CARNEY THE LIBBY DIBBY WANTS TO SANCTION ISRAEL YOU BETTER NOT CARNEY. I DON'T WANT NO JUDGEMENT ON CANADA LIKE TORNADOES, BIG QUAKES, FLOODING AND BLISTING HEAT WAVES.YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED CARNEY ADMINISTRATION.
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.
FAMINE
EZEKIEL 5:16
16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
DEUTORONOMY 28:24
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
Jeremiah 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
Isaiah 57:21
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR WAVES) the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3-7
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-4
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,(EU WORLD DICTATOR)the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
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.
REVELATION 13:1-10
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)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
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)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
No one will enter the New World Order... unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation.- David Spangler Director of Planetary Initiative United Nations.
THE WORLD DICTATOR
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
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:(EU WORLD DICTATOR) and he that sat on him had a bow;(PEACE) and a crown was given unto him:(WORLD LEADER) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
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.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
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.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
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.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he (FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he (THE EU DICTATOR) do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
No one will enter the New World Order... unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation.- David Spangler Director of Planetary Initiative United Nations.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI5_pMvLZd8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWmPqY8TE0&feature=player_embedded
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 DIVSION REGION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT-NEW AGE MOVEMENT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(UNITED NATIONS TROOPS) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
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:(EU WORLD DICTATOR) and he that sat on him had a bow;(PEACE) and a crown was given unto him:(WORLD LEADER) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
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.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
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.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
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.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he (FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he (THE EU DICTATOR) do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
No one will enter the New World Order... unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation.- David Spangler Director of Planetary Initiative United Nations.
EU launches interoperable biometric matching service for border control-May 21, 2025, 11:48 am EDT | Masha Borak
The European Union has made a big step in making its biometric databases for law enforcement and border control interoperable.On Monday, the European Commission launched a Shared Biometric Matching Service (sBMS) for fingerprints and facial images. The service stores 400 million biometric templates and makes them available across several European information systems.The EU and its member states currently run several large-scale IT systems related to border security, including the Schengen Information System (SIS), the European Dactyloscopy Database (Eurodac) and the Visa Information System (VIS). More systems are planned, including the upcoming Entry-Exit System (EES).These systems were developed independently, making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to connect information about individuals stored in separate silos.“The sBMS will greatly improve the precision of identifying and verifying individuals, strengthening the EU’s border security and controls, as well as enhancing the management of visas and asylum applications,” the Commission says in an announcement.The system is delivered by EU-LISA, the agency tasked with managing large-scale IT systems and ensuring their interoperability. The biometric templates stored in the sBMS are obtained from biometric data stored in the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the Common Identity Repository (CIR).The CIR is another interoperability component that has been built by EU-LISA. The repository stores individual files created for each person registered in the EES, VIS, Eurodac, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and the European Criminal Records Information System on Third-Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN).Other interoperability components include the European Search Portal (ESP), which allows searches across multiple databases, and the Multiple-Identity Detector (MID).The sBMS is designed to guarantee data security, the Commission adds. The system offers biometric functionalities such as CUD, 1:1 (one-to-one), and 1:N (one-to-many) matching, according to earlier EU-LISA documents.The Commission also announced that the Visa Information System (VIS) has been adapted to interoperate with the Entry/Exit System (EES).
Yubico simplifies passwordless; YubiKeys for Enterprises now available in 175 countries and 24 territories-May 21, 2025, 10:15 am EDT | Lu-Hai Liang
Yubico, a provider of hardware authentication security keys, has announced the expanded availability of YubiKey as a Service to all countries in the European Union.This builds upon the company’s existing reach in markets such as the UK, U.S., India, Japan, Singapore, Australia and Canada. In addition, Yubico has expanded the availability of YubiEnterprise Delivery across 117 new locations around the world.This now brings the total to 199 locations (175 countries and 24 territories and it more than doubles existing delivery coverage of YubiKeys to both office and remote users in a fast nad turnkey way. “Enterprises today are facing evolving cyber threats like AI-driven phishing attacks,” said Jeff Wallace, senior vice president of product at Yubico.“By expanding our global reach of YubiKey as a Service and YubiEnterprise Delivery to 175 countries, we’re accelerating our ability to deliver and deploy device-bound passkey solutions that address the biggest threat facing businesses today from stolen login credentials,” he continued.The YubiKey as a Service allows enterprises to quickly roll out phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA). Available exclusively through this service, the Yubico Enrollment Suite now enables enterprises in these markets to accelerate passwordless adoption and seamless user onboarding with pre-configured keys to their users.This includes Yubico FIDO Pre-reg for factory-programmed, pre-registered keys as well as YubiEnroll client for in-person onboarding via Okta and Microsoft Entra ID, with more identity providers to follow. These offerings are now available for all EU countries.“This expansion enables us to meet growing demand and accelerates adoption – enabling faster, more affordable delivery of pre-configured YubiKeys to markets like the EU and APJ, where regulatory pressures for phishing-resistant authentication are intensifying,” Wallace said.
US State Department doubles down on criticism of EU’s DSA-May 21, 2025, 10:20 am EDT | Masha Borak
The U.S. government continues to pressure the European Union on the Digital Services Act (DSA), with the State Department issuing requests to offices to provide “examples of government efforts to limit freedom of speech.”The requests reflect the narrative of President Donald Trump’s administration that paints the DSA as a tool for imposing censorship on online platforms. The office has pledged it would not accept regulations that “unfairly target” U.S tech companies, according to a recent State Department internal communications obtained by The Wall Street Journal.“Obviously, we don’t love the idea of the Europeans censoring their own citizens, but the principal concern is these spillover effects affecting content-moderation policies and a variety of free-speech concerns within the United States,” Darren Beattie, acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, told the paper. “And there’s various mechanisms within the DSA that are concerning in that regard.”The DSA became applicable in 2024, forcing online platforms such as marketplaces, social networks and content-sharing platforms to address illegal and harmful online content and disinformation.The regulation also includes provisions related to age assurance and protecting minors. Earlier this month, the EU issued an official call for feedback on guidelines to protect minors, including on age assurance that could limit children’s exposure to pornography and other age-inappropriate content.European lawmakers have defended the law, stating that it doesn’t threaten free speech and is designed to protect Europeans’ basic rights and to help keep children safe online. The regulation only applies in the EU.The U.S., however, has pledged to “take steps to ensure that American companies are not strong-armed into enforcing a European censorship regime that is harmful to American interests, European interests, and the world,” according to a statement to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in April.U.S. tech giants may face even more EU regulation-Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, leaders of social media companies Meta and X, have expressed support for the U.S. government’s moves against DSA. Both companies are facing an investigation by the European Commission. According to the DSA rulebook, very large online platforms (VLOPs), those with over 45 million users in the EU, must comply with the most stringent rules.However, the two companies could face even tougher regulations in the future, this time coming from Europe’s consumer protection agencies, according to Catalina Goanta is Associate Professor in Law & Technology at the Law School’s Molengraaff Institute.The European Commission has recently completed its Digital Fairness Fitness Check, designed to modernize the consumer protection framework, and is focusing on formulating the Digital Fairness Act by mid-2026. The Act addresses unethical techniques and commercial practices related to dark patterns, marketing by social media influencers, the addictive design of digital products and online profiling.“For social media companies, the turning point that they are no longer mere hosts of expression, but providers of goods and services is rapidly approaching […], Goanta writes for Tech Policy Press. “Platforms such as Meta and X better start assembling their consumer law compliance, which is arguably much more of a puzzle than the DSA’s obligations.”
Leveraging digital ID in the financial sector: ID4Africa panel-Insights from IN Groupe, Visa, Tech5, FaceTec, DigitalTrust Technologies-May 21, 2025, 10:21 am EDT | Ayang Macdonald
Financial inclusion was highlighted as the mother of all digital ID use cases during an early panel discussion on the second day of ID4Africa’s ongoing Annual General Meeting in Addis Ababa. Panellists crossed views on how collaboration between governments and industry (private sector) on the implementation of effective digital ID systems makes this work.This was part of a series of panel discussions dedicated to dissecting the multifaced uses of legal and digital identity in real-life situations, with the other panel discussions across the day delving into other digital ID use cases such as in the healthcare and travel sectors.Preceding a keynote address from the CEO of IN Groupe, Agnès Diallo, which set the tone for the exchange, speakers from Visa, Tech5, DigitalTrust Technologies and FaceTec, shared practical lessons on how to leverage digital ID in the financial sector for greater impact.Their different presentations outlined strategies for getting digital ID systems right, highlighting the necessity for strategic collaboration, citing real-world examples and explaining how to deal with the pervasive problem of identity fraud using advanced biometric security systems like FaceTec’s UR Code.The first speaker of the panel, Yared Woldesenbet, head of Visa for Eastern Africa and country manager for Ethiopia, said in order for digital ID to be made relevant in the financial sector, there is the undeniable need to leverage Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) to build robust digital government ecosystems.“For digital IDs or digital platforms to be effective, interconnected systems are crucial. These include payment systems, data management systems, and multiple service providers that must work together seamlessly,” Woldesenbet said.He cited the examples of Singapore and Ukraine where Visa is collaborating with governments there to facilitate access to banking services using digital ID platforms.“One success story is the Singpass initiative in Singapore. Established in 2003, it has evolved significantly over time. It serves as a single secure login for citizens and residents to access over 2,000 digital services. It has contributed to 100 percent financial inclusion among eligible Singaporeans.”Taking the floor, the Co-founder, Chairman and CTO of Tech5, Rahul Parthe, also emphasized on building an impactful digital ecosystem that breeds trust and supports stakeholder collaboration. He said above all else, governments must adopt “a pragmatic approach” and what he termed the “decentralized DPI approach,” like what they working on in Honduras.He stated that financial inclusion is one of the building blocks of a digital nation as “a digital economy thrives through real financial inclusion and seamless payment integration which leads to rapid digital trade growth.”He noted that digital ID ecosystems are built on rails and the payments “rail” is the most impactful layer that actually drives their adoption.“Using digital identity makes financial inclusion easier. Imagine opening a bank account or getting a virtual card with just a few clicks. Strong customer authentication becomes straightforward in a decentralized setup. This enables all kinds of secure payment flows, and in any direction: government to citizen, citizen to government, peer-to-peer, and so on.”Facetec’s Vice President for Government relations, Owen McShane, dwelled on the aspect of identity fraud, highlighting how the company’s UR Code technology can effectively protect digital IDs against the bad actors in the financial and other sectors. He said the UR Code is the short form for “You Are This Code.”“Fake IDs were once mainly used by young people trying to buy alcohol or tobacco. But now, they’re increasingly used for serious financial crimes like opening credit cards, bank accounts, and purchasing vehicles,” he noted.He said the digitally signed biometrics UR Code embeds biometric vectors and data into a QR code, which can be scanned and compared with a live selfie or a stored image to verify identity, linking physical or digital documents directly to individuals.Uganda’s UgPass was also showcased as an example of how a digital identity platform can provide access to a wide range of services including financial inclusion. The Executive Director of the country’s National Information Technology Authority, Dr Hatwib Mugasa, and the Founder and CEO of DigitalTrust Technologies, Ramamohan Reddy, both gave details about the system.Now used for several use cases including financial services, the duo said building UgPass was easy as it is based on a foundational ID system that already existed.Mugasa explained that the UgPass has one major feature which is the digital wallet, which includes digital authentication and e-signature. Over time, they have scaled through challenges, learned lessons and have been able to develop UgPass version 2 which is a new digital ID wallet that holds all essential credentials, from land ownership and financial data, to social security and tax records.With efforts being deployed to scale up the new UgPass wallet, the officials hope to have 10 million Ugandans sign up for it in the near future, build support for offline QR code verification and ensure the integration of over 100 service providers, including banks for financial inclusion, land offices, and tax authorities.
Biometrics, age-appropriate design on the mind of UK Information Commissioner-John Edwards urges privacy professionals to ‘remember the person behind the data’May 20, 2025, 11:40 am EDT | Joel R. McConvey
UK Information Commissioner John Edwards is on a bit of a speaking tour, having recently addressed Privacy New Zealand – a country where he spent eight years serving as privacy commissioner – and the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)’s Data Protection Intensive UK 2025.His message is a mix of human-centric thinking and a warning to services that flout the rules, guided by the principle that “data protection is not just about computers, numbers and legislation – it’s about people.”Edwards tells the IAPP that “since I arrived in the UK and took up this role in 2022, my aim has been to regulate for outcomes, not outputs. I’m interested in real impact, real change, rather than products, things that might be easy to count, but that ultimately don’t improve the lives or experiences of people in the UK.”He cites real scenarios in which irresponsible data handling leading to data breaches can have grave consequences: “Imagine a person fleeing a violent domestic relationship, only to have their new address accidentally shared with their abuser.” Rather than a mere “admin error”, Edwards wants to frame these mistakes within a wider social context, notably in how they impact people in vulnerable positions.He believes “the public should not be expected to have to read reams of legalese in a privacy notice to understand what’s happening to their information,” that “they should not be kept in the dark about where their information’s going and what it’s being used for,” and that “they should not be coerced or forced into handing over their information without being fully informed about the consequences.”While consumers can play a role in the larger task of data protection, Edwards says “there is a limit. It’s the responsibility of the whole organisation, from the C-suite down, to keep things simple and accessible for their users.”ICO fires ‘warning shots’ with investigations of major social platforms-To illustrate the role of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Edwards points to its ongoing investigations into TikTok, Reddit and Imgur.“Our role is to ask questions on behalf of young people, so they don’t have to make complex decisions about how they transact with their personal information in an asymmetric information relationship,” Edwards says.“How do these platforms protect children’s personal information? How do their recommender systems work, how are they using a 13 year old’s preferences, viewing habits, shares and likes to serve them content, and keep them on the platform? And, in the case of Reddit and Imgur, how do they assess the age of their users and tailor their content accordingly?”From age assurance to consent in the collection of personal data, “children shouldn’t have to figure this out by themselves. It’s not their job.”“So we’ve stepped in, because it’s our job as the UK’s data protection regulator to hold these platforms to account. If social media and video sharing platforms want to benefit from operating in the UK, they must comply with data protection law.”The decision to target three of the biggest social media and video sharing platforms is intentional – and definitely not a signal for smaller businesses to ignore the law.“I want to make it very clear,” Edwards says. “By focusing our efforts on some of the largest, most well known platforms, we are not giving smaller companies a free pass to adopt or continue unlawful practices. Instead, last week’s announcement should serve as a warning shot. All organisations using children’s data, or who offer products or services aimed at young people, need to comply with the law and conform with our children’s code.”“Get your own house in order. You shouldn’t wait for the regulator to come knocking on your door before checking your processes.”Biometrics, AI still in regulatory spotlight-Edwards says the ICO continues to focus on AI and biometrics continues. “I’ve asked my team to look at foundation models, automated decision-making in recruitment and by government and how police forces use facial recognition technology. We’ll be closely scrutinising any proposed deployment of predictive profiling that could affect people’s rights.”We’re also looking ahead at the technologies and innovations that are likely to burst onto the scene in the next two to seven years.”Former NZ privacy commissioner touches on age assurance, FRT-Edwards’ address to Privacy New Zealand focuses on the ICO’s work in childrens’ online safety.He says the age appropriate design code, which he “inherited,” has “directly led to a huge number of improvements in the safety of a number of the most popular platforms and digital services available to children.”“One of the largest platforms told me that as a result of the code and our work, they made more changes to their product products than they did when the GDPR came in, and that’s huge.” He cites wins like turning off geolocation for kids by default and turning off notifications after bedtime.Edwards reiterates that the ICO’s priorities for the year are children online, AI and biometrics – regarding the latter, “there’s a real rush to market which means that there are risks and opportunities and we need to stay ahead of those – and, finally, online tracking and advertising.He mentions policy work consulting on papers addressing “some of the personal information implications of generative AI and how large language models are trained.”Edwards has fines at his disposal, if needed. But he stresses that real change takes time.“I’ve started to use the example that one of the first decisions I took in my job here in 2022 was to confirm a fine my predecessor proposed against Clearview AI ,which you know is the biometric facial recognition matching service used by law enforcement authorities based on scraped images from around the web.”Clearview appealed that fine and won, forcing the ICO to seek its own appeal. “It took the tribunal a year to respond to our request for an appeal,” Edwards says. “We’ve now got a date for that appeal. I‘m three and a half years into my term now; there is no chance that that matter will be determined before my term ends.”Edwards also makes brief reference to Australia’s social media ban for users under 16. Once again, his human-centric perspective guides his thinking.“I think one of the most sensible things I’ve heard on this subject came from a real advocate who’s sometimes a pretty harsh critic of my office and me personally, and the role that we play.”Edwards is referring to Baroness Beeban Kidron, who he calls “really the author of the kids code in many ways.”“She was asked about this issue of a ban and her view I think was really sensible. She said it’s better to make these technologies safe for children than to try and ban them. And I think that’s right.”That said, parental oversight only goes so far. “The thing is I wonder, you know, we expect that parents will not give their children cigarettes right? But we also make it a crime for retailers to sell children under 18 cigarettes. And I think there is an analogy there.”
Oil prices jump on report of Israel prepping Iran strike.
London, May 21 (AFP)-Crude prices rallied Wednesday following a report that US intelligence suggested Israel was planning a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, which would send geopolitical tensions into overdrive and fuel regional conflict fears.While safe haven gold pushed higher, the news from CNN appeared to be having little detrimental effect on Asian equities, with most extending the previous day's rally.European stock markets faltered, however, with the Paris CAC 40 down almost one percent in midday deals.London fell and the pound strengthened against the dollar after UK inflation data come in well above forecasts in April.The dollar also lost pace against the euro and yen ahead of an upcoming G7 finance ministers meeting this week, with speculation growing that President Donald Trump is open to a weaker greenback to help US exporters."Middle Eastern tensions are driving price action in the commodity space," noted Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group."Israel's threat to strike Iran is causing this uplift," she added.Investors are keeping tabs also on China-US relations after Beijing hit out at Washington's "bullying" over chip export controls, just over a week after the two sides dialled down trade tensions by temporarily slashing tit-for-tat tariffs.Both main crude contracts jumped around one percent after CNN reported multiple US officials as saying the government had received intelligence indicating Israel was preparing to target Iranian atomic facilities.There are fears that such a sharp escalation could tip the Middle East into a war, with tensions already high over Israel's strikes on Gaza.Trump said last week that "I think we're getting close to maybe doing a deal" on Tehran's nuclear programme and then a day later called on the Islamic republic to "move quickly or something bad is going to happen".But Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Tuesday that nuclear talks with Washington were unlikely to yield any results after four rounds of Omani-mediated nuclear talks with the United States since April 12."This is the clearest sign yet of how high the stakes are in the US Iran nuclear talks and the lengths Israel may go to if Iran insists on maintaining its commercial nuclear capabilities," Robert Rennie, at Westpac Banking Corp, said."Crude will maintain a risk premium as long as the current talks appear to be going nowhere."Crude prices have risen around 15 percent since the start of the month on softening worries about the economic outlook as tariff tensions grow relatively calmer.- Key figures at around 1030 GMT -Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0 percent at $66.06 per barrel-West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $62.72 per barrel-London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,768.06 points-Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 7,880.58-Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 23,916.99-Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 37,298.98 (close)-Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 23,827.78 (close)-Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,387.57 (close)-New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 42,677.24 (close)-Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1359 from $1.1284 on Tuesday-Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3438 from $1.3391-Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.48 yen from 144.47 yen-Euro/pound: UP at 84.53 pence from 84.26 pence-dan-bcp/ajb/lth-Dow
China slams US 'bullying' over new warnings on Huawei chips.
