JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
MACRON SAYS WESTERN TROOPS IN UKRAINE.
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN ( 500 million Dead )
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion)
to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500
million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the
beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8
Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle
shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and
of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants
were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all
nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21 (RAGE OF THE LAST DAYS AGE SATAN WORSHIP AND DRUG SELLING AND JUNKIES)(THEY REFUSE TO REPENT OF THESE SINS)
21
Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries
(DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE
MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
A
Supreme Court decision could come Monday in a case about barring Trump
from the 2024 ballot-Associated Press-Mark Sherman-Published Mar 03,
2024
WASHINGTON — A Supreme Court decision could come as soon as
Monday in the case about whether former President Donald Trump can be
kicked off the ballot over his efforts to undo his defeat in the 2020
election.rump is challenging a groundbreaking decision by the Colorado
Supreme Court that said he is disqualified from being president again
and ineligible for the state’s primary, which is Tuesday.The resolution
of the case on Monday, a day before Super Tuesday contests in 16 states,
would remove uncertainty about whether votes for Trump, the leading
Republican candidate for president, will ultimately count. Both sides
had requested fast work by the court, which heard arguments less than a
month ago, on Feb. 8,The Colorado court was the first to invoke a
post-Civil War constitutional provision aimed at preventing those who
“engaged in insurrection” from holding office. Trump also has since been
barred from primary ballot in Illinois and Maine, though both
decisions, along with Colorado’s, are on hold pending the outcome of the
Supreme Court case.The Supreme Court has until now never ruled on the
provision, Section 3 of the 14th amendment.The court indicated Sunday
there will be at least one case decided Monday, adhering to its custom
of not saying which one. But it also departed from its usual practice in
some respects, heightening the expectation that it’s the Trump ballot
case that will be handed down.Except for when the end of the term nears
in late June, the court almost always issues decisions on days when the
justices are scheduled to take the bench. But the next scheduled court
day isn’t until March 15. And apart from during the coronavirus pandemic
when the court was closed, the justices almost always read summaries of
their opinions in the courtroom. They won’t be there Monday.
Separately, the justices last week agreed to hear arguments in late
April over whether Trump can be criminally prosecuted on election
interference charges, including his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on
the U.S. Capitol. The court’s decision to step into the politically
charged case, also with little in the way of precedent to guide it,
calls into question whether Trump will stand trial before the November
election.The former president faces 91 criminal charges in four
prosecutions. Of those, the only one with a trial date that seems poised
to hold is his state case in New York, where he’s charged with
falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to a
porn actor. That case is set for trial on March 25, and the judge has
signaled his determination to press ahead.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
STRONGS CONCORDANCE FOR VIOLENCE IN THE BIBLE-SEE IT FOR YOURSELVES.
2554.
chamas - Strong's Concordance - chamas: to treat violently or wrong -
Part of Speech: Verb - Transliteration: chamas -Phonetic Spelling:
(khaw-mas') - Definition: to treat violently or wrong - make bare, shake
off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong -A primitive
root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat -- make bare, shake
off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine
wrongfully.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD
said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son,
and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because
the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE
ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND
DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM
HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES
FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the
presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN
JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art
thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For
thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE
TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like
the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND
BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the
synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think
that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH
OF ISLAM)
SECOND ANGEL: The Middle East DR DOCTORIAN
Then
Isawthat the second angel had a sickle in his hand,such asis used in
harvesting. The second angelsaid, “Harvest time has come in Israel and
the countries all the wayto Iran.” Isawthose countriesin a
fewsplitseconds. “All of Turkey and those other countries that have
refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill
one another.” I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the
Middle East countries.I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of
Georgia – Iraq, Syria,Lebanon,Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor – full
of blood. Isaw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; nuclear
weapons were used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from
everywhere. Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard
these words, “Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come.”The angel
said, “The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The
Spirit of God shall prepare the children of God.” I saw fires rising to
heaven.The angel said, “This is the final judgment My church shall be
purified, protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from
thirst. Watershall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry
up, and men will fight for water in those countries.” The angelshowed me
that the United Nationsshall be broken in pieces because of the
crisisin the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The
angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
FALSE FLAGS (SET UP OR STAGED BY SOMEONE)
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=3409375633223151728#docid=-6703838290529161821
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=3409375633223151728#docid=8697248641166616573
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=3409375633223151728#
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume
away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM
ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD
PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they
shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN
WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
ISAIAH 54:3
03-King James
Bible-For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and
thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be
inhabited.
The right hand was a symbol of strength-Exodus 15:6, ”
Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD,
shatters the enemy.”
EZEKIEL 17:15-24 (MUSLIM COUNTRIES HISTORY)
15
But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that
they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he
escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be
delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place
where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and
whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall
die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company
make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to
cut off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the
covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these
things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As
I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he
hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
20 And I
will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I
will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his
trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives
with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall
be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have
spoken it.
22 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the
highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from
the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high
mountain and eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will
I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a
goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the
shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees
of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high
tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have
made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7
Gebal,(HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and
Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the
inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
8 Assyria (SYRIA) also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for a possession.”
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be [e]confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.
And
here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either
through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and
only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this
land in the future.Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel,
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half
of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18,
Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY
OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND
IN THE FUTURE.
As Russian Threats Grow, King Warns U.S. Space
Command of American Vulnerabilities-Long Range Discrimination Radar at
Clear Space Force Station, Alaska: A Vanguard of Space Surveillance and
Defense.by Clarence Oxford-Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 04, 2024
In a
move to address vulnerabilities in America's space infrastructure, U.S.
Senator Angus King (Ind. ME) has emphasized the urgency of bolstering
defenses against potential threats to the nation's extensive satellite
fleet. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator King
engaged with General Stephen Whiting, the Commander of the United States
Space Command (USSPACECOM), on the critical issue of safeguarding
American space assets from emerging threats, particularly highlighting
the advancements in Russia's nuclear anti-satellite capabilities.Senator
King's inquiries underscored a growing concern within the U.S.
government and military regarding the asymmetric vulnerabilities posed
by the nation's dependence on space technologies. These technologies,
integral to everyday operations such as GPS navigation in smartphones
worldwide, represent a double-edged sword; while they afford the U.S.
unparalleled capabilities, they also expose critical infrastructures to
potential adversary actions."We have the best space capability and have
for many, many years. That's the good news. The bad news is the
dependency that we have on space, which makes us asymmetrically
vulnerable in terms of the relationship with these potential
adversaries," Senator King stated, urging USSPACECOM to explore
alternative strategies to mitigate these risks. The senator's call for a
renewed focus on traditional navigation methods, such as celestial
navigation, highlights a strategic pivot towards reducing reliance on
space-based assets.General Whiting's response to Senator King's concerns
reaffirmed USSPACE COM's commitment to maintaining American superiority
in space while acknowledging the need for contingency planning. The
General noted the military's ongoing efforts to prepare for scenarios
where primary space capabilities might be compromised, emphasizing the
importance of secondary and tertiary plans across various branches of
the U.S. Armed Forces.This dialogue between Senator King and General
Whiting illuminates the broader strategic challenges facing the United
States in an era of intensified space competition. With adversaries like
Russia and China advancing their space capabilities, the U.S. is at a
pivotal juncture in ensuring the security of its space assets. Senator
King's proactive stance on these issues, coupled with his authoritative
voice on national security and foreign policy matters, underscores the
critical importance of strategic investments in space defense
capabilities.As the U.S. navigates the complexities of space warfare and
diplomacy, the insights from the Senate Armed Services Committee
hearing serve as a stark reminder of the ongoing need for vigilance,
innovation, and collaboration in protecting the final frontier. The
conversations between lawmakers and military leaders, such as the one
spearheaded by Senator King, are vital in shaping the policies and
strategies that will define the future of American dominance and safety
in space.
