JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
PUTINS TESTS TWO NUKES SAYS THEY WEREN'T NUKES.
And
here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either
through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and
only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this
land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia,
Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the
Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11,
Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL
DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES
INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE.
Joel 3:2-King James Version (YOU
DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - YOUR POKING GOD IN THE EYE - GOD SAYS AN EYE
FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH- YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF
- HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION 4 BILLION DIE ON EARTH.
2 I will also
gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of
Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my
heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted
my land.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7
Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and
Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the
inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of
the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the
Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN
TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow
the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell
therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land
shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his
strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the
rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their
children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4
Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN
FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that
remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the
country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY)
Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou
cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7
How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against
Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he
appointed it.
RUSSIA,GERMANY, ARAB MUSLIMS COME AGAINST ISRAEL.
EZEKIEL 38:1-23
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA)
the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy
against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against
thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and
Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into
thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee
forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with
all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields,
all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6
Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of
the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with
thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and
prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto
thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be
visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is
brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against
the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is
brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of
them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a
cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with
thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall
also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy
mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt
say,(RUSSIA-ARAB-MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled
villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely,
all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12
To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine
hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the
people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle
and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and
Dedan,(SAUDI-ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(SPAIN) with all the
young lions thereof,(ENGLAND,AND ALL ITS ASSOCIATES-CANADA,AUSTRALIA-NEW
ZEALAND, USA, AND WESTERN ENGLISH SPEAKING NATIONS) shall say unto
thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to
take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and
goods, to take a great spoil?(OIL IS IN SPOIL-I BELIEVE THATS WHY
RUSSIA,ARAB/MUSLIMS MARCH TO ISRAEL)
14 Therefore, son of man,
prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my
people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And
thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many
people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a
mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel,
as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I
will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I
shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my
servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many
years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to
pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel,
saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in
my jealousy and in the fire (atomic bomb) of my wrath have I spoken,
Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20
So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the
beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth,
and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my
presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places
shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will
call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord
GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will
plead against him with pestilence (biological,chemical,nuclear) and with
blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many
people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones,
fire, and brimstone.(NUKED,THEN MIGRATING BIRDS EAT RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS
FLESH)
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I
will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am
the LORD.
EZEKIEL 39:1-29
1 Therefore, thou son of man,
prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech
(MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee
back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of
thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will
cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee
upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4
Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,(
ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the
ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be
devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6
And I will send a shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto
Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley
of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east
of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there
shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE)
and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300
MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13
Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it
shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified,
saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual
employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to
bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth,
to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15
And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s
bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the
buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of
Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN
THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every
feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY
SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and
come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do
sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel,
that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM
ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood
of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of
bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS
IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be
drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for
you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21
And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS)
and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have
executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid
upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23
And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity
for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I
my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so
fell they all by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity
of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be
jealous for my holy name;
26 After that they have borne their shame,
and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when
they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
27 When I
have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their
enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28
Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to
be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto
their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29
Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my
spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7
Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and
Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the
inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of
the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the
Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN
TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow
the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell
therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land
shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his
strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the
rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their
children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4
Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN
FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that
remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the
country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY)
Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou
cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7
How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against
Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he
appointed it.
Now the scriptures that a week in Israel history is 7YEARS.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
Isn"t
this interesting it comes from the same Person whos name was changed to
Israel,(JACOB) and Israel and Jerusalem is the places dealt with in
Daniel 9:24-27.
GENESIS 32:27-28
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as
a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26
And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF
69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and
the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof
shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are
determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND
PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL
WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant
(PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of
the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2
yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of
abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and
that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell
are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under
falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord
GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a
precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not
make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and
righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge
of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your
covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell
shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then
ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth
it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and
by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
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.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
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.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring
man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised
the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS
HIMSELF GOD)
WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THIS GUYS COMMENTS
BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS SAUDI-ARABIA WILL NORMALIZE RELATIONS. BECAUSE
WHEN RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS MARCH AGAINST ISRAEL. SAUDI-ARABIA WILL BE
PUTTING UP A DIPLOMATIC COMMENT AGAINST THESE NATIONS COMING AGAINST
ISRAEL.
Analysis-Rejecting normalization, Smotrich bids for
right-wing boost at Saudis’ expense-Far-right finance minister’s
incendiary ‘camel’ comment seen as calculated move to energize his base
and assert nationalist credentials with little Netanyahu can do to stop
him By Ariela Karmel-Today, 10:53 am-NOV 1,25
When Finance
Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared last week that the Saudis could just
“keep riding camels” if a Palestinian state was a precondition for
normalization with Israel, he ignited a political firestorm, offending
Riyadh, infuriating Washington and embarrassing Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, who is eagerly pursuing a US-brokered bridge to the Arab
world’s biggest and most important player.Even for a politician who
routinely courts controversy with incendiary statements, Smotrich’s
comment seemed audacious. Roundly denounced, he eventually apologized
for the “inappropriate” camel jibe, but held firm on his rejection of
diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia if it meant allowing Palestinians to
establish a state.The episode, far more than a political gaffe or
theater, was a strategic move that served a dual purpose for the leader
of the far-right Religious Zionism party: advancing his electoral
prospects while reinforcing the political realities that ultimately keep
him tethered to Netanyahu’s coalition. Unlikely to do any real damage
to normalization efforts or his alliance with the premier, Smotrich’s
comment carried limited risk and a high likelihood of reward.Smotrich
“knows Bibi needs him,” a Knesset source said, using Netanyahu’s
nickname. “He can embarrass Netanyahu and nothing will happen.”Prof.
