WHAT THE DEVIL GAINS FROM FALSE APPARITIONS.AY CATHOLICS.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

WHAT THE DEVIL GAINS FROM FALSE APPARITIONS.AY CATHOLICS.

ISAIAH 41:11
11  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)

Turban complications-The turban represents the Shi'ite clergy that, ever since its creation in Iran almost four centuries ago, has had an ambivalent attitude towards the exercise of political power. Broadly speaking, turbans come in two contrasting colors. A white turban means that the man who wears it is not a descendant of the Prophet, and thus is of non-Arab origin. In contrast, the wearer of the black turban is marked as a descendant of the Prophet through one of the twelve imams of Twelver Shi'ism.The semiology of turbans is still more complicated. Students of theology are allowed to wear very thin turbans, denoting their position as novices. A hujjat al-Islam, or mid-ranking mullah, can wear a slightly fatter turban. The very fat turbans that require several yards of cloth are reserved for the grand ayatollahs. Rafsanjani’s white turban marked him as someone of non-Arab origin. Khatami and Khamenei both wear black turbans, as did Khomeini, denoting their Arab descent on the paternal side.The experience of the past three decades shows that many of the most senior clerics are not eager to enter the realm of politics. Once in power, however, a man with a thin turban could quickly thicken his headgear and grow a longer beard to bolster the religious aspect of his image. When first elected president, Ayatollah Khamenei was not a particularly senior cleric, but was promoted so that he could succeed Ayatollah Khomeini.

THE CITIZENS OF IRAN (ELAM IN THE BIBLE) MIGRATE TO ALL NATIONS ON EARTH.
JEREMIAH 49:34-39
34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam (IRAN) in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN) the chief of their might.(IRAN SUPLIES ARABS WITH WEAPONS AGAINST ISRAEL)
36 And upon Elam (IRAN)  will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam (IRAN) shall not come.(WORLD MIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(REG BOMBS) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(GROUND TROOPS)
38 And I will set my throne in Elam,(IRAN) and will destroy from thence the king (KHEMEINI )and the princes,(IRANIAN GUARDS) saith the LORD.
39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam,(IRAN) saith the LORD.

Psalms-Chapter 110:1-6
1 (A Psalm of David.) The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.

Roof fire caused by interception shrapnel is under control

The roof fire in central Israel caused by missile interception shrapnel has been brought under control.There does not appear to be damage to apartments in the building on which it occurred.

21min ago
IDF launches new wave of strikes on missile infrastructure in Iran

The Israeli Air Force has begun new strikes in Iran, the military says.Fighter jets have “now begun a wave of strikes against missile storage and launch infrastructure in central Iran,” it says.

26min ago
Iran’s FM: We don’t know how we can trust US, negotiations may have been cover for Israeli attack

Iran’s foreign minister says Tehran doubts it can trust Washington to honestly engage in diplomacy in a bid to end the open war with Israel.Speaking to NBC News in Geneva, where he met with European leaders to try to find a path out of the conflict, Abbas Araghchi voices suspicion that the US only used previous negotiations with the Islamic Republic as “cover” for Israel’s offensive.“They had perhaps this plan in their mind, and they just needed negotiations perhaps to cover it up,” Araghchi says. “We don’t know how we can trust them anymore. What they did was, in fact, a betrayal to diplomacy.”He repeats Tehran’s position that “We’re not prepared to negotiate with them anymore, as long as the aggression continues.”He also maintains Iran’s refusal to stop uranium enrichment, saying he told US envoy Steve Witkoff “several times zero enrichment is impossible.”“This is an achievement of our own scientists. It’s a question of national pride and dignity,” he says.Araghchi also asserts that contacts with Witkoff are continuing to some extent despite the war.“There are some direct messages, some indirect messages we’re exchanging,” he states. “And we have explained each other’s positions to each other in order to prevent misunderstandings.”

Rubio signals US open to direct talks, sources say-Top European diplomats meet Iranian FM, test waters for new nuclear deal-Ahead of Geneva meeting, Abbas Araghchi says there’s ‘nothing to discuss’ with US as long as Israeli attacks continue, but ‘dialogue, not negotiations,’ possible with other nations-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 10:07 pm-JUN 20,25

A meeting between Iran’s foreign minister and top European diplomats on Friday yielded hopes of further talks but no indication of any immediate concrete breakthrough, a week after the crisis centered on the Iranian nuclear program erupted into war between Israel and Tehran.Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany, as well as the European Union’s foreign policy chief, emerged from talks at a Geneva hotel about 3 1/2 hours after Iran’s Abbas Araghchi arrived for the meeting.It was the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict.“The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that the Iranian side is fundamentally ready to continue talking about all important issues,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said. He said the two sides had held “very serious talks.”British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that “we are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States.” He added that “we were clear: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon..EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ”we agreed that we will discuss nuclear but also broader issues that we have, and keep the discussions open.”The diplomats gave few details and took no questions.Ahead of the meeting, Araghchi said Iran has “nothing to discuss” with the US as long as Israel continues its strikes on Iran, but is open to “dialogue, not negotiations,” with others.European ministers spoke ahead of the meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who signaled that Washington was open to direct talks even as it considers joining Israel’s strikes on Tehran’s nuclear program, the sources said.The foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany — the so-called E3 nations — as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also held a separate meeting in Geneva before meeting Araghchi.Two diplomats said Araghchi would be told at the meeting that the US is still open to direct talks. But expectations for a breakthrough are low, diplomats say.A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran is ready to discuss limitations on its uranium enrichment, but said the prospect of zero enrichment, as demanded by Israel and the US, would undoubtedly be rejected, especially while Israel was attacking.Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state. Iran has retaliated with deadly ballistic missile attacks across Israel.Lammy said that “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.” He traveled to Geneva after meeting in Washington with Rubio and with the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who had been holding nuclear talks with Araghchi in the weeks before the war with Iran.Two European diplomats said the Europeans did not believe that Israel would accept a ceasefire in the immediate term and that it would be difficult for Iran and the US to resume negotiations. That meant they would use Friday’s talks to test Iran’s appetite to begin negotiations with the E3 immediately.The diplomats said the proposal would center on a parallel track in negotiations, initially without the US, on a new deal that would involve tougher inspections, also potentially even on Iran’s ballistic missile program, while allowing the country some notional enrichment capacity.Given the escalation in the conflict, the two sides would aim for a quick political framework to get concessions from Iran and a ceasefire before entering in-depth negotiations. A third European official said he was not optimistic, as the E3 demands were quite extensive and Iran still had some strength.While diplomats did not expect a breakthrough in Geneva, they said it was vital to engage with Iran because once the war stopped, the nuclear issue would remain unresolved given that Tehran would still retain the scientific know-how.The E3 nations played an important role in the negotiations over the original 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. But they have repeatedly threatened to reinstate sanctions that were lifted under the deal if Iran does not improve its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.US President Donald Trump exited the deal in 2018, during his first term, and reinstated sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The White House said Thursday that he would decide in the coming two weeks whether to join Israel’s attacks in Iran.Araghchi: US is ‘partner in these crimes,’ nothing to discuss with it-In an interview aired Friday by Iranian state television, Araghchi said that “in the current situation, as the Zionist regime’s attacks continue, we are not seeking negotiations with anyone.”He said that “we have nothing to discuss with the United States, which is a partner in these crimes,” and that Tehran rejected negotiations with the Americans.”As for others, if they seek dialogue, not negotiations, which don’t make sense right now, we have no problem with that,” he added.Just before the meeting in Geneva, Araghchi made a brief appearance before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. He said that Israel’s “attacks on nuclear facilities are grave war crimes,” and insisted that “we are entitled … and determined to defend our territorial integrity, national sovereignty and security with all force.”While Iran publicly denies seeking nuclear weapons, it has amassed uranium enriched to 60% — far beyond what is needed for civilian uses and a short step away from weapons-grade.Germany’s foreign minister acknowledged that years of efforts to relieve concerns about the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear weapon haven’t succeeded, but said it’s worth talking now.“If there is serious and transparent readiness by Iran to refrain from this, then there is a real chance of preventing a further escalation of this conflict, and for that every conversation makes sense,” Wadephul said in a podcast released by broadcaster MDR on Friday.Wadephul said US officials “not only know that we are conducting these talks but are very much in agreement with us doing so — so I think Iran should now know that it should conduct these talks with a new seriousness and reliability.”Before traveling to Geneva on Friday, Wadephul stressed that “it’s Iran’s move now.”French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot spoke by phone with Rubio on Thursday evening. A French diplomatic official, who was not allowed to speak publicly on the issue, said Barrot detailed the purposes of the Geneva meeting and Rubio “stressed that the US was ready for direct contact with the Iranians at any time.”