Gallant: We won't stop fighting until Hamas
dismantled-Israel won’t send team to Cairo, said to believe Sinwar seeks
escalation on Ramadan-Hamas refuses to provide list of living hostages,
still reportedly insisting on end of war as condition for hostage
deal-By Lazar Berman-3 March 2024, 5:05 pm
Israel will not be
sending a negotiating team to Cairo, an Israeli official told The Times
of Israel on Sunday, after receiving an unsatisfactory response from
Hamas on the latest framework for a hostage deal hammered out in Paris
last weekend.The Gaza-based terror organization refused to address
Jerusalem’s demand to provide a list of living hostages and to lock down
how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for every hostage
freed, added the official.Hamas’s position was conveyed to Israel
through Qatar.According to Channel 12, the war cabinet and the
professional echelon all agreed that there was no point in sending a
delegation to Egypt for ongoing talks given Hamas’s response.Several
Hebrew media outlets reported growing pessimism in Israel on Sunday that
a hostage and truce deal can be reached before Ramadan. Unnamed
officials cited by Channel 12, Ynet and others said Jerusalem suspects
Hamas’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar has no intention of reaching an
agreement in the coming days and hopes to escalate violence over
Ramadan, which is expected to start March 10.In such a scenario, Israel
is wary of an escalation not just along its borders with Gaza and
Lebanon, but also across the West Bank, where tensions are high, as well
as in Jerusalem, where clashes over the Temple Mount and access to the
holy site are widely expected.The Axios news site reported Sunday that
US President Joe Biden was pushing Egypt and Qatar to get Hamas to agree
to a temporary ceasefire deal before Ramadan.Two US officials quoted in
the report said that Biden, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi “agreed the onus is
currently on Hamas to close remaining gaps in the package.”“We still
hope we can get a deal by Ramadan. The ball is in Hamas’s court,” one of
the senior US officials was quoted as saying.An Israeli official also
quoted by Axios put the chances of a deal being reached “at
50-50.”Israel has said that 31 of the 130 hostages held since October 7
are dead. The first phase of the mooted deal is reported to provide for
the release of 40 of the living hostages, including women, children, the
elderly and the sick, in the course of a six-week truce, and in
exchange for some 400 Palestinian security prisoners. The outline
reportedly provides for negotiations on the further phased release of
the remaining hostages, living and dead, in return for longer pauses in
the fighting and many more Palestinian prisoner releases.On Sunday
afternoon, a Hamas official told CNN that the group will not agree to a
deal without Israel consenting to an end to the war in Gaza, a
non-starter for Israel.Citing “a highly placed source” in the terror
group, CNN reported that the two other areas of disagreement holding up a
deal are the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, and Gazan civilians
being allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip.Speaking to troops of
the 98th Division on the Gaza border on Sunday, Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant said Israel will not end the war in until Hamas is completely
dismantled.
“There is no one to help the terrorists, it’s only a
matter of our decision of what we take care of first and what second,”
he said. “We will not end this war without eliminating Hamas. There will
be no such situation. There will be no Hamas as a ruling organization.
It will take the time it takes.”Earlier in the day, a senior Hamas
official had claimed that a ceasefire in Gaza could be secured within
“24 to 48 hours” if Israel were to accept the terror group’s demands in
ongoing talks.“If Israel agrees to Hamas demands, which include the
return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza and increasing
humanitarian aid, that would pave the way for an agreement within the
next 24 to 48 hours,” the unnamed Hamas official told AFP, as a
delegation of its officials arrived in Cairo for talks.The official
added that Hamas had demanded the entry of “at least 400 to 500 trucks
per day” carrying food, medicine and fuel as part of a truce deal.The
Hamas official’s claim that Israel is the party responsible for delaying
the elusive deal contradicted comments by a senior US official, who
said on Saturday that Israel had agreed to the framework for a six-week
pause in fighting, which now depended on Hamas agreeing to release the
hostages.Despite charging that Israel’s unwillingness to accept the
terror group’s demands was the reason a deal hasn’t progressed, a Hamas
official told the UK-based Qatari outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that it will
not provide any further details on the hostages without Israel paying a
“big price” for it.“A big price must be paid in terms of alleviating
the suffering of the people of Gaza and establishing a ceasefire,” he
told the news outlet, signaling that the group was not prepared to
accede to the demand.The Hamas delegation to Cairo is being led by
senior leader Khalil al-Haya, an unnamed source told AFP.“The delegation
will meet Egyptian mediators and deliver the group’s response to the
new Paris proposal,” the source said, in reference to negotiations held
last month in the French capital with Israel’s presence.Also said to be
in attendance are delegations from the United States and Qatar.Hopes of a
successful deal as a result of the ongoing negotiations rose last week
following a previous round of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt in Doha,
and cautious indications from Biden that an agreement was close. On
Friday, however, Biden acknowledged that a deal remains elusive for now,
but said he still hopes it will be finalized by Ramadan.Hamas has not
backed away from its position that a temporary truce must be the start
of a process towards ending the war altogether, Egyptian sources and a
Hamas official said Saturday. Israel has said it will not accept such
terms.Should a deal be reached, it would be the second of its kind since
the terror onslaught carried out by Hamas in southern Israel on October
7. The first was a weeklong truce in late November that brought about
the release of 105 civilians from Hamas captivity in exchange for 240
Palestinian security prisoners.It is believed that 130 hostages abducted
by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after
the November truce and the recovery of several other hostages and
bodies.The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday that the
death toll in the war had surpassed 30,400 people, with an additional
71,700 people having been injured.The terror group’s figures are
unverified, do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, and
list all the fatalities as caused by Israel — even those believed to
have been caused by hundreds of misfired rockets or otherwise by
Palestinian fire.Israel has said it killed an estimated 13,000 Hamas
members in Gaza fighting, in addition to some 1,000 killed in Israel in
the aftermath of the terror group’s invasion and massacre of more than
1,200 people.On Sunday, the IDF said that it had carried out a wave of
airstrikes against some 50 Hamas targets in western Khan Younis within
just six minutes overnight to enable ground troops of the 98th Division
to maneuver into new areas of the city in the southern Gaza
Strip.Agencies and Emmanuel Fabian contributed to this report
A
week before Ramadan, IDF and police set to hash out Temple Mount
security plan-Security establishment said considering allowing access
for Arab Israeli, East Jerusalem, West Bank worshipers, in light of Shin
Bit recommendations against harsh limits-By ToI Staff 3 March 2024,
11:53 pm
Israeli security chiefs were meeting Sunday to discuss
security plans for the Temple Mount in Jerusalem over Ramadan, given
concerns that the Muslim holy month could amplify tensions stemming from
the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to Hebrew media
reports, including Ynet and Maariv.The discussion between IDF Chief of
Staff Herzi Halevi, Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai, and Shin Ben chief
Ronen Bar came a week ahead of the start of Ramadan, set for March
10.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet with National
Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Shabtai on Monday to hear their
recommendations on what restrictions to enact, alongside discussions
between Shin Bet security agency and IDF officials.Ben Gvir has sought
to impose sweeping restrictions to prevent West Bank Palestinians from
praying at the Temple Mount during Ramadan, and is even reportedly
pushing for banning Arab Israeli citizens below the age of 70 from
visiting the site amid the month of fasting, citing the security
situation.Other defense officials have warned such restrictions could
serve to greatly inflame tensions.The Walla news site reported that Ben
Gvir and the police chief had agreed over the past 24 hours to recommend
some restrictions on worshipers attending prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque on
the Temple Mount over Ramadan. The police chief reportedly backs
allowing entry for both Arab Israelis and West Bank Palestinians, while
limiting numbers for safety reasons.The Shin Bet security agency and the
IDF are believed to oppose harsh restrictions over the month of
Ramadan, fearing they could stir unrest, as attempts to restrict Muslim
access to the holy site, especially during holidays, have sparked
clashes in the past.Walla news added that Ben Gvir supported limiting
the number of worshipers allowed on the Temple Mount to a few thousand
at a time, to enable police to quickly respond, should any violent
disturbances break out.Exact numbers were expected to be discussed in
the Monday meeting.A police statement quoted by Walla said that the
force’s position would be presented to the leadership “and not via the
media.”Police will “continue to do everything in its power to maintain
the balance between freedom of worship and public peace and security,”
the statement added.The Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism,
where two biblical Temples once stood, and the third-holiest site in
Islam, making it a central flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.Hundreds of thousands of Muslims crowd the site for prayers
each Ramadan, as religious fervor is heightened. While Israel has
imposed restrictions on Palestinian access during times of heightened
security tensions, it has refrained from imposing those rules on the
country’s Muslim minority.Officials have expressed worries that the
sensitive period could amplify tensions stemming from the war in Gaza —
sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacres — which has ignited worldwide
Muslim anger toward Israel.In February, a US official and an Israeli
official told The Times of Israel that the Biden administration was
highly concerned that Ben Gvir, through his policies and actions, could
spark unrest at the Temple Mount during Ramadan.Jacob Magid contributed
to this report.
Gallant vows war won't end without eliminating
Hamas-Gaza airstrike takes out senior Hamas recruiter as IDF raises
troop death toll to 246-Sgt. Maj. (res.) Dennis Yekimov, 33, killed in
Khan Younis Saturday; military wraps up 2-week operation to retake
previously conquered Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City-By Emanuel
Fabian,Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 1:35 am-MAR 4,24
The Israel
Defense Forces on Sunday announced the death of a soldier killed during
fighting in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis the day before, the
latest loss for an infantry brigade rotated into Gaza late last week.The
death of Sgt. Maj. (res.) Dennis Yekimov, 33, Yekimov’s death brought
the number of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas to 246,
as fierce fighting continued to rage in several parts of the Strip,
even as the army said it had ended a two-week operation to re-clear a
previously captured Gaza City neighborhood.Yekimov, from Beersheba, was
part of the Bislamach Brigade, which lost three soldiers in Khan Younis
on Saturday when they entered a booby-trapped building in the city.
Another 14 soldiers were injured, six of them seriously, in the
blast.Yekimov, who was buried Sunday, was mourned by his young daughter
who called him “the best dad in the world.”Yekimov’s brother Igor
promised the family would “protect your little daughter like you
protected us.”“Words can’t describe what you were for us. You were
killed defending the homeland. Like a real hero. You were a role model.
