The Aachen Peace Prize… a Disgrace
The Aachener Zeitung wrote on July 27:
“Martin Schulz [will] deliver the laudatory speech for Aachen Peace Prize recipients.
“On September 1, the Cologne-based initiative ‘Palestinians and Jews for Peace,’ as well as ‘Unidos MN’ and the team behind the queer sex shop ‘The Smitten Kitten’ from the USA, will be honored in Aachen. A prominent SPD politician from the region will deliver the keynote address.
“Martin Schulz—an SPD politician from Würselen and former President of the European Parliament—will deliver the laudatory speech for the designated recipients of the 2026 Aachen Peace Prize. The Aachen Peace Prize Association made this announcement recently. The award ceremony will take place on Tuesday, September 1, starting at 7 p.m. at the Aula Carolina, Pontstraße 7.”
An American gay sex shop is receiving the Aachen Peace Prize, and the former President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, is delivering the laudatory speech. Truly, Sodom and Gomorrah playing out right before our eyes.
The Churches’ Hypocrisy Regarding the AfD
Nius wrote on July 24:
“The churches do not want people to vote for the AfD. Consequently, two Catholic dioceses have launched a campaign titled ‘With Heart and Conviction for Democracy and Charity.’ The aim is to keep the AfD’s vote share low in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state election.
“The dioceses have no quarrel with socialists, proponents of wealth redistribution, or advocates of expropriation. It is only the AfD that the Berlin and Hamburg dioceses are showing the red card. Once again, it is evident: the ‘church-tax church’ is blind in its left eye. It has taken a partisan stance in the undemocratic defensive struggle against the Right. In this regard, one can rely on the church-tax churches: the spiritual realm recedes to the extent that the political realm gains ground…
“Let us be clear: the Diocese of Berlin does not want AfD supporters present at anti-AfD events. It implies that nearly 30 percent of Germans are incapable of reasoned argument and capable only of hateful agitation. This is as stupid as it is vile. Yet, they are still happy to collect church taxes from this very demographic. The Archdiocese of Hamburg is also alarmed. Its territory extends into Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the AfD is heading toward an election victory. Domradio reports on the efforts to prevent precisely that…
“On Instagram, the Archdiocese of Hamburg states that the campaign’s goal is ‘to encourage people to reflect on their voting decision and to make it responsibly and guided by values.’ This, too, amounts to berating voters. According to this logic, the only voter who decides reflectively, responsibly, and based on values is one who does not cast their vote for the AfD.”
Syncretism in the Catholic Church
LifeSiteNews wrote on July 23:
“The Archdiocese of Los Angeles allowed the performance of a ‘Misa Azteca’ (‘Aztec Mass’) concert, which featured pagan Aztec music, dances, and poetry in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels last month… Joseph Julián González, the composer of the ‘Misa Azteca,’ claimed that the Mass composition was born out of his devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and recalled how he felt inspired to write it after the ‘Kyrie’ from the High Mass played to an Aztec dance rhythm popped in his head, believing this was ‘divine inspiration.’”
It might have been some kind of “inspiration,” but it was most certainly not “divine.”
Incredibly, the article claimed:
“While the Catholic Church has always sought to bring people of all cultures together, it has also always condemned the concept of syncretism, or the blending of pagan and other non-Catholic rituals, such as Aztec dances, with Catholic practices.”
This statement is 100% wrong, and the ignorance of the writer is mind-boggling. The Catholic church has ALWAYS welcomed syncretism as a way of bringing pagans into the church’s fold.
The article at least admits that much:
“Despite the Church’s clear teaching, syncretism has become common in many Catholic churches across the globe in recent decades.”
As mentioned, the Church has no teaching against syncretism; just the opposite is true.
