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
MASKS REMOVED IN CANADIAN LTC HOMES.CHINA EAST SEA DICTATORSHIP.
REVELATION VERESE BY VERSE BY DR JACK AND REXELLA VAN IMPE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIYtJAUUx0o&list=PLQ6QjtBzr5_eln4Wwdyqw8niA97w7bpv6
TAPE 1 - REV CH 1 - 4:6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4egxDQbC-Po&list=PLQ6QjtBzr5_eln4Wwdyqw8niA97w7bpv6&ind
TAPE 2 - REV CH 4:7-8 TO 9:31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAHF8qRW_0c&list=PLQ6QjtBzr5_eln4Wwdyqw8niA97w7bpv6&index=3
TAPE 3 - REV CH 10:1 TO 14:1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8nvow7gDsI
TAPE 4 - REV CH 14:2 TO REV 18:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jzejO8qr1g
TAPE 5 - REV CH 19:1 TO REV 22:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFSaL7wuOZU&list=PLQ6QjtBzr5_eln4Wwdyqw8niA97w7bpv6&index=6
TAPE 1 - REVELATION RUMBLINGS
DANIEL VERSE BY VERSE BY DR JACK AND REXELLA VAN IMPE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zvrylU6E2A
TAPE 1 - DAN 1:1 TO DAN 3:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dySOniNlbjA
TAPE 2 - DAN 4:1 TO DAN 6:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPlfIHcQVrE
TAPE 3 - DAN 7:1 TO DAN 9:27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHB_jtS6NF8
TAPE 4 - DAN 10:1 TO DAN 12:13
ISLAM I BELIEVE IS A MADE UP FAKE CHRISTIAN RELGION IMMITATION.DREAMPT UP IN 600BC. (WATCH 2ND)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EaopH_EPfc
ARABS-NAME AN IMPORTANT ARAB IN HISTORY (WATCH 1ST)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deiShtWReYE
GAYS MARRYING-EVERYBODY CAN JOIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/pope-francis-opens-meeting-on-future-of-catholic-church-by-saying-everyone-must-be-allowed-in/
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=POPE+FRANCIS+ANYBODY+CAN+JOIN+THE+CATHOLIC+CURCH+VIDEO&t=newext&atb=v387-1&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMKh2nNVjV24
JVI THE FINAL POPE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIY8wdebNqo
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)
Province
ends enhanced masking in long-term care homes-Recent trends indicate a
sustained decline in the transmission of respiratory illnesses,
including influenza, COVID-19, and RSV, making masking for long-term
care employees, caregivers and visitors optional-BayToday Staff-about 20
hours ago-MAR 5,24
The Ministry of Long-Term Care is ending
enhanced masking measures in long-term care communities, effective
immediately, as recent trends indicate a sustained decline in the
transmission of respiratory illnesses, including influenza, COVID-19,
and RSV.To varying degrees, the move makes masking for long-term care
employees, caregivers and visitors optional.In November 2023, amid a
rise of outbreaks in congregate settings, long-term care homes across
the province implemented enhanced masking measures under instructions
from the Ontario government. The Ministry of Long-Term Care mandated all
staff, students, support workers and volunteers to wear a mask when in
resident areas indoors.See related: Smile! Long-term care staff,
visitors can now go without masks-It was short-lived but in the wake of
the pandemic, from June to November 2023, masks were only required when
direct care was being provided to residents. The masking policies put in
place for the respiratory illness season were in step with those
instituted in Ontario hospitals and other health-care settings.With the
lifting of the measures, the guidance for all Sienna Senior Living
long-term care communities, including North Bay's Waters Edge Care
Community states masking for caregivers and visitors is optional, though
recommended, in all areas of the home. This means that caregivers and
visitors may join in for dining and sharing a meal or beverage in
communal areas.Masking for team members, volunteers, students, and
support workers is optional and self-determined, based on a
point-of-care risk assessment. Every health care worker will complete a
point-of-care risk assessment before every resident interaction and task
to determine whether there is a risk to the health care worker or other
individuals and determine the appropriate IPAC measures to be taken,
which may include a mask or other protective equipment.Residents or
substitute decision-makers may request that a staff member wear a mask
when providing care, in alignment with the Residents’ Bill of
Rights.Masking and other personal protective equipment requirements will
continue when a long-term care community is declared in outbreak or
when a resident is under additional precautions. These precautions will
be directed by the home’s IPAC lead, outbreak management team and local
public health unit. And, as always, these measures will periodically be
reviewed by the Ministry of Long-Term Care to determine the best course
of action, while considering residents’ physical health and overall
well-being.
Health-34 Deaths, 302 Serious Injuries: RSV Vaccines
Aren’t Even a Year Old but Some Experts Say It’s Time to Pull Them From
the Market-by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. | Children's Health
Defence-March 6th 2024, 6:38 am
It’s been less than a year since
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended two new
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines — yet CDC data and the
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) already show reports of
34 deaths, 302 serious adverse events and according to news reports this
week, a safety signal for Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).Reported cases
include several instances of severe adverse events in newborns,
including the death of a 27-day-old baby who was wrongly administered
the vaccine, and in pregnant women and people in age groups for which
the RSV vaccines were not approved.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) approved Pfizer’s Abrysvo and GSK’s Arexvy RSV vaccines for
adults ages 60 and older — but not for children or babies.Abrysvo is
also approved for pregnant women, targeting RSV prevention in babies.
The FDA approved Abrysvo and Arexvy in May 2023.According to CDC data,
approximately 9.65 million RSV vaccine doses — 6.58 million Arexvy doses
and 3.06 million Abrysvo doses — were administered as of Feb.
16.Introducing Next Level Foundational Energy from Dr. Jones Naturals
starting at 30% off! This cutting-edge dietary supplement is designed to
elevate your energy levels and support your overall well-being.Members
of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
presented the data on deaths and adverse events related to the RSV
vaccines at a Feb. 29 meeting.Yet, ACIP — and news media reports —
primarily focused on GBS safety signals, glossing over deaths and the
administration of the vaccines to unauthorized age groups.Instead, CDC
officials claimed it’s too early to determine if the RSV vaccines caused
the adverse events and reiterated that the shots are safe, according to
The Associated Press (AP).Experts who spoke with The Defender disputed
the CDC’s reassurances. Brian Hooker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer
for Children’s Health Defense (CHD), said “34 deaths in 10 months should
be sufficient to pull the RSV vaccines from the market. But the FDA
will not do that — nor will there be full investigations regarding these
deaths.”“I am greatly concerned with the excessive application of the
RSV vaccine,” said cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough. “We are beginning
to see the tip of the iceberg in terms of serious side effects.” “The
Wuhan Cover-Up” by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Order Now-CDC creating
‘illusion of safe and effective’According to the CDC data presented at
the Feb. 29 ACIP meeting, of the 34 deaths reported as of Feb. 16
following RSV vaccination, 22 were linked to Arexvy and nine to Abrysvo.
In three instances, the report listed “no brand name.”Yet,
discrepancies in the data are evident, as the public-facing VAERS
database indicates only 29 RSV vaccine-related deaths as of Feb. 23. And
according to Albert Benavides, founder of VAERSAware.com, three more
“hidden” deaths reported after RSV vaccines are listed in VAERS, but the
vaccine name is unlabeled.Benavides, who identified discrepancies and
contradictions in VAERS data and has called attention to the existence
of two parallel VAERS databases — one that is public-facing and one that
is not — said, “It is simply gross and despicable the CDC and FDA are
allowed to pass off this data obfuscation as pharmacovigilance.”He
added: “VAERS administration is simply not publishing all legitimate
reports received.”One of the deaths recorded in VAERS involved a
27-day-old baby from New York — even though the RSV vaccines are not
approved for children. According to the report, which was entered into
the VAERS database on Jan. 8, the newborn was vaccinated at a doctor’s
office “and he passed away right there.” The date of death was
unspecified.Other RSV vaccine-related death reports included:A report
involving a foreign woman of “unknown” age but who was pregnant. She
received Abrysvo Dec. 27, 2023, and died Jan. 1, 2024.A 67-year-old New
Jersey man who received Arexvy Oct. 14, 2023, and died two days later — a
death acknowledged by GSK as “related to Arexvy.”A 69-year-old Florida
man who received Arexvy concurrently with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
Sept. 28, 2023, and died two days later. According to the VAERS report,
an EKG on the date of his death was “grossly ‘abnormal’” despite no
known cardiac history and an “unremarkable” cardiac exam two months
prior.A 70-year-old California man who received Arexvy concurrently with
a flu vaccine on Sept. 5, 2023. Increased coughing and fever began
“less than 24 hours later” and lasted for four days, until “the patient
was found deceased at home.”A 73-year-old Virginia male who eceived
Arexvy Jan. 24 and was diagnosed with GBS. Symptoms began 11 days after
vaccination. He died Feb. 15. A 75-year-old Virginia woman who
received Arexvy Jan. 4, died two hours later.A 76-year-old Michigan man
who received Arexvy Jan. 11, sustained tachycardia and difficulty
breathing, and died of acute sepsis and pneumonia Jan. 15.A 77-year-old
Pennsylvania man who received Arexvy Jan. 4 and soon experienced
“seizure-like activity” despite no history of seizures. He died Jan.