Gideon Rahat, a senior fellow in the Israel Democracy Institute’s
Political Reform Program, called the comments a “win-win for Smotrich,”
allowing him to shore up his base and bolster his anti-Palestinian bona
fides for right-wing voters.Elections are currently set for October
2026, though they may be moved up if Netanyahu’s governing coalition
collapses before then. If the vote were held today, polls have shown,
Religious Zionism would fail to cross the 3.25-percent vote threshold to
enter the Knesset.“This is an election year, and [Smotrich] needs
support looking toward the elections,” Rahat noted.Without more support,
Smotrich’s party may be forced to run on a joint ticket with rival
far-right party Otzma Yehudit, led by National Security Minister Itamar
Ben Gvir. Doing so would reduce Smotrich’s bargaining power in coalition
talks and limit his ability to exert influence over Netanyahu and key
policy decisions.Smotrich has long positioned himself as a staunch
champion of the settlement movement and proponent of annexation of the
West Bank, and views Palestinian statehood, even as part of a diplomatic
grand bargain, as an existential threat to that project.Reports and
comments from officials indicate that Israel will be expected to make
some concessions aimed at paving a pathway toward Palestinian statehood
in exchange for Saudi normalization. The issue is expected to be high on
the agenda when Saudi Crown rPince Mohammed bin Salman visits US
President Donald Trump at the White House later this month.Forging
diplomatic ties with Riyadh has generally been a consensus issue, with
few on the right voicing criticism, giving Smotrich a unique opportunity
to signal his uncompromising nationalist credentials to his supporters
and energize his base.A Knesset source close to the coalition described
his remarks as a deliberate effort to “set himself apart from Ben Gvir
and the rest of the right.”“Nobody else would have made such comments —
Smotrich is clearly looking to stand out,” they said. “This was a
planned move. He’s using his remarks on the Saudis to distinguish
himself and advance his campaign.”Despite Netanyahu’s reported fury
following Smotrich’s remarks — Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman
described the premier as “apoplectic” — the finance minister seems to
have suffered no consequences, partly because Netanyahu cannot afford to
sideline him.Netanyahu’s coalition no longer represents the Knesset
majority, with the defection of the United Torah Judaism party over the
lack of legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox from the military draft and
the loss of Noam MK Avi Maoz.“Netanyahu doesn’t have a coalition
without Ben Gvir or Smotrich, so he will put up with them until the
end,” said Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak.That political reality gives
Smotrich enormous latitude. He can provoke, embarrass, and even undercut
Netanyahu’s diplomatic goals without fear of retribution. The prime
minister’s threats to “rein in” his ministers ring hollow.Smotrich and
Ben Gvir also engaged in similar political muscle-flexing a day earlier,
backing a bill seeking to apply Israeli sovereignty to all West Bank
settlements that Netanyahu had attempted to quash.In both cases,
Smotrich showed his willingness to put his ideology ahead of wider
diplomatic processes.“It was very authentic — it’s what he really
thinks,” Rahat said. “He sees the world as a secondary environment to
his own small messianic world. He’s very provincial in his worldview.”A
spokesperson for Smotrich did not respond to a request for comment.For
all of his public remonstrations, Netanyahu may actually privately value
Smotrich’s provocations, which could allow him to appear relatively
temperate while giving him room to drive a harder bargain with the
Saudis.Netanyahu “uses Smotrich’s extremism to present himself as a
‘moderate,’” charged MK Aida Touma-Sliman of the opposition Hadash–Ta’al
party“Netanyahu can always present himself as the ‘adult in the room’
and a moderate alternative — both to Trump internationally and
domestically,” Rahat said. “It actually makes him look good.”
Nearly
7 in 10 say Israel effectively a client state of the US-Two-thirds of
Israelis believe US now calls the shots on IDF operations in Gaza –
poll-On anniversary of Rabin murder, 70% across political lines are
worried about another assassination; public divided on Haredi draft,
critical of Yair Netanyahu’s potential WZO appointment By Stav Levaton
and ToI Staff Today, 9:38 am-NOV 1,25
Two-thirds of Israelis
believe the United States, not Israel, is now steering military
operations in Gaza, according to a survey by Channel 12 released Friday
evening.The poll found that 67 percent of respondents think the US is
the main decision-maker when it comes to Israel’s policy and IDF actions
in the Strip.Just 24% said Israel is the one calling the shots, while
9% were unsure.The survey also asked whether Israel has effectively
become a “client state” of the US, a notion both Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and senior American officials — including US Vice President
JD Vance while visiting Israel — have rejected. On Sunday, Netanyahu
insisted that Israel remains a “sovereign state,” describing its ties
with Washington as a “partnership” rather than dependency.Still, nearly
seven in ten respondents (69%) agreed with the characterization,
including 23% who said they “strongly agree,” while only 25%
disagreed.Beyond the US-Israel power dynamic, the poll conducted with
the Midgam Institute also painted a picture of a public deeply divided
on key political and social issues.A slim majority of Israelis (51%)
said they support revoking voting rights for citizens who do not perform
military or national service, with 32% saying they “strongly support”
the idea. Forty-two percent opposed it.Opposition voters showed
overwhelming backing for the proposal (68%), while coalition supporters
were more evenly split, with nearly half (49%) opposing it.On the
contentious ultra-Orthodox draft issue, 40% said Likud MK Boaz Bismuth’s
proposed conscription bill is intended mainly to bring Haredi parties
back into the governing coalition, compared to 28% who believe the aim
is genuinely to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF.Among coalition
voters, 37% said they believe in the bill’s stated purpose; among
opposition voters, 60% viewed it as a political maneuver.The survey’s
findings came amid escalating tensions over military draft exemptions
for the ultra-Orthodox community. On Thursday, some 200,000 Haredi men
jammed the entrance to Jerusalem for what organizers called a “million
man” protest against conscription.The rally followed a recent crackdown
on ultra-Orthodox draft evasion, during which more than 870 apparently
Haredi men have been arrested — a small fraction, roughly 7%, of the
6,975 officially classified as draft dodgers in recent months.A majority
of respondents to the Channel 12 poll (53%) said they would not vote
for a party that supports legislation allowing Haredim to avoid military
service, compared to just 24% who said they would.The sentiment was
especially pronounced among opposition voters, with 81% saying they
would refuse to back any party promoting such an exemption.Marking three
decades since the assassination of then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin,
67% of Israelis told pollsters they fear the country could see another
political murder.Concern levels were consistent across political lines,
hovering around 70% among both right-wing and center-left voters.Asked
to reflect on Rabin’s legacy, 51% said they view his contribution to the
state as positive, while 28% described it as negative. One-third (33%)
said Israel would be in better shape today had he not been killed; 22%
said the opposite.Finally, the poll addressed reports about the possible
appointment of Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s son, who has a
history of inflammatory comments, to a senior post in the World Zionist
Organization.Three-quarters of respondents (75%) said such an
appointment would be inappropriate, including 61% who called it
“completely inappropriate.” Even among coalition voters, 58% opposed the
idea.