Beijing, May 21 (AFP)-Beijing condemned on Wednesday new US warnings on the use of AI chips by Chinese tech giant Huawei, vowing it would take steps against "bullying" efforts to restrict access to high-tech semiconductors and supply chains.Washington has sought in recent years to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, concerned that they could be used to advance Beijing's military systems and otherwise undermine American dominance in AI.US President Donald Trump's administration last week rescinded some export controls on advanced computing semiconductors, answering calls by countries that said they were being shut out from crucial technology needed to develop artificial intelligence.Some US lawmakers feared the restrictions would have incentivised countries to go to China for AI chips, spurring the superpower's development of state-of-the-art technology.But Washington also unveiled fresh guidelines warning firms that using Chinese-made high-tech AI semiconductors, specifically tech giant Huawei's Ascend chips, would put them at risk of violating US export controls.In a statement Wednesday, Beijing's commerce ministry described the warnings as "typical unilateral bullying and protectionism, which seriously undermine the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain and supply chain".China accused the US of "abusing export controls to suppress and contain China"."These actions seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and endanger China's development interests," the commerce ministry said.It also warned that "any organization or individual that enforces or assists in enforcing such measures" could be in violation of Chinese law.And it vowed to take "firm steps to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests" in response.- Chips on the table -The United States warned last week about the potential consequences of allowing US AI chips to be used for training Chinese AI models.And those found using Huawei's Ascend chips without clearance from Washington, the guidance read, can face "substantial criminal and administrative penalties, up to and including imprisonment, fines, loss of export privileges, or other restriction".The US commerce department said its policy was aimed at sharing American AI technology "with trusted foreign countries around the world, while keeping the technology out of the hands of our adversaries".Previous US rules divided countries into three tiers, each with its own level of restrictions.Top-tier countries like Japan and South Korea faced no export restrictions, while countries in the second tier, which included Mexico and Portugal, saw a cap on the chips they could receive.Chipmakers including Nvidia and AMD lobbied against the tiered restrictions and saw their share prices rise when the Trump administration indicated it would rethink the rule.Speaking at Taiwan's top tech show on Wednesday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang described US export controls on AI chips to China as a "failure", since companies are using locally developed technology."The local companies are very, very talented and very determined, and the export control gave them the spirit, the energy and the government support to accelerate their development," Huang said.aas-oho/je/tym-Nvidia-AMD - ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES
Iraq signs mega-energy deal with Chinese oil firm.
Baghdad, May 21 (AFP) May 21, 2025-Iraq signed a major energy deal Wednesday with a Chinese petrol company in the southern province of Basra, aiming to boost oil production and build a refinery and electricity plants.China has gained a major foothold in oil-rich Iraq in recent years, becoming a major player across various sectors and now one of the largest importers of Iraqi crude.Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani announced in a statement the signing of the mega-project with a consortium comprising of Geo-Jade Petroleum and the Iraqi company Hilal al-Basra.The project aims to increase oil production in the Tuba field to 100,000 barrels per day, according to Abdel Ghani.It also covers the building of a refinery with a capacity of 200,000 bpd, a 650-megawatt electricity plant and a solar power facility with a capacity of 400 megawatts.The ministry has not disclosed the cost or timeline for a petrochemical plant and a fertiliser factory included in the deal.Geo-Jade Petroleum already operates in Iraq and is set to begin a controversial oil exploration project in the country's south that activists fear will significantly impact the Mesopotamian Marshes of Huwaizah.According to the World Bank, Iraq has 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves -- among the largest in the world -- amounting to 96 years' worth of production at the current rate.Iraq has been trying to move past decades of war and unrest, including a sectarian struggle after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.It only recently regained a semblance of stability and authorities hope to attract investments, especially in the energy sector.Earlier this year, Iraq finalised an agreement with energy giant BP to develop oil fields in the north.Last month, it signed a memorandum of understanding with US energy firm GE Vernova to produce 24,000 megawatts of electricity.Despite its oil wealth, Iraq depends on imports to meet its energy needs, and it hopes to increase natural gas production to reduce its reliance on neighbouring Iran, a crucial supplier of power.tgg/rh/ysm-BP
EU calls for public feedback on European Business Wallet-May 21, 2025, 4:15 pm EDT | Masha Borak
The European Commission has issued a call for feedback on the EU Business Wallet, a digital identity wallet intended for “legal persons,” including companies, organizations and public administration.The European Business Wallet is a key component in Europe’s plan to simplify doing business. The wallet’s purpose is to “drastically” reduce the regulatory and administrative burdens and remove barriers for companies in the European single market, the Commission explained earlier this year.The EU Business Wallet will enable secure digital identification, data sharing and legally valid notifications across the EU, helping economic operators cut compliance costs. Built on the eIDAS regulation, the wallet is also designed to be interoperable with national systems and support cross-border business, according to the Commission.The call for feedback lasts from May 15th to June 12th, 2025. The goal is to collect insights on specific challenges that could be solved by the wallet.The feedback is part of a wider consultation on the EU Business Wallet that includes a study based on interviews with professionals, SMEs, industry and institutional stakeholders. The Commission is also planning a survey among stakeholders such as large corporations, SMEs, technology vendors and IT service providers, industry and professional associations, national and business registers and Chambers of Commerce, public administrations and other non-private bodies.The consultation lasts from March to September 2025. Adoption is slated for the fourth quarter of 2025.The feedback invitation highlights that current administrative procedures disproportionately affect small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Inefficiencies, regulatory burdens and different national rules are reducing competitiveness, slowing digital transformation and limiting the economic potential.“Current processes are often inefficient leading to a near 2 trillion euros (US$2.2 trillion) loss in annual global economic value from lost productivity and revenue opportunities,” the document states.Companies are already seizing the opportunity to build business identities.The EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC) has been running one of the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) wallet’s large-scale pilots, focusing on developing use cases for travel, payments and organizational digital identity. Earlier in May, European startup Duna announced a 10.7 million euro ($12.1 million) seed round.The B2B ecosystem might be even bigger than payments, according to Esther Makaay, vice president of Digital Identity at identity verification company Signicat. However, many governments still have a learning curve ahead of them when it comes to organizational identity.
Gambling sees increased risk from GenAI fraud, growing need for biometric IDV-Market for online sports betting expands, brings regulatory challenges-May 21, 2025, 3:14 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
A survey of recent content on biometrics and the global gambling industry reveals a growing sector that needs strong identity verification – and also a better taxonomy.Gaming, iGaming, e-Gaming and more: in the context of biometrics and digital identity, these terms typically refer to online gambling. Anyone who has watched a recent sports broadcast from the UK or North America will know how embedded online sports betting has become in mainstream sporting leagues. Looser regulations on gambling have opened the floodgates, and huge sums of money are now at stake; according to a new report from Onfido, “The Gaming Operator’s Guide to Identity Verification,” the market is expected to reach US$158.2 billion in value by 2028.Pity those poor gamers who just want to shoot NPCs or race Mario around a track.No matter how the language is diced up, online gambling is a ubiquitous reality. So, says Onfido’s report, are gambling regulations, ranging from age assurance requirements to local KYC and AML compliance rules. “Gaming operators are now facing similar compliance requirements to banks and other financial institutions,” the report says. As such, the matter explicitly informs two of the listed IDV use cases for online gambling: regulation and compliance, and fraud prevention. (The last, customer acquisition, highlights the need for good UX to complement security: “Any verification process built into registration should reduce drop-off and maximize conversions.”)While fraud is more easily associated with financial losses, noncompliance can also be costly. Onfido cites data from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) showing that 15 gaming businesses paid a total of £32.1 million (US$43.1M) as a result of fines or regulatory settlements in 2021.The regulatory landscape, meanwhile, is highly irregular terrain. Rules differ in the U.S., Europe, the UK and elsewhere – for instance, Brazil which has a massive sports betting market.In the U.S., online sports betting is permitted in 20 states. That means large swaths of the country – including Texas and California – are still technically prohibited from making sports bets online. How strictly they enforce the law is another story.On the other hand, the UKGC is “one of the strictest gaming bodies in the world and has been known to issue heavy fines on operators who don’t meet certain requirements.” It has issued explicit warnings about the prevalence of AI deepfakes connected to emerging money laundering and terrorist financing risks. It has also levied fines, slapping two gambling operators with them in April for AML failures.The EU is another patchwork of rules and regulations, with laws differing across Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere. The EU Digital Identity Framework Regulation came into force in 2024, and eIDAS 2.0 is driving the adoption of digital identity wallets.In comments to iGaming Business, Web3 recruiter Spectrum Search’s CTO Peter Wood says “what’s missing right now is consistency. There’s no shared framework for tackling AI-driven fraud, and that needs to change. Regulators should be pushing for industry-wide standards around ID verification that are designed to hold up against AI. We also need to see better collaboration between platforms, some kind of anonymised, real-time data sharing system that helps flag suspicious activity across the board.”Alberta could be a major market for online sports betting-In Canada, the province of Alberta is preparing to legalize online gambling. A blog from Rebekah Jackson, director of gaming at GBG – which provides identity verification to some 60 percent of licensed iGaming operators in Ontario – says that, “despite having a smaller population than Ontario (4.9 million vs. 16 million), the Alberta iGaming market looks set to give Ontario a run for its money.”Ontario legalized single-game sports wagering in 2021, opening the door for online sports betting apps. In 2023, the regulated iGaming market generated CA$2.4 billion (US$1.73B) in revenue. The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) estimates Alberta – a conservative state with proclivities for U.S.-style individual freedoms – would yield similar results.Nonetheless, regulations are inescapable, and GBG says “need-to-knows for operators are likely to closely follow the iGaming Ontario model ensuring FINTRAC-compliant player verification.”FINTRAC is the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), Canada’s national financial intelligence unit, which is responsible for the detection and prevention of money laundering.That means betting Albertans will need to undergo KYC checks with identity verification at the point of onboarding, and for some transactions.“If player identity verification does follow the Ontario model,” GBG says, “FINTRAC-compliant player checks will most likely match personal data – name, address and date of birth – against trusted Canadian credit bureau data,” either in single or dual matches, depending on the use case.Age assurance will also be part of the conversation when sports betting comes to Alberta, where the legal age for gambling is 18. Likewise with “affordability screening” and betting limits.As to which body will be responsible for regulation, the question remains unanswered. The AGLC is responsible for administering the Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Act in Alberta, but also runs the PlayAlberta gambling platform, making for a conflict of interest. The creation of an independent regulator is likely in the long run.Africa could be an even bigger market for online sports betting – with biometricsThe African continent, meanwhile, is battling the negative effects of online gambling – namely, a problem with underage users. An article in Sigma reports of “mounting pressure to curb underage play.”Firms like Jumio have taken notice. The piece quotes Philipp Pointner, chief product officer at Jumio, who says that an African context, rapid onboarding and mobile-first user journeys make selfie checks an attractive biometric age assurance solution for online gambling, provided connectivity and device capabilities support live liveness checks.Infrastructure can be an issue in Africa, says the piece, with “spotty connectivity, varying device quality and privacy concerns.” But that is not stopping market expansion. Mobile wallets and crypto payments are gaining traction, spurring demand for online gambling – which inevitably makes it more accessible to underage players, despite patchwork efforts in the sector to boost KYC procedures.Ultimately, says Sigma’s analysis, “biometrics alone cannot solve all underage gambling issues. They must sit alongside self-exclusion programmes, financial limits, and customer-education initiatives. However, by confirming age at sign-up and authenticating transactions, selfie biometrics and facial recognition offer a powerful deterrent against underage play.”
Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya reveal revenue generation models from national ID programs-May 21, 2025, 2:17 pm EDT | Lu-Hai Liang
At ID4Africa 2025, a panel of representatives from five African countries deemed advanced in identity spoke on ‘Reimagining Identity Authorities as Digital Public Utility Enterprises.’This was about how digital identity “needs to be like a public utility,” like water, like electricity, as the moderator introduced the topic. How to manage such digital public infrastructure? You become a digital public utility enterprise.The panelists included Bisoye Coker-Odusote, CEO and director general of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) of Nigeria; Dr. Christopher Wanjau, Secretary of National Registration for Kenya; Theresa Eson-Benjamin, Head, Legal and Compliance, at the National Identification Authority of Ghana; Devendre Gopaul, permanent secretary to the prime minister’s officer for Mauritius; and Mouhcine Yejjou, director of Morocco’s eID Project.The panelists were asked how their systems generated revenue.Wanjau of Kenya said identity systems are usually costly and involve substantial investment, but that documents and ID cards are classified as human rights that citizens of the country enjoy, so a lot of the investment should be from the government. The first time an identity card is issued it’s free, but for replacements and “other processes” the national bureau charges fees and those fees can usually support their system.Wanjau advocates for a hybrid system with government funding and resources generated through the fees that are charged in the issuance of identity cards and from online verification can be used to fund identity authorities.Coker-Odusote of Nigeria said they charge for enrollment and modification of details for the diaspora, which is a revenue generating model, and they also charge if users want to update via the “self modification platform.” They are currently working on the Nigeria Public Key Infrastructure (NPKI), which will be another revenue generator.They charge license and registration for front-end partners, there are KYC services for banks, and they charge for the download service.Coker-Odusote was asked if the fees go directly to the NIMC or if it goes to the ministry of finance. She said that 100 percent of the revenues goes to the ministry of finance, but that they get to keep 40 percent of the revenue generated. After further probing, Coker-Odusote revealed that currently the revenues are “really low” but that with the PKI certification, and ensuring that that will be done for the private sector and not just for the public sector, they will be able to generate a lot more.Eson-Benjamin of Ghana was up next, with explanation of the different approach the country has taken with funding its Ghana card. Eson-Benjamin explained that the Ghana model is premised on a public-private partnership arrangement. “In this arrangement we looked at which party is best placed to manage risk,” she said.The government’s risk would be operational, policy and all the things that needed to be done to make registration successful, she said. Following assessment, with the private sector invested in technology and looking at international best practices, Ghana concluded that the private sector was best placed to handle the technology and the government was best placed to handle operational activities as well as the policy.There was deep involvement from both the private and public sector in the development of the identity ecosystem in Ghana, Eson-Benjamin said, with investment coming from both. The Ghanaian representative was asked to clarify ownership and said that the database is owned by the government, so that it is “government that manages and owns the data-bearing assets of the authority of the country.”Eson-Benjamin was asked how long is such a PPP arrangement contract. “Because of the long-term benefits that must come into a PPP project we considered a 15-year model,” she replied. Currently, they are in year seven of the model. “And for that 15-year model what it says is that our process is based on the generation of revenue to finance the project,” she continued.“So apart from the investment that the government and the private sector made in year one, all subsequent years the revenue that we generate from the projects goes back into the projects to finance it and then also to generate revenue for the country.”Eson-Benjamin explained that there is an escrow account with the revenue generated, from ID replacements and updates of personal information, going into that account. But the most important part of the revenue generation model is the identity verification, she said. The Ghanaian representative pointed to how the banking sector, the social sector, and the health sector are leveraging the Ghana card for their services.“They are piggybacking on the Ghana card and any time they do a verification of an identity, in order to either pay a claim or render a service, they pay a little fee that goes into our escrow, and that services the project,” she said.
Expansion of biometric tech demands trust before adoption, survey finds-May 21, 2025, 12:10 pm EDT | Anthony Kimery
A new report on consumer attitudes toward biometrics performed by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) explores the growing reliance on biometric technologies and the skepticism many consumers still hold toward them. The report sheds light on both the promise and the peril of integrating biometric verification into everyday life.While biometric technology cannot eliminate identity fraud entirely, the report says, its appropriate and ethical use can significantly reduce the risks posed by static, compromised data.ITRC surveyed 1,177 U.S. adults last August and found that 87 percent had been asked to provide biometric information during an identity verification process within the past year. Biometrics mentioned in the survey included selfie photos, live video, fingerprints, voice, and eye scans.Despite serious privacy concerns reported by 63 percent of the respondents, a striking 91 percent continued with their transaction when prompted to submit biometric data. This disconnect between concern and compliance suggests a complex relationship between perceived necessity and privacy apprehension.The report makes clear that consumers’ concerns are not abstract. Respondents cited potential misuse by employees, unauthorized data sharing, surveillance by law enforcement, misidentification, and data breaches as leading reasons for their discomfort. For example, 69 percent worry that their biometric data could be compromised by insiders, while 60 percent feared it could be repurposed for non-verification activities. Concerns about being tracked by government entities were noted by over a quarter of respondents.Two-thirds of respondents agreed that biometrics can reduce identity crimes, but 39 percent believe that biometric use should be banned. Thirty-six percent did not share that belief. The significant number of people who would ban the use of all biometrics is dominated by younger respondents (45 percent) and men (54 percent). The number of people who would not ban biometrics was dominated by women (39 percent) and respondents 60+ years old (49 percent).“This research highlights a critical need for those of us working to prevent identity crimes to do a better job explaining both the benefits and risks of emerging identity technologies – especially biometrics,” ITRC CEO Eva Velasquez said in a statement.“Our hope is that this biometric report serves not only as a guide for future study but also as a roadmap to increase public understanding and acceptance,” Velasquez said, noting that “change can be uncomfortable, but resisting it without understanding the facts can create unnecessary risk. We must do more to show why secure biometric identity verification is in everyone’s best interest.”Similarly, in October, Aware released its 2024 Consumer Trust in Biometrics Report which stated that “more than 50 percent of all users now authenticate with biometrics daily, signaling a clear path toward mass adoption,” but that consumers also “have a keen awareness of the sensitivity of their biometric data and are looking to use biometrics with providers who have clear policies around data management.”“An overwhelming majority of respondents agree that biometric technology will become more prevalent over the next five years. This isn’t altogether surprising, given that consumers generally recognize biometrics’ superiority to passwords in the areas of security, convenience, and speed of access,” Aware Chief Product Officer Heidi Hunter said in a statement.“However,” Hunter added, “what’s remarkable is that a large percentage of respondents stated they are more willing to trust some organizations than others, based on a demonstrated ability to responsibly collect and manage biometric data. Clearly, the desire for convenience and speed is winning out, because the rise in use cases is expanding. But we think there’s a huge opportunity for brands to build on the benefits of offering biometrics by clearly communicating with consumers, addressing their concerns about data usage and offering alternative authentication options.”Based on the responses to the ITRC survey, anxieties about biometrics are not uniform across demographics. The report said that younger people and men are more likely to support a complete ban on biometric use, with 45 percent of respondents aged 30 to 44, and 46 percent of male respondents agreeing with such a prohibition.In contrast, women and older adults showed more openness to biometrics or were more undecided. The undecided group, which makes up roughly a quarter of all respondents, is key to the future trajectory of biometric adoption. ITRC suggests that better education, greater transparency, and opt-out mechanisms could meaningfully influence this group.Another critical finding of the ITRC survey is that nearly half of the participants had been victims of an identity crime in the previous 12 months, and over half had experienced one at some point in their lives. These figures underscore the growing frequency of identity theft and the urgent need for stronger verification methods.The report contextualized this need by highlighting that identity theft now occurs roughly every 22 seconds in the United States. Coupled with over 2,100 data compromises reported in just the first nine months of 2023 alone, the report positions biometric verification as a crucial component in addressing a pervasive threat.Despite this, respondents still expressed a desire for agency and control. Many said they would be more comfortable using biometric technologies if given more information about how their data would be used and protected. Around 41 percent of respondents wanted more transparency about the purpose of biometric data collection, while 39 percent wanted the right to block sharing or selling of their information. Another 32 percent expressed a desire to delete their biometric data upon request.The ITRC report also addressed the confusion between facial recognition and facial verification, emphasizing that these are fundamentally different technologies.Facial recognition typically refers to surveillance-based, one-to-many identification systems used by law enforcement or intelligence agencies, often without an individual’s consent. Facial verification, in contrast, is a one-to-one comparison initiated by the individual during a consent-based transaction, such as verifying identity for banking or government services. The report argues that conflating these two applications harms public understanding and hinders legitimate adoption of identity verification technologies.In its accompanying discussion paper, the ITRC warns that static data alone -names, Social Security numbers, and other personally identifiable information – is no longer sufficient for identity verification. With personally identifiable information now widely available on criminal marketplaces due to countless data breaches, the value of that data must be diminished through stronger verification methods.Biometrics, the ITRC report suggests, provides a path forward. By adding a “something you are” factor to traditional “something you know” and “something you have” models, biometric verification creates a higher barrier to impersonation and fraud.Nonetheless, the report acknowledges the technical and ethical challenges of biometric use. Systems must be tested for bias and performance across diverse demographics. For instance, some biometric systems have struggled to accurately verify dark-skinned individuals or women.The FIDO Alliance’s 2024 Consumer Insights report revealed a strong preference for biometric authentication in sectors like financial services (49 percent), digital identity (47 percent), and government services (40 percent). Nonetheless, concerns about the accuracy of facial verification technologies across different demographics persist the report said, with 56 percent of U.S. adults surveyed acknowledging potential biases.ITRC emphasized that organizations should only use biometric technologies that are vetted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and urges the implementation of best practices such as conducting Digital Identity Risk Assessments, adopting “snap, match, and delete” protocols to minimize data retention, and offering accessible alternatives for those unable or unwilling to use biometrics.The risks posed by emerging technologies such as deepfakes are also addressed in the ITRC report. To counter synthetic threats, ITRC recommends the use of layered security measures, including liveness detection, real-time verification, and passive spoof detection.The ITRC report outlines potential use cases where biometric verification could significantly reduce identity-related fraud. In the Department of Motor Vehicles context, facial verification could prevent criminals from obtaining duplicate IDs using stolen data. In financial services, it could render knowledge-based authentication obsolete, particularly considering its vulnerabilities to stolen data. For government benefits, biometric verification could stem fraud like the widespread pandemic-era unemployment insurance scams, where billions were lost due to weak verification practices.The report also highlights the importance of giving individuals the ability to opt out and access services through other means. It emphasizes that any biometric identity program must be accompanied by a “digital offramp” to ensure equitable access, especially for those without Internet access, smart devices, or who have disabilities that hinder biometric enrollment.A 2024 Ipsos survey commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association found that 78 percent of Americans support the use of biometrics at Transportation Security Administration airport checkpoints, but that support increases when travelers are assured that their data will be deleted shortly after use and not shared with other agencies.Ultimately, ITRC does not advocate for the blanket use of any single biometric solution. Instead, it calls for a cautious but committed path forward, one that includes strong safeguards, regulatory oversight, public education, and system transparency. The report urges organizations to adopt a consent-first framework, provide deletion options, limit data retention, and monitor systems for bias and performance anomalies.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
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 and baby murderers by abortion) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
EARTHQUAKES
EZEKIEL 37:7,11-14
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.(POSSIBLE QUAKE BRINGS ISRAEL BACK TO LIFE-SO NOISE AND SHAKING-QUAKES WILL ALSO DESTROY ISRAELS ENEMIES)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
FAMINE
EZEKIEL 5:16
16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
JAMES 1:11
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
The Hebrew noun accurately translated “oven” refers to a “baking oven” as distinct from a kiln or smelting furnace—both of which burn much hotter. (The Hebrew nouns for “kiln” or for “smelting furnace” are more likely to appear in contexts of God's wrath or judgment.)