Interview-Could Iran’s missiles carry nuclear warheads? An expert breaks down the threat-Veteran analyst Tal Inbar details the Islamic Republic’s missile technology, nuclear ambitions and the challenges of verifying its secretive activities-By Stav Levaton-19 June 2025, 5:00 am

As Iran continues to launch missiles at Israel, a question looms large in the minds of defense analysts and civilians alike: If Iran’s nuclear program is able to advance, could those same missiles one day carry nuclear warheads? To understand the threat and the technology behind it, The Times of Israel spoke with Tal Inbar, a veteran expert in aviation policy, space, and missile issues.Inbar has spent decades tracking the development of missile systems in Iran, North Korea, and beyond.What makes a missile ‘nuclear capable’? According to Inbar, two basic features determine whether a missile can be equipped with a nuclear warhead: the weight the missile can carry (payload capacity) and the physical space inside the warhead compartment.“Every missile with a warhead of roughly 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) could theoretically be fitted with a nuclear warhead,” he explained.This would include Iran’s Shahab-3 missile family — a series of medium-range ballistic missiles based on the North Korean Scud platform — and its more advanced variants such as the Ghadr and Emad, which have been used in the current conflict.“It’s not a huge technical problem,” Inbar said. “They already have missiles capable of carrying the necessary weight.”How far can these missiles reach? The missiles Iran has fired at Israel thus far have a range of around 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles). But, Inbar notes, Iran’s capabilities go farther.“They have the ability to reach over 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) — at least with one type of missile, which they haven’t used yet,” he said.Iran is also developing systems with much longer ranges. Inbar pointed to the Ghaem-100, a space launch vehicle developed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that is theoretically capable of carrying a nuclear payload to a range of up to 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles).Still, he said, the likelihood of Iran using such a long-range system is low: “They don’t need to. Who are they going to target [beyond Israel]?”What about multiple warheads?Iran has claimed to possess Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRV), which allow a single missile to carry multiple warheads and strike several targets.According to Inbar, Iran has tested a missile — the Khorramshahr — with this capability, but there’s no evidence it’s operational.Where did Iran get this technology?Iran’s missile program began decades ago. After the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Iran purchased Scud missiles from North Korea and Libya, which became the foundation for its own designs.Also in the 1980s, the IRGC sent a delegation to Syria to acquire the know-how for producing these missiles locally. The result was the Shahab-3 — essentially an upgraded and enlarged version of North Korea’s Scud.Although Iran and North Korea once followed similar paths, Inbar said that today, their missile programs have diverged.“Each country developed its own arsenal of missiles without any technical knowledge transferred between them… There is no correlation between the programs and no cooperation currently,” he said.That said, the systems are technically compatible. “Though highly unlikely [to happen], an Iranian missile could carry a North Korean nuclear weapon with no significant changes,” Inbar noted — but emphasized that North Korea is unlikely to hand one over.Where does Iran’s nuclear program stand today? Despite Iran’s advanced missile capabilities, it has not yet developed a nuclear weapon. Still, Iran was once dangerously close. Inbar referenced the nuclear archives smuggled out of Iran and revealed by Israel in 2018, which showed that prior to 2003, Iran had built and tested nearly every component of a nuclear bomb.“Twenty years ago, Iran knew how to build a bomb,” Inbar said. “They built all the components, except for the nuclear core itself — at least that’s what’s known.”Today, Iran possesses large stockpiles of enriched uranium at 60% purity — well beyond what’s needed for civilian energy use, and enough to build at least 10 cores for atomic bombs if enriched further to 90%.But enrichment alone isn’t enough. Turning that uranium gas into a functional warhead requires further weaponization — a process Inbar says was meant to happen at the Isfahan facility, which was reportedly struck by Israel just days ago.Inbar is skeptical that Iran has secretly crossed the nuclear threshold.“No one will mess with a nuclear power,” he noted bluntly. “If they had it, they would show it.”Still, some infrastructure remains intact.“A breakthrough is not very plausible in the next few days or weeks,” he said. “But it all depends on how many centrifuges they still have left in Natanz,” another major enrichment site. “And of course, Fordo wasn’t attacked yet — and we don’t know exactly what they have there.”How much does the world really know?Inbar warned against assuming full transparency in Iran’s nuclear disclosures.“The Persian Empire invented chess. The US invented baseball. It’s not the same rules,” he said. “The Iranian regime is a master of deception. We can’t know exactly what’s going on.”He also criticized the international community’s limited oversight. “Many of Iran’s facilities haven’t been examined by the International Atomic Energy Agency. If you’re only invited to see part of the program and can’t access key military sites, you don’t know what’s happening.”The diplomatic front: Talks at an impasse-While Iran’s missile program advances and questions swirl over its nuclear ambitions, diplomatic efforts to curb Tehran’s nuclear development remain at a standstill.Beginning in April, talks between the United States and Iran, brokered by Oman, raised hopes for a renewed nuclear agreement. However, the talks appeared to stall in recent weeks. And following Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and harsh rhetoric from both sides, negotiations have been halted.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed US demands as unacceptable, while US President Donald Trump has signaled readiness to increase pressure on Tehran, including the use of military options.As Inbar highlighted, Iran’s nuclear infrastructure has suffered setbacks, but the path to weaponization remains uncertain, and so does the prospect for a diplomatic resolution.

Israel is set to start outbound flights Monday as more than 50,000 citizens return home-Diplomats, tourists, youth and sports groups stuck are poised to depart on half-full planes; Thousands of Israelis return home via air, sea and land border crossings By Sharon Wrobel-Today, 9:50 pm-JUN 20,25

