Vladimir Putin flexes muscle as Russia tests its nuclear arsenal (Second Coming Watch Update #262)

Vladimir Putin flexes muscle as Russia tests its nuclear arsenal. According to Reuters, President Vladimir Putin took a leading role in the latest tests of Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal, the most comprehensive since the 1991 Soviet collapse. The exercises featured prominently in news reports on state television which seemed aimed to show Russians and the world that Putin is the hands-on chief of a resurgent power. 

China's naval exercises in the East China Sea send warning to regional rivals. According to Yahoo News, China held naval exercises in the East China Sea in a robust show of military force intended to warn regional rivals against escalating territorial disputes. China regularly holds maritime drills in the fall, but "sources close to the military" said the drills were related to a territorial dispute that has been the source of recent flare-up between China and Japan. 

European Union leaders tell Iran to negotiate or face more pain. According to Reuters, European Union leaders said they will further tighten economic sanctions if Iran does not curb its nuclear activities and engage in "meaningful" negotiations. Europe imposed new sanctions on the Islamic Republic this week, targeting trade, energy and shipping, as part of a Western push to force Iran to make concessions over the nuclear work. 

The Bible says in Matthew 24:6-7: "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places."

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