Jordan and Germany say Gaza stabilization force should have UN mandate-By AFP Today, 10:18 am
MANAMA,
Bahrain — Jordan and Germany say that an international force expected
to support a future Palestinian police presence in Gaza under US
President Donald Trump’s postwar governance plan should have a UN
mandate.Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, a
coalition of mainly Arab and Muslim nations is expected to deploy forces
in the Palestinian territory, which has been devastated by the war that
the terror group sparked on October 7, 2023, with its massacre in
southern Israeli communities.The so-called international stabilization
force is supposed to train and support vetted Palestinian police in the
Strip, with backing from Egypt and Jordan, as well as secure border
areas and prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas.“We all agree that in order
for that stabilization force to be able to be effective in getting the
job done, it has to have a Security Council mandate,” Jordanian Foreign
Minister Ayman Safadi says.Jordan, however, will not be sending its own
forces to the Strip.“We’re too close to the issue and we cannot deploy
troops in Gaza,” Safadi says, adding his country was nonetheless ready
to cooperate with the international force.Safadi speaks at the IISS
Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain alongside his German counterpart
Johann Wadephul, who also supports a UN mandate for the force, saying it
would “need a clear basis in international law.”“We understand that
this is of utmost importance to those countries who might be willing to
send troops to Gaza and for the Palestinians. Germany would also want to
see a clear mandate for this mission,” Wadephul says.Times of Israel
staff contributed to this report.
PA premier says Ramallah best
placed to lead postwar Gaza, despite Israeli obstacles-Mohammad Mustafa
says West Bank-based body is committed to seeing reforms through,
insists PA offers the best chance for stability in the Strip-By Jacob
Magid-31 October 2025, 11:14 pm
Palestinian Authority Prime
Minister Mohammad Mustafa made the case on Thursday for Ramallah to play
a leading role in the postwar management of Gaza, arguing that it is
best positioned to do so despite the obstacles put up by Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.“The Palestinian Authority is important,
not only for keep[ing] the West Bank stable, but also for restoring the
situation in Gaza,” Mustafa said during a virtual event with the
Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank. “Despite all the
challenges, despite all the difficulties, despite the issues that need
reform — which we are working on — the only party that can get things
back on track with support from international partners is the
Palestinian Authority.”While much of the international community backs
the PA replacing Hamas as the governing body in Gaza, Israel has
maintained an effective veto over the transition, claiming that the
Ramallah-based body is irredeemably corrupt and encourages violence
against Israel.US President Donald Trump’s administration has sometimes
been similarly critical of the PA, and even barred PA President Mahmoud
Abbas from entering the US for the UN General Assembly last month. But
as key Arab stakeholders have conditioned their support in the post-war
management of Gaza on a role for a reformed PA, Washington appears to be
slightly adapting its approach, allowing Abbas to participate in a
conference of world leaders earlier this month in Egypt, where Trump was
seen warmly embracing the PA leader.A longtime economic adviser to
Abbas who previously served as deputy prime minister and economy
minister, in addition to heading the Palestine Investment Fund and
holding senior positions at the World Bank, Mustafa was appointed prime
minister last year amid mounting calls for reform of the PA, which
hasn’t held parliamentary elections since 2006 and presidential
elections since 2005.He used the relatively rare appearance before an
American audience to lay out the challenges the PA faces and the reforms
that he has been implementing.Mustafa began by highlighting the over
1,000 checkpoints that the IDF has sprung up throughout the West Bank
that have significantly curbed Palestinian movement, hampering the West
Bank economy as a result. Israel says the measures are needed to
maintain the security of settlers living in the territory amid efforts
by Palestinian terror groups to target civilians and soldiers.The PA
premier went on to highlight the over $3 billion in funds that the
Israeli government has been withholding from the PA, which “has been
making our economic life extremely difficult.”Due to the PA’s sub-state
status, the Oslo Accords stipulate that Israel collect clearance
revenues on the authority’s behalf and transfer those funds on a monthly
basis to Ramallah. The PA is heavily reliant on the funds, which make
up a majority of its annual budget.Israel has repeatedly withheld such
funds, citing the PA’s welfare payments to convicted terrorists and
their families, as well as the relatives of dead attackers, with