We will always take care of your girl,” he said at the funeral.The
Bislamach Brigade — the IDF’s School for Infantry Corps Professions and
Squad Commanders in wartime — entered Gaza on Thursday to replace the
Paratroopers Brigade, which was withdrawn after three straight months of
fighting in Khan Younis.Fighting in the Strip has shown little sign of
slowing despite claims of gains in the southern Gaza city, and intense
international efforts for a temporary ceasefire before Israel’s ground
offensive expands to the southern city of Rafah.In central Gaza, the IDF
and Shin Bet said an airstrike Sunday morning took out Mahmoud Muhammad
Abed Khad, who had led Hamas recruitment efforts, specifically to the
terror group’s Zeitoun Battalion.The IDF and Shin Bet said Khad was also
involved in raising funds for Hamas military activity.The IDF published
video it said showed the strike on Khad as he traveled in a
vehicle.Palestinians in central Gaza said a truck hit by a drone had
been carrying aid, a claim denied by the Israeli military, though it was
unclear if it was the same strike that killed Khad.“It was hit by a
drone with one missile,” turning several people “into pieces,” said
Haytham al-Quraan, as he examined the remains. “They were delivering aid
to the south. Then it was hit again by a second missile.”The
Palestinian Red Crescent said crews “transferred five martyrs” and four
injured “due to targeting a truck by an Israeli drone.”Contacted about
the incident, the military told AFP: “It was not an aid truck that was
struck,” but did not elaborate.Further north, the IDF said it had
wrapped up a two-week-long raid in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood,
after troops were redeployed to the area to prevent terrorists from
retaking control of the area the IDF had said it had conquered earlier
in the war.The army said at least 113 “terror operatives” were killed in
the operation, during which troops destroyed some 35 Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets, including weapon depots and
manufacturing sites, tunnel infrastructure, rocket launching sites with
hundreds of launchers, and a site belonging to the commander of the Gaza
City Brigade, Izz ad-Din Haddad, according to the IDF.It was unclear if
the sites had been re-established or left intact by the IDF following
its first sweep of the area months earlier.Dozens more terror suspects
were captured, the army said, accusing Hamas gunmen of hiding among the
civilian population in Zeitoun.Hamas gunmen are operating in Zeitoun
without a “military framework,” and in relatively small cells, according
to the IDF, after the military said it dismantled the terror group’s
battalions in the area in the early stages of the ground offensive.Four
soldiers were killed over the course of the operation, as troops were
targeted with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and explosive
devices amid the operations. According to the IDF, most of the attacks
on troops in Zeitoun occurred during the day, rather than at
night.Airstrikes continued to pound areas of southern Gaza, with an AFP
correspondent reporting several air strikes in southern Gaza’s Rafah and
Khan Younis late Sunday.The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on
Sunday that the death toll in the war had surpassed 30,400 people, with
an additional 71,700 people having been injured.The terror group’s
figures are unverified, don’t differentiate between civilians and
combatants, and list all the fatalities as caused by Israel — even those
believed to have been caused by hundreds of misfired rockets or
otherwise by Palestinian fire.Israel has said it killed some 13,000
Hamas members in Gaza fighting, in addition to some 1,000 killed in
Israel in the aftermath of the terror group’s invasion of southern
Israel.War erupted on October 7 when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists
launched a brutal assault on southern communities, slaughtering some
1,200 people and kidnapping 253 people to Gaza.Israel says it will
continue fighting in Gaza until it has eliminated Hamas and all hostages
are returned. However, international calls for a ceasefire or temporary
truce have gained traction in recent weeks as the civilian death toll
has risen, and a humanitarian crisis has worsened.Speaking to troops of
the 98th Division on the Gaza border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
vowed Israel will not end the war in the Gaza Strip until Hamas is
completely dismantled.“We will not end this war without eliminating
Hamas. There will be no such situation. There will be no Hamas as a
ruling organization. It will take the time it takes,” he said.At a
morgue outside a Rafah hospital on Sunday morning, women wept and wailed
beside rows of bodies of the Abu Anza family, 14 of whom were killed in
their home in an airstrike overnight, they said. Relatives opened a
black plastic body bag to kiss the face of a dead schoolgirl in a torn
sweatshirt and pink unicorn pajamas.Later, the bodies were brought to a
graveyard and buried, including two infant twins, a boy, and a girl,
passed down in white bundles and placed in the ground.“My heart is
gone,” wailed their mother, Rania Abu Anza, who also lost her husband in
the attack. “I haven’t had enough time with them.”At least 16 children
have died of malnutrition in recent days as “famine spreads” in Gaza’s
north, said a spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry.The UN has
said it is becoming more difficult to distribute aid inside Gaza. The
flow of aid from Egypt has almost dried up in the past two weeks, and a
collapse in security has made it increasingly difficult to distribute
the food that does get through, according to UN data and
officials.Israel, which checks all trucks entering Gaza from both the
Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings, has blamed the United Nations for not
delivering the aid fast enough after they are cleared, and for leading
to a general fall-off in deliveries over the past month.Officials are
also seeking ways to deliver aid to northern Gaza, after a convoy that
entered the area early Thursday was embroiled in a chaotic melee in
which dozens of Palestinians died and hundreds more were wounded, with
Hamas accusing Israel of opening fire on hungry Gazans.The IDF maintains
many of the casualties were trampled in a chaotic crush for the aid,
and that troops only fired at a few individuals who rushed toward them
in a threatening manner.Intense efforts by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to
broker a temporary ceasefire and hostage release deal before the
beginning of Ramadan this month in about a week appeared to hit a snag
on Sunday when Israel did not send a negotiating team to Cairo.The move
came after Hamas refused to provide a list of living hostages and to
lock down how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for every
hostage freed as part of the talks.
Gallant says IDF troops will not leave Gaza ‘without eliminating Hamas’By Emanuel Fabian-MAR 3,24
Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel will not end the war in the Gaza
Strip until Hamas is completely dismantled.“There is no one to help the
terrorists, it’s only a matter of our decision of what we take care of
first and what second,” says Gallant to troops of the 98th Division on
the Gaza border.“We will not end this war without eliminating Hamas.
There will be no such situation. There will be no Hamas as a ruling
organization. It will take the time it takes,” he adds.
IDF says sirens in north were caused by ‘suspicious aerial object’ from Lebanon-By Emanuel Fabian-MAR 3,24
Sirens
sounded in the Upper Galilee a short while ago due to a “suspicious
aerial target” that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon, the IDF
says.An interceptor missile was fired at the target, the IDF says,
adding that the incident is over.Sirens had sounded in the communities
of Gadot, Yesod Hama’ala, Sde Eliezer, Amuka, Hulata, Mishmar HaYarden
and Ayelet HaShahar.
Hamas source to CNN: No hostage deal without agreement to end war-By Lazar Berman-MAR 3,24
Hamas
will not agree to a hostage deal without Israel consenting to an end to
the war in Gaza, CNN reports, citing “a highly placed source” in the
terrorist group.The two other areas of disagreement holding up a deal
are the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, and Gazan civilians being
allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip, adds the Hamas source.The
official also tells CNN that Hamas is demanding a certain amount of aid
be allowed into both the southern and northern Strip before the
organization agrees to a deal.
IDF says it killed over 100 Hamas gunmen in 2-week operation in Gaza City’s Zeitoun-By Emanuel Fabian-MAR 3,24
The
IDF says it has wrapped up a two-week-long raid in Gaza City’s Zeitoun
neighborhood, during which troops of the 401st Armored Brigade and
additional forces of the 162nd Division destroyed Hamas and Palestinian
Islamic Jihad sites and killed more than 100 operatives.Some 35 sites
were located and destroyed during the operation, including weapon depots
and manufacturing sites, tunnel infrastructure, rocket launching sites
with hundreds of launchers, and a site belonging to the commander of the
Gaza City Brigade, Izz ad-Din Haddad, according to the IDF.Using
drones, the IDF says the 401st Brigade identified and captured dozens of
Hamas operatives, who, following interrogations, provided intelligence
information. Some of the Hamas gunmen were hiding among the civilian
population in Zeitoun, according to the IDF.The brigade killed at least
113 Hamas operatives in Zeitoun over the past two weeks, the IDF says,
those that troops were able to identify with the naked eye or using
drones.The Hamas gunmen are operating in Zeitoun without a “military
framework,” and in relatively small cells, according to the IDF, after
the military says it dismantled the terror group’s battalions in the
area in the early stages of the ground offensive.Troops came under
gunfire, RPG fire and explosive devices amid the operations, with at
least four soldiers being killed and several more wounded. According to
the IDF, most of the attacks on troops in Zeitoun occurred during the
day, rather than at night.In one incident, the IDF says a Hamas cell
fired anti-tank missiles from a close range at troops. An Israeli Air
Force drone spotted and struck the cell, killing several of the
operatives, while others were spotted fleeing in an ambulance, the IDF
says.
In another incident, the brigade called in an airstrike against
a building from which a Hamas sniper was shooting at troops.The raid in
Zeitoun was the 401st Brigade’s fourth operation in Gaza, previously
battling Hamas in Beit Lahiya, then in the Daraj and Tuffah
neighborhoods of Gaza City, before a raid in the Rimal and Shati
neighborhoods. The IDF will soon decide where to send the brigade for
its next mission.
