next time either]. ‘They’re going to want to make this [a] political circus; in the end, it will help Trump politically… And remember that it doesn’t matter if he’s indicted or even convicted or even in prison: He can still run for president and serve as president. The state can’t stop it and the Legislature can’t stop it. It’s in the Constitution.’…

“The timing is also suspect, Dershowitz noted, as allegations of influence peddling against the Biden family has reached a crescendo [note articles below]… ‘This [is] purely, purely political… There is no basis for this prosecution… the prosecution itself is an unrighteous prosecution… It’s an example of the conversation between the head of the KGB and Stalin, where the KGB guy said to Stalin: “Show me the man, and I’ll find you the crime”…

“‘… in New York you can indict a ham sandwich if you’re the grand jury, and probably convict the ham sandwich if his name is Trump, because the jury pool will be so dramatically opposed to Trump. This is a very bad day for America…’”

No wonder Americans are upset about this politically-driven circus. Note the next article.

America in Turmoil

The Daily Mail wrote on March 19:

“Trump supporters are pushing for a ‘MAGA moat’ around Mar-a-Lago to prevent the former president from being arrested… Among those calling for action are political commentator Mike Cernovich and radio host Stew Peters. Cernovich, for his part, demanded that DeSantis refuse to extradite the former president…

“Political strategist and former radio host Joey M. also tweeted ‘if DeSantis signs that extradition request, his political career as we know it would be over… If he doesn’t sign them, he becomes a hero to MAGA and possibly becomes the de facto nominee for 2024 – or mends fences with Trump and forms a unity ticket with himself as VP. ‘

“Meanwhile, Peters tweeted ‘if Ron DeSantis is the conservative hero he projects himself to be he should REFUSE to honor the arrest warrant for President-in-exile Trump and send the Florida National Guard to Mar-a-Lago to ensure Trump’s protection. Anything less proves DeSantis is a fraud.’

“There are also similar reports of people calling to surround Mar-a-Lago or block traffic to prevent the former president’s arrest, with many already descending on the Florida estate to protest — as others gather around the New York City Trump Tower…

“The Florida governor is so far one of the few Republicans who have not spoken out about Trump’s pending indictment [but see an article below], with even House Speaker Kevin McCarthy denouncing it on Twitter. ‘Here we go again — an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,’ the California representative wrote, referring to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“McCarthy then vowed to direct any relevant committees to investigate whether federal funding is being used to ‘subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically-motivated prosecutions.’ [Breitbart wrote on March 19: “House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Sunday said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is ‘abusing his office’ by going after former President Donald Trump, while Democrats, including Bragg, are allowing crime to run rampant. ‘Alvin Bragg is abusing his office to target President Trump while he’s reduced a majority of felonies, including violent crimes, to misdemeanors. He has different rules for political opponents,’ McCarthy said on Twitter.” Bragg also announced that he will NOT prosecute armed robberies!!!]

“Controversial Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also said Trump will ‘win even bigger’ than he already was going to in 2024 if Bragg indicts him and he ‘did nothing wrong.’… MAGA Sen. JD Vance, meanwhile, noted that he has been asked whether he will take away his endorsement of Trump in 2024. ‘The answer is:… no,’ he said. ‘A politically-motivated prosecution makes the argument for Trump even stronger. We simply don’t have a real country if justice depends on politics.’

“And Rep. Elise Stefanik, the chair of the House Republican Conference, said in a statement that the ‘Radical Left’ will have Trump arrested because they know they cannot defeat him.’ She said that is ‘un-American’ and reaches a ‘dangerous new low of Third World countries.’ ‘What the corrupt Leftist prosecutors like Alvin Bragg and their Socialist allies fail to understand is that America First Patriots have never been so energized to exercise their constitutional rights to peacefully organize and VOTE at the ballot box to save our great Republic.’…

“Sen. Lindsey Graham also said… Saturday that Bragg has ‘done more’ to get Trump re-elected than any one… in the country. ‘They’re making stuff up that they never used against anybody because they hate Trump,’ he said…  Former Vice President Mike Pence also stuck up for his former boss in an interview with reporters Saturday, saying: ‘The idea of indicting a president of the United States is deeply troubling to me as it is to tens of millions of Americans – and particularly happening in what appears to be a politically charged environment in New York, where the attorney general and other elected officials literally campaigned on a pledge to prosecute the former president.’…

“And even Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy said Trump being indicted would be a ‘national disaster.’… He explained that indicting Trump will only undermine Americans’ trust in the electoral system… ‘Our entire country is skating on thin ice right now and we cannot afford to politicize the justice system, or else we will reach our breaking point,’ he warned.”

Breitbart added on March 18:

“Former President Donald Trump will win reelection in a ‘landslide victory’ if he is handcuffed and arrested next week, Elon Musk [who is supporting DeSantis]… predicted in a tweet…”

Blitz added on March 18:

“The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation [Dmitry Medvedev] turned to the people of the United States and advised the citizens of the country to end the rule of the incumbent President Joe Biden [and to “destroy the tyranny of Washington,” according to Express, dated March 19, adding: ‘‘The jerks in Europe wanted to arrest someone else [referring to Putin, see below], and on March 21 they will arrest their own in America,’ he said on Telegram.”

Bragg to Testify Under Oath

Fox News wrote on March 20:

“The House Judiciary Committee is demanding that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg testify before Congress in the wake of his ‘unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority’…  Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter… to Bragg Monday morning demanding his testimony. The letter was also signed by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Committee on Administration Chairman Brian Steil, R-Wis…

“The statute of limitations on a matter of ‘falsifying business records,’ which Jordan said ‘would ordinarily be a misdemeanor subject to a two-year statute of limitations,’ would have ‘expired long ago.’ ‘State law, however, allows a district attorney to “elevate nominal misdemeanor conduct” to a felony charge if the “intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof,”’ Jordan wrote, noting that showing would extend the statute of limitations to five years…

“‘The only potential speculated crime that could be alleged here would be a violation of campaign finance law, according to one scholar, a charge that the Justice Department has already declined to bring,’ Jordan wrote… ‘In addition to the novel and untested legal theory, your star witness for this prosecution has a serious credibility problem—a problem that you have reportedly recognized,’ Jordan wrote. ‘This case relies heavily on the testimony of Michael Cohen, a convicted perjurer with a demonstrable prejudice against President Trump… In 2019, when he testified before Democrats on the House Oversight Committee to aid their fruitless investigation into President Trump, Cohen lied again—six times,’ Jordan said…

“Jordan went on to slam Bragg, saying his ‘progressive criminal justice policies that allow career ‘criminals to run the streets’ of Manhattan requires congressional scrutiny about how public safety funds appropriated by Congress are implemented by local law-enforcement agencies.’…

“Jordan is demanding that Bragg turn over records and communications between Manhattan DA office and the Justice Department referring to the Manhattan DA’s investigation of Trump; all communications sent by and received from the ex-prosecutors Dunne and Pomerantz; and all documents and communications referring or relating to the Manhattan district attorney’s office’s receipt and use of federal funds. Jordan demanded that Bragg contact the House Judiciary Committee to schedule his transcribed interview by March 23 at 10:00 a.m. Jordan demanded those records be turned over to the committee by the same day.”

Breitbart wrote on March 20:

“Jordan told Politico: ‘Bragg is a George Soros-backed crazy left wing prosecutor who is presiding in Manhattan where crime is on the rise and is doing this as a purely political sham.’”

DeSantis Goes on Record

Newsmax wrote on March 20:

“Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday denounced the ‘manufactured circus’ behind Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation of former President Donald Trump, rebuking him as a George Soros-funded prosecutor.

“Further, the governor, while answering a question from Newsmax’s Leo Feldman during a press briefing Monday, said he will not become involved in anything to do with a potential arrest of Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago home is in his state… DeSantis, meanwhile, said he is not ‘aware of anything’ when it comes to communications between law enforcement officials in Florida and New York authorities, should Trump be indicted and refuse to go north for his arraignment…

“‘I do know this, the Manhattan District Attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor, so he like other Soros-funded prosecutors weaponize their office to impose a political agenda at the expense of the rule of law and public safety. He has downgraded over 50% of the felonies to misdemeanors. He says he doesn’t even want to have jail time for the vast majority of crime. So what we’ve seen in Manhattan is the crime rate go up and citizens become less safe.

“‘… you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to use what something about porn star hush-money payments, that’s an example of using a political agenda and weaponizing the office… New Yorkers and ordinary Americans in various jurisdictions… get victimized every day because of the reckless political agenda these Soros-funded prosecutions bring to the job. These Soros-funded district attorneys are a menace to society…’”

Left-liberal Jews have objected to references to Soros-funded political candidates as “antisemitic.”

Jail for the DA?

The Hill wrote on March 21:

“Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday [tweeted:] ‘A Trump indictment would be a disgusting abuse of power. The DA should be put in jail.’”

