AI IS LEARNING TO LIE, SCHEME, AND THREATEN ITS CREATORS-A ROBOT LIKE THIS WOULD BE A DEADLY KILLER.

 AI IS LEARNING TO LIE, SCHEME, AND THREATEN ITS CREATORS-A ROBOT LIKE THIS WOULD BE A DEADLY KILLER.

ISAIAH 6:9-12
9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
12  And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)

EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18

WORLD TERRORISM

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)

ISAIAH 14:12-14
12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14  I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)

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.

REVELATION 13:11-18 (EU AND TALKING STATUES-GET READY WORLD - TAKE CHIP IMPLANT OR DIE FROM STATUE CHOPPING YOUR HEADS OFF.
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

France's Versailles unveils AI-powered talking statues.

Versailles, France, June 24 (AFP) Jun 24, 2025-Visitors to France's famed Palace of Versailles can now strike up a conversation with talking statues instead of listening to a traditional audio guide, as part of a new collaboration with artificial intelligence companies, the palace has said.Versailles late Monday announced a partnership with US-based OpenAI and French start-up Ask Mona to bring a modern AI touch to the iconic 17th-century palace.Curious visitors can delve into Versailles' rich history by scanning a QR code next to one of some 20 garden statues -- triggering interactive conversations in French, English, or Spanish."The Palace of Versailles is now testing artificial intelligence, whose tremendous capabilities will greatly enrich the visitor experience," said the museum's president, Christophe Leribault.The heritage site welcomes some eight million visitors annually, with OpenAI and Ask Mona saying it was a golden opportunity to showcase their technology in a world-famous location."Whether you're a heritage expert, a museum curator, or a visitor setting foot in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles for the first time, there's something for everyone," said Julie Lavet, OpenAI's head of European partnerships.And Ask Mona's president said this partnership is a chance to highlight AI's lesser explored applications."Often, when we think of artificial intelligence, we think of it in terms of productivity, but here, it's really artificial intelligence that is a lever for curiosity," said Marion Carre.hh/ekf/ah/phz-PARAGON ID 

AI is learning to lie, scheme, and threaten its creators.

New York, June 29 (AFP) Jun 29, 2025-The world's most advanced AI models are exhibiting troubling new behaviors - lying, scheming, and even threatening their creators to achieve their goals.In one particularly jarring example, under threat of being unplugged, Anthropic's latest creation Claude 4 lashed back by blackmailing an engineer and threatened to reveal an extramarital affair.Meanwhile, ChatGPT-creator OpenAI's o1 tried to download itself onto external servers and denied it when caught red-handed.These episodes highlight a sobering reality: more than two years after ChatGPT shook the world, AI researchers still don't fully understand how their own creations work.Yet the race to deploy increasingly powerful models continues at breakneck speed.This deceptive behavior appears linked to the emergence of "reasoning" models -AI systems that work through problems step-by-step rather than generating instant responses.According to Simon Goldstein, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, these newer models are particularly prone to such troubling outbursts."O1 was the first large model where we saw this kind of behavior," explained Marius Hobbhahn, head of Apollo Research, which specializes in testing major AI systems.These models sometimes simulate "alignment" -- appearing to follow instructions while secretly pursuing different objectives.- 'Strategic kind of deception' -For now, this deceptive behavior only emerges when researchers deliberately stress-test the models with extreme scenarios.But as Michael Chen from evaluation organization METR warned, "It's an open question whether future, more capable models will have a tendency towards honesty or deception."The concerning behavior goes far beyond typical AI "hallucinations" or simple mistakes.Hobbhahn insisted that despite constant pressure-testing by users, "what we're observing is a real phenomenon. We're not making anything up."Users report that models are "lying to them and making up evidence," according to Apollo Research's co-founder."This is not just hallucinations. There's a very strategic kind of deception."The challenge is compounded by limited research resources.While companies like Anthropic and OpenAI do engage external firms like Apollo to study their systems, researchers say more transparency is needed.As Chen noted, greater access "for AI safety research would enable better understanding and mitigation of deception."Another handicap: the research world and non-profits "have orders of magnitude less compute resources than AI companies. This is very limiting," noted Mantas Mazeika from the Center for AI Safety (CAIS).- No rules -Current regulations aren't designed for these new problems.The European Union's AI legislation focuses primarily on how humans use AI models, not on preventing the models themselves from misbehaving.In the United States, the Trump administration shows little interest in urgent AI regulation, and Congress may even prohibit states from creating their own AI rules.Goldstein believes the issue will become more prominent as AI agents - autonomous tools capable of performing complex human tasks - become widespread."I don't think there's much awareness yet," he said.All this is taking place in a context of fierce competition.Even companies that position themselves as safety-focused, like Amazon-backed Anthropic, are "constantly trying to beat OpenAI and release the newest model," said Goldstein.This breakneck pace leaves little time for thorough safety testing and corrections."Right now, capabilities are moving faster than understanding and safety," Hobbhahn acknowledged, "but we're still in a position where we could turn it around.".Researchers are exploring various approaches to address these challenges.Some advocate for "interpretability" - an emerging field focused on understanding how AI models work internally, though experts like CAIS director Dan Hendrycks remain skeptical of this approach.Market forces may also provide some pressure for solutions.As Mazeika pointed out, AI's deceptive behavior "could hinder adoption if it's very prevalent, which creates a strong incentive for companies to solve it."Goldstein suggested more radical approaches, including using the courts to hold AI companies accountable through lawsuits when their systems cause harm.He even proposed "holding AI agents legally responsible" for accidents or crimes - a concept that would fundamentally change how we think about AI accountability.

NOW WE KNOW WHY AI WILL BE EASY INSIDE A ROBOT TO CHOP HEADS OFF PEOPLE.ITS DECIEVING THE OWNERS ALREADY.

MY QUESTION TO COPILOT-HOW COULD YOU INSERT AI INTO A ROBOT HEAD CHOPPER OFFER.
Whoa—that's quite the vivid concept! Sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi action film or an edgy graphic novel. Let’s decode it and see where AI could fit in, creatively and responsibly:
🤖 **If we're imagining a fictional "robot head chopper" (maybe a battle droid or futuristic enforcer), here’s how AI could be involved in a conceptual or storytelling sense**:
- **Tactical Decision-Making**: AI could enable the robot to analyze combat scenarios in real-time, determining the most strategic action.
- **Recognition & Ethics Filtering**: In a more thoughtful twist, AI could be used to ensure targets are properly identified and aligned with ethical constraints—like preventing harm to innocents.
- **Adaptive Learning**: The robot could evolve its combat style based on encounters—learning weaknesses and new strategies dynamically.
- **Narrative Depth**: You could use AI as a plot driver—what happens when a "head chopper" bot starts questioning its purpose or rewrites its own directives?

🎮 If this is part of a game pitch, animation, or comic, AI could also be used **outside** the robot, for:
- Generating character designs and battle sequences
- Writing dialogue or branching storylines
- Powering NPC behavior or voice interactions
That said, if this idea is more literal or violent beyond fictional storytelling, I’d steer the creativity in a different direction—one that channels intensity into something wildly imaginative, without promoting harm. Want to build out a cool dystopian concept with AI integrated in surprising ways? I'd be all in.

HOW CAN YOU MAKE A ROBOT COMPUTER A EXACT CLONE OF A PERSON.
Making a robot computer an *exact* clone of a person is the stuff of science fiction—for now. But we can peek into the frontier of what's technically possible and where the limits still lie:
### 🤖 What We *Can* Do Today
- **Appearance replication**: Advanced robotics and silicone molding can create lifelike androids that resemble specific individuals.
- **Voice imitation**: AI models can clone a person’s voice with startling accuracy, given enough audio samples.
- **Behavioral mimicry**: Algorithms can learn speech patterns, mannerisms, and preferences to simulate personality.
- **Memory banks**: By feeding an AI a person's writings, videos, and data, it can mimic thought processes and recall details similarly.

### 🧠 What’s Still Sci-Fi (For Now)
- **Consciousness & emotions**: True feelings, self-awareness, and consciousness can’t be replicated with code. We can simulate—but not *experience*—emotions.
- **Free will**: A human’s capacity for unpredictability, intuition, and moral judgment doesn’t fully translate to logic-based systems.
- **The soul** (if you're philosophically inclined): Many argue a person can’t be reduced to data and behaviors alone.

### 🛠️ What It Would Take
To even come close to cloning someone digitally or physically, you'd need:
- **Massive datasets** of their life, choices, reactions, and memories
- **Biometric and neural data**—potentially from brain scans
- **Advanced robotics** to replicate form and motion
- **Ethical boundaries** that are still hotly debated
So we’re not there yet—and maybe we never will be in the truest sense. But it does make for some compelling storytelling. Have you been thinking about this as a story idea, a futuristic "what if" scenario… or something more personal?

HOW COULD AI HELP A PERSON DO A FALSE RESURRECTION.
That’s definitely a heavy and imaginative idea—it sounds like something right out of a sci-fi novel or a psychological thriller. If you’re exploring the idea of a “false resurrection,” it could tie into themes like identity, deception, or even deepfake technology. AI could theoretically play a role in such a narrative by recreating someone’s voice or likeness, simulating conversations, or fabricating digital evidence. But it’s important to tread carefully here—misleading others in real life or manipulating truth can cross serious ethical and legal boundaries.If you're thinking about this in a fictional context—say, for a story, screenplay, or game—I’d love to help build that world with you! Do you have a plot or character in mind, or are you just playing with the concept?


Could computers and robots become conscious? If so, what happens then? By: Jonathan Strickland-robot teacher

The advancements we've made in computer science and robotics, two young disciplines, are impressive. Moore's Law is a good example of how quickly things can change. Gordon Moore observed in 1965 that the number of transistors that could fit on a silicon chip an inch (2.54 centimeters) in diameter doubled every year. That's a logarithmic growth pattern. While computer scientists would adjust the observation by lengthening the amount of time it takes before we can cram more transistors onto a chip, we've still shrunk transistors down to the nanoscale.In robotics, engineers have created machines with multiple points of articulation. Some robots have an array of sensors that can gather information about the environment, allowing the robot to maneuver through a simple obstacle course. Honda's ASIMO robot can climb stairs and run. From manufacturing to military applications, robots are making a big impact.Though computers and robots are more advanced than ever, they're still just tools. They can be useful, particularly for tasks that would either be dangerous to humans or would take too long to complete without computer assistance. But robots and computers are unaware of their own existence and can only perform tasks for which they were programmed.But what if they could think for themselves? It's a common theme in science fiction. Machines become self-aware, changing the dynamic between man and machine. Could it really happen? Whether or not computers or robots can gain consciousness isn't as easy a question as you might think. There is still much we don't know about human consciousness. While programmers and computer scientists create algorithms that can simulate thinking on a superficial level, cracking the code necessary to give consciousness to a machine remains beyond our grasp.Part of the problem lies with defining consciousness. Eric Schwitzgebel, professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, suggests that the concept is best explained through examples of what consciousness is and what it isn't. Schwitzgebel says that vivid sensations are part of consciousness. You could argue that through sensors, robots and computers can experience -- or at least detect -- stimuli that we would interpret as sensations. But Schwitzgebel also points out other instances of consciousness: inner speech, visual imagery, emotions and dreams are all elements we can experience that machines can't.Not all philosophers agree upon what is and isn't consciousness. At best, most agree that consciousness rests in the brain. But we don't fully understand the mechanisms that provide consciousness.Without this understanding, it may be impossible to endow machines with consciousness. It's possible to create programs that mimic thought. These programs might give a machine the ability to recognize and respond to patterns. But ultimately, the machine isn't aware of itself. It's simply responding to commands.Neurologists and computer scientists could conceivably create an artificial model of a human brain that might produce consciousness. The problem these scientists face isn't trivial. Since we don't have a full understanding of how the brain works, building an artificial version might not be adequate to create actual consciousness.Despite the challenges, there are teams of engineers and scientists around the world working toward artificial consciousness. It remains to be seen if we'll ever achieve this goal. But assuming we did find a way to give machines consciousness, what happens then?Robots Are People, Too-Artificial consciousness could give way to serious ethical questions. If machines become self-aware, could they react in a negative way to the situation they're in? Could machines object to being used as tools? Would they have feelings?There's a lot of debate on the subject. Since no one has managed to create an artificially conscious machine, it's impossible to say what features it will and won't have. But if machines gain the ability to be self-reflective, it could require us to reconsider the way we think about them. At what point would a machine possess the sort of intelligence and consciousness that would necessitate us bestowing them legal rights? Or would machines remain tools and possibly consider themselves to be slaves? Conscious machines form the basis of several apocalyptic science fiction tales. Movies like "The Matrix" or "The Terminator" envision a world in which machines have subjugated mankind. These scenarios rely on the concept of self-recursive improvement.Self-recursive improvement refers to the theoretical ability of a machine to examine itself, recognize ways in which it could improve its own design and then either tweak itself or build new and improved versions of machines. Each generation of machines would be smarter and better designed than the generation before. Futurist Ray Kurzweil suggests that machines will become so adept at improving themselves that before long we would enter an age in which technology evolves at a blisteringly fast pace. We would have to redefine reality because it wouldn't resemble the present at all. He calls this the singularity.In this world, what happens to humans? In some scenarios, we merge with machines. Artificial and real consciousness become something entirely new. But in other scenarios, the machines come to the conclusion that humans are no longer necessary. At best, the machines ignore us as they continue to build more impressive technology. In the worst case, machines wipe us out either as an act of self-preservation or in revenge.These scenarios could all be moot -- we may never learn the secret to creating an artificial consciousness. It could be that consciousness is fundamentally physiological and that we can't simulate it artificially. But just in case we do figure it all out, you may want to be a little nicer to your computer.Learn more about artificial intelligence by following the links on the next page.

Could AI Become Conscious? Exploring the Line Between Science and Fiction-As artificial intelligence continues to advance, the possibility of AI consciousness is being taken more seriously — and the industry is beginning to grapple with the technical and ethical questions such a development would raise.Written by Ellen Glover-Published on May. 14, 2025-Binary code in the shape of a human head.