Hamas refuses to provide info on wellbeing of
hostages as Cairo talks commence-With delegations preparing for another
round of negotiations, IDF says it hit some 50 targets belonging to the
terror group in western Khan Younis overnight-By Emanuel Fabian,ToI
Staff and Agencies Today, 12:11 pm-MAR 3,24
A senior Hamas
official claimed on Sunday that a ceasefire in Gaza could be secured
within “24 to 48 hours” if Israel were to accept the terror group’s
demands in ongoing talks, which have reportedly stalled as Hamas refuses
to provide Israel with a list of hostages who are still alive.“If
Israel agrees to Hamas demands, which include the return of displaced
Palestinians to northern Gaza and increasing humanitarian aid, that
would pave the way for a (truce) agreement within the next 24 to 48
hours,” the unnamed Hamas official told AFP as a delegation of its
officials arrived in Cairo for talks on a potential temporary truce and
hostage deal.The official added that Hamas had demanded the entry of “at
least 400 to 500 trucks per day” carrying food, medicine and fuel as
part of a truce deal.The Hamas official’s claim that Israel is the party
responsible for delaying the elusive deal contradicted comments by a
senior US official, who said on Saturday that Israel had agreed to the
framework for a six-week pause in fighting, which now depended on Hamas
agreeing to release the hostages.An Israeli delegation is expected to
arrive in the Egyptian capital later on Sunday as well, although a
source briefed on the talks reiterated that Israel would not send a team
until it received the list of live hostages it demanded.Despite
charging that Israel’s unwillingness to accept the terror group’s
demands was the reason a deal hasn’t progressed, a Hamas official told
the UK-based Qatari outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that it will not provide
any further details on the hostages without Israel paying a “big price”
for it.“A big price must be paid in terms of alleviating the suffering
of the people of Gaza and establishing a ceasefire,” he told the news
outlet, signaling that the group was not prepared to accede to the
demand.The Hamas delegation to Cairo is being led by senior leader
Khalil al-Haya, an unnamed source told AFP.“The delegation will meet
Egyptian mediators and deliver the group’s response to the new Paris
proposal,” the source said, in reference to negotiations held last month
in the French capital with Israel’s presence.Also said to be in
attendance are delegations from the United States and Qatar.Hope of a
successful deal as a result of the ongoing negotiations rose last week
following a previous round of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt in Doha,
and cautious indications from US President Joe Biden that an agreement
was close. On Friday, however, Biden acknowledged that a deal remains
elusive for now, but said he still hopes it will be finalized by the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which will start on March 10 or 11,
depending on the lunar calendar.Should a deal be reached, it would be
the second of its kind since the terror onslaught carried out by Hamas
in southern Israel on October 7. The first was a weeklong truce in late
November that brought about the release of 105 civilians from Hamas
captivity in exchange for 240 Palestinian security prisoners.It is
believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza
— not all of them alive — after the November truce and the release of
four other hostages prior to it.Three hostages have been rescued by
troops alive, and the bodies of 11 hostages have been recovered,
including three mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed
the deaths of 31 of those still held by Hamas and one more person has
been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still
unknown.Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and
Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the
Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015, respectively, as well as the
bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since
2014.The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday that the death
toll in the war had surpassed 30,400 people, with an additional 71,700
people having been injured.The terror group’s figures are unverified,
don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, and list all the
fatalities as caused by Israel — even those believed to have been caused
by hundreds of misfired rockets or otherwise by Palestinian fire.Israel
has said it killed some 13,000 Hamas members in Gaza fighting, in
addition to some 1,000 killed in Israel in the aftermath of the terror
group’s invasion and massacre of some 1,200 people.On Sunday, the IDF
said that it had carried out a wave of airstrikes against some 50 Hamas
targets in western Khan Younis within just six minutes overnight in
order to enable ground troops of the 98th Division to maneuver into new
areas of the city in the southern Gaza Strip.According to the IDF, the
targets included underground infrastructure, buildings used by Hamas,
anti-tank launch positions, booby-trapped buildings, and staging grounds
where operatives were gathered.After the wave of strikes, the 98th
Division “began a surprise assault on the area, during which the troops
raided terror targets and eliminated terrorists,” the IDF said, and
added that intensive fighting was ongoing on Sunday morning.Meanwhile,
in central Gaza, the IDF said the Nahal Brigade killed dozens of Hamas
operatives over the past day, some of them by calling in airstrikes, and
captured weapons.Following a deadly incident in northern Gaza on
Thursday in which more than 100 Palestinians were reportedly killed and
hundreds more wounded while swarming aid trucks in Gaza City, IDF
spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari reiterated on Sunday the IDF’s
commitment to ensuring that civilians in hard-to-reach areas of Gaza
have access to humanitarian aid.In an English-language video statement,
Hagari said that the IDF coordinated a total of 21 airdrops in the Gaza
Strip in recent weeks, carried out by the United States, Jordan, France,
the UAE, and Egypt.Between the countries, more than 450 packages of
food and medical aid were dropped over the Strip and distributed to
civilians in need. The latest airdrop was carried out on Saturday by the
US and Jordan.Three Biden administration officials confirmed after the
airdrop that the planes had distributed military “meals ready to eat”
(MREs) in locations that were thought would provide civilians with the
greatest level of safety to access aid. Afterward, the US monitored the
sites and was able to see civilians approach and distribute food among
themselves, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity to provide additional details that had not been made
public.“We will continue expanding our humanitarian efforts to the
civilian population in Gaza while we fulfill our goals of freeing our
hostages from Hamas and freeing Gaza from Hamas,” said Hagari.
Official:
Hamas won’t give list of living hostages, Israel not sending team to
Cairo today-IDF says 50 Hamas targets hit in 6 minutes in overnight Khan
Younis airstrikes * Israeli embassy in US said told not to facilitate
Gantz trip-By ToI Staff and Ricky Ben-David-Today, 3:41 am-MAR 3,24
Official: Hamas refuses to supply list of living hostages, Israel won’t send team to Cairo talks today-By Lazar Berman-MAR 3,24
Israel
received an answer from Hamas about the framework for a hostage deal
hammered out in Paris last weekend, but the Gaza-based terror
organization refused to address Jerusalem’s demand to receive a list of
living hostages and how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release
for every hostage freed, an Israeli official tells The Times of
Israel.In the wake of the unsatisfactory response, Israel is not sending
a delegation to Cairo today, says the official.
Abbas to visit Turkey for talks with Ergdogan on Israel-Hamas war, Palestinian reconciliation-By Agencies and ToI Staff-MAR 3,24
Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Turkey on Tuesday for
talks about Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and reconciliation
efforts between Palestinian factions, the Turkish foreign minister
says.The visit comes as intensive diplomacy is underway to pause the
fighting and secure a deal to release hostages.Egypt, Qatar and the
United States have mediated in weeks of talks to secure a temporary
truce by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in a
week.Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says: “There is a serious
desire and effort to reach a ceasefire before Ramadan,” in closing
remarks to an annual diplomacy forum in the Mediterranean holiday resort
of Antalya.Fidan confirms that Abbas will visit the Turkish capital
Ankara at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a vocal
advocate of the Palestinian cause.The leaders will discuss “the
developments in Palestine, the current course of the war as well as the
intra-Palestinian” dialogue, Fidan says.Israel has publicly opposed a
possible PA return to Gaza after it was booted from the Strip by the
Hamas terror group in a bloody coup in 2007.
Houthis vow to keep targeting UK ships for ‘sponsoring crimes against civilians in Gaza’By Reuters-MAR 3,24
Yemen’s
Iran-backed Houthis vow to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf
of Aden following the sinking of UK-owned vessel Rubymar.The US
military confirmed on Saturday that the UK-owned vessel Rubymar had sunk
after being struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Yemeni
Houthi militants on Feb. 18.“Yemen will continue to sink more British
ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britain’s
bill,” Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister in the Houthi-led
government, says in a post on X.“It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen
and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians
in Gaza,” he claims.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Iran
claims it executed Mossad ‘terrorist’ for drone attack on Isfahan arms
facility-State TV says supposed spy ‘planned to explode the workshop
complex of the Ministry of Defense’ in January 2023 strike blamed on
Israel; details of execution not released-By AFP and ToI Staff 3 March
2024, 10:08 pm
Iran’s judiciary has executed a “terrorist” over a
drone attack that targeted a defense ministry site in central Iran last
year, state media reported on Sunday.According to state TV, the person
“planned to explode the workshop complex of the Ministry of Defense in
Isfahan under guidance of the intelligence officer of Mossad,” Israel’s
spy agency.The date of the execution and the identity of the accused
person were not immediately clear.The site hit in the January 2023
strike was reportedly a weapons production facility for Iran’s kamikaze
Shahed-136 drones.Isfahan is also a known hub for Tehran’s missile
industry and is where the Shahab medium-range missile — which has a
range capable of hitting Israel — is assembled.Iran also has several
known nuclear research sites in the Isfahan region, including a uranium
conversion plant. The country’s sanction-hit nuclear program has been
the target of sabotage, assassinations of scientists and
cyber-attacks.Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out several covert
actions on its soil.Iran’s intelligence ministry said in February 2023
that it had arrested the “main actors” involved in the drone attack on
the defense ministry site in Isfahan.The previous month, an
anti-aircraft system destroyed a drone, and two others exploded during
an attack on a defense ministry facility in the province, officials said
at the time.According to the defense ministry, the nighttime attack
left no casualties and only caused minor damage.Authorities did not
elaborate on activities at the site, but IRNA said the strike had
targeted “an ammunition manufacturing plant.”Iran and Israel are
longtime foes and are currently locked in a row over Iran’s nuclear
program. Israel accuses Iran of backing terrorist attacks against it,
while Iran says Israel has carried out a number of killings of Iranian
officials and scientists. Israel neither confirms nor denies such
actions.In August last year, Iran claimed to have foiled a “very
complex” Mossad-initiated project to “sabotage” its ballistic missile
industry.In January, Iran hanged four members of its Kurdish minority on
charges of spying for Israel. They were convicted of collaborating with
Israel on a plan to sabotage an Iranian defense site in Isfahan.