6.An 81-year-old California man who received Arexvy and a flu vaccine
Sept. 18, 2023. He sustained severe cardiopulmonary arrest and died five
hours later.An 81-year-old New Mexico woman who received Arexvy
concurrently with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and pneumonia,
adenovirus and flu vaccines, on Oct. 19, 2023. On Oct. 29, 2023, she
sustained a hemorrhage and later died.An 85-year-old Colorado man who
received Abrysvo and a flu vaccine on Sept. 11, 2023. Two days later, he
“developed symptoms of shingles in his eye” and later “developed
meningitis/encephalitis that led to a host of other complications that
ultimately led to his death” on Dec. 21, 2023.According to Benavides,
other deaths likely related to RSV vaccination are “hidden” within
VAERS, with details such as the vaccine name listed as “unknown” in some
reports.This includes the Jan. 8 death of a preterm newborn in Texas.
According to VAERS, the baby was “not breathing” hours after vaccination
and subsequently died. The vaccine lot number listed in the VAERS
report corresponds with Abrysvo.Benavides said mislabeled reports hide
the true extent of adverse events:“Not publishing legitimate reports is
one of their Vegas tricks. They delete legitimate reports after
publication, purposely delay published reports, allow reports to be
published without critical data fields like age, date of vaccination or
death, even when reports are properly documented in the summary
narrative.“It’s not a stretch to believe VAERS administration is
systematically and actively scrubbing data fields that were present on
initial submission to create the illusion of ‘safe and effective.’”Two
other RSV vaccine-related reports in VAERS list Beyfortus — a monoclonal
antibody for RSV administered to babies — in the write-up.These reports
include a male born prematurely in New York who received Beyfortus and
the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, and died of “fluid buildup in the
lungs.” Another report lists an Arkansas male of “unknown” age who died
of cardiac arrest on Feb. 14, although this was deemed unrelated to the
“Beyfortus vaccine received” the prior day.Although Beyfortus is not a
vaccine, it is classified as such in some instances. The ACIP
recommended adding Beyfortus to the childhood vaccine schedule — giving
it a liability waiver — but excluding it from the National Vaccine
Injury Compensation Program (VICP). RFK Jr. and Brian Hooker’s New Book:
“Vax-Unvax” Order Now-‘Startling’ number of Guillain-Barré cases
following RSV vaccinationVAERS lists 3,834 adverse events relating to
the RSV vaccines as of Feb. 23, with approximately two-thirds of the
reports pertaining to Arexvy. A total of 302 reports are classified as
serious adverse events, with slightly over half connected to Arexvy.Yet,
the ACIP meeting and subsequent news stories largely focused on a
single safety signal: a higher-than-normal incidence of GBS in RSV
vaccine recipients.According to The New York Times, GBS causes the
immune system to attack the nerves, leading to paralysis and death in
severe cases. According to AP, “An estimated 3,000 to 6,000 people
develop G.B.S. in the U.S. each year,” mostly older adults.“Rare cases
of Guillain-Barré syndrome have been linked to other vaccines, including
those against influenza and shingles,” the Times reported. The Times
did not mention incidences of GBS connected to COVID-19 vaccination.AP
reported that health officials estimate “About two cases of
Guillain-Barré might be seen in every 1 million people who receive a
vaccine.” CDC data indicate the GBS incidence rate for Abrysvo
recipients was 4.6 cases per million people.GBS incidences were lower
for Arexvy, but according to AP, officials are also performing
“follow-up tracking” in people who received this particular
vaccine.“These data suggest a potential increased risk” from the RSV
vaccine, said Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, director of CDC’s Immunization Safety
Office, in remarks quoted by AP.“Given that the RSV vaccine was first
approved in the U.S. on May 3, 2023, the number of VAERS reports for
GBS, death and atrial fibrillation are indeed startling,” Hooker
said.According to VAERS, 34 GBS cases related to RSV vaccination were
recorded. Most were in the 65-79 age group, but at least two cases were
reported in people under age 60, even though the RSV vaccines are not
approved for those age groups. CDC data presented at the Feb. 29 ACIP
meeting said 23 GBS reports have been “verified.”From these “verified”
reports, 15 involved Abrysvo, 14 patients were male, seven received a
COVID-19 vaccine at the same time they received the RSV shot, the median
age was 71 and one patient died.The ACIP presentation referred to one
GBS report “in a non-pregnant female patient aged 50s years” who
received Abyrsvo. VAERS includes reports of other GBS cases in patients
in age groups not authorized to receive the RSV vaccines.In one
instance, a 6-month-old girl from California received Abrysvo and
several other vaccines at a military site on Nov. 30, 2023. She
sustained “life threatening” cardiac arrest. The RSV vaccine “was given
by mistake,” according to her VAERS report.And a 28-year-old Kentucky
female who received Abrysvo on Dec. 1, 2023, soon developed “facial
weakness,” despite “no history of similar symptoms.” She was
hospitalized for seven days and diagnosed with GBS.The ACIP also
referenced 58 cases of atrial fibrillation, three cases of acute
disseminated encephalomyelitis, two cases of transverse myelitis and one
case of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome and acute
encephalitis following RSV vaccination.Risks of RSV vaccines evident
during clinical trials-Despite the deaths and safety signals connected
to the RSV vaccines, CDC officials at the Feb. 29 ACIP meeting adopted a
reassuring tone regarding the vaccines’ safety.“Due to the
uncertainties and limitations, these early data cannot establish if
there is an increased risk for GBS after vaccination,” Shimabukuro said,
according to the Times.According to AP, “CDC officials also presented
estimates that the vaccines have prevented thousands of hospitalizations
and hundreds of deaths from RSV, and that current data indicates the
benefits of vaccination outweigh the possible risks.”“R.S.V. vaccines
may prevent an estimated 120 to 140 in-hospital deaths and about 25,000
outpatient visits per million doses administered,” the Times
reported.“Pfizer is committed to the continuous monitoring and
evaluation of the safety of Abrysvo” and is conducting four safety
studies examining the risk of GBS, said Reema Mehta, Pfizer’s vice
president of risk assessment and safety, in remarks quoted by AP.“There
are limitations to all of these data, and further analysis by FDA, CDC
and the vaccine manufacturers are needed to confirm and quantify any
potential risk,” said Alison Hunt, a GSK spokesperson, in remarks quoted
by the Times.Experts noted the contradiction of CDC officials
identifying safety signals from VAERS, after a Feb. 15 U.S. House of
Representatives hearing where CDC and FDA officials downplayed the role
of VAERS in the detection of safety signals.Dr. Daniel Jernigan,
director of the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic
Infectious Diseases, claimed at the hearing that VAERS is “not intended
to determine if a vaccine is causing an adverse event.”Saying that such
criticisms were “a ploy to remove emphasis” from adverse events, Hooker
said, “VAERS inaccuracies are only in under-reporting, not
misreporting.”“The [2011] Lazarus study conducted at the request of CDC
shows that perhaps 1% of all vaccine adverse events are captured by
VAERS and that the true vaccine adverse event rate is around 1 in 39,”
he said.According to Dr. Meryl Nass, an internist and biological warfare
expert, “The FDA and CDC have enormous amounts of data on well over 100
million Americans” but “refuse to study the data.”According to AP,
public health officials were aware of GBS instances identified during
clinical trials and “different systems were watching for signs of
problems.”Nass said there is little evidence that RSV vaccines are
saving lives in either babies or the elderly.” But, she said, “There was
good evidence, even in the pre-marketing data, that the RSV vaccines
caused neurologic complications, including GBS.”“Why would anyone take
an RSV vaccine that has a reasonable chance of causing a neurologic
illness to prevent colds? The answer is that they are not being told the
truth,” Nass said, calling for RSV vaccines to not be licensed or used
until their safety is proven.McCullough said RSV “is like a mild cold
and easily treated at home. He said the risk of “fatal paralysis,
cardiac side effects and vaccine death far outweigh the occasional case
of RSV, which we have been managing for many years in internal
medicine.”“I do not recommend the new RSV vaccine to older adults,” he
said.
US CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY
https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/money-and-payments-20220120.pdf
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a
witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have
heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that
great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment
come.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
17 For in one
hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all
the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood
afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping
and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich
all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one
hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast
their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be
removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to
deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy
their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the
stumblingblock of their iniquity.
MARK OF THE BEAST (engraved microchip in your hand or forehead)
REVELATION 13:16-18
16
And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
REVELATION 16:1-2
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the
earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;
and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the
mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
I
KNOW THIS MARK WILL BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP
WHAT THE WORD MARK SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2,
19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS
DICTATORS MARK. NOW LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE
CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE. UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD
TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN
WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION 13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO
GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK
WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA,
KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS
A BADGE OF SERVITUDE), OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM
5482 XAPAE CHARAX, KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A
POINT; AKIN TO 1125 THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E
(BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A
SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM 1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO
"GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE; FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING,
-TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 - STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα,
στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick; (cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German
stechen, English stick, sting, etc.; Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in
or branded upon the body. According to ancient oriental usage, slaves
and soldiers bore the name or stamp of their master or commander branded
or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general
they belonged to, and there were even some devotees who stamped
themselves in this way with the token of their gods (cf. Deyling,
Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.)
Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in Galatians 6:17 says
he bears branded on his body, are the traces left there by the perils,
hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by him for the cause of
Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and approved votary,
servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on Galatians, the passage
cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian, Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
WHY GOLD AND SILVER - YES - NO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JcjOcjCsnM
In
Sweden, cash is almost extinct and people implant microchips in their
hands to pay for things-More than 4,000 Swedes have gone the microchip
route as cash use fades and the government scrambles to figure out the
effects on society and the economy-Liz Alderman, The New York
Times-Published Nov 23, 2018
Few countries have been moving
toward a cashless society as fast as Sweden. But cash is being squeezed
out so quickly — with half the nation’s retailers predicting they will
stop accepting bills before 2025 — that the government is recalculating
the societal costs of a cash-free future.The financial authorities, who
once embraced the trend, are asking banks to keep peddling notes and
coins until the government can figure out what going cash-free means for
young and old consumers. The central bank, which predicts cash may fade
from Sweden, is testing a digital currency — an e-krona — to keep firm
control of the money supply. Lawmakers are exploring the fate of online
payments and bank accounts if an electrical grid fails or servers are
thwarted by power failures, hackers or even war.“When you are where we
are, it would be wrong to sit back with our arms crossed, doing nothing,
and then just take note of the fact that cash has disappeared,” said
Stefan Ingves, governor of Sweden’s central bank, known as the Riksbank.
“You can’t turn back time, but you do have to find a way to deal with
change.”Ask most people in Sweden how often they pay with cash and the
answer is “almost never.” A fifth of Swedes, in a country of 10 million
people, do not use automated teller machines anymore. More than 4,000
Swedes have implanted microchips in their hands, allowing them to pay
for rail travel and food, or enter keyless offices, with a wave.
Restaurants, buses, parking lots and even pay toilets depend on clicks
rather than cash.Consumer groups say the shift leaves many retirees — a
third of all Swedes are 55 or older — as well as some immigrants and
people with disabilities at a disadvantage. They cannot easily gain
access to electronic means for some goods and transactions, and rely on
banks and their customer service. And the progress toward a cashless
society could upend the state’s centuries-old role as sovereign
guarantor. If cash disappears, commercial banks would wield greater
control.“We need to pause and think about whether this is good or bad,
and not just sit back and let it happen,” said Mats Dillén, the head of a
Swedish Parliament committee studying the matter. “If cash disappears,
that would be a big change, with major implications for society and the
economy.”Urban consumers worldwide are increasingly paying with apps and
plastic. In China and in other Asian countries rife with young
smartphone users, mobile payments are routine. In Europe, about one in
five people say they rarely carry money. In Belgium, Denmark and Norway,
debit and credit card use has hit record highs.But Sweden — and
particularly its young people — is at the vanguard. Bills and coins
represent just 1 per cent of the economy, compared with 10 per cent in
Europe and 8 per cent in the United States. About one in 10 consumers
paid for something in cash this year, down from 40 per cent in 2010.
Most merchants in Sweden still accept notes and coins, but their ranks
are thinning.Among 18-to-24-year-olds, the numbers are startling: Up to
95 per cent of their purchases are with a debit card or a smartphone app
called Swish, a payment system set up by Sweden’s biggest banks.Ikea,
whose flat-box furniture is a staple of young households, has been
experimenting to gauge the allure and effect of cashless commerce. In
Gävle, about 100 miles north of Stockholm, managers decided to go
cashless temporarily last month after they realized that fewer than 1
per cent of shoppers used cash — and Ikea employees were spending about
15 per cent of their time handling, counting and storing money.Patric
Burstein, a senior manager, said the cashless test had freed employees
to work on the sales floor. So far, around 1.2 of every 1,000 customers
have been unable to pay with anything but cash — and mainly in the
cafeteria where people tend to spend change. Rather than bother with
bills, Ikea has been offering those customers freebies.“We said, ‘If you
want a 50 cent hot dog, be my guest, take it. But next time maybe you
can bring a card,'” said Burstein, 38. The test so far suggests that
cash is not essential and, instead, may be costly, he said. “We’re
spending a lot of resources on a very small percentage that actually
need the service,” he said.The nearby branch of the Swedish National
Pensioners Organization has led protests against the experiment, in
part, because many retirees like to go to the Gävle Ikea for a bite to
eat.“We have around 1 million people who aren’t comfortable using the
computer, iPads or iPhones for banking,” said Christina Tallberg, 75,
the group’s national president. “We aren’t against the digital movement,
but we think it’s going a bit too fast.”The organization has been
raising money to teach retirees how to pay electronically, but,
paradoxically, that good effort has been tripped up by an abundance of
cash. When collections for training are taken in rural areas — and the
seniors donate in cash — the pensioner in charge must drive miles to
find a bank that will actually take the money, Tallberg said. About half
of Sweden’s 1,400 bank branches no longer accept cash deposits.“It’s
more or less impossible, because the banks refuse to take cash,” she
said.About half of Sweden's 1,400 bank branches no longer accept cash
deposits-Banks have propelled the cashless revolution by encouraging
consumers and retailers to use debit and credit cards, which yields
banks and credit card companies lucrative fees. That includes the
bank-developed Swish smartphone app.Sweden’s banks have cut back on cash
in part for safety reasons after a rash of violent robberies in the
mid-2000s. The national psyche is marked by an infamous helicopter heist
in Västberga in 2009, when thieves landed on the roof of a G4S cash
service depot and stole millions — a drama now being turned into a
Netflix film. Last year, only two banks were robbed compared with 210 in
2008.In recent years, banks have dismantled cash machines by the
hundreds. So little cash is used now that it has become expensive to
track and maintain, said Leif Trogen, an official at the Swedish
Bankers’ Association.There are two proposals by Swedish authorities to
keep cash at hand. Parliament wants just the biggest banks to handle
cash. The central bank is holding out for all banks to keep money
flowing. Swedbank, SEB and other big Swedish financial institutions are
fighting the lawmakers’ demands, saying it would place an undue burden
on them to provide greater access.“The demand for cash is decreasing at
an ever faster pace,” Trogen said. “Therefore, it is fundamentally wrong
to legislate to influence the demand for cash.”The central bank has
plans to roll out a pilot version next year of a new type of Riksbank
money — the digital krona, or e-krona — that could replace physical cash
or at least help calm the current cash conundrum. An e-krona would mean
that the functions of a currency backed by the state would remain, even
in an all-digital world that is fast approaching.Christine Lagarde,
managing director of the International Monetary Fund, noted last week
that several central banks were “seriously considering” digital
currencies.“While the case for digital currency is not universal, we
should investigate it further — seriously, carefully and creatively,”
she said.Ingves, the central bank governor, said, “This is not a war on
cash, but no one has argued that this evolutionary motion is going to
stop.”The New York Times.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
REVELATION 13:16-18 (WORLD ECONOMY RUN BY THE EUROPEAN UNION)
16
And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their
foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
REVELATION 17:12-13
12
And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with
the beast.(SOCIALISM)
13 These have one mind,(SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it
were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2
And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a
bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU)
and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)
2 THESSALONIANS 2:9-12
9 Even him,(EU WORLD DICTATOR) whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,(THE
FALSE RESURRECTION BY THE WORLD DICTATOR) that they should believe a
lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
GENESIS 49:16-17-POSSIBLY A JEW FROM DAN KILLS THE DICTATOR AT MIDPOINT OF TRIB
16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
Daniel 11:37-MOST LIKELY A SODOMITE.