Israel will begin allowing outbound flights for foreigners who have been stuck in Israel since the conflict with Iran broke out about a week ago, and Israelis, who need to leave the country, starting on Monday.However, the Transportation Ministry announced late on Thursday that passengers will need to get approval from a government-led exceptions committee.Since the country’s airspace was closed on June 13 in the wake of the attack on Iran, Israel has looked to put in place repatriation flights to help bring back more than 100,000 Israelis stranded abroad, which started on Wednesday.At the same time, Israel has barred foreigners or Israeli citizens from leaving the country via air travel, saying that the restrictions are in place to avoid overcrowding and minimize the time planes spend on the ground at Ben Gurion Airport due to security risks, and Home Front Command guidelines limiting the congregation of people. The international airport has been a frequent target of missile attacks.Legal questions are being raised around the broad government restrictions against flying out of Israel, which challenge the explicit constitutional right to leave and enter the country laid down in Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, as well as previous High Court rulings determining the right to be fundamental in a democratic country. The Movement for Quality Government demanded that the government explain a cabinet resolution passed on Wednesday that conditions flying out of the country based on approval by a government-led exceptions committee.According to various reports in the Hebrew press, Israelis interested in leaving the country via air may not need the approval by the exceptions committee on the condition that they will not return to Israel within three weeks after their departure. A Transportation Ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the reports when contacted by The Times of Israel.The Transportation Ministry established an exceptions committee to review and prioritize humanitarian and medical requests from Israeli citizens who need to return to the country, subject to certain medical and humanitarian criteria.The same committee is also slated to examine applications by tourists, diplomats, foreign youth and sports groups stranded in the country.Starting Monday, outbound flights will be operated with half of the planes’ seat capacity. Applications for approval for outgoing flights have not yet been opened since the framework and exact details of the new outbound travel policy have not been finalized. Guidelines are expected to be published at the start of the week.So, how is it going to work?Once the exemptions committee form for outbound air travel is available, tourists, foreign passport holders, and Israelis may fill it out and submit the form online.Requests by foreign passport holders, tourists, foreign youth, sports and other groups, stranded in the country, will be prioritized and are expected to be approved with relative ease after they provide relevant documentation of canceled travel details.Israeli citizens with proof of need for urgent medical treatments outside of Israel, or for certain humanitarian reasons, will also be given priority.Initially, the committee is poised to reject requests by Israelis who ask to leave the country for vacation or leisure trips.Once Israel concludes the repatriation of stranded Israelis back home, the need for approval by the exemptions committee is expected to be lifted for outward air travel.The Movement for Quality Government has expressed concern over the criteria for approval by the committee, and insisted they must be transparent and applied fairly and equally to all those seeking to leave the country.Dozens of Israeli citizens have turned to legal help, including those who need to leave the country to tend to their businesses abroad, and others whose families and center of life are in a foreign country.The exceptions committee, chaired by the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, Drorit Steinmetz, includes representatives from the Transportation Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the  Home Front Command, the National Emergency Authority, and the Population and Immigration Authority. Israeli airlines operating repatriation flights to bring Israelis back home have been directed to allocate 15 percent of the seats to humanitarian and urgent medical cases approved by the exceptions committee.As part of the mission launched Wednesday, Israeli airlines, El Al, Arkia, and Israir began ferrying Israeli citizens from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, other European destinations, and New York, after they were stuck abroad due to the closure of Israeli airspace.More than 100,000 Israelis were thought to have been abroad. In recent days, more than 50,000 Israelis are estimated to have returned to Israel via air travel, by sea, and via land border crossings, according to the Transportation Ministry.Some 32,000 tourists and foreign passport holders, meanwhile, are currently stuck in Israel, according to the Tourism Ministry.El Al is operating 14 repatriation flights to Israel on Friday from various destinations in Europe. Smaller local carrier Israir will return Israelis on six flights from Athens, Larnaca, Batumi, Budapest, Prague, and Palma de Mallorca. Arkia is launching repatriation flights from Paris, Athens, Rome, Larnaca, Vienna, and Montenegro. Around 5,500 Israelis are estimated to have returned home on Friday, up from about 2,700 a day earlier, according to the Transportation Ministry.“If the security situation allows, and we can continue to expand repatriation flights, we hope to bring back between 6,000 and 7,000 Israelis a day going forward,” Transportation Minister Miri Regev said on Thursday.Along with the repatriation flights and preparations for limited outgoing departure flights, Israel is also expanding travel options by sea for the return of citizens to the country and the departure of foreigners out of the country.The first Mano Maritime cruise ship, bringing stranded Israelis back from Cyprus, in coordination with the Transportation Ministry, arrived in Israel on Friday morning. The cruise was guarded by the Israeli Navy’s missile ship.Some 2,000 passengers were on the luxury ship Crown Iris for its voyage from Limassol in Cyprus to the Ashdod port in southern Israel, the Transportation Ministry said. About 50 buses and minibuses were waiting at the port to take arriving passengers free of charge to the Ashdod train station, and to Beersheba, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem.The Transportation Ministry emphasized that the maritime space remains open, and repatriation operations are ongoing, subject to the approval of defense officials to maintain the safety of passengers.“This is a complex logistical operation carried out in full cooperation between all authorities,” said Transportation Ministry director-general Moshe Ben Zaken. “The Mano cruise is the first but not the last one – additional passengers are expected to return this way in the coming days.”On Monday, June 23, a fully-booked Mano cruise chartered by Bank Leumi will depart from Limassol to bring back about 1,500 Israelis to the Ashdod port. Cruise tickets for Bank Leumi customers were sold for €300, and for non-bank customers, for €600.On Friday, El Al said it chartered a Mano cruise to offer its customers and the general public stranded abroad an alternative option of returning to Israel from Limassol via the sea.The cruise voyage, which leaves on Thursday, June 26, with 1,500 people to sail from Limassol to the port of Ashdod, is free of charge to El Al and Sun D’Or customers, whose flights were canceled. One-way ticket prices for the general public were selling for a subsidized €550. El Al said that within a few hours, all 1,500 seats on the cruise were booked.The Mano cruise will depart for Limassol from the port of Ashdod on June 24, carrying passengers from Israel who purchased tickets. The cruise is expected to arrive at Ashdod port next Friday, June 27.El Al emphasized that customers who registered for a cruise from Cyprus to Israel will not be eligible to register for repatriation flights. Cruise tickets, booked by El Al and Sun D’Or customers and the general public, have a no-cancellation policy.

 Interview'We will recreate life because we are a very resilient nation'Herzog to ToI: Iran wages ‘war against the Jews,’ while Israel is ‘defending the West’Returning from Soroka Medical Center after Thursday’s missile attack, the president offers a stark perspective on a situation he describes as shared by Israelis and Diaspora Jews alike By Nathan Jeffay Today, 9:28 pm-JUN 20,25

Moments after President Isaac Herzog returned to his Jerusalem home from the Beersheba hospital that Iran had struck on Thursday, he had two topics on his mind: Iran’s aggression and the struggles of Diaspora Jewry as it faces rising hatred.For this interview conducted later that day, his staff had dispensed with the ornate chairs that are often used, feeling that the mood of the day called for a plainer setting. Dozens had just been injured in the strike on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, and it was clear the experience of visiting the attack site affected him.Herzog is a man who does not take Holocaust parallels lightly. His father, former president Chaim Herzog, liberated Bergen-Belsen with the British Army. Asked about his father’s World War II actions and whether Iran is really a threat to the Jewish people akin to the Nazis, his answer was clear.Herzog said a “war against the Jews” is underway, and people should take the Holocaust-Iran equation seriously. He insisted that with the preemptive attacks on Iran’s nuclear and military sites that Israel launched on June 13, the Jewish state seized a “now or never” opportunity to avert a potential Holocaust-like catastrophe.“Look, the Iranians have direct plans to annihilate Israel,” he said. “They say it, and we know that they have them. That’s their aim. We should be very much aware of it.”“What we’re doing now is a heroic campaign to remove the real existential threats on the State of Israel to enable Jews to come here and thrive here, to enable them to thrive in their communities the world over without threats, without these terror cells of the Iranians and their proxies, without threats on Israel and without moving to the bomb, which is the most dangerous development in humankind,” Herzog said.Discussing the attack on the Beersheba hospital, Herzog said: “I think it’s disgusting and horrendous. We know that it was an Iranian-instigated attack on the hospital because they want to… weaken our backbone emotionally.”Herzog said that this is why Iran’s missile barrages, which in a week of hostilities have killed 24 and injured thousands, have targeted Israel’s population centers indiscriminately. He hailed Israel’s air defense systems and comprehensive Home Front Command instructions for civilians to take cover, while also crediting a higher power.“Thank God, like a total miracle, nobody was killed,” he said, referring to the fact that hospital staff had cleared patients out of some areas just moments before the strike hit the building early Thursday morning.Israel has “many capabilities,” he said. “We haven’t shown everything yet.”He also spoke of Israel’s “immense resilience” and about the Israeli value for life. Referring to what he framed as Hamas’s refusal to seriously negotiate on hostages abducted from Israel on October 7, 2023, he said, “Their way of thinking is, ‘We don’t care about dying.’ But we care about life.”Herzog said that Israel’s commitment to life is underscored by the determination to rebuild at places hit by Iranian missiles, including at Soroka Medical Center and at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. He said that in those places, “we will recreate life because we are a very resilient and impressive nation.”Herzog insisted that the war against Iran must be seen as a fight for the free world, not just for Israel.“That’s what people don’t get,” he said. “They love to criticize Israel automatically, but we’re actually defending the West. We’re defending Europe.”He said that the Iranian regime runs a “war machine that was planned against us, but truly, the next ones in line are the Europeans and all who are ‘infidels,’ as they call them.”Herzog appealed to rabbis to keep up continued prayers and solidarity.“Remember, your brothers and sisters are under fire here, protecting and defending the free world,” he said. “If it weren’t for us, Europe and the United States would be next. What we are doing is a historic move to change the reality in the Middle East and offer peace for the future.”Addressing the Jewish world in general, he urged communities across the Diaspora to stay strong.“Tell everybody, don’t be afraid, and fight back. Use all the means you have, legal, public, everything else. Many more people than you think are with you,” Herzog said. “I know there are risks. I don’t shy away. I know there’s pain.”Herzog paid special tribute to Jewish students around the world who are assertive and “very proud” in the face of anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism on university campuses.“I want to tell all our dear Jewish students. You know, there were many periods in Jewish history where students could not express their views and opinions,” he said.“Be together, fight back. You’re stronger than you think. Many people support you. Don’t shy away,” he said. “These enemies will go away, and we shall prevail and overcome. Am Yisrael Chai [the People of Israel live].”