Jerusalem saying the practice directly rewards terror.Abbas signed a
decree in February ending the policy of payments to prisoners based on
the length of their sentence. While documents obtained by The Times of
Israel indicate that the old system has indeed been scrapped, Israel
claims it remains in place, but has yet to offer proof on the matter.The
lack of funds has meant public sector employees have missed out on 13
months of salary payments over the last three years alone, Mustafa
said.Public school teachers have gone on strike due to partially paid
salaries, thus causing a delay to the start of the school
year.Meanwhile, new Israeli banking policies have also prevented the PA
from depositing roughly $4.6 billion, creating a severe liquidity crisis
that has compounded the already-dire economic situation.Unemployment in
the West Bank has climbed to 35 percent, with more than 200,000
Palestinians losing their jobs inside Israel when the IDF revoked their
entry permits due to security concerns following the Hamas attack of
October 7, 2023.Mustafa said that Ramallah has managed to convince Arab
and European countries to provide additional assistance to offset the
lack of funds, but the PA is still piling up a massive deficit due to
borrowing from the private sector.The PA premier then highlighted the
IDF’s counter-terror operations throughout the West Bank that have
forced tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in the midst
of the economic crisis. Israel says such operations are a security
necessity to combat entrenched terror networks and prevent numerous
plots for deadly attacks every year.Those raids have taken place amid
near-daily attacks by settlers on Palestinians that have gone largely
unchecked.The Biden administration led Western countries in sanctioning
extremist settler individuals and entities last year. But Trump had
undone the policy, and Mustafa acknowledged that the sanctions had
little effect on the ground.Nonetheless, he urged countries to take
“more serious actions to give the right signal… to this Israeli
government that this is not acceptable.”Israel can’t use reform as an
‘excuse’Asked about the reforms that he and the PA are undertaking,
Mustafa acknowledged that Ramallah still has work to do, but he pointed
to elections that Abbas has agreed to hold next year. Municipal
elections will also be held in early 2026, the prime minister said.Abbas
has announced plans for elections on multiple occasions in the past,
but has repeatedly canceled them. He has blamed Israeli restrictions,
but critics have pointed to fears that he and his widely unpopular Fatah
party would suffer crushing defeats in any public vote.“Even if we are
not the best performing administration in the world, we still have a
responsibility toward our people, especially our people in Gaza,”
Mustafa said. “What they need most today is assistance so that we can
shelter them, send their kids back to schools, treat the injured people,
start getting them new jobs… [and] rebuild Gaza.”He also noted that
while many world leaders have called on the PA to reform, the term has
become something of a buzzword that often goes unspecified.“While we are
making every effort to [carry out] these reforms, we hope that this
will not be used as an excuse for the Israeli government to continue its
occupation,” Mustafa said.As for the PA’s ability to resume running
Gaza after it was ousted by Hamas in 2007, Mustafa pointed out that
Ramallah already has 35,000 employees in the Strip, including 6,000
teachers, 7,000 doctors and thousands of dormant security personnel,
which could serve as the backbone for a police force necessary for
stabilizing Gaza.Several thousand other PA employees are also being
trained by Jordan and Egypt in order to be later deployed in Gaza, he
said, adding that PA personnel have also been tasked with helping resume
the management of the Rafah Border Crossing, once Israel agrees to
reopen it.Mustafa said the PA is prepared to formally invite an
international security force to help stabilize the Strip, as envisioned
by Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the war.However, he stressed that
the security force be mandated by the UN Security Council, work with and
support existing PA forces, and also be a temporary solution.“I
encourage everybody to help get the PA in the right place… not only to
govern in the West Bank, but also in Gaza because this is the best way
possible to get us out of the situation in [the Strip],” Mustafa
continued. “No international mission alone can do it. The PA is a big
asset for stability in the region.”Asked in closing how he views the
recent decisions by several major Western countries to recognize a
Palestinian state, Mustafa insisted that those moves were not merely
symbolic.“I think this will help us restore hope that a two-state
solution is still possible [by demonstrating that] there is still a
strong international support for it,” he said. “It’s important to remind
the Israeli government and the Israeli people that occupation is not
the solution. There are still millions of Palestinians living next door,
and they still demand their rights, regardless of time passing.”