37
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of
women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
REVELATION 13:3,7,8 (WORLD GOVERNMENT, WORLD ECONOMY, WORLD RELIGION)
1
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten
crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS
DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a
leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the
mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and
great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw
one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly
wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after
the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
7
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and
to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD
DICTATOR).
Ursula von der Leyen: from 'Green Deal' to EU defence hawk-By Jerome CARTILLIER-Brussels, Belgium (AFP) March 6, 2024
Ursula
von der Leyen has navigated back-to-back crises as head of the European
Commission, from Covid to the Ukraine war. But she may need to reinvent
herself on the campaign trail to win a new term at the EU's helm.The
first woman to hold the top EU post, von der Leyen has come to embody an
institution long cast as faceless, projecting renewed European
assertiveness on the world stage.But her bulldozing dynamism has at
times put her at odds with EU capitals.The 65-year-old German
conservative is walking a tightrope as the flagship achievement of her
first term -- the European "Green Deal" -- turns politically toxic,
under fire from farmers who have been staging protests and part of her
own camp.Reading the shifting public mood, von der Leyen has pivoted
from climate concerns since announcing her bid last month, positioning
herself instead as champion of a hawkish new European security
outlook."The threat of war may not be imminent, but it is not
impossible," she told European lawmakers in a sombre address that spoke
of "shattered" illusions and the need for the EU to "wake up" to a
perilous new security reality.During her first term the commission chief
worked to expand the bloc's international role, and also pushed --
overstepped, her critics would say -- the boundaries of her own job.She
has on occasion infuriated EU leaders, like last October, when while
visiting Tel Aviv she backed Israel's right to defend itself against
Hamas, without stressing that any military response must be bound by
international law.- 'Made her mark' -Von der Leyen was a relative
unknown outside Germany when she was tapped for the top EU job in 2019,
in a surprise deal between Paris and Berlin.When first appointed, the
welcome in Brussels -- the city where she was born and lived until her
early teens -- was cool to say the least. She secured the European
Parliament's backing by just nine votes."VDL," as she is nicknamed in EU
circles, still has her detractors.Operating from the 13th floor of the
Berlaymont, the commission's hulking headquarters where she also has her
sleeping quarters, she relies on a tight-knit coterie of advisors -- a
practice that rubs many the wrong way.But von der Leyen has made her
mark in Brussels."There were a couple of major inflexion points where
she managed to do the things that were needed and made herself visible
doing them," summed up one European diplomat.When Europe was brought to
its knees by the Covid-19 pandemic, von der Leyen steered a
groundbreaking 750-billion-euro ($815 million) recovery plan.After
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, she was resolute in her support
for Kyiv, setting to work on reducing Europe's energy dependency on
Moscow.- Biden 'trusts her' -Beyond the bloc's borders, she has provided
-- to some extent -- an answer to the old question attributed to Henry
Kissinger: when the US president needs to speak to Europe, who does he
call? For Ian Bremmer, founder of the Eurasia Group risk consultancy,
von der Leyen built a "very good" relationship with President Joe
Biden."Biden trusts her, he likes her," Bremmer told AFP. "They
coordinate well."Though the mother of seven has long championed women's
rights, von der Leyen's gender has seldom been an issue in office --
save for an infamous incident known as Sofagate.During a visit to
Istanbul in April 2021, the commission chief found herself relegated to a
sofa during a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Charles
Michel, her European Council counterpart, when both men took seats in a
pair of armchairs.The scene went viral, and von der Leyen pulled no
punches afterward, telling lawmakers: "I have to conclude, it happened
because I am a woman."Von der Leyen started out in local German politics
in the 1990s, kickstarting a rapid rise: she was once viewed as a
presumptive successor to Angela Merkel until her star dimmed at home
following a rocky stint as defence minister.Three months from European
elections that will reshuffle the political cards in Brussels, von der
Leyen -- while by no means a shoo-in for a second term -- is seen as
having a strong shot.But even if the European People's Party (EPP),
which will formally tap her as its candidate Thursday in Bucharest,
remains the biggest force in parliament, the choice of a commission
chief is famously subject to horse-trading among EU capitals.That can be
an unpredictable process, as shown back in 2019 with the surprise
appointment of a low-profile German politician named... Ursula von der
Leyen.
Macron urges Ukraine's allies not to be 'cowards' By Francesco FONTEMAGGI, Jan FLEMR
Prague
(AFP) March 5, 2024-French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday urged
Ukraine's allies not to be "cowards" in supporting the country to fight
off the Russian invasion.He added that he "fully stood behind"
controversial remarks made last week not ruling out the deployment of
Western troops to Ukraine, which sent a shockwave around Europe."We are
surely approaching a moment for Europe in which it will be necessary not
to be cowards," Macron said on a visit to the Czech Republic, which is
pushing a plan to buy weapons outside Europe for Ukraine.Speaking later
after meeting his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel, he asked: "Is this or is
it not our war? Can we look away in the belief that we can let things
run their course?""I don't believe so, and therefore I called for a
strategic surge and I fully stand behind that," Macron said.Most of
Macron's European allies said they would not send troops to Ukraine
after his comments on February 26.French officials also insisted that
any such forces could be sent to back operations such as de-mining
rather than fighting Russian forces."We want no escalation, we've never
been belligerent," Macron said Tuesday.Germany's defence minister said
Macron's quotes were not helpful."We don't need really, from my
perspective at least, discussions about boots on the ground or having
more courage or less courage," Boris Pistorius said at a press
conference in Stockholm after meeting with his Swedish counterpart Pal
Jonson."This is something which does not really help solve the issues we
have when it comes to helping Ukraine," he added.- Cash for shells -
Pavel, a former NATO general, agreed that Ukraine's allies should seek
"new ways" to help, adding that the West would not cross "the imaginary
red line" by getting involved in combat operations.He suggested NATO
countries could for instance train Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine, which
would be "no violation of international rules".The presidents also
commented on Prague's plan to collect money to buy ammunition for
Ukraine outside Europe, first presented by Pavel at a security
conference in Munich last month.Around 15 nations have voiced support
for the plan to buy 500,000 rounds of 155-millimetre ammunition and
300,000 122-millimetre shells worth about $1.5 billion.Macron reiterated
Tuesday that France backed the plan but did not say how much it might
contribute. The Netherlands has already pledged to donate 100 million
euros ($108.5 million).Paris has so far tended to funnel defence
spending into its domestic industry, and favoured European weapons
production for EU money.Macron did throw his weight behind using
revenues from frozen Russian assets in Europe to fund Ukraine's defence,
estimating them at 3-5 billion euros ($3.25-$5.4 billion) per year, but
said the capital should remain untouched."We are not in favour of doing
things forbidden in international law and opening a debate that I
believe would weaken Europe," he said.- Nuclear power bid -Macron and
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala signed a bilateral cooperation plan for
2024-2028, hailed by the French leader as a "foundation for long-term
industrial and strategic partnership".Macron also addressed a nuclear
forum in the Czech capital, attended by several French energy companies
including the power giant EDF, nuclear fuel distributor Orano and
nuclear reactor producer Framatome.EDF and South Korea's KHNP are in
contention for the Czech Republic's multibillion-euro tender to build up
to four new units at its Temelin and Dukovany nuclear power
stations.Macron said EDF's bid, to be submitted in April, had the "full
support of France"Earlier on Tuesday, Orano signed a deal with the Czech
state-run power group CEZ to enrich uranium for the Dukovany plant,
replacing Russia's TVEL in this capacity.