Iranian missile with cluster warhead scattered bombs in central Israel, IDF says-Home Front Command says warhead dropped around 20 munitions randomly over 8-kilometer radius, with one hitting home and others unexploded but still posing threat By Emanuel Fabian-19 June 2025, 6:26 pm

At least one ballistic missile launched by Iran at Israel in a barrage on Thursday morning was carrying a cluster bomb warhead, the Israel Defense Forces said, marking a dangerous new development after nearly a week of attacks.The IDF Home Front Command said the missile’s warhead split while descending, at an altitude of around 7 kilometers (4.3 miles), spreading around 20 smaller munitions at a radius of around 8 kilometers (5 miles).The munitions do not have their own propulsion or guidance and simply fall to the ground, where they are designed to explode on impact.An Israeli military official said such a missile poses a threat to a much wider area than Iran’s other ballistic missile warheads, but the explosion from each of the cluster bombs is far smaller.One of the small munitions, with an explosive warhead of around 2.5 kilograms, struck a home in the central town of Azor, causing damage equivalent to that of a small rocket.Many of the other munitions did not explode, according to the military official. The unexploded ordnance still poses a danger to anyone who happens upon them.Home Front Command said sappers had found and disposed of 20 bombs, but warned that it could not be sure that others were still out there.It warned the public not to approach any missile remains they may find on the ground, which effectively act as landmines, and to alert authorities immediately if one is spotted.There were no changes to the Home Front Command’s guidelines for civilians when it comes to cluster bomb attacks.Human rights groups have long campaigned for cluster bombs to be banned due to the random, indiscriminate nature of the threat they pose, unlike other types of munitions that can be used to precisely target combatants or military assets while minimizing harm to civilians.In total, 112 countries have signed a 2008 convention banning the production, storage, sale, and use of cluster munitions. Iran and Israel are not among them.The text of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions says cluster bombs “kill or maim civilians, including women and children, obstruct economic and social development… impede post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction (and) delay or prevent the return of refugees and internally displaced persons… for many years after use.”Three other missiles that directly impacted sites in Israel during the Thursday morning attack were carrying conventional warheads with hundreds of kilograms of explosives.The volley of some 20 ballistic missiles was the latest in a series of daily attacks Iran has carried out since Israel launched an offensive against the Islamic Republic last week.Missiles carrying large warheads hit Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and residential buildings in Ramat Gan and Holon, causing extensive damage and wounding dozens, including six seriously.It was unclear how many other missiles were carrying cluster bomb warheads, as the rest were intercepted by air defenses.Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program, which began last Friday, is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.Iran has retaliated by launching over 450 missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds have been wounded. Some of the ballistic missiles have hit apartment buildings in Israel, causing heavy damage.Agencies contributed to this report.

Erdogan says Israel-Iran war near ‘point of no return,’ vows to boost missile production-Turkish president says buildup ‘ensures deterrence’ in light of recent developments; officials, analysts see little chance of war spreading to Turkey, but fear regional arms race By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 5:58 pm-JUN 20,25

The escalating Iran-Israel confrontation is quickly reaching “the point of no return,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday and announced plans by Ankara to boost production of medium- and long-range missiles so no country dares attack Turkey, sparking fears of a regional arms race.Iran and Israel have been at war for eight days after Israel, claiming that the Islamic Republic — sworn to Israel’s destruction — was on the brink of acquiring a nuclear weapon, launched a massive wave of strikes on its arch-rival, triggering an immediate response from Tehran.“Unfortunately, the genocide in Gaza and the conflict with Iran are quickly reaching the point of no return. This madness must end as soon as possible,” Erdogan said, warning the consequences could affect the region, Europe and Asia “for many years.”“It is imperative that fingers are removed from the triggers and buttons before more destruction, bloodshed, civilian casualties and terrible disaster occur, that could affect our region, as well as Europe and Asia for years to come,” he said.His remarks were made at an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) youth forum in Istanbul ahead of a gathering of OIC foreign ministers over the weekend.Among those due to attend was Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with the ongoing crisis with Israel likely to feature high on the agenda at the two-day talks.Erdogan also discussed the Israel-Iran war with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a telephone call on Friday, telling Merz that the Iranian nuclear issue can only be resolved through negotiations, according to Erdogan’s office.Erdogan has indicated that Turkey needs to boost its deterrence capabilities to ensure nobody attacks the country amid the war, which began last week.Following a cabinet meeting on Monday, he said: “We are making production plans to bring our medium- and long-range missile stockpiles to a level that ensures deterrence, in light of recent developments.”“God willing, in the not-too-distant future, we will reach a defense capacity that is so strong that no one will even dare to act tough toward us,” Erdogan said.In a separate address days later, the Turkish leader highlighted Turkey’s progress in its domestically developed defense industry, which includes drones, fighter jets, armored vehicles and navy vessels, but stressed that continued effort was needed to ensure full deterrence.Despite Ankara’s tense relations with Jerusalem, analysts and officials don’t see an immediate threat of the Israel-Iran war spreading into NATO-member Turkey. Still, some see Erdogan’s plans to increase missile production as a sign that the conflict could trigger a new arms race in the region, with countries not directly involved ramping up their military efforts to preempt future conflicts.Ahmet Kasim Han, a professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Beykoz University, said Turkey was reacting to what he described as an unraveling world order.“The Turkish government is drifting toward what is the name of the game in the Middle East right now: an escalation of an arms race,” said Han.Israel and the US have set a high standard in aerial warfare, creating a technological gap that Turkey and others are eager to close, he said.Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, a Turkey analyst at the German Marshall Fund think tank, said that “although Turkey has a very large army — the second largest in NATO — its air power, its air defense is relatively weaker.”The ongoing conflict has reinforced the importance of air superiority, including missiles and missile defense systems, prompting “countries in the region, including Turkey, to strengthen their air power,” he said.Iran conflict effects further deterioration in Israel-Turkey ties-Since the start of the conflict, Erdogan has been scrambling to end the hostilities. He has held a flurry of phone calls with leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering to act as a “facilitator” for the resumption of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.There are deep concerns in Turkey that a prolonged conflict will cause energy disruptions and lead to refugee movement from Iran, with which it shares a 560 kilometer-long (348 mile) border.Turkey relies heavily on energy imports, including from Iran, and rising oil prices due to the conflict could aggravate inflation and further strain its troubled economy.Turkey has strongly assailed Israel’s airstrikes in Iran and said the Islamic Republic has the right to defend itself. The strikes have triggered deadly Iranian missile attacks across Israel.Once close allies, Turkey and Israel have grown deeply estranged, especially after the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. Erdogan, who supports Hamas, has been one of the fiercest critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct in the Strip.Relations further deteriorated after the ouster in December of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, as Israel grew increasingly wary of expanding Turkish influence in Syria.Earlier this year, however, Turkey and Israel established a “de-escalation mechanism” aimed at preventing conflict between their troops in Syria. The move came after Syria’s foreign ministry said that Israeli jets had struck a Syrian air base that Turkey reportedly hoped to use.Israel hasn’t commented on Turkey’s announcement that it plans to ramp up missile production, but Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded to Erdogan’s criticisms of Israel over its attack on Iran in an X post on Wednesday. He accused Erdogan of having “imperialist ambitions” and of having “set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country’s opposition.”Erdogan’s nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli, suggested that Turkey was a potential target for Israel, accusing the country of strategically “encircling” Turkey with its military actions. He didn’t elaborate.Analysts say, however, that such statements were for “domestic consumption” to garner support amid growing anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey.“I don’t think that Israel has any interest in attacking Turkey, or Turkey has any interest in a conflict with Israel,” Han said.