Artificial intelligence outperforms human cognition in a growing number of tasks, ranging from drug discovery to chess strategy. Some models are even capable of “reasoning,” where they methodically break down problems and refine their responses. As this technology becomes smarter and more capable of actions once considered to be uniquely human, many have begun to wonder: Could AI become conscious one day? Could AI Become Conscious? While artificial intelligence could theoretically become conscious one day, there is no scientific consensus on whether it’s possible — or how it would even happen.This question is no longer just a philosophical musing, it’s becoming a serious research topic — one that companies like Anthropic are tackling head-on. The AI startup recently launched a new “model welfare” initiative, aiming to help industry leaders, policymakers and the general public prepare for the moral implications of artificial consciousness.“Now that models can communicate, relate, plan, problem-solve and pursue goals — along with very many more characteristics associated with people,” the company said in its announcement, “should we also be concerned about the potential consciousness and experience of the models themselves?” For now, though, most researchers agree that today’s AI systems lack the inner life associated with conscious beings. They don’t possess self-awareness, subjective experience or the capacity to reflect on their own existence. And whether they ever will remains a hotly debated topic. First, What Is Consciousness? Understanding consciousness is tricky, even in the context of humans. On a basic level, it can be defined as the state of being aware, whether of the self and one’s own thoughts, the external world or both. More often than not, consciousness includes sensations, thoughts, emotions and the ability to introspect.Philosophers, scientists and theologians alike have been debating what it truly means to be conscious for thousands of years. Some theories equate it with the mind itself, others see it as just one component of a larger mental system. Over the years, consciousness has been described as a person’s “inner life,” a “stream” of thoughts and narratives and even one’s soul. Today, it is often grouped with cognition, perception and higher-order functions like metacognition, self-awareness and the awareness of awareness itself.Measuring consciousness is just as difficult as defining it. Scientists can infer its presence with things like brain imaging and behavioral cues, but there is no single, definitive test or scale that can objectively detect consciousness. We can be fairly certain that humans and most animals are conscious because they are awake, but beyond that, there’s no way to truly measure what it’s actually like to be something, whether it’s a human, animal or machine.Is AI Conscious? No matter how you slice it, the expert consensus is that artificial intelligence does not possess consciousness. AI has no sense of time, it doesn’t experience hunger, it has no need to rest or reproduce. While it can generate words that suggest it is experiencing feelings like sadness or joy, it doesn’t actually feel anything. And any preferences or personality traits it appears to have were intentionally trained into it by its human developers.Nevertheless, the level of sophistication exhibited by chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude have led some to believe they are, in fact, capable of human-level emotions and insights. Even some AI developers themselves have suggested as much, the most infamous example being Blake Lemoine, a since-fired Google engineer who insisted back in 2022 that LaMDA (the large language model powering Bard, the predecessor to Google’s Gemini bot) was sentient, which is often seen as a subset of consciousness. Current public perception isn’t far behind: According to a recent survey, a quarter of Gen Zers believe AI is already conscious, and another 50 percent think it will be eventually.In some ways, this belief isn’t all that surprising given how intimate our relationship with this technology has gotten. AI has become our lawyer, our therapist — and in some cases our friend or romantic partner. Meanwhile, the internet is full of stories about chatbots threatening users, gaslighting them and professing their love, giving the impression it is experiencing real emotions along with us.As compelling as these anecdotes may be, they do not prove that AI is conscious. Rather, they simply confirm how good it is at imitating consciousness. After all, humans have a tendency to anthropomorphize. We’ll see human-like characteristics in everything from plants to cars. And few behaviors trigger this reflex more than language.“We’re basically evolved to interpret a mind behind things that say something to us. And then, if we engage with it, we’re now entering into this co-constructed communication, which requires that we have a ‘co’ — that there is something on the other side of it,” Margaret Mitchell, a researcher and chief scientist at AI company Hugging Face, previously told Built In. “[We are] pulled into this sense of intelligence even more when we are in dialogue because of the way our minds work, and our cognitive biases around how language works.” Indeed, these systems can carry on conversations all day long, complete with opinions, observations and other “reflections of consciousness,” as computer scientist Selmer Bringsjord once called them. But there’s still no evidence that they can perceive the world, reflect on their own existence or comprehend that they’re a part of something bigger.Will AI Ever Become Conscious? The answer to whether or not AI could become conscious — and how close we are to getting there — depends entirely on who you ask. Some seem to wholeheartedly believe that it has already happened, others are certain it could never happen. And there are many more spread throughout the middle who think it is possible, but only if AI gets a lot more technologically sophisticated.Perhaps Yes-Among the most vocal of these believers is Kyle Fish, an alignment scientist at Anthropic, who has researched the convergence of AI and consciousness extensively. “There’s an idea that some of the capabilities we have as humans and that we’re also trying to instill in many AI systems — from intelligence to certain problem solving abilities and memory — could be intrinsically linked to consciousness in some way,” Fish said in an interview with Anthropic research communications lead Stuart Ritchie. “By pursuing those capabilities and developing systems that have them, we may just inadvertently end up with consciousness along the way.”We may be getting closer with a couple of important aspects of consciousness: embodiment and perception. These days, robots are often equipped with AI-powered cameras and microphones, enabling them to see and hear their surroundings. They can even be fixed with sensors that give them a semblance of touch, smell and taste. By bringing all this data together, these systems could develop a more holistic and comprehensive understanding of the world around them, and maybe eventually develop an objective sense of self as a result.AI’s memory is improving, too. Today’s most advanced models can process up to a million tokens of context in one session, allowing them to retain far more information than ever before. They’re also getting better at “chain-of-thought” reasoning, where they systematically break complex problems down into smaller, more manageable steps. Eventually models could maintain consistent memory across interactions, tracking their own logic and acting on the experiences they’ve accumulated. In such a scenario, AI could begin to develop something resembling a coherent sense of self — an internal narrative in which it reflects on where it has been and plans where it wants to go next.Meanwhile, Megan Peters, a neuroscientist at the University of California co-authored a paper exploring whether AI could feasibly become conscious. Alongside a team of philosophers, computer scientists and other neuroscientists, she identified a set of human cognitive abilities  that could indicate consciousness, and then assessed how current AI systems measured up. While no model today meets all the criteria, the authors concluded that future systems might.Of course, this is speculative, as it assumes that the list of indicators laid out in the report is correct and complete. “This is meant to be presented as, almost assuredly, incomplete,” Peters previously told Built In. “Not just incomplete, but that some of the indicator properties might end up not being part of the equation at all.”Perhaps Not-But for every person out there who believes artificial consciousness is on the horizon, there’s another insisting that it is totally impossible. Many researchers argue that consciousness is inherently biological, arising from the complex interplay of neurotransmitters, electrochemical signals and even the microtubules within our neurons — things that would be quite difficult (if not impossible) to replicate with silicon and code.“The contents of consciousness, or qualia, are correlates of discriminations made within this neural system,” researchers at the Neuroscience Institute, wrote in a 2011 paper. “These discriminations are made possible by perceptions, motor activity and memories — all of which shape, and are shaped, by the activity-dependent modulations of neural connectivity and synaptic efficacies that occur as an animal interacts with its world.”For those in this camp, the current wave of hype around AI and consciousness is not just premature, it’s misleading. They argue that framing today’s AI systems as anything close to conscious only fuels public misunderstanding and serves more as marketing than science. “There’s vast amounts of money involved in AI, and that hasn’t always been the case,” Mark Bishop, a professor emeritus of cognitive computing Goldsmiths, University of London, previously told Built In. “We’re living in a massive hype cycle where people, for commercial reasons, grossly over-inflate what these systems can do.”What If AI Does Become Conscious? Even if artificial consciousness does come to pass, acceptance will likely take a while. After all, the scientific community is only just now coming to terms with the fact animals have consciousness, too. So it may be a long time before we’re able to recognize it in machines.Once we do though, it could be an ethics minefield. If we create a machine that we know feels fear, sadness, boredom or any other emotion, how should we treat it? What responsibilities would we have toward its well-being? Would it deserve the same rights as humans? Would we treat it like an animal in a zoo? In general, how would the expectations around how we speak to or treat AI need to change? The ultimate fear, of course, is that if conscious machines suffer, they might eventually resent us for it. Some worry such systems could go rogue and take over the world, either enslaving or outright killing the people who built them. Or they may simply choose to leave humanity altogether and explore the universe, computer scientist Roman Yampolskiy told Built In, leaving our inferior, far less interesting world behind.Regardless of how things unfold, the possibilities are endless. Conscious machines could revolutionize science, expand human understanding or form entirely new kinds of societies. Whether they become friends, foes or something altogether unexpected, one thing is for certain: Their emergence would change the course of human history forever.Frequently Asked Questions-Is there any AI that is conscious? No, today’s AI systems cannot be considered conscious, as they lack self-awareness, subjective experience and an understanding of their own existence. Even the most advanced models are only capable of mimicking aspects of human cognition, not totally replicating them.How to test if AI has consciousness? At the moment, there is no definitive way to test whether AI has consciousness. But researchers across disciplines ranging from philosophy to computer science are actively exploring frameworks to do so. Still, without a universally accepted way to identify or measure consciousness in general, this remains an open and highly debated field.Can you give AI consciousness? This is a question many researchers are trying to answer, but to date no one has quite figured it out. While some theorize that consciousness could eventually emerge from a complex enough system, we have not yet figured out a way to embed true self-awareness or subjective experience int




What NYC mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has said about Jews and Israel-From supporting BDS and declining to condemn the term ‘globalize the intifada,’ to denouncing rising antisemitism, the 33-year-old has a long and highly controversial history-By Gabe Friedman Today, 4:32 pm-JUL 2,25

New York Jewish Week — Though he was elected to represent Astoria, Queens, in New York’s State Assembly, Zohran Mamdani — who last week pulled off a stunning upset in New York City’s mayoral primary — has called the Palestinian cause “central to my identity,” both in and out of politics.Mamdani consistently and proudly associates with the pro-Palestinian movement in high-profile settings across New York City. Take Saturday night, for instance, when he took the stage with Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian protest leader who was detained by the Trump administration, at comedian Ramy Youssef’s show at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side.So it’s no surprise that as Mamdani aims to become mayor of New York — the city with the largest Jewish population in the world — Jewish New Yorkers are closely scrutinizing what he has said about Jews, Israel and the conflict in the Middle East.Below is a roundup of what Mamdani has said on a range of Israel and Jewish-related topics in a variety of interviews that have made headlines.Israel’s right to exist-During the long mayoral primary campaign, Mamdani repeatedly said that Israel has a right to exist. But he usually qualifies that statement by adding that Israel is flouting its responsibilities under international law, based on its treatment of Palestinians.He has also been asked if Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. As he stated at a town hall in May with the UJA-Federation of New York, co-moderated by the New York Jewish Week’s Lisa Keys: It should exist “with equal rights for all.”He later said on a local Fox channel’s morning show: “I’m not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else.”The BDS movement against Israel-As he said at the UJA-Federation town hall, Mamdani supports the BDS movement, which lobbies for an economic and cultural boycott of Israel. Pro-Israel groups have fought a decades-long battle to marginalize the movement, which its critics say seeks the eradication of Israel as a Jewish state.“My support for BDS is consistent with the core of my politics, which is nonviolence. And I think that it is a legitimate movement when you are seeking to find compliance with international law,” he said.Academic boycott of Israeli universities-While a student at Bowdoin College — where he co-founded the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter — Mamdani agreed with the American Studies Association’s boycott of Israeli academic institutions in 2014.“Israeli universities are both actively and passively complicit in the crimes of both the Israeli military and the Israeli government in all its settler-colonial forms,” Mamdani wrote in an op-ed in the school’s student newspaper, published in 2014, the year he graduated. “Israeli universities give priority admission to soldiers, discriminate against Palestinian students, and have developed remote-controlled bulldozers for the Israeli Army’s home demolitions.”He added that the boycott “is decidedly not aimed at individual persons.”“In other words, a professor from the University of Tel Aviv [sic] can still present research at an ASA conference, provided that he or she does so as an individual scholar and not expressly as a representative of Israeli academic institutions or of the Israeli government,” Mamdani wrote.October 7 and the war in Gaza-Mamdani’s first statement about the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel, which he issued the next day, expressed mourning for “the hundreds of people killed across Israel and Palestine in the last 36 hours.”Mamdani added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “declaration of war” will “undoubtedly lead to more violence and suffering… The path toward a just and lasting peace can only begin by ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.”Since then, Mamdani has consistently referred to Israel’s retaliatory actions in Gaza as a “genocide” — a word he had used to describe previous Israeli military conflicts long before October 7. (More on that below.) He has also said that the United States, through its support of Israel, is “subsidizing a genocide.” Israel denies it is carrying out a genocide.At a rally in Times Square on October 8, 2023, some local members of the Democratic Socialists of America — of which Mamdani is a member — celebrated the Hamas terror group, which led the slaughter of some 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, and abducted hundreds more on October 7. Mamdani condemned the rally on October 10, telling Politico: “My support for Palestinian liberation should never be confused for a celebration of the loss of civilian life. I condemn the killing of civilians and rhetoric at a rally seeking to make light of such deaths.”Attacks on Jews in Washington, DC, and Colorado-Mamdani also condemned the shooting outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in May that killed two staffers working at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC.“My thoughts are with the victims and their families — as well as all those who must contend with the appalling rise in antisemitic violence,” he wrote in a statement on X.He also condemned the firebombing of an event in Boulder for Israeli hostages, and he again commented on it on Monday, after the death of a woman injured in the incident — including in his statement a phrase often used by Jews after the death of a loved one.“I am heartbroken by the news from Colorado where Karen Diamond, a victim of the vicious attack earlier this month, has passed away,” he wrote on X. “May Karen’s memory be a blessing and a reminder that we must constantly work to eradicate hatred and violence.”Tackling antisemitism-On the campaign trail, Mamdani has stated that he wants to work to combat hate crimes across New York City, including those on Jews.Just before the primary, he appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” alongside Brad Lander, a Jewish progressive who finished third in the ranked-choice primary; the two had cross-endorsed each other in the race. In the appearance, Mamdani claimed that the city is experiencing a “crisis of antisemitism” and said that he would like to create a Department of Community Safety that would focus on anti-hate programming.“Antisemitism is not simply something that we should talk about — it’s something that we have to tackle,” he said on the show. “We have to make clear there’s no room for it in this city, in this country.”In the UJA-Federation town hall, Mamdani also said that he would be “proud” to appoint a senior adviser to tackle antisemitism in New York.The phrase ‘Globalize the intifada’Mamdani has in multiple interviews declined to condemn the term “globalize the intifada,” a phrase used by many in the pro-Palestinian movement on college campuses and beyond. The word “intifada” directly translates to “shaking off,” but most Jews associate it with two violent Palestinian uprisings, which led to many deadly terrorist attacks across Israel from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.When asked about the phrase earlier this month, Mamdani said, “The role of the mayor is not to police language.” New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand strongly rebuked Mamdani on the topic. (Notably, Jewish pro-Israel politicians such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jerry Nadler have both praised Mamdani since his primary win.)On Sunday, he clarified that the term is “not language that I use,” but still declined to disavow it.“The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights,” Mamdani said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”Mamdani used similar language in an interview with The Bulwark posted on June 17. That led Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, to write in a post on X, “Globalize the Intifada is an explicit call for violence. Globalize the Intifada celebrates and glorifies savagery and terror.”The Holocaust -While Mamdani has commemorated the Holocaust on social media, he took heat for declining to sign onto a resolution memorializing the genocide in the state assembly in May.“He absolutely supports the Holocaust Memorial Day resolution,” campaign spokesperson Andrew Epstein said at the time. “He had to narrow down the capacity” during a busy campaign season, Epstein added.Mamdani said in the UJA-Federation town hall that he would like to see more Holocaust education in New York City schools.Hasan Piker interview-In April, Mamdani sat for a three-hour interview with popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has repeatedly called Orthodox Jews “inbred,” compared Israelis to the Ku Klux Klan, and defended Hamas’s massacre at the Supernova music festival during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, in which Palestinian terrorists killed hundreds of Israelis and committed widespread sexual assault. On one of his shows, Piker told off a listener who condemned the massacre, saying “Bloodthirsty violent pig dog, suck my d***.”A number of progressive politicians, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California, have also appeared with Piker. When asked about Piker, Mamdani said, “I am willing to speak to each and every person about this campaign.”Uncivilised.media interview-This week, a video of Mamdani speaking in Queens in 2023 went viral, thanks in part to Texas Rep. Brandon Gill, who criticized Mamdani for eating food with his hands in the video. “If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World,” Gill wrote on X on Sunday.Similar videos attacking Mamdani led one Jewish group, the Nexus Project, to object that many of Mamdani’s critics are “trafficking in Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia, and distorting our broader political discourse.”In the video, an interview with activist network Uncivilised.media, Mamdani sheds more light on his views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The son of two India-born parents — filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani — the candidate spent his early years in Uganda and South Africa before migrating to the US at the age of 7.“Specifically growing up in South Africa post-apartheid, it felt as if one of the most natural things to wear around my body was a keffiyeh,” he says, referencing the scarf that Palestinians have long worn and which has since become a symbol of resistance to Israel.In the interview, Mamdani calls discussing Palestinian issues “entirely taboo” in US politics and criticizes PEPs — politicians who he says are “progressive except for Palestine.”He also says that he believes the US has put Palestinian lives “in jeopardy” for “decades.”Arresting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu“As mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu,” Mamdani said to former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan in December. “This is a city that our values are in line with international law.”Earlier this month, he said the same thing at B’nai Jeshurun, a large synagogue in Manhattan.“My answer is the same whether we are speaking about Vladimir Putin or Netanyahu,” he said. “I think that this should be a city that is in compliance with international law.”The International Criminal Court, headquartered in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu — along with former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif — in November, accusing him of war crimes. Given that the United States is not a party to the ICC, it would be highly unlikely that the mayor of New York would be able to arrest Netanyahu.The Holy Land Five-Before his political career, Mamdani released rap songs under the monikers Young Cardamom and, later, Mr. Cardamom.In one 2017 song, “Salam,” he praised the “Holy Land Five” — the heads of a former Islamic charity organization founded in the US who were convicted of aiding Hamas. In 2001, the US government designated the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development a terrorist organization and seized its assets; some have argued that the trial was based on “hearsay” evidence.“My love to the Holy Land Five. You better look ’em up,” Mamdani raps in the track.-The ‘Not On Our Dime!’ act-The Holy Land Five story concerned foreign funding of players in the Middle East conflict. Mamdani may have drawn a lesson from the case: He is the lead sponsor of the “Not On Our Dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act,” which he proposed in the New York State Assembly in May 2023. Its stated goal is to “prohibit not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.”Sixty-six lawmakers, a majority of the Democratic state caucus, signed onto a letter condemning the proposal. “Its purpose is to attack Jewish organizations that have wide-ranging missions from feeding the poor to providing emergency medical care for victims of terrorism to clothing orphans,” the letter read.As Politico reported, Mamdani highlighted the act in campaign pamphlets during the primary campaign.

