Living Nostradamus issues ominous predictions for 2026 – and warns that everyone must be prepared for war

With 2025 drawing to a close, Brazilian mystic Athos Salomé – also known as ‘the Living Nostradamus’ – has shared his predictions for the year ahead.

The 39-year-old psychic has made numerous accurate predictions about global events over the years, including the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

And for 2026, Athos’ crystal ball has thrown up some rather ominous visions, including political instability and global conflict.

The 39-year-old has warned that ‘wars will persist without winners’ and climate change will continue to worsen, leading to further natural disasters that will take root quickly.

Whilst Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump for highly anticipated peace talks earlier this week, Athos issued a warning that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will only continue.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth year, Athos believed the result of the ongoing war will be ‘a long stalemate [with] advancements plus retreats without a formal treaty specifying borders or territory’.

He warned that the rest of Europe – most of which is allied with Ukraine – ‘must stay vigilant, given reconstruction efforts will likely coincide with fresh attacks’.

But Eastern Europe isn’t the only area of the world affected by conflict. Athos also looked towards East Asia as China clashes with what it calls ‘separatist forces’ in Taiwan.

Athos, also known as the Living Nostradamus, has made numerous accurate predictions about global events over the years

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is entering its fourth year and is going nowhere, predicted Brazilian mystic Athos Salomé after Ukraine’s government headquarters in Kyiv was hit by Russian drone and missile strikes in September 2025 (pictured)

This week, China held military drills around Taiwan in a simulation suggesting the seizure and blockade of key areas around the island nation.

The drills, codenamed ‘Justice Mission 2025’, took place shortly after Trump approved the sale of $11billion worth of arms to Taiwan, leading to raised hackles in Beijing.

It comes after China and Japan also clashed after the latter’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan could face a ‘survival-threatening situation’ if China were to use force against Taiwan.

According to reports, Chinese state media have since published articles questioning Japan’s sovereignty over the Okinawa Prefecture, which was historically known as the Ryukyu islands.

Athos warned that, while the tensions are not likely to evolve into a full-blown invasion, a war of attrition is on the horizon involving ‘staged blockades, cyberattacks, financial struggles, problems for semiconductor supplies, and calculated information warfare’.

Meanwhile, tensions between China and Taiwan, as well as Japan, could lead to a war of attrition after China held military drills around Taiwan and Taiwanese Coast Guard officers stay vigilant over Chinese Coast Guard vessels (pictured)

‘The target is wearing down opponents, testing boundaries plus boosting control, no big war,’ he added.

Meanwhile, Athos also predicted that West Africa and the Sahel region will remain ‘stuck in unending instability plus disruption’.

It comes after the UN Security Council said in its December 2025 monthly forecast that there was a ‘marked increase in attacks by armed groups and terrorists in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger’.

It added that ‘entire communities have been emptied’ from these areas due to the violence and the UK, as well as the US and France, urged citizens to leave the country immediately.

According to Athos, these ‘shaky spots’ are likely to continue in 2026 due to a lack of good government rule – adding that there will be ‘migratory pushes, not enough good, and spin-off troubles’ spreading towards Europe and the Middle East next year.

After a year of big cyberattacks – such as the one that crippled M&S’ online sales and nearly wiped out the company’s profits – Athos is predicting that there are plenty more to come.

M&S faced a major cyberattack this year that forced it to halt orders on its website and led to weeks of empty shelves, costing the retailer over £300million in lost sales

He has forecasted the rise of targeted cyberattacks on important resources including energy and water, as well as communication in big cities, ‘mostly North America and Western Europe’.

Major events that are set to take place next year including the World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by cities in the US and Mexico, are also vulnerable to such cyberattacks, Athos warned.

‘These attacks are doing more than just causing technical problems, they’re meant to freak everyone out politically, economically and mentally,’ he added.

However, there is some positive news in the arena of technology, as hospitals and research facilities in the US, Europe and Asia ‘are experiencing major wins regarding CRISPR-based treatments,’ Athos said.

The medical arena has seen clear advancements in CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing technology that can be used to alter DNA sequences and allows scientists to rewrite genetic code in order to fight disease and correct mutations.

For example, in January, the NHS approved gene-editing therapy for sickle cell patients, a ‘transformative’ treatment that offers ‘hope of a cure for people facing a severe form of the disease’. 

However, as science and technology progresses, the government must also rapidly increase the pace of artificial intelligence (AI) regulation in an attempt to get ahead of potential abuses such as deepfakes, financial scams and widespread surveillance.

Whilst the Covid pandemic may seem like a not-so-distant memory now, Athos warned that the world is entering a ‘never-ending state of alert’ when it comes to public health.

From the rise of bird flu in rural America and Europe, to dengue outbreaks in tropical countries, to Mpox flares in cities, the medical community must be ready to respond with speed.

However, Athos’s biggest worry is ‘system exhaustion’, as hospitals become ‘overwhelmed’, funding is ‘spread too thin’ and there is a lack of ‘international cooperation’ to truly prioritise public health all over the world.

Climate change won’t help any of that, as Athos forecasted that parts of Europe, including Spain, Italy and Greece, will be ‘hammered’ by ‘super hot heat waves’ next year.

He also pointed to devastating floods in Southeast Asia, which led to nearly 800 reported deaths across Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia between September to December this year.

South America has also suffered from long spells of drought in the centre-west of Brazil and extreme flooding in the south and southeast, while the Middle East and North Africa were hit by extreme heat and water shortages this year.

Athos warned that climate change will be a ‘major problem’ in 2026, and that more natural disasters will arise ‘fast’.