Iranian
media: Hardline conservatives secure bulk of parliamentary seats in
elections-Official IRNA news agency puts turnout at around 41% in first
vote since outbreak of protests over death of Mahsa Amini in September
2022; authorities still counting ballots-By AFP 3 March 2024, 8:35 pm
Iranian
conservatives secured the bulk of seats in elections for a key clerical
body and the national legislature, local media reported Sunday,
estimating a record low turnout.Authorities were still counting ballots
two days after Friday’s vote for members of parliament and for the
Assembly of Experts, which selects the Islamic Republic’s supreme
leader.The vote was the first since protests broke out over the
September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, 22, an Iranian Kurd who had ben
arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.The
election, in which a vetting process barred many hopefuls from running,
took place with Iran suffering a severe economic crisis deepened by
international sanctions.The official IRNA news agency put the turnout at
around “41 percent” among 61 million eligible voters. No official
figure had yet been announced.The reformist daily Shargh predicted the
next parliament would be “in the hands of radical conservatives,” who
“took advantage of the opportunity created by the low
participation.”Etemad, another reformist newspaper, reported that
turnout was lower in Iran’s bigger cities than its smaller ones, and
that there was a significant number of “blank votes.”Fears of a low
turnout had swirled ahead of the elections after a state TV poll found
more than half of respondents were indifferent about the
elections.‘Wake-up call’ Turnout in the capital Tehran was around 25%,
according to Iranian media, which reported that ultraconservative
candidates secured 12 of the 30 parliament seats allotted to the
capital.Some seats have gone to a second round, which will take place in
either April or May, IRNA reported.The pro-government Iran Daily said
authorities should see the low turnout as a “wake-up call and redouble
their efforts to fortify their support base.”Reformist daily Ham Mihan
said that “the soul of the elections was lost” and that turnout was “far
from victorious” which could have “political repercussions” for Iran’s
system.Political analyst Mohammad Mohajeri said conservatives and
ultraconservatives will emerge as the main winner in the elections due
to “sharp decline in the participation rate.”A record figure of 15,200
hopefuls were competing for seats in the 290-member parliament.Another
144 candidates sought a place in the 88-member Assembly of Experts,
which is exclusively made up of male Islamic scholars.By allowing a
large pool of candidates, the government wanted “to create local
competition and increase participation” to help attract voters,
journalist Maziar Khosravi earlier told AFP.Iran’s 2020 parliament was
elected during the Covid pandemic with a turnout of 42.57% — at the time
the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Former moderate Iranian
president Hassan Rouhani cast his ballot on Friday despite his
disqualification from running for the Assembly of Experts after 24 years
of membership.Another former president, the reformist Mohammad Khatami,
was among those who did not vote, according to a coalition of parties
called the Reform Front.In February, Khatami had said on his official
website that Iran is “very far from free and competitive elections.”
Equal
but different: The specific health considerations of female combat
soldiers-While serving on the front lines against Hamas alongside their
male IDF comrades, women must contend with the medical realities of
their biology-By Renee Ghert-Zand-3 March 2024, 8:37 pm
Late last
year, the Israel Defense Forces saw a huge spike in female conscripts
seeking to join combat units during the war in the Gaza Strip that began
on October 7.The number of women enlisting in combat units has
increased in recent years as successful legal petitions to the High
Court for more gender integration in the IDF have led to female recruits
being allowed to compete for acceptance to some elite units
historically closed to women.While women are proving in many cases that
they are men’s equals on the battlefield, health professionals say there
is no getting around the fact that women’s biology and physiology
differ from those of men.A session during an online conference on
women’s health during the war hosted by the Israeli nonprofit
organization Nogafem on February 29 focused on the health and hygiene
challenges particular to female soldiers, especially during long,
intense periods of military engagement.“Sometimes we are talking about
women not being able to shower for a month,” said Dr. Tili Fisher Yosef,
a primary care specialist with Maccabi Healthcare Services and a
lecturer at Tel Aviv University Medical School.Even when soldiers wear
cotton underwear and try to stay as clean and dry as possible, itchy or
painful vaginal irritations and discharges can happen.“With vaginitis in
the field, you can’t take a swab as would be done in a doctor’s office
and do a culture in the lab to see whether there is indeed an infection,
and if so whether it is caused by yeast, bacteria, or something else,”
said Dr. Itamar Netzer, a gynecologist and medical administrator with
Clalit Health Services.With yeast being the most likely culprit, Netzer
recommended that female fighters in the field try treating it with one-
or three-day courses of anti-fungal vaginal suppositories. These
prescription treatments can be obtained through the military health
service or a private doctor.Netzer said that female soldiers who suffer
from frequent yeast infections can take oral anti-fungal drugs, such as
fluconazole tablets, as a preventive measure before heading into
situations that make it hard to practice good, regular hygiene.Yosef
pointed out that what might feel like a vaginal or a urinary tract
infection may only be a very uncomfortable external irritation caused by
moisture and constant rubbing from the crotch area of the
uniform.“Before using prescription medications, it’s best to first try
diaper cream, over-the-counter topical anti-fungal cream, or absorbent
powder. These may be enough to clear up the problem,” Yosef said.For
fungal irritations that can show up under the breasts due to excess
moisture, the doctors recommended cotton bras that breathe. The powder
can soak up the sweat and anti-fungal cream used to treat a
rash.Regardless of the specific suggestions, the physicians’ underlying
message was that soldiers should think and prepare ahead, making sure
that they bring with them whatever supplies they may need.While
irritations and infections may not affect every female soldier, all must
think about how they want to handle their menstrual period when they
are heading into combat or training in the field.“Depending on what a
female soldier’s job is in the IDF, she needs to think about whether she
wants to have regular periods, stop her period during her active
service, or stop it only temporarily while it is inconvenient,” Netzer
said.These are decisions that a female soldier should make in
consultation with her doctor.“One option is to take combined
contraceptive pills in a certain way, but this doesn’t always work and
it isn’t for everyone. You have to think about side effects,” Netzer
said.Yosef suggested the option of taking a medication, such as
norethisterone, to delay one’s period. Like birth control pills, this
approach has pros and cons.“It’s important to remember that the drugs
that delay the onset of a period do not prevent pregnancy, and it is
recommended that they only be taken for a few months at a time and then
go off them,” she said.Having an IUD inserted is a possibility for a
young woman wanting long-term birth control, no periods, or both.