Lebanon
accuses Israel of responding to negotiation offer by ‘intensifying’
attacks Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reports that as Hezbollah rearms,
Israel is losing patience with Beirut’s inaction-By Emanuel Fabian and
ToI Staff 31 October 2025, 7:52 pm
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun
on Friday accused Israel of responding to its offer to negotiate by
intensifying its airstrikes, the latest of which killed a man riding a
motorbike in southern Lebanon — according to Israel, a Hezbollah
operative involved in restoring the terror group’s infrastructure in
southern Lebanon.Despite a November 2024 ceasefire with the Lebanese
terror group Hezbollah, Israel maintains troops in five positions in
southern Lebanon that it says are necessary for securing northern
communities, and has kept up regular airstrikes on targets it says were
violating the ceasefire.Aoun called for negotiations with Israel in
mid-October, after US President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire in
Gaza.“Lebanon is ready for negotiations to end the Israeli occupation,
but any negotiation… requires mutual willingness, which is not the
case,” Aoun said on Friday. Israel “is responding to this option by
carrying out more attacks against Lebanon… and intensifying tensions,”
he added during a meeting with German Foreign Minister Johann
Wadephul.The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Hezbollah is
restocking rockets, anti-tank missiles and artillery, increasing the
chances of renewed conflict with Israel.The report, which cited people
familiar with Israeli and Arab intelligence, said Hezbollah is rearming
by smuggling weapons through seaports, as well as smuggling routes
through Syria, leading Israel to lose patience with Lebanon over its
commitment to disarm the terror group. Israel was angered by recent
intelligence findings on the issue, the sources added.Lebanon’s leaders
have passed a message to Israel through mediators asking for Jerusalem
to have patience with their efforts to disarm Hezbollah, and said they
are open to expanding cooperation on the matter, The Journal
reported.Hezbollah began attacking Israel in October 2023, a day after
fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking
the war in Gaza. After nearly a year of cross-border fire, Israel
launched an intensive campaign against the terror group in September
2024, massively degrading its forces and eliminating most of its top
leadership. A ceasefire was declared in November.The ceasefire required
both Israel and Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, to be replaced by
the Lebanese armed forces. Israel has withdrawn from all but five
strategic posts along the border. Since the ceasefire, the IDF says it
has killed over 330 Hezbollah operatives in strikes, hit hundreds of
Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,000 raids and other small
operations in southern Lebanon in response to violations by the terror
group.Weakened by the war and still facing regular Israeli strikes,
Hezbollah is under internal and international pressure to hand over its
weapons, and the Lebanese army has drawn up a plan to disarm it.On
Friday, Germany’s Wadephul offered his support to Aoun, stating that he
would urge his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar to withdraw Israeli
troops from southern Lebanon.“Israel must withdraw. I understand that
Israel has security needs… But in fact, we now need a process of mutual
trust-building,” the German minister said.Wadephul also encouraged the
Lebanese government to ensure there is “a credible, transparent and
rapid process of disarming Hezbollah.” He acknowledged that it was “a
mammoth task” but contended it was “a basic prerequisite for this
country to experience stability and for there to be no further conflict
with Israel.”Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said an
Israeli drone targeted a man on a motorbike in the village of Kounine on
Friday.The health ministry reported one death and one person
wounded.The Israeli military said it had killed Ibrahim Muhammad Raslan,
a “Hezbollah maintenance officer,” who was working to reestablish the
Iran-backed group’s infrastructure sites in southern Lebanon.“The
terrorist’s activities constituted a threat to the State of Israel and
its civilians, and a violation of the understandings between Israel and
Lebanon,” the military added.The strike came a day after the Israeli
military killed a municipal worker in a raid in the Lebanese border
village of Blida. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the incident,
saying it had opened fire on a suspect during an operation to destroy
Hezbollah infrastructure in the town of Blida.Aoun ordered the army on
Thursday to confront such incursions.Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef
Raggi asked his visiting German counterpart on Friday to “help put
pressure on Israel to stop its attacks.”“Only a diplomatic solution, not
a military one, can ensure stability and guarantee calm in the south,”
Raggi was quoted by the NNA as saying.He added that “the Lebanese
government is continuing to gradually implement its decision to place
all weapons under its control.”
4 Gazans said killed after
Israeli deadline passes for gunmen to leave IDF-held zone-Yellow Line
not fully enforced to date, and Israel believes some fighters holed up
in territory it holds; at same time, Hamas said allowed to resume search
for hostages’ bodies in IDF-held areas-By Emanuel Fabian,Jacob
Magid,Agencies and ToI Staff 31 October 2025, 6:57 pm
Hamas
medical officials said Friday that four Palestinians were killed by
Israeli forces, including one on the terror group’s side of the Gaza
ceasefire line, after an Israeli deadline passed for Hamas fighters to
withdraw from the IDF-controlled side of the so-called Yellow
Line.According to the Hamas-affiliated Safa news agency, a man was
killed when the IDF targeted the northern Gaza refugee camp of Jabalia.
Two others were killed by Israeli gunfire in Gaza City’s Jala’ Road and
eastern Shejaiya neighborhood, and a fourth was killed by an IDF strike
in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis in the Strip’s south.Another
man was killed from injuries sustained in a Wednesday IDF strike, Safa
said. Except for Jala’ Road, the locations are all east of the Yellow
Line, within the roughly 53% of the Strip controlled by the IDF after
its initial October 10 withdrawal as part of the ceasefire.In Jabalia,
the army said troops attempted to “distance” a suspect who approached
them, but after he ignored the warnings and continued to approach,
“posing an imminent threat,” the forces opened fire. There was no
immediate IDF comment on the other incidents. It says it remains
deployed in Gaza “in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will
continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.”Egyptian and Qatari
mediators had notified Hamas on Wednesday night that the group had 24
hours to evacuate its fighters from the Israeli-controlled eastern half
of Gaza or risk being exposed to IDF fire, a US official told The Times
of Israel. That deadline expired at 8 p.m. local time Thursday evening,
at which point Israel had the approval of the US, Egypt and Qatar to
engage Hamas targets on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, the US
official said.A source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel
that the demarcation had not been fully enforced to date and that it
was not always clear to troops on the ground where the line ran in
various parts of Gaza, given that it was only drawn up several weeks ago
for the ceasefire deal.Israel had already publicly warned Hamas
operatives holed up on the eastern side of the Yellow Line to withdraw
last week. The military has assessed that there are Hamas operatives
still in the terror group’s tunnels in areas under IDF control, and that
they have been there since before the ceasefire.Two deadly attacks on
Israeli troops in Rafah during the ceasefire were carried out by terror
operatives. Hamas denied responsibility, saying “communication has been
cut off” with its operatives in zones under Israeli control. Israel
accused Hamas in both cases of violating the ceasefire.After the latest
attack on Tuesday, the IDF launched a series of strikes that killed over
100 people, according to Hamas, before saying on Wednesday that it was
resuming the ceasefire.Meanwhile, Kan news reported that Hamas teams had
resumed searching for bodies of deceased hostages in territory
controlled by the IDF — operations previously halted after Tuesday’s
deadly Rafah attack. Channel 12 news reported that in past searches,
Hamas operatives had recovered weaponry inside IDF-held areas instead of
actually searching for bodies.According to Kan, Hamas operatives were
being accompanied by Red Cross personnel and were searching in Khan
Younis.Gaza’s health ministry said the Red Cross had delivered to it 30
bodies of Palestinians killed by Israel during the war, a day after
Hamas handed over two bodies of hostages.Under the ceasefire accord,
Hamas released all living hostages held in Gaza in return for nearly
2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees, while Israel agreed
to pull back its troops, halt its offensive and increase aid.