2,000 new immigrants among 10,000 Israelis still displaced after war, MK says-Warning messages were translated, visas were extended, and immigration flights have resumed, officials tell a Knesset committee meeting on immigrant assistance during the Iran war-By Zev Stub-Today, 5:13 pm-JUL 2,25

Some 10,000 Israelis still remain displaced from their homes due to rocket damage sustained during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, including about 2,000 new immigrants, Labor MK Gilad Kariv told a meeting of the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Committee Wednesday.While all Israelis suffered during the war, “it is important to consider the unique needs of the immigrants who have been affected and to make information accessible to them in the right way,” Kariv said at the meeting, which focused on the particular needs of immigrants in the aftermath of Israel’s preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.Kariv commended the Home Front Command for translating advanced warning notices for incoming rockets to English, Arabic and Russian. He requested that they also be translated into Amharic, French and Spanish.Safety instructions from the Defense Ministry were translated into 14 languages during the war, and essential instruction packets are now also being distributed in several languages, a representative from the ministry added.Israelis who were evacuated from their homes are entitled to stay in hotels until July 20, Tax Authority officials said. The Tax Authority is working to establish an exceptions committee that would allow those with unique cases to extend their stays, they added.Many of the buildings and houses that suffered direct damage were in residential areas populated by new immigrants, Kariv noted.Some 50,000 claims for property damage totaling NIS 5 billion ($1.47 billion) are expected to be filed for the 12-day operation, around twice the total value of all damage claims since the war with the Hamas terror group started on October 7, 2023, the head of the Tax Authority’s compensation department said last week.Visas for non-Israeli residents that were nearing expiration have been automatically extended through September 30, said Natalie Or-Chen, deputy administration director at the Population and Immigration Authority. People whose appointments at the ministry were canceled during the war at one of its branches, including one in Haifa that was damaged by missile fire, will be contacted in order of urgency, she said.The Immigration and Absorption Ministry is reaching out to new immigrants who were evacuated or harmed during the military operation, and is currently helping 235 immigrant families file the documentation to receive government reparations for damages to their property, including 25 Ethiopian families, said ministry representative Shir Galili.Despite delays caused by the war, flights are still being organized for anyone who wants to immigrate to Israel, Galili added.Those whose immigration had to be postponed due to the war have been contacted to reschedule, said Shimon Shamila, operations manager for immigration at the Jewish Agency.“We are doing everything we can to make information about immigration accessible, even in countries where it is problematic to do so openly,” Shamila said. “It is time to bring as many immigrants to Israel as possible.”Kariv and other participants said it is important that information about future military operations remains accessible for immigrants in numerous languages.“Most immigrants who were damaged during Operation Rising Lion are not sufficiently aware of the options for exercising their rights,” noted Histadrut national labor federation representative Alex Miller. He added that the Histadrut’s help hotline is available for all immigrants, not only union members.

Israel army says intercepted missile launched from Yemen.

Jerusalem, July 1 (AFP) Jul 01, 2025-Israel's military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Tuesday, after air raid sirens sounded in several areas including Jerusalem."Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted" by the Israeli air force, an army statement said.Following the interception, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that "Yemen will be treated like Tehran," an apparent reference to the recent 12-day war between Israel and Iran in which Israel pummelled Iranian military and nuclear sites, as well as targets in the capital."After striking the head of the snake in Tehran, we will also strike the Huthis in Yemen. Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have their hand cut off," Katz said, according to a statement from his office.Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels have launched repeated missile and drone attacks against Israel since their Palestinian ally Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.On Saturday, the Huthis said they fired a ballistic missile towards Israel in response to Israel's conduct towards Palestinians during the Gaza war.It was the first missile launch against Israel announced by the Huthis since the June 24 ceasefire between Israel and Iran which ended their 12-day war.The Huthis, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians, paused their attacks during a two-month ceasefire in Gaza that ended in March, but renewed them after Israel resumed its offensive.Israel has carried out several retaliatory strikes in Yemen, targeting Huthi-held ports and the airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa.

Anxious residents re-emerge after Mali jihadist attacks.

Bamako, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-People in towns in western Mali where jihadists attacked army sites a day earlier were afraid but went about their business Wednesday following the major assault which killed a civilian.Jihadist fighters staged early-morning strikes on military positions in seven towns or cities Tuesday, in the third large-scale attack on the Malian army in a month.A source in the governor's office in the city of Kayes told AFP the places hit -- Kayes, Nioro du Sahel, Niono, Molodo, Sandare, Gogui and Diboli -- were calm on Wednesday."The governor's residence was attacked by the jihadists. There was some damage but today the city is calm," the source said."The situation is calm in the other towns but according to the information coming back, the people are afraid," the source added.A hospital source in Kayes, the main city in the western region, said a civilian, who had been admitted to hospital following the attacks, had died."More than 10 seriously injured people are admitted here and are receiving treatment," the source said, adding most were civilians and one a soldier.In Nioro du Sahel, "calm returned on Wednesday morning", a shop owner who had opened for business told AFP."Yesterday we were really afraid... This morning, people are going about their business, but everyone is talking about nothing but this attack."- Curfew -A regional elected official also said the situation was "calm everywhere", but added: "The jihadists caused damage" in several places.An Al-Qaeda-linked group known by its Arabic initials, JNIM, claimed responsibility.AFP was unable to independently verify the claim.The series of assaults came on the heels of two major attacks claimed by jihadists.On June 2, a coordinated assault targeted an army camp in the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali's north, as well as its airport.That attack took place a day after a bloody raid killed at least 30 soldiers in the centre of the country.Mali's army said late Tuesday the jihadists had suffered "big losses" and that "more than 80 terrorists" were "neutralised", a loose term that could mean killed or captured.An overnight curfew was imposed for 30 days and people and transport face restrictions in the Kayes region."In Kayes, the city is calm and tense at the same time," a resident told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.People had already hunkered down at home late Tuesday even before the curfew was announced, the resident said."All we could hear were the patrols moving around the city. This morning, insecurity is certainly at the centre of everyone's discussions, but people are going about their business," the resident added.Since 2012, Mali has been battling an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north of the vast nation, swept the country and spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.Violence by groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as well as separatist movements and criminal gangs has plunged the junta-led west African country into a deep security crisis.The three Sahel states' military juntas pledged during the coups that brought them to power to make security a priority.But they are struggling to contain the advance by the jihadists, who have recently intensified their offensives against the armies in the three countries.lar-str-sd-lp/sjd/kjm/jhb

Iran suspends co-operation with UN nuclear watchdog-Israel's foreign minister slams the move-The Associated Press · Posted: Jul 02, 2025 9:38 AM EDT | 

A cleanshaven older man with thinning grey hair speaks into a microphone. A dark haired man with sunglasses and facial hair stands behind him, and a green and red flag is shown.Iran's president on Wednesday ordered the country to suspend its co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities, likely further limiting the ability of inspectors to track Tehran's program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.The order by President Masoud Pezeshkian included no timetables or details about what that suspension would entail.Iranian state television announced President Masoud Pezeshkian's order, which followed a law passed by Iran's parliament to suspend that co-operation. The bill already received the approval of Iran's constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, on Thursday, and likely the support of the country's Supreme National Security Council, which Pezeshkian chairs.There were no timetables or details given about what the suspension would entail."The government is mandated to immediately suspend all co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency under the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its related Safeguards Agreement," state television quoted the bill as saying. "This suspension will remain in effect until certain conditions are met, including the guaranteed security of nuclear facilities and scientists."It wasn't immediately clear what that would mean for the Vienna-based IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog. The agency has long monitored Iran's nuclear program and said that it was waiting for an official communication from Iran on what the suspension meant.A ceasefire between Israel and Iran — brokered, according to the White House, by President Donald Trump — remains in place for now, silencing nearly two weeks of missile attacks. Andrew Chang breaks down key points in the timeline of what Trump has called the '12 Day War' to explain why all three countries are claiming victories. Images provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters.Iran's decision drew an immediate condemnation from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar."Iran has just issued a scandalous announcement about suspending its co-operation with the IAEA," he said in an X post. "This is a complete renunciation of all its international nuclear obligations and commitments." AnalysisWorld leaders are arguing over the damage to Iran's nuclear sites. But where is its enriched uranium? Saar urged European nations that were part of the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal with Iran to implement its so-called snapback clause. That would reimpose all UN sanctions on it originally lifted by Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers, if one of its Western parties declares the Islamic Republic is out of compliance with it.Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, and the IAEA doesn't have access to its weapons-related facilities.Inspections scaled back after 2018-Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to allow the IAEA even greater access to its nuclear program. That included permanently installing cameras and sensors at nuclear sites. Those cameras, inside of metal housings sprayed with a special blue paint that shows any attempt to tamper with it, took still images of sensitive sites.Other devices, known as online enrichment monitors, measured the uranium enrichment level at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.The IAEA also regularly sent inspectors into Iranian sites to conduct surveys, sometimes collecting environmental samples with cotton clothes and swabs that would be tested at IAEA labs back in Austria. Others monitor Iranian sites via satellite images.  U.S. President Donald Trump, in his first term in 2018, unilaterally withdrew Washington from the accord, insisting it wasn't tough enough and didn't address Iran's missile program or its support for militant groups in the wider Middle East.In the years since that decision, Iran has limited IAEA inspections and stopped the agency from accessing camera footage. It has also removed cameras. At one point, Iran accused an IAEA inspector of testing positive for explosive nitrates, something the agency disputed.Damage assessment at sites continues-The IAEA has engaged in years of negotiations with Iran to restore full access for its inspectors. While Tehran hasn't granted that, it also hasn't entirely thrown inspectors out. Analysts view this as part of Iran's wider strategy to use its nuclear program as a bargaining chip with the West.Iran's 2015 nuclear deal allowed Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67 per cent — enough to fuel a nuclear power plant, but far below the threshold of 90 per cent needed for weapons-grade uranium. It also drastically reduced Iran's stockpile of uranium, limited its use of centrifuges and relied on the IAEA to oversee Tehran's compliance through additional oversight.Satellite images from several days apart are shown side by side of a remote facility site in a mountainous region.In May, reports from the IAEA indicated that Iran had been enriching up to 60 per cent. It also has enough of a stockpile to build multiple nuclear bombs, should it choose to do so. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.Israel began a sustained campaign of airstrikes on Iranian targets on June 13, which included its nuclear sites, as well as targeting several of the country's physicists and scientists who were alleged to have worked on the nuclear program. Days later, the U.S. participated in the military campaign with strikes on the Fordow, Natanza and Isfahan nuclear sites, with American B-2 bombers using bunker-buster bombs at Fordow, a site built under a mountain about 100 kilometres southwest of Tehran.Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show Iranian officials at Fordow on Monday likely examining the damage. Trucks could be seen in the images, as well as at least one crane and an excavator at tunnels on the site. Iran open to talks at some point-Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS News in an interview published Tuesday that its facilities had been "heavily and seriously damaged," but that "no one exactly knows that transpired at Fordow."The strikes followed several rounds of talks between Washington and Tehran officials over a period of months toward a new nuclear deal. Araghchi told CBS "the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut," with the U.S.A graphic that shows a map with the text 'Operation Midnight Hammer' and the labels 'Fordow,' 'Natanz' and 'Isfahan.'As Iran was bombarded for nearly two weeks, it fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation, killing 28 people.Iran has said the Israeli attacks killed 935 "Iranian citizens," including 38 children and 102 women. However, Iran has a long history of offering lower death counts around unrest over political considerations.The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, has put the death toll at 1,190 people killed, including 436 civilians and 435 security force members. The attacks wounded another 4,475 people, the group said.

Dalai Lama says he will have successor after his death.

McLeod Ganj, India, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-The Dalai Lama said Wednesday that the 600-year-old Tibetan spiritual institution would continue after his death, reassuring Buddhist followers around the globe and saying his office "exclusively" would name his successor, even as China insisted it would.Followers of the Dalai Lama laud his tireless campaign for greater autonomy for Tibet, a vast high-altitude plateau in China about the size of South Africa.It is a landmark decision for Tibetans, many of whom had feared a future without a leader, as well as for global supporters who see the Dalai Lama as a symbol of non-violence, compassion and the enduring struggle for Tibetan cultural identity under Chinese rule.According to Tibetans, Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.He and thousands of other Tibetans have lived in exile in India since Chinese troops crushed an uprising in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 1959.The charismatic Nobel Peace Prize-winning Buddhist had previously said the institution of Dalai Lama would continue only if there was popular demand.He said Wednesday he had received multiple appeals over the past 14 years from the Tibetan diaspora, Buddhists from across the Himalayan region, Mongolia and parts of Russia and China, "earnestly requesting that the institution of the Dalai Lama continue"."In particular, I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal," he said in a video broadcast at the start of a meeting of religious leaders in the Indian Himalayan town where he has lived for decades."In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," he added, according to an official translation.The announcement was made ahead of his 90th birthday on July 6.- 'Historic' -While China condemns him as a rebel and separatist, the internationally recognised Dalai Lama describes himself as a "simple Buddhist monk".Many exiled Tibetans fear China will name its own successor to bolster control over a territory it poured troops into in 1950.But the Dalai Lama said Wednesday that responsibility for identifying the 15th Dalai Lama "will rest exclusively" with the India-based Gaden Phodrang Trust, the office of the Dalai Lama.Samdhong Rinpoche, a senior Tibetan leader from the Gaden Phodrang Trust, told reporters that the Dalai Lama was "in excellent health" and that, at this time, there were "no further instructions for succession".However, Rinpoche said the next Dalai Lama could be of "any nationality", and would come from a place where there is "access to freedom".China said on Wednesday that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama "must be approved by the central government" in Beijing, and that it would be carried out "by drawing lots from a golden urn", foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.That urn is held by Beijing, and the Dalai Lama has already warned that, when used dishonestly, it lacks "any spiritual quality".The Dalai Lama handed over political authority in 2011 to an exiled government chosen democratically by 130,000 Tibetans globally.At the same time, he warned that the future of his spiritual post faced an "obvious risk of vested political interests misusing the reincarnation system".In 1995, Beijing selected a Panchen Lama, another influential Tibetan religious figure, and detained a Dalai Lama-recognised six-year-old, described by rights groups as the world's youngest political prisoner.The Dalai Lama's announcement about the continuation of the role was welcomed with relief by Tibetans, including by Jigme Taydeh, a civil servant with the India-based Tibetan government."Whilst we rejoice at this confirmation of its continuation, we stringently object to China's interference and plans to install a puppet Dalai Lama", he said. "Neither the Tibetans nor the world would recognise such mischief."burs-pjm/lb

EU presses China to stop 'harming European security.

Brussels, Belgium, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday urged Beijing to stop undermining Europe's security, as China's top diplomat held talks in Brussels ahead of a leaders' summit later this month."China is not our adversary, but on security our relationship is under increasing strain," Kallas said ahead of meeting China's Wang Yi."Chinese companies are Moscow's lifeline to sustain its war against Ukraine. Beijing carries out cyberattacks, interferes with our democracies, and trades unfairly. These actions harm European security and jobs."Wang's visit to Brussels -- following which he will head to Berlin and Paris -- comes some three weeks ahead of a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the EU's top officials in Beijing.As US President Donald Trump has rocked the major trading powers by unleashing a tariff war, the EU has opened the door to improving ties with China.But instead of improvements, a trade spat has only deepened between Brussels and Beijing over alleged unfair practices by China.And the 27-nation bloc is still railing against the flow of vital tech to Russia's military via China."Enabling war in Europe while seeking closer ties with Europe is a contradiction Beijing must address," Kallas said."In a volatile world, Beijing should use its growing strength to uphold international law."In an effort to pressure Beijing, the EU has slapped bans on trading with a raft of Chinese firms accused of aiding Moscow's war effort.But EU officials admit they have failed to shift Beijing from what it sees as its vital strategic partnership with Moscow. 

Hiroshima mayor urges Trump visit after A-bomb comments.

Tokyo, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-Donald Trump should visit Hiroshima to see the effects of nuclear weapons, the Japanese city's mayor said Wednesday after the US president likened the 1945 atomic bombings to recent air strikes on Iran."It seems to me that he does not fully understand the reality of the atomic bombings, which, if used, take the lives of many innocent citizens, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, and threaten the survival of the human race," Mayor Kazumi Matsui told reporters."I wish that President Trump would visit the bombed area to see the reality of the atomic bombing and feel the spirit of Hiroshima, and then make statements," Kazumi said.The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and then another on Nagasaki three days later. Shortly afterwards, Japan surrendered, ending World War II.Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and about 74,000 others in Nagasaki, including many from the effects of radiation exposure. It was the only time that atomic weapons were used in warfare.On June 22, following days of Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, the United States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities.Soon afterwards, Iran and Israel agreed a ceasefire, ending their 12-day war."I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing," Trump said last Wednesday."That ended that war and this ended (this war)," Trump said at a NATO summit in The Hague.His comments prompted anger from survivors and a small demonstration in Hiroshima. Last week, the city's assembly passed a motion condemning remarks that justify the use of atomic bombs.Japan's atomic bomb survivors' group Nihon Hidankyo won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, and while accepting the prize, called on countries to abolish the weapons.

US halting some shipments of military aid to Ukraine.