Public on Edge

Professor Jonathan Turley wrote on March 21:

“Bragg will have to convince a court that Trump paid the hush money for the sole purpose of the election. As a married man and television celebrity, Trump had other reasons to try to avoid a scandal …This is a patently political prosecution… Indeed, voters could well view the election as a vote against the establishment and the media — the very thing that got Trump elected in 2016…

“Then there is the question of a self-pardon. I have long maintained that a president can pardon himself…

“Bragg is releasing this case into a public that is already on edge. Polls show that a large number of Americans believe that the legal system is being politicized and hold both state and federal government in suspicion. A fifth of Americans now view the government as the greatest threat facing the nation…  53 percent in one poll agreed with the statement that the FBI acts like ‘Biden’s Gestapo.’… [Bragg] could single handily reanimate the presidency of Donald J. Trump.’”

Cohen a Serial Liar

Fox News wrote on March 20:

“Robert Costello, the former legal advisor to ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen, appeared before the grand jury in the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into former President Trump Monday, and testified that Cohen is a ‘serial liar’…

“Costello said he testified to the grand jury Monday that Trump did not know about the payments made by Cohen to Stormy Daniels…. ‘There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Michael Cohen has great difficulty telling the truth,’ Costello said. ‘He is, after all a convicted perjurer, and our track record with Mr. Cohen convinced us that he was a serial liar.’…”

The case against Trump hinges mainly on the “trustworthiness” of Cohen. The New York Times said that Costello had this to say after his testimony: ‘I told the grand jury that this guy couldn’t tell the truth if you put a gun to his head.’”

Chaos at Court

The New York Post wrote on March 22:

“The Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence against former President Donald Trump in the Stormy Daniels ‘hush money’ case didn’t reconvene Wednesday as scheduled… The afternoon session was unexpectedly [cancelled] by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg… The move… came because an unidentified witness was unable to appear, sources said. The witness is believed to be someone who will rebut Monday’s testimony from lawyer… Robert Costello, sources said.

“Wednesday’s turn of events came as a source with ties to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office told The Post that DA Alvin Bragg was concerned following Costello’s testimony. ‘The last thing he wants is for the grand jury to vote against him,’ the source said. ‘He wants a no-doubt-about-it case. He is pressuring the “Trump obsessed” to step up and prove the case.’

“A source inside Bragg’s office also said a substantial number of assistant district attorneys were ‘shaking their heads’ over Bragg’s decision to pursue Trump, 76. ‘They don’t understand how this case is going forward,’ the source said. ‘These ADAs are not fans of Trump but they are professional lawyers and know the law.’

“Fox News also reported ‘major dissension’ inside Bragg’s office, with one source saying the ‘weakness’ of the evidence against Trump was posing problems for prosecutors….”

Cohen Lied

The New York Post wrote on March 22:

“A newly surfaced letter from 2018 shows Michael Cohen lying to federal election officials about his infamous $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels… In it, Cohen told the Federal Election Commission that he ‘used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford,’ aka Daniels, in 2016. ‘Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly,’ Cohen lawyer Stephen Ryan wrote on Feb. 8, 2018….”

Major Dissension

Fox News wrote on March 23:

“A Manhattan grand jury will not hear testimony, deliberate or vote on the hush-money case against former President Donald Trump on Thursday… Since the grand jury does not sit on Fridays, a vote on the Trump case is not expected this week…”

A Sideshow Gift for Biden

Miranda Devine of The New York post wrote on March 19:

“… the story took the spotlight off the bombshell bank records released the previous day by the House Oversight Committee, showing $1,065,000 had been funneled from a Chinese energy company, through Biden intimate Rob Walker, to four immediate family members of Joe Biden—his son Hunter, brother James, and Hallie Biden, the widow of his late son Beau, who also is Hunter’s former lover [and] an as-yet-unidentified family member, listed only on bank wires as ‘Biden.’ 

“Comer’s team has subpoenaed further bank records and is expected to reveal the identity of that mystery person… In anyone’s language, that is a huge story. Even the New York Times had to cover it…

“So for the Democrats’ spin machine, it was time for a Trump scandal… Enter Bragg, the George Soros-funded, soft-on-crime DA who has been talking about Trump being indicted on something or other since at least 2019, and who made ‘Get Trump’ a part of his election campaign. 

“His case is a joke. The allegation is that Trump falsified business records by concealing a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels that was made by his estranged former lawyer Michael Cohen in 2016. Everything rests on the word of Cohen, a convicted perjurer, who testified before Bragg’s grand jury for three hours last Monday, and then again on Wednesday. Before that, he had been in for interviews with the DA’s office at least 19 times…

“If a legal witch hunt is the Democrats’ plan to win in 2024, it just shows how desperate they are. Why don’t they try winning elections the old-fashioned way, by presenting candidates and policies worthy of voters’ approval instead of perverting the justice system in the pursuit of power?”

But presenting a qualified candidate and acceptable policies is the big challenge for Democrats.

It Does Not Look Good for the Biden Family

The New York Post wrote on March 18:

‘CNN news anchor Erin Burnett admitted that evidence revealing that the Biden family received over a million dollars from accounts linked to Hunter Biden’s Chinese business dealings does not ‘look good’ for the president’s family…

“House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky) revealed on Thursday that on March 1, 2017 — just weeks after Joe Biden left office as Barack Obama’s VP— State Energy HK Limited, a firm affiliated with Chinese Communist Party-backed energy company CEFC China Energy, wired $3 million to Biden family associate Rob Walker. Walker then proceeded to dish out the money to a number of Biden associates and members of the Biden family, including Hunter Biden, the president’s brother James Biden and his late son Beau Biden’s widow Hallie Biden.

“The windfall was subsequently divvied up over a period of about three months to at least three members of the Biden clan, and two Biden family associates.  Here’s how the $3 million from China was distributed, according to Comer (R-Ky.):  James Gilliar: $1,065,000; John ‘Rob’ Walker: $869,308; Hunter Biden: $610,692; James Biden: $360,000; Hallie Biden: $25,000; Unknown Biden: $70,000.”

The “unknown Biden” could be the most interesting one. According to former mayor Giuliani, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and much more will be revealed, including the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. The impression exists that the expected indictment of Trump and the revelation regarding the Biden family is not a mere coincidence.

Joe Biden Denies Payments to Family Despite Bank Records

Fox News wrote on March 18:

“President Biden denied that his family received more than $1 million in payments from accounts related to Hunter Biden’s business associate Rob Walker and their Chinese business ventures in 2017, even though financial records indicate otherwise… A spokesperson for Hunter Biden’s legal team confirmed the payments Thursday but emphasized that the recipients’ accounts ‘belonged to Hunter, his uncle and Hallie – nobody else.’ However, Biden denied that the payments were made when confronted by a reporter on the White House lawn Friday…

“Republican lawmakers say they are probing whether the Biden family leveraged Joe Biden’s former position as vice president to make lucrative deals with foreign nationals. The White House in a statement did not deny the findings, but blasted the committee’s investigation into the Biden family… Hunter Biden’s legal team accused Republicans of pushing a ‘baseless right-wing conspiracy theory,’ even as they confirmed that the payments had happened…”

Joe Biden denies what has been admitted by his son’s legal team which, while on the other hand, presents a ridiculous “defense.”

Majority of GOP Voters Against Supporting Ukraine

LifeSiteNews wrote on March 17:

“A new poll released Thursday verifies a significant trend among Republican voters against deeper involvement in the Ukraine war… The IPSOS-Axios poll reveals that only 42% of Republicans ‘support providing weapons and financial support to Ukraine,’ meaning a full 58% do not.”

The time will come when the USA will cease supporting Ukraine, and then, core Europe will follow suit, bringing about the prophesied “unification” in some way of Russia and Ukraine.

Newsmax Back on Direct TV

Breitbart wrote on March 22:

“Newsmax is returning to DirecTV, after the satellite giant dropped the conservative news and commentary channel from its lineup in January…

“DirecTV dropping Newsmax caused an uproar among Republican lawmakers, who threatened hearings and fumed about conservative censorship. DirecTV had previously dropped One America News Network in April 2022.”

Woke Banks Fail

Daily Mail wrote on March 15:

“Woke Silicon Valley Bank donated over $73 million to Black Lives Matter-related social justice groups in the years before it collapsed, while failed Signature Bank gave $850,000…

“Both banks had touted their efforts to improve diversity among their staff and address social issues.”

It has been suggested that the reason why the Biden Administration is bailing out these two banks [sometimes referred to as “Biden’s banks] is because they followed the “woke” agenda of radical Democrats, while picking and choosing which other banks may be bailed out—leaving the impression that failing Republican-run banks might not be helped.

Interest Rates Raised Once Again

Breitbart wrote on March 22:

“The Federal Reserve continued to increase interest rates by [a] quarter of percent (25 basis points) on Wednesday…

“The Fed was stuck between a rock and a hard place. With the Fed increasing interest rates, banks could likely continue to struggle with liquidity and perhaps cause more bank failures. Not raising the interest rate would likely fuel inflation that previous interest rate hikes were intended to reduce…”

Powell to Be Removed?

