NewsWatch

Allies Forsaking America

Poland’s prime minister has joined the list of NATO leaders questioning whether the United States would honor its obligations if Russia were to attack a NATO member nation (Reuters). This all-too-real concern has Europe’s biggest military powers looking to bolster their militaries in the event America follows through on its threat to withdraw from the transatlantic military bloc. Reuters reported last year that officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Nordic countries are involved in “informal but structured discussions” that would change the foundation of NATO’s security bloc. The level of anxiety among European leaders and officials has only increased as President Donald Trump directs his anger at NATO allies for not aiding his military efforts against Iran.

President Trump’s verbal attacks on European nations for not joining his efforts in the Persian Gulf have served to unite them against him (Politico). One European diplomat recently observed that NATO was “paralyzed,” unable to even hold meetings for fear of provoking further ire from the White House. Citing another EU diplomat, Politico reports that “Trump has ‘destroyed’ the transatlantic relationship and ‘unified’ Europe in opposition to this war.” European nations are striving harder than ever to work together—but still struggling (CNN).

Few realize that Bible prophecies foretell America’s fraying alliances; the allies—or “lovers” in the biblical language—of Israelite-descended nations like the U.S. will come to “despise” them (Jeremiah 3:1; 4:30; Ezekiel 23:5, 9, 22) and find them “troublesome” (Deuteronomy 28:25, 37). This will happen because the Israelite nations have turned away from God.

Tattoos and Loss of Vision

Getting tattooed is a social trend that many feel compelled to participate in. However, in recent years more medical research has highlighted growing health risks associated with tattoos, including a relatively new condition known as “tattoo-associated uveitis” (The Conversation). Scientists now believe “inflammatory cells from a tattoo may breach the blood-ocular barrier, which is a wall-like structure designed to protect the inside of the eye.” Minor symptoms of the condition include “sudden pain, red eyes, and increased sensitivity to light.” However, in extreme cases, the condition is thought to lead to glaucoma, which refers to several eye diseases caused by damage to the optic nerve or scarring on the eye. Both complications can cause blindness if left untreated or if treatment is delayed. A 2026 review study discovered that larger tattoos, especially those with black ink, seem to put recipients at greater risk for this eye disorder. While treatment for the condition is available, 75 percent of those receiving treatment experience temporary vision loss, and 17 percent experience permanent vision loss.

Inking is invasive to the body and involves injecting chemicals under the surface of the skin. As research progresses, the risks of this ancient practice are becoming more apparent. While society tells us that we can treat our bodies any way we please, the Bible tells us that our bodies belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:19) and are made in His image (Genesis 1:26–27). The Bible’s clear instructions are very different from what today’s tattoo and body-modification culture would suggest.

Iran’s Severe Water Crisis

The World Resources Institute (WRI) reports, “After five consecutive years of drought and years of unsustainable water use, Iran is moving toward what experts call ‘water bankruptcy.’” While fighting a war with Israel and the U.S. will only make matters worse, the nation’s water woes are not due to the war but rather “a naturally arid climate with limited water supply and years of unsustainable water management.” According to the WRI, even before the war, the extreme lack of water had damaged the nation’s ability to produce food and electrical power, resulting in outages, and in 2018 it caused the displacement of approximately 16 million people. While Iran has invested in desalinization plants and pipelines, the financial costs are extremely high and environmental costs are yet to be determined, and such resources have become tempting wartime infrastructure targets.

Leaders of Iran have accused Afghanistan of restricting the flow of the Helmand River into Iran through dam construction. And, as the Atlantic Council published in 2023, “The water wars have no end in sight.”

In the years just ahead, wars over resources of all kinds, including food and water, will enter a more ominous phase. Bible prophecies clearly indicate that deadly conflicts over vital resources will become a significant factor in international relations as the end of the age approaches.

Drone Technology Advancing Modern Warfare

Drone swarms are among the latest technological advances in warfare, and the U.S. Department of War recently announced a billion-dollar plan to purchase more than 200,000 lethal drones by 2027 (DroneDominance.mil). The objective is to “accelerate the growth of the U.S. industrial base and rapidly arm combat units with low-cost, consumable drones at scale.” Germany and Ukraine are also working on a joint venture with advanced drone development (Associated Press).

Skyfall is a Ukrainian company that supplies Ukraine’s military with interceptor drones costing less than $3,000 each—a far cry from the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on a single U.S. fighter jet. “Interceptor drones are small, fast, semi-autonomous unmanned aircraft… designed to hunt and destroy incoming drones by ramming into them or detonating alongside them at altitude” (MilitaryTimes.com). Kyiv is reportedly using 9,000 drones per day, many of which are manufactured domestically (Axios.com).

The swarm-like nature of many drone weapons calls to mind the descriptions recorded in the book of Revelation of weapons with the appearance of locusts and the power of scorpions (Revelation 9:3, 7–10). As mankind continues to advance in its ability to make war (Joel 3:10), we should be mindful that Jesus Christ tells all of us to watch and pray (Mark 13:33).

Youth in America and Europe Unwilling to Fight

With the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II now in its fourth year, the continent’s security situation is uncertain. Russia has displayed its aggression toward Europe with a variety of assaults across the continent (EU Institute for Security Studies), stirring a call to arms throughout Europe. However, opinion polls taken in the U.S. and European nations in recent years reflect younger citizens’ reluctance to fight (Politico).

This lack of enthusiasm comes at a time when defense ministers and NATO generals are urgently sounding alarms about Europe’s military vulnerability. According to a March 2024 Gallup poll, roughly two-thirds of the citizens of the EU are unwilling to fight for their country in the event of war. Much more willing to fight are those European nations outside the EU—where around 60 percent say they would personally take up arms to defend their nation. Leaders of Finland and the Baltic states have implemented conscription, while other nations are at the threshold of reinstituting mandatory civil service or peacetime drafts (Defence 24).

But Bible prophecy tells us that a powerful, unified European military force—a beast power—will arise in the end-time and shock a distracted world (Revelation 13:4; Daniel 11:40–44). Today’s reluctance among European youth may seem like an obstacle to that prophesied reality, but history and Scripture remind us that circumstances can change with breathtaking speed.

Nuclear Fusion for Space Travel?

In March 2026, Jeff Bezos hosted Amazon’s yearly “MARS” conference (Euronews), aiming to bring together scientists and firms working on space-related projects. One presentation was given by a start-up company researching rocket engine design. This team of British scientists “has achieved what they say is the first-ever plasma ignition inside a nuclear fusion rocket engine—a huge step that could one day make trips across the solar system, and to Mars, much faster.”

Scientists have sought sustainable nuclear fusion for more than a century, and many think that the cold environment in which spacecraft operate could help them overcome longstanding challenges. “The team successfully created plasma—an intensely hot, electrically charged state of matter, often described as the fourth state of matter—using electric and magnetic fields inside its experimental and early prototype ‘Sunbird fusion exhaust system’.” A functioning engine of this type could deliver 1,000 times the thrust of a conventional rocket engine and reach speeds 20 times that of the recent Artemis II spacecraft—potentially cutting the journey from Earth to Mars from a few months to a few weeks!

God created us with incredible creative and problem-solving capacity. If humans cooperate with one another and are given enough time, “nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Genesis 11:6). Yet history teaches us the consequences of man’s ambition and creativity apart from God’s laws, instruction, and loving guidance. Jesus warned that “unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved” (Matthew 24:22). Thankfully, those days will be shortened by Jesus Christ’s return.