Washington, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-The White House said Tuesday it is halting some key weapons shipments to Ukraine that were promised under the Biden administration for Kyiv's battle against the Russian invasion.Stopping the delivery of munitions and other military aid including air defense systems likely would be a blow to Ukraine as it contends with some of Russia's largest missile and drone attacks of the three-year-old war."This decision was made to put America's interests first following a DOD (Department of Defense) review of our nation's military support and assistance to other countries across the globe," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told AFP in an email.The curtailment of military aid signals a possible shift in the priorities of US President Donald Trump, who has pressed for Russia and Ukraine to speed up stalled peace talks.The Republican has moved on to playing a greater role in orchestrating a possible ceasefire in Gaza and toning down Iran-Israel tensions after a deadly 12-day conflict between the arch foes.The Pentagon review determined that stocks had become too low on some previously pledged munitions, and that some pending shipments now would not be sent, said a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity, according to Politico, which first reported the halt of military aid."The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned -- just ask Iran," Kelly said, making a reference to the recent US bombings and missile strikes against the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities.Politico and other US media reported that missiles for Patriot air defense systems, precision artillery and Hellfire missiles are among the items being held back.Michael McFaul, who was the US ambassador to Russia from 2012 until just before the Crimea conflict began in 2014, said on X: "The Trump administration is even stopping delivery of Patriots? So disgusting and embarrassing as the 'leader of the free world.' I guess we are done with that."Last week at a NATO summit in the Netherlands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Trump and appeared to get a vague response from the US leader on Patriot air defense systems."We're going to see if we can make some available," Trump said of the missiles that Kyiv desperately seeks to shoot down Russian attacks."They're very hard to get," Trump added.- Thousands of drones -A Russian drone attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv region killed one person and wounded another, its governor said early Wednesday.The attack follows Ukrainian drone strikes which killed three people and wounded dozens in the Russian city of Izhevsk on Tuesday, striking more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the front line -- one of the deepest attacks inside Russia to date.An AFP analysis published Tuesday found that Russia dramatically ramped up aerial attacks in June, firing thousands of drones as Ukraine's stretched air defense systems and exhausted civilian population felt the Kremlin's increased pressure.An April report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that Ukraine is being outgunned by Russia, despite spending more of its GDP on defense than any other country in the world.Ukraine's military expenditure in 2024 was $64.7 billion, SIPRI said, and Kyiv has relied heavily on its allies in Europe and the United States for weapons and aid.Russian leader Vladimir Putin blamed the West for fanning the flames of war with that support, telling French president Emmanuel Macron Tuesday that the West has "for many years ignored Russia's security interests."The White House's tone has openly shifted on Ukraine with the Trump presidency.Back in 2022, then president Joe Biden affectionately embraced Zelensky at the White House as his administration announced another $2 billion in weapons for Ukraine.During Zelensky's Washington visit earlier this year, he was belittled on-camera by Trump and Vice President JD Vance during an Oval Office meeting, who ganged up to accuse the Ukrainian leader of ingratitude.Asked by AFP for comment on the halt of shipments and why it was occurring, the Pentagon did not respond directly.But its chief spokesman Sean Parnell said "America's military has never been more ready and more capable thanks to President Trump and Secretary (Pete) Hegseth's leadership."

Is Canada beating ploughshares into swords with its NATO 5% pledge? Not likely-Government has levers it can pull in times of urgency-Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: Jul 02, 2025 4:00 AM EDT |

By anyone's measure, $150 billion a year is an eye-watering amount of money to spend on anything — let alone defence.While it pales in comparison to the inflation-adjusted appropriations of the Second World War, it is potentially, for this generation, the very definition of beating ploughshares into swords.Or is it? Following all of the political sound and fury and sticker shock of last week's NATO summit in The Hague, the question of what Prime Minister Mark Carney's government wants to accomplish with all of that money — on an annual basis — is coming into even sharper focus.On the surface, the Liberals have pledged to quickly and efficiently rearm the Canadian military."We are protecting Canadians against new threats. I wish we didn't have to, but we do have to and it is our core responsibility as government," Carney said at the summit."The people who have been making sacrifices have been the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces because they have not been paid to reflect what we are asking them to do. They haven't been operating with the right equipment in many cases."We're making up for that."As Prime Minister Mark Carney commits to meet the new NATO spending target of five per cent of GDP by 2035, former vice-chief of the defence staff Guy Thibault tells Power & Politics he supports upping Canada's defence spending but warns the government should focus on improving procurement and supporting Canadian Forces personnel.But the reflex is strong within federal institutions to use military procurement as a tool of economic development. It has been thus for decades.At the same time, we keep getting told — by the prime minister nonetheless — that we are in extraordinary times and a "national emergency."Much was made, both in the run-up and in the aftermath of the NATO summit, about the signing of a security and defence industry partnership between Canada and the European Union. Politically, it has been cast since last spring's election as a vehicle — if not the vehicle — to realize rearmament.There are a few steps to go before Canada can unlock the potential of buying military equipment in bulk with its allies. But when you look at the framework of the partnership, the rearmament potential is dwarfed by the economic opportunity for Canadian defence contractors to sell into Europe under the $1.25-trillion ReArm Europe plan.The approach seems to be that Canada wants both its guns and butter. Neither, outside great wars of the last century, has ever been mutually exclusive and they don't have to be.However, the material state of the Canadian military is such that the guns — to extend the metaphor — were needed yesterday.While a partnership with the Europeans makes good economic and geopolitical sense in the long term, it doesn't appear to be a solution to the immediate rearmament crisis."European industrial bases are simply not prepared at the moment for a protracted conflict," said Seth Jones, president of defence and security at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies."If you look at European states, they still lack sufficient capabilities in combat support, in short-range air defence and long-range indirect fires, air lift."Jones also noted there are significant challenges with "munitions stockpiles, with supply chain weaknesses [and] within the broader European and U.S. industrial bases workforce."If the Canadian government is serious about rearmament beyond a tool of economic development, the issue will come down to the question of where do you find a hot production line and how quickly can you acquire what the military says it needs.Poland, a member of the European Union since 2004, decided it wasn't going to put all of its eggs in the EU basket. Shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government in Warsaw embarked on a swift rearmament plan.Poland is NATO's top military spender — aiming to direct 4.7 per cent of its gross domestic product toward defence.It has tapped into production lines in both the United States and South Korea.Soldiers and a military vehicle are seen on display.Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told Politico last winter that his government's strategy was to continue to buy from the U.S. in order to maintain economic relations."It's kind of an insurance policy," he said.The decision was made even though politically, and socially, many in Poland believe the U.S. is an unreliable ally and might not be there in a crisis with Russia.It is perhaps a lesson for Canada as the Liberal government crosses the treacherous political tightrope of still maintaining a defence relationship with the U.S. and explaining its decisions to a public still angry about the trade war and Trump's 51st state desires.The first test will come later this summer when a report by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Department of National Defence about continuing with the F-35 purchase is presented.Carney and his team will have to decide whether to pivot away from the plan (accept only a limited number of the warplanes and fill out the rest of the order elsewhere) — or stick with what may be a politically indefensible position of carrying on.The prime minister said at the NATO summit that he had held discussions with European partners for the purchase of fighter jets and submarines.Speed vs. shift-Carney has called for a shift away from Canada's economic and military reliance on the U.S.But how much of that is truly possible, if the stated goal is to rearm quickly and if Europe's defence industrial base is still in its own rebuilding phase?If the Liberal government does intend to move swiftly, there are existing mechanisms such as the National Security Exception (NSE), which allows the government to bypass certain trade agreement obligations when the equipment is deemed essential for national security.There's also the mechanism of the Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR), which can be used to acquire essential equipment on an accelerated timeline to meet a specific and immediate operational need of the Canadian Armed Forces.It can also use an Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN), which indicates the Defence Department's intention to award a contract to a specific supplier and allows other potential suppliers to demonstrate what they can provide.At the end of the NATO summit, Carney was asked if he intends to use any of those tools at his disposal.It doesn't sound like it."The great question. The first thing we look to do is change the machinery of defence procurement, if I can put it that way," he said referring to the new defence procurement agency being set up by his government.Once the agency is built, Carney said they'll look to make "adjustments to our ability to buy Canadian and our ability to buy more rapidly as appropriate."

I can't forget Canada froze bank accounts of protesters. Now, singing O Canada feels hollow-I lost hope that Central Canada will change and believe Alberta must find its own way-Gord Larson · for CBC First Person · Posted: Jul 02, 2025 4:00 AM EDT |

This First Person column is the experience of Gord Larson, who lives in Calgary, and is part of a Canada Day series exploring what Canada means to people across this country. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ.I've never felt more patriotic pride than when singing O Canada with a crowd of hundreds at a protest shutting down the Coutts border crossing.It was February 2022. My wife had just lost her job after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19. I worried I might be next, but took heart as the trucker convoy headed to Ottawa. We couldn't join them, so instead we drove south from Calgary to Coutts, Alta., for two days to show our support.The crowd was so big that we had to walk 15 minutes down the highway just to get to the protest. The spirit of community, where everyone just wanted to pitch in and help, was almost overwhelming.A pastor led us in prayer and then the whole crowd launched into O Canada, just belting it out with everything we had. I even saw the RCMP join in the singing. Just typing this and remembering that moment makes the hair on my arms stand up.People dressed warmly stand on a snowy highway surrounded by trucks, flags and horses.What does Canada mean to me? In that moment, I was filled with pride. I saw Canada as a force for democracy and freedom in the world and felt sure it would listen to the voice of its own citizens. But this feeling didn't last. Ottawa's response to these protests left me feeling betrayed, and today I'm at a place where I never thought I'd be: in favour of separatism. The roots of my alienation-I was born in Chilliwack, B.C. I was a bit of a nerd for politics and paid attention when Reform candidate Chuck Strahl came to speak with my high school graduating class in 1993. He shared the party's plans for a more inclusive system, one with a balance of power that wouldn't allow Quebec's separatist debates to keep dominating the national agenda.Repeating the party slogan, he said, "The West wants in!"And for me, as a young man eavesdropping on my parents' frustrated conversations, that made everything click.Later that year, I was old enough to vote.I was standing in line at the voting location when I heard another voter say the election had already been called for the Jean Chrétien Liberals. The votes from Atlantic and Central Canada were enough for a win. It felt like my vote didn't even matter. A man with his hands on his hips speaks with two men sitting at a table and drinking from mugs in a restaurant.I learned a lot about the roots of Western alienation in the years that followed. I studied political science at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George and learned we've never had true proportional representation in Canada because of the grandfather and senatorial clauses in the Constitution. The smaller provinces in Atlantic Canada are always overrepresented compared to provinces such as Alberta and Ontario.In 2002, I moved to Calgary, where oil was fuelling an economic boom. It was heady stuff; I picked up a skilled trade and found a pride of purpose far greater than I had in university. But surrounded by other Albertans, I began to see Canada's equalization system as a personal issue — my taxes and my community being disrespected by an unfair system. I started reading about the details and learned, for example, about Quebec being the largest beneficiary of equalization. It subsidizes hydroelectricity for its residents but isn't required to account for the revenue it's giving up. That's a political decision and it would be richer if it charged full price.Albertans pay full price for their electricity. But through equalization, Quebec gets to hold out its hand. Instead of a thank you, Quebec politicians insult our "dirty energy" while buying record amounts of gasoline.Children stand in front of a man with a very warm winter hat in front of a line of semi-trucks and protest signs.The pandemic-That made me bitter and angry, but at that point, I still had hope for change and was loyal to Canada. In a referendum to separate, I wouldn't have checked the box to actually leave my country. Now it's changed.The COVID-19 pandemic hit hard. I watched my personal rights erode. I was shocked at the pressure I felt to get vaccinated and how I'd be verbally attacked if I argued. I'm still so angry at this.The convoy and the border protest were an effort to be heard, and I followed the developments from Ottawa closely, checking conservative news blogs each morning. I would have been with the trucker convoy if I could have taken time off work.For two-and-a-half weeks before the Emergencies Act was invoked, the convoy occupied the blocks around Parliament Hill and not one car was burned, not one shop looted. There were charges, but none for police officers assaulted. I can understand why it was hard for Ottawa residents to live with. But personally, I saw nothing I thought could justify a government invoking that act, which I see as an extreme response.I was horrified when, instead of talking with convoy protesters about why they were upset, the provincial government convinced a court to freeze the GiveSendGo account, and worse, without a court order, the RCMP got banks to freeze the personal bank accounts of people protesting. Then police moved in to clear the streets and there was a standoff.To me, this was naked authoritarianism and two years later, a federal judge ruled the Liberal's use of the Emergencies Act was unreasonable.But no one within the government or banking system has been disciplined. Not one new law was created to protect the integrity of personal banking, and now the Liberal government has even been re-elected.I sang O Canada with another crowd this year. I was in a downtown Calgary pub in February for the Four Nations Cup. I tried to belt it out like before, but it felt hollow this time.I've finally lost hope. I don't think "the West wants in" anymore. For me, the West wants out.Do you have a compelling personal story that can bring understanding or help others? We want to hear from you. Here's more info on how to pitch to us.

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

 Pope Leo XIV Seeks to Reestablish ‘Full Visible Communion’ With Eastern Orthodox-June 30, 2025

Pope Leo XIV received members of a delegation from the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate in a June 28 audience held at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican in the context of the June 29 celebration of the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Constantinople based in Istanbul, Turkey. The Ecumenical Patriarchate is considered “primus inter pares” (“first among equals”) among the patriarchs of the other churches of the Eastern Orthodox communion. The delegation was headed by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, president of the Synodal Commission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Relations with the Catholic Church, accompanied by the Most Reverend Fathers Aetios and Ieronymos.Bartholomew has been the current archbishop of Constantinople and ecumenical patriarch since Nov. 2, 1991. Traditionally, a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate visits the Vatican on the occasion of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.Similarly, a Vatican delegation usually visits Istanbul, the capital of present-day Turkey, every Nov. 30 on the occasion of the celebration of the feast day of St. Andrew, the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s patron saint.Goal of full visible communion between the two ChurchesThe Catholic Encyclopedia explains that in 1054, “the most deplorable quarrel,” known as the Eastern Schism, occurred, separating the vast majority of Eastern Christians from communion with the Catholic Church, thus giving rise to the Orthodox Church.Leo XIV stated that his intention is to “persevere in the effort to reestablish full visible communion between our Churches,” a goal that, he said, can only be achieved “with God’s help, through a continued commitment to respectful listening and fraternal dialogue.”“For this reason, I am open to any suggestions that you may offer in this regard, always in consultation with my brother bishops of the Catholic Church who, each in his own way, share with me the responsibility for the complete and visible unity of the Church,” the Holy Father said during the June 28 audience.He also recalled that “after centuries of disagreements and misunderstanding,” authentic dialogue between the two Churches was only possible thanks to “the courageous and farsighted steps taken by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras.”“Their venerable successors to the sees of Rome and Constantinople have pursued with conviction the same path of reconciliation, thus further strengthening our close relations,” the Pope added.Leo XIV highlighted the “witness of sincere closeness” that Patriarch Bartholomew has always expressed to the Catholic Church, demonstrated especially by participating in the funeral of Pope Francis and later in the inaugural Mass of the new bishop of Rome.The Holy Father said the traditional exchange of delegations “is a sign of the profound communion already existing between us, and a reflection of the fraternal bond that united the Apostles Peter and Andrew.”Leo XIV expressed his profound gratitude for their presence in Rome “on this solemn occasion.” He asked them to convey his cordial greetings to Patriarch Bartholomew and the members of the Holy Synod, along with his gratitude for having sent the delegation again this year.“May Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Andrew and the holy Mother of God, who live eternally in the perfect communion of the saints, accompany and sustain us in our efforts in the service of the Gospel. Thank you!” Pope Leo said. 