Inside
story'Gazans may dislike Hamas but living under IDF? Fantastical'US
looks to build ‘new Gaza’ on half of Strip under IDF control, but faces
pushback-Plan to build half a dozen residential regions on eastern side
of Yellow Line for up to 1 million people receives chilly reception from
some potential donor countries in the Gulf-By Jacob Magid-Today, 2:52
am-NOV 1,25
One of the main proposals for rebuilding Gaza that US
President Donald Trump’s administration has presented to potential
donor countries in the Gulf envisions the construction of roughly half a
dozen residential regions on the eastern half of the Strip currently
under Israeli control, two Arab diplomats familiar with the matter told
The Times of Israel.The diplomats said that “new Gaza” has been the term
frequently used by US officials to describe the project that will take
place on the eastern side of the Yellow Line — the newly-created
boundary to which the IDF withdrew at the October 10 start of the Gaza
ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.The partial withdrawal left
Israel in control of roughly 53 percent of Gaza, but Trump’s plan for
ending the war envisions the IDF gradually withdrawing to the other side
of the Gaza border and leaving the Strip.However, that withdrawal is
linked to the success of a still-to-be-established International
Stabilization Force (ISF) tasked with securing postwar Gaza, along with
the disarmament of Hamas, which has shown no interest in giving up its
weapons.With those two conditions for continued Israeli withdrawal so
difficult to meet, the US is not waiting to begin the reconstruction
process, and Trump’s top adviser Jared Kushner indicated that Washington
wants to start with the Israeli side of the yellow line and with the
southern city of Rafah in particular.The US proposal envisions as many
as one million Palestinians — around half of Gaza’s population — moving
to the residential areas on the Israel-held side of the Yellow Line that
will be built within two years, even if IDF forces don’t withdraw by
then, said the two diplomats briefed on the plan, adding that they found
the benchmark highly unrealistic.“Palestinians may not want to live
under the rule of Hamas, but the idea that they’ll be willing to move to
live under Israeli occupation and be under control of the party they
also see as responsible for killing 70,000 of their brethren is
fantastical,” one of the Arab diplomats said, apparently rounding up the
death toll from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which doesn’t
differentiate between civilians and combatants.While the White House did
not respond to requests for comment, a US official rejected the notion
that the Trump administration has decided on any particular plan for the
postwar management of Gaza, insisting that the effort is still in its
early stages and that lots of ideas are being discussed.One of those
ideas, which was crafted at the Kiryat Gat-based, US-led Civil-Military
Coordination Center (CMCC), envisioned the creation of a “humanitarian
belt” along the Yellow Line in which roughly 16 distribution hubs would
be established, similar to those run by the now-dormant Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation, according to two sources familiar with the
matter.But the plan faced pushback from humanitarian agencies and
international organizations working out of the CMCC and accordingly did
not get off the ground, the two sources said.Which side of the Yellow
Line are they on? Meanwhile, the US wants the ISF to deploy in the near
future on the other side of the Yellow Line that is currently under de
facto Hamas control, the diplomats said, noting that the idea has faced
pushback from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which
Washington hopes will be among the lead bankrollers of the project.While
Trump claims that countries are itching to join the effort to disarm
Hamas, both Arab diplomats insisted that that is far from the
case.Countries like Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Egypt may have
offered to contribute troops to the ISF, but not without a clear UN
mandate or some sort of agreement with Hamas through which the terror
group decommissions at least some of its weapons, the two Arab diplomats
said.The second Arab diplomat said that the US would have an easier
time convincing countries to join the ISF if troops were deployed first
on the eastern side of the Yellow Line, in place of the IDF, in parallel
with a negotiated agreement for Hamas to disarm.Both diplomats said it
was unclear whether Kushner and the other US officials in charge of the
Gaza file are listening to the pushback that they’ve been receiving from
some of their Gulf allies.The second diplomat added that Arab countries
are also trying to straddle a fine line, as they try to push back on
key elements of the US plan for postwar Gaza without upsetting Trump,
whose support they want to maintain on a variety of issues.The diplomat
added that the US officials briefing them on Washington’s Gaza
rebuilding efforts had said Washington is hoping to put forward a UN
Security Council resolution to establish the ISF later this month,
possibly before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s November 18
visit to the White House, which has been circled as a key date for the
Gaza rebuilding effort.
Barrack said to have warned Beirut of
'last chance' for deal-US envoy: Lebanon a ‘failed state,’ is unlikely
to be able to forcibly disarm Hezbollah-Tom Barrack suggests Beirut
should follow Damascus’ lead and open dialogue with Jerusalem, as
Israel’s frustration reportedly mounts at Hezbollah rearmament-By ToI
Staff 1 November 2025, 10:24 pm
US Ambassador Tom Barrack had
blunt words for Lebanon on Saturday, repeatedly calling the country a
“failed state,” dubbing its leaders “dinosaurs” and saying that it
probably won’t be able to comply with the central US demand that it
disarm Hezbollah.Barrack, who serves as the US envoy for Syria and the
ambassador to Turkey, while also handling some diplomacy with Beirut,
made the remarks in an appearance at the International Institute for
Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue, a diplomatic and security conference
in Bahrain.He also repeatedly urged Lebanon and Syria to forge accords
with Israel as part of what he called a greater regional “realignment.”