Breitbart wrote on March 22:

“Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said Wednesday on CNN’s ‘The Lead’ that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell should be removed because he is ‘trying to drive’ the U.S. economy into a recession.

“During a discussion about Powell raising interest rates, anchor Jake Tapper asked, ‘Have you ever directly told President Biden that you think he should fire the chair, Jerome Powell? And who would you like to see replace him?’

“Warren said, ‘So, I’m not going to talk about private conversations, but what I will say is I made it very clear as publicly as humanly possible that I didn’t think that he should be reconfirmed as chair of the Fed. And I think he’s doing a really terrible job.’

“Tapper asked, ‘Do you think the United States is headed for a recession?’ Warren said, ‘I think that that is where Jerome Powell is trying to drive it… I said five years ago I think he a dangerous man to have in this job.’”

Arrest Warrant for Putin

The Associated Press wrote on March 17:

‘The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant Friday for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The bold legal move will obligate the court’s 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory… the Kremlin branded the court decision as ‘null and void.’

“Neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, although Kyiv granted it jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed on its territory. [Under the Rome Statute, the] tribunal has no police force of its own and relies on member states to make arrests…

“Stephen Rapp, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues under former president Barack Obama, said: ‘This makes Putin a pariah. If he travels he risks arrest. This never goes away. Russia cannot gain relief from sanctions without compliance with the warrants.’…”

The Daily Mail added on March 17:

“[The Rome] Statute – from which the ICC draws its authority – precludes trials being held in absentia, meaning Putin would have to be tried in person. But while the likelihood of Putin’s arrest remains highly unlikely, it is not entirely impossible… Putin will not be arrested in or extradited from Russian territory, but has made trips abroad since the outbreak of the war in February last year.

“In June, he travelled to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan before visiting Iran the following month. [He] also travelled to Uzbekistan in September, Kazakhstan in October and Armenia in November, as well as Kyrgyzstan and Belarus in December. Of these countries, only Tajikistan is a member of the ICC and party to the Rome Statute and Putin may avoid entering the country again on that basis.

“But while non-members have no obligation under the statute to cooperate with the ICC, they will be encouraged to do so… If the United Nations Security Council triggers the ICC’s jurisdiction over a situation, the country has a duty to cooperate regardless of whether they are a member of the Rome Statute.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 23:

“Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that any attempt to arrest Vladimir Putin [in Germany] would be seen as ‘a declaration of war… ‘And, in that case, all our assets — all our missiles etc. — would fly to the Bundestag, to the chancellor’s office.’”

EU Foreign Police Chief Not Welcome in Israel

The Associated Press wrote on March 15:

“Israel has signaled to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, that he is not welcome to visit following critical comments he made about Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said Wednesday. The incident marked the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Israel’s new far-right government and some of its closest allies…

“In Brussels, European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano said Borrell had not been prevented from entering Israel because he has not been trying to visit… He added that Borrell’s comments reflected the official positions of the 27-nation EU…  The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has criticized Israeli settlement announcements by Netanyahu’s government and ongoing settler violence against Palestinians…”

Europe, under German leadership, will totally turn against Israel.

Israel Adopts New Incapacity Law for Prime Ministers

Newsmax wrote on March 23:

“Israel ratified a law on Thursday limiting the circumstances in which a prime minister can be removed, despite worries… that it may be meant to shield the incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu from any fallout from his corruption trials…

“By a 61-to-47 final vote, the Knesset approved the bill under which prime ministers can be deemed unfit – and compelled to step aside – either if they or three-quarters of cabinet ministers declare them so on physical or psychological grounds.”

Covid Hysteria… Courage vs. Cowards

The Dossier published the following article on or about March 17:

“When I look back at the times of Covid hysteria, I think most about outliers and rule followers, and what separates courageous people from cowards. These past three years served as a good reminder that true courage is an isolating experience. It is both difficult to possess and retain, and regularly interpreted by one’s peers as both peculiar and dangerous. Courage is special because it is a unique trait that separates the man from the mob… in late 2019, when push came to shove, the vast majority of our population submitted to the regime… Cowardice, unlike courage, is encouraged, rewarded, and it comes easily. 

“In the face of a government declared ‘national emergency,’ so many decided to take the coward’s route in the form of compliance, submission, and even taking to targeting the regime-declared ‘enemies’ of society. To be a good citizen, all you had to do was sit down, shut up, wear your submission mask, shutter your family business, carry your movement pass with you, and be up to date on your experimental pharmaceuticals. In exchange, society rewarded the coward class with opportunity, public praise, and a Good Citizen stamp of approval.

“After all, it is an enormously difficult task to swim upstream. It is much easier just to blend in… Courageous people stick to their principles despite the vast majority of the population — and even those closest to them — declaring them a problem, or something much worse. Courage is unique because it is almost impossible to be courageous and popular at the same time. If courage were popular, it wouldn’t be brave. If courage was common, it wouldn’t be courageous…

“When the forces for tyranny rear their ugly heads for the next manufactured crisis in the not so distant future, courageous citizens will once more be called upon to thwart their ambitions.”

Note our Editorial in this Update.

Wuhan Market Raccoon Dogs

Newsmax wrote on March 17:

“Genetic data found in a Wuhan, China seafood market shortly after it was shut down in early January 2020 has linked the coronavirus with raccoon dogs, a fox-related animal that was being sold there at the time, according to a new report from a team of international virus experts.

“The swabs were taken around the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market after authorities in China ordered it closed because they suspected it was connected to the then-new coronavirus outbreak… it doesn’t prove conclusively that a raccoon dog was infected, and even if it was, that it spread the virus to people, as another animal could have spread the disease to people, who then gave it to the raccoon dog.

“But raccoon dogs are known to be able to transmit the coronavirus and as they deposited genetic signatures in the same places where the virus material was left, it shows consistencies with what would be a scenario in which humans were infected by wild animals, the report said.

“The new evidence is being released just weeks after an intelligence assessment from the U.S. Department of Energy pointed to the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated from a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

“However, it is also being considered as the first tangible evidence concerning how the virus could have spread to people through wild animals, and suggest that scientists in China may have not given a complete accounting of evidence about how the virus spread at the seafood market…”

The New York Post added on March 17:

“Three years after COVID-19 brought the world to its knees, the scientific community remains bitterly divided over the origins of the virus, despite the growing consensus that it was manufactured inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during gain-of-function research.

“But a new analysis of genetic material from the infamous Wuhan wet market points to a new unlikely culprit — the raccoon dog. Analysis of genetic sequences collected from the market in January 2020 shows that raccoon dogs being illegally sold at the [Market] may have been carrying and shedding the virus at the outbreak of the pandemic, according to a wild new report in the Atlantic.

“However, researchers who conducted the analysis have expressed caution about their own findings, which do not conclusively prove that raccoon dogs were the original host of the virus… Indeed, as the New York Times [wrote:] ‘The jumbling together of genetic material from the virus and the animal does not prove that a raccoon dog itself was infected. And even if a raccoon dog had been infected, it would not be clear that the animal had spread the virus to people.’”

Whatever the Truth, the consumption of unclean animals such as the raccoon dog is a horrible abomination in the eyes of God. Note the next article in this context.

Extra Credit for Kids Eating Bugs

LifeSiteNews wrote on March 17:

“Kim Cutler, a teacher at Spring Canyon Middle School [in Utah], assigned sixth grade English students an essay titled ‘Why Americans Should Be Eating Bugs?’ According to the parameters of the assignment, students were supposed to write an essay arguing that people should eat bugs rather than cows as their primary source of protein as cows produce methane that damages the ozone layer. Students were not allowed to disagree with the assignment’s argument.

“In addition to the essay, Cutler gave students the opportunity to receive extra credit by eating grasshoppers that the school district, Nebo School District, bought from a commercial website.

“A student in the class, Saige Wright,… asked Cutler why students could not argue against the essay’s premise, Cutler responded by saying, ‘Because we don’t have any evidence for it… There’s only one right answer to this essay…’

“This is not the first time a school offered students bugs to eat for the sake of climate change. As of last October, over 1,000 schools in Australia started offering corn chips laced with insect protein…

“Eating bugs has also been encouraged by the World Economic Forum (WEF), with the organization arguing that ‘we need to give insects the role they deserve in our food systems.’

“Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who… in 2019 invested… into an insect-farming start-up, last year stated that ‘all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef.’”

The left-wing extreme indoctrination of our kids in schools is appalling.

Tremendous Success of the Pro-Farmer Movement in The Netherlands

Breitbart wrote on March 20:

“The anti-Great Reset, pro-farmer BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) movement appears to have won even more seats in the Dutch senate than expected, with the globalist coalition government losing heavily.

“The BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) was founded to represent the interests of Dutch farmers facing severe difficulties or being closed down altogether as a result of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s efforts to implement European Union-mandated curbs on the use of nitrogen fertilisers, in order to serve the bloc’s climate change green agenda.