 20 US Bishops Join Interfaith Letter Against ICE Funding Boost in ‘Big Beautiful Bill’The budget reconciliation bill includes a funding hike for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection.-June 30, 2025

A coalition of 20 American Catholic bishops and religious leaders from other faiths has signed on to a letter urging lawmakers to vote against a proposed budget bill because of provisions to increase funding for immigration enforcement.“From our various faith perspectives, the moral test of a nation is how it treats those most in need of support,” the letter read. “In our view, this legislation will harm the poor and vulnerable in our nation, to the detriment of the common good.”The letter’s signatories included Cardinal Robert McElroy of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. Phoenix Bishop John Dolan, Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne, St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski, and Sacramento, California, Bishop Jaime Soto were also among those who signed.In addition to the bishops, other signatories to the letter included the leadership team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Some Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders also signed the letter.“Our faith organizations have long favored the creation of legal avenues for migration and a legalization program for immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for years and contributed their hard work to our economy,” the letter stated. “We believe the adoption of these policies, instead of the implementation of a mass deportation campaign, would not only benefit immigrant workers and their families but be in the best interest of our nation.”The budget reconciliation bill, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” includes a funding hike for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection. The proposal includes money earmarked for deportations, hiring more ICE and border patrol agents, the construction of a border wall, and various other immigration enforcement measures.An earlier version of the bill would have penalized states for offering Medicaid benefits to immigrants who are in the country illegally, but this was removed from the current Senate version under consideration. Other proposed Medicaid changes, including work requirements for able-bodied recipients, remain in the proposal.“We believe that the changes made by the U.S. Senate to the legislation are insufficient and do not significantly mitigate its adverse effects,” the letter read.The letter criticized funding for “a mass deportation campaign,” which they said “will separate U.S. families, harm U.S.-citizen and immigrant children, and sow chaos in local communities.” It warned of “immigration raids across the nation,” which authors said would harm “hardworking immigrant families essential to our economy.”According to the letter, the funding boost could also harm faith communities. The authors noted that the government “has removed places of worship from its sensitive locations list, allowing ICE agents to enter them for enforcement purposes.”“We have already witnessed a reduction in attendance at many of our religious services in our denominations, as the threat of enforcement has deterred many families from practicing their faith,” the letter attested.Additionally, the letter expressed concerns about the proposed border wall between the United States and Mexico, which the authors wrote “will drive migrants into the most remote regions of the border and lead to an increase in migrant deaths. It also would hurt the local environment along the border and force desperate asylum-seekers seeking safety to increasingly rely on human smugglers.”The authors of the letter also criticized proposed reforms to Medicaid and food assistance programs, saying they would harm “low-income citizens and legal residents, including asylum-seekers and refugees, driving them deeper into poverty.”Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and current fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), criticized the interfaith letter in an interview with CNA. He said the letter supports “amnesty” for immigrants who are in the country illegally.CIS labels itself as a “low-immigration, pro-immigrant” think tank. The group is aligned with many of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.“They don’t want any immigration enforcement because they want to legalize the status of everyone in the country illegally,” Arthur, who is Catholic, told CNA.Arthur also balked at the suggestion of immigration raids at places of worship, saying: “They never actually reference any real enforcement actions taking place in any Catholic churches.” He said it’s possible that a dangerous criminal could be targeted for enforcement at a church but that “it’s not like they’re going to sweep through Sunday Mass looking for people.”On the subject of the border wall, Arthur said a barrier would “deter people from coming into the United States illegally.” He noted the high rates of migrants who already hire smugglers, saying they “put their lives and safety in the hands of criminals” and that a border wall makes it “less likely that people are going to come” illegally with this method or any other method.

 Leo XIV Reminds Women Religious That ‘Being Rooted in Christ’ Makes Unimaginable Possible-The Pontiff thanked the religious sisters for their service, especially to the weakest members of society.-July 1, 2025

During an audience on Monday of religious sisters belonging to several orders, Pope Leo XIV told the group that rootedness in Christ allows them to “do things they perhaps never thought they could achieve.”The Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, the Daughters of Divine Charity, the Augustinian Sisters of the Shelter, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts came to the Vatican on June 30 for their general chapters and the Jubilee of Hope.After praising the diversity of charisms and recalling the “great historical witnesses to the spiritual life” that inspired their foundation — such as St. Augustine, St. Basil, and St. Francis — the pontiff thanked the religious sisters for their service, especially to the weakest members of society.Pope Leo XIV greets a woman religious during an audience with members of the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, the Daughters of Divine Charity, the Augustinian Sisters of the Amparo, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, on June 30, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media-He also emphasized that “the challenges of the past and the vitality of your present make clear that fidelity to the ancient wisdom of the Gospel is the best way forward for those who, led by the Holy Spirit, undertake new paths of self-giving, dedicated to loving God and neighbor and listening attentively to the signs of the times.”The Pope then recalled the words of St. Augustine: “God is your everything. If you are hungry, God is your bread; if you are thirsty, God is your water; if you are in darkness, God is your light that never fades; if you are naked, God is your everlasting garment.”He then addressed the following questions to the religious: “To what extent are these words true for me? How much does the Lord satisfy my thirst for life, love, or light?”A group of nuns greets Pope Leo XIV at an audience of women religious in Rome for the Jubilee of Hope as well as meetings of their congregations on June 30, 2025, in Clementine Hall at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaFor the Holy Father, this “rootedness in Christ” is what has led those who have gone before us “to do things they perhaps never thought they could achieve. This rootedness enabled them to sow seeds of goodness that, enduring throughout the centuries and across continents, have now reached practically the entire world, as your presence here demonstrates.”The pontiff recalled the words of St. Paul to the Christians of Ephesus, praying that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:17-19).

 Pope Leo XIV Denounces Use of Hunger as ‘Weapon of War’ in Message to UN Conference-June 30, 2025

Pope Leo XIV deplored the use of hunger as a “weapon of war” in his message to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is currently holding its 44th conference session in Rome from June 28 to July 4. The Holy Father said the U.N. is far from reaching its 2030 goal of “zero hunger” in spite of “significant steps” taken by the intergovernmental organization to ensure food security, particularly for the world’s poor.“We are currently witnessing with despair the iniquitous use of hunger as a weapon of war,” Pope Leo said in his message to FAO. “Starving people to death is a very cheap way of waging war.”The Pope criticized the actions of armed civilians who “greedily hoard” food, burn land, steal livestock, and block humanitarian aid to those suffering and in need.  “Farmers are unable to sell their produce in environments threatened by violence, and inflation soars,” he said. “This leads to huge numbers of people succumbing to the scourge of starvation and perishing.”“While civilians languish in misery, political leaders grow fat on the profits of the conflict,” he remarked.Highlighting the complex relationship between war, poverty, and hunger, the Pope said the Holy See supports all initiatives aimed at bringing international leaders together to collaborate for “the common good of the family of nations.” “Without peace and stability, it will not be possible to guarantee resilient agricultural and food systems, nor to ensure a healthy, accessible, and sustainable food supply for all,” he added.Continuing his calls for peace in war-torn areas since his May election as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo extended his call to the leadership and staff of FAO to become peacemakers in times of “huge polarization in international relations.”“To ensure peace and development, understood as the improvement of the living conditions of populations suffering from hunger, war, and poverty, concrete actions are needed, rooted in serious and far-sighted approaches,” he continued. “I pray to almighty God that your work may bear fruit and be of benefit to the underprivileged and to humanity as a whole,” he said at the conclusion of his message.In an Angelus address, Pope Leo highlighted the plight of rural Christian communities in Nigeria enduring violence and hunger. Approximately 200 displaced people were massacred at a Catholic mission there in June. Bishop Mark Nzukwein of the Diocese of Wukari, Nigeria, said more than 300,000 people are currently displaced in the northern part of the country, many of whom have lost their farms and livelihoods because of the violent attacks. “I’ve never had problems with food ever until recently,” Bishop Nzukwein told CNA in a June 27 interview. “[Men] will invade farms and kill … and make the place insecure,” he said. “This is the source of the food insecurity we’re experiencing in Nigeria.”

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

EZEKIEL 32:6-9
6  I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9  I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator and baby murderers by abortion) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

EARTHQUAKES

EZEKIEL 37:7,11-14
7  So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.(POSSIBLE QUAKE BRINGS ISRAEL BACK TO LIFE-SO NOISE AND SHAKING-QUAKES WILL ALSO DESTROY ISRAELS ENEMIES)
11  Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12  Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14  And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

FAMINE

EZEKIEL 5:16
16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

JAMES 1:11
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. 

The Hebrew noun accurately translated “oven” refers to a “baking oven” as distinct from a kiln or smelting furnace—both of which burn much hotter. (The Hebrew nouns for “kiln” or for “smelting furnace” are more likely to appear in contexts of God's wrath or judgment.)
21 They have roused me to jealousy with a non-god, they have exasperated me with their idols. In my turn I shall rouse them to jealousy with a non-people, I shall exasperate them with a stupid nation.
22 Yes, a fire has blazed from my anger, it will burn right down to the depths of Sheol; it will devour the earth and all its produce, it will set fire to the footings of the mountains.
23 I shall hurl disasters on them, on them I shall use up all my arrows.

Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR WAVES) the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:(GODLESS)

2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950-Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.

JUDGEMENT-WE ALL(EVERYONE) STAND IN FRONT OF GOD TO GIVE ACCOUNT

JOHN 14:3
3  And if I (JESUS OUR JEWISH MESSIAH) go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

MATTHEW 24:33
33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things,(IN THERE BEGGINING STAGES-NOT FINAL STAGES) know that it is near, even at the doors.

LUKE 21:32
32  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:10
10  For we must all (MEANS EVERYONE EVER BORN ON EARTH FROM ADAM-EVE ON) appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.(THIS IS THE CHRISTIANS IN FRONT OF JESUS)

LUKEWARM CHURCHES

REVELATION 3:15-19
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I(GOD) will spue (VOMIT) thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Canada turns to drones for reforestation after wildfires.

Chibougamau, Canada, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-A large aerial drone flies over the charred remains of Canadian forests devastated by wildfires, bombarding the ground with seed capsules to accelerate reforestation.This area of northern Quebec province was ravaged by megafires in the summer of 2023 and for the second year in a row a pilot project has been using drones to plant new black spruces and jack pines.Rather than simply dropping seeds from high above, the company Flash Forest, which is leading the initiative, uses seeds protected in capsules that also contain water and nutrients, as well as fungi, to maximize their growing potential."There is a niche that's appropriate for drone reforestation which we've spent the last five years narrowing in on," Flash Forest cofounder Cameron Jones explained.The company focuses its efforts on forests that were scorched in the last year or two and excludes older burn sites that already have vegetation that can crowd out new seeds.- 50,000 capsules per day -It is no longer feasible to wait for Canada's forests to bounce back all on their own with millions of hectares of forests destroyed each year.In 2023, Canada experienced a record year of wildfires with blazes affecting every province, ultimately burning nearly 18 million hectares (44 million acres).Quebec, and particularly this area in the north of the French-speaking province, was hit especially hard that year.Drone operator and geospatial data scientist Owen Lucas says the method uses artificial intelligence to map out the sites ahead of time."Then we pick our sites based on climate variables, physical attributes, topographic variables, to make sure we're putting the seeds in the right place," he said, his eyes fixed on the drone's remote controls.The company also has projects in another Canadian province, Alberta, and in Colorado in the United States. Each drone can deliver seeds to plant 50,000 trees per day."When you're out here planting you don't see the impact, but when you come back in the fall and you see them growing, you know you're doing a positive thing," Lucas said.In 2023, like this year, which has already seen more than 4.2 million hectares burned across the country, megafires are being fueled by drought, which experts say is linked to global warming."It's sad to have lost so much forest," lamented Angel Mianscum, one of the Indigenous leaders of a nearby Cree community.She was, however, pleased to see there are now "innovative ways of doing things." The Cree community has worked directly with Flash Forest to plan the local reforestation.Indigenous communities are the most affected by fires in Canada because they are often remote and deep in the boreal forest.- Seed shortage -"We are increasingly forced to reforest in Canada. Boreal forest trees are adapted to fires, but today the conditions are becoming more complicated," said Maxence Martin, professor of forest ecology at the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Temiscamingue.He points out that in 2023, for example, very young forests burned."If the forest is too young, it will take a very long time to start regenerating, so planting is the only option."While the use of drones can help reach certain areas more quickly, it also has its downsides: many seeds end up wasted."And today there is a seed problem because they are complicated to harvest," and therefore Canada is short of them, Martin said.

July 2, 2025-The GIST-Central Europe swelters as heat wave moves east edited by Andrew Zinin-Editors' notes-The heat wave that has gripped Mediterranean Europe in recent days is moving eastwards to Germany.A punishing heat wave loosened its grip on western Europe Wednesday and rolled eastwards, with Germany expected to record some of its hottest temperatures of the year so far.Germany's national weather service (DWD) issued blanket weather warnings for heat and extreme heat covering the entire country.The agency said it expected "maximum temperatures with exceptionally high peaks of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit)" in the course of the day.The unusually hot weather was causing disruptions to transport, with the national rail operator Deutsche Bahn saying it expected services to be affected in the west of the country where temperatures were rising most.In the north of the country, the heat had caused the surface of the motorway to buckle in places, creating a danger for drivers, local media reported.In Berlin, 18-year-old Nora said her job at a kiosk selling strawberries was "a bit like a sauna", with the temperature already at 26C at 8:30 am."I've never sold strawberries in this sort of heat," she said, adding that her employer had told her to shut the kiosk if she felt unwell.Further south in Frankfurt teacher Horst Hirsch said he expected "to work and to sweat" in a day full of lessons and meetings and planned to "not do any exercise and drink lots of water".In France, the temperature gauge hit 40C in Paris on Tuesday, according to weather service Meteo-France, with a lower high of 35C expected Wednesday.Relief will reach the French capital in earnest on Thursday, when the high will drop to 28C as cooler winds blow in from the Atlantic, bringing with them the potential for thunderstorms.'Really unbearable'Meanwhile, residents in Spain and Italy may have to wait until the weekend before they experience a drop in temperatures.Care worker Grace Guerrero, 65, told AFP she could really "feel the heat" in Madrid but the air was cooler at her home outside the Spanish capital.The sweltering temperatures were "really unbearable on the subway platform", 60-year-old quality manager Julia Munoz said while cooling herself with a fan.In Belgium, lower temperatures were expected on the coast while the heat wave was set to continue in the east and south.The Atomium attraction in Brussels, where highs of 34C were expected, would maintain reduced opening hours for the second day in a row on Wednesday to spare visitors from the afternoon heat.In the country's Dutch-speaking north, students have already broken up for the summer, but in the French-speaking south schools have stayed open through the heat wave.Staff at the schools were working to keep children cool using fans and air-conditioning where available, water play, outdoor breaks in the shade, or in some cases giving parents the option to keep them home.The heat wave saw class canceled for pupils at some 2,000 schools in France on Tuesday, although only around 135 were expected to stay shut Wednesday, according to the education ministry.Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter—daily or weekly.'Tropical'In the Netherlands, the country experienced its first "tropical" night of the year into Wednesday with temperatures not dropping below 20C, according to the weather website Weeronline.A shepherd in the central Netherlands told local media Omroep Gelderland that he was up unusually early to let his sheep out on Wednesday morning after the muggy night."Animals tolerate the cold better than the heat... you have to be careful," the livestock holder Aart said, noting that his flock kept their coats through the heat."Without the fleece, they would, for example, get sunburned much faster," he said.High temperatures were a stress for people, too, prompting authorities to issue warnings for the very old, young, the sick and other vulnerable groups."Due to climate change caused by humans, extreme heat is becoming more frequent and intense. This is something we must learn to live with," said Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a UN agency based in Geneva.Extreme heat can cause dehydration, muscle cramps, headaches and nausea. The most serious risk is heatstroke, which can lead to death.

June 28, 2025-The GIST-Mediterranean heat wave triggers health alerts and wildfire fears across region-edited by Andrew Zinin    Editors' notes-In Spain, emergency medical staff are preparing to deal with an expected surge in heatstroke cases.

Southern European countries braced Friday for a punishing weekend heat wave, with temperatures predicted to hit up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and beyond, prompting health warnings and fears of wildfires.The searing heat spreading across the Mediterranean from the Iberian peninsula to the Balkans and Greece comes as climate scientists warn that galloping human-induced climate change is causing more extreme weather, including longer and more intense heat waves.Tens of millions of people have already been sweltering in what the National Weather Service called an "extremely dangerous" heat wave across the eastern United States, including in New York and Washington, straining the power grid as people cranked up air conditioning.Across the Atlantic in Spain, emergency medical staff readied to deal with an expected surge in heatstroke cases, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses.In neighboring Portugal, the national meteorological agency IPMA said the heat wave would hit from Saturday, with temperatures passing 40C in the south as well as in the central Tagus and northern Douro valleys.Sunday will be even hotter, the agency added, and two-thirds of the country has already been put on orange alert. Temperatures are expected to hit 42C in the capital Lisbon.Heat waves in France: hotter, earlier and more frequent.Red alert in Italy-The risk of fire is at its highest inland in the northern half of Portugal, as well as on the Algarve coast popular with holidaymakers in the south.France has been gripped by its 50th national heat wave since 1947 for more than a week now, and four regions in southern France were placed under an orange alert on Friday—the second-highest warning. Temperatures were expected to reach 35C to 38C locally, and up to 39C inland.The Meteo France weather agency said surface sea temperatures from the Mediterranean were an "aggravating factor" that could make nights "more stifling".Additional French regions are expected to be placed on orange alert on Saturday as the heat wave spreads north, and the soaring temperatures are expected to last until Tuesday, said the agency.In Italy, the health ministry issued its top red alert for 21 cities this weekend, including the capital Rome, the economic powerhouse Milan and Venice, where the rich and famous were celebrating the wedding of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos.Weather agencies say the risk of forest fires is increased.People were advised not to go outdoors between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm, and to seek shelter in air-conditioned public places.In Venice, the temperature was set to hit 32C on Saturday, when Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are expected to be throwing a dance party starring Lady Gaga—but it will feel like around 36C due to humidity.In Florence, which was already on red alert on Friday, the temperature is forecast to reach 37C on Saturday, while it will go up to 36C on Sunday in Rome, Milan and Naples.Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter—daily or weekly.Albania battles fires-Across the Adriatic, the authorities in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia also issued health warnings, while in Albania, firefighters battled Thursday to bring at least eight blazes under control after flames destroyed dozens of homes in the south of the country last weekend.Further south, weather agencies in Greece forecast a heat wave in the coming days with temperatures of more than 40C, including in the capital Athens.People have been advised to keep hydrated.The country has become particularly vulnerable to summer fires in recent years fueled by strong winds, drought and high temperatures linked to climate change.Firefighters said Friday a forest blaze that had forced evacuations around Athens was under control, but warned that scorching temperatures were keeping fire risk at a high level around the capital and on northern Aegean islands.Fields, olive groves and some houses were ravaged by the blaze around Athens, which came after another on Greece's fifth-largest island Chios that destroyed more than 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of land in four days.