21 They have roused me to jealousy with a non-god, they have exasperated me with their idols. In my turn I shall rouse them to jealousy with a non-people, I shall exasperate them with a stupid nation.
22 Yes, a fire has blazed from my anger, it will burn right down to the depths of Sheol; it will devour the earth and all its produce, it will set fire to the footings of the mountains.
23 I shall hurl disasters on them, on them I shall use up all my arrows.
Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR WAVES) the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:(GODLESS)
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950-Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
JUDGEMENT-WE ALL(EVERYONE) STAND IN FRONT OF GOD TO GIVE ACCOUNT
JOHN 14:3
3 And if I (JESUS OUR JEWISH MESSIAH) go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
MATTHEW 24:33
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things,(IN THERE BEGGINING STAGES-NOT FINAL STAGES) know that it is near, even at the doors.
LUKE 21:32
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:10
10 For we must all (MEANS EVERYONE EVER BORN ON EARTH FROM ADAM-EVE ON) appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.(THIS IS THE CHRISTIANS IN FRONT OF JESUS)
LUKEWARM CHURCHES
REVELATION 3:15-19
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I(GOD) will spue (VOMIT) thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent
1 dead as rains choke India's tech capital; 1 dead, 3 missing in Argentina floods-by AFP Staff Writers.
Bengaluru, India (AFP) May 20, 2025-Torrential rains have swamped parts of India's tech capital Bengaluru, killing at least one person, an official said, and exposing long-standing infrastructure failures in a city that has expanded at breakneck speed.Rapid growth of the southern city dubbed India's Silicon Valley has left many waterways covered over or used as dumps, leading to water stagnating every year during heavy rains."Storm water drains are encroached upon, the drains are shallow and small, and they are filled with silt," chief minister of Karnataka state Siddaramaiah said late Monday."Instructions have been given to the municipal corporation multiple times to clear them, and work is still ongoing," he added.Siddaramaiah said it was a "matter of sorrow that a woman lost her life" in Bengaluru, the state capital which is home to more than 10 million people.The Times of India newspaper reported Tuesday at least three people had died.India is hit by torrential rains and flash floods each year during the monsoon season, and experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.
One dead, three missing in Argentina floods: authorities.
Buenos Aires (AFP) May 19, 2025 - Rescuers in Argentina were searching on Sunday for three people missing in floods that killed one man and forced almost 2,000 to flee their homes, authorities said.Heavy rain has pounded the capital Buenos Aires and the surrounding province, cutting off main roads, submerging fields and causing rivers to burst their banks.The director of Civil Defense for Buenos Aires province, Fabian Garcia said Sunday in a radio interview that a missing man had been found dead, with three others still unaccounted for.Garcia said 1,945 people had sought shelter in evacuation centers, and that "a very large number" of other residents had fled their homes to stay with relatives.A storm that lasted until the early hours of Sunday dumped five times the usual May rainfall on the province, Cindy Fernandez from the National Meteorological Service told AFP.The national and provincial governments launched emergency operations to dispatch rescue vehicles, as well as food, water and blankets to flood victims.
Five dead in Algeria after torrential rain and floods-by AFP Staff Writers.
Algiers (AFP) May 15, 2025-Five people have died and more than a hundred were injured as heavy rain caused flooding in several regions of Algeria, the country's civil defence service said Thursday.In Djelfa, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) south of the capital Algiers, three people died when a bus was stuck and submerged in flood waters.The civil defence, who reported the deaths taking place over a 24-hour period, said a 13-year-old died from injuries he sustained after being struck by large hailstones.A fifth person was swept away by floodwaters, and authorities say search efforts are ongoing for another individual still missing.Heavy downpours continued Thursday in parts of both northern and southern Algeria, Africa's largest country.The Algerian national meteorological office had warned of up to 90 millimetres of rainfall prior to the floodings.
Severe drought strains wildlife and tourism in Florida's Everglades-By Gerard MARTINEZ.
Pembroke Pines, United States (AFP) May 21, 2025-At Everglades National Park in Florida, severe drought dries up not only the habitat that wildlife depends on, but the tourism industry in the largest wetland in the United States.Tour operator Marshall Jones, who owns seven airboats in the southern region where his family settled five generations ago, says his operation is quite literally grounded.One boat now rests in the dry bed of a canal."A lot of the species of wildlife rely on water to survive. Right now, there's very little to no water within the Everglades, except for man-made waterways," said the 46-year-old owner of Mack's Fish Camp on the Miami River.Lack of rainfall in the Everglades has a dramatic impact on the local ecosystem, which is home to more than 2,000 animal and plant species.Drought can stunt fish species like black bass and catfish, or force alligators, turtles and snakes to migrate in search of wetter habitats, exposing them to the risk of dying from heat, Jones said.Droughts are frequent toward the end of the dry season, which stretches from October to mid-May -- but in recent months there has been less precipitation than normal, said Robert Molleda, head of the US National Weather Service in Miami.Which means conditions now are more extreme.- 'Bluebird day' -It is not only the local wildlife that has been affected.Jones has not been able to take clients out on airboat rides for 32 days during his usual peak-tourism period, costing his business about $50,000."This is going to be a very tough year for us financially," he said, adding he hasn't seen such a drought since 2009.According to Steve Davis, chief scientist at the Everglades Foundation, the current weather situation is further exacerbated by man-made harm in the region.His NGO works to protect the wetland, where for centuries water would accumulate north of the Everglades during the rainy season, from mid-May to October, and flow south, mitigating the severity of dry season droughts.But over the last century, authorities diverted the natural course of the water to allow urban and agricultural growth in southern Florida, altering the wetland."When we drained and compartmentalized the Everglades that made the ecosystem more vulnerable to drought," David said.To remedy past mistakes the state of Florida began a vast restoration project several years ago, aided by federal funding.The project's objective is to restore water supply from the north through a system of canals, dams, spillways and water pumps."Having places to store water and be able to draw from that when we need it ... helps to build resilience for the entire ecosystem," Davis said.But that relief has not come yet for Jones, who is eager for the rainy season to float his boats once more."We just need rain. Nature will provide it very soon. Today is our first official day of rainy season," he said."And it's a bluebird day, not a single cloud in the sky. But it's coming, rain is coming."
'Serious problem': Afghan capital losing race against water shortages-By Susannah Walden.
Kabul (AFP) May 21, 2025-Every week, Bibi Jan scrapes together some of her husband's meagre daily wage to buy precious water from rickshaw-drawn tankers that supply residents of Afghanistan's increasingly parched capital.Kabul faces a looming water crisis, driven by unruly and rapid urbanisation, mismanagement over years of conflict, and climate change, meaning people like Bibi Jan are sometimes forced to choose between food and water."When my children have only tea for a few days, they say, 'You bought water and nothing for us'," the 45-year-old housewife told AFP, describing reusing her supplies for bathing, dishes and laundry.Experts have long sounded the alarm over Kabul's water problems, which are worsening even as many international players have backed off big infrastructure projects and slashed funding to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021."There could be no ground water in Kabul by 2030" without urgent action, the UN children's agency UNICEF warned last year.Other experts are more cautious, citing limited consistent and reliable data, but say the situation is clearly deteriorating.A 2030 cliff is a "worst-case scenario", said water resources management expert Assem Mayar.But even if slated development projects are completed in a few years, it "doesn't mean the situation would become better than now", Mayar said."As time goes on, the problems are only increasing," he added, as population growth outstrips urban planning and climate change drives below-average precipitation.- 'Decreasing day by day' -The Taliban authorities have launched projects ranging from recycling water to building hundreds of small dams across the country, but larger interventions remain hampered by financing and technical capacity.They remain unrecognised by any country since they ousted the Western-backed government and imposed their severe interpretation of Islamic law, with restrictions on women a major sticking point.They have repeatedly called for non-governmental groups to reboot stalled projects on water and climate change, as Afghanistan faces "some of the harshest effects" in the region, according to the United Nations.The water and energy ministry wants to divert water from the Panjshir river to the capital, but needs $300 million to $400 million. A dam project near Kabul would ease pressures but was delayed after the Taliban takeover.For now, Kabul's primary drinking water source is groundwater, as much as 80 percent of which is contaminated, according to a May report by Mercy Corps.It is tapped by more than 100,000 unregulated wells across the city that are regularly deepened or run dry, the NGO said.Groundwater can be recharged, but more is drawn each year than is replenished in Kabul, with an estimated annual 76-million-cubic-metre (20-billion-gallon) deficit, experts say."It's a very serious problem... Water is decreasing day by day in the city," said Shafiullah Zahidi, who heads central Kabul operations for the state-owned water company UWASS.Water systems designed decades ago serve just 20 percent of the city's population, which has exploded to around six million over the past 20 years, said Zahidi.- 'Use less water' -At one of Kabul's 15 pumping stations, maintenance manager Mohammad Ehsan said the seven-year-old well is already producing less water. Two others nearby sit dry."The places with shallower water levels are dried out now," said 53-year-old Ehsan, who has worked in water management for two decades, as he stood over an old well.It once produced water from a depth of 70 metres (230 feet), but a newer well had to be bored more than twice as deep to reach groundwater.At one of the two large stations in the city, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently procured four new pumps where only one had been functioning."If that pump collapsed for any reason, that means stopping the service for 25,000 beneficiary households," which now have uninterrupted water, said Baraa Afeh, ICRC's deputy water and habitat coordinator.Everyone in Kabul "should have 24-hour service", said Zahidi, from the state water company.But in reality, Bibi Jan and many other Kabulis are forced to lug water in heavy jugs from wells or buy it from tankers.These suppliers charge at least twice as much as the state-owned utility, with potable water even more pricy in a country where 85 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.Bibi Jan said she has to police her family's water use carefully."I tell them, 'I'm not a miser but use less water.' Because if the water runs out then what would we do?"
Flood victims stranded on roofs as downpours lash eastern Australia.
Sydney, May 21 (AFP) May 21, 2025-Fast-moving floodwaters rose Wednesday in eastern Australia, inundating homes and leaving residents stranded on their roofs overnight, as authorities warned more rain was expected in coming days.Storms have already dumped more than four months' of rain in just two days in parts of New South Wales, engulfing homes, businesses and roads in muddy waters, authorities said."We have a situation where the rain has been falling quite heavily and hard and it has not been moving away. Part of that is because the ground is saturated and the rivers are swollen," the state's emergency minister Jihad Dib told reporters.Taree, about 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Sydney, is a key area of concern for emergency services after 415 millimetres (16.34 inches) of rain lashed the town since Monday -- more than four times the mean monthly rainfall for May.Authorities said that water levels of a river in Taree surged past a previous record in 1929, reaching 6.3 metres (20.6 feet) on Wednesday.The rising floodwaters left locals stuck on roofs overnight, with rescuers unable to reach them due to the bad weather.Taree resident Holly Pillotto, who was among those stranded on an upper level of her home, said she was desperate for assistance as floodwaters continued to rise."Our neighbours on the back verandah here are also stranded," she told Australia's Channel Nine. "It's a really dangerous spot to be."Dib said that emergency services were "throwing everything we have into" reaching those affected.State Emergency Service Chief Superintendent Dallas Byrnes said the situation was "incredibly dynamic and escalating", with more than 150 flood rescues conducted overnight."We've got a lot of people getting rescued from rooftops and from upper levels of houses," Byrnes told the national broadcaster ABC.However, he warned that "conditions are quite treacherous and it may be that those aviation assets are unable to fly throughout the day".The agency said that about 16,000 people, or 7,400 dwellings, would remain isolated until at least Thursday.More heavy rain is expected in the coming 48 hours -- with some locations to receive 200 millimetres (7.87 inches) -- before conditions begin to ease, authorities said Wednesday.Scientists have warned that heatwaves and other extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more intense as global temperatures rise because of climate change.
Red alert': Fires drive tropical forest loss to record high.
Paris, May 21 (AFP)-Eighteen football pitches every minute of every hour of every day: that is the record extent of tropical rainforest destroyed last year due in large measure to fires fuelled by climate change, researchers reported Wednesday.Tally it all up and the world lost 67,000 square kilometres (25,900 square miles) of precious primary tropical forest, an area double the size of Belgium or Taiwan.The loss was 80 percent higher than in 2023, according to the Global Forest Watch think tank."This level of forest destruction is completely unprecedented in more than 20 years of data," its co-director Elizabeth Goldman said in a briefing. "This is a global red alert."Fires are responsible for nearly half of these losses, surpassing for the first time agriculture as the main driver of destruction.Loss of tree cover in 2024 -- from deforestation and fires, deliberate or accidental -- generated more than three billion tonnes of CO2 pollution, exceeding India's emissions from fossil fuel use over the same period.Tropical forests, which harbour the highest concentrations of biodiversity, are the most threatened of any forest biomes on the planet.They are also sponges for CO2, helping to prevent global temperatures from rising even faster than they have.Forest fires are both a cause and effect of climate change, injecting billions of tonnes of CO2 in the atmosphere that in turn accelerate warming and the conditions leading to more destructive fires.- Extreme conditions -The exceptional fires last year were fuelled by "extreme conditions" that made them more intense and difficult to control, the authors said.Climate change driven by the massive burning of fossil fuels and boosted by natural El Nino weather phenomenon made 2024 the hottest year on record, with temperatures averaging more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels.Historically, most fires in tropical forests are set to clear land for agriculture and livestock, especially the so-called "big four" commodities: palm oil, soy, beef and timber.Brazil saw 2.8 million hectares (6.9 million acres) of primary forest destroyed last year, two-thirds to fires typically started to make way for soybeans and cattle.In 2023, Brazil made measurable progress in reducing forest loss during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's first year after returning to office."But this progress is threatened by the expansion of agriculture," said Sarah Carter, a researcher at the World Resources Institute in Washington.The Brazilian Amazon was most affected, with destruction at its highest level since 2016.Global Forest Watch reports on forest destruction from all causes, deliberate or accidental.This stands in contrast to the Brazilian government's monitoring network MapBiomas, which published figures last week showing a sharp decline in deforestation in 2024 -- but based on narrower criteria and not including many areas ravaged by fire.- New phenomenon -Forest protection is high on the agenda of the COP30 UN climate conference that Brazil will host in November in the tropical city of Belem.Neighbouring Bolivia's forest loss -- 1.5 million hectares -- skyrocketed by 200 percent last year, with a record 3.6 percent of primary forests destroyed in a single year, mostly due to fires set to clear land for industrial-scale farms, according to the report.The picture is mixed elsewhere, with improvements in Indonesia and Malaysia but a sharp deterioration in Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo.While policies have resulted in a slowdown of the extent of forests lost to palm oil plantations, notably in Asia, the destructive footprint of other commodities has expanded, including avocados, coffee and cocoa."We shouldn't assume that the drivers are always going to be the same," said Rod Taylor, director of the WRI's forest programme."One new driver we are seeing, for example, is linked to mining and critical minerals."
Four killed in Vietnam landslide after flash floods.
Hanoi, May 19 (AFP)-A landslide following flash floods in a mountainous area of northern Vietnam has killed four people, the government said on Monday, as forecasters warned of further downpours.The landslide occurred early Sunday in Ba Be district of Bac Kan province following torrential rain on Saturday."A very big (noise, like an) explosion was heard from the top of the mountain. Then soil, rock and water poured down from the mountain," a statement on the government's website quoted local official Tieu Xuan Tai as saying.Tai said local residents had been aware of a two-metre-wide (six-feet-wide) crack on the top of the mountain that appeared several years ago.Provincial authorities have issued warnings to the public, and called for immediate safety checks for communities along streams, rivers and other areas vulnerable to landslides.Residents must be immediately evacuated if they are at risk, authorities said.Forecasters said rain in the area had been higher than normal so far this month and further heavy downpours were expected in northern and central areas.Vietnam is prone to tropical storms, which often cause deadly flash floods and landslides, but they usually hit the country between June and November.Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.Last year, 514 people died in Vietnam due to natural disasters, three times more than in 2023, the agriculture ministry said.In September, northern Vietnam was devastated by Typhoon Yagi, which claimed 345 lives and caused an estimated economic loss of $3.3 billion.We believe the residents had some connection to the Temple'.