“Initially a protest movement, the BBB has been involved in many major demonstrations, often involving tractors, in the Netherlands — but it arrived as a political force in the country’s recent regional government elections for the first time, which also determine the make-up of the First Chamber of the States General — the upper house or senate of the Dutch legislature… the Farmer-Citizen Movement’s success was greater than polls initially suggested, with it being due to claim 17 seats in the Senate and become by far the largest party there…

“The precarious four-party coalition government of the supposedly ‘centre-right’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte, meanwhile, appears to have suffered somewhat worse losses than expected, with [suggestions] they will be unable to achieve a majority even with the support of the Labour Party and the Greens…”

German Bishops vs. the Vatican

LifeSiteNews wrote on March 15:

“Bishop Georg Bätzing, the head of the German bishops’ conference (DBK), said that they will implement ‘blessings’ of same-sex couples in Germany, regardless of what the Vatican says…

“On March 10, the same day that Bätzing made these remarks in the interview with ZDF, the members of the Synodal Way voted overwhelmingly in favor of a document containing ‘blessings’ for same-sex couples, as well as for the divorced and ‘re-married,’ in a move putting them in direct opposition to Catholic teaching…

“[Bätzing] added that ‘we have heard today from the Belgian Church that this has already been implemented there and that it has even been agreed upon with Rome.’ 

“While Pope Francis has been ambiguous on the subject, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith did issue a document in 2021 confirming that the Catholic Church does not have the authority to bless same-sex unions.

“The interviewer confronted Bätzing with criticism from the former secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who said that he is worried that the German Catholic Church is ‘saying goodbye’ to union with the universal Catholic Church. ‘Those who speak of division perhaps hope to get something out of it,’ the head of the German bishops’ conference responded. ‘We do not speak of it, we do not want it and we will remain in unity with the large Catholic Church.’”

But deeds speak louder than words…

More Paganism in the Catholic Church

LifeSiteNews wrote on March 17:

“… Now it is another form of paganism that is being promoted by Rome. The ancient Mayan religion is permeated by polytheism (the earth, the sun, the moon, and animals are all regarded as being gods), by animism (belief that objects and creatures have a soul), by the belief in communication with one’s ancestors (and even worshipping them), and by human sacrifice (to include women and children) as part of its worship… many of these idolatrous elements will be included in this new rite of Mass…

“The revival of Mayan practices and symbols… is seen as a return to ‘pre-Columbian’ traditions, that is, pre-Christian. But for these theologians, however, there is no real contradiction between these two religions… Bishop Ruiz pointed out that the God venerated in Indian theology was not different from the Jesus worshipped in Catholicism… the author describes the incorporation of ancient religious rituals into Catholic practices without seeing a contradiction…

“Very important to these practices also, is the Mayan Altar — an altar that is dedicated to the gods and beliefs of the Mayan religion… pine needles or boughs… are placed around the altar. As one description of the Mayan meaning of pine needles explains, they ‘are the portal to the other world…’ Problematic also is the use of a shell, as can be seen being used in different liturgies in the diocese… The shell is a Mayan practice of communicating with the spirits of their ancestors. [It is also contended that] we are to encounter ‘Mother Earth’ as a goddess…

“Rattles… are also ways to call the ancestors to communicate with the living.

“… many Mayan elements… were included in the Mass of Pope Francis when he came to visit the diocese on February 15, 2016…

“Bartolomé Espinosa Vázquez, an expert in the Mayan culture and a member of the South Team of the diocese, was responsible for installing the altar that was placed during the official ceremony held on January 25, 2022… Some of Espinosa Vázquez’ explanations of the Mayan Altar speak for themselves:… ‘When we blow the shell we are calling the spirit of our ancestors… The burning of copal is believed to call upon the God Tlaloc and the goddess Chalchiuhtlicue. Both of these dieties were associated with fertility and creation’…”

Trying to communicate with the dead is a horrible sin, as it may bring us into contact with demons. The Catholic Church has, from the outset, practiced syncretism—the inclusion of pagan elements in their worship system.  Days like Christmas and Easter are clearly of pagan origin. Therefore, further inclusion of pagan customs, beliefs and practices should not be surprising.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

How Trump Would End the Russian-Ukrainian War

Insider wrote on March 8:

“Fox News cut out comments by former President Donald Trump in which he said he would have considered letting Russia have parts of Ukraine as part of a peace deal between the nations. In an interview on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s radio show on Monday, which is not broadcast by Fox, Trump revealed how he would try and broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion last year. Trump has claimed he can quickly bring an end to the war as he seeks election again in 2024. 

“In the interview, he boasted of how Russia would not have dared to launch an attack during his presidency, and added: ‘I could have negotiated. At worst, I could’ve made a deal to take over something, there are certain areas that are Russian-speaking areas, frankly, but you could’ve worked a deal.’

“The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona reported that when Hannity played excerpts from the interview later that day on his prime time Fox News show, the part where Trump suggests he may have backed an agreement handing parts of Ukraine to Russia was edited out, with the excerpt cutting out after Trump says ‘I could’ve negotiated.’

“Fox pointed Insider to the fact that the Trump comments were part of a 22-minute radio interview on a separate platform that was edited down to a 2 minute clip as part of the usual editorial process.

“Russia annexed swaths of east Ukraine and the Crimea peninsula in 2014, two years before Trump became president, and last year launched a wider invasion aimed at toppling the Ukrainian government in Kyiv. The annexations and invasion have been condemned as illegal by the international community, and Ukraine says that the only conditions under which it would negotiate were if Russia withdrew from its territory.

“Trump last year praised Putin for being ‘smart’ in seeking to invade Ukraine, and declaring large swaths of it ‘independent’ as a prelude to illegally annexing it. Trump has long drawn criticism for his refusal to criticize Russian aggression, as well as his comments about the authoritarian president, Vladimir Putin.

“As president, he famously sided with Putin at a 2018 summit in questioning his own intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia had meddled in the 2016 election…”

This “solution” would most certainly be rejected by Ukraine.

Trump: Only I Can Prevent World War III

Breitbart wrote on March 15:

“Former President Donald Trump told Iowans Monday night that he is the only candidate who could ‘prevent World War III’ as the war between Russia and Ukraine rages on… Trump pledged to have a deal reached between Russia and Ukraine as president-elect before his term even starts if he wins in 2024…

“He added that he believes the war would never have occurred if he were in the Oval Office. In Trump’s eyes, the Biden Administration’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, which resulted in the deaths of 13 American servicemembers, showed weakness to Russian President Vladamir Putin and marked an opening for him to invade Ukraine… In his view, the Biden Administration could catapult America into a third world war… Trump emphasized that a third world war would likely be nuclear, and subsequently catastrophic on a global scale…

“Trump remains the front-runner in the Republican primary field. A Morning Consult poll released Tuesday shows Trump leading his next closest potential competitor, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), by 24 percentage points in a crowded field…”

A nuclear war between Russia and the USA is not prophesied in the Bible. But a nuclear war WILL take place, with other major actors involved.

Ron DeSantis: Helping Ukraine Not in US National Interest

Newsmax wrote on March 14:

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says protecting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion is not one of America’s ‘vital national interests’ in the face of more pressing issues closer to home.

“In a statement broadcast on Monday’s ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight,’ DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate, countered President Joe Biden’s oft-repeated vow that the United States’ support of Kyiv is ‘unwavering’ and will continue for as long as needed. ‘While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,’ DeSantis said in the statement.

“DeSantis said Biden administration’s policies ‘have driven Russia into a de facto alliance with China.’ … DeSantis said Americans ‘are also entitled to know how the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being utilized in Ukraine… We cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over the defense of our own homeland, especially as tens of thousands of Americans are dying every year from narcotics smuggled across our open border and our weapons arsenals critical for our own security are rapidly being depleted.’

“…trying to remove Russian President Vladimir Putin from power ‘would greatly increase the stakes of the conflict, making the use of nuclear weapons more likely,’ DeSantis argued… ‘History indicates that Putin’s successor, in this hypothetical, would likely be even more ruthless. The costs to achieve such a dubious outcome could become astronomical.’”

American (and European) support for Ukraine against Russia will diminish in time.

Poland’s Military Ambitions

The Telegraph wrote on March 11:

“Warsaw is embarking on its biggest re-armament drive in 50 years in response to the growing threat posed by Russia… This year it will spend 4 percent of its GDP on defence, an amount double the Nato requirement…  it has placed orders for 1,000 K2 main battle tanks from South Korea, and 250 brand new M1A2 SEPv3 Abram tanks from the US. This will turn Poland into the owner of Europe’s biggest tank force, dwarfing the UK’s fleet of 227.