But tensions between Israel and Lebanon have risen as Hezbollah appears
to be rearming, and Israel continues to carry out strikes in southern
Lebanon, targeting what it says are ceasefire violations by the terror
group.“Lebanon is a failed state,” Barrack said near the beginning of a
question-and-answer session, proceeding to enumerate problems in
Lebanon’s banking sector and basic infrastructure. Near the end of the
appearance, he added, “You’ve had abject chaos and war for 40 years.
You’ve had four failed governments… And you’ve had six wars in the time
that anybody can remember. So I’m not sure what the state is.”“So what’s
the state?” he said near the beginning of the session. “The state is
Hezbollah. You go south, Hezbollah gives you water. It gives you an
education, gives you a stipend, has 40,000 soldiers. The LAF, Lebanese
Armed Forces, has 60,000 soldiers. The only problem is that Hezbollah
soldiers make $2,200 a month. The LAF soldiers make $275 a month.”He
went on to say that Hezbollah, a terror group that effectively
controlled southern Lebanon for decades before being decimated in a
2023-2024 war with Israel, still holds some 15,000 to 20,000 rockets and
missiles that threaten Israel. The United States has pressed the
Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, and the government has
committed to doing so, but Barrack said the goal was unrealistic.“The
idea of disarming Hezbollah — in our opinion, it’s not reasonable to
tell Lebanon, ‘Forcibly disarm one of your political parties,'” he said.
“Everybody’s scared to death to go into a civil war. The idea is, what
can you do to have Hezbollah not utilize those rockets and missiles?”The
best path forward for Lebanon, Barrack argued repeatedly, was to begin a
dialogue with Israel, with the hope of signing a diplomatic accord. He
said the time was ripe for expanding regional normalization with Israel
due to a variety of factors, among them the ceasefire in Gaza and the
fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad last year.In addition, he said,
Israel “owes America a favor” because the US joined in Israel’s June
attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.“You have Israel, who is sitting
ready to make border and boundary agreements with all its neighbors, and
it owes America a favor,” Barrack said. “You can’t say the word Israel
in Lebanon… It’s illegal to have a conversation with Israel. What era
are we living in?”He added, “The Lebanese leadership today is solid.
President Aoun, [Prime Minister] Nawaf [Salam], even Speaker [Nabih
Mustafa] Berri. They’re trying, but they’re dinosaurs.”“You have that
conversation on the Blue Line, the Lebanon-Israel border,” he said. “You
have the conversation with Syria, and in four months, you could end all
of this.”He said the model for Lebanon should be the Abraham Accords,
the normalization deals signed in 2020 between Israel and several Arab
countries, including Bahrain.“It’s clear that Israel has become a
dominant ally in this repositioning of the chessboard of what happens in
the Middle East,” he said. “And the Abraham Accords, at least for what
we have in front of us, seems to be the road that everybody needs to
jump on.”While he espoused non-violent efforts to disarm terrorists,
Hezbollah-allied daily Al Akhbar reported in recent days that Barrack
was warning Lebanese officials it was their “last chance” to reach an
agreement with Israel.The newspaper, citing unidentified knowledgeable
sources, said Barrack had stated: “Either they learn the lesson and
decide to enter into direct negotiations with Israel under the auspices
of the United States, to set a timetable and mechanism for disarming
Hezbollah, or Lebanon will be left to its fate, and will remain so for a
long time, and no one will care about it, neither in America nor in the
region, and no one will be able to pressure Israel to prevent it from
doing whatever it sees fit to carry out the disarmament by force.”The
veracity of the report could not be immediately confirmed.Barrack’s
statements come amid rising tensions in the border area and
beyond.Israel’s war with Hezbollah began on October 8, 2023, when the
terror group began firing missiles at Israel a day after the Hamas-led
onslaught in the south. It continued until a ceasefire in November 2024,
with Hezbollah left severely weakened.Since then, the Lebanese army has
drawn up a plan to disarm the terror group and has reportedly expended
so much ordnance to blow up Hezbollah stockpiles that it has run out of
explosives. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has vowed not to lay
down its arms.The IDF, meanwhile, has kept troops stationed at five
points in Lebanon, and regularly strikes what it says are Hezbollah’s
attempts to rearm.But despite those efforts, Israel reportedly believes
Hezbollah has managed to amass some new weapons, raising the possibility
of renewed conflict. Meanwhile, Lebanon claims that Israel rejected its
overture to begin talks last month on an IDF withdrawal.This is not the
first time Barrack has had harsh words for Lebanon. He sparked backlash
in August when he told Lebanese reporters at a press conference not to
act “animalistic” and to “act civilized, act kind, act tolerant, because
this is the problem with what’s happening in the region.”Barrack was
more bullish on the prospects for an accord between Israel and Syria,
which have engaged in successive rounds of dialogue. He praised the
government of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who deposed
Assad.“The Al-Sharaa regime steps into place and in 10 months is
speed-dating towards something we’ve never seen, perhaps even towards
the road of normalization with Israel,” Barrack said. “So, we have
countries all uniting and saying, “Great, we’ve had an issue with Israel
since 1928. We’ve had real issues with Israel since 1948. How do we put
all that behind us?”He added, “We’re on our fifth set of discussions
with Israel, border and boundary discussions, de-escalation. You could
very quickly have a realignment of a tapestry that we haven’t seen in
the Middle East.”He said Lebanon would do well to follow suit.“It’s
simple. Lebanon can do what it wants to do,” he said. “The path is very
clear that it needs to be to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv for a conversation,
along with Syria. Syria is showing the way. Syria will get there first.”
