This Week: Five Events You Need to Know (July 2)

Russia and China continue to make significant steps toward superpower status, both practically and theoretically. And more evidence is surfacing to show how dangerous Iran is becoming and how the United States has advertently and inadvertently empowered it.

Here are the five most important news stories this week, as well as relevant links to the full articles and videos here on theTrumpet.com.

Why Russia Is Buying So Much Gold

In April, the Central Bank of Russia stockpiled 6.1 tons of gold into its reserves. In May, it hoarded almost 260 percent more tons of the precious metal.

Financial expert Philip Klinkmüller hinted at the impetus for this frenetic shopping spree in an interview with Sputnik Germany: “According to our estimates, there will be a downward trend in the dollar exchange rate in the next 15 years,” he said. “In the long run, it cannot be guaranteed that the dollar will remain a global reserve currency .”

While the United States might still declare its trust in the “Almighty Dollar,” Russia is, through its actions, declaring its distrust in it. It has good reason.

China Is the New Supercomputing Champion

China’s TaihuLight supercomputer is fast—very fast. It has 10.6 million processors with a cumulative operational speed of 93 petaflops (93 quadrillion calculations per second). It also means that TaihuLight is a formidable threat to national security , since, as the Computer History Museum’s Hansen Hsu aptly told Foreign Policy, “Security is only as good as your fastest computer.” World War ii history powerfully backs up that assertion.

The United States’ nearest competitor to TaihuLight looks sluggish by comparison.

Iran Operating Large-scale Missile Production

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (ncri) recently identified 12 previously undisclosed missile production sites across Iran, a foreboding sign of Iran’s march toward nuclear weaponry.

According to the ncri, the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action did not slow Iran’s push for nukes, it accelerated Iranian belligerence. That is precisely what Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry forecast in his October 2016 article “America’s Deadly Nuclear Deal With Iran .”

Germany—The New Middle East Peacemaker?

The Palestinians have a backup plan if they don’t like United States President Donald Trump’s efforts to negotiate peace. Just like so much of the rest of the world, they view Germany as the alternative leader of the free world.

“[S]hould Trump disappoint,” a senior Palestinian minister told Al-Monitor, “like others in the international community, we have decided to opt for German Chancellor Angela Merkel , in conjunction with French President Emmanuel Macron, to take the lead in preventing a deadlock in the peace process.”

Australia Abandons Religion … and Morality

Australia’s new religion is “no religion,” according to data from the 2016 census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. About 30.1 percent of Aussies checked “no religion ” as their belief. Catholicism was the runner-up, at just 22.6 percent of the population. These statistics matter because moral decline matters to national well-being.

“This Week” appears every Sunday. To get these same top stories in your inbox ahead of time every Friday afternoon (plus a letter from one of the Trumpet’s editors), subscribe to the Trumpet Brief daily e-mail. Sign up by clicking here or by visiting theTrumpet.com home page . ▪