“Its artillery will be bolstered by the arrival of 600 K9s, 18 HIMARS launchers with 9,000 rockets, and 288 K239 Chunmoo MRL systems from South Korea. Over 1,000 Polish-made Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles will carry Polish troops into battle, while air cover will come from 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters bought from the US, and 48 FA-50 combat aircraft now on order from South Korea… All of this will be underscored by plans to double the size of the Polish Army to 300,000, which would turn Poland into Europe’s biggest military power, in terms of manpower, west of Ukraine…

“This level of spending is not without risks. ‘I fear that all of this spending could drain the budget, if not properly managed’ said Magdalena Jakubowska, a defence expert and vice president of Res Publica-Visegrad Insight, a foundation covering Central European politics. ‘The public may not be aware that there may well have to be cuts to certain—civilian projects. We’ve had stable economic growth for the past few years, but now we are close to a recession. If we don’t boost the economy with the EU money (from a pandemic recovery fund), which we still have not got, then the situation could become critical.’

“The European Commission has denied Poland access to around £30 billion in grants and cheap loans from the EU’s post-pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility owing to a dispute over the rule of law. The Polish government has introduced legislation that might resolve the deadlock but for the time being the money remains out of reach…

“To help Poland, last year, the US Congress approved $288.6 million (£239 million) in military financing to ‘deter and defend’ against the increased threat from Russia. The cash will help but with inflation running at around 17 per cent in Poland and economic growth slowing the defence budget could become difficult to meet.”

Regardless, Poland seems to be destined to play an important role in the future.

Shocking… Most Germans Want a Return to Conscription

The Times wrote on March 9:

“A clear majority of German voters would like to see conscription brought back, 12 years after it was effectively abolished [but see comment below by Deutsche Welle], according to a poll… Several leading politicians in Berlin have spoken out in favour of resurrecting Wehrpflicht [conscription], under which all young men were obliged to serve for at least six months in the armed forces or in a ‘civil protection’ organisation [Zivildienst] such as the ambulance or disaster relief services…

“While Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, has dismissed the idea of a return to conscription, other senior figures in his Social Democratic Party (SPD) argue that it would improve the resilience of German society and help to fix shortfalls in army recruitment. It seems that most of the electorate agree. A poll of 1,000 voters by Ipsos Mori found that 61 per cent wanted the re-establishment of military service, with only 29 per cent opposed.

“The idea was popular across the entire political spectrum and most strongly favoured by supporters of the centre-left SPD and the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD). Even a narrow majority of voters aligned with the far-left Die Linke party liked it.”

Deutsche Welle added on March 10:

“Strictly speaking, Germany did not abolish its military service rules in 2011. It put them on ice indefinitely until a time of national emergency or an attack on Germany.”

As we have predicted, Germany’s militaristic nature will be revived. Let us hope for those who want to follow God’s anti-war doctrine, that this poll is terribly wrong and in no way reliable, at least for the time being.

German General Eberhard Zorn Sent into Early Retirement

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 13:

“German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has named Major General Carsten Breuer as the new head of Germany’s armed forces… Breuer, 59, is replacing General Eberhard Zorn, 63… Breuer gained renown for leading Germany’s pandemic crisis response team from November 2021 to 2022. His ascent to the role of ‘general inspector’ of the Bundeswehr will make him the highest-ranking soldier in the country…

“Zorn was criticized after giving an interview in September in which he suggested that Ukraine would not be able to counter attacks by Russian forces… He told Focus magazine that Ukraine was mounting ‘counter-attacks, with which one can win back places or individual areas of the frontlines, but not push Russia back over a broad front.’

“German media reported that Zorn will be sent into early retirement on Thursday. The replacement of Germany’s top military official comes just months after former Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht was forced to resign and was replaced by Pistorius in January. Breuer is set to also function as a decision-maker in the defense ministry as well as serving as a military advisor to Chancellor Olaf Scholz.”

It appears, one cannot say anything in the Bundeswehr which is not in conformity with the official “narrative,” without being criticized, censured or sent into early retirement. And of course, the German mass media keeps jumping on the bandwagon. In the above quoted article, left-wing Deutsche Welle also said that Zorn’s analysis was “flawed.” But who is to say? Based on biblical prophecy, Zorn’s analysis was right on and not flawed at all. On the other hand, the German response to the Corona pandemic crisis, under Major Breuer, was most certainly terribly flawed; in fact, it was an incompetent catastrophe.

Jehovah’s Witness Hall Shooting in Hamburg

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 10:

“Police, prosecutors and state officials provided details on Friday about a rampage the night before at the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in the northern German city of Hamburg… Four men and two women aged between 33 and 60 were killed in the shooting. They were all German citizens. An unborn baby was among those pronounced dead. Eight people were wounded, four of them seriously. Of those injured, there were six women and two men, police said.

“Police identified the gunman as Philipp F., a 35-year-old German citizen… The gunman killed himself after police stormed the building… He was a former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses… he had a weapons license and legally owned a semi-automatic pistol… The motive for Philipp F.’s rampage is not known, though any political motive has been ruled out… Police said they had an anonymous tip alleging Philipp F. was possibly suffering from a psychological disorder and should not be in possession of firearms. Based on the tip, authorities made an unannounced visit to his home and in the course of their conversation did not see a cause for concern…

“When armed police entered the building, they saw the gunman run upstairs, where he was later found dead… Police did not fire their weapons in the building… Philipp F. was found carrying two magazines with 15 bullets each, as well as 20 loaded magazines in a backpack… Authorities searched the perpetrator’s home and found hundreds of bullets. They confiscated a computer and other documents that are being evaluated…

“Grote, the regional interior minister, called it the ‘worst crime in our city’s recent history’… German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the shooting a ‘brutal act of violence’ and said his thoughts were with the ‘victims and their families. And with the security forces who have faced a difficult operation.’

“German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his thoughts were with the victims and their families… French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted to say, ‘Terrible news from Hamburg. I extend France’s condolences to the relatives of the victims and to all our German friends. Our thoughts are with you.’…

“Jehovah’s Witnesses, which has about 8.7 million members around the world, are part of an international church founded in the United States in the 19th century. They have roughly 170,000 members in Germany and are headquartered in Warwick, New York. The pacifist religious group’s practices include a refusal to bear arms, receive blood transfusions, salute a national flag or participate in secular government.”

Hamburg Police Failed to Intervene

The Guardian added on March 10:

“‘He is a former member of Jehovah’s Witness who left the community voluntarily about a year and a half ago but apparently not on good terms,’ said Thomas Radszuweit, Hamburg’s head of state security.

“Questions are being raised as to why he was not stopped. The suspect had a gun permit as a marksman since December 2022 and was in legal possession of a Heckler & Koch P30. But in January an anonymous letter was received suggesting he might be suffering from an undiagnosed psychological illness and that he had indicated a ‘particular anger against religious members or against the Jehovah’s Witnesses and his former employer’.

“During a subsequent unannounced visit on 7 February at his apartment in the Altona district of western Hamburg, Fusz was said to be cooperative and convinced officers that there was no cause for concern. He was merely given a verbal warning for not keeping his weapon in his safe…”

To Revise Germany’s Gun Laws?

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 11:

“A debate has erupted in Germany over the effectiveness of the country’s gun control laws after this week’s mass shooting… in the northern city of Hamburg… On Saturday, several German politicians demanded urgent reviews of restrictions on weapons ownership… At present, Germany requires only those under 25 to undergo medical or psychological assessments before being granted a gun license…

“Other politicians were keen to avoid a knee-jerk reaction, saying that current legislation is already strong enough…

“Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had already presented a draft of new gun control legislation in January, prompted by recent deadly shooting incidents in Germany.

“The perpetrator of the 2020 Hanau shooting was a schizophrenic far-right extremist who was found to have legally owned several pistols. Eleven people were killed and five others were wounded in the rampage at a shisha bar, another bar and a kiosk.

“The gunman behind the Halle shooting in October 2019 built his own firearms, some with plastic parts from a 3D printer. Two people were killed and two others injured near a synagogue…

“However, the murder weapon used in Hamburg, a semi-automatic pistol, would not fall under the ban. The alleged perpetrator was registered as a sports shooter and legally owned the weapon.”

He allegedly obtained the gun license in December of 2022, more than a year after he had left the Jehovah’s Witnesses. As you will recall, Nancy Faeser has a controversial past in regard to, among other things, her ”performance” related to the alleged but debunked coup by some older people who have been falsely accused of trying to take over the German government.

The Guardian added on March 11:

“Though Germany has some of the strictest gun laws in Europe, it has a high per capita ratio of firearms. Around a million people legally own a total of more than 5 million guns. Most of them are sport shooters, hunters or foresters, but while violence remains rare, an average of 155 people are killed by gunfire every year.”

In a climate where a majority of Germans support conscription or “mandatory slavery” (compare our Update from last week), stricter gun laws will most certainly not help.