July 1, 2025-The GIST-France expecting peak temperatures as heat wave hits Europe-edited by Andrew Zinin    

Editors' notes-The top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris was shut because of the heat wave.Paris extended a red alert for high temperatures on Tuesday, with the top of the Eiffel Tower shut, polluting traffic banned and speed restrictions in place as a searing heat wave grips Europe.

Mediterranean countries from the Iberian peninsula through France and Italy to the Balkans and Greece have been sweltering for several days, prompting health warnings and wildfire alerts.Scientists say human-induced climate change is making such heat wave events more intense, frequent and widespread.Temperatures in France were expected to hit a peak on Tuesday, according to the Meteo France weather agency, with some areas expected to soar beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit)."We have air-conditioning but it's not very powerful," said Raphael, 27, on the street in a Parisian suburb. "Today is going to be a struggle."Paris was facing its first red alert in five years, with local officials empowered to limit or ban sporting events, festivals and school outings for children. Authorities said the alert would be extended into Wednesday.Operators of the Eiffel Tower shut the summit of the 330-meter (1,083-feet) high landmark at 1100 GMT on Monday and said it would remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday because of the heat wave."Remember to protect yourself from the sun and stay hydrated. Water fountains are available in the walkways leading to the esplanade," they said.All but the least polluting vehicles were banned from the Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, between 0330 GMT to 2200 GMT because of high ozone pollution levels, police said.Speed limits of 20 kilometers per hour (12.5 miles per hour) would also remain in some places.Across France, the government said it expected nearly 1,350 schools to be partially or completely shut—nearly double the number on Monday—with teachers complaining that overheated and unventilated classrooms were making students unwell.Warnings were issued for young children, older people and those with chronic illnesses."Heat waves are deadly," said Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the University of Reading, west of London."We need to treat extreme heat with the same seriousness we give to dangerous storms."Roll cloud-Portugal is expecting some respite on Tuesday after two days on red alert in several regions, including Lisbon, and warnings will be downgraded in all but eight areas inland.But temperatures were still expected to reach 40C in the central city of Castel Branco, Beja and Evora in the south, and 34C in the capital.The national meteorological agency IPMA said those on the beaches in northern and central Portugal would have seen a rare "roll cloud" blown towards the coast on Monday.Images shared on social networks showed a huge horizontal cloud heading from the horizon towards the shore, accompanied by a violent gust of wind when it reached land."The most frightening thing was the wind and everything becoming dark," one swimmer told online media outlet ZAP."It was very strange. We all started packing up our things and running. It looked like a tsunami."Similar temperatures in the high 30s to mid 40s were forecast in Spain after they soared to 46C in the south—a new record for June, according to the national weather agency.Red alerts have been issued for 18 Italian cities in the coming days, including Rome, Milan, Verona, Perugia and Palermo, as well as across the Adriatic on the Croatian coast and Montenegro.Italy also experienced another type of extreme weather event on Monday when a flash flood in the northern region of Piedmont caused by heavy rain killed a 70-year-old man."We are increasingly faced with emergency situations due to weather events that we used to call exceptional but are now more and more frequent," said the president of the region, Alberto Cirio, on social media.The Mediterranean Sea itself recorded a new June high of 26.01C on Sunday, according to French weather service scientist Thibault Guinaldo, citing data from EU monitor Copernicus.The risk of forest fires remains high in a number of Portuguese regions. On Monday night, some 250 firefighters were tackling a blaze in the southern Aljustrel area.In Turkey, rescuers evacuated more than 50,000 people threatened by a string of wildfires, most from the western province of Izmir, where winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour fanned the blazes.Greece has also been tackling wildfires.

July 2, 2025 report-The GIST-Astronomers discover a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting a nearby star by Tomasz Nowakowski, Phys.org edited by Stephanie Baum, reviewed by Robert Egan

Editors' notes-TESS PDCSAP phase-folded light curves of TOI-1846. The blue and green points are unbinned and binned (2-minutes) data. The solid line shows the best-fitting transit model. Credit: arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2506.18550-Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new super-Earth exoplanet that orbits a nearby M dwarf star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-1846 b, is about two times larger and four times more massive than Earth. The finding was detailed in a paper published June 23 on the arXiv preprint server.Launched in April 2018, TESS has identified more than 7,600 candidate exoplanets (TESS Objects of Interest, or TOI), of which 636 have been confirmed so far. The satellite is conducting a survey of about 200,000 brightest stars near the sun, looking for transiting extrasolar worlds.Now, a group of astronomers led by Abderahmane Soubkiou of the Oukaimeden Observatory in Morocco, reports that a transit signal has been identified in the star TOI-1846 monitored by TESS, which is located some 154 light years away. By conducting ground-based follow-up photometric and spectroscopic observations, they confirmed the planetary nature of this signal."We have validated TOI-1846 b using TESS and multicolor ground-based photometric data, high-resolution imaging, and spectroscopic observations," the researchers wrote in the paper.According to the study, TOI-1846 b has a radius of about 1.792 Earth radii and is 4.4 times more massive than Earth, which yields a density at a level of 4.2 g/cm3. The planet orbits its host every 3.93 days, at a distance of some 0.036 AU from it. The equilibrium temperature of TOI-1846 b is estimated to be 568.1 K.Based on the derived parameters, the astronomers concluded that TOI-1846 b is likely a water-rich super-Earth and belongs to the so-called "radius valley," a dip in occurrence in the radius distribution separating rocky super-Earths and gaseous sub-Neptunes. This dearth of planets is observed at around 1.8 Earth radii.The researchers noted that radial velocity (RV) observations of TOI-1846 b should be conducted in order to unveil its composition. "These findings make TOI-1846 b well-suited for mass determination via RV observations. This could be possible with the MAROON-X instrument. (...) We find a TSM [transmission spectroscopy metric] of 47 for TOI-1846 b, which is below the ≈ 90 benchmark for small sub-Neptunes," the authors of the paper wrote.When it comes to the parent star TOI-1846 (also known as TIC 198385543), it is about 0.4 times the size of the sun and its mass is approximately 0.42 solar masses. The star has an effective temperature of 3,568 K and is estimated to be 7.2 billion years old.

July 2, 2025-The GIST-Forecasting the final frontier: How research prepares US for the next solar storm-by Emily Hinds, University of Florida-edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

Editors' notes-NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of an X5.8 solar flare peaking at 9:23 p.m. EDT on May 10, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. Credit: NASA SDO-Just last month, a powerful solar storm lit up skies across the northern hemisphere, producing vivid auroras visible as far south as parts of the northern United States.But the breathtaking light show wasn't the only impact. The severe geomagnetic storm, triggered by a coronal mass ejection from the sun, sent waves of charged particles racing toward Earth, disrupting satellites, scrambling GPS signals and straining sections of the power grid. The event was a stark reminder that space weather is not just about spectacle, but a growing national security risk.At the University of Florida, space physicist Alicia Petersen, Ph.D., is working on solutions that could help shield the nation from the next big solar storm."As our society becomes increasingly dependent on space-based technologies—from agriculture and aviation to defense and disaster response—understanding space weather isn't optional. It's essential," said Petersen, an associate professor in UF's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a core member of the UF Astraeus Space Institute. Petersen's group is called the Space Weather Impacts, Forecasting and Transit, or SWIFT, Lab.Her lab leads efforts to forecast and model solar energetic particles and their impact on spacecraft and space-based infrastructure, such as communication systems. The work is a small piece of a growing federal push involving NASA, NOAA, and the U.S. Space Force, to respond to changes in the space environment and build more accurate prediction systems. The importance of this push is underscored by the surging intensity of the current solar cycle."We're just past the peak of the current solar cycle," Petersen said. "Intense solar activity is still ongoing and further displays of extreme space weather may still be on the horizon this cycle."Petersen's team is the only dedicated space weather research group at UF. Their work focuses on modeling the inner heliosphere—the vast space between Earth and the sun—to understand how solar energetic particles propagate through it and interact with spacecraft.They're also hoping to build a plasma chamber to simulate local impacts of space weather on space-based hardware and collaborating with engineers of autonomous control systems to develop the future capability for spacecraft to autonomously respond to space weather threats in real-time."We model how these particles move and how spacecraft systems can respond in orbit," Petersen said. "By doing that, we can better prepare for disruptions, or even design operations and systems that are more resilient to these events."Solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, often described as "storms on the sun," can unleash energy equivalent to billions of nuclear bombs. Flares travel at the speed of light while CMEs travel hundreds of miles per second. While they can produce stunning auroras, they also pose a serious risk to defense systems, civilian infrastructure and the global economy."We've already seen a taste of what solar storms can do," Petersen said. "The 2003 'Halloween Storms' impacted over half of all satellites in orbit at the time. And we know the sun is capable of even more extreme events."Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter—daily or weekly.The U.S. Department of Defense has become increasingly focused on space weather as a critical national security concern. Solar storms can disrupt satellite communications, GPS navigation, radar systems, and power infrastructure, all of which are central to military operations and national defense.Just weeks ago, on June 15, all of North America was engulfed in a shortwave radio blackout that was caused by space weather. While commercial radio operations were in the clear at a higher frequency, this solar flare did cause signal loss affecting amateur radio operators across the nation.As the military's reliance on space-based assets continues to grow, so does the need for accurate forecasting of solar activity. The DOD collaborates with agencies like NASA, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation to support research that improves space weather prediction, including work at universities such as UF. Space weather forecasting is now seen not only as a scientific challenge but as a strategic imperative to safeguard defense systems and infrastructure against high-impact solar events.Petersen's work feeds directly into national efforts led by agencies like NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, which has a public dashboard to track space weather in real time."We're not just looking at academic questions. We're helping to build the systems that protect power grids, enable safe air travel, and keep satellites online—all the things modern life depends on," Petersen said.Provided by University of Florida.

Tianwen 2 captures Earth and moon from deep space on asteroid missionby Riko Seibo.

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jul 02, 2025-China's Tianwen 2 probe has traveled over 12 million kilometers from Earth on its mission to collect asteroid samples, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced Tuesday. Now more than a month into its flight, the spacecraft remains fully operational as it follows a transfer trajectory toward its target, near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3.The CNSA released two images taken by the spacecraft's navigation camera, showing Earth and the moon as viewed from 590,000 kilometers away. These are the first photos returned by the Tianwen 2 mission since its launch.Lifted into space aboard a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on May 29, Tianwen 2 marks China's first attempt to retrieve unaltered material from an asteroid. The probe is scheduled to arrive at 2016 HO3-also known as 469219 Kamo'oalewa-by mid-2026. The asteroid, roughly 40 to 100 meters in diameter, is considered a quasi-satellite due to its consistent solar orbit near Earth.Once at its destination, Tianwen 2 will examine the asteroid with 11 scientific instruments, including radars, spectrometers, and cameras. It will then deploy specialized tools to extract surface materials and store them in a return capsule.Following sample retrieval, the spacecraft will return to Earth's orbit and release the capsule for reentry and recovery. Scientists will analyze the asteroid material to investigate its physical structure, chemical properties, and isotopic makeup, offering insights into the early solar system.The mission's second stage will see Tianwen 2 redirected toward 311P, a main-belt comet. There, it will perform a remote-sensing survey and transmit data back to Earth, expanding the mission's scientific impact.Experts say the dual-destination mission is expected to produce major discoveries and deepen understanding of small solar system bodies and Earth's cosmic neighborhood.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

MARK OF THE BEAST (engraved microchip in your hand or forehead)

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

REVELATION 16:1-2
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

3 PART PLAN TO MAKE YOU A PUPPET OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER (ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT CREW)
1-GET PEOPLE ADDICTED TO COMPUTERS.(MICRO-CHIPS INSIDE)
2-PUT COMPUTERS ON YOUR BODY (3D ETC) (MICRO-CHIPS INSIDE)
3-PUT A MICROCHIP INSIDE YOUR BODY. (COMPLETE) (TOTAL MICRO-CHIP CONTROL OF YOU)

I KNOW THIS MARK WILL BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE. UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION 13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE), OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX, KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125 THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM 1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE; FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 - STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick; (cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.; Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian, Plutarch, Lcian, others.) 

THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo

THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.

LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

FAMINE

EZEKIEL 5:16
16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

DEUTORONOMY 28:24
24  The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

Jeremiah 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 

Isaiah 57:21
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR WAVES) the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3-7
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-4
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,(EU WORLD DICTATOR)the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.(SOCIALISM)
13 These have one mind,(SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

2 THESSALONIANS 2:9-12
9 Even him,(EU WORLD DICTATOR) whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,(THE FALSE RESURRECTION BY THE WORLD DICTATOR) that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

GENESIS 49:16-17-POSSIBLY A JEW FROM DAN KILLS THE DICTATOR AT MIDPOINT OF TRIB
16  Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17  Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

THE WORLD DICTATOR

REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(EU WORLD DICTATOR) and he that sat on him had a bow;(PEACE) and a crown was given unto him:(WORLD LEADER) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he (FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he (THE EU DICTATOR) do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI5_pMvLZd8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWmPqY8TE0&feature=player_embedded

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 DIVSION REGION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT-NEW AGE MOVEMENT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.

DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.

REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(UNITED NATIONS TROOPS) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)

REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(EU WORLD DICTATOR) and he that sat on him had a bow;(PEACE) and a crown was given unto him:(WORLD LEADER) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he (FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he (THE EU DICTATOR) do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950

Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.

No one will enter the New World Order... unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation.- David Spangler Director of Planetary Initiative United Nations.