2nd gold ring found in City of David sheds light on enigmatic Hellenist era in Jerusalem-The artifacts might have been buried by a young girl on the eve of her wedding, but whether she was Judean, Greek or both remains a mystery-By Rossella TercatinToday, 5:02 pm-MAY 21,25
An exquisite gold ring set with a red gemstone, dating back some 2,300 years, has been unearthed beneath the floor of a Hellenistic structure in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the City of David announced Wednesday.Strikingly similar to another ring discovered in the same spot a year ago, the artifact was found in the Givati Parking Lot excavation in the Jerusalem Walls National Park, only steps away from where the ancient Temple stood at the time. Yet, according to the researchers, whether the owners were wealthy Judaeans, Greek elites, or possibly individuals who straddled both cultures remains a mystery.“The ring is very representative of the Hellenistic-period fashion,” Dr. Marion Zindel of the Israel Antiquities Authority told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. “When Alexander the Great arrived in the region [in 333 BCE], the Greeks introduced new materials and cultural influences from the East — India and Persia — which revolutionized jewelry styles. Combining gold with colorful gemstones became a hallmark of the era, a trend that persisted well into Byzantine times.”According to Zindel, the rings might have belonged to a young girl on the verge of marriage.Both artifacts were found under the floor of what archaeologists believe was an imposing public building. An additional bronze earring was previously uncovered in the same spot, suggesting that the jewelry was not there by chance.“Gold was very valuable; therefore, it is unlikely that not one but two rings were accidentally dropped during the construction of the floor,” Zindel said. “The fact that additional jewelry was also found suggests that they were buried there on purpose.”According to the researcher, in light of the small size of both rings, the artifacts probably belonged to a child.“One hypothesis we are investigating is that the objects were buried as part of a Greek ritual, under which girls would bury objects connected to their childhood on the day before their wedding,” Zindel said.“A few years ago, archaeologists uncovered a cache beneath the floor of a Hellenistic public building at Tel Kedesh in northern Israel,” she added. “Although it didn’t contain jewelry, the artifacts were clearly linked to the daily life of a young girl.”The Tel Kedesh cache included a terracotta figurine in the shape of the Greek god Eros, gaming pieces, metal writing tools, and a hairpin. Also in that case, the researchers suggested that it might have been part of a similar pre-wedding ritual.Hellenistic Jerusalem-According to traditional scholarly chronology, the Hellenistic period began when Alexander the Great conquered Syria and the land of Israel in 333 BCE and lasted until the mid-first century BCE, when Roman rule was established in the region.The Hellenistic period also encompasses the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled Israel after a successful revolt against the Greek-Seleucid Empire celebrated during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.According to Prof. Yuval Gadot from Tel Aviv University, the excavation director, very little is known about life in Jerusalem in those centuries.The current dig, which is funded by the right-wing City of David Foundation (known in Hebrew as Elad or Ir David), aims to unearth remains from the period.“The Hellenistic period is considered a well-documented era, with historical sources available, so we would expect the archaeological record to reflect that,” Prof. Yuval Gadot told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. “But that hasn’t been the case – until our excavation, we knew very little about Jerusalem’s size, character, and development during those centuries.”“These rings, along with other pieces of jewelry and the architecture we’ve uncovered, are beginning to advance our understanding of the city at that time,” he added.The current dig has unearthed the remains of what Gadot describes as “an entire neighborhood,” with both public and residential buildings.The high quality of the walls and floors suggests that Jerusalem at the time was reasonably wealthy.“We also found several seals, and at least some were not locally made,” Gadot said. “This testifies to the connections between Jerusalem and other areas of the region.”However, so far, the rings and the other findings from the Givati Parking Lot excavation do not offer answers to the fundamental question about the cultural affiliation of the inhabitants of a neighborhood so close to the Temple.“We believe the residents had some connection to the Temple,” said Gadot, “but at this stage, we have no clear way of understanding the nature of that relationship.”“For example, one of the seal impressions we found depicts a woman, possibly the Greek goddess Athena,” he noted. “Given that, according to Jewish law, it is forbidden to make images of human figures, how do we interpret it?”According to the researchers, it is possible that the residents were Jewish but either unaware of or indifferent to the prohibition or that they were outsiders, perhaps imperial administrators on behalf of the Hellenistic empire.Some additional answers might come from analysis of animal bones, which offer insights into the diet of the people who consumed them (pork consumption is also prohibited by Jewish law).“In order to understand more about Jerusalem’s identity in the Hellenistic period, we are going to need more discoveries and research,” said Gadot. “It will take time.”
INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.
2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements (NUKES) shall melt with fervent heat,(BLAST) the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.(BUT ITS NO END OF THE WORLD HOGWASH)
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,(BY NUKES INCLUDING 3 BILLION PEOPLE) what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3 PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD IS NOT MOCKED.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
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)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
JOEL 3:2 (YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF (HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION KILLED AS A RESULT)
02-I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
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) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
NAHUM 3:13
13 Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.
DR DOCTORION-ANGEL OF THE MIDEAST
"The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
FIRST ANGEL: ASIA
But the angel said: "Millions will die in China and in India. Nation will be against nation, brother against brother. Asians will fight each other. Nuclear weapons shall be used, killing millions."Twice I heard the words, "Catastrophic! Catastrophic!"Then the angel said, "Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world."I was trembling while the angel was speaking.
SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] 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. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons 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 SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT WAS AT THE WHITEHOUSE TODAY. AT THEIR MEET AND GREET PRESS CONFERENCE. TRUMP LIKE HE CAME AGAINST THAT COKE HEAD-FAKE ACTOR ZELENSKY AND TAUGHT HIM A LESSON. CAME AGAINST THIS SOUTH AFRICAN DICTATOR AND TAUGHT HIM A LESSON. ON WHY THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF WHITE FARMERS ARE GENCIDED BY THIS DICTATOR. AND STEALS THEIR PROPERTIES AND LANDS. THE DICTATOR WAS TRYING TO PUT ON A GOOD FACE, YET QUIVERING IN THE LEGS. LAUGHING WITH THE PRESS. AND BLAMING THE MURDERS OF THE INNOCENT WHITE FARMERS ON HIS 2ND IN POWER GROUP LEADER. INSTEAD OF TAKING THE BLAME HIMSELF. THANK GOD DONALD JOHN TRUMP CALLS OUT THESE MASS MURDERING SOUTH AFRICAN LEADERS AND THEIR MAFIA HINCHMEN THAT KILL THE FARMERS AND STEAL THEIR LAND FROM HIM.
Trump unveils plans for 'Golden Dome' missile shield for US-By Danny KEMP and W.G. DUNLOP.
Washington (AFP) May 21, 2025-US President Donald Trump has announced new details and initial funding for his "Golden Dome" missile shield system, with geopolitical rival China accusing Washington on Wednesday of undermining global stability.Trump on Tuesday announced $25 billion earmarked for the project, which he said could eventually cost a total of around $175 billion and would be operational in about three years.Beijing hit back Wednesday, denouncing Golden Dome as a threat to international security and accusing the United States of fueling an arms race."In the campaign I promised the American people I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield," Trump said at the White House on Tuesday."Today I am pleased to announce we have officially selected architecture for this state-of-the-art system.""Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space," Trump said."This is very important for the success and even survival of our country."He said US Space Force General Michael Guetlein will lead the effort, and that Canada has expressed interest in being part of it as "they want to have protection also."While Trump put the total price at about $175 billion, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost of space-based interceptors to defeat a limited number of intercontinental ballistic missiles at between $161 billion and $542 billion over 20 years.Golden Dome has more expansive goals, with Trump saying it "will deploy next-generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors."Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, speaking alongside Trump, said the system is aimed at protecting "the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they're conventional or nuclear."- China, Russia oppose Golden Dome -The plan's Golden Dome name stems from Israel's Iron Dome air defense system that has intercepted thousands of short-range rockets and other projectiles since it went into operation in 2011.The United States faces various missile threats from adversaries, but they differ significantly from the short-range weapons that Israel's Iron Dome is designed to counter.The 2022 Missile Defense Review pointed to growing threats from China and Russia.Beijing is closing the gap with Washington when it comes to ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Moscow is modernizing its intercontinental-range missile systems and developing advanced precision strike missiles, the document said.It also said that the threat of drones -- which have played a key role in the Ukraine war -- is likely to grow, and warned of the danger of ballistic missiles from North Korea and Iran, as well as rocket and missile threats from non-state actors.Beijing on Wednesday expressed "serious concern" over the plan, saying it undercuts "global strategic balance and stability.""The United States puts its own interests first and is obsessed with seeking its own absolute security, which violates the principle that no country's security should come at the expense of others," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing."(The plan) heightens the risk of space becoming a battlefield, fuels an arms race, and undermines international security," Mao added.China this month had already joined Russia in slamming the concept as "deeply destabilizing".It "explicitly provides for a significant strengthening of the arsenal for conducting combat operations in space," said a statement published by the Kremlin after talks between the two sides.The United States has gained valuable real-world experience in defending against missiles and drones in recent years.In Ukraine, US systems have been used to counter advanced Russian missiles, while American planes and warships helped defend Israel against Iranian attacks last year and have repeatedly shot down missiles and drones launched at ships by Yemen's Tehran-backed Huthi rebels.
Iran lawmakers ratify partnership treaty with Russia.
Tehran, May 21 (AFP)-The Iranian parliament ratified a 20-year strategic partnership treaty with Russia on Wednesday, state media reported, consolidating closer ties between the two countries amid growing tensions with the West.The deal, which was signed by Presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Vladimir Putin in January, was already ratified by Russia's State Duma last month.It passed the Iranian parliament with 191 votes in favour, eight against and three abstentions among the 212 members present, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.The treaty provides for joint efforts to counter common security threats but stops short of a mutual defence agreement.Putin has called the treaty a "breakthrough document", while Pezeshkian said it would "open a new chapter in relations".Iran and Russia have expanded military collaboration in recent years, with Tehran accused by Kyiv and Western governments of supplying drones and missiles used in Russia's war in Ukraine.Tehran has repeatedly denied the accusation, saying it has not sided with either party to the conflict.Both governments are under heavy Western sanctions and have increasingly coordinated their diplomatic and economic policies.The ratification comes after Iran held four rounds of negotiations with the United States in search of a new deal to ally Western concerns about its nuclear programme.While both sides have agreed to continue discussions, no date or venue has been set for the next round.On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was still "evaluating whether or not to participate" in the next round of talks, citing what he called Washington's "irrational demands".US officials, including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff who represents Washington in the talks, have publicly described Iran's uranium enrichment capabilities as a red line.Araghchi reiterated on Wednesday that Iran will continue enrichment "with or without a deal".
Iran's Khamenei says talks with US unlikely to 'lead to any outcome'.
Tehran, May 20 (AFP)-Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that nuclear talks with the United States were unlikely to yield any results, amid a diplomatic standoff over the Islamic republic's enrichment activities."We don't think it will lead to any outcome. We don't know what will happen," said Khamenei during a speech, adding that denying Iran's right to enrich uranium was "a big mistake".Iran and the United States have held four rounds of Omani-mediated nuclear talks since April 12, the highest-level contact between the two foes since Washington abandoned the 2015 nuclear accord.They had confirmed plans to hold another round of discussions during their last meeting on May 11, which Iran described as "difficult but useful", while a US official said Washington was "encouraged".Chief US diplomat Marco Rubio told a Senate hearing in Washington on Tuesday that "we hope that we can reach an agreement with Iran".Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.Iran has repeatedly insisted its right to maintain uranium enrichment was "non-negotiable", while chief US negotiator Steve Witkoff has called it a "red line".On Sunday, Witkoff reiterated that the United States "cannot allow even one percent of an enrichment capability.""The American side involved in these indirect negotiations should refrain from speaking nonsense," said Khamenei.On Tuesday, Rubio said that Iran could have civilian nuclear power while importing enriched uranium but that it wanted to keep its enrichment programme as "a matter of national pride" and "as a deterrent"."They believe that it makes them a threshold nuclear power, and as a result... untouchable."Earlier, Iran's Foreign Minister and lead negotiator Abbas Araghchi said "enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal"."If the US is interested in ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, a deal is within reach, and we are ready for a serious conversation to achieve a solution that will forever ensure that outcome," he said in a post on X.- 'Maximum pressure' -Iranian diplomats have said Tehran would be open to temporary restrictions on how much uranium it enriches and to what level.Since returning to office in January, US President Donald Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" approach against Iran.While backing nuclear diplomacy, he also warned of potential military action if it fails.Trump has said he presented Iran's leadership with an "olive branch", adding that it was an offer that would not last forever.He further threatened to impose "massive maximum pressure", including driving Iranian oil exports to zero if talks failed.Trump later doubled down on his warning, saying that "something bad is going to happen" unless the Iranians "move quickly" towards a deal.Iranian officials, however, criticised what they described as "contradictory" positions by US officials along with the continued imposition of sanctions targeting Iran's oil industry and nuclear programme despite the talks.Araghchi on Tuesday criticised "positions from the United States that were inconsistent with any logic and reason".Iran's top diplomat said these stances "have caused serious disruptions in the negotiation process.""As a result, no date has been set for the next round of talks, and the matter remains under review," he added.On Sunday, Araghchi said Iran has been observing "dissonance ... between what our US interlocutors say in public and in private."On Friday, Iran held parallel talks with Britain, France and Germany -- all parties to the 2015 deal.They are currently weighing the reimposition of UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance.The option to trigger the sanctions mechanism expires in October.Araghchi said Iran was willing to "begin a new chapter" with Europe and urged it to play a role in the nuclear negotiations.
Iran says to keep enriching uranium, even with a deal.
Tehran, May 18 (AFP)-Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday his country would keep enriching uranium "with or without a deal" with world powers, despite ongoing negotiations over its nuclear programme."If the US is interested in ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, a deal is within reach, and we are ready for a serious conversation to achieve a solution that will forever ensure that outcome," Araghchi posted on X."Enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal," he said.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal but below the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are for civilian purposes only, and entirely peaceful.It also insists its right to continue enriching uranium for peaceful purposes is "non-negotiable", but says it would be open to temporary restrictions on how much uranium it enriches and to what level.On Wednesday, Iranian atomic energy agency chief Mohammad Eslami reiterated that Tehran "does not seek nuclear militarisation", and said enrichment was under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog."The dismantling of enrichment is not accepted by Iran," Eslami said.Araghchi also said Sunday the country was ready to rebuild trust with European powers considering whether to reimpose UN sanctions on the Islamic republic under a 2015 nuclear deal."Iran is ready, should it observe genuine will and an independent approach from the European parties, to begin a new chapter in its relations with Europe," he told a diplomatic forum in Tehran."If Europe possesses the necessary will to rectify this path, Iran sees no obstacle to rebuilding mutual trust and expanding relations."On Friday, senior Iranian diplomats met counterparts from Britain, France and Germany for talks on the status of US-Iran nuclear negotiations.- 'Snapback' mechanism -Tehran has held four rounds of nuclear talks with Washington, the highest-level contact between the two foes since the United States abandoned the 2015 nuclear accord.US President Donald Trump effectively torpedoed the deal in 2018 during his first term, by unilaterally pulling out and reimposing sanctions on Iran's oil exports and banking sector.A year later, Iran began rolling back its commitments to the agreement, which had offered sanctions relief in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.The three European powers -- party to the 2015 accord -- are weighing whether to trigger the "snapback" mechanism, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance. That option expires in October.Araghchi earlier this month warned of "irreversible" consequences if Britain, France and Germany moved to reimpose sanctions.He had previously proposed visiting London, Paris and Berlin for discussions on the nuclear issue as well as other areas "of mutual interest and concern".In his speech on Sunday, he urged the Europeans to focus more on shared interests rather than differences.He said the Europeans should have a greater role in the US-Iran nuclear talks."We want Europe to play its role, even if it has minimised its own role," the IRNA news agency quoted Araghchi as saying.The Oman-mediated nuclear talks aim to conclude a new deal that would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied -- in exchange for lifting the sanctions.On the sidelines of the forum Araghchi met his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.An Omani foreign ministry statement said Albusaidi and Araghchi discussed ways of reaching "the desired agreement between the United States and Iran".bur-srm/ysm
Philippines, US coast guards join military drills in South China Sea-by AFP Staff Writers.
Manila (AFP) May 21, 2025-The Philippine and US coast guards participated for the first time in joint military drills, Manila's armed forces said Wednesday, joining broader exercises held by the two allies in the South China Sea.Beijing claims almost the entire disputed waterway, through which more than 60 percent of global maritime trade passes, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.The "maritime cooperative activity" was held Tuesday in waters off Palawan and Occidental Mindoro in the western Philippines.The two countries' coast guards have held joint exercises before, but never as part of combined military drills which Manila's armed forces said reflected a "growing whole-of-nation approach to maritime cooperation".The Philippine coast guard deployed its 97-metre (320-foot) ship BRP Melchora Aquino and 44-metre ship BRP Malapascua while the US coast guard used the cutter Stratton, the Philippine military said in the statement.The coast guard vessels joined Philippine navy and air force assets and US navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in a series of exercises including communication checks, search and rescue and division tactics."As the Philippines continues to navigate evolving maritime challenges, joint activities like the MCA reaffirm the (Philippine military's) commitment to modernizing its capabilities and strengthening defense partnerships to secure our national and regional maritime interests," Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner said.China's embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.
Keel laid for future guided-missile destroyer USS Quentin Walsh-by Sheri Walsh.
Washington DC (UPI) May 20, 2025-The keel for the future guided-missile destroyer USS Quentin Walsh was officially laid Tuesday in a ceremony at Bath Iron Works in Maine. It is the first time an Arleigh Burke-class ship will be built in honor of a Coast Guard member.The keel, the structure at the bottom of the ship's hull, represents the start of construction or birth of the ship. Madison Ann Zolper, the great-granddaughter of the ship's namesake Coast Guard Capt. Quentin Walsh, attended Tuesday's ceremony and welded the family's initials into the keel plate."We are honored to mark the beginning of the construction for the future USS Quentin Walsh and celebrate his legacy with his family," said Capt. Jay Young, Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer program manager for PEO Ships. "DDG 132 will provide our Navy with critical strategic capabilities to support fleet readiness."The Arleigh Burke-class Flight III destroyer, designated as DDG 132, will feature upgraded air and missile defense radar to provide "enhanced war fighting capability to the fleet," according to the U.S. Navy. The destroyers are designed to fight air, surface and subsurface battles at the same time.Walsh, who died in 2000 and held various roles in the U.S. Coast Guard, was awarded the Navy Cross for heroic actions in the 1944 Battle of Cherbourg during World War II. Walsh's 53-man reconnaissance unit captured 750 German soldiers and freed 52 American prisoners of war.Walsh, who also served during the Korean War, was among those honored in France on the 75th anniversary of D-Day."Capt. Walsh was a hero whose efforts during World War II continue to inspire, and his leadership in securing the French port of Cherbourg had a profound effect on the success of the amphibious operations associated with Operation Overlord," former Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said at a 2019 ceremony in Cherbourg.That same year, Adm. Karl Schultz -- former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard -- announced the USS Quentin Walsh."Naming a future Navy destroyer after Capt. Walsh, the first Arleigh Burke-class ship to be named after a Coast Guard legend, highlights not only his courageous actions but the bravery of all U.S. service members involved in the D-Day invasion of Normandy," Schultz said in 2019, as the Navy on Tuesday celebrated the start of construction."The keel laying of future USS Quentin Walsh (DDG 132) symbolizes the Navy's 250-year commitment to innovation and maritime dominance," the U.S. Navy said in a statement. "This milestone marks the Navy's enduring legacy and commitment to shaping the future of maritime power."