Hungarian president signs Sweden's bid to join NATO-by AFP Staff Writers-Budapest (AFP) March 5, 2024
Hungary's
president on Tuesday signed the law on Sweden's bid to join NATO, a
final technical step before the Nordic country becomes the alliance's
32rd member.Hungary's parliament ratified Sweden's bid on February 26,
ending more than a year of delays that frustrated other alliance members
in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine."Tamas Sulyok, the
president of the republic, today signed the decision taken by the
National Assembly on February 26, 2024, regarding Sweden's membership in
NATO," a statement on the presidential website read.Sweden, which has
been militarily neutral for two centuries, will then be invited to
accede to the Washington Treaty and officially become NATO's 32nd
member.Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago prompted Sweden and
neighbouring Finland to apply to join the trans-Atlantic bloc, ending
their longstanding stance of non-alignment.Every NATO member has to
approve a new country's membership.Finland joined in April last year,
but Sweden's bid was stalled by both Hungary and Turkey, with Ankara
approving Stockholm's candidacy only in January.Though repeatedly saying
it supported Swedish membership in principle, Hungary kept prolonging
the process, asking Stockholm to stop "vilifying" the Hungarian
government.After a meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
and his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson in Budapest, the Hungarian
leader announced that the two had clarified "our mutual good
intentions".Hungary also signed a deal to acquire four Swedish-made
fighter jets, expanding its fleet of 14 Jas 39 Gripen fighters.Hungary
refuses to back Dutch PM for NATO chief-Budapest (AFP) March 5, 2024 -
Hungary's foreign minister on Tuesday said the country would not support
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become the next NATO secretary
general.Rutte is largely believed to be the frontrunner to lead the
alliance and replace current NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, after the
United States, Britain and Germany expressed support for his potential
candidacy.Hungary, however, would not support Rutte, Foreign Minister
Peter Szijjarto told reporters when asked, saying Budapest's backing
would be "bizarre"."We definitely cannot support the election of a
person to the position of NATO secretary general who previously wanted
to force Hungary to its knees," he said.In 2021, Rutte said Hungary
should not be part of the EU after the central European country passed a
law banning the promotion of LGBTQ content to minors.For the past two
years, the NATO alliance has navigated a challenging security enviroment
in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.A successor for Stoltenberg
-- the former Norwegian prime minister who has overseen NATO for a
decade -- is expected to be announced before a July summit in
Washington.No decision is confirmed until consensus is reached on one
candidate, according to NATO rules.Rutte, 57, is currently serving as
prime minister in a transitional capacity after the party of far-right
leader Geert Wilders won the most seats in the Netherland's general
election last November, but has yet been able to form a
government.Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban hailed
"winds of change" after Wilders' win.Orban's government last month
became the last to approve Sweden's bid to join NATO, ending more than a
year of delays that frustrated other alliance members.Hungary is also
the only EU member state that has maintained close ties with the Kremlin
following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
EU proposes vast defence boost, spurred by Russian war in Ukraine-By Marc BURLEIGH
Brussels,
Belgium (AFP) March 5, 2024-EU officials on Tuesday unveiled an
ambitious proposal to massively boost weapons production and procurement
in the bloc to shift from a reliance on US arms and in reaction to
Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The European Commission says the 27-nation
bloc is facing a new "security paradigm" with an expansionist Russia
operating a wartime economy as it presses into year three of the
conflict with Kyiv."To counter the return of high-intensity war on our
border, we have decided to kick up a gear," EU internal market
commissioner Thierry Breton told reporters in announcing the new
initiative.The European Defence Industrial Strategy aims, over the long
term, to give incentives to European arms manufacturers to invest more,
make their production more agile and -- for the first time -- to
collectively catalogue what they have available."We must take more
responsibility for our own security, while, of course, remaining fully
committed to our NATO alliance," said European Commission Vice President
Margrethe Vestager."We need to get that transatlantic balance right,
irrespective of electoral dynamics in the US," she told reporters, in a
nod to Republican White House hopeful Donald Trump casting doubt on the
US commitment to its NATO allies should he win reelection."An improved
ability to act will make us a stronger ally," Vestager said.The question
of financing the ambitious initiative is problematic for a continent
that has trimmed defence investment for decades following the collapse
of the Soviet Union.- Funding questions -Breton has spoken of an
ultimate need for some 100 billion euros ($110 billion) for the European
Union to rival the Pentagon and US defence industry.To kickstart the
project, the commission plans to set aside 1.5 billion euros from the
EU's current budget that runs to 2027 -- an amount Vestager acknowledged
"is not a lot of money" given the scale of the initiative."But it can
still work as an incentive, as a bonus... because the real funding for a
stronger defence comes from member states and that funding will
increase over the years to come," she said.Some countries, such as
France, back an idea of EU bonds to finance a buy-European weapons
production base, similar to what was done to finance economic recovery
from the Covid pandemic.But "frugal" countries such as Germany are
against that, concerned it will centralise budget power in Brussels and
override national sovereignty over defence issues.There is also a debate
over using money generated from frozen Russian assets in the EU to help
fund the initiative, though the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep
Borrell said that "is still not decided and there are different views"
among member states.- 'Kick up a gear' -While the EU and member
countries have supported Ukraine financially and with military weapons
and equipment, arms production has come up short with the bloc missing a
target to give Kyiv a promised one million artillery shells.Breton said
the bloc was now providing Ukraine around 80,000 shells per month.The
EU's 27 member countries spent more than 100 billion euros on defence
purchases between Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and June
last year, Vestager said."Almost 80 percent of that was spent outside of
the European Union, and the US alone accounted for more than 60 percent
of this spending. This is no longer sustainable," she said.The EU's
proposed strategy aims to have trade of weapons within the bloc reaching
35 percent of total value of the EU defence market by 2030.Member
states will also be encouraged to procure European weapons to a level of
at least 50 percent of their defence budgets by 2030 and 60 percent by
2035.A defence industrial readiness board would be created to bring
together member countries, the commission and the EU's top diplomat,
currently Borrell, to coordinate.One mechanism would be set up for
common arms procurement across the bloc, and another to support defence
cooperation including through potential tax breaks.Importantly, Ukraine
would be treated as a "quasi member" of the initiative, which would open
the way for it to more easily purview and tap arms production and
supplies in the EU -- should its war against Russian troops be ongoing
then.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-14 (NUKE AFFECT ON BODIES)
12
Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the
peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot
while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their
sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13 It will come about
in that day that a great panic from the Lord will [a]fall on them; and
they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will [b]be
lifted against the hand of another. 14 Judah also will fight at
Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be
gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance.