US Walks Out on France
The Associated Press wrote on July 27:
“U.S. diplomats walked out as their French counterparts were speaking at the United Nations on Monday after America’s close European ally criticized the Trump administration’s human rights record. The surprise move during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine followed U.S. opposition to giving U.N. human rights chief Volker Tuerk another four-year term. The reappointment on Friday got overwhelming support, including from France.
“The U.S. walkout reflects not only the more strained relations between President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, but also wider tensions between the U.S. and Europe…
“What sparked the walkout was a social media post Friday from France’s U.N. Mission in Geneva criticizing U.S. opposition to a second term for the U.N. rights chief. The General Assembly voted 144-10 with 13 abstentions in support of Türk, with the U.S. among the ‘no’ votes. ‘The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it,’ the French Mission tweeted.
“Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., in responding on X, accused France of coddling ‘some of the worst human rights abusers’ and voting ‘for someone who has been lecturing, free, sovereign democracies like the United States, the UK, and Israel, while cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors.’”
And so does Trump, counting dictators such as Erdogan, Xi Jinping, Putin, Kim Jong Un, Mohammed bin Salman (Saudi Arabia), Al Thani (Qatar) and other autocrats as his friends.
Shocking Allegations by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
LifeSiteNews wrote on July 24:
“Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated Tuesday that Israel has ‘no interest’ entering the ongoing U.S.-Iran confrontation… Israel has chosen to stay out of this renewed bombing campaign despite the U.S. State Department publicly acknowledging the Trump administration had initiated its unprovoked attacks on Iran ‘at the request’ of Israel. Since military hostilities reignited earlier this month, Iranian missiles and drones have struck U.S.-linked targets in several Arab countries but have not hit Israel itself so far.
“Smotrich stressed that Israel’s long-term objective remains weakening the Iranian regime in order to topple its government, a goal he noted does not likely align with U.S. priorities… He argued that undermining Iran’s economy, harming the civilian population, represents the most effective strategy. ‘Currently, inflation in Iran is at 85 percent, food inflation of over 134 percent in a total of four months, and the Iranian rial is trading at an exchange rate of 1.9 million to the dollar – and it’s going up,’ he celebrated.
“While Israel has avoided direct strikes on Iran, reports indicate it is actively supporting the U.S. effort through intelligence sharing and other assistance…
“Smotrich embraces the most radical forms of Zionism that support the deadly suppression or expelling of the native Palestinian people from their lands to create an ever expanding ‘Greater Israel.’ This planned expanse includes not only the internationally recognized Palestinian territories… but [also] parts of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia… Smotrich has described thwarting any future Palestinian State as ‘my life’s mission.’… On Gaza, Smotrich… asserted in 2024 that it would be ‘right and moral’ to starve the entire population (including 1 million children) in Gaza ‘to death.’
“Currently in Gaza, the Israeli army continues to violate the signed ‘ceasefire’ agreement from last October, expanding its military occupation to around 70% of the territory and attacking the virtually defenseless population almost daily, killing 1,180 (at least 247 children, 191 women) in this timeframe and wounding 3,810.
“Since October 2023, Israel has dropped the equivalent of at least 13 atomic bombs on Gaza, directly killed at least 73,293 Palestinians, including approximately 22,000 children at a confirmed minimum, with at least 173,960 people injured, including over 10,000 children who have lost at least one leg. An additional 10,000 Palestinians are missing and presumed dead and buried under the rubble….”
If these reports and numbers are only remotely correct, the world’s anger with Israel can be understood. Note the next article.
Israel365News wrote on July 24:
“A majority of Americans continue to back Israel over Hamas, but a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll finds that voters under 25 favor Hamas by a wide margin, and most Democrats say Israel should not be formally defined as a Jewish state.”
