#ourCOG Daily Brief [May 23, 2026]

Good evening, and welcome to #ourCOG Daily Brief for May 23, 2026.

We begin with news from the U.S. and around the world. In Southern California, approximately 40,000 people have been evacuated in Garden Grove following a hazardous chemical leak from a damaged storage tank. Meanwhile, a fatal shooting at a San Diego mosque has highlighted a concerning rise in anti-Muslim incidents and renewed discussions about preventing online radicalization among young people. Politically, President Trump is facing pushback from some Republicans in Congress, potentially complicating his agenda, especially concerning a new “anti-weaponization fund” which critics fear could be ripe for abuse. There’s also a noticeable generational shift within the GOP, with younger conservatives growing skeptical of U.S. aid to Israel and Jewish political influence. Internationally, an unlikely friendship is blossoming between Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, signaling a potential new era of cooperation despite past tensions. In South Korea, President Lee Jae-myung views housing affordability in Seoul as an existential threat to the nation’s future. And in Gaza City, the Phoenix Library, which opened just last month, is actively working to rebuild a culture of reading with books salvaged from more than two years of destruction.

Turning our attention to our video content, we’ve recently featured titles including “Sunday Morning Service,” “Choose this… #shorts #love #god,” and “May 23, 2026.”

From the FaithNews RSS feed, we’ve been tracking stories such as a “Korean Church Organization Partners with Church of God,” “Cuba Maintains Poor Religious Freedom Conditions,” “U.S. Army Hymn Unveiled for 250th Army Anniversary,” and “Pentecost Sunday Designated ‘Evangelism Sunday’.”

In prophecy news, the Director-General of the Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, has unveiled a 15-point Gaza roadmap for disarmament and oversight, designed to execute President Trump’s Gaza Comprehensive Peace Plan. This follows Czech President Petr Pavel’s recent address at the GLOBSEC Forum, where he urged Europe to view its support for Ukraine not as charity, but as an investment in a “defense laboratory” for its own security. Adding to the discussions, an Israeli tech company is reportedly preparing to dim the sun by releasing microscopic particles into the Earth’s upper atmosphere, a development some are connecting to biblical prophecy. These developments come just days after President Trump was seen publicly reading God’s promise to King Solomon while in Jerusalem, a moment that resonated with many watching the global landscape.

Finally, in Jewish history, we look back at May 24th, 1218, when the Fifth Crusade departed Acre for Egypt. This era saw Popes Innocent III and Honorius III introduce the infamous “Jew Badge,” a saffron-yellow cloth circle or square. Interestingly, the Crusade itself was a failure, with Jerusalem remaining under Islamic control – an outcome considered the “lesser of two evils” for the Jewish community at the time. Later, on the 6th of Sivan in 1241, also Shavuot, the community of Frankfort-on-Main faced a violent attack after Jews attempted to prevent a child’s baptism, leading to tragic consequences for many townspeople.