Europe’s Insane Green Building Rules

Breitbart wrote on March 15:

“The European Parliament has passed a resolution that will see ‘insane’ green building rules forced onto individual EU member states… internal resistance to the green agenda rework was not enough from preventing it from passing a vote by the EU parliament, with 343 members voting in favour, compared to the 216 who voted against. Its passing was celebrated by hard left-Irish progressive Ciarán Cuffe, with the member of Ireland’s floundering Green Party being central in pushing the hardline rework through parliament…

“Opponents of the measure have described it as being an overly bureaucratic measure that unjustifiably takes power away from individual nation-states. ‘Increasingly rampant, gluttonous and unrestrained, the EU is encroaching on the competences of the member states,’ Markus Buchheit, an Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP, said in a statement to Breitbart Europe describing the new rules as ‘insane’…

“The AfD are far from the only group staunchly opposed to the EU’s newly proposed building regulations, with members of other political groups in Europe also coming out to condemn the bill. Politicians from Italy in particular have seemingly shown the most resistance to the new measures…”

Apart from the ridiculous influence of left-wing fanatics, this article shows that Europe is becoming [or continues to be] a dictatorship, dismissing concerns of member states.

Saudi Arabia’s Desire to “Normalize” Ties with Israel and USA?

Israel 365 News wrote on March 10:

“Saudi Arabia says it will normalize ties with Israel if the United States provides it with security pledges and helps build out its civilian nuclear program… The two Saudi demands are viewed as ‘daunting obstacles’ to a deal…

“In terms of security guarantees, Saudi Arabia has asked before and been rejected by presidents from both parties. And U.S. and Israeli officials fear that helping Saudi Arabia with a nuclear program for nonmilitary uses could lead it to develop its own nuclear weapon and spark an arms race with Iran…

“[Saudi Arabia] has been reluctant to openly sign an agreement with Israel, fearing a backlash from other Arab states and its own population…”

It does not appear that those attempts to “normalize” ties with Israel and the USA will be successful.

Iran and Saudi Arabia Restore Ties

The Associated Press wrote on March 10:

“Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after years of tensions between the two countries, including a devastating attack on the heart of the kingdom’s oil production attributed to Tehran.

“The deal, struck in Beijing this week amid its ceremonial National People’s Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a yearslong war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched…”

The Guardian added on March 10:

“Iran and Saudi Arabia [are] the two great oil-producing rivals of the Middle East.. The rivalry between predominantly Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia has dominated Middle East politics in recent years, spreading into Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen… The agreement has potentially wide implications for the Iran nuclear deal and the civil war in Yemen, where the two sides are locked in a proxy war, and shows the new determination of Saudi Arabia to conduct a foreign policy independent of the west…

“The deal could, however, have implications for a US-led effort to isolate Iran economically through sanctions. If there is a genuine warming of Saudi relations with Tehran, one consequence is likely to be Saudi investment inside Iran… the deal will cause concern among many Israeli politicians who have sought global isolation for its arch-enemy Iran. Naftali Bennett, the former Israeli prime minister, described the pact as a ‘serious and dangerous’ development and a ‘fatal blow to the effort to create a regional alliance’ against the Islamic Republic.”

The New York Post published on March 11 an article with the following headline: “China becomes the broker while Joe Biden is still the joker.” It continued:

“Even The New York Times, usually a mouthpiece for the Biden administration, echoed the grim assessment, saying China’s role displayed President Xi Jinping’s ‘ambition of offering an alternative to a US-led world order.’ …

“The pact immediately set off a blame game, with an unidentified member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government pointing at both the Biden White House and the previous Israeli government, according to The Times of Israel… saying,  ‘There was a feeling of American and Israeli weakness, so Saudi Arabia turned to other channels.’”

It is an undeniable fact that America’s status as the superpower in the world is diminishing.

China, Russia, Iran and Others Participate in Joint Naval Exercises

Breitbart wrote on March 15:

“Warships from China, Iran, and Russia joined together Wednesday to begin naval drills in the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, China’s Defense Ministry announced. AP reports other countries will also provide naval support in the ‘Security Bond-2023’ exercises, the ministry said without elaborating. Iran, Pakistan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates all have coastline along the waters lying at the mouth of the Persian Gulf…

“AP further sets out the exercises scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China over a range of issues, including China’s refusal to criticize Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and continuing support for the Russian economy. They follow years of other tensions between NATO countries and regional rivals…

“Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran last week agreed to restore diplomatic relations in an agreement that was brokered by China — a major blow to U.S. efforts to maintain a united front in the Middle East against the Tehran regime…”

The Kings of the East are coming together.

USA Meddles in Israeli Elections

Israel 365 News wrote on March 9:

“Police clashed with anti-government protesters who attempted to shut down the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv on Thursday. As some recent reports have highlighted, some of the funding for the protests and the organizations behind them comes from foreign sources, including the US State Department. 

“One of the major organizations behind the protests is the Movement for Quality Government (MQG)… which has received over $38,000 in funding from the US State Department… MQG is primarily funded by the New Israel Fund, a US NGO that funds many anti-Israel organizations that promote a narrative portraying Israel as an apartheid state…

“MQG received grants of around $10,000 to $15,000 dollars in 2020, 2021, and 2022. In each of those years, the State Department under President Biden was listed as the group’s sole foreign donor. The grant information does not show State Department funding before 2020…

“The US Democratic party has a long history of meddling in Israeli politics and elections, most notably in opposition to Netanyahu. V15, which stands for Victory 15, was established during the 2015 elections with the stated goal of opposing Netanyahu. V15 was aided by One Voice,  an NGO that supports the creation of an ‘independent and viable Palestine’ alongside Israel, which assigned Jeremy Bird, a field director in both of President Barack Obama’s winning White House runs, with the task…

“But even before Obama, Democrat presidents worked to influence Israeli elections… former-President Bill Clinton admitted working to help Shimon Peres in his unsuccessful run against Netanyahu in 1996…”

While America is condemning Russia for meddling in America’s election, it is doing the same in other countries, such as Israel.

Money Is Not Wealth!

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on March 9:

“… governments print money to pay for wars. America was effectively born into debt during the Revolutionary War, and borrowed/printed money for every war thereafter…

“The fundamental reality is that more money does not create any new goods or services in the economy. Money is not wealth. Wealth is productive capacity; the ability to create actual goods and services. Germany and the European Central Bank can create euro stretching to the moon, but that will not produce a single missile or aircraft for the Ukrainians.

“Actual production requires the allocation of real resources and real capital. Resource allocation requires choices, whether made by political edict or in the marketplace. In both cases there are inherent opportunity costs to not allocating those resources and capital to other uses.

“Politics doesn’t magically eliminate tradeoffs. Resources are scarce even when money is not… money creation is not magic. It certainly does not create any new wealth, and in fact destroys wealth by directing resources toward inherently inefficient (nonmarket) uses…

“Progressives of all political stripes would happily put America and the West on a permanent wartime footing… Inequality, climate change, racism, transphobia, pandemics, and a host of other issues—none of which ever should have been politicized—are now tantamount to battlefields. War costs money, and magic economics wants us to believe national treasuries and central banks can foot any bill…”

Very true. See the next article.

Largest US Bank Failure Since Great Recession in 2008

CNBC wrote on March 10:

“Financial regulators have closed Silicon Valley Bank and taken control of its deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Friday, in what is the largest U.S. bank failure since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago…

“The FDIC’s standard insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each account ownership category…”

Breitbart added on March 10:

“The sudden implosion of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is sending shock waves through the financial system and the technology sector. SVB plays a central role in the start-up economy of San Francisco…

“The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said that all insured depositors will have full access to their insured deposits, but that might not be as reassuring as it sounds. Bloomberg reports that more than 93 percent of SVB deposits are uninsured.”

The Guardian wrote on March 10:

“… the troubles have raised broader fears that the recent increases in US interest rates have affected the value of other banks’ bond portfolios, which tend to fall in price when interest rates rise. The collapse of Silicon Valley pushed shares of almost all financial institutions lower on Friday.

“Silicon Valley Bank’s failure arrived with incredible speed, with some industry analysts on Friday suggesting it was a good company and still probably a wise investment…”

The New York Post added on March 10:

“The sudden collapse of a little-known, California-based tech lender fueled market chaos on Friday and sparked fears of a wider contagion that some experts worry could upend the US banking sector…  The bank’s rapid descent into insolvency sparked a sharp selloff in US stocks – with the nation’s four largest banks losing a combined $52 billion in market capitalization.”

Tip of the Iceberg?

Business Insider wrote on March 11:

“The bank’s collapse was a byproduct of the Federal Reserve’s hiking of interest rates by 1,700% in less than a year. Once risk-free Treasurys started generating more attractive returns than what SVB was offering, people started withdrawing their money, and the bank needed a quick way to pay them. They were ultimately forced to sell their loan portfolio at a huge loss.

“The chaotic episode showed that the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hiking regime could upend institutions that were once thought to be relatively stable…

“There are already two recent high-profile examples not specific to the banking system, but still indicative of the pressure being caused by higher rates.