The Insanity of Gender Segregation in Israel
Deutsche Welle reported on July 18:
“Bnei Brak, a predominantly ultra-Orthodox city in Israel, plans to introduce separate pedestrian routes for men and women. But fierce criticism appears to have put the project on hold… According to local reports, the Bnei Brak municipality had already started widening sidewalks, erecting barriers and putting up signs that are intended to physically separate male and female pedestrians from one another in the city just east of Tel Aviv. It would have made Bnei Brak the first city in Israel with gender-segregated streets…. Less conservative Israelis fear Bnei Brak could set a precedent that will further strengthen Orthodox hard-liners in society.
“Gender segregation is not unusual in Judaism. Orthodox synagogues have separate areas for men and women and conservative practitioners won’t touch members of the opposite sex, even in greeting. At holiday ceremonies and weddings, Orthodox Jewish men and women typically sit in separate areas….
“The proposed gender segregation on Bnei Brak’s streets originates from the latter issue. That neighborhood is home to banquet halls usually booked for weddings, and local rabbis want guests to be able to arrive already separated by gender….
“Previous attempts to impose gender segregation have been struck down by the country’s Supreme Court. A 2011 ruling said there could be no mandatory segregation on public buses, even those serving predominantly conservative neighborhoods, and that there must be no pressure on women to sit at the back of the bus….
“On Thursday, the Knesset approved a law that essentially permits universities and colleges to offer segregated master’s and doctoral degree programs…. Local universities protested the law ahead of the vote because, they argued, it could undermine academic standards in the fields like medicine and health and actually make it more difficult for women to access highly specialized professions…
“The vote on segregating university courses was one of the last in the current session of the Israeli parliament. The Knesset has been dissolved in order to pave the way for the general election on October 27.”
This is SO crazy and incomprehensible! Even though the Bible seems to indicate that at the time of Christ’s return, gender segregation still exists in synagogues, it does NOT approve of such practice.
Another Red Heifer?
Israel365News wrote on July 23:
“… the National Red Heifer Institute is announcing the birth of a second red heifer [in the herd of Shai Givon, a farmer with the Institute]… Asked how two red heifers could be born so close together, Givon said he sees the timing as more than coincidence…. [it] ‘gives the strong sense that God is pressing us to accelerate the path toward building the Temple. The real question is whether we want to.’…
“The question now, Ben Tzvi said, is whether the Jewish people want the Temple built, and what each person is doing to advance that process speedily in our days. Yehuda Ben Tzvi [is] one of the Institute’s leaders…”
A red heifer is not biblically necessary for the building of the Temple.
Dubious USA-Saudi-Arabia Nuclear Deal
NBC News wrote on July 23:
“President Donald Trump said Thursday that a nuclear deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia requires the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel— a significant condition not previously mentioned as the deal was announced… Trump added that the deal ‘is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.’..
“An agreement to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia had previously been a U.S. requirement for any deal allowing the Gulf kingdom to enrich uranium, but Saudi leaders have long insisted that would not be possible without meaningful progress toward a Palestinian state…
“There was no mention of the Abraham Accords when the Energy Department announced the deal on X on Wednesday… The oil-rich kingdom did not mention Trump’s stipulations in its own release about the agreement.. Nuclear enrichment is part of the process of both civil nuclear power generation and, at higher grades of enrichment, the development of nuclear weapons.”
Deluded LGBT Activists
Daily Mail wrote on July 28:
“Across most of the Muslim world, being gay is not a picnic. In Afghanistan , the Taliban imposes the death penalty on anyone convicted of same-sex relations, including public stonings.
“Saudi Arabia and Iran have also executed large numbers of gay people in recent years, including by public stoning – while several other countries, among them tourist favourites such as Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, all keep the death penalty for homosexuality on their statute books.
“When Isis controlled parts of Iraq and Syria during the 2010s, the authorities murdered gay men by throwing them off tall buildings. In Gaza, today, Hamas tortures and executes gay people for ‘moral violations’. (Yet Israel, anathema to many Left-wingers, hosts some of the largest and safest gay pride parades in the world.)…
“So it might seem odd that huge numbers of ‘LGBT’ campaigners have in recent years become bizarrely obsessed with Islam… Last weekend’s atrocity in Berlin should be the moment the ‘LGBTQ’ lobby, and the wider Left, recognise their true enemy: radical Islam, and the issues the West now faces having imported millions of people from distant lands who – to put it mildly – hold different opinions on sexual liberalism.”