US
military publishes drone video of Hamas looting aid truck in
Gaza-Footage shows suspected Hamas operatives stealing from humanitarian
convoy near Khan Younis; Rubio: Hamas depriving Gazans of aid; top US
general meets Zamir and KatzBy Emanuel Fabian-And Jacob Magid-1 November
2025, 8:11 pm
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM)
published a drone video over the weekend showing what it said were
suspected Hamas operatives looting an aid truck in the southern Gaza
Strip on Friday.The incident occurred while US Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, was in Israel as an official guest of
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.In a statement, CENTCOM said the
US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) — which is based in
southern Israel’s Kiryat Gat — “observed suspected Hamas operatives
looting an aid truck traveling as part of a humanitarian convoy
delivering needed assistance from international partners to Gazans in
northern Khan Younis.”The CMCC, established under US leadership, is
designed to coordinate humanitarian, logistical, and security assistance
into Gaza while helping oversee the postwar stabilization phase.
Roughly 200 American military personnel have been dispatched to set up
the center, which currently hosts troops from several allied
countries.The CMCC was alerted to the incident through video
surveillance from an American MQ-9 drone flying over Gaza as part of
monitoring the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.The New York Times
reported last week, citing two Israeli military officials and a US
defense official, that the US military was deploying surveillance drones
over the Gaza Strip to ensure that Israel and Hamas were complying with
the ceasefire. The flights are being conducted with Israel’s
consent.“Operatives attacked the driver and stole the aid and truck
after moving the driver to the road’s median. The driver’s current
status is unknown,” CENTCOM said.The drone footage was also shared by US
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said in a post on X that Hamas has
continued to seize humanitarian aid meant for needy civilians in Gaza
since the ceasefire went into place last month.“Hamas continues to
deprive the people of Gaza of the humanitarian aid they desperately
need. This theft undermines international efforts in support of
President Trump’s 20 Point Plan to deliver critical assistance to
innocent civilians,” Rubio wrote.“Hamas is the impediment. They must lay
down their arms and stop their looting so that Gaza can have a brighter
future,” the top US diplomat added.Israel has said that Hamas steals
supplies from deliveries by the UN and international aid groups. The UN
has reported a significant decline in the looting of humanitarian aid in
Gaza since the ceasefire came into place.Just five percent of collected
supplies were reportedly intercepted between October 10 and October 28,
compared to more than 80% that were intercepted between May 19 and
October 9, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during a briefing on
Friday.The UN admitted in August that almost nine out of every 10 UN
trucks that entered Gaza with humanitarian aid over the preceding
several months were looted before reaching their destination, according
to UN statistics — either by hungry Gazans or by armed groups.Caine, the
US’s top general, arrived in Israel on Thursday night.On Friday, Caine
was greeted by an honor guard at the IDF’s Kirya headquarters, after
which he held a meeting with Zamir, according to the IDF.Additionally,
Caine and Zamir held an assessment with other commanders on “regional
challenges, focusing primarily on the situation in the Gaza Strip and
future challenges in both nearby and distant arenas,” the military
said.Also on Friday, Caine toured the Gaza Strip from a helicopter,
before visiting the CMCC at Kiryat Gat, according to Israeli military
sources. At the headquarters, Caine spoke with Maj. Gen. Yaki Dolf, the
IDF’s liaison to the CMCC, the sources added.On Saturday, Caine met with
Defense Minister Israel Katz.“We discussed the close strategic and
operational cooperation between the IDF and the US military, a
partnership that is shaping the new reality in the Middle East,” Katz
said in a statement.“We discussed the challenges in the near and distant
arenas, foremost among them the Gaza Strip, and our commitment to the
release of all the hostages, the demilitarization of Gaza, and the
disarmament of Hamas,” Katz added.Troops working to destroy tunnel in
Rafah area, uncover weapons-On Saturday, the IDF said that since the
start of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, troops stationed in the Rafah
area have been working to demolish a large tunnel network and have also
located a rocket launcher.The Nahal Brigade, operating under the Gaza
Division, has been stationed in Rafah, which is on the eastern side of
the “Yellow Line” demarcating the IDF’s pullback in Gaza.The IDF said
the Nahal troops located a multiple rocket launcher with 15 barrels,
along with other military equipment belonging to Hamas.The troops “are
continuing to destroy the remaining underground tunnel network in the
area, which allows terrorists from the terror organizations to reside
and operate against IDF troops,” the military said.During their
operations in the area, Hamas operatives have on several occasions
emerged from tunnels and exchanged fire with troops, according to the
IDF.In two such incidents in recent weeks, three soldiers were killed.
Hamas denied responsibility, saying communication was “cut off” with its
operatives in zones under Israeli control. Israel accused Hamas in both
cases of violating the ceasefire and retaliated with airstrikes.
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.
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.
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.
LUKE 21:25-26
25
And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in
the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the
stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE
WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for
fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
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)
And here are the
bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or
peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels
land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the
future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan,
Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq
west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe
23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN
THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE
FUTURE.
Joel 3:2-King James Version (YOU DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN
HALF - YOUR POKING GOD IN THE EYE - GOD SAYS AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A
TOOTH FOR A TOOTH- YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - HALF OF EARTHS