However, it is not something particularly relevant to a soldier who is
looking to stop her period for only several months — usually, the amount
of time that it takes to get used to having an IUD in the first
place.For some women, the two weeks between ovulation and menstruation
are characterized by premenstrual syndrome (PMS), with symptoms such as
bloating, headaches, and breast tenderness. These same women may also
have premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which causes severe
anxiety, depression, and mood changes.Soldiers who generally experience
PMS or PMDD may want to consider a solution that would prevent these
syndromes from interfering with their performance.“Birth control pills
can help alleviate the symptoms, but again, side effects need to be
considered,” Netzer said.Yosef said that low doses of drugs widely used
to treat depression and anxiety, such as selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRIs) could be helpful if titrated properly and the right
days in a woman’s cycle to take them determined.“These are prescription
drugs, and this must be done under the care of the soldier’s doctor in
the community or an IDF doctor,” Yosef emphasized.Yosef addressed the
question of how the lifting of military equipment and carrying of heavy
packs affects the health of women’s pelvic floor.According to Yosef,
research conducted by the IDF found that there was no negative impact on
female combat soldiers’ pelvises.“It doesn’t appear that the weight has
caused urine leakage. Interestingly, pelvic floor problems and urine
leakage were found to be more of an issue among female surveillance
soldiers, who sit for hours on end in front of computer screens,” she
said.It’s not just physically that female soldiers have proven their
mettle in fighting alongside males.“There is no data yet comparing PTSD
in men and women IDF soldiers from the current war. However, past data
shows that female soldiers adapt well psychologically,” Yosef said.Times
of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Zelensky urges Western air defence as Russian attacks kill 11-by AFP Staff Writers-Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) March 3, 2024
Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday called on the West to rapidly
deliver more air-defence systems as a wave of Russian missile, drone and
artillery strikes killed at least 11 people.Eight were confirmed dead,
including a child and a baby, after an overnight drone strike on the
southern port city of Odesa, a regional official said.Separate shelling
attacks on the frontline regions of Kharkiv in the northeast and Kherson
and Zaporizhzhia in the south killed another three people, Ukrainian
officials said."Russia continues to hit civilians," Zelensky said in a
post on social media."We need more air defences from our partners. We
need to strengthen the Ukrainian air shield to add more protection for
our people from Russian terror. More air-defence systems and more
missiles for air-defence systems save lives."Ukraine is currently on the
back foot in the two-year war as a crucial $60 billion aid package is
held up in the United States Congress.In Odesa, "a nine-storey building
was destroyed as a result of an attack by Russian terrorists", Interior
Minister Igor Klymenko said in a Telegram post Saturday.Around 10 people
were still unaccounted for, with almost 100 rescuers set to continue a
search and rescue operation overnight.Footage from the scene showed
several floors of a residential building collapsed and its facade ripped
off.Ukraine's air force said falling debris from Russian drones it had
shot down fell onto residential buildings in both Odesa and Kharkiv.-
'Difficult situation' -The attacks came as Russia sought to press its
advantage on the battlefield.Kyiv has acknowledged that it is heavily
outgunned and outnumbered, facing ammunition shortages and aid
delays.Half of all promised Western ammunition arrives late, the defence
minister has said.Russian forces have advanced westwards following last
month's capture of the key eastern town of Avdiivka, seizing several
small villages in recent days.Visiting frontline military posts on
Saturday, Ukraine's new Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said "the
situation at the front remains difficult, but controlled".Kyiv appeared
to have launched its own overnight drone attack, with the Russian
defence ministry claiming early on Sunday to have shot down 38 drones
over the occupied territory of Crimea.An apparent Ukrainian drone also
damaged a residential building a day earlier in Saint Petersburg,
Russia's second-largest city.Videos on Russian social media showed what
appeared to be a drone spiralling downwards into the building,
triggering an explosion that blew out windows and caused small fires.The
city's National Guard division said its preliminary assumption was that
the damage was caused by a "falling drone".Ukrainian media reported
that the drone was shot down by Russia's air defences while targeting an
oil depot around a kilometre from the crash site.Kyiv has hit several
Russian oil facilities in recent months in what it has called fair
retribution for Moscow's attacks on Ukraine's power grid.Russia's
Investigative Committee said separately that four of its officials had
been wounded when a Ukrainian drone dropped explosives over the Bryansk
border region.Russia also expressed outrage at a leak of confidential
German army talks in which officers allegedly discussed missile strikes
on the annexed Crimean peninsula.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on
Saturday promised a full investigation after the head of Russia's
state-run RT outlet posted the alleged leaked recording on social
media.A spokeswoman for the German defence ministry confirmed on
Saturday that a secret air force conversation had been tapped, but that
they could not say for certain whether any changes had been made to the
conversation in the leaked audio file.Russia's foreign ministry demanded
a "prompt" explanation from Berlin, while Moscow's top diplomat Sergei
Lavrov said it showed Ukraine's European backers were intent on
inflicting a "strategic defeat" on Russia on the battlefield.
Macron breaks taboo on Western troops in Ukraine-Paris, Feb 27 (AFP) Feb 27, 2024
French
President Emmanuel Macron has smashed a major taboo by floating the
possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine, raising the stakes in a
showdown with a nuclear-armed Russia.Hosting a conference of European
leaders on Monday night, the French leader refused to rule out the
dispatch of Western troops to Ukraine as Russia's invasion stretches
into its third year and Kyiv's military campaign appears to be
faltering."We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win
this war," Macron said.A European military source said that European
allies had been studying the plan for several weeks and the United
States supported the idea.While Macron did not provide any details, the
French foreign ministry said the idea did not foresee French troops
directly fighting against Russian forces in Ukraine.Speaking to
reporters, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said on
Tuesday: "We are talking about training missions, training components.
Training."Former senior NATO official Camille Grand said Macron's
statements were a "major political signal.""The message is threefold: to
the Ukrainians, we are saying that we are prepared to take risks
alongside them. To Russia, this war is very important to us," Grand told
AFP."To the public, the stakes are so high that we can't rule out this
possibility."- 'Good sign' -While Kyiv has not publicly asked the West
to send in troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's aide
Mykhailo Podolyak told AFP Macron's remarks were a "good sign", showing
"a deep understanding of the risks posed to Europe."Monday's remarks
appeared to represent a turnround for Macron, who has for many years
sought to position himself as a top mediator between Russia and
Ukraine.Less than five years ago he hosted Russian leader Vladimir Putin
at his Mediterranean residence and flew into Moscow in February 2022 in
a last-minute bid to halt the dispatch of Russian troops across the
border."This undoubtedly represents a verbal escalation," said French
military historian Michel Goya."But in this arm wrestling match with
Russia, you can't stop at anything, this is a poker game."Alexander
Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, also said
Macron's comments represented a toughening of his stance."Perhaps it's a
form of strategic ambiguity to push Putin to negotiate on Ukrainian
terms," Gabuev told AFP.He pointed out that a small number of Western
troops and volunteers were already on the ground in Ukraine, adding that
he could not imagine French society backing the idea of sending a large
French contingent to fight there.French Defence Minister Sebastien
Lecornu said Macron's statements were not synonymous with escalation."To
say that we're not ruling anything out is neither being weak nor
escalatory," he said.A number of countries including Germany, Britain
and Spain rushed to say they had no plans to send their soldiers to
Ukraine.The Kremlin on Tuesday grimly warned Europe against even
entertaining such an idea, saying that the appearance of NATO troops in
Ukraine would make a direct confrontation with Russia not only possible
but inevitable.In his early-morning address on February 24, 2022 Putin
bluntly warned the West against intervening in Russia's war against
Ukraine, and Western countries have been keen to avoid an escalation.But
observers note that over time many red lines have been crossed over the
Ukraine conflict, pointing to supplies of French and British long-range
cruise missiles, considered unthinkable two years ago.Kyiv says that
Western military support is inadequate, and two years into resisting the
full-scale invasion by its much larger neighbour, Ukraine's troops are
outgunned and exhausted.- 'Ramping up nuclear rhetoric' -Some observers
pointed out that Macron's announcement would only help reinforce the
Kremlin's narrative that Russia is fighting for survival against
NATO-backed Kyiv troops in Ukraine.Fyodor Lukyanov, head of the
Kremlin-linked Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a think tank in
Moscow, said Macron's remarks "will surprise few people in Russia."Since
the start of Moscow's invasion, Putin has made thinly veiled threats
hinting at a willingness to deploy Russia's tactical nuclear weapons,
which Russian military doctrine holds can be used to force an adversary
to retreat.Lukyanov said that the toughening of France's position would
provoke the Kremlin to act tougher."This will give Russia an impetus to
toughen its stance further, ramp up its nuclear rhetoric and increase
reliance on nuclear deterrence as a means of response," he told AFP.
Express
View on Europe and Ukraine: Macron vs Putin-Caught between an
aggressive Russia and an isolationist America, Europe’s moment of
reckoning has come-By: Editorial-March 4, 2024 07:40 IST
Emmanuel
Macron’s suggestion, NATO, russian troops, Ukraine, Kyiv’s defences
against Russian occupation forces, Vladimir Putin, mansukh mandaviya,
indian express newsThe European controversy over Macron’s remarks
reflects the deepening dilemmas of NATO in addressing the current
stalemate in the Ukraine war that entered its third year last
month.French President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that NATO should
consider sending troops to Ukraine to bolster Kyiv’s defences against
Russian occupation forces generated a chorus of protests within the
alliance, including from Europe’s most influential nation, Germany. But
it was the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, unsurprisingly, who came
out all guns blazing against the idea. He issued a dire warning: Any
NATO troop deployment in Ukraine would not only lead to massive military
escalation but also to Russian use of nuclear weapons.The European
controversy over Macron’s remarks reflects the deepening dilemmas of
NATO in addressing the current stalemate in the Ukraine war that entered
its third year last month. A year ago, Europe was betting on a
successful military counter-offensive by Kyiv to push Russian troops out
of Ukraine. Those hopes have dissipated as Russia got its defences
together and is now taking offensive actions. Without enough weapons and
ammunition, Ukraine has had one arm tied behind its back.Meanwhile, the
pressure from the Republican Party across the Atlantic insists Europe
must take responsibility for the Ukraine war. Caught between an
aggressive Russia and an isolationist America, Europe’s moment of
reckoning has come. France’s Macron, who leads the only serious military
power in Western Europe, was responding to that challenge when he said
NATO should not rule out the possibility of sending troops to defend
Ukraine. Much of Europe is paralysed by the fear of escalation and is
not prepared to confront the geopolitical consequences of a Russian
victory, whichever way you define it, in Ukraine.The debate initiated by
Macron is unlikely to subside, for Europe and NATO have to find a way
of preventing further losses for Ukraine. The Russian invasion of
Ukraine has mercilessly exposed European illusions about a post-conflict
continent and revealed its unpreparedness to defend its
territory.European measures to ramp up the production of weapons and
munitions, like the Russian mobilisation of its industry for a war
economy, will not only take time but is also deeply unpopular in a
continent reared in the lap of a generous welfare state.Meanwhile, NATO
has to come to terms with Putin’s nuclear threats that have succeeded in
deterring the West from deploying the full range of military means to
counter Russian aggression. Even as he threatens nuclear escalation,
Putin is inviting NATO for talks on nuclear arms control. He is also
calling for negotiations to end the war and setting the terms for peace
that demand a pro-Russian regime in Kyiv and a neutralised Ukraine. By
simultaneous military and political moves, Putin hopes to deepen
European political divisions. Can Europe hang together? As Macron
reminded the Europeans, “This is a war on our soil and our continent”.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
GENESIS 6:11-13
11
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
LUKE 21:25-26
25
And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in
the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC)
and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION)
the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing
them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of
heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
LUKE 21:11
11
And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and
pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great
signs shall there be from heaven.