Where Is Venezuela’s Money?
The Financial Times wrote on July 23:
“The Trump administration has collected more than $13bn in revenues from Venezuelan oil sales this year, according to FT calculations, but has said almost nothing about what has happened to the money… six months after the US seized control of the funds, economists say the evidence of a recovery in Venezuela is relatively muted — a potential sign that the US has not sent all the revenues back to Caracas.
“Washington has given diverging accounts of what it is doing with the money, ranging from an executive order describing its own role as ‘custodial’ to President Donald Trump saying the US was ‘making a lot of money’ from Venezuelan oil. US lawmakers from both parties are starting to pressure the administration to explain where it has gone and what it is doing to prevent corruption around its allocation….
“Shortly after the January raid, President Trump said the revenues ‘will be controlled by me.’”
“The fate of Venezuela’s oil money has become even more pressing in the aftermath of the two devastating earthquakes on June 24. The UN estimates the cost of damage to buildings and infrastructure alone will be $37bn.”
Fishy indeed…
US Bans Foreign-Made Humanoid Robots
Deutsche Welle wrote on July 29:
“The United States has announced a ban on the import of foreign-made humanoid and quadruped robots in a move which will likely exclude Chinese manufacturers from the US market and could strain tensions between Washington and Beijing…
“Currently…, US robot exports remain in their hundreds while Unitree and AGIBOT, two of China’s biggest advanced robotics companies, each shipped more than 5,000 humanoid robots in 2025 alone. Beyond the industrial market effects, the FCC ban could also have diplomatic consequences…
“The US has already banned imports of Chinese-made drones and is considering restrictions on Chinese open-source artificial intelligence (AI) models, citing cybersecurity concerns including espionage, surveillance and data collection.”
More Threats, Violence and Attacks
Fox News wrote on July 26:
“Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Sunday that Tehran would maintain its support for Hezbollah as a strategic policy in a letter to the terror group’s secretary-general, while declaring there was no path forward except ‘jihad and resistance.’…
“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel and killing a sailor, warning Sunday that the incident “cannot go unanswered.”
Newsmax wrote on July 29:
“Iran launched a barrage of missiles at American forces in the Middle East early Wednesday as the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Tehran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters.
“The flare-up on multiple fronts… raised the risk of a return to all-out war. It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy and is unpopular among Americans. The fighting was also likely to add to concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies…. The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking…”
Trump’s reaction was telling, but his threats become more and more empty hyperbole. The New York Post wrote on July 29:
“President Trump vowed Wednesday to ‘beat the f–king s–t out of’ Iran in response to a surprise missile attack by the Islamic Republic targeting US troops stationed in Jordan… Still, despite the plans for additional retaliation, Trump added that negotiations with Iran will continue.”
A North America Air Filter Barrier?
Daily Mail wrote on July 26:
“President Donald Trump has doubled down on his threat to build an air filter barrier between the United States and Canada… The president on Monday imposed a 50 percent tariff on Canada over wildfire smoke which has been choking US cities.
“A Trump administration official said the US president had also requested that his aides look into additional tariffs on Canada after accusing the country of ‘coming in and poisoning our air.’”
Punitive Tariffs on Lettuce?
Bild Online reported on July 25:
“US President Donald Trump (80) has announced high tariffs against Mexico due to a wave of diarrhea in the US. US health authorities traced the illnesses in nine states to a parasite found in lettuce from Mexico…
“However, the cause of the illnesses has not been conclusively proven. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to suspect chopped iceberg lettuce from a Mexican supplier as the source of the parasite—even though test results have not yet confirmed this.”