Russian strike on Ukrainian military training site kills six: Kyiv-by AFP Staff Writers.
Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) May 21, 2025-A Russian strike on a military training site in northeastern Ukraine has killed six soldiers and wounded at least 10 others, the Ukrainian national guard said on Wednesday.Ukraine's Sumy border region -- from where Kyiv's troops launched last year's major cross-border offensive into Russia's Kursk region -- has come under intensifying attacks in recent months after Moscow recaptured its territory."Six soldiers were killed and more than 10 wounded as a result of the attack, while they carried out exercises at a military shooting range," Ukraine's national guard said in a Facebook post, adding that an investigation has been opened into the incident.Russia's defence ministry had on Tuesday evening said it had launched a ballistic missile attack on the site."During reconnaissance activities ... a training camp" for Ukranian special forces was "detected," it said in a social media post."Based on the received coordinates, an Iskander missile strike was launched."Russia also published footage showing the hit on what it said was a training camp in a wooded area.Aerial footage showed one strike, sparking a large fire and sending a plume of thick black smoke billowing into the air."An internal investigation into the incident is underway. The commander of the military unit has been suspended, and the necessary information has been passed on to law enforcement agencies," Ukraine's national guard said.
ATLAS showcases secure software platform to enhance US military satellite operations by Clarence Oxford.
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 21, 2025-ATLAS Space Operations and its subsidiary Freedom Space Technologies have successfully demonstrated the capabilities of their Freedom software platform for the U.S. Air Force Research Lab and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), validating a new model for secure and scalable satellite ground operations under the Hybrid Space Architecture initiative.The demonstrations confirmed Freedom's ability to integrate and orchestrate a wide range of government and commercial satellite ground station networks, enabling real-time data transmission with a focus on cybersecurity and operational resilience. The platform features software-defined controls and interfaces, designed to adapt rapidly to evolving mission needs.As part of the DIU project, ATLAS integrated networks like its own global ground station array and Viasat's Real-Time Earth with Department of Defense (DoD) systems, supporting users such as the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. The Freedom platform's web-based interface allowed operators to manage satellite contacts with enhanced flexibility, while maintaining compliance with cybersecurity standards including DFARS and NIST 800-171."Our Freedom architecture brings together isolated networks into a unified, secure ecosystem that delivers scalable, mission-ready satellite services," said Brad Bode, CTO and Co-Founder of ATLAS Space Operations. "This software-defined model ensures the agility and trust needed for future DoD space missions."The demonstrations achieved several mission-critical outcomes:Integrated commercial and DoD assets for seamless tasking and telemetryVerified cybersecurity compliance with NIST 800-171 and readiness for FedRAMP and ITAR standardsEnabled secure access for diverse agencies including the Army's SMDCFacilitated dynamic scheduling and multi-vendor network abstractionProved scalability for future expansion with new antennas, users, and partners-Delivered a user-friendly interface for satellite scheduling and data access-Generated operational data for advanced analytics and AI-driven automation-The project reflects the growing emphasis on hybrid, cloud-native solutions to support U.S. defense space infrastructure with speed, security, and flexibility.
Chinese Combat Drones Secure Global Market Lead in Counterterrorism-by Riko Seibo.
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) May 20, 2025-The China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA), a key player in the country's unmanned military aircraft industry, has sold over 200 medium and large combat drones to more than 10 countries, significantly bolstering global counterterrorism efforts.Wang Zhaokui, an executive responsible for unmanned aircraft operations at the Beijing-based academy, noted that since the first overseas sale in 2003, the Caihong (Rainbow) drones have been widely deployed across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. These drones have become crucial assets in anti-terror missions, logging nearly 70,000 flight hours over 12,000 sorties and achieving a remarkable 98.2 percent strike success rate with over 2,000 munitions deployed."Our foreign clients have described the Caihong series as 'sharp weapons for counterterrorism operations,' generating approximately $2 billion in revenue for China," Wang said.The CH-4 model has emerged as the most successful in the Caihong lineup, with over 100 units delivered globally, making it China's top-selling armed drone. One customer in the Middle East reportedly chose the CH-4 after evaluating similar models from the US, Europe, Israel, and Russia, citing the CH-4's superior cost-efficiency at roughly 30 percent less than comparable Western alternatives.The academy's newest offering, the CH-9 heavy-duty strike drone, was showcased at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong, last November. With a maximum takeoff weight of 5 metric tons, the CH-9 boasts eight external weapon pylons, a range of 11,500 kilometers, and an endurance of up to 40 hours. It can autonomously identify targets, adjust flight paths, and carry a broad range of munitions, including air-to-air missiles, bombs, and loitering munitions, making it a formidable asset for long-range missions.The CAAA, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, has also exported drone assembly lines to two countries, making it the first Chinese firm to offer this capability internationally. Beyond military applications, the company has fielded modified CH-3 models for civilian tasks, including mineral prospecting and aerial surveys, further broadening its market reach."Our drones have played a critical role in enhancing the defense capabilities of our partners and strengthening China's diplomatic ties," Wang emphasized.
Chinese Company Conducts Fifth Sea-Based Rocket Launch-by Riko Seibo.
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) May 20, 2025-Galactic Energy, a Beijing-based private rocket manufacturer, successfully completed its fifth sea-based launch of the Ceres 1 carrier rocket on Monday. The rocket lifted off at 3:38 pm from a modified deck barge in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Shandong Province, delivering four satellites into a low-Earth orbit approximately 850 kilometers above the planet.The satellites, developed by Beijing's Guodian Gaoke, will join the Tianqi Network, which now consists of 37 satellites. This network supports data collection for the internet of things (IoT) and is utilized in sectors like forestry, agriculture, tourism, and environmental protection.Galactic Energy has now conducted 20 orbital missions with its Ceres 1 rocket, deploying a total of 81 commercial satellites, significantly outpacing other private competitors in China.The company's first sea-based mission occurred in September 2023, also off the coast of Shandong, launching four Tianqi satellites. Subsequent missions included a second in May with four satellites, a third in August deploying six satellites, and a fourth in December with four more satellites.China has conducted 16 sea-based launches to date, using four rocket types: Long March 11, Smart Dragon 3, Ceres 1, and Gravity 1.The Ceres 1 is a 20-meter-tall, solid-propellant rocket with a 1.4-meter diameter and a liftoff weight of 33 metric tons. It is capable of carrying a 300-kilogram payload to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit or a 350-kilogram payload to a 200-kilometer low-Earth orbit.
China to host Pacific Island leaders, seeking closer ties.
Beijing, May 21 (AFP)-China's top diplomat will host leaders from Pacific Island nations next week for a summit, Beijing announced on Wednesday, as it seeks closer ties with the strategic region.Leaders and diplomats from 11 Pacific Island nations, including Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, will attend the talks in the eastern Chinese city of Xiamen next Wednesday and Thursday, Beijing's foreign ministry said.Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the countries would discuss "comprehensive exchanges and cooperation between China and Pacific Island countries, as well as international regional issues of common concern".Beijing "attaches great importance to its relations with Pacific island countries" and looks forward to "jointly building a closer China-Pacific island community with a shared future", Mao added.China has been upping efforts to cement its influence in the strategically important Pacific region, challenging the historic sway of the United States and its ally Australia.Beijing has spent hundreds of millions of dollars building sports stadiums, government offices, hospitals and roads in Pacific nations such as Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.The diplomatic charm offensive has already borne fruit.Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Nauru have in recent years severed long-standing diplomatic links with Taiwan in favour of China.Solomon Islands is seen as a particularly close friend of China in the region.It inked a secretive security pact with Beijing in 2022, fuelling fears China may use the archipelago to one day establish a greater military footprint in the region.ll-oho-sft/je/dhw,CHINA PACIFIC INSURANCE GROUP
Iran says ready to rebuild 'mutual trust' with Europe.
Tehran, May 18 (AFP)-Iran's top diplomat said Sunday his country was ready to rebuild trust with European powers considering whether to reimpose UN sanctions on the Islamic republic under a 2015 nuclear deal."Iran is ready, should it observe genuine will and an independent approach from the European parties, to begin a new chapter in its relations with Europe," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said."If Europe possesses the necessary will to rectify this path, Iran sees no obstacle to rebuilding mutual trust and expanding relations," he told a diplomatic forum in Tehran.On Friday, senior Iranian diplomats met counterparts from Britain, France and Germany for talks on the status of US-Iran nuclear negotiations.Tehran has held four rounds of Oman-mediated nuclear talks with Washington, the highest-level contact between the two foes since the United States abandoned a 2015 nuclear accord.US President Donald Trump effectively torpedoed the deal in 2018 during his first term, by unilaterally pulling out and reimposing sanctions on Iran's oil exports and banking sector.A year later, Iran began rolling back its commitments to the agreement, which had offered sanctions relief in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.The three European powers -- party to the 2015 accord -- are weighing whether to trigger the "snapback" mechanism, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance. That option expires in October.Araghchi earlier this month warned of "irreversible" consequences if Britain, France and Germany moved to reimpose sanctions.He had previously proposed visiting London, Paris and Berlin for discussions on the nuclear issue as well as other areas "of mutual interest and concern".In his speech on Sunday, he urged the Europeans to focus more on shared interests rather than differences.He said the Europeans should have a greater role in the US-Iran nuclear talks."We want Europe to play its role, even if it has minimised its own role," the IRNA news agency quoted Araghchi as saying.The Oman-mediated nuclear talks aim to conclude a new deal that would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied -- in exchange for lifting the sanctions.
Pentagon chief orders review of US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Washington, May 20 (AFP)-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered a Pentagon review of the chaotic 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has long been a target of Republican criticism."I have concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people," Hegseth wrote in a memo.A special review panel will "thoroughly examine previous investigations, to include but not limited to, findings of fact, sources, witnesses, and analyze the decision making that led to one of America's darkest and deadliest international moments," the memo said."This team will ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation," it added.The US withdrawal saw Taliban fighters sweep aside Afghan forces, forcing the last American troops to mount an evacuation from Kabul's airport that got more than 120,000 people out of the country in a matter of days.On August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber targeted crowds of people on the perimeter of Kabul airport who were desperate to get on a flight out of the country, killing more than 170 people, among them 13 American troops.Joe Biden, who was US president during the withdrawal, defended the decision to leave Afghanistan, which critics have said helped cause the catastrophic collapse of Afghan forces.That paved the way for the Taliban to return to power two decades after their first government was toppled by American forces in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
Chinese weapons get rare battle test in India-Pakistan fighting-By Rebecca BAILEY with AFP reporters in Islamabad and Washington.
Shanghai (AFP) May 20, 2025-Just over a week after a ceasefire with India was struck, Pakistan's foreign minister is visiting his country's largest arms supplier, China, with the performance of the weapons they supplied a matter of burning interest for analysts and governments alike.The most striking claim from four days of fighting earlier this month was Islamabad's contention its Chinese-supplied jets had shot down six Indian aircraft -- including three French-made Rafale fighters -- with some observers seeing this as a symbol of Beijing's rising military might.Experts who spoke to AFP cautioned that a lack of confirmed information and the limited scope of fighting made it difficult to draw solid conclusions about the Chinese equipment's prowess.Still, "this was a rare opportunity for the international community to gauge Chinese military hardware on the battlefield against Western (Indian) hardware", said Lyle Morris from the Asia Society Policy Institute.While China pours hundreds of billions of dollars into defence spending each year, it lags far behind the United States as an arms exporter.China's drones are used in counter-terrorism operations, and its weapons have been deployed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen and against rebel forces in African countries, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) senior researcher Siemon Wezeman told AFP."But this is the first time since the 1980s that a state has used large numbers of Chinese weapons of many types in action against another state," said Wezeman, referencing the Iran-Iraq war when they were used on both sides.- 'Primary option' -Pakistan accounts for around 63 percent of China's arms exports, according to SIPRI. In the recent fighting, Pakistan used the J10-C Vigorous Dragon and JF-17 Thunder planes, armed with air-to-air missiles.It was the first time the J10-C has been used in active combat, said the Stimson Center's Yun Sun.Islamabad's air defences also used Chinese kit -- including the HQ-9P long-range surface-to-air missile system -- and deployed Chinese radar as well as armed and reconnaissance drones."This was the first sustained fight where the bulk of Pakistan's forces used Chinese weapons and, basically, relied on them as their primary option," said Bilal Khan, founder of the Toronto-based Quwa Defence News & Analysis Group.India has not officially confirmed any of its aircraft were lost, although a senior security source told AFP three jets had crashed on home soil without giving the make or cause.Rafale maker Dassault has also not commented.The Rafale is considered one of Europe's most high-tech jets, while the J10-C "is not even China's most advanced", said James Char from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.But if Pakistan's claims are true, "this should not be surprising... considering that the Rafale is a multirole fighter, whereas the J-10C was built for aerial combat and is also equipped with a stronger radar," Char said.The Chinese air-defence systems, however, "do not appear to have been as effective as the Pakistan Air Force would have hoped", said Quwa's Khan, after India said it had neutralised one near the eastern border city of Lahore.If true, said SIPRI's Wezeman, that "would be a bigger success and more than balance the loss of some aircraft in the process".- 'Significant reorientation' -In the days after the dogfight reports, J10-C maker Chengdu Aircraft Company's stock soared over forty percent."We most likely will see more orders going to Chinese contractors," said the Stimson Center's Sun.However, "it will take time and significant reorientation by Chinese arms manufacturers for the country to be a big arms exporter", said Jennifer Kavanagh from the US think tank Defense Priorities.She noted that China "cannot mass-produce certain key inputs, including aircraft engines".Wezeman said he thought the stock markets "overreacted", as "we still have to see how well all the weapons used worked and if it really means much".Even if more data emerges, the conflict still does not reveal much about the Chinese military's own capabilities, the analysts said.China's own systems and weapons are much more advanced than what it exports.And while having high-tech hardware is important, "much more important is how those weapons are used", said Kavanagh.Brian Hart of CSIS said he would caution against "reading too much" into recent developments."I don't think you can make direct comparisons to how these Chinese-made systems would fare in different environments against more advanced adversaries like the United States," he explained."Since the number of data points is small and since we don't know much about the proficiency and training of the personnel on either side, it is hard to draw definitive conclusions," said Kavanagh.
Indian space agency's rocket fails to deploy satellite for Earth observation-by Allen Cone.
Washington DC (UPI) May 18, 2025-India failed in its attempt to launch a satellite to observe Earth when the third stage failed, the nation's space agency said Sunday.The Indian Space Research Organization's EOS-09 spacecraft lifted off atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota at 5:59 a.m. local time Sunday. There have been 101 launches from Sriharikota, which is 1417 miles from New Delhi, including three to the moon and one to Mars.The satellite was lost because of an issue with the third stage of the rocket about six minutes after launch."Third stage, motor started perfectly, but during the functioning of the third stage, we are seeing an observation, and the mission could not be accomplished," ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said in a televised statement after the launch. "Third stage, motor started perfectly, but during the functioning of the third stage, we are seeing an observation, and the mission could not be accomplished. After analysis, we shall come back."ISRO posted on X that "the mission could now be accomplished.The 3,735-pound satellite was to be deployed from the upper stage about 18 minutes after liftoff at an altitude of 332 miles.This was to be India's ninth mission in India's Earth Observation Satellite series.The satellite included a synthetic aperture radar payload, which had been been successfully deployed in other missions.The satellites can observe Earth day and night, including cloud cover.India Today noted the round-the-clock, reliable intelligence is significant among security concerns along India's borders with Pakistan and China.India was the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole in 2023. This is an arrea scientists believe could hold reserves of frozen water.
Israel arrests two accused of spying on defence minister for Iran-by AFP Staff Writers.
Jerusalem (AFP) May 20, 2025-Israeli authorities said Tuesday that they had arrested two citizens suspected of carrying out "intelligence-gathering missions" at Iran's behest near the defence minister's home.The arrests are the latest in a spate of cases in which Israel has charged its own citizens with spying for the country's arch-foe since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.Police and the Shin Bet domestic security agency said that "in a joint operation... Roi Mizrachi and his friend, Almog Attias, both 24, were arrested at the end of April for committing security offences after collecting intelligence in Kfar Ahim", where Defence Minister Israel Katz lives.The men were acting "on behalf of Iran" and motivated by "financial gain", said the statement from the security agencies.On Sunday, authorities announced the arrest of an 18-year-old Israeli accused of spying on former prime minister Naftali Bennet, also for Iran.Other cases uncovered recently included alleged missions ranging from photographing military bases to plotting to kill senior Israeli officials.Police said most suspects did not have special training and had faced financial difficulties.Defence Minister Katz said in a statement he would not be "deterred" by attempts to spy on him."Iran is... directly advancing terrorist activity and supporting terrorist organisations that act against Israeli leaders and against all citizens of the State of Israel," he said."I will not be deterred by any threat and will continue to fulfil my duty to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons."The Shin Bet and police said that Mizrachi and Attias were asked to carry out a number of missions near Katz's home.Mizrachi had purchased a new cellphone and used "a special app" to communicate with his Iranian handlers, the security agencies said in their statement.The pair were "fully aware they were acting under Iranian direction", the statement added.Among the tasks Mizrachi had allegedly carried out, the agencies said he moved "a bag buried in the ground from one location to another" thinking that it "contained an explosive device".Indictments against the two men are expected to be filed in the coming days, the statement said.
Beirut, PA agree that Lebanon won’t be used as a launchpad for attacks on Israel-Abbas and Aoun agree on ‘commitment’ that Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon can’t be ‘safe havens for extremist groups,’ don’t specify how crackdown is planned-By AP and ToI Staff Today, 7:57 pm-MAY 21,25
BEIRUT — The Lebanese and Palestinian Authority presidents agreed Wednesday that Palestinian factions won’t use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attacks against Israel, and to remove weapons that aren’t under the authority of the Lebanese state.The announcement was made during a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived earlier in the day beginning a three-day visit to Lebanon, his first in seven years.Lebanon’s government is seeking to establish authority throughout the country, mainly in the south near the border with Israel, after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in late November with a US-brokered ceasefire.The 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon aren’t under the control of the Lebanese state, and Palestinian factions in the camps have different types of weapons. Rival groups have clashed inside the camps in recent years, inflicting casualties and affecting nearby areas.It wasn’t immediately clear how the weapons would be removed from the camps, which are home to tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them descendants of families that fled to Lebanon amid Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.Abbas’s Fatah movement and the Hamas terror group are the main factions in the camps. Smaller groups, including some jihadist factions, also have a presence in the camps, mainly in Ein el-Hilweh, which is Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp and located near the southern port city of Sidon.Hamas has claimed multiple attacks on Israel from Lebanon during more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group, which erupted when the Iran-backed terror group began attacking northern Israel a day after the Hamas-led invasion and massacre in the south on October 7, 2023.A joint statement read by the Lebanese presidency’s spokeswoman, Najat Sharafeddine, said that both sides have agreed that weapons should only be with the Lebanese state, and the existence of “weapons outside the control of the Lebanese state has ended.”The statement said that both sides have agreed that Palestinian camps in Lebanon aren’t “safe havens for extremist groups.”It added that “the Palestinian side confirms its commitment to not using Lebanese territories to launch any military operations.”In late March, Israel intensified its airstrikes on Lebanon in response to Hamas allegedly firing rockets at northern Israel from southern Lebanon.Shortly after the wave of airstrikes, the Lebanese government, for the first time, called out the Palestinian group and arrested nearly 10 suspects involved in the operation. Hamas was pressured by the military to turn in three of its militants from different refugee camps.The nearly 400,000 Palestinians in Lebanon are prohibited from working in many professional jobs, have few legal protections, and can’t own property.