“The first has been the collapse of the cryptocurrency market. Since the Fed started raising interest rates in March 2021, bitcoin — formerly a highly touted inflation hedge — has plunged more than 65%… There’s also been the double-digit decline in high-growth tech stocks over the same period.

“The big questions now become what rate-sensitive areas will be next to feel the pain…”

The Daily Mail wrote on March 12:

“Chancellor Jeremy Hunt today warned of a ‘serious risk’ to top British firms following the shock failure of a major US bank…”

Finbold wrote on March 11:

“The United States financial system has been rattled by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SBV) and Silvergate Bank within 48 hours as economic uncertainty prevails. Therefore, some financial sector players project that the situation will likely worsen in the coming days. In particular, [bestselling author] Robert Kiyosaki has warned that a third lender will likely follow suit. He stressed that the situation would positively impact precious metals in a tweet on March 10.

“… economist and crypto-skeptic Peter Schiff has stated that the U.S. banking system is on the verge of experiencing a ‘much bigger collapse’ compared to the 2008 crisis. On March 10, Schiff cautioned that mass withdrawals would trigger failures.”

US Government Gives Guarantees to Depositors

The Associated Press wrote on March 13:

“The U.S. government took extraordinary steps Sunday to stop a potential banking crisis after the historic failure of Silicon Valley Bank, assuring all depositors at the failed institution that they could access all their money quickly, even as another major bank was shut down.

“The announcement came amid fears that the factors that caused the Santa Clara, Californian-based bank to fail could spread. Regulators had worked all weekend to try to find a buyer for the bank, which was the second-largest bank failure in history. Those efforts appeared to have failed Sunday.

“In a sign of how fast the financial bleeding was occurring, regulators announced that New York-based Signature Bank had also failed and was being seized on Sunday. At more than $110 billion in assets, Signature Bank is the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history.”

Before that announcement by the US government, it was stated that it would NOT bail out the bank. Now, the obvious switch in position is explained by saying the government does not bail out the bank, but just the depositors. In reality, it is of course a bailout.

Worldwide Panic Sets In

The Associated Press reported on March 15:

“Stocks are back to falling on Wall Street Wednesday as worries worsen about the strength of banks on both sides of the Atlantic…

“Credit Suisse has been fighting troubles for years… Its shares in Switzerland sank more than 28% following reports that its top shareholder won’t pump more money into its investment.

“Wall Street’s harsh spotlight has intensified across the banking industry recently on worries about what may crack next following the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history last week. Stocks of U.S. banks tumbled again Wednesday after enjoying a brief, one-day respite on Tuesday.

“The heaviest losses were focused on smaller and mid-size banks, which are seen as more at risk of having customers try to pull their money out en masse…  Much of the damage is seen as the result of the Federal Reserve’s fastest barrage of hikes to interest rates in decades. The Fed has pulled its key overnight rate to a range of 4.50% to 4.75%, up from virtually zero at the start of last year, in hopes of driving down painfully high inflation. Higher rates can tame inflation by slowing the economy, but they raise the risk of a recession later on. They also hurt prices for stocks, bonds and other investments. That latter factor was one of the issues hurting Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed Friday, because high rates forced down the value of its bond investments.

“The U.S. government announced a plan late Sunday to protect depositors at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which regulators shut on Sunday, in hopes of shoring up confidence in the banking industry. But markets have since swung from fear to calm and back again. Some of this week’s wildest action has been in the bond market, where traders are rushing to guess what all the chaos will mean for future Fed action…

“In Europe, indexes tumbled on weakness from banks…”

Trump Blames Biden for the Bank Failure, Predicts Great Depression

Newsweek wrote on March 12:

“On Sunday, Trump posted about the collapse of SVB on his social media platform, Truth Social, blaming the situation on the economic policies of President Joe Biden, adding that further financial calamities are on the horizon. ‘With what is happening to our economy, and with the proposals being made on the LARGEST AND DUMBEST TAX INCREASE IN THE HISTORY OF THE USA, TIMES FIVE, JOE BIDEN WILL GO DOWN AS THE HERBERT HOOVER OF THE MODRRN [sic] AGE… WE WILL HAVE A GREAT DEPRESSION FAR BIGGER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN THAT OF 1929. AS PROOF, THE BANKS ARE ALREADY STARTING TO COLLAPSE!!!”

“Trump’s communications team also issued a statement to Fox News Digital a few hours after his post to Truth Social, reiterating the claim that the collapse was caused by Democratic policies. ‘Out-of-control Democrats and the Biden administration have pathetically continued to try to blame President Trump for their failures with desperate lies, such as the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) spy balloons, the train derailment in East Palestine, and now the collapse of SVB,’ Trump spokesman Steven Chueng told the outlet.”

Democrats have blamed Trump for the collapse, due to a bill Trump signed into law in 2018 that cut regulations and mandatory oversight from the Federal Reserve for mid-level and regional banks with assets over $250 billion (up from the previous limit of $50 billion in assets).

The Danger of Ouija Boards

Fox News wrote on March 9:

“Twenty-eight schoolgirls were hospitalized with anxiety attacks after allegedly playing with Ouija boards at their school in Colombia… The girls reportedly suffered signs of fainting, anxiety and other symptoms at the Galeras Educational Institution in Galeras…

“Ouija boards, created in the U.S. in 1886, are often referred to as spirit or talking boards. They are believed to be a way for the living to communicate with the dead…

“In November 2022, 11 teenagers were found collapsed after using a Ouija board at another school in Colombia…”  

Clearly, the use of Ouija Boards can lead to communication with demons.

“What You Can’t Say on YouTube”

The Atlantic wrote on March 10:

“YouTube’s list of content guidelines manages to be both exhaustive and nebulous… YouTube operates a three-strike policy for infractions: The first strike is a warning; the second prevents creators from making new posts for a week; and the third (if received within 90 days of the second) gets the channel banned… YouTube uses artificial intelligence to enforce its guidelines. Bots scan auto-generated transcripts and flag individual words and phrases as problematic…

“In January, Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, announced that Rumble was now his ‘video-sharing service of choice’ for press conferences because he had been ‘silenced’ by Google over his YouTube claims about the coronavirus pandemic…”

“Corona” is definitely a word that YouTube does not like, but there are many more restrictions on YouTube. For instance, the mere suggestion that the 2020 election might perhaps have been rigged will incur the anger of YouTube censorship.

US Government as “Obstructionist” as China?

The New York Post wrote on March 11:

“‘We complain that the Chinese government is opaque and obstructionist — and that’s true,’ Sen. Ran Paul told The Post. ‘But we’re getting the same sort of difficulties from our government.’

“Since COVID-19 emerged in early 2020, Paul has spearheaded a battle to hold America’s public health apparatus to account. The Kentucky senator has taken center stage, fighting lockdown policies, demanding schools to be reopened and grilling officials on the senate floor. He’s also clashed repeatedly and passionately with recently-retired National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“A few questions have been central to their standoff: Did COVID-19 leak from a lab in Wuhan? And did Fauci and the American medical establishment help fund dangerous gain-of-function research that caused the pandemic?

“Despite years-long resistance  that the lab-leak theory was a dangerous and even racist conspiracy theory, more and more institutions are now coming out in favor of it. Late last month, the Department of Energy joined the FBI in deeming a lab leak the likely origin of COVID-19. For Paul, the conclusion is vindicating… But he’s also frustrated. The senator said he knew the classified conclusion of the Energy Department’s investigation for about a month before it was leaked to the press in late February. ‘Because it’s classified, then I can’t do my due diligence of oversight,’ he explained. ‘I can’t announce it to the public. And so we end up relying on all the leaks to the media, which are illegal.’

“Paul said too much crucial information still remains under lock and key, leaving the American people in the dark about COVID-19’s origins. ‘The over-classification problem is stymying the investigation,’ he added. ‘Our government has reams of classified material that all point towards the COVID virus originating in the lab in Wuhan.’…

“He told The Post he’s sent 28 letters to eight different governmental agencies to demand more information about NIH and HHS grants that may have funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — but to no avail. ‘I’ve gotten virtually zero information,’ Paul said. ‘They’re not willing to tell someone who represents the state who they gave the money to.’

“Newly released emails from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic show that Fauci ordered, edited and approved a February 2020 paper published in the Nature Medicine journal, which deemed the lab-leak theory null and was touted as definitive evidence that COVID-19 jumped naturally to humans from an animal. Paul said the emails reveal that Dr. Fauci created ‘an orchestrated consensus’ to cover his own tracks and to tarnish his opponents… ‘and that you’re a conspiracy theorist if you argue that this virus might have come from a lab,’ Paul said.

“Now, his next battle with Fauci is getting to the bottom of whether [he] receives royalties from vaccine manufacturers… a 1980s law protects public health officials like Fauci from having to [divulge their income sources]…

“According to the senator, getting to the bottom of the pandemic’s origins is crucial for preventing another disaster… ‘And we need to look at this type of research both in our country and around the world.’