Ignored by 'Oppenheimer,' atomic test victims speak out-White Sands, United States, March 6 (AFP)
Mar
06, 2024-Wesley Burris was fast asleep in bed when the world's first
atomic bomb exploded just 25 miles from his front door.A blinding light
filled the home in the New Mexico desert, before the impossible force of
the blast shattered its windows, spraying glass across the
four-year-old boy and his brother."It was so bright, I couldn't see,"
Burris recalls. "I can remember asking, 'Dad, what happened? Did the Sun
blow up?'"The events of 5:30 am on July 16, 1945 are now best known to
millions from their dramatic re-enactment in the Oscar-tipped movie
"Oppenheimer."But they loom large in the actual memory of Burris, who is
now 83 years old and still living just a few miles from the secret
location where scientists and military chiefs gathered on that historic
morning.While the film presents the Trinity test site as a vast, empty
desert, Burris and his family were among thousands who lived within a
50-mile (80-kilometer) radius.And like all of their neighbors, the
family had no clue what was going on -- or why a giant mushroom-shaped
cloud was spreading across their horizon."We weren't scared from it.
Because it didn't kill us right there," he told AFP. "We had no idea
what it was."Fast-forward eight decades, and Burris knows all too well
the true deadliness of that explosion, which sent radioactive material
50,000 feet (15,000 meters) into the air.The test took place amid
thunderstorms, despite scientists' warnings, in the race to have the
bomb ready for a key World War II summit with the Soviets.Torrential
rains brought toxic debris straight back down, where it irradiated the
desert dust, the water supplies and the food chain.Burris has lost his
brother to cancer. His sister had it too, as does her daughter.And he
himself has skin cancer, which he tries to treat with traditional Native
American medicine.Despite all this, no New Mexican affected by
radiation from the Trinity test has received a dime in compensation."We
were guinea pigs," said Tina Cordova, a cancer survivor who runs the
Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, calling for justice."But they
come back and check on guinea pigs. Nobody's ever come back to check on
us."- 'Oppenheimer' -For campaigners like Cordova, Christopher Nolan's
"Oppenheimer" has at least introduced the concept of the Trinity test to
millions of people around the world."But it didn't go far enough," she
told AFP.The film is the overwhelming favorite to sweep multiple Oscars
on March 10, including best picture."Wouldn't it be remarkable if during
the Academy Awards, any one of them said, 'I want to acknowledge the
sacrifice and suffering of the people of New Mexico,'" said
Cordova."They knew about us when they made the film -- they just chose
to ignore us again."Cordova -- one of five generations in her family
diagnosed with cancer since 1945 -- hopes such recognition could finally
put pressure on the US Congress to extend compensation to her state.The
clock is ticking.The current Radiation Exposure Compensation Act does
support those who lived near sites where nuclear tests were later
conducted in Nevada, Utah and Arizona. But even that expires in June.And
a bid to broaden its scope to include those exposed to the very first
atomic explosion, having been approved by the US Senate last year, was
ripped out of a giant defense bill in December by the House of
Representatives, over concerns about its cost."This shouldn't be how we
live. We hold bake sales and garage sales and enchilada suppers so that
we can raise the money to help these families," said Cordova."Maybe the
Pentagon should have to have a bake sale every week to meet their
budgetary demands, the same way we have to."According to "First We
Bombed New Mexico," a new documentary following Cordova's campaign, the
families affected by radiation are "mostly Hispanic and Native."- 'Bunch
of lies' -Burris was not impressed by the recent "Oppenheimer"
movie."Yeah, I've seen it, but that film is a bunch of lies," he
said."How many people died out here? They never said nothing about
that."But he has long become resigned to being brushed aside by
history.Way back in July 1945, his family were eventually told an
ammunition explosion had occurred.Compounding the mystery, two strange
men with binoculars were spotted watching the explosion from trucks
parked near their front yard."They wouldn't tell us anything," he
recalls.A few years later, another group of men appeared near the home,
wearing white suits and masks.His brother approached them, asking why
they were digging a hole in the ground and collecting samples."They
said, 'You need to get out of here. This will kill you,'" recalled
Burris."And he said, 'Where am I going (to go?) We live right here in
this house.'"
Christopher Nolan rebuilt Los Alamos 'in secret' for 'Oppenheimer' Abiquiu, United States, March 2 (AFP)
Mar
02, 2024-An entire town filled with nuclear laboratories, built from
scratch in the remote mountains of New Mexico, with every single person
involved sworn to secrecy? It is not just the plot of "Oppenheimer," but
also the story of how Christopher Nolan's Oscar-nominated movie about
the invention of the atomic bomb was made."This is the most I've ever
spoken about it," said David Manzanares, field producer for Ghost Ranch,
as he took AFP on a recent tour of the location for the movie's Los
Alamos scenes."It definitely took on the air of secrecy," he recalled.A
few miles from the nearest paved road, through gates marked "RESTRICTED
AREA," many of the wooden homes, offices, security checkpoints and even a
chapel built for the film remain standing.The buildings line a dusty
street that is bookended by stunning purple-hued mountains.The real Los
Alamos -- an hour's drive away -- is now a modern town that remains home
to a giant, top-secret government lab charged with safeguarding the US
nuclear stockpile. Its historic buildings were used for several interior
scenes.But Nolan selected this far corner of the southwestern US state
to double as the town for exterior scenes, constructing a 1940s-era
replica of its main street.The British filmmaker famously insists on
using authentic, practical sets to inspire his actors.The movie's atomic
bomb test was shot with minimal computer effects, and real Los Alamos
scientists were hired as extras.This meant the replica of the town had
to be built at full-scale, offering Nolan the possibility of filming
from every angle at a moment's notice.But until a month after the film
premiered last July, Manzanares and his Ghost Ranch team were not even
allowed to acknowledge that the movie had been shot there."There was no
conversation, there was no posting" allowed, he said."That's just the
way business is conducted on a Christopher Nolan shoot."- Mesas -In
mid-October 2021, Manzanares was contacted by a friend who works as a
location manager for movies, asking if he knew of any pristine sites
with wide, sweeping vistas.The friend could not say what the project
was, but shared that it was set in 1940s New Mexico -- enough for
Manzanares to hazard a guess, given the buzz already surrounding Nolan's
next big film.Ghost Ranch fit the bill, and the following month, Nolan
himself came to check it out."He loved it right off the bat," recalled
Manzanares.Nolan gave his blessing, before adding a complication: "Oh,
by the way, we need a double of it."The movie first needed to shoot a
scene of Cillian Murphy's titular scientist showing a US army general
(Matt Damon) an empty, proposed site for the Manhattan Project's new
base.The following day, they would need to get the cameras rolling on
the Los Alamos town set itself.Having found two sufficiently
similar-looking "mesas" -- the elevated rock shelves that make up
northern New Mexico's distinctive mountains -- the production set to
work.Crews worked through multiple blizzards that winter to get the set
ready in time for eight packed days of shooting, with the A-list cast
hunkered down at a hotel down the road.The secrecy applied to "everyone,
even the actors," recalled Manzanares."They would get pages, they'd go
to their hotel room and read, but they couldn't take the script out."-
Rattlesnakes -The secrecy surrounding "Oppenheimer" was not entirely
unusual for a film of its scale and fame.Media outlets are hungry for
any on-set photos, production gossip or script fragments, any of which
can spoil a major movie before its premiere.Once the Los Alamos scenes
were complete, the fake town's "laboratories" were removed, as were
telephone poles that would soon have blown down in gusty winds.But
producers agreed to leave around a dozen wooden structures standing --
the first time a movie production filmed at Ghost Ranch has been allowed
to do so.That meant the set needed to remain secret for more than a
year after filming wrapped.The site will eventually be used for other
movies, such as Westerns.But before then, from next month, the ranch
owners will start offering an "Oppenheimer Tour."They hope to capitalize
if -- as expected -- the movie wins multiple Oscars, including best
picture, on March 10.Employees are currently working to prepare the
remote site, which was left to the elements for months."We went up
there, we found rattlesnakes and black widows," said Ghost Ranch tours
manager Julia Haywood."It is perfectly safe now," she added.