SINK HOLES
NUMBERS 16:30-32
30
But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and
swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down
quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have
provoked the LORD.
31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
32
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their
houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their
goods.
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and
the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the
light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of
his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold,
the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the
burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his
tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22
And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED)
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE)
those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID
HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God,
which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him
glory.
EZEKIEL 32:6-9
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7
And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the
stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon
shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9
I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy
destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not
known.
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his
vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every
living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,
which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6
For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints
and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are
worthy.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
through which the
world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water. But by His
word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being
kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.
THE
WORLD CRYS CLIMATE CHANGE FOWL, BUT ITS THE SIN OF THE WORLD THAT GOD
IS JUDGEING BY THE HEAT OF THE SUN. YOU CAN DELUDE YOURSELF INTO
THINKING ITS CLIMATE CHANGE. BUT ITS REALLY JUST GOD GIVING YOU A TASTE
OF THE LAKE OF FIRE HEAT YOU WILL BE LIVING IN FOREVER.YES GOD WILL
STILL PROTECT ISRAEL FROM THE HOT BLARING SUN. IF GOD WOULD NOT SEND AN
ASTEROID TO HIT THE EARTH, TO BLOCK BLOCK THE SUN FOR 7 MONTHS.
EVERYBODY ON EARTH WOULD DIE FROM THE HEAT OF THE HOT SUN. BUT YOU
DEMOLIBNUTS EARTH WORSHIPPING MONEY GRABBERS CAN CALL IT CLIMATE CHANGE
IF YOU WANT. WE CHRISTIANS KNOW THE TRUTH, ITS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH
FOR EVERY SIN GOING.
February 10, 2024-Editors'
notes-'A deeply troubling discovery': Earth may have already passed the
crucial 1.5°C warming limit-by Malcolm McCulloch, The Conversation.
Global
temperatures have already exceeded 1.5°C warming and may pass 2°C later
this decade, according to a world-first study I led. The worrying
findings, based on temperature records contained in sea sponge
skeletons, suggest global climate change has progressed much further
than previously thought.Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions drive
global warming. Obtaining accurate information about the extent of the
warming is vital, because it helps us understand if extreme weather
events are more likely in the near future, and whether the world is
making progress in reducing emissions.To date, estimates of upper ocean
warming have been mainly based on sea-surface temperature records,
however these date back only about 180 years. We instead studied 300
years of records preserved in the skeletons of long-lived sea sponges
from the Eastern Caribbean. In particular, we examined changes in the
amount of a chemical known as "strontium" in their skeletons, which
reflects variations in seawater temperatures over the organism's
life.Keeping the average global temperature rise below 1.5°C since
pre-industrial times is a goal of the 2015 Paris climate deal. Our
research, published in Nature Climate Change, suggests that opportunity
has passed. Earth may in fact have already reached at least 1.7°C
warming since pre-industrial times—a deeply troubling discovery.Getting a
gauge on ocean heat-Global warming is causing major changes to the
Earth's climate. This was evident recently during unprecedented heat
waves across southern Europe, China and large parts of North
America.Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth's surface and absorb an
enormous amount of heat and carbon dioxide. Global surface temperatures
are traditionally calculated by averaging the temperature of water at
the sea surface, and the air just above the land surface.But historical
temperature records for oceans are patchy. The earliest recordings of
sea temperatures were gathered by inserting a thermometer into water
samples collected by ships. Systematic records are available only from
the 1850s—and only then with limited coverage. Because of this lack of
earlier data, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has defined
the pre-industrial period as from 1850 to 1900.But humans have been
pumping substantial levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since
at least the early 1800s. So the baseline period from which warming is
measured should ideally be defined from the mid-1700s or earlier.What's
more, a series of exceptionally large volcanic eruptions occurred in the
early 1800s, causing massive global cooling. This makes it more
difficult to accurately reconstruct stable baseline ocean
temperatures.But what if there was a way to precisely gauge ocean
temperatures over centuries in the past? There is, and it's called
"sclerosponge thermometry. Studying a special sponge-Sclerosponges are a
group of sea sponges that resemble hard corals, in that they produce a
carbonate skeleton. But they grow at a much slower rate and can live for
many hundreds of years.The skeletons incorporate a number of chemical
elements including strontium and calcium. The ratio of these two
elements varies during warmer and cooler periods. This means
sclerosponges can provide a detailed diary of sea temperatures, down to a
resolution of just 0.1°C.We studied the sponge species Ceratoporella
nicholsoni. They occur in the Eastern Caribbean, where the natural
variability of upper ocean temperatures is low which makes it easier to
tease out the effects of climate change. We wanted to investigate
temperatures in a part of the ocean known as the "ocean mixed layer".
This is the upper part of the ocean, where heat is exchanged between the
atmosphere and the ocean interior.We looked at temperatures going back
300 years, to see whether the current time period which defines
pre-industrial temperatures was accurate. So what did we find?The sponge
records showed nearly constant temperatures from 1700 to 1790 and from
1840 to 1860 (with a gap in the middle due to volcanic cooling). We
found a rise in ocean temperatures began from the mid-1860s, and was
unambiguously evident by the mid-1870s. This suggests the pre-industrial
period should be defined as the years 1700 to 1860.The implications of
these findings are profound. What does this mean for global warming?
Using this new baseline, a very different picture of global warming
emerges. It shows human-caused ocean warming began at least several
decades earlier than previously assumed by the IPCC.Long-term climate
change is commonly measured against the average warming over the 30
years from 1961 to 1990, as well as warming in more recent decades.Our
findings suggest that in the interval between the end of our newly
defined pre-industrial period and the 30-year average mentioned above,
the temperatures of the ocean and land surface increased by 0.9°C. This
is far more than the 0.4°C warming the IPCC has estimated, using the
conventional timeframe for the pre-industrial period.Add to that the
average 0.8°C global warming from 1990 to recent years, and the Earth
may have warmed on average by at least 1.7°C since pre-industrial times.
This suggests we have passed the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.It
also suggests the overriding goal of the agreement, to keep average
global warming below 2°C, is now very likely to be exceeded by the end
of the 2020s—nearly two decades sooner than expected.Our study has also
produced another alarming finding. Since the late 20th century, land-air
temperatures have been increasing at almost twice the rate of surface
oceans and are now more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. This is
consistent with well-documented decline in Arctic permafrost and the
increased frequency around the world of heat waves, bushfires and
drought.We must act now-Our revised estimates suggest climate change is
at a more advanced stage than we thought. This is cause for great
concern.It appears that humanity has missed its chance to limit global
warming to 1.5°C and has a very challenging task ahead to keep warming
below 2°C. This underscores the urgent need to halve global emissions by
2030.
Treacherous travel likely as widespread winter storm
blankets the Prairies-Forecast CentreThe Weather Network-Forecast
Centre-Updated on Mar. 3, 2024, 9:35 AM
A major snowstorm
continues to bring hazardous conditions on the Prairies as heavy snow
and blustery wind gusts persist on SundayThe first weekend of March has
been a writeoff for a good chunk of the Prairies as a sprawling,
powerful winter storm spreads heavy snow and intense wind gusts across
the region.Widespread winter storm, snowfall and blizzard warnings cover
the region as snow and strong winds make their way farther east on
Sunday.People are urged to consider postponing non-essential travel
until conditions improve. Road closures have been reported near
Kindersley and North Battleford, Sask. As well, the Maidstone to Maymont
corridor of the Yellowhead Highway is closed.The hardest-hit locales
are likely to see 40+ cm of snow by the time all is said and done.Snow
and winds intensify and spread east-A potent low-pressure system that
came to fruition stateside pushed snow into parts of southern Alberta
and Saskatchewan through the day Saturday. Heavy snow and gusty winds
led to near-blizzard conditions in Saskatoon at times on Saturday
afternoon. Snowfall totals are starting to pour in. As of Sunday morning
local time, Calgary, Alta., has documented 18 cm and Kindersley, Sask.,
has reported 12 cm.The heaviest and most dangerous band of snow is now
centred across Saskatchewan on Sunday, dropping visibility to near zero.
By the afternoon, heavy snow pushes across southwestern Manitoba.