“Looking back, Paul added, public health officials destroyed the public’s trust in them… ‘I think what’s happened now is people have seen that [Fauci] was a doctor who was trying to cover his tracks. He is a public health official who had funded dangerous research in China that in all likelihood led to the pandemic.’… As of 2022, only 29% of Americans have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the public’s interest. ‘I think it’s government dishonesty that has led to most of the distrust,’ the senator said… ‘I think it will be more difficult for them the next time they try this, because the evidence is pretty much in. None of the things they did to slow down the spread of the disease worked,’ Paul said. ‘In the end, everybody got COVID whether they stood on stickers six feet apart from each other or not.’…

“‘People need to resist,’ he said. ‘When the government tells you you can’t go to church, your government says you can’t go to the gym, your government says you can’t go to a restaurant or you can’t go to a hotel — we need to resist that.’”

Amen! You MUST obey God rather than man.

The Cover-Up of Suspicious Activities by the Biden Family

Professor Jonathan Turley wrote on his website on March 14:

“For years, members of Congress have asked for access to suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to the Biden family’s foreign business deals. Those efforts were cut off by the Biden Administration and the Democratically controlled houses of Congress. Even after the GOP took over the House, however, the Treasury Department continued to refuse to turn over the SARs. While the GOP had to threaten hearings with Treasury officials, the department has finally relented. It now appears that time is up for Hunter Biden on the SARs fight and it could finally answer a number of questions over the alleged influence peddling of the Biden family. It may also put pressure on the Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, who is looking into possible criminal conduct by Hunter Biden.

“I previously wrote about how few people in Washington are eager to expose the influence peddling by the Biden family… even by the corrupt standards of this city, the Bidens took influence peddling to an unprecedented level in raking in millions from foreign interests, including some with alleged ties to foreign intelligence.

“The least eager group to see these transactions may be the media, which not only buried the Hunter Biden story but has shown remarkable disinterest in these allegations… Imagine what the media would have done with even one of these deals with foreign political or influence figures if a Trump child was the recipient. The genius of the Biden influence peddling operation was to make the media an early and active participant. They became invested in the denial over two years of belittling or dismissing the story…

“It is not clear what these SARs will reveal, but the effort to prevent any congressional investigation is striking…”

This collaborated cover-up by the government and the media is not the only one, to be sure. Note the next article.

The Destruction of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on March 15:

“History has dealt a tough hand to the administration of US President Joe Biden, who openly confessed his intent to ‘bring an end’ to the Nord Stream pipeline system which delivered Russian natural gas to Europe through four pipelines (Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, consisting of two pipelines each).

“Since then, the Biden White House was compelled to deny the president’s stated intent after an explosive report by Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh detailed damning information which, if true (and there is no reason to suspect it’s not) casts the responsibility for a series of underwater explosions that took place on Sept. 26, 2022, on Biden himself.

“Hersh’s report was ignored by the mainstream media in the United States, with neither The New York Times, for whom Seymour Hersh wrote on national security issues for many years, nor The Washington Post even hinting that the greatest living investigative journalist had broken a blockbuster story.

“Enter the ‘Andromeda’— a Bavaria C50 15-meter (49-foot) yacht based out of the German Baltic port city of Rostock… The boat was ‘a yacht rented from a company based in Poland, apparently owned by two Ukrainians.’ According to the story, ‘the secret operation at sea was carried out by a team of six people.’ According to the German reporting, the team — five men, consisting of a ship captain, two primary divers, two supporting divers and a female doctor — used the Andromeda to transport the team, along with the explosives used to destroy the pipelines, to the scene of the crime. The boat was returned to Rostock in ‘an uncleaned condition,’ allowing German law enforcement officials, who carried out a search of the vessel between Jan. 8-11, to detect ‘traces of explosives’ on a table in the ship’s cabin.

“The same day the German reporting on the new Nord Stream attack narrative broke, The New York Times ran a first-page story… [quoting Biden saying that he denied any involvement]…  The problem with both the German reporting and that of The New York Times… is that the Andromeda narrative doesn’t hold water.

“Take, for instance,… the tale… that has four allegedly Ukraine-affiliated divers defy physiology by conducting dives that would require the use of a decompression chamber for them to survive an ascent of 240 feet (the depth of the Nord Stream pipelines that were destroyed)… decompression takes approximately one day per 100 feet of seawater plus a day. This means that the team of divers would have required three days of decompression per dive. But to decompress, one needs a decompression chamber. For a dive involving two divers, the Andromeda would have to have been outfitted with either a two-person Class A decompression chamber, or two single-person Class B chambers, as well as the number of large oxygen bottles needed to operate these chambers over time… Simply put — no decompression chamber, no dive, no story.

“… The charge would have to be prepared by qualified explosives experts and ideally tested prior to being employed operationally to validate the design and functionality of the device. These are not tasks undertaken by a small ad hoc team of Ukrainian underwater saboteurs, but rather state-sponsored actors with access to military grade explosives and testing facilities…

“The German government’s crude effort to manufacture an alternative narrative regarding who attacked the Nord Stream pipeline fails the smell test…  Moreover, the fact that the US intelligence community was quick to leak information about the German investigation to The New York Times appears to be de facto evidence of US complicity in this cover up. And the reason for this cover up is quite clear: the Germans and Americans both fear the reporting being done by Hersh.”

There is much speculation about the identity of the perpetrators who destroyed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But whatever the truth, it seems to be certain that a massive cover-up is taking place.

Shameful California Conduct Towards Churches

LifeSiteNews reported on March 10:

“Members of a Christian church in California’s Santa Clara County were hit with hefty fines and surveilled via stakeouts, cell phone monitoring, and other measures ‘reminiscent of totalitarian regimes’ after their church defied the county’s draconian COVID-19 lockdown rules in 2020, according to a March 5 report by independent journalist David Zweig.

“San Jose’s Calvary Christian Fellowship, headed by pastor Mike McClure, openly defied the Silicon Valley county’s harsh lockdown rules in May 2020 after initially complying with them, Zweig reported. ‘After two months of isolation, many congregants were teetering toward despair,’ Zweig said, noting that the church’s decision to buck the county’s mandate to lock down provided congregants with much-needed ‘mental, spiritual, and physical’ assistance.

“The Christian community’s defiance of the COVID mandates soon made it a thorn in the county’s side. Santa Clara reportedly began slamming the church with fine after fine for such violations as failure to social distance, to wear masks, and even failure to comply with the county’s rules against singing.

“Zweig said the county ended up ‘levying more than $2 million in fines against Calvary’ and implementing a ‘multi-faceted surveillance program of the church and its members,’ a ‘spy operation’ that ‘included stakeouts, forced in-person monitoring of prayer groups and other intimate activities, and tracking the cellular mobility data of churchgoers.’…

“According to court filings, officers took meticulous note of the churchgoers’ ordinary behavior that ran afoul of the county’s new COVID mandates. Enforcers of the county’s rules reported the number of cars in the parking lot, whether or not masks were being worn, and even instances of hugging… When officers were granted access to the church by a court order later in the year, they began entering the church and writing up detailed notes on the behavior and compliance of churchgoers attending mom’s groups, baptisms, Bible studies, and Sunday services…

“Officials even employed cell phone monitoring technology to track the violators…

“The report noted that the county dropped its gathering-violations complaint against Calvary after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that California’s ban on church assemblies during the pandemic was unconstitutional. However, it’s still seeking $2.78 million from Calvary for its mask violations in a court case expected to conclude in the upcoming months.”

Let us remind our readers that these horrific UNCONSTITUTIONAL measures against that church were not taken in an authoritarian country such as Russia or China, but in California. This is shameful and appallingly disgusting indeed.

Democrats Want to Legalize Abortion Nationwide Up to Birth

LifeNews reported on March 9:

“A group of U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced legislation Wednesday that would force every state to legalize the killing of unborn babies for basically any reason up to birth… ‘Abortion is health care. Period,’ said U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, one of the lead sponsors… Other lead sponsors include retiring U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut. Joe Biden previously has expressed support for the legislation as well.

“Democrat leaders and many mainstream news outlets have portrayed the bill as an effort to simply ‘codify the right to an abortion’ in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. But pro-life leaders warn it would go beyond Roe and get rid of almost all laws that protect unborn babies.

“Blumenthal [described] the life-saving Dobbs v. Jackson ruling as a ‘death sentence’ for women because, in some states, elective abortions are now banned…

“However, pro-life leaders say the bill really would force taxpayers to fund abortions, end bans on late-term abortions on viable unborn babies, eliminate parental consent for minors and informed consent requirements for every woman seeking an abortion, and force doctors and nurses to lose their jobs and Catholic hospitals potentially to lose public funds unless they perform elective abortions.

“Numerous past attempts to pass the bill have failed in Congress, and polls consistently show that a strong majority of Americans oppose such extreme pro-abortion legislation… 69 percent of Americans want abortions banned or limited. Additionally, 60 percent oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortions…  25 polls that show public support for pro-life laws.”

What is WRONG with these people who advocate the murder of innocent children???

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.