Op-ed:
Day 152 of the war-We’re living in the most worrying period for Jews
since World War II-And there’s rarely been a time when Israel’s
existence, imperiled from without, and hobbled from within, has been so
manifestly necessary-By David Horovitz-Today, 5:08 pm
Around the
world, spiking antisemitism.Vast “pro-Palestinian” demonstrations — in
the Arab world but, especially, in the West — at which many urge not
only support for Gazans mid-war but would deny the only Jewish state its
right to exist. Physical attacks on Jews in ostensibly enlightened
countries. Jewish kids in the US choosing universities based on how
courageous they feel they might need to be to identify as Jewish, much
less Zionist, there. A Jewish actress in London’s West End starring in a
reworked Shakespearean play about antisemitism being told it is not
safe for her to leave the theater because of dangerous protests
outside.Jews everywhere more wary than they were five months ago — more
wary than they were in decades — about publicly identifying as Jews.And
this all began after October 7, when the terrorist army of a virulently
antisemitic Islamic government invaded Israel from neighboring
territory, slaughtered 1,200 people and kidnapped 253 more, and would
have kept on killing throughout the country if it could.And it has all
intensified since then, because the Israeli government — having failed
once to keep its people safe from murderous enemy attack — recognized
that it needed to ensure the Hamas terrorist government was prevented
from pursuing its avowed agenda of slaughtering Jews again and again and
again until Israel is destroyed.I grew up half a century ago in a
London with a mild undertone of antisemitism — a London where the price
of attending a Jewish school in a fairly working-class neighborhood was
an occasional confrontation with thuggish kids from the non-Jewish
school down the road, where the organized Jewish community generally
didn’t stick its neck out, where Margaret Thatcher’s handful of Jewish
cabinet ministers mostly preferred not to highlight their
Jewishness.Now, the undertone is an overtone, and London — where tens
and sometimes hundreds of thousands of protesters, either hate-filled,
ignorant or both, march through the city center every weekend — is
emblematic of the global rise in hostility to Jews.When I first visited
the US, in the mid-1980s, I marveled at the easy self-confidence, pride
and sense of belonging among American Jews and their leadership. Now,
that confidence is dissipating; the environment is changing.We had
thought, after World War II, that much of humanity had recognized the
evil it could demonstrably do, recoiled, and largely determined that it
must not happen again. We had thought that, at least in our lifetimes
and for a few generations to come, the oldest hatred had been
marginalized. We were wrong.Two generations ago, most of my father’s
family fled Nazi Germany for London just in time — a year before the
Frankfurt synagogue founded by my great-grandfather was burned down on
Kristallnacht. No governments in purportedly reasonable countries are
endorsing antisemitism and the targeting of Jews. But there is growing
empathy in some government quarters for the obsessive and skewed
hostility to Israel, and for policies that would weaken the only Jewish
state’s capacity to defend itself against its avowedly genocidal
enemies.I don’t think there’s been a more worrying period for the Jewish
people since World War II.And there’s rarely been a time when Israel’s
existence, imperiled from without, and hobbled from within, has been so
manifestly necessary.Politicking as Israel burns-At the risk of major
understatement, we have a deeply problematic government.Because it
failed us on October 7, when it simply refused to accept all the
evidence that Hamas was bent on Israel’s destruction rather than Gaza’s
governance and was about to invade.Because it had divided and weakened
us, in the nine months before the war, by seeking to subjugate our court
system to its political majority and thus to shatter core protections
and radically constrain our democracy.Because it includes coalition
parties and ministers with racist, expansionist agendas that are
anathema to the Israeli mainstream and that had undermined
identification with Israel in many quarters worldwide well before
October 7 and the Israeli military fightback.Because, by its very
nature, it reduces Israel’s credibility among international leaders and
in international public opinion as regards the immensely complex conduct
of the war against Hamas — a war being fought in a near-impossible
urban environment, against an amoral enemy. The nature of the coalition
heightens abiding concerns from all of Israel’s allies regarding
noncombatant casualties — concerns especially exacerbated when things go
terribly wrong, as with the dozens of deaths in the attempted delivery
of aid in a convoy last Thursday.Because it is proving abidingly unable
to practically govern a traumatized country that needs competent
leadership, amid the prolonged and draining campaign against a Hamas
that is still holding 130 hostages and is leveraging them with every
ounce of cynicism to try to survive the war.We have a deeply problematic
government and, in Benjamin Netanyahu, we have an ever more contentious
prime minister — the man at the top of the hierarchy who nonetheless
refuses to acknowledge that he bears prime responsibility for the
catastrophe that unfolded under his watch. As Wednesday’s publication of
the devastating state commission of inquiry report into the disaster at
Mount Meron reminded us, there’s a pattern to his avoidance of
responsibility.For a few, short shell-shocked weeks after October 7, the
prime minister curbed his instinct for division, and focused on
overseeing the IDF’s response to Hamas and the effort to deter still
more potent enemies on other borders. But for months now, he has avoided
shaping a strategy for Gaza, and resisted the US vision for a
post-Hamas era, because it would risk destroying his coalition and his
hold on power. And thus Israel is en route to sole and colossal
responsibility for over two million Palestinians, in a territory where
Hamas’s war machine extended to most every neighborhood, above and below
ground, much of which now lies in ruins.It took him weeks, until
Tuesday, to muster common sense and declare that the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Compound atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem would remain open, subject
to security assessments, to Muslim worshipers when Ramadan begins next
week. He dodged and dithered before finally rejecting pressure from his
radically irresponsible police minister Itamar Ben Gvir to impose
sweeping restrictions on Israel’s Arab citizens — even as Hamas is bent
on stirring up friction at the mount, especially among an Arab Israeli
community whose identity with the state appears to have been deepened by
October 7 but for whom access to Al-Aqsa is acutely sensitive.He
refuses to advance a genuine effort to ensure that the fastest-growing
sector of the Israeli demographic, the ultra-Orthodox community, shares
the burden of responsibility by performing military or other national
service, even at this hour of vital need, with their fellow Israelis
fighting and falling in battle — again, because it would risk the
collapse of his coalition.And he has lately taken to asserting, at the
press conferences where he calls for unity while spreading discord, that
anybody who wishes to see him ousted via elections while the war is
ongoing is siding with the enemy. How so? Because, he claims, the
greatest dream of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran is to see Israel plunged
into bitter political campaigning mid-conflict.It is legitimate to
assert that Israel cannot afford a divisive political campaign at the
height of a war that could well expand to multiple new fronts; it is
unacceptable to depict anybody who thinks differently as traitorous.This
week, politicking while Israel burns, Netanyahu reportedly went to
extreme lengths to complicate a visit to the US and UK by his war
cabinet colleague, and most potent political rival, Benny Gantz. A prime
minister might be expected to encourage, brief and steer a senior
colleague in an emergency coalition on a trip to meet some of the most
senior officials in the capital of Israel’s most essential ally. But
Netanyahu, openly at odds with President Joe Biden and unable to secure a
White House invitation of his own, instead reportedly ordered Israel’s
ambassadors in both countries not to accompany Gantz to his meetings,
and the embassies in Washington and London not to assist Gantz,
including as regards his security on today’s UK leg of his visit.Some of
these reports almost defy belief, and the Prime Minister’s Office has
denied parts of them. But the fact is that Mike Herzog, Israel’s envoy
to the US, was not in evidence at Gantz’s DC meetings.It may seem petty
to even write about this kind of self-destructive small-mindedness amid
the current crises, but that’s the point: narrow personal and political
self-interest still hold sway — for Netanyahu and much of the
government.Witness, for further example, newly installed Foreign
Minister Israel Katz’s pompous and ill-conceived decision to recall
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, for consultations in protest
at ostensible UN efforts to downplay the UN’s own, long-delayed report
into systematic rape, gang rape and sexual abuse by Hamas on October 7
and against the hostages since. The report risibly does not directly
specify Hamas as responsible for the crimes, but it independently
validates Israel’s evidence — and this from within a UN so perpetually
hostile to Israel. If ever there was a moment to highlight a UN stance
on Israel, rather than denounce it, the release of this report was that
moment. But, hey, nobody really knows who Katz is or cares much about
him, and he has to make an impact if he is going to advance his goal of
becoming prime minister one day.A human meat grinder? There was a
sentence in an op-ed by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times last week,
titled “Israel Is Losing Its Greatest Asset: Acceptance,” that I can’t
get out of my head. Arguably the most resonant columnist, in the world’s
most resonant newspaper, Friedman wrote: “So the whole Israel-Gaza
operation is starting to look to more and more people like a human meat
grinder whose only goal is to reduce the population so that Israel can
control it more easily.”Read that again, and remember that Friedman has
the ear of the US president. In defiance of parts of his own base, amid
an intensifying reelection battle, Biden has continued to resist demands
for an immediate end to the war, and continued to give Israel the
practical military and diplomatic means to wage it until Hamas has been
defanged.Who are the “more and more people” to whom Friedman is
referring and whose false and despicable assessment is tantamount to an
accusation of genocide?