UN official's claim 14,000 babies could die in 2 days debunked-Gazans say no humanitarian aid has reached them, day after trucks entered Strip-IDF’s COGAT declines to comment on UN claims that agencies have not been allowed to pick up supplies from border; Israel allows UAE to send assistance to feed 15,000-By Jeremy Sharon,Jacob Magid,Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 6:19 pm-MAY 21,25
Palestinians and aid agencies in Gaza on Wednesday said they were still waiting for aid to enter the Strip more than 48 hours after Israel, amid mounting international pressure, said it would start sending in desperately needed food and supplies after an 11-week blockade.The UN has said even though trucks have entered Gaza, the Israeli army has not given permission to pick up the aid on the Gaza side of the border. The IDF body responsible has declined to comment on the charges.“None of this aid – that is a very limited number of trucks – has reached the Gaza population,” said Antoine Renard, country director of the World Food Program (WFP), who said the trucks appeared to be stopped in Kerem Shalom, the sprawling logistics hub at the south-eastern corner of the Gaza Strip.Abdel-Nasser Al-Ajramy, the head of the Gaza bakery owners’ society, said at least 25 bakeries that were told they would receive flour from the WFP had seen nothing, and the people waiting for food had no relief from hunger.“There is no flour, no food, no water,” said Sabah Warsh Agha, a 67-year-old woman from the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya sheltering in a cluster of tents near the beach in Gaza City. “We used to get water from the pump, now the pump has stopped working. There is no diesel or gas.”Umm Talal Al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian living in an area of Gaza City, on Wednesday described the situation as “unbearable.”“No one is distributing anything to us. Everyone is waiting for aid, but we haven’t received anything,” she told AFP.“We’re grinding lentils and pasta to make some loaves of bread, and we barely manage to prepare one meal a day.”The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which coordinates the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza, on Wednesday declined to respond to claims by the United Nations that its agencies have been unable to collect and distribute aid brought into the territory on Tuesday through the Kerem Shalom goods crossing.Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman to the UN Secretary General, said on Tuesday that members of a UN team “waited several hours for Israeli green light to access Kerem Shalom area” to pick up the aid that was brought in, but ultimately they had not been able to do so.COGAT said Tuesday night that 93 UN trucks carrying “flour for bakeries, food for babies, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical drugs” were “transferred via the Kerem Shalom Crossing into the Gaza Strip.”Israel had blocked all aid from entering Gaza since March 2, arguing that sufficient humanitarian assistance had entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire before that and that Hamas was stealing aid, with the blockade necessary to pressure the terror group to release the dozens of hostages it is holding.In recent weeks, however, some officials in the IDF have begun warning the political leadership that the enclave was on the brink of starvation.UN agencies and humanitarian organizations have said that “acute hunger” and displacement caused by Israel’s renewed military campaign and “extreme levels of deprivation” in Gaza mean that the civilian population is in desperate need of large volumes of aid to avoid a humanitarian disaster.Trading blame-Before the ceasefire that went into effect on Jan. 19, COGAT and the UN were in an ongoing dispute about who was responsible for aid distribution difficulties.The UN claimed that COGAT and the IDF frequently refused their requests for collection and distribution authorization, and that dangerous and complex conditions inside Gaza made aid distribution very difficult.However, COGAT claimed that the number of times it denied authorization was extremely low, and presented figures to the High Court of Justice to that effect. It also claimed that the UN was inefficient in delivering the aid, and pointed out that large quantities of aid frequently accumulated on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom.Aid groups also charge that aid that has been allowed in is massively insufficient.The amount of aid Israel has started to allow into war-ravaged Gaza Strip is not nearly enough and is “a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over,” the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) aid group said.“The Israeli authorities’ decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving,” says Pascale Coissard, MSF’s emergency coordinator in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.Meanwhile, Israel agreed to allow humanitarian assistance from the United Arab Emirates into Gaza, which will initially feed 15,000 people, Abu Dhabi announced Tuesday following a phone call between Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed and his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar.“The initiative also includes the provision of essential supplies to support the operation of bakeries in the Strip, as well as critical items for infant care, while ensuring a continuous supply to meet the ongoing needs of civilians,” said the UAE Foreign Ministry’s director of communications, Afra al-Hameli, in a statement.Israel has relied heavily on the UAE’s support for humanitarian aid in Gaza. Abu Dhabi says its assistance amounts to over 40% of the aid that enters the Strip.Earlier this month, Israel sought to convince the UAE to bankroll a new aid initiative led by the newly founded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Aid groups have pushed back against the effort, saying it fails to address the humanitarian crisis and forces the mass displacement of Gazans, while failing to feed almost 40 percent of them initially. Emirati officials accordingly told their Israeli counterparts that they could not back the GHF initiative as it currently stood, a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.The US-backed GHF will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily criticized aid plan that the UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has described as a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians in Gaza.During Tuesday’s call between the foreign ministers, bin Zayed “affirmed the importance of ensuring the urgent, sustainable, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian, relief, and medical assistance to the brotherly Palestinians in the Strip,” the Emirati readout said, adding that the ministers also discussed efforts to reach a hostage release and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.Amid growing global outrage, the United Kingdom said Tuesday it was suspending free trade agreement negotiations with Israel and taking other punitive measures, including the imposition of sanctions on a list of West Bank settlers, in response to Israel’s wartime policies during its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.Additionally, the European Union agreed to review its cooperation deal with Jerusalem over alleged human rights abuses in Gaza.On Monday, the leaders of Britain, France, and Canada issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s handling of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and calling on Israel to immediately halt military action in the enclave and allow in more aid, threatening “further concrete actions in response” if Jerusalem refuses.Debunked: UN official’s claim 14,000 Gazan babies could die in 48 hours-After the UN’s Fletcher told the BBC Tuesday that some 14,000 babies in Gaza could die in the next 48 hours if aid does not reach them in time, the British broadcaster clarified that this claim was false and based on an incorrect interpretation of a report issued by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).The claim was widely reported in international media outlets, including The Times of Israel, and was repeatedly cited by UK lawmakers during a House of Commons debate on Tuesday.However, the BBC said Wednesday that after asking the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for clarification, it turns out the remarks were based on an IPC report that warned that 14,100 severe cases of acute malnutrition were expected to occur between April 2025 and March 2026 among children aged between six months and five years.This means that in fact, according to the UN report, not all of the 14,000 children are babies, they are not all expected to die, and — most notably — this is predicted to happen over the course of a full year, not 48 hours, if aid isn’t allowed into Gaza.Pro-Israel commentators blasted the UN for the error.Fletcher “should hand in his resignation immediately for causing a global media panic about something totally made up. He is either a complete numpty or malicious. Either way, serving Hamas’ war goals,” said Eylon Levy, a former spokesman for Israel’s government.
US to appoint its ambassador to Turkey as special envoy for Syria, sources say-State Department says no announcement yet on Thomas Barrack, a longtime friend of president; move comes as administration builds ties with new Damascus regime By Timour Azhari and Jonathan Spicer Today, 3:01 pm-MAY 21,25
DAMASCUS/ISTANBUL (Reuters) — The United States will appoint President Donald Trump’s longtime friend and current US ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Barrack, as a special envoy for Syria, a person with direct knowledge of the matter and a diplomat in Turkey said.The decision follows Trump’s landmark announcement last week that US sanctions on Syria would be lifted. It also suggests US acknowledgement that Turkey has emerged with key regional influence on Damascus since Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad’s ouster by rebels in December, ending 14 years of civil war.Asked for comment, a US State Department spokesperson said: “There is no announcement at this time.”Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Rubio said he was allowing Turkish embassy staff, including Barrack, to work with local officials in Syria to understand what kind of aid they need.“We want to help that government succeed, because the alternative is full-scale civil war and chaos, which would, of course, destabilize the entire region,” Rubio said.A US-Turkish meeting focused on Syria took place in Washington on Tuesday with Barrack in attendance, according to Turkey’s foreign ministry, which said sanctions relief and efforts to counter terrorism had been discussed.The US had sought a step-for-step approach to Syria sanctions relief until Trump’s announcement that he was ordering “the cessation of sanctions,” which he said aimed to give Syria a chance to recover from devastating war. He said he made the decision after discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.Trump also met with Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on May 14 and urged him to normalize ties with longtime foe Israel following his surprise sanctions announcement.Removing US sanctions that cut Syria off from the global financial system would clear the way for greater engagement by humanitarian organizations working in Syria, and ease foreign investment and trade as the country looks to rebuild.
Israel will seize more of Gaza if Hamas doesn’t free hostages, IDF chief warns-Zamir tells Gazan civilians that their leaders, not Israel, ‘brought destruction’ upon them, as hostage talks appear to once more reach an impasse in Doha-By Emanuel Fabian-20 May 2025, 11:30 pm
The Israeli military is prepared to capture more territory in the Gaza Strip if Hamas does not agree to release the remaining hostages it is keeping in captivity, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned in a video statement on Tuesday.He issued the ultimatum following a situational assessment and field tour in Gaza, days into a major new offensive dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” through which Israel seeks to attack Hamas and seize and retain territory, while relocating Palestinians from the north of the Strip to its south.The offensive was launched amid negotiations in Qatar for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, which started back up again last week following the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.Israel had previously warned that it would launch the offensive should no agreement be reached following the end of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region last week. While reports initially indicated that the new talks were moving in the right direction, they hit a wall in recent days.Zamir said “Hamas will pay a price for its refusal” to release the hostages.“It will face intense firepower,” he said. “We will expand the ground maneuver, conquer additional territory, clear and destroy the terror infrastructure until its defeat.”“Hamas only has one option, and that is to release our hostages,” Zamir continued, adding that should an agreement be reached, “the IDF will know how to adjust its activity accordingly.”“Our objectives are clear: the return of the hostages to their homes, the defeat of Hamas and the dismantling of its rule,” he continued. “We are defending ourselves, and for that we must attack. We cannot defend ourselves only on the defense, without clearly removing the threat from the other side of the border.”At several points during his remarks, Zamir recalled that Israel had not been the one to start the war in Gaza, but that it erupted when Hamas launched its deadly cross-border invasion on October 7, 2023.“This was not a military assault, but a horrifying crime against innocent civilians, and act of terror against the State of Israel and the Jewish people,” he said of the attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages, of whom 58 are still awaiting release.“Since that dreadful day, the IDF has acted with force and determination in a multi-front campaign against enemies whose goal is to destroy us,” said Zamir.Turning to the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, he added: “We are not the ones who brought this destruction upon you.”“We did not start the war. We did not rob you of food, shelter, or money. We are not the ones hiding in hospitals or schools. We are not the ones staying in luxury hotels while you live in hardship,” he said.“This is your leadership, those who are holding our hostages. Hamas is responsible for starting the war. It is responsible for the dire situation of the population. It destroyed, and it will not be the one to rebuild.”In total, 58 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, of whom 57 were abducted on October 7, 2023.They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF, and 20 who are believed to be alive. There are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said.In his remarks, Zamir also reiterated his criticism of controversial remarks made earlier in the day by The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, who accused Israel’s leaders of sending the military to “kill babies as a hobby.”Golan had warned that Israel is “on the way to becoming a pariah state” if it doesn’t “return to acting like a sane country.”Pushing back, Zamir asserted that the military “operates at all times in accordance with the IDF’s values, the law and international law, while uncompromisingly safeguarding the security of the State of Israel and its citizens.“Any statement that casts doubt on the integrity of our actions and the morality of our fighters is baseless.”Israel’s “highest moral and ethical duty” is to defend its people “against an immoral enemy, among the cruelest in human history,” the IDF chief said.He appealed for the Israeli public to “support and unite around IDF soldiers.”“Together we will fight. Together we will prevail,” he vowed. “Our actions will speak for themselves.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Messages from dozens of US officials found in leaked breach of Israel-founded app-Review finds texts from over 60 government employees in hack of TeleMessage public records compliance service after ex-Trump adviser Waltz spotted checking messages via application By Reuters and ToI Staff Today, 3:01 pm-MAY 21,25
A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broader swath of American officials than has previously been reported, according to a Reuters review, potentially raising the stakes of a breach that has already drawn questions about data security in the Trump administration.Reuters identified more than 60 unique government users of the messaging platform TeleMessage in a cache of leaked data provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a US nonprofit whose stated mission is to archive hacked and leaked documents in the public interest.The trove included material from disaster responders, customs officials, several US diplomatic staffers, at least one White House staffer and members of the Secret Service. The messages reviewed by Reuters covered a roughly daylong period of time ending on May 4, and many of them were fragmentary.Once little known outside government and finance circles, the Israel-founded TeleMessage drew media attention after an April 30 Reuters photograph showed Waltz checking TeleMessage’s version of the privacy-focused app Signal during a cabinet meeting.While Reuters could not verify the entire contents of the TeleMessage trove, in more than half a dozen cases the news agency was able to establish that the phone numbers in the leaked data were correctly attributed to their owners. One of the intercepted texts’ recipients — an applicant for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency — confirmed to Reuters that the leaked message was authentic; a financial services firm whose messages were similarly intercepted also confirmed their authenticity.Based on its limited review, Reuters uncovered nothing that seemed clearly sensitive and did not uncover chats by Waltz or other cabinet officials. Some chats did seem to bear on the travel plans of senior government officials. One Signal group, “POTUS | ROME-VATICAN | PRESS GC,” appeared to pertain to the logistics of an event at the Vatican. Another appeared to discuss US officials’ trip to Jordan.Reuters reached out to all the individuals it could identify seeking comment; some confirmed their identities but most didn’t respond or referred questions to their respective agencies.Reuters could not ascertain how TeleMessage had been used by each agency. The service — which takes versions of popular apps and allows their messages to be archived in line with government rules — has been suspended since May 5, when it went offline “out of an abundance of caution.” TeleMessage’s owner, the Portland, Oregon-based digital communications firm Smarsh, did not respond to requests for comments about the leaked data.The White House said in a statement that it was “aware of the cyber security incident at Smarsh” but didn’t offer comment on its use of the platform. The State Department didn’t respond to emails. The Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for FEMA, CISA, the Secret Service, and Customs and Border Protection, similarly did not respond to messages. FEMA said in an email that had “no evidence” that its information had been compromised. It didn’t respond when sent copies of internal FEMA messages. A CBP spokesperson repeated a past statement noting that it had disabled TeleMessage and was investigating the breach.TeleMessage was launched in Petah Tikva in 1999. In February 2024, it was acquired by Smarsh, retaining co-founder and CEO Guy Levit as well as an office in Israel.Federal contracting data shows that State and DHS have had contracts with TeleMessage in recent years, as has the Centers for Disease Control. A CDC spokesperson told Reuters in an email Monday that the agency piloted the software in 2024 to assess its potential for records management requirements “but found it did not fit our needs.”The status of the other contracts wasn’t clear. A week after that hack, the US cyber defense agency CISA recommended that users “discontinue use of the product” barring any mitigating instructions about how to use the app from Smarsh.According to Shomrim, the Center for Media and Democracy, an Israeli investigative outlet, several Israeli government offices also used TeleMessage as of 2024, including the Foreign Ministry, Justice Ministry, and Health Ministry.Jake Williams, a former National Security Agency cyber specialist, said that, even if the intercepted text messages were innocuous, the wealth of metadata — the who and when of the leaked conversations and chat groups — posed a counterintelligence risk.“Even if you don’t have the content, that is a top-tier intelligence access,” said Williams, now vice president of research and development at cybersecurity firm Hunter Strategy.Waltz’s prior use of Signal created a public furor when he accidentally added a prominent journalist to a Signal chat where he and other Trump cabinet officials were discussing air raids on Yemen in real time.Soon after, Waltz was ousted from his job, although not from the administration: Trump said he was nominating Waltz to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations.The circumstances surrounding Waltz’s use of TeleMessage haven’t been publicly disclosed and neither he nor the White House has responded to questions about the matter.
Bell says services fully restored after widespread outage hit Ontario, Quebec | CBC News Loaded-After users reported internet, mobile issues, company say update triggered blackout-Jenna Benchetrit · CBC News · Posted: May 21, 2025 9:50 AM EDT |
After users in Ontario and Quebec reported a widespread outage of Bell Canada's services this morning, the company said an update triggered the interruption and that it had since fully restored its system."Bell conducted an update that impacted some of our routers. We rolled back the update to quickly restore services," a spokesperson for the company told CBC News. "We want to assure our customers and partners that this was a technical issue and we have ruled out a cybersecurity incident as the root cause.""Our network teams are conducting a full review to ensure that this situation doesn't happen again. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and thank customers for their patience."Data from DownDetector, an outage tracker, showed that complaints spiked around 9:30 a.m. ET, with more than 133,000 reports made. Most of the reports cited issues with landline and mobile internet connections.By 12:15 p.m. ET, that number had flattened to fewer than 1,500 complaints."When an update goes wrong, there is a ripple effect that happens," said Ritesh Kotak, a technology expert based in Toronto."That's most likely what happened here. One bad update caused a chain reaction of other switches and routers to shut down," he said, adding that it sometimes takes a while to turn the system back on so as not to trigger further damage.Telecoms pledged changes after 2022 Rogers outage-Bell Canada initially acknowledged in a message on its Facebook page this morning that "some customers in Ontario and Quebec may be experiencing an internet service interruption.""We are working to restore service as quickly as possible," the statement said. "Thank you for your patience."The company shared an update on social media at 11:30 a.m. ET, acknowledging that some customers were also having issues with mobile service.The DownDetector map shows that some outages are being reported across Atlantic Canada. Bell Aliant, a subsidiary that operates in the Atlantic provinces, doesn't appear to be having the same issues as the wider network.After a massive Rogers outage left 12 million people without internet service in 2022, Canada's telecom regulator set new rules requiring companies to report major outages and interruptions within two hours. More than a dozen Canadian telecoms — including Bell, Rogers and Telus — signed a memorandum of understanding that year, pledging to work together to provide emergency roaming, mutual assistance and communications with the public and the government during an outage or other "impactful disaster."Jenna Benchetrit is the senior business writer for CBC News. She writes stories about Canadian economic and consumer issues, and has also recently covered U.S. politics. A Montrealer based in Toronto, Jenna holds a master's degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University. You can reach her at jenna.benchetrit@cbc.ca.