Iran’s internet blackout leaves public in dark, creates uneven picture of war with Israel-Iranians seeing only images of missiles hitting Israel amid fears from the regime that the public could rise up when they see how the leadership has been weakened By Farnoush Amiri Today, 5:34 pm-JUN 20,25

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As the war between Israel and Iran hits the one-week mark, Iranians have spent nearly half of the conflict in a near-communication blackout, unable to connect not only with the outside world but also with their neighbors and loved ones across the country.Civilians are left unaware of when and where Israel will strike next, despite Israeli forces issuing evacuation warnings through their Persian-language online channels.When the strikes hit, disconnected phone and web services mean not knowing for hours or days if their family or friends are among the victims, even though Israelis jets have been targeting Iran’s military leadership, air defenses, nuclear and missile programs and not firing into random civilian areas like Iran’s missile strikes on IsraelThat’s left many scrambling on various social media apps to see what’s happening — again, only a glimpse of life able to reach the internet in a nation of over 80 million people.Activists see it as a form of psychological warfare for a nation all too familiar with state information controls and targeted internet shutdowns during protests and unrest.“The Iranian regime controls the information sphere really, really tightly,” Marwa Fatafta, the Berlin-based policy and advocacy director for digital rights group Access Now, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We know why the Iranian regime shuts down. It wants to control information. So their goal is quite clear.”War with Israel tightens information space-But this time, it’s happening during a deadly conflict that erupted on June 13 with Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based group called Human Rights Activists.Iran has retaliated by firing more than 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli military estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel’s multitiered air defenses, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds of others wounded. Guidance from Israeli authorities, as well as round-the-clock news broadcasts, flows freely and consistently to Israeli citizens, creating in the last seven days an uneven picture of the death and destruction brought by the war.The Iranian government contended Friday that it was Israel who was “waging a war on truth and human conscience.” In a post on X, a social media platform blocked for many of its citizens, Iran’s Foreign Ministry falsely asserted Israel banned foreign media from covering missile strikes.The statement added that Iran would organize “global press tours to expose Israel’s war crimes” in the country. Iran is one of the world’s top jailer of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and in the best of times, reporters face strict restrictions.Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org reported on Friday that Iran had been disconnected from the global internet for 36 hours, with its live metrics showing that national connectivity remained at only a few percentage points of normal levels. The group said a handful of users have been able to maintain connectivity through virtual private networks.Few avenues exist to get information-Those lucky few have become lifelines for Iranians left in the dark. In recent days, those who have gained access to mobile internet for a limited time describe using that fleeting opportunity to make calls on behalf of others, checking in on elderly parents and grandparents, and locating those who have fled Tehran.The only access to information Iranians do have is limited to websites in the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, Iran’s state-run television and radio stations offer irregular updates on what’s happening inside the country, instead focusing their time on the damage wrought by their strikes on Israel.The lack of information going in or out of Iran is stunning, considering that the advancement of technology in recent decades has only brought far-flung conflicts in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and elsewhere directly to a person’s phone anywhere in the world.That direct line has been seen by experts as a powerful tool to shift public opinion about any ongoing conflict and potentially force the international community to take a side. It has also turned into real action from world leaders under public and online pressure to act or use their power to bring an end to the fighting.But Mehdi Yahyanejad, a key figure in promoting internet freedom in Iran, said that the Islamic Republic is seeking to “purport an image” of strength, one that depicts only the narrative that Israel is being destroyed by sophisticated Iranian weapons that include ballistic missiles with multiple warheads.“I think most likely they’re just afraid of the internet getting used to cause mass unrest in the next phase of whatever is happening,” Yahayanejad said. “I mean, some of it could be, of course, planned by the Israelis through their agents on the ground, and some of this could be just a spontaneous unrest by the population once they figure out that the Iranian government is badly weakened.Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report

Israeli drone strike said to target Iranian nuclear scientist in a Tehran safehouse-Defense Minister Katz calls to ‘destabilize’ Islamic regime as Israel continues waves of strikes against nuclear and military targets in Iran; Iran stages anti-Israel, US protests By Emanuel Fabian,Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 4:48 pm-JUN 20,25