US calls on Iran to dilute its entire
stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium-Statement to IAEA comes after
watchdog said in confidential report that Tehran’s uranium stock
enriched up to 60% had fallen slightly
By Reuters Today, 7:04 pm-MAR 6,24
VIENNA
— The United States called on Iran on Wednesday to dilute all of the
uranium it has enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the weapons-grade
level of roughly 90%, in a statement denouncing many of Tehran’s recent
nuclear moves.The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a
confidential report to member states last week that Iran’s stock of
uranium enriched to up to 60% had fallen slightly in the past quarter as
it had diluted, or “downblended,” more of its most highly enriched
material than it had produced.Iran still has enough of that material, if
enriched further, to fuel two nuclear weapons by a theoretical IAEA
definition, and enough for more bombs at lower enrichment levels, the
report seen by Reuters showed.“Iran should downblend all, not just some,
of its 60% stockpile, and stop all production of uranium enriched to
60% entirely,” the United States said in a statement on Iran to a
quarterly meeting of the 35-nation IAEA Board of Governors.It is not
clear why Iran downblended the material. It denies seeking nuclear
weapons and says it has the right to enrich to high levels for civil
purposes. Western powers say there is no credible civil justification
for enriching to such high levels.“We continue to have serious concerns
related to the stockpile of highly enriched uranium that Iran continues
to maintain,” the US statement said.“No other country today is producing
uranium enriched to 60% for the purpose Iran claims and Iran’s actions
are counter to the behavior of all other non-nuclear weapons states
party to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty),” it added.The United States
also condemned various moves by Iran, many of which the IAEA has also
criticized, such as barring some of the IAEA’s most experienced and
expert inspectors last year.Israel has long warned it will not allow
Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.Times of Israel staff contributed to this
report.
Philippines' Marcos sees Chinese actions in South China Sea with 'great alarm'-by AFP Staff Writers-Manila (AFP) March 6, 2024
Philippine
President Ferdinand Marcos said Wednesday that he sees Chinese actions
in the South China Sea with "great alarm", after recent confrontations
described by a Filipino military commander as "the worst" in two
years.The latest incidents involving Philippine and Chinese vessels took
place on Tuesday in waters around Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly
Islands where the countries have contested maritime claims.Manila said
that China Coast Guard ships caused two collisions with Philippine boats
and water cannoned one of them, leaving four Filipino crew members
injured.The Philippine vessels were part of a regular mission to deliver
provisions to a handful of Filipino troops stationed on a grounded navy
vessel at Second Thomas Shoal."We continue to view with great alarm
this continuing dangerous manoeuvres and dangerous actions that are
being done against our seamen, our coast guard," Marcos told
reporters."I think that we cannot view this in any way but in the most
serious way," he said."Once again, we will make our objections known and
hope that we can continue to communicate to find a way so that such
actions are no longer seen."Manila summoned a Chinese representative
over the incidents on Tuesday.Beijing expressed "strong protests" over
the run-in with the Philippine vessels, Chinese foreign ministry
spokeswoman Mao Ning said Tuesday.- 'Worst in two years' -Philippine
Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, who was on board the supply boat water
cannoned by the China Coast Guard, said the force of the water
"shattered the windshield" and injured four personnel."In the last two
years, I think this is the worst because it resulted in personal
injuries," Carlos, chief of the Armed Forces Western Command, told
reporters.The incident happened a day after Philippine foreign minister
Enrique Manalo called on China to "stop harassing us" as he defended
Manila's strategy of publicising Chinese manoeuvres in the South China
Sea.AFP was among media outlets on board one of the Philippine Coast
Guard ships that escorted the supply mission.Tuesday's collisions and
water cannoning came after similar incidents in December."It is China
that is deliberately stirring up trouble and maliciously inciting hype
and not the Philippines," said Jonathan Malaya, assistant
director-general of the Philippines' National Security Council."The
South China Sea is wide enough for both our nations to peacefully
co-exist as we have done for centuries."China claims almost the entire
waterway, brushing aside competing claims from a host of Southeast Asian
nations and an international ruling that has declared its stance
baseless.
ASEAN, Australia decry actions that 'endanger peace' in South China Sea-By Steven TRASK-Melbourne (AFP) March 6, 2024
Southeast
Asian and Australian leaders on Wednesday warned against actions that
"endanger peace" in the South China Sea, following fresh confrontations
between Beijing and the Philippines in contested waters.Simmering
tensions in the trade corridor threatened to boil over this week, when
Chinese boats in the Spratly Islands were accused of hounding
Philippines vessels.Beijing on Wednesday accused the United States of
using the Philippines as a "pawn to stir up trouble in the South China
Sea" as hostilities between the Asian nations escalate over their
territorial dispute.China claims almost the entirety of the South China
Sea as its own, ignoring legal precedents and competing claims from a
host of Southeast Asian nations.The festering dispute poses one of the
region's most vexing security challenges, looming large during a
three-day summit between Australia and the 10-nation ASEAN bloc."We
encourage all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger
peace, security and stability in the region," read a joint declaration
hammered out between ASEAN members and Australia."We recognise the
benefits of having the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability and
prosperity," the statement added.As the summit kicked off on Monday
morning, Philippine foreign minister Enrique Manalo delivered a simple
request to Beijing: "Stop harassing us".The following day, Chinese coast
guard boats were accused of badgering a flotilla of Philippine ships
sailing a resupply mission.The Chinese vessels were involved in two
separate collisions, the Philippines coast guard said, and blasted one
of the resupply boats with a water cannon.Images taken in the aftermath
showed the water cannon had shattered windows on the control bridge of
one of the Philippine vessels.Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said
he viewed the Chinese actions with "great alarm" while a Filipino
military commander described the confrontations as "the worst" in two
years.Bound to act by consensus, the ASEAN forum has long struggled to
make inroads on the overlapping claims staked throughout the South China
Sea.But the fraught atmosphere hanging over the region has some nations
now pushing for the bloc to take a firmer stance.Close United States
ally Australia has proven increasingly willing to speak out against
China."I am very concerned and Australia is concerned about any unsafe
and destabilising behaviour in the South China Sea," Australian Prime
Minister Anthony Albanese said on the summit's sidelines."We need to
make sure that activity in the South China Sea alleviates any tensions
and doesn't add to it," he added.- Gaza ceasefire -ASEAN and Australian
leaders also threw their weight behind a renewed international push to
secure a ceasefire in Gaza, a thorny issue that divided opinions behind
closed doors."We urge for an immediate and durable humanitarian
ceasefire," said the leaders of 11 nations after days of diplomatic
wrangling over the text.With the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around the
corner, the United States and a growing list of nations have been
stepping up efforts to secure some kind of pause in fighting.Singapore
had baulked at an earlier suggestion the statement condemn "the use of
starvation" in the Gaza Strip, language that would have infuriated
Israel.Diplomats also argued over whether the statement should call for a
total ceasefire -- or a perhaps more temporary "humanitarian" pause.-
Myanmar crisis -The surging conflict in junta-ruled Myanmar also
continued to frustrate ASEAN leaders, whose efforts to resolve the
crisis remain largely fruitless.Junta leaders have essentially ignored
the bloc's five-point peace plan, painstakingly pulled together in
2021."We strongly condemn the continued acts of violence and call for
immediate cessation," the joint declaration read, referencing what it
termed Myanmar's ongoing "political crisis"."We call for effective
humanitarian assistance, and inclusive national dialogue."Laos, a
communist state with ties to crucial Myanmar ally China, is chairing
ASEAN for the first time since 2016.ASEAN's 10 member states are Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar.Although Myanmar remains a member,
political representatives and military leaders from its ruling junta
have been banned from high-level meetings.
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