More Tariffs
In the latest attempt to circumvent Congress, Trump imposed new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on goods from more than 80 countries, including China, Canada, and the 27 European Union member states. The trumped-up, crazy justification is a violation of forced labor laws—something which Trump never even dreamed of before. And is Trump imposing those tariffs because of humanitarian reasons to force those countries to abide by these alleged labor law violations? Of course not!
The Guardian wrote on July 23 that the new tariffs are most likely illegal, and if they are challenged in court, they will be overturned. It also said:
“The New York Federal Reserve estimated that 90% of the economic burden imposed by tariffs was passed on to US consumers and businesses… 72% of Americans believe tariffs have had a negative impact on consumers, including 64% of Republican voters.”
How the IRS Persecutes Innocent Americans
The Washington Times wrote on July 24:
“A 76-year-old Tennessee farmer, Wilson Perry Kirby, mistakenly received a $20,000 refund from the IRS in 2022, and when he tried to return it, the IRS wouldn’t let him. So he hired a tax expert to take care of the matter. But that didn’t work, either. Instead, the IRS charged him interest and took his entire 2025 tax refund amount as payment — as payment for the $20,000 the IRS mistakenly sent him in 2022 and subsequently refused to take back… This is why Americans hate the IRS…..
“Someone within the IRS knew Kirby’s accountant tried to return the $20,000. Yet someone within the IRS — more likely, a group of somebodies — made the decision to refuse the return of money; refused to acknowledge the bureaucratic error; and instead, chose to criminally, wickedly, deceptively seize Kirby’s 2025 refund monies. Someone within the IRS offices knew the IRS had made a mistake, but rather than fix the mistake, decided to persecute an innocent American individual. This isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare.
“This is a jail-able offense.”
“Someone within the IRS needs to pay the consequences for this persecution, and those consequences should include fines, fees, firing and imprisonment.”
The entire IRS needs to be fired. It is a nuisance and completely incompetent. Some prominent politicians have asked for the abolishment of the IRS—with good reasons—but have not been successful at all.
The National Enquirer added on July 23:
“Kirby’s exhausted every avenue for help. ‘I’ve tried the president, governor, mayor. They don’t mind asking you to vote for them, but when you need help you can’t get ahold of nobody,’ he said… the IRS letters never stopped. A notice sent in early July demanded he pay up to $4,300 in interest on money he says he never spent, threatening property seizure if he didn’t comply. The agency had already confiscated his $1,800 refund earlier this year.”
The Daily Mail wrote on July 23:
“Honest widower, 76, alerted IRS after they accidentally sent him $20k refund he wasn’t owed… now its idiot staff are ruining his finances and threatening to seize his farm…”
The arrogance of the IRS is abominable. According to some reports, there are literally thousands upon thousands of cases pending which are being mishandled by the IRS, where taxpayers are deprived of money they are entitled to. But a reckoning of such misconduct will come!
How to Get Away With Murder in the US
The Rutherford Institute wrote on July 22:
“Having burned through billions of dollars and depleted critical munitions stockpiles, the Pentagon is running out of money… Once again, the government is looking to the American people for a taxpayer-funded bailout—this time to the tune of $67 billion (caused largely by the Iran war). Nor is the $67 billion emergency infusion the end of it. Trump’s fiscal year 2027 budget calls for an unprecedented $1.5 trillion in national-defense spending—a staggering increase…
“The Iran war is not merely another example of government waste, although the cost is already staggering… This is government without accountability… American service members are dying in a war that is not making America safer, no matter what Trump insists to the contrary…
“Under Trump, the buck stops nowhere. No one in power pays a personal price. No one admits fault. No one resigns. No one is prosecuted. No one is held accountable. Likewise, in the American Police State, those in power are protected. Those without power bear the consequences. And the machinery of government moves on without accountability… that is how the American Police State gets away with murder.”
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 the contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing to worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.