Meanwhile, the only remaining snow across Alberta is in northeastern
sections.Very heavy snowfall rates of up to 4 cm per hour are possible
around southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba Sunday
afternoon.Blowing snow a significant concern for travel, road closures
may increase-Cold temperatures will make it a fluffy, dry snow, which
accumulates in a hurry and easily blows around in gusty winds.Gusty
winds of 50-70 km/h will accompany the heavy snowfall across the region,
leading to extended periods of severely reduced visibility. However,
some areas are seeing gusts exceeding 70 km/h.VIS-Blizzard conditions
will continue through Sunday and end Monday morning.Complete whiteouts
are likely at times. Travel will be difficult if not impossible on all
roads across the region during heavy snow and high winds.Expect tough if
not impossible travel during the height of the storm into Sunday,
especially along most of the Yellowhead Highway east of Edmonton.As
previously mentioned, road closures have been reported near Kindersley
and North Battleford, Sask. As well, the Maidstone to Maymont corridor
of the Yellowhead Highway is closed.Additional road closures are likely
in the hardest-hit areas due to rapidly accumulating snow and poor
visibility.Snowfall totals of 40+ cm are possible-Since the snowfall is
anticipated to be light and fluffy, accumulations will likely exceed
forecast amounts in some areas. However, there is some uncertainty in
exact snowfall totals on the Prairies, with a challenge arising to get
reliable measurements due to the blowing snow and drifts.Forecasters
expect the heaviest snowfall totals to target central and southern
Saskatchewan, and west-central and southwestern Manitoba, where 20-40+
cm of snow is possible by the time precipitation wraps up on Monday.A
widespread swath of snowfall topping 30 cm is expected elsewhere in the
provinces, as well as northeastern Alberta.Folks around Regina in the
south could see 15-30 cm of snow by Monday.The greatest uncertainty
surrounding this storm is the potential for a sharp cutoff in snowfall
totals around Winnipeg, but 10 cm is still expected in the city. That is
due to the centre of low tracking across the Red River Valley, and as
it does so, is pulling in warmer air with it and creating a wintry
mess.Precipitation changed to freezing rain in Winnipeg along the warm
front, and will continue as a wintry mix on Sunday before changing back
to snowfall. Ice accumulation is not forecast to be significant.-This
intrusion of warm air into southern Manitoba could force a changeover to
ice pellets in and around Winnipeg, which would significantly cut down
snow accumulations here. Warmer temperatures will also make for wetter
snow in Manitoba as opposed to the light and fluffy powder expected to
the west.By Monday morning, the system will have dissipated and snowfall
will lift north, but lingering wind means a continuation of blowing
snowfall.
Firefighters battling ‘monster’ Texas wildfire contend
with strong winds and heat as residents grapple with lost homes-Camila
Bernal-By Dalia Faheid and Camila Bernal, CNN-Updated 8:24 PM EST, Sun
March 3, 2024
CNN — The biggest inferno in Texas history was
being fueled by winds and high temperatures as it raged Sunday,
threatening to incinerate more buildings, cattle and livelihoods across
the Texas Panhandle while residents sift through ashes of what used to
be homes.Critical fire weather conditions continued Sunday in the area,
with one wind gust of 59 mph measured near the town of Texline, the
National Weather Service reported. The Panhandle is under a red flag
warning, according to the weather service. “Conditions will be favorable
for rapid rates of fire growth and spread,” the agency said in its
forecast.The Smokehouse Creek Fire has been burning for nearly a week
and has torched more than 1 million acres in Texas alone, making it the
largest fire on record in the state – and it is only 15% contained. The
fire, just one of five large blazes scorching the Texas Panhandle, has
already killed two people and destroyed over 500 structures, state
officials said Saturday. Others have been left without electricity as
more than 120 miles of electric lines have been destroyed.On Sunday, a
new blaze, the 50-acre Roughneck Fire, prompted officials to call for
evacuations in the Hutchinson County town of Sanford, according to the
Texas A&M Forest Service.“The fire continues to advance closer to
the town. Evacuation efforts continue,” the National Weather Service
office in Amarillo posted on X.Fire activity on the Smokehouse, Windy
Deuce and Grapevine Creek fires picked up Saturday, due to weather
conditions, Blue Team Operations Section Chief Mike Brod said in a video
update posted to Facebook on Sunday morning.Because the Texas Panhandle
had higher-than-average rainfall this winter, there is more grass – or
fuel – to burn. Crews hope that, after the weekend, they will inch
closer to containment, Texas A&M Forest Service spokesman Jason
Nedlo said.High temperatures into the upper 70s are forecast in the area
through Sunday, with a slight decrease Monday into the upper 60s,
keeping temperatures well above average.Latest developments • Officials
work to identify hotspots: Fire officials used aviation assets to
respond to flare-ups over the weekend, including a heat-detection flight
to help pinpoint additional hotspots, Brod said. • Four more fires
burning: The Windy Deuce Fire in Moore County has burned through 144,000
acres and is 55% contained as of Sunday evening, according to the Texas
A&M Forest Service. The Grape Vine Creek Fire in Gray County has
spread through almost 35,000 acres and is 60% contained. The Magenta
Fire in Oldham County has destroyed 3,297 acres and is 85% contained.
And the 687 Reamer fire in Hutchinson County has scorched 2,000 acres
and is 10% contained. • Two deaths reported: Truck driver Cindy Owen was
working about 50 miles north of Pampa, Texas, on Tuesday when she got
caught in the Smokehouse Creek Fire, her sister-in-law told CNN. She
left her truck and tried running for safety but died in the blaze,
according to Jennifer Mitchell, the wife of Owen’s brother. In nearby
Hutchinson County, 83-year-old Joyce Blankenship was killed, her family
said. “The house was gone,” her grandson Nathan Blankenship said. “There
was no way she could’ve gotten out.”• Blaze hits state cattle industry:
The fires are tearing through the Panhandle, which is home to 85% of
the state’s cattle industry. The blaze has already killed thousands of
cattle and has taken out other livestock, crops and equipment.• Oklahoma
finding success in Smokehouse fire battle: “The Smokehouse Creek Fire
perimeter looks good and will be turned back over to local departments
tomorrow,” Oklahoma Forestry Services spokesperson Keith Merckx said
Sunday. “The fire will be 75% contained by the end of shift today.” More
than 31,000 acres have burned in Oklahoma near the border with Texas,
according to the service.• How you can help: GoFundMe launched a
platform for verified fundraisers benefiting people affected by
wildfires in Texas. On the website, money is being collected for Texans
who have lost homes, belongings and livestock. Hemphill County, where
400,000 acres have been burned and a truck driver was killed, is
accepting wildlife relief supplies as well as monetary donations,
according to the county’s AgriLife Extension Facebook page. In the city
of Fritch, CCS Connect Community Services is accepting monetary
donations for residents.The blaze is the biggest in the state's
history.Family sifts through ashes of lost home-All that was left of
Susan and Ronnie Johnson’s five-bedroom ranch near Fritch was the ashes
of what was their home of two decades. A dining table, pieces of white
fine china, blue and red Dutch ovens, chairs and a smoker could be seen
amidst a devastated background of dust, rubble and fallen trees.Their
home was surrounded by fire on Tuesday - and they tried desperately to
save it - only to watch it all go up in flames.“You don’t ever want to
believe it’ll be your house that burns,” Ronnie told CNN.“We’ve seen
others so we’ll rebuild and start again.”Susan described losing her home
as “numbing,” but said it won’t mean losing her memories of where her
family of nine lived.Tyler McCain also lost his family home in the fires
that roared through Fritch.When McCain saw flames engulf the field
across from his family’s home before they evacuated, he was faced with
the anticipation of returning, not knowing if their house was still
standing.“Until I saw my house, it wasn’t it wasn’t real,” McCain told
CNN’s Danny Freeman.Gov. Greg Abbott described widespread devastation
during a news conference on Friday.“Frequently, when you see the
aftermath of that damage, there is some semblance of a structure that is
still there,” Abbott said. “When you look at the damages that are here,
it’s just gone. Completely gone. Nothing left but ashes on the ground,
so those who have gone through this have gone through utter
devastation.”‘Devastating’ losses for farmers-State Agriculture
Commissioner Sid Miller asked for hay and feed donations and prayers for
residents who have lost homes and livestock in the “monster” fire,
saying he expects the death toll for livestock to soar.“It’s been very
devastating,” Miller told CNN’s Omar Jimenez on Sunday, adding more than
500 structures were lost.“There’s no grass, there’s no water for all
the livestock,” Miller added. “We’ve lost over 3,000 head, which is a
very small number – that will double or triple easily. We’ve got cattle
that we’re going to have euthanized because of the damage to their
hooves, their udders - we’ll just have to put them down.”Miller said
seven grain and seed dealers in the state have “completely lost
everything, completely wiped out.”“It’s great damage here,” he
said.Hemphill County had reported over a thousand missing or dead cattle
and several dead horses, goats, and sheep, Miller said in a news
release on Friday, adding that numbers in Hemphill County and other
impacted areas are expected to rise as the fire subsides and assessment
can be conducted.Andy Holloway, of Hemphill County AgriLife Extension,
told CNN on Sunday: “The cattle that these ranchers have, have … greatly
been burned up and so this is going to hurt our beef supply going
forward in the nation.”CNN’s Joe Sutton, Melissa Alonso, Rebekah Riess
and Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.
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