Netanyahu: London, Paris and Ottawa 'offering prize to terror'UK, France, Canada warn of ‘concrete actions’ if Israel doesn’t halt war, boost aid-Statement calls on Hamas to release hostages, threatens sanctions over West Bank settlement expansion; 22 countries sign separate statement urging full resumption of aid-By Nava Freiberg, AFP and ToI Staff 20 May 2025, 12:56 am
The leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada issued a joint statement Monday condemning Israel’s handling of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and calling on the Jewish state to immediately halt military action in the enclave and allow in more aid, threatening “further concrete actions in response” if Jerusalem refuses.The three leaders — Britain’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Canada’s Mark Carney — called Israel’s announcement Sunday to allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza “wholly inadequate” and said the country’s failure to assist the Gazan civilian population “is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law.”Netanyahu hit back in a statement, saying London, Paris and Ottawa were “offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities.”The earlier statement from the three Western countries called on Israel to engage with the United Nations “to ensure a return to delivery of aid in line with humanitarian principles.”Five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday for the first time since March 1, when Israel halted the assistance to pressure the terror group to release dozens of hostages it is holding. Israel argued that a sufficient amount of goods entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire and that Hamas has been stealing much of that aid. In recent weeks, though, some officials in the IDF have begun warning the political leadership that the enclave was on the brink of starvation.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the immediate resumption of “basic” humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening, making a highly unpopular decision among his right-wing circles in light of mounting pressure from Washington to end the blockade.The aid began entering the Strip as the military pushed ahead with a fresh operation in Gaza, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” which, according to Israeli officials, would see the IDF “conquer” Gaza, raze the vast majority of buildings and retain the territory for the foreseeable future; attack Hamas and prevent it from taking control of humanitarian aid supplies; and move Palestinians from Gaza’s north to its south.The UK, France and Canada on Monday rejected the prospect of “permanent forced displacement” of Gazan civilians, and rebuked members of the Israeli government for using “abhorrent language… threatening that, in their despair at the destruction of Gaza, civilians will start to relocate.”“We call on Hamas to release immediately the remaining hostages they have so cruelly held since 7 October 2023,” the statement added.“Israel suffered a heinous attack on October 7. We have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate,” the statement said.The massacre that sparked the war saw thousands of Hamas-led terrorists rampage through southern communities, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages to Gaza. Terrorists are still holding 58 hostages, of whom 35 have been confirmed dead by Israel.The nations on Monday also expressed opposition to the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, which would “undermine the viability of a Palestinian state,” and said they “will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions,” if the settlements are not halted.The three countries praised the efforts of the United States, Qatar and Egypt to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, saying a ceasefire and hostage release deal, together with “a long-term political solution” offer the best solution for resolving the conflict, as well as “ending Hamas’s control of Gaza and achieving a pathway to a two-state solution, consistent with the goals of the June 18 conference in New York co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France.”“We will continue to work with the Palestinian Authority, regional partners, Israel, and the United States to finalize consensus on arrangements for Gaza’s future, building on the Arab plan,” continued the statement, saying the upcoming June conference will aim to build international cooperation on this matter.The Arab plan envisions an independent committee of technocrats running Gaza for six months before handing off control of the Strip to the Palestinian Authority — an outcome ruled out by Israel’s government. It provides for Palestinians to remain in the Strip while it is being rebuilt, as opposed to a proposal by US President Donald Trump that the entire population be relocated.It offers international peacekeeping troops to be dispatched to Gaza through a UN Security Council resolution. In the meantime, Egypt and Jordan will train Palestinian Authority police officers so that they can then be dispatched to Gaza to uphold law and order, the plan says.However, the Arab proposal does not significantly address Hamas, instead maintaining that armed groups in Gaza can only be fully addressed through a political process that establishes a Palestinian state — an outcome opposed by Netanyahu’s government.Responding to the joint statement, a statement from Netanyahu’s office asserted, “The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled and Gaza is demilitarized.“No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won’t.”“Israel accepts [US] President [Donald] Trump’s vision and urges all European leaders to do the same,” said the PMO, apparently offering support for the American president’s plan to take over Gaza and clear it of its Palestinians, as opposed to the two-state solution path that the three leaders argued is the best way to end the conflict.“This is a war of civilization over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved,” Netanyahu concluded.An additional joint statement signed by twenty-two donor countries on Monday also urged Israel to “allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately,” after the partial lifting of its blockade on the territory.The foreign ministers of the countries, including France and Germany, said that “while we acknowledge indications of a limited restart of aid,” the population of the war-ravaged territory “faces starvation” and “must receive the aid they desperately need.”The statement was also signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.Lacking Haredi manpower, IDF turns to womanpower: 1 in 5 fighters are now female-During recent Knesset committee discussions, IDF representatives revealed that women now make up 20.9% of the combat force. Among them are a growing number of religious women-By Tal Schneider-Today, 12:48 pm-MAY 21,25
One in five Israeli combat soldiers is female, a senior officer said in a recent Knesset hearing, underlining a major uptick in women serving in fighting roles.
“Today, women make up 20.9% of the IDF’s combat force – this is an unprecedented figure. We’re also seeing an increase in the technological units, but the main surge is in women serving as combat soldiers,” Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, head of the Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Management Division, said on May 7 while presenting official data to Knesset members in a discussion focused on female combat soldiers in the context of the need for an equitable conscription law for ultra-Orthodox men.However, as women increasingly enlist in light infantry battalions, elite combat units, and other units that may put them on the frontlines, the army may struggle to address the dual challenge of integrating them alongside a hoped-for influx of ultra-Orthodox soldiers, policy planners warned.Out of 18,915 Haredim who received initial draft orders since July 2024, around 319 have enlisted; 2,521 who ignored multiple draft orders were sent immediate call-up orders requiring them to show up at an induction center within 48 hours or be declared a draft evader.In direct opposition to Haredi men evading the draft, Maj. Sapir Barabi, head of the Sources Department at the IDF Personnel Directorate, noted that between 2012 and 2024 – based on recruitment yearbook data – the number of female combat soldiers rose tenfold.Regarding the types of combat roles open to women, the IDF said that women can today be assigned to 58% of combat positions. Units still closed to women include all of the IDF’s maneuvering infantry and armored forces, along with the vast majority of commando units, all of which are trained to operate within enemy territory.Cracks in the special forces glass ceiling-The IDF has offered women combat service for about 20 years in the framework of mixed-gender light infantry battalions that are permanently stationed on Israel’s borders with Egypt, Jordan, and, more recently, the West Bank, as part of the Border Defense Corps.Women comprise approximately 60% of all mixed-gender battalions, and the male and female combat soldiers train and serve together from the moment of enlistment through training and deployment to the borders.During the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, members of one of the light infantry battalions normally stationed on the Egypt border, Caracal, and its all-female tank company fought for hours, killing dozens of attackers along the border and in communities overrun by terrorists.The Home Front Command’s Search and Rescue Brigade, whose troops are mostly women and fully combat-trained, is often deployed to carry out routine arrest and defense operations in the West Bank. During the war, the search and rescue forces operated in Gaza to assist the maneuvering troops.In the Air Force, women and men serve together in the aerial defense array — technically considered combat service. The Navy also sees women serving alongside men aboard missile boats.Female soldiers also serve as canine handlers in the elite Oketz unit and as paramedics in other male-dominated infantry and armored brigades, including during the ground offensive in Gaza.The IDF is expanding other opportunities after seeing a significant rise in the number of women serving in combat roles.In 2024, the IDF launched pilot programs to integrate women into special forces units, including Unit 669, Sayeret Matkal, and Yahalom – the Combat Engineering Corps’ elite unit. The pilot at Yahalom has ended and the IDF is awaiting a decision on whether it will officially open the unit to female service.Some female soldiers who completed the Yahalom pilot have already gone on to the IDF officers’ course, while others are now completing two years in the unit. It is unclear whether the IDF has integrated those women who completed the pilot into operational activity beyond the border.The two female soldiers who were recruited to the prestigious 669 rescue unit dropped out, and no public information is available about the one recruited to the Sayeret Matkal special reconnaissance unit. At this point, there is no information on whether the pilot as a whole will continue or whether additional female recruits will be added to these units.The IDF notes that all the women initially passed the screening and combat training requirements, using an adjusted physical fitness scale.Another ongoing IDF pilot is testing the integration of women into combat mobility units in the Ground Forces. Each infantry battalion currently has mobility platoons, usually composed of regular infantry soldiers who receive additional training in operational driving on Hummers and/or ATVs.The primary mission of the mobility unit is to deliver heavy supplies to forces operating in enemy territory – water, food, ammunition, mortars, missiles, and more. Other tasks include evacuating wounded soldiers under fire or transporting equipment between company commanders or from company commanders to battalion commanders, also under fire.This pilot began recently and includes about 30 female combat soldiers recruited as a cohesive platoon. They are in advanced training at the Paratroopers Brigade training base, Camp Eitan, near Kibbutz Shomria.According to Barabi, their training course is identical to that of male combat soldiers. The IDF decided to keep the women as a separate gender-segregated platoon within the brigade training base and not to integrate them into mixed-gender units with male combat soldiers.A further pilot program expected to open to female combat soldiers in the 2025 recruitment cycle is in Unit 504 – the unit responsible for recruiting agents in enemy territory and interrogating prisoners, both in the field and in IDF facilities. Unit 504 belongs to the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate, which has the highest number of women serving in general intelligence roles.Enough pilot programs; let the women fly-MK Merav Michaeli of the Labor party accused the military of using the pilot program system as a tool to delay integrating women into combat roles.“I don’t see other parts of the population being placed under various pilot programs,” she said. “Just let them be assessed according to the ‘right person for the right role’ policy and put an end to all these pilots.”One of the more contentious issues raised in the discussion, in the Knesset’s Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, was the IDF’s decision to allow religious female soldiers to serve in combat roles within “gendered platoons,” similar to the arrangements offered to religious male soldiers who do not want to serve alongside female combatants.For example, the IDF is expected to soon open up for women a gender-segregated combat platoon in the Combat Intelligence Collection Array — part of the Border Defense Corps — likely within the Eitam Battalion, which monitors the Egypt and Jordan border in southern Israel, and another such platoon within one of the Aerial Defense Array’s Iron Dome battalions.Michaeli sees the IDF’s allowing of sex-segregated units for religious soldiers as a dangerous path that could undermine the army’s operational goals.“Dividing units by gender or sex does not stem from operational needs but from political considerations,” she said. “You described a phenomenon of ultra-Orthodox soldiers who don’t want to serve in artillery units because they’d have to serve alongside female combatants. This is a dangerous approach for the IDF. The great concern is that gender segregation will expand, and ultimately this will harm the IDF – and will harm women.”Similar dropout rate-Asked about the dropout rate of female combat soldiers from their training tracks, Barabi noted that in the Border Defense Corps the dropout rate among women is 15%, compared to 14% among men. “There is no major difference between the genders,” she said, “and the rates of leaving combat roles are similar across all units.”Also participating in the discussion was Ofra Ash, CEO of the Deborah Forum, which promotes women in national security and foreign policy, who pointed out that there is still a lack of women in senior command roles in the IDF.“Until there are women at the General Staff Forum – women who rose through the combat and operational ranks – we cannot say that progress has been made,” she said.Currently, there are only two female generals serving in the General Staff Forum, both legal officers.Taking pressure off the reserves-At a follow-up discussion in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on May 8, the IDF’s Tayeb emphasized that “every new regular mixed-gender battalion – male and female – presents immense potential to reduce dependence on the reserves.”Tayeb explained that a single regular battalion – for example, a mixed-gender battalion in the Border Defense Corps or the Search and Rescue Brigade – is equivalent in operational output to about seven reserve battalions.However, if there is one statistic that indicates the growth in the number of women serving in significant roles in the IDF, it is the percentage of women currently serving in the reserves.During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, women made up only 3% of reservists. By Operation Protective Edge in 2014, that figure had risen to 8%, and in the October 7 war, the proportion of women in the reserves surged to 20%.On a general IDF level, he said, 90% of all IDF roles are currently open to women.Tayeb revealed that of female candidates for military service, 37% identify as religious – either ultra-Orthodox or national-religious. Additionally, 25% of enlisted women are assigned to units in which the mandatory service period is 32 months, the same as for men. These units include the combat forces as well as some intelligence units.During the discussion, MK Simcha Rothman from the Religious Zionism party asked how the sharp increase in the number of women – particularly religious ones – joining combat roles occurred organically, without any special measures taken by the IDF. This, Rothman noted, contrasted with the IDF’s considerable logistical and financial investment in recruiting ultra-Orthodox men, which has not yielded similar results.Three female MKs — Michaeli, Sharon Nir, and Efrat Rayten — told Rothman that women’s motivation stemmed from watching their brothers and friends enlist, and from a desire to take an equal part. In fact, in many cases, they said, the women’s families did not support their decision to choose combat service.The female MKs said that in the case of women’s enlistment, the IDF did not run any special recruitment campaigns – the demand for meaningful service arose from the ground up.
Rubio warns Syria could be weeks away from civil war, ‘country splitting up’Noting outreach to new Syrian regime, top US diplomat says it would be an ‘extraordinary achievement for Israel’s security’ if Syria is not a ‘launchpad for attacks’By Shaun Tandon Today, 6:49 am-MAY 21,25
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that Syria could be weeks away from a fresh civil war of “epic proportions,” as he called for support to the transitional leadership.The top American diplomat blamed a resurgence of the Islamic State extremist group in areas outside of the transitional government’s control, as well as Iran.He told a US Senate hearing that the government, “given the challenges they’re facing, are maybe weeks — not many months — away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up.”Rubio spoke after a series of bloody attacks on the Alawite and Druze minorities in Syria, where Islamist-led fighters in December toppled then-president Bashar al-Assad, capping a brutal civil war that began in 2011.US President Donald Trump last week on a visit to Saudi Arabia announced a lifting of Assad-era sanctions and met with the guerrilla leader who is now Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.Sharaa, clad in a suit and complimented by Trump as a “young, attractive guy,” was until recently on a US wanted list over jihadist connections.Rubio quipped: “The transitional authority figures, they didn’t pass their background check with the FBI.”But he added: “If we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we did not engage them, it was guaranteed to not work out.”Rubio, who also met with Syria’s foreign minister in Turkey on Thursday, said Iran was looking to work with remnants of the fallen ally Assad, a largely secular leader who hailed from the Alawite sect.Rubio acknowledged concerns about Syria’s direction in Israel, which has kept pounding military sites in the neighboring country.But Rubio, who has spoken twice in recent days to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said a more stable Syria that did not serve as a “launchpad for attacks” would be an “extraordinary achievement for Israel’s security.”EU ends sanctions-European Union countries, which had already suspended economic sanctions on Syria, gave the green light on Tuesday to lift all restrictions.“We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria,” top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on X after the bloc’s foreign ministers met in Brussels.EU diplomats said that move would unfreeze central bank assets and help reintegrate Syrian banks to the global system, although sanctions would remain on individuals over stirring ethnic tensions.Syria’s foreign ministry hailed the EU decision, saying it marked “the beginning of a new chapter in Syrian-European relations built on shared prosperity and mutual respect.”Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, welcoming his Jordanian counterpart to Damascus, said at a joint news conference that “the doors are open” for investment in Syria with the lifting of sanctions.The United States had previously insisted on key steps from Syria’s transitional authorities, including protection of minorities.Trump’s move on Syria was encouraged by Turkey — the main patron of the Islamist fighters who had battled Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia — and Sunni regional power Saudi Arabia.“The nations in the region want to get aid in, want to start helping them, and they can’t because they’re afraid of our sanctions,” Rubio said.Rubio has said Trump plans to waive the Caesar Act, which imposed sanctions for investment on Syria in an effort to ensure accountability regarding abuses under Assad.But such waivers would be temporary, and Syria remains classified by the US as a state sponsor of terrorism, a major impediment to business dealings.Rubio, asked if the administration sought to delist Syria from its terrorism blacklist, replied: “Yes, if they meet the standard.”
A FALSE PROPHET COMES FROM THE VATICAN ALSO AT THIS TIME.
ISAIAH 23:15-17
15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE 70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.
REVELATION 13:11-18
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
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 17:1-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:(VATICAN)
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.(THATS PEDOPHELIA-FORNICATION IS SINGLES HAVING SEX OUT SIDE OF MARRIAGE)(AND SINCE PREISTS CAN NOT MARRY IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS FALSE CHURCH GOES AGAINST THE BIBLE.THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BECOMES A HOMOSEXUAL HAVEN OF PEDOPHILIAS FACTORY).
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:(THE VATICAN GOES AGAINST A PRIEST MARRING A WOMAN-LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS-AND WHATS AN ABOMINATION AGAINST GOD-HOMOSEXUALITY AND PEDOPHILIA JUST LIKE THIS SCRIPTURE SAYS-FORNICATION IS THE SINGLE HOMOSEXUAL PRIESTS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAVING UNMARRIED FORNICATION OR SEX WITH SINGLES-IN THIS CASE ITS SEX WITH CHILDREN OR PEDOPHILIA)
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.(GOD HIMSELF GIVES THE OK TO NUKE THE VATICAN)
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.(VATICAN)
HOW THE FALSE POPE IS ELECTED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj3Qnr_30Z4
POPE FRANCIS SISTER (PEDOPHILIA WAY WORSE THEN THOUGHT) (CARDINAL MATEO TERESCO-THE NEXT COVERUP POPE OF PEDOPHILIA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usFshfmBPmY
FALSE POPE LEO 14TH 2012 INTERVIEW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXVkJ5TQi1s
POPE 14TH WILL BE WORSE THAN FRANCIS.
https://banned.video/watch?id=681cf97a22a2c8ae0e09b5d0
Pope Leo XIV appeals for Gaza: 'Allow aid to enter, end the hostilities'Pope Leo XIV renews his appeal for "dignified humanitarian aid" to enter Gaza, calling for a cessation of hostilities "whose price is paid by children, the elderly, and the sick."By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"I renew my appeal to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid and to put an end to the hostilities, whose heartbreaking price is paid by the children, elderly, and the sick."Pope Leo XIV made that appeal toward the conclusion of his first General Audience in St. Peter's Square on 21 May.In his remarks to Italian pilgrims, he said, "The situation in the Gaza Strip is increasingly worrying and painful."The humanitarian emergency in Gaza is at a breaking point, according to international organizations. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), supported by the UN, is warning of an imminent famine.
According to aid agencies, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has intensified as Israeli airstrikes on May 20 resulted in many Palestinian deaths, including children, amid ongoing military operations that have killed tens of thousands of people since October 2023.
Despite Israel permitting a limited number of aid trucks into Gaza, international criticism has mounted, with calls for Israel to halt its military campaign and ease aid restrictions.
Moreover, the United Nations has expressed concern for the unprecedented destruction of housing in Gaza.
Pope Leo makes ‘heartfelt appeal’ for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza-Pontiff cites ‘painful’ situation in Palestinian enclave during his first weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, reportedly doesn’t mention hostages-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 2:01 pm-MAY 21,25
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday appealed for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, calling the situation in the Palestinian enclave “yet more worrying and painful.”“I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid and to put an end to the hostilities, the heartbreaking price of which is paid by children, the elderly, the sick,” the pope said during his first weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.He was not reported to have mentioned the hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, who were abducted from Israel during the Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in the Palestinian enclave.Leo, who was elected on May 8 to be the Catholic Church’s first pope from the US, has made peace a theme of his papacy so far, calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.In his first Sunday message on May 11, the new pope called for an immediate ceasefire and for the release of all Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which led a devastating invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.Over 5,000 terrorists burst into the country from the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The attackers also abducted 251 people as hostages to Gaza, where dozens remain.Israel responded with a military campaign to destroy Hamas, topple its Gaza regime, and free the hostages.It has come under massive international pressure to abandon its campaign, which intensified over the weekend, and allow urgent humanitarian aid into the besieged strip.Israel had blocked all aid from entering Gaza since March 2, arguing that sufficient humanitarian assistance had entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire and that Hamas was stealing aid, with the blockade necessary to pressure the terror group to release the dozens of hostages it is holding.In recent weeks, however, some officials in the Israel Defense Forces have begun warning the political leadership that the enclave was on the brink of starvation.Israel said on Monday that it would allow aid to enter Gaza, ending the 11-week blockade on the enclave. The United Nations received permission from Israel for 93 aid trucks to enter the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.Aid groups say that the amount being allowed in is not enough to meet needs.UN agencies and humanitarian organizations have reported on increasing rates of malnutrition in Gaza and warned of an impending humanitarian disaster unless large amounts of aid are brought into the territoryOn Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his government had paused free trade talks with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador over the situation in Gaza.