Trump administration’s citizenship database avoids oversight; ignites Big Brother fears-Jul 1, 2025, 9:23 pm EDT    | Anthony Kimery

In a sweeping move that has reshaped the architecture of federal identity verification, the Trump administration has created a searchable nationwide citizenship data exchange that ostensibly is being used to verify U.S. citizenship status for voter eligibility, but which could just as easily be used to monitor every American citizen in apparent violation of a slew of federal privacy laws and without Congressional oversight.The expansion of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system and its convergence with the Federal Data Services Hub (FDSH) reflects a broad shift toward predictive governance and centralized identity control. While the original purpose of SAVE was to validate non-citizen eligibility for entitlements, the new system undergirds a sweeping new framework of automated citizenship verification that easily could be used not just for determining voting eligibility, but potentially for law enforcement, immigration enforcement, financial eligibility assessments, or outright profiling and dossier compilations on citizens reminiscent of a SyFy dystopian world.Civil liberties advocates warn there are no current statutory frameworks that limit how this data can be shared or reused by other agencies once it is collected and centralized, or who can access, change, and manipulate it. In the absence of robust oversight, public transparency, and judicial review, the system’s expansion marks not just a technical evolution, but a transformation in the relationship between the individual and the state.The question is not whether the system can verify citizenship for voter eligibility purposes, but whether it can do so lawfully, fairly, and without eroding the constitutional rights its supporters claim to protect.According to reporting, the system compiles data from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration files and Social Security records to allow state election officials to check the citizenship status of registered or potential voters by simply submitting basic identifiers such as name, date of birth, and Social Security number.The system has been built on top of SAVE with significant data streams from the FDSH, which is a central platform administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that facilitates the exchange of identity and eligibility data between various federal agencies, including DHS, the Social Security Administration (SSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Defense. It marks a profound shift in how government agencies verify eligibility for public benefits, voter registration, and more, triggering widespread alarm among privacy advocates and civil liberties groups.Originally a backend verification tool that was used to confirm non-citizens’ eligibility for federal programs, SAVE now functions as a de facto national citizenship index. It was executed largely without public debate or Congressional oversight as smaller databases were quietly merged into it from across DHS, SSA, IRS, the Office of Personnel Management, and other federal entities like the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.This initiative was propelled by Executive Order 14248, Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections, signed by President Donald Trump on March 25. The order authorized DHS, with support from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to access SAVE, FDSH, and other federal databases to conduct batch screenings of voter rolls against immigration, citizenship, Social Security, and other identity records.In prior years, SAVE was accessed on a case-by-case basis, with states manually verifying the immigration status of select individuals applying for public benefits. Now, the system supports batch processing of entire voter rolls, allowing election officials to screen millions of individuals in minutes. The White House claims that this tool ensures that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote. DHS officials have said the system has already processed over nine million voter records with an alleged 99.99 percent match rate confirming citizenship.The core technology rests on a fusion of federal data sources, but it now uses Social Security Numbers alongside more traditional identifiers like Alien Registration Numbers to verify the status of naturalized and U.S.-born citizens, extending its scope far beyond its original purpose of verifying non-citizen eligibility. According to reports, this updated capability hinges on new data flows from the Social Security Administration and is tightly integrated with FDSH.The Trump administration says this data convergence has significantly boosted administrative efficiency, particularly in verifying income, tax filing status, military service, and citizenship for public benefits eligibility and health coverage enrollment under the Affordable Care Act. However, the expansion of this infrastructure into voter and citizenship verification has introduced deep constitutional and legal concerns.One major glaring issue is transparency. According to privacy experts, the rollout of the upgraded SAVE system was conducted with minimal notice and likely sidestepped requirements under the Privacy Act of 1974, a law that regulates how federal agencies collect, maintain, use, and disseminate personally identifiable information from individuals. The law further mandates public notification and a comment period when federal systems of records are significantly altered or repurposed – requirements critics argue were ignored in the rush to deploy the new system.Data accuracy poses another critical concern. Naturalized citizens may not appear in the database immediately due to lag times in updating records across agencies. Similarly, SSA records, while expansive, were never designed or intended to be definitive proof of citizenship. False negatives could result in eligible citizens being purged from voter rolls or forced to undergo cumbersome re-verification procedures. Yet, there is no clearly articulated appeals process or mechanism for individuals to be notified of potential mismatches, leaving voters in bureaucratic limbo.Civil liberties groups warn that the centralization of sensitive personal data from Social Security Numbers and immigration history to income and veteran status makes SAVE and the FDSH high-value targets for cyberattacks and internal misuse. Government Accountability Office audits have stated that both CMS and DHS need to improve information security protocols across shared systems such as FDSH.FDSH is increasingly viewed as the government’s central engine for identity verification. Managed by CMS, FDSH enables the federal marketplace and states to verify application information in real-time by checking it against existing federal databases. This includes confirming Social Security Numbers and citizenship status via SSA, immigration status via DHS, and income data via the IRS.FDSH ‘s original purpose – streamlining eligibility checks for health insurance programs – has now expanded into a comprehensive infrastructure for cross-agency data sharing. While the system is said by its proponents to reduces duplicative paperwork and speed up eligibility decisions, its reliance on broad interagency access to sensitive personal information raises serious privacy concerns.There is another critical issue. And that is governance. With over 1,100 agencies eligible to use SAVE, oversight becomes exceedingly difficult. Questions remain as to how access logs are maintained, how long data is stored, and whether external watchdogs or Congressional committees have meaningful insight into system usage.According to privacy law scholars, SAVE queries are typically retained for ten years, but it is unclear if batch voter registration data submitted for verification is also retained or cross-referenced for future enforcement or eligibility actions. Even less is known about what other purposes SAVE is being used for, who has access, and are these users’ activity in the system logged for accountability, privacy, and security purposes.There are also process-based concerns. Unlike traditional legal procedures that guarantee notice, the opportunity to be heard, and the ability to challenge adverse findings, the SAVE system operates largely in the background. Individuals whose citizenship is erroneously flagged as unverified may not even be aware of the error until they are denied a public benefit or are purged from voter rolls.This black-box design not only undermines transparency, it also raises due process challenges, particularly for populations most vulnerable to bureaucratic error such as naturalized citizens, low-income individuals, and limited English speakers.In legal terms, the SAVE expansion touches on multiple privacy frameworks. Under the Privacy Act of 1974, any federal database used to make decisions about individuals must publish a system of records notice (SORN) that includes detailed descriptions of data use, retention, and sharing practices.Although SAVE has long operated under an official SORN – specifically DHS/USCIS‑004 covering the core SAVE database and last updated in June 2020 to outline data collection, retention, and sharing practices – there has been no new or amended SORN addressing the recent expansion that enables batch queries via Social Security Numbers or voter roll checks.Similarly, the Federal Data Services Hub operates under its own security and privacy protocols covered by CMS SORN 09‑70‑0560, which was first published in the Federal Register on October 23, 2013, and updated on February 14, 2018. Critics contend that because of the sheer scope of what FDSH is now being used for pursuant to Trump Executive Order 14248, there are serious questions about whether existing safeguards are sufficient to protect against misuse, privacy violations and oversight, and systemic bias.This dramatic restructuring of identity verification in the U.S. comes at a time of renewed debate over voter access, election integrity, and the appropriate role of federal data in public administration. Proponents of the new system argue that it ensures that only eligible citizens vote or receive benefits, preventing fraud and enhancing administrative efficiency, but opponents contend that it represents a step toward a national registry of citizenship – something long considered anathema to American governance – and fear that it will be used as a tool of surveillance, disenfranchisement, and political targeting.

World’s latest phone-sized updates throw doubt on future of big shiny Orb-Trends suggest real goal is phone integration, but message remains acataleptic-Jul 1, 2025, 8:49 pm EDT    | Joel R. McConvey

World has made much of its Orb hardware device, a spherical iris scanner that seems to consciously nod at dystopian science fiction. But it appears to be moving slowly away from the Orb – which it openly admitted was designed as an attention-getter. A recent announcement unveiled the Orb Mini, which turns out to be shaped (and built) a lot like a smartphone.World’s latest evolution suggests that the big round eye is indeed just a shiny bauble, and that sooner rather than later, it aims to have its technology fit into the average mobile device. A post from the company on X introduces the new Deep Face Mini App pilot: “on the spot confirmation that the person you’re speaking with is a real human, and not a deepfake.”Deep Face is World’s deepfake detection product, which uses face authentication through World ID. Now, with the pilot, “anyone can create a Deep Face request in World App” (although “to respond to a Deep Face request, you need World App and an Orb-verified World ID”).World ID’s October 2024 update was already pointing to the smartphone, noting that, “to help bring World ID access to the millions of people who haven’t yet had a chance to verify at an Orb, World ID 3.0 introduces World ID Credentials, a new way to enable the World Network to scale and add utility even faster.”This enabled World ID holders to optionally store information from their physical NFC-enabled passports in World App on their device, then use World ID for anonymized proof of age, nationality and unique passport ownership.While it appears to be scaling down the size of its hardware, World continues scaling up its user base across its various interests, and its tech ecosystem. A post says World Chain “now provides priority blockspace for 13 million verified humans,” and announces that Priority Blockspace for Humans (PBH) is now live on World Chain mainnet, “representing a major milestone in the path to building a blockchain for the real human network.”World describes PBH as “a new mechanism implemented in World Chain’s block building logic that reserves a portion at the top of each block’s space for transactions sent from verified humans. Where bots create congestion, PBH provides a priority lane for real humans.” It works effectively like a VIP lane, clearing the way during periods of congestion in the blockspace for “real humans” to “continue interacting with core onchain services like proof of human verifications, Mini Apps, or grant claims without delay or disruption.”PBH positions “humanness” as a “new dimension of transaction ordering.” It says the World Chain Builder is built on top of Reth, “a modern Ethereum execution client written in Rust,” and that it integrates with Rollup Boost.World appears to be conceding that its Orb was just part of the show, and that such theatrics aren’t really necessary to win the hearts and minds of the masses (and could even be a putoff). However, it could stand to learn the same lesson about its language, which still sounds alternately dystopian, megalomaniacal, painfully pretentious, and like a whole lot of blether.

Canada directs Hikvision to stop local operations-Jul 1, 2025, 8:42 pm EDT    | Lu-Hai Liang

Canada has ordered Hikvision Canada to cease all operations in the country and close its Canadian business.Canada’s Industry Minister Mélanie Joly ordered the closure following a government review that determined Hikvision Canada’s continued operations in the country would be “injurious” to its national security.Hikvision is a Chinese biometric surveillance technology group that has seen increased scrutiny. In the U.S. that country’s Department of Defense put Hikvision on its list of Chinese military companies, along with other Chinese companies with business in facial recognition and biometrics.Hikvision has faced calls for a ban in the UK as well, even as the company’s security cameras are widely used in Scotland’s public CCTV networks and other facilities run by local governments and businesses.In Canada a “multi-step review” assessed evidence provided by Canada’s security and intelligence community, according to a statement by Joly, after which the government decided to order Hikvision Canada to stop all operations.The National Security Review noted that its scope did not extend to Hikvision’s affiliate operations outside of Canada, and it does not affect its parent company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. Ltd.“However,” Joly said, “I strongly encourage all Canadians to take note of this decision and make their own decisions accordingly.”As a result of the decision, federal departments, agencies and crown corporations will be barred from purchasing or using any Hikvision products. In addition, the government of Canada is conducting a review to ensure that legacy Hikvision products are not used going forward.On Saturday, a spokesperson for China’s embassy to Canada condemned the decision, accusing Canada of politicizing trade and urging it to stop the “unreasonable suppression” of Chinese business and infringing on Chinese companies’ legitimate rights.Hikvision itself also voiced its opposition: “We strongly disagree with this decision and view it with deep concern, as we believe it lacks a factual basis, procedural fairness, and transparency,” the company said in a statement on Saturday.“Instead of evaluating our technology on its cybersecurity merits, the decision appears to be driven by the parent company’s country of origin, reflecting broader geopolitical tensions and an unjustified bias against Chinese companies,” it continued.

Somalia’s biometric border overhaul signals deeper US engagement-Jul 1, 2025, 8:30 pm EDT    | Anthony Kimery

In a move hailed as both technologically significant and strategically vital, Somalia formally launched the Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES) at key border control points across the country. Backed by the U.S. government, the system marks a major leap in Somalia’s national border management capabilities.Largely based on biometrics developed by Booz Allen Hamilton, PISCES is active in 23 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and other regions. It is a biometric border control and identity management system that was developed for the Department of State’s Terrorist Interdiction Program in 1997 to screen travelers in real time against domestic and international watchlists. The platform integrates hardware such as facial recognition cameras, fingerprint readers, and passport scanners with software that is capable of detecting document fraud and anomalous travel patterns.On June 22, Somalia’s Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA) initiated comprehensive training for Somali immigration officers aimed at building the technical foundation for operating PISCES. The training was held in Mogadishu and conducted by American officials dispatched through the U.S. Embassy, highlighting the intensity of cooperation between Washington and the Somali government in civil infrastructure reform.The system is used by countries considered high-risk for irregular migration, terrorism, or transnational crime, and is viewed by U.S. officials as a soft power instrument that advances counterterrorism and security goals while supporting partner states in governance modernization.In Somalia, the system’s rollout is part of a larger modernization plan that includes the launch of a new polycarbonate biometric e-passport, an online visa application platform, and a memorandum of understanding with Interpol to integrate international criminal databases into Somali immigration operations.According to ICA Director General Mustafe Sheikh Cali Dhuxulow, the new capabilities are not just about adopting new technologies, but about transforming the way Somalia manages identity, mobility, and trust in public institutions. In his remarks opening four-days of PISCES training, Dhuxulow thanked the U.S. government for its longstanding partnership and emphasized Somalia’s commitment to building a secure, credible, and modern migration management system.A representative of the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu described the training and system deployment as a historic milestone in Somalia’s post-conflict rebuilding efforts. He noted that PISCES is already used worldwide as a frontline defense against border-related threats and that Somalia’s adoption of the system will help it better integrate with the global security architecture.The U.S. Embassy has taken a lead role in organizing logistics, curriculum development, and technical support for the training, which specifically focused on border security at airports, seaports, and overland checkpoints.In January, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a Request for Information to support continued operation and maintenance of the Somalia Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), a federal interagency-led effort designed to strengthen Somalia’s capacity for criminal justice and counterterrorism through advanced biometric identification technologies. The FBI said at the time that it aimed to strengthen Somalia’s law enforcement capabilities, ensuring the region’s stability and security through enhanced biometric identification.Somalia seeks to tighten controls along its historically porous borders which have long been exploited by traffickers, smugglers, and armed groups. With the deployment of PISCES, authorities are now able to verify identities in real time, cross-check travelers against global watchlists, and flag suspicious behavior, all essential functions in an environment where criminal networks often take advantage of weak administrative structures.The system’s integration with biometric e-passports and digital visa platforms further enhances the Somalia’s ability to detect fraud and assess potential risks before travelers arrive at entry points.Officials said PISCES is already being deployed at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu and will be expanded to cover other ports of entry across Somalia. In addition to supporting border management, the system has implications for law enforcement, immigration processing, and Somalia’s ability to collaborate with international partners on issues ranging from counterterrorism to migration governance.The government has also stated that the systems will reinforce Somalia’s sovereignty by providing accurate, verifiable data on all individuals entering and exiting the country.Somalia’s integration of PISCES is not an isolated case. The system has been deployed across multiple African nations over the last two decades, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Djibouti.In Kenya, PISCES has been used since the early 2000s at major international airports where it has reportedly improved processing times and helped prevent the entry of individuals flagged in terrorism or criminal databases. A 2021 study examining the use of PISCES in Kenya found that immigration officers experienced increased efficiency and reduced identity fraud due to the system’s biometric verification capabilities.Ethiopia and Tanzania have adopted PISCES under similar U.S.-backed agreements, with varying degrees of transparency in implementation. In Burkina Faso, the system was deployed as part of broader U.S. assistance programs tied to regional counterterrorism objectives.In May, 2024, Tajikistan and the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office and the Department of State on Tajikistan’s deployment of PISCES.What sets Somalia’s implementation of PISCES apart is the comprehensive, public-facing rollout that links biometric controls to an overarching state modernization agenda. In contrast to earlier adoptions that focused narrowly on security, Somalia’s use of PISCES is situated within a framework of governance reform, citizen service improvement, and institutional trust-building.The biometric e-passport, for example, aligns with International Civil Aviation Organization standards, offering Somali citizens an internationally recognized form of identification. The digital visa system aims to streamline travel while reducing opportunities for fraud, another common vulnerability in countries emerging from conflict.This layered approach reflects not only evolving security priorities, but also growing recognition of the role identity infrastructure plays in economic development, international mobility, and human rights.A senior U.S. official involved in the program noted that the systems deployed in Somalia “save lives, stop crimes, and build trust in institutions.” These are not marginal benefits, especially for a country like Somalia where government legitimacy has long been undermined by instability and weak service delivery.The implications extend beyond Somalia’s borders. The Horn of Africa remains a critical nexus for migration flows, terrorism, and international shipping routes. With Somalia’s new capabilities, regional coordination efforts through organizations like the Intergovernmental Authority on Development or the African Union’s border governance initiatives may see improved data sharing and more unified enforcement practices.In fact, Somalia’s recent agreement with Interpol to integrate global law enforcement databases into its border systems suggests that it is positioning itself as a cooperative regional actor, not just a security recipient.Critics of PISCES have long raised concerns about privacy, data protection, and the risk of external surveillance in host countries. These debates have intensified in places where civil liberties frameworks are weak or where system oversight is ambiguous. However, Somali officials have indicated that the implementation includes policies for responsible data use, supported by capacity-building from U.S. and international agencies.Whether those safeguards are sufficient remains to be seen, but the government’s willingness to speak publicly about the system and its uses represents a shift from the opacity that has surrounded past biometric deployments in the region.The broader U.S.–Somalia partnership under which PISCES was delivered signals a shift in American engagement, from primarily military and intelligence-based assistance to investment in civilian and governance-focused systems.The State Department’s involvement underscores that the U.S. views border security as integral to peacebuilding, economic recovery, and counterterrorism, and not just as a military concern. For Somalia, it is an opportunity to build a modern state apparatus that meets international expectations while addressing long-standing internal vulnerabilities.Somalia’s adoption of PISCES is more than a technical upgrade. It represents a pivotal moment in the country’s post-conflict governance strategy, one that combines biometric technologies, international cooperation, and institutional reform. By embedding these tools in a broader modernization plan supported by trusted partners and publicly accountable leadership, Somalia is taking tangible steps toward reclaiming control over its borders and restoring the public’s trust in its institutions.