Israel on Friday launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran and appeared to continue its campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, with reports emerging from Tehran that an IDF drone targeted and killed an Iranian nuclear scientist who had been holed up in a safe house.The strike came as Defense Minister Israel Katz said that he instructed the IDF to “intensify strikes on regime targets in Tehran” to “destabilize” the Iranian regime.An Iranian news website said a drone had struck an apartment in a residential building in central Tehran on Friday, but did not give details.According to The Wall Street Journal, the scientist who was attacked specialized in weaponry and was being kept in a hiding spot outside of his home. An official speaking to the Journal refused to provide the scientist’s name.The Israel Defense Forces have not yet commented on the reported strike, but the military has already confirmed the assassination of 10 Iranian nuclear scientists who were killed during the opening attack of Israel’s campaign against Iran in “Operation Narnia.”As Israel’s attacks on Iran continue to target senior Iranian officials, Iranian state media claimed on Friday that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is alive and recovering from serious injuries in a hospital, despite reporting last week that he had been killed in an Israeli strike.Several news outlets, including the IRGC-controlled Fars News Agency and the semi-official Mehr news agency, carried a statement attributed to Shamkhani. Last week, the same agencies reported that he had been killed in Israel’s initial wave of airstrikes on June 13.“I am alive and ready to sacrifice myself,” read the statement attributed to Shamkhani.The news outlets claimed that he is recovering from serious wounds sustained in the Israeli strike and that he is in stable condition.‘Destabilize the regime’Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday morning that he instructed the IDF to “intensify strikes on regime targets in Tehran” to “destabilize” the Iranian regime.“We must strike all symbols of the regime and its mechanisms of oppression, such as the Basij, as well as the base of the regime’s power, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Katz said during an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top officers.Katz said Israel must bring about “a mass evacuation of the population from Tehran in order to destabilize the regime and increase deterrence in response to missile fire on Israel’s home front, while continuing to target facilities and scientists to thwart Iran’s nuclear program, until all objectives of the operation are fully achieved.”Katz’s remarks are notable, as Israel has not stated officially that the toppling of Iran’s authoritarian and Islamic regime is one of its goals in the current offensive, alongside destroying the country’s nuclear program and ballistic missile infrastructure.The air campaign also saw some 25 Israeli fighter jets destroy on Friday morning some 35 missile launchers and storage sites in Iran’s Tabriz and Kermanshah, the military said. The IDF issued evacuation orders to local residents the previous night.The IDF also said on Friday that air force strikes in Tehran earlier in the week struck Iran’s “Internal Security headquarters” and the headquarters of Iran’s “special internal security unit,” which are part of Iran’s armed forces.Israeli airstrikes also reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday, Iranian media reported. The Israeli military had warned the public to flee the area around Rasht’s Industrial City, southwest of the city’s downtown. But with Iran’s internet shut off to the outside world, it’s unclear just how many people could see the message.Moreover, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday in a post on X that it has information that key buildings at Iran’s Arak heavy water research site in Khondab were damaged in Israeli strikes, including the distillation unit.The information is an update on an assessment from Thursday, in which the IAEA said the reactor had been hit, but there were no radiological effects.Iran did not immediately acknowledge the losses, and has not discussed the damage done so far to its military in the weeklong war.‘Rage and victory’The Iranian regime appeared to try and put on a show of support, with state media reporting rallies in several cities, describing them as rallies of “rage and victory,” and “solidarity and resistance.”Thousands of people joined a protest against Israel in the Iranian capital on Friday after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, images on state television showed.“This is the Friday of the Iranian nation’s solidarity and resistance across the country,” the news anchor said.Footage showed protesters in Tehran holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war with Israel, while others waved the flags of Iran and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.“I will sacrifice my life for my leader,” read a protester’s banner, a reference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.According to state television, protests took place in other cities around the country, including in Tabriz in northwestern Iran and Shiraz in the south.Beersheba hit again-Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel have repeatedly targeted civilian infrastructure, with the most recent strike hitting Beersheba on Friday, injuring seven and causing major damage to residential buildings.IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said in a press conference on Friday that Iran was planning a larger attack on the southern city, but Israeli strikes foiled the plan.“The Iranians planned this morning a larger barrage at Beersheba. Before the launch, we identified preparations of three primed launchers… we destroyed them,” he said, adding that the Israeli Air Force’s continued strikes on Iran “reduce the harm to the home front.”The continued firing of Iranian missiles since Friday has disrupted Israel’s economy, causing Danish shipping giant Maersk to announce that it is temporarily suspending vessel calls in Haifa port due to the conflict.Maersk said it made the decision after “careful analysis of threat risk reports in the context of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, specifically regarding the potential risks of calling Israeli ports and the ensuing implications for the safety of our vessel crews.”“At the moment, we are not experiencing further disruptions to our scheduled operations in the region,” it added in a statement.Haifa and the surrounding area have sustained repeated ballistic missile attacks from Iran over the past week.On June 13, Israel launched a campaign of airstrikes in Iran to decimate the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Jerusalem characterized as an imminent, existential threat. Iran has responded with deadly barrages of ballistic missiles at civilian population centers and military targets in Israel.Iran, which vows to destroy Israel, has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons, but its enrichment levels reach far beyond any civilian purpose, and the IAEA says it has obstructed inspectors from visiting its nuclear sites.Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.Iran has retaliated by launching over 450 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel.So far, Iran’s missile attacks have killed 24 people and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals. Some of the missiles have hit apartment buildings, causing heavy damage.

Defense minister warns Hezbollah to stay out of Israel-Iran war-‘If there is terror, there will be no Hezbollah,’ says Katz after leader of Iran-backed terror group says it will ‘act as we see fit’ amid Israeli aerial campaign By Emanuel Fabian,ToI Staff and Agencies 20 June 2025, 12:19 pm

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem to tread carefully Friday after the latter said his terror group would “act as we see fit” in the war between Israel and Iran.“The Hezbollah leader hasn’t learned from his predecessors and is threatening to act against Israel,” said Katz, referring to former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel last September.“I suggest that the Lebanese proxy be careful, and understand that Israel has lost patience with the terrorists who threaten it,” Katz added, warning: “If there is terror — there will be no Hezbollah.”On June 13, Israel launched a campaign of airstrikes in Iran to decimate the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which Jerusalem characterized as an imminent, existential threat.Iran has responded with deadly barrages of ballistic missiles at civilian population centers and military targets in Israel.Hezbollah, an Iran-backed proxy, has largely stayed out of the fray in the recent conflict.The group was severely weakened by last year’s fighting with Israel and remains under the tight watch of the Lebanese government, which issued a warning to the group not to involve Lebanon in the war.But Qassem said Thursday that the Iran-backed proxy is “not neutral” in the conflict between the two regional superpowers, saying that the group would “act as we see fit in the face of this brutal Israeli-American aggression.”The remarks came after US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack warned Hezbollah against getting involved in the war, saying it would be a “very bad decision.”Since a ceasefire agreement went into effect in Lebanon in November 2024, Israel has continued to launch targeted strikes on Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure, claiming violations of the truce by the terrorist organization.According to the Israel Defense Forces, over 180 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in Israeli strikes since the deal was reached.The military has continued to attack Hezbollah targets in drone strikes on southern Lebanon since the fighting with Iran broke out.The IDF announced Thursday morning it had killed Yassin Izz a-Din, commander of Hezbollah’s rocket artillery unit in the Litani River sector, in a strike on Barish, in southern Lebanon, the night before.The IDF said he had advanced numerous rocket attacks on northern Israel during the war, and was involved in “attempts to restore Hezbollah’s artillery forces.”Northeast of Harish that same night, in Nabatieh, the IDF said it killed Mohammad Ahmad Khreiss, who it said was the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit in the Shebaa area.“During the war, the terrorist advanced numerous attacks against the State of Israel,” including an anti-tank missile attack on Mount Dov on April 26, 2024, which killed Sharif Sawaed, an IDF civilian contractor, the military said.The IDF on Thursday killed a third Hezbollah operative in a strike, saying he had been involved in efforts to restore the terror group’s infrastructure in the Houla area.

RUSSIA NUKES NEW YORK CITY.

JEREMIAH 51:29-32
29  And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (NEW YORK) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30  The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31  One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32  And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(NEW YORK) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK ON NEW YORK)

REVELATION 18:9-11,15-21
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,(NUKE ATTACK I BELIEVE FROM RUSSIA)
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.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city,  (NEW YORK) that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
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,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! (NEW YORK)
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.(1 HOUR NEW YORK IS GONE)
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon (NEW YORK) be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

Russia warns US against 'military intervention' in Iran-Israel war by AFP Staff Writers

Moscow (AFP) June 19, 2025-Russia on Thursday warned the United States not to take military action against Iran, amid speculation over whether Washington would enter the war alongside Israel.Israel launched an unprecedented wave of strikes at Iran last week, to which Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks.Moscow is one of Iran's most important allies, with the two deepening military cooperation and inking a strategic partnership agreement just months ago.But the Kremlin has not provided military support to Iran in the face of Israeli air strikes, and President Vladimir Putin is pitching himself as a possible mediator even as he condemns Israel."We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation," Russian foreign ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.US President Donald Trump had said Wednesday he was considering join Israel's strikes on Iran."I may do it, I may not do it," he said.He also rejected Russia's offer to broker peace, saying he told Putin to resolve the Ukraine conflict first.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that it was not up to Trump to reject Putin's offer."These services can be accepted by countries that are currently directly involved in the conflict," he said.- 'Not asked' -Zakharova warned any US military action "would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences".Moscow issued its warning after Putin spoke with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, with the pair blasting Israel.Putin and Xi "strongly condemn Israel's actions," the Kremlin said after the call.Putin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities "should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means".Russia has for years been a key actor in the Middle East, managing to maintain warm relations with all major players in the region.But the fall of key ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria last year, and Israel's war in Gaza -- which Putin has repeatedly raised concerns about -- have threatened to dent that position.Despite their close military ties, Putin said Iran had not requested military help in the week since Israel launched its attacks."Our Iranian friends have not asked us about this," Putin said in response to a question from an AFP reporter at a late-night televised press conference in Saint Petersburg.He also pointed out that the treaty signed in January was not a mutual defence pact and did not oblige either side to provide arms or assistance.Asked what steps Russia would take if Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated, Putin said: "I don't even want to discuss such a possibility."His spokesman said later Thursday that Russia would be prepared to send humanitarian aid, if requested to by Tehran.- 'Mediate your own' -In their phone call, Xi told Putin that a ceasefire was "top priority" and also criticised Israel."Promoting a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities is the top priority. Armed force is not the correct way to resolve international disputes," Xi said, according to China's state news agency Xinhua."Parties to the conflict, especially Israel, should cease hostilities as soon as possible to prevent a cyclical escalation and resolutely avoid the spillover of the war," he added.Last week, Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering himself as a peacemaker.The Kremlin said that Xi had spoken "in favour of such mediation, since he believes that it could serve to de-escalate the current situation", Ushakov said.But Western leaders, including Trump and France's Emmanuel Macron have pushed back against the idea of Putin trying to mediate the conflict amid his own Ukraine offensive."He actually offered to help mediate, I said: 'do me a favour, mediate your own'," Trump told reporters on Wednesday about Putin's efforts."Let's mediate Russia first, okay? I said, Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later."

THE FALSE VATICAN POPE LEO 14TH

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

What the Devil Gains From False Apparitions-Authentic apparitions can lead us closer to Christ and his Church. False ones may offer comfort, but often at the cost of unity and obedience.Our Lady of Grace Patti Maguire Armstrong Blogs-June 19, 2025

During the 1990s, I visited two sites where apparitions of the Blessed Mother were alleged but eventually faded after predictions failed to materialize, without requiring Church intervention.Call me naïve, but I was also faith-filled, believing such things were possible just as pilgrims and doubters alike did when they witnessed the sun dance in the sky in Fatima on Oct. 13, 1917. No one waited for an investigation to see whether the prediction of a “great sign” would really take place.Eventually, I began looking at false apparitions, wondering what the devil gets out of them. The answer soon became clear: Rejection of Church authority and disobedience. That is his endgame.Necedah’s Condemned Shrine-One example was apparent when I pulled into a site in Necedah, Wisconsin, attracted by a roadside billboard advertising a Marian shrine. The ghost-town-like aura gave me creepy vibes. I later learned the Church had long since condemned the site.There were numerous life-sized statues of saints and biblical scenes put up during a short-lived zeal for messages Mary Ann Van Hoof claimed to receive beginning Nov. 12, 1949. In the fall of 1950, her claims of apparitions were such big news that 50,000 people converged there. The front page of the Wisconsin State Journal quoted Van Hoof: “This is the battle for peace for all of you. Prayer, my dear children, will bring you peace.”Father Victor Fortino, from Watervliet, Michigan, attended that day, but in a letter dated Oct. 27, 1950, he advised people to wait for Catholic authorities to investigate. He warned, “Satan has appeared to saints and sinners alike posing as the Blessed Mother and as the Crucified Christ, so it is crucial that the Church rule on the Van Hoof apparitions.”By June 1955, Bishop John Treacy of the Diocese of Lacrosse officially rejected Van Hoof’s visions as false and prohibited all public and private religious worship connected with them. The bishop told the Van Hoof family to remove the religious artifacts from their farm and stop promoting claims of apparitions. The investigation found the reported visions to be indisputably false. Van Hoof and her followers refused to comply. They left the Catholic Church and joined a breakaway movement.Necedah is but one example among others in the U.S. of still active sites where people have ignored the Church’s ruling in favor of following a false visionary.Obedience or Defection? We are free to pray at an alleged apparition site but once the Church declares it “Constat de non supernaturalitate” — a former statement that an alleged apparition has been determined to be not of supernatural origin — and declares it off limits to clergy and laity, it becomes a matter of obeying Catholic authority or thinking we know better.Crowds of visitors and reported spiritual experiences do not constitute proof. I once read a good explanation, that when everything is just alleged and people come in faith, they bring their own holiness to these sites. They pray and love God. God answers prayers. All this is holy, but it’s not proof of the authenticity of purported apparitions.Too often, after apparitions are condemned, people feel betrayed and give up on God. Or disappointment leads them to reject Church authority, convinced that they’re right and the Church is wrong. By offering their disappointment to God and continuing to walk with him, they acknowledge that his Church is bigger than the claims of any purported visionary.The Devil’s Lure-In the article “How to Tell True Apparitions From False,” I wrote that authentic apparitions and private revelations are for our spiritual well-being, while false ones can lead us astray. In his classic book on Catholic mysticism, The Graces of Interior Prayer: A Treatise on Mystical Prayer, Father Auguste Poulain examined authentic mystical experiences that guide souls to union with God, as distinguished from those that are imagination, fantasy or diabolical illusion. He pointed out that no one is required to believe in apparitions — even if the Church approves them.According to Poulain, the devil can use false apparitions to ensnare otherwise serious Catholics.“False visions usually begin with great promise. But once convinced, followers imperceptibly veer off little by little and often rebel against Church authority if there is a negative ruling.”He also pointed out other red flags: lack of humility which includes rejecting Church authority, unfulfilled predictions or changing ones, responding to criticism and doubts with irritation, and frivolousness of claiming answers to insignificant curiosities.Even if 99% of the messages conform to Catholic teaching, it is the 1% that does harm. The devil cannot mislead devout Catholics with outright heresy, but he can subtly plant errors within false messages. It is far safer to stick with apparitions approved by the Church than to go it alone and risk being duped by the devil.Michael O’Neil created the website MiracleHunter.com and has cataloged hundreds of reported Marian apparitions dating back to 1900 to find out which apparitions are worthy of belief and which ones should be avoided. Most have either not been investigated or received no official ruling, but some were given negative decisions and some have been approved.The local bishop is the initial authority in cases of private revelation. Canon 753 authorizes him to instruct the faithful, who “are bound to adhere with religious submission of mind to the authentic magisterium of their bishops.” The bishop may also appoint a committee to investigate further.When an alleged visionary disobeys a legitimate order from the bishop and claims that God is backing the action, it is a sure sign the origin is not divine. No approved message or saint has ever followed that course.

Pope Leo: AI must help and not hinder children and young people's development-When faced with the "exceptional product of human genius" which is artificial intelligence, Pope Leo XIV warns it raises pressing questions, must never forget human dignity, and cannot interfere with the proper human and neurological development of young people and children.By Deborah Castellano Lubov-JUN 20,25

"AI, especially Generative AI, has opened new horizons on many different levels, including enhancing research in healthcare and scientific discovery, but also raises troubling questions on its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to grasp and process reality. "Pope Leo XIV made this observation in his message to the Second Annual Rome Conference on Artificial Intelligence which was published on Friday. He noted their presence "attests to the urgent need for serious reflection and ongoing discussion on the inherently ethical dimension of AI, as well as its responsible governance," and expressed he was pleased that the second day of the Conference takes place in the Apostolic Palace, "a clear indication of the Church’s desire to participate in these discussions that directly affect the present and future of our human family.""Together with its extraordinary potential to benefit the human family, the rapid development of AI, the Pope warned, "also raises deeper questions" concerning the proper use of such technology in generating a more authentically just and human global society. Exceptional product of human genius, but remains a tool-While AI is "undoubtedly an exceptional product of human genius," he underscored, as Pope Francis did in the past, that AI, is, “above all else, 'a tool.'”Acknowledging and respecting what is uniquely characteristic of the human person is essential to the discussion of any adequate ethical framework for the governance of AI."All of us, I am sure, are concerned for children and young people, and the possible consequences of the use of AI on their intellectual and neurological development." “All of us, I am sure, are concerned for children and young people, and the possible consequences of the use of AI on their intellectual and neurological development.”"Our youth," he insisted, "must be helped, and not hindered, in their journey towards maturity and true responsibility," underscoring they "are our hope for the future.""Society’s well-being," he also underscored, "depends upon their being given the ability to develop their God-given gifts and capabilities, and to respond to the demands of the times and the needs of others with a free and generous spirit." No matter how extensive, must not be confused with intelligence-No generation, the Holy Father acknowledged, has ever had such quick access to the amount of information now available through AI.  "But again, access to data — however extensive, must not be confused with intelligence, which necessarily “involves the person’s openness to the ultimate questions of life and reflects an orientation toward the True and the Good.” While AI has been used in positive and indeed noble ways to promote greater equality, Pope Leo still warned of "the possibility of its misuse for selfish gain at the expense of others, or worse, to foment conflict and aggression."Weighing ramifications of AI-For its part, he said, the Church wishes to contribute to a serene and informed discussion of these pressing questions by stressing above all the need to weigh the ramifications of AI in light of the “integral development of the human person and society.”"This entails," the Pope stressed, "taking into account the well-being of the human person not only materially, but also intellectually and spiritually. It means safeguarding the inviolable dignity of each human person and respecting the cultural and spiritual riches and diversity of the world’s peoples." "Ultimately, the benefits or risks of AI must be evaluated precisely according to this superior ethical criterion," he said, warning against societies today experiencing a certain "loss" or "at least an eclipse" of what is human, and saying this "challenges all of us to reflect more deeply on the true nature and uniqueness of our shared human dignity." Youth must be helped, not hindered by AI-In the end, the Pope highlighted that "authentic wisdom has more to do with recognizing the true meaning of life, than with the availability of data."In this light, the Holy Father expressed his hope that the Conference's deliberations "will also consider AI within the context of the necessary intergenerational apprenticeship that will enable young people to integrate truth into their moral and spiritual life, thus informing their mature decisions and opening the path towards a world of greater solidarity and unity."Finally, Pope Leo concluded, "The task set before you is not easy, but it is one of vital importance."

By Disarming Iran, Israel’s Ambassador to Vatican Says His Country Is Preventing World War III-According to Sideman, Iran is the only UN member country that has repeatedly threatened to eliminate another country.Yaron Sideman is Israel's Ambassador to the Holy See.June 20, 2025

In a June 19 interview with EWTN News, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See, Yaron Sideman, defended his country’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, saying Israel is preventing World War III.Speaking with EWTN News correspondent Colm Flynn, Sideman said that Israel attacked Iran last week in what felt like the “eleventh hour,” saying the country had no choice but to protect itself by destroying Iran’s weapons programs.When asked if he thought Israel’s attacks on Iran are bringing the world closer to a third world war, Sideman responded emphatically that “We are preventing a World War III.” “We are preventing further escalation by depriving … the most dangerous regime on earth from the most dangerous deadly weapon on earth.”“If we do not eliminate the nuclear program, it will eliminate us,” he said.In recent months, Sideman said, Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs “accelerated to an unimaginable degree.” He said Iran has enriched uranium to 60% U-235, a level close to weapons-grade, “enough for nine nuclear bombs,” and was producing ballistic missiles to carry the bombs at a rate of 300 missiles per month.Sideman said that according to the nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is in severe noncompliance regarding its nuclear program because the levels to which it has enriched its uranium far exceed the levels necessary for the nuclear energy program Iran has claimed its uranium enrichment is for.Asked how Israel sees this conflict with Iran ending, Sideman said that “One way or another, militarily or voluntarily, it will end with the elimination or at least the significant skating back of the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile program.”According to Sideman, Iran is the only UN member country that has repeatedly threatened to eliminate another country. He recalled that Iran has fired 400 rockets and drones into Israel unprovoked over the last year “to prove that it means what it says.”“We cannot live under such a threat,” Sideman said.Message to Iranians: ‘Our fight is not with you’Asked what he has to say to the citizens of Iran who may not support the radical ideologies of the government and who are living through the violence, Sideman replied “I will say to them ‘Our fight is not with you.’ We have the utmost respect for the …people … and we sympathize with their suffering.”But he blamed their suffering on the “brutal regime that has taken them hostage,” saying he hopes the outcome of this conflict will be a “return to the friendly, cordial, peaceful relations that existed before," recalling that until 1979, the two countries had a “peaceful,” even “friendly” relationship. During World War II, for example, Iran was one of the few countries that welcomed Jews escaping Nazi persecution.After the Islamic revolution in 1979, however, Sideman said the new Iranian government then “made it its business to annihilate the state of Israel.”  Pope reiterates call for dialogue-In Rome on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV reiterated his urgent call for peace between Israel and ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Iran. “I would like to renew this appeal for peace, to seek at all costs to avoid the use of weapons, and to seek through diplomatic instruments, dialogue,” the pope said, decrying the deaths of “many innocents.” Sideman indicated that he has not yet spoken to the Holy Father, other than during a brief interaction prior to the outbreak of the conflict in which he invited him to visit Israel. Sideman added that as ambassador, a top priority for him is to engage the Holy See “in every which way to help facilitate” the release of the 53 hostages who have been held captive for 622 days by Hamas.In relation to Gaza, he said "the suffering will end the moment Hamas ceases to exist as a military and governing force in Gaza,” Sideman said. “The moment that happens, and our hostages return … that is when there will be no need” for Israel’s continued military presence in Gaza.“We want peace,” Sideman concluded. “Even a cold peace is better than war.”

More than 53,000 evacuated in central China over heavy rain: state media.

Beijing, June 20 (AFP) Jun 20, 2025-Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated in the central Chinese province of Hunan due to heavy rain, Beijing's state media said Friday, as the country endures a summer of extreme weather.State news agency Xinhua said that as of 5:00 pm (0900 GMT) Friday, more than 53,000 people have been evacuated across Hunan.Areas in the province are expected to experience torrential rain, with the downpour in some isolated areas predicted to be "extremely heavy", Xinhua said, citing local weather departments.Some parts of Hunan have seen precipitation exceeding 400 millimeters (16 inches) since Wednesday, the state-run news agency said.The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) also warned that southern and central parts of the country will experience heavy rain on Saturday, pointing to "significant threat of mountain flood disasters" in some areas, Xinhua reported.The warning comes days after nearly 70,000 people in southern China were evacuated after heavy flooding caused byTyphoon Wutip.And last month, swathes of northern and central China sweltered under record May heat, with temperatures rising well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in several major cities.China has endured spates of extreme weather events from searing heat and drought to downpours and floods for several summers running.The country is the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter but also a renewable energy powerhouse, seeking to cut carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2060.Torrential rains last August, triggered by Typhoon Gaemi, which moved from the Philippines and Taiwan to make landfall in eastern China, killed at least 30 people and left dozens missing.

NASA raises chance for asteroid to hit moon by Ian Stark.

Washington DC (UPI) Jun 19, 2025-NASA has announced that an asteroid about 200 feet in diameter is now slightly more likely to crash into the moon.According to the newest data collected, NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has refined the expected course for Asteroid 2024 YR4 and has given it an increased 4.3% probability of striking the moon on Dec. 22, 2032.The original likelihood was at 3.8% probability.The space rock is too far off in space to be detected with ground telescopes, but the James Webb Space Telescope, which orbits the sun, was able to take a new look at the space rock earlier this month before it was obscured from view. It was that opportunity that provided the data that led to the changed forecast.Due to YR4's solar orbit, NASA won't be able to view it again until it comes back around the sun in 2028.According to a research paper submitted to the American Astronomical Society journals and published Monday, should the asteroid hit the moon, it could cause a crater as large as around 3,200 feet and release 6.5 megatons of energy.As much as 220 million pounds of lunar material could be released by such an impact, and then as much as 10% of that ejecta could fall to Earth a few days later, so "meteorites are unlikely, though not impossible" according to the paper, but it would create an "eye-catching" meteor shower.However, any moon bits that do come toward the Earth also could increase the meteoroid impact exposure faced by satellites in near-Earth orbit for as long as a decade.