General Audience, 21.05.2025-This morning’s General Audience took place at 10.00 in the Paul VI Hall, where the Holy Father Leo XIV met with groups of pilgrims and faithful from Italy and all over the world.In his address in Italian, the Pope resumed the cycle of catechesis to continue throughout the entire Jubilee Year, “Jesus Christ our hope”, focusing on the theme: “The sower. He spoke to them at length in parables (Mt 13:3a)”.After summarizing his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed special greetings to the faithful present. He then made an appeal for the situation in the Gaza Strip.The General Audience concluded with the recitation of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.Catechesis of the Holy Father-Dear brothers and sisters,I am pleased to welcome you in this, my first general Audience. Today I will resume the cycle of Jubilee catecheses, on the theme “Jesus Christ Our Hope”, initiated by Pope Francis.Let us continue today to meditate on the parables of Jesus, which help us to regain hope, because they show us how God works in history. Today I would like to dwell on a parable which is somewhat peculiar, because it is a sort of introduction to all the parables. I refer to that of the sower (cf. Mt 13:1-17). In a certain sense, in this account we can recognize Jesus’ way of communicating, which has a great deal to teach us for proclaiming the Gospel today.Every parable tells a story that is taken from everyday life, yet wants to tell us something more, to refer us to a deeper meaning. The parable raises questions in us; it invites us not to stop at appearances. Before the story that is told or the image that is presented to me, I can ask myself: where am I in this story? What does this image say to my life? In fact, the term “parable” comes from the Greek verb paraballein, which means to throw in front of. The parable throws before me a word that provokes me and prompts me to question myself.The parable of the sower talks precisely about the dynamic of the word of God and the effects it produces. Indeed, every word of the Gospel is like a seed that is thrown on the ground of our life. Jesus uses the image of the seed many times, with different meanings. In chapter 13 of the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the sower introduces a series of other short parables, some of which talk precisely about what is happening on the terrain: the wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, the treasure hidden in the field. What, then, is this soil? It is our heart, but it is also the world, the community, the Church. The word of God, in fact, makes fruitful and provokes every reality.At the beginning, we see Jesus who leaves the house and gathers a great crowd around him (cf. Mt 13:1). His word fascinates and intrigues. Among the people there are obviously many different situations. The word of Jesus is for everyone, but it works in each person in a different way. This context allows us to understand better the meaning of the parable.A rather unusual sower goes out to sow, but does not care where the seed falls. He throws the seeds even where it is unlikely they will bear fruit: on the path, on the rocks, among the thorns. This attitude surprises the listener and induces him to ask: how come? We are used to calculating things – and at times it is necessary – but this does not apply in love! The way in which this “wasteful” sower throws the seed is an image of the way God loves us. Indeed, it is true that the destiny of the seed depends also on the way in which the earth welcomes it and the situation in which it finds itself, but first and foremost in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his Word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours: at times we are more superficial and distracted, at times we let ourselves get carried away by enthusiasm, sometimes we are burdened by life’s worries, but there are also times when we are willing and welcoming. God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word. Perhaps by seeing that he trusts us, the desire to be better soil will be kindled in us. This is hope, founded on the rock of God’s generosity and mercy.In telling the way in which the seed bears fruit, Jesus is also talking about his life. Jesus is the Word, he is the Seed. And the seed, to bear fruit, must die. Thus, this parable tells us that God is ready to “waste away” for us and that Jesus is willing to die in order to transform our life.I have in mind that beautiful painting by Van Gogh, The sower at sunset. That image of the sower in the blazing sun also speaks to me of the farmer’s toil. And it strikes me that, behind the sower, Van Gogh depicted the grain already ripe. It seems to me an image of hope: one way or another, the seed has borne fruit. We are not sure how, but it has. At the centre of the scene, however, is not the sower, who stands to the side; instead, the whole painting is dominated by the image of the sun, perhaps to remind us that it is God who moves history, even if he sometimes seems absent or distant. It is the sun that warms the clods of earth and makes the seed ripen.Dear brothers and sisters, in what situation of life today is the Word of God reaching us? Let us ask the Lord for the grace always to welcome this seed that is his Word. And if we realize we are not a fruitful soil, let us not be discouraged, but let us ask him to work on us more to make us become a better terrain.Greeting in English-I welcome the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, especially those from England, Ireland, Hungary, Norway, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Australia, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, Canada, and the United States. I greet in particular the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Annecy, the Pallottine Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate, the Daughters of Saint Jerome Emiliani, the Couples For Christ group, the pilgrims from the Diocese of Kerry, and an International group of young volunteers from Saint Cassian’s Centre. With prayerful good wishes that the present Jubilee of Hope may be for you and your families a time of grace and spiritual renewal, I invoke upon you all the joy and peace of the Lord Jesus.Appeal of the Holy Father-The situation in the Gaza Strip is increasingly worrying and painful. I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid and to put an end to the hostilities, the heart-rending price of which is being paid by children, the elderly and the sick.
Resignations and Appointments, 21.05.2025-Resignation and appointment of bishop prelate of the Mission de France o Pontigny, France-Resignation and appointment of bishop of Lleida, Spain
Resignation and appointment of bishop prelate of the Mission de France o Pontigny, France-The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the office of prelate of the territorial prelature of Mission de France o Pontigny, France, presented by Bishop Hervé Giraud.The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Dominique Blanchet of Créteil, France, as bishop prelate of the territorial prelature of Mission de France o Pontigny, France.Curriculum vitae-Bishop Dominique Blanchet was born on 15 February 1966 in Cholet, department of Maine-et-Loire, in the diocese of Angers. He carried out his higher studies at the École Centrale de Paris, obtaining a diploma in mathematics and the title of engineer. He entered the seminary of Angers, and after experience with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he continued his studies at the Prado Seminary, where he obtained a diploma in theology.He received priestly ordination on 27 June 1999 for the diocese of Angers. He is a member of the Prado Institute.He has held the following offices: cooperator of the parish of Doué-la-Fontaine (1999-2005) and of Martigné-Briand (2000-2006), episcopal delegate for youth pastoral care (2004-2010), in solidum priest of Chemillé, Saint-Lézin and Gardes (since 2005), vicar general of Angers (since 2006), diocesan administrator of Angers (since 2008), and moderator of the episcopal Curia of Angers (since 2009). In 2011 he was appointed administrator of the parish of Chalonnes-sur-Loire and parish priest of Saint-Lazare-Saint-Nicolas in Angers (2013-2015).On 21 May 2015 he was appointed bishop of Belfort-Montbéliard, receiving episcopal consecration the following 12 July. On 9 January 2021 he was appointed bishop of the diocese of Créteil.Resignation and appointment of bishop of Lleida, Spain-The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Lleida, Spain, presented by Bishop Salvador Giménez Valls.The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Daniel Palau Valero, until now head of the department of systematic theology of the Faculty of Theologgy of the Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià, Barcelona.Curriculum vitae-Msgr. Daniel Palau Valero was born on 7 December 1972 in Barcelona. He studied at the Seminari Conciliar de Barcelona and was ordained a priest in the metropolitan archdiocese of Barcelona in 2003.After ordination, he first provided parish service at Sant Antoni Abat in Vilanova i la Geltrú and served as parish vicar (2003-2008). He was awarded a doctorate in systematic theology in Rome (2013) and went on to hold the offices of parish priest of Santa Maria i Sant Brici de la Palma in Cervelló (2013-2015) and, at the same time, of Santa Maria in Corbera de Llobregat, and subsequently of Sant Antoni Abat in Corbera de Llobregat (since 2013). He graduated in geography and history, specializing in art history, at the Universitat de Barcelona (1995), and obtained a degree in philosophy at the Universitat Ramon Llull (2006) and in dogmatic theology at the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia (2006).He obtained the title of doctor in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome (2013).In addition, he studied music at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu of Barcelona. He was recently appointed director of the Archbishop Josep Pont i Got Cathedra of Pastoral Theology and director of the journal.In addition, he was head of the Department of Systematic Theology of the FTC-AUSP (2019-2023) and board member of the Liturgical Pastoral Centre of Barcelona (since 2020).He was appointed vice dean and dean (2025) of the Faculty of Theology (2023), a role he holds jointly with the function of Academic Pro-Rector of the Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià (since 2024).
Popes at the United Nations: Voices for Peace-As the UN marks the 60th anniversary of Pope Saint Paul VI’s visit, the 30th anniversary of Pope Saint John Paul II’s second visit, and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ address to the UN General Assembly, Vatican News has prepared a short video highlighting the moral voice of all the Popes who have spoken before the international organization.Vatican News-This year, 2025, holds special significance as it commemorates three important anniversaries in the history of the relationship between the Holy See and the United Nations: the 60th anniversary of Pope Saint Paul VI’s historic visit to the UN in 1965 - the first ever by a Pope; the 30th anniversary of Pope Saint John Paul II’s second visit in 1995; and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ memorable address to the General Assembly in 2015.Each of these moments marked a milestone in the ongoing dialogue between the Catholic Church and the international community, reflecting a shared commitment to peace, human dignity, and multilateral cooperation.In a short video marking this year's significant anniversaries, Vatican News reflects on the message of each of the popes - Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis - who have stood before the whole world, represented by the UN's General Assembly, to proclaim a message of peace.
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @ 39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS) and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Zephaniah 2:1-15
1 Gather together, yes, gather,O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect[a] -before the day passes away like chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands;[b] seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows[c] for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab (JORDAN) and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever.The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria,(SYRIA) and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts;[d] even the owl and the hedgehog[e] shall lodge in her capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.Sa'ar: No free meals; talks possible if more hostages freed Israel halts aid into Gaza, citing Hamas refusal to extend first phase of truce
Footnotes-a -Zephaniah 2:2 Hebrew gives birth, b-Zephaniah 2:3 Or who carry out his judgment, c-Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves, d-Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of every nation, e-Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain
DANIEL 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
DANIEL 7:17-26
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
THE WORLD IN 10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS LEAD BY THE EUROPEAN UNION THE WORLD LEADER, NOT AMERICA.I PREDICT.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND REVIVED ROMAN WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17
First From Daniel Chapter 2
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES
Now From Daniel Chapter 7
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS
REV 17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS. THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23, REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16
REVELATION 17:10-12
10 And there are seven kings (7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY) five are fallen, (EGYPT, ASSYRIA, BABYLON,:MEDO-PERSIAN,GREECE and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS DAY-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh,(FUTURE-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE-EUROPEAN UNION TODAY) he must continue a short space.(7 YEARS OF WORLD DOMINATION-BUT 3 1/2 YEARS OF NEW WORLD ORDER OR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT)
12 And the ten horns (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS OR REGIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS-NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind,(WORLD SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
DICK MORRIS-This truly creates a global economic system. From now on, don’t look to Washington for the rule making, look to Brussels.
THE CLUB OF ROME FOUNDER AURELIO PECCEI WANTS THE WORLD IN 10 REGIONAL TRADING BLOCKS.
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.
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
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.
HERES WHAT THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE (SINCE THERE WILL BE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE FUTURE)-UPDATED VERSION
01 CANADA, U.S.A, MEXICO
02 EUROPEAN UNION,WESTERN EUROPE
03 JAPAN
04 AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND, S AFRICA, ISRAEL AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
05 EASTERN EUROPE
06 SOUTHERN, CENTRAL AND LATIN AMERICAS
07 NORTH AFRICA, AND MIDEAST (MOSLEMS)
08 CENTRAL AFRICA
09 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
10 CENTRAL ASIA
THE CLUB OF ROME WANTS A WORLD CHARISMATIC DICTATOR (EITHER RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL OR SCIENTIFICAL) TO HEAD THIS WORLD GOVERNMENT. REV 13:3,7-8, DAN 7:23-24
WORLD POWERS IN THE END TIME
NORTH - RUSSIA EZEK 38:1-2, 39:1-2
SOUTH - EGYPT DAN 11:42
EAST - CHINA DAN 11:44,REV 16:12
WEST - EUROPEAN UNION DAN 7:23-24 (NOT THE U.S.A)
http://israel7777777.blogspot.ca/2012/03/10-world-trade-blocs-one-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2006/09/how-eu-takes-world-control.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/one-world-religion-crislam.html
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @ 39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS) and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
UK FM says EU defence pact will 'complement' NATO by AFP Staff Writers
London (AFP) May 19, 2025-UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy suggested Monday that British troops could complement missions in the Western Balkans as part of a new defence and security pact signed with the EU.Britain inked a new deal with the bloc at a landmark summit in central London that marks a new chapter in UK-EU relations since Brexit on January 31, 2020.The defence part of the agreement will allow British representatives to attend certain EU ministerial meetings and for its forces to take part in European military exercises and missions.Asked for concrete examples, Lammy told AFP and a small group of European media outlets that he had visited Serbia, Kosovo, and Bosnia, and "there are concerns about the undermining of the Dayton Accords"."We want to work closely with our European partners there," he said.Lammy added that British soldiers were already "making a difference" in the Nato-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) peacekeeping missions."I think that it's hugely important that we are able to complement NATO," he said.Lammy added it was "good" that the defence pact "opens a pathway" for British firms to tap into a 150-billion-euro ($168-billion) EU fund, currently under negotiation among the 27 member states.An additional agreement still needs to be made, along with a financial contribution from London."We intend to get going quickly on this and hope that we can work this out in a matter of weeks," Lammy said of the next steps.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's new agreement with Brussels also saw the two sides also agree to lift controls imposed on UK food and plant exports to the 27-country bloc.That was agreed in exchange for Britain extending EU fishing rights in British waters, due to expire in 2026, for a further 12 years.Lammy dismissed claims by the UK's opposition Conservative party that the deal meant Labour had "betrayed Brexit and Britain"."My sense is always that the British people have moved on," Lammy said."I will let those in our political system who want to rehearse the fights of the past, they can do that."But in the end, we must be pragmatic on behalf of the British people, and this is a deal that delivers prosperity, security, fundamentally and is good for growth," he added.
Is NATO set to agree spending 5% of GDP on defence? Not quite.
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) May 19, 2025 - NATO countries look on course to agree a deal on ramping up their defence spending target at a summit in The Hague next month in a bid to satisfy US President Donald Trump.The volatile leader has been pressuring allies to spend five percent of their GDP on defence -- a level none of NATO's 32 members, including the United States, currently hit.To make him happy, alliance chief Mark Rutte has floated a proposal for 3.5 percent of GDP on direct defence spending by 2032, and 1.5 percent of broader security-related expenditures.That should give Trump the chance to claim a win by reaching his headline figure of five percent.But the reality is that not all of that may need to be new spending.- What's the real increase?The current minimum agreed by NATO's countries for defence spending is two percent of GDP.Under the compromise being hatched for The Hague, that amount should rise to 3.5 percent and be devoted to direct military spending -- such as troops and weaponry.That is roughly the amount NATO estimates needs to be spent by countries to be able to counter Russia in the coming years.To pad that out further, for the first time the alliance could then count things such as infrastructure spending, cyber protection, border security -- and even support for Ukraine.That would make up the additional 1.5 percent, taking the overall figure to five percent.NATO diplomats say that much of that broader spending is likely already on the books and filling it out would just be a matter of redefining it in their budgets."We have to make sure that we not only concentrate on the core defence spending, but also making sure that we do these defence related investments," Rutte said.To ensure countries stick to the plan, which hasn't been made public, diplomats say Rutte has proposed a 0.2 percentage point annual increase on the direct military spending.- Implications for each country? -For some countries -- such as Poland and the Baltics on NATO's eastern flank -- the new 3.5-percent target would actually be lower than what they're already planning to spend.Worried by the threat from Russia, they're already planning to dedicate five percent of their GDP to core military spending from next year.The United States wouldn't have far to go to reach the new target as it already spent 3.19 percent of its GDP on its military last year.For others it will be a bigger leap.-European heavyweights France and Germany are only just hovering over the two percent target and a raft of stragglers such as Italy, Spain, Canada and Belgium are still reaching that level this year.- Is everyone on board? Rutte's compromise deal received backing from Germany and France at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey last week.Berlin's top diplomat Johann Wadephul said the plan would meet Trump's five percent demand -- and that Germany was willing to "follow" the US lead.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also gave the greenlight to the 3.5 percent number.Elsewhere there was little public dissent from other NATO members.Even those who have struggled to reach two percent seemed open to the deal -- with Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani welcoming counting broader security spending.- And the United States? -Even though it doesn't necessarily satisfy Trump's original demand, Washington supports the compromise widening out the parameters to reach five percent.US NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker said the Hague investment plan wouldn't cover "just missiles, tanks and howitzers".But he warned that the broader "defence-related" spending should not just be "a grab bag for everything that you could possibly imagine".- What's left to agree? While allies seem generally to accept the contours of the new plan -- there is still some haggling to be done in the weeks before The Hague summit.Diplomats say sensitive areas will include hammering out exactly what can and can't be included in the 1.5 percent.On top of that some countries are pushing for the 2032 timeline to be extended beyond the seven years currently on the table and annual targets to be eased.
EU finalises 150-bn-euro loan scheme to rearm by AFP Staff Writers.
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) May 19, 2025-EU countries have finalised a plan for a 150-billion-euro loan programme to help rearm in the face of Russia and worries over US reliability, diplomats said Monday.The SAFE borrowing scheme backed by the EU's central budget was proposed by Brussels in March as the bloc rushes to boost its defences.Member states haggled over what the money could be spent on and how countries outside the EU can access the funds for weeks before agreeing a final text late Sunday, diplomats said.In the end, the agreement stuck to the original proposal allowing 35 percent of the value of the weapons to come from manufacturers beyond the bloc and Ukraine.The finalisation comes as the EU and the UK agree a new defence partnership as part of a post-Brexit "reset" at a London summit.London would still need to strike a separate deal with the EU if it wants to fully open the new scheme to the British defence industry.The EU text still needs to be formally signed off by the bloc and approval should come when Europe ministers meet in Brussels on May 27.The borrowing programme is part of a package of measures including loosening budget rules that Brussels says could unlock 800 billion euros of defence spending.
NATO to open new air command in Norway's far north-by AFP Staff Writers.
Oslo (AFP) May 20, 2025-Norway announced Tuesday it had designated the small town of Bodo, north of the Arctic Circle, to permanently host a NATO air operations control centre.The announcement from the Norwegian government comes as neighbouring Russia is seeking to assert its power in the Arctic by modernising old bases and establishing new ones.During a ministerial meeting in February, NATO countries agreed to establish the alliance's third European Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Norway, leaving Oslo to decide its exact location.The choice was between Bodo, which is already home to the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, and Rygge in the southeast of the country."We want NATO to have a foothold in the North," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told broadcaster TV2.No date was announced for the opening of the new command centre, which will be tasked with coordinating air surveillance as well as planning and executing NATO military air operations in the region.The military alliance already has two such command centres in Europe, one in Germany, the other in Spain.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
CARNEY THE LIBBY DIBBY WANTS TO SANCTION ISRAEL YOU BETTER NOT CARNEY. I DON'T WANT NO JUDGEMENT ON CANADA LIKE TORNADOES, BIG QUAKES, FLOODING AND BLISTING HEAT WAVES.YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED CARNEY ADMINISTRATION.
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