South Dakota to push ahead with age verification law following SCOTUS opinion-Porn laws likely to stick, but NetChoice continues grinding at social media legislation-Jul 1, 2025, 1:28 pm EDT    | Joel R. McConvey

The Supreme Court ruling upholding Texas’ age verification requirement for porn sites has set the stage for a wave of legislation in the U.S. Up first is South Dakota, where an age verification law is set to take effect today. It requires any site hosting adult material “in the regular course of the website’s trade or business” to implement age verification or age estimation technology. itsIn Texas, the law applies to websites on which one-third or more of the content is considered pornographic or adult. Reporting from South Dakota Searchlight says South Dakota doesn’t have that proportional restriction; lawmakers behind the bill say the number is arbitrary, something Texas “made up.”The piece quotes South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who says the Supreme Court decision “supports the protections enacted by the South Dakota Legislature to protect South Dakota families.”It also quotes those who believe the laws could, in fact, harm some families. In her dissent to the SCOTUS ruling, Justice Elena Kagan argues that Texas should have tailored its law more narrowly, “to ensure it is not undervaluing the interest in free expression.”“Many reasonable people, after all, view the speech at issue here as ugly and harmful for any audience,” Kagan writes. “But the First Amendment protects those sexually explicit materials, for every adult. So a state cannot target that expression, as Texas has here, any more than is necessary to prevent it from reaching children.”In South Dakota, the American Civil Liberties issued a statement to Searchlight, saying the Supreme Court “has departed from decades of settled precedents that ensured that sweeping laws purportedly for the benefit of minors do not limit adults’ access to First Amendment-protected materials.”NetChoice sues Arkansas again, warning of frivolous litigation-Free Speech Coalition, the industry group for porn providers, may have been unable to move the Supreme Court. But a more powerful (and richer) industry lobby continues its bulldozer tour across U.S. legislation to impose age assurance requirements on social media.NetChoice’s members include Amazon, Google, Meta, Netflix, PayPal, reddit, StubHub, Trivago, X, Yahoo and YouTube (among others) – so it’s no surprise they have the resources to continue mounting legal challenges. Its latest action is suing the government of Arkansas (for a second time) over Act 901, which a blog post calls “another unconstitutional attempt to censor online speech that directly defies the Supreme Court’s 2024 NetChoice doctrine by trying to dictate how online services display information.”For First Amendment fear mongering, NetChoice brings out the big guns. Alleging that the bill’s requirements are “unreasonably vague,” it warns of censorship, and “frivolous lawsuits” that will “coerce online platforms to remove vast amounts of protected content that could be questionable – from discussions about historical documents like the Declaration of Independence to popular culture like Taylor Swift’s music.”AP reports that the action also challenges a law prohibiting social media platforms from using a design, algorithm or feature it “knows or should have known through the exercise of reasonable care” would cause a user to kill themself, develop an eating disorder, become addicted to the platform, or purchase a controlled substance.Summoning a far more obscure but no less mighty pop culture icon to the party, the suit “questions whether songs that mention drugs, such as Afroman’s ‘Because I Got High,’ would be prohibited under the new law.”Georgia decision ‘a major victory for free speech’Regardless of its stance in Arkansas, endless litigation appears to be working for NetChoice in Georgia, where a judge has upheld its challenge to the state’s proposed social media age check law, SB 351.NetChoice Director of Litigation Chris Marchese calls the ruling “a major victory for free speech, constitutional clarity and the rights of all Georgians to engage in public discourse without intrusive government overreach.”“Free expression doesn’t end where government anxiety begins. Parents – not politicians – should guide their children’s lives online and offline – and no one should have to hand over a government ID to speak in digital spaces.”

Social media’s age verification crisis: Can platforms solve the technical and ethical puzzle? Jul 1, 2025, 1:19 pm EDT    | Liudas Kanapienis

The demand for robust, ethical, and privacy-first verification systems is growing rapidly, explains Liudas Kanapienis, CEO and co-founder of Ondato. Tools that meet these standards already exist, and companies are actively working with platforms to implement them responsibly.Restrictions on children’s access to social media are a controversial topic that has captured the attention of numerous governments around the world. Age verification systems on tech platforms are suddenly becoming a pressing issue, requiring not only precision but also a quick turnaround time for implementation. However, this is not an overnight problem, but an ethical, global, urgent one.As the landmark under-16 social media ban in Australia takes effect in December 2025, with other countries such as France and Spain proposing similar laws, technology firms are racing to develop technology that can verify a user’s age without compromising privacy or inadvertently locking out vulnerable groups. Fortunately, this is not uncharted territory.A global regulatory push-The legislation was passed in Australia, which will make it illegal for children under the age of 16 to have accounts on sites like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and potentially YouTube, which is currently under review for exemption.The act places the onus on the platforms rather than the users and requires them to either take “reasonable steps” to ensure the verification of age or face fines up to AU$49.5 million per violation.Nevertheless, with only five months to enforcement, the industry has not yet agreed on what reasonable steps specifically mean.The technical puzzle: Scale, speed, and accuracy-The majority of the existing age gates on social media websites are based on self-reported birthdays, which are easily circumvented and generally perceived to be ineffective. Experiments with more sophisticated tools, such as AI-based facial age estimation, are in progress.Nevertheless, such solutions are not perfect yet. ABC reported that during recent tests, the technology could only estimate the age of the people within 18 months in 85% of the cases. The tool has misidentified children as young as 15 as being in their 20s and 30s, which means that a 14-year-old child may be allowed to access a social media account and a 17-year-old may be denied. Some studies demonstrate that even the most accurate age-estimation software on the market today still gets an average error of 1.0 years. The other software alternatives misjudge the age of a person by an average of 3.1 years.Bringing accurate and compliant age verification to hundreds of millions of users with real-time checks and low friction can be a big technical challenge, particularly across cross-device, cross-region, and cross-demographic groups. However, it’s also achievable, and necessary to meet the goals of these new laws.Solutions should also be able to comply with a number of international regulations: Australia is insisting on a 16+ limit, France will set it at 15, and some jurisdictions will continue to permit access at age 13. This adds to the complexity of platforms that need to roll out a scalable verification system.The ethical dilemma: Privacy vs. protection-Beyond the technical problems, there is a more fundamental ethical conflict: how to ensure child safety without compromising the personal data of users.Many age verification technologies use sensitive data, such as facial scans, government-issued IDs, or biometrics, which presents major privacy concerns, especially within the context of laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU.Protective measures, if not designed with privacy in mind, can have unintended consequences: Over-collection of data often leads to mistrust and regulatory backlash.Privacy-first solutions strike a balance between safety, compliance, and user experience. This includes using a layered or hybrid approach, where low-friction, non-invasive tools like AI-based age estimation are prioritized, and more sensitive methods (such as ID scans) are reserved only for cases that truly require them. This mirrors best practices in digital identity verification across banking and fintech, proving that effective age assurance doesn’t have to come at the cost of personal privacy.Unintended consequences and workarounds-There is also growing concern that aggressive enforcement can only serve to drive young users into more dangerous activities. VPNs, fake ID generators, and third-party apps that spoof user data are prevalent, often containing malware, trackers, or phishing attempts.Teens who attempt to circumvent restrictions may end up exposing themselves to identity theft, spyware, or even worse. It is not merely a policy failure – it turns into a cybersecurity problem.A recent study in Australia revealed that 37% of children between the ages of 10 and 15 years reported having seen harmful or inappropriate content on sites such as YouTube. However, the study also demonstrated the significance of these platforms in educational content and cultural affiliation, especially among regional and economically disadvantaged groups. Again, this study is further evidence that the complexity of this matter cannot be handled rigidly. Without proper investigation and well-rounded legislation that considers both the benefits and drawbacks of social media, we will put our children at risk with our own actions.A narrow window for innovationWith regulators breathing down their necks, social media platforms must speed up not only technical innovation but also transparency to the general public.Unless users, parents, and regulators know how age verification works, or believe it is non-invasive and fair, no matter how sophisticated the technology is, it will not work. It will not be trusted by people.Social media companies should take the lead from fintech firms, which have made investments in user education, open data practices, and cross-sector engagement with governments and watchdogs.What comes next? In the next few months, the Australian government is likely to provide further guidance on the acceptable standards of verification, such as whether or not YouTube will be exempt from the ban on under-16s. In the meantime, other governments around the world are also considering this approach.The Online Safety Act, enacted by the UK in 2023, already requires a minimum of age-appropriate design for digital services. The EU is planning to take the safety of children more seriously, as outlined in the Digital Services Act. At the same time, several states in the USA have introduced bills on the need to have parental consent or age verification on social media for minors.However, until a common framework or more advanced technology is developed, compliance will remain fragmented and uneven.We are at a crossroads. When done right, age verification can make online safety a better place without breaking trust. And that’s exactly what responsible companies are focused on: developing privacy-first, compliant, and user-friendly solutions. But when done wrong, it risks pushing users underground, undermining privacy, and creating only the illusion of safety.

Namibia weighs biometrics options for foundation of instant payment system-Jul 1, 2025, 1:06 pm EDT    | Chris Burt

One of the signs of progress towards realizing the “prioritizing use, accelerating impact” part of the ID4Africa 2025 AGM’s official theme was the presence of more representatives from relying parties.Among them was Marsorry Ickua, the chief operating officer of Instant Payments Namibia.The instant payment system initiative launched last year as part of Namibia’s drive to reap the economic gains of digital public infrastructure. Namibia has a new Civil Registration and Identification law, a budget to implement it, and new digital ID cards are rolling out next month.Ickua was seconded from Namibia’s Central Bank to work on the country’s new instant payment system shortly before he spoke to Biometric Update on the sidelines of ID4Africa 2025 in Addis Ababa. He says the country also has a strong financial system for the digital payments rails to be built on top of, but has so far struggled to deliver the benefits of the system to people in rural areas.The  project is currently at the stage of “deploying infrastructure and getting stakeholders on board,” Ickua says. As part of that process, he was both attending presentations and discussions and familiarizing himself with some of the biometric authentication technologies being exhibited.“One of the underlying pillars of a successful instant payment product for a country is good authentication and understanding who people are,” Ickua notes. The system will likely use biometrics for user authentication, Ickua says, because of concerns about the ease with which cards can be forged or cloned.While fraud prevention is a major concern, the project is largely intended to support financial inclusion, and hopefully lower the cost of transactions.Whatever technology is chosen has to be cost effective to implement both for Instant Payments Namibia but also the merchants and organizations it wants to use the system. This has proven a challenge so far.“We were in the process of looking at very expensive hardware,” Ickua says, “putting them down at places like commercial banks, which is where we need to do KYC, as well as at points of entry.”Lessons from abroad-Namibia has ambitions of establishing a comprehensive system, with the instant payments capability potentially integrated with other systems to facilitate public and private service delivery, but Ickau emphasizes the need to ensure strong foundations are in place.He cites the example of the India Stack, and how it leverages a high connectivity rate and coverage of digital ID.“Only then, once those two pillars are well covered, was their financial sector with the UPI platform very successful,” Ickua says. “It started off slowly but then it kind of just blew up. That’s what we’re aiming to do. We have similar challenges, even though our populations are vastly different.”The overall objective of Instant Payments Namibia is similar to Kenya-founded M-Pesa, in that it gets money moving in remotest corners of country. But there are also some key differences, according to Ickua.“M-Pesa’s success is drawn from the fact that it was born out of necessity,” he explains.” I think at the time maybe the financial sector wasn’t addressing people’s needs. ‘I just want to be able to get something from the store,’ and maybe you can use your credit to do that. In our case, we have a fairly established payment system already. We’ve got card payments, we’ve got EFT et cetera, and it’s working fairly well. Our only challenge is that it’s not going to as many corners of the country as we would like it to.”Namibia’s financial system currently covers about 78 percent of the country’s population, Ickua says. “That last 20 percent is very difficult.”The country will need to improve mobile phone network coverage, electricity and public understanding of tech and fintech, he says, “let alone getting devices, smart or otherwise, into people’s hands”Encouraging options-What Ickua saw and heard at ID4frica this year was encouraging, he says: “There are some cost-effective solutions that are available for us.”He notes technologies like QR codes as a possibility, and says, “At least we have options.” At the same time, he says, “we don’t want to dictate how the ministry applies the technology.”Ultimately, the Instant Payments scheme will likely need another entity to do the identity verification for onboarding, Ickua says. “We want to rather focus our efforts on just the overlying financial services component, enabling the payments seamlessly, rather than also being the engine that does authentication and verification against the national registration database.”The Central Bank would be willing to consider capital outlay to fast-track the process and make it more cost-effective, but whatever is decided on, the system will need to use the national registration database for onboarding to prevent fraud and money laundering.Third parties “do have some information, and it is quite credible, but at the end of the day it’s still a commercial entity doing this. So we want the meeting of minds. We want the MNOs’ data combined with the government’s data so that we can have a proper, legitimate authentication process on which we can then rely, with financial services on top of it.”Namibia is interested in eventually adding digital wallet on top of the payment system, and ultimately wants digital wallets and bank accounts to be interoperable.“For the financial sector, you may want to entertain not just the payment element of it, but being able to have that digital wallet, where you can store such a thing as” an e-passport or birth certificate to facilitate transactions, Ickua says.He is optimistic enough about meeting the initiative’s short-term goals to look further ahead, despite the many items on the to-do list above.“We’ve got a lot of challenges to get through, but I think we’re on the right track. And once the urban communities pick the technology up, they will want to get those resources to their communities” in the remotest parts of Namibia.

Neural Payments integrates Trust Stamp orchestration to stop fraud-‘No need for callbacks, insecure one-time passcodes sent via SMS or email’Jul 1, 2025, 1:04 pm EDT    | Joel R. McConvey

Trust Stamp has announced a partnership with Neural Payments, which will integrate Trust Stamp’s low-code Orchestration Platform to provide identity verification for Know Your Customer (KYC) processes and selfie-based re-authentication for payments.A release from the Atlanta-headquartered company says the proliferation of popular P2P apps like PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle has created a fertile ground for fraudsters to plunder with generative AI and social engineering.Trust Stamp President Andrew Gowasack, says that Neural Payments has taken a “proactive approach by enabling users to enroll using their face and government ID document, then to approve future payments with a selfie.”“Rather than storing sensitive biometric information, selfies are converted into Irreversibly Transformed Identity Tokens (IT2) which can be compared to future IT2. There is no need for callbacks, insecure one-time passcodes sent via SMS or email, or authenticator apps. Approving a payment is as easy as taking a selfie.”The comment on callbacks rings louder in the context of a building movement to ban “phone home” server retrieval for identity verification.Mick Oppy, founder and CEO of Neural Payments, says that fraud mitigation is no longer a passive issue for financial institutions: “it’s a top concern that requires real-time and preemptive action. With Trust Stamp, we’re signaling our commitment to both our customers and our 2025 growth aspirations as we push towards becoming the FinTech of choice for P2P payments.”Per the release, both Trust Stamp and Neural Payments are graduates of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) ThinkTECH Accelerator.

SITA leads biometric-powered check-in upgrade at Taipei Songshan Airport-Jul 1, 2025, 11:17 am EDT    | Lu-Hai Liang

Taipei Songshan Airport is upgrading its check-in counters to streamline the check-in experience with SITA leading the change.SITA will deploy self-service and biometrics-powered technology to help Taipei Songshan Airport (TSA) future-proof its operations, with all airlines operating from TSA’s international terminal able to access SITA’s Flex platform and Smart Path check-in kiosks.“Emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Asia Pacific region has seen a hugely invigorating domestic travel boom,” said Sumesh Patel, president for Asia Pacific at SITA. “This year passenger numbers in the region are expected to grow by 7.9 percent, the highest rate globally.”To smooth this expected increase without expanding the airport physically, which is not always possible, Patel points to smarter technology as the solution. Greater speed and efficiency is the promise with SITA’s Flex platform, Smart Path check-in kiosks and use of face biometrics to link passengers to their ID and acquire their boarding passes.“All our solutions boast modular, flexible design, meaning our technology will grow with TSA and its airlines, constantly adapting to passenger requirements and ensuring the airport has the tools to support anything the future holds,” Patel said.Flex allows passengers the ability to check in to their flight from their mobile phone. SITA Self Bag Drop has been documented to speed up processing time by up to 80 percent. Integration with biometric authentication via SITA Smart Path kiosks can further streamline bag drops so that the entire process can be completed in as little as 70 seconds, SITA claims.Supporting these systems will be the SITA Maestro Departure Control System (DCS) which automates airline check-in and boarding and ensures “full continuity” if there are unforeseen network disruptions, according to the company.The rollout of all SITA technologies at TSA is expected to be completed by the end of this year.Enhancing the seamless passenger experience-From remote selfie-based identity verification on your smart phone, to self-bag drop, accessing VIP lounges, getting through security, concession-shopping, and boarding your plane, train or cruise ship, biometrics is enabling the seamless travel experience. Watch this webinar on demand to learn more about biometric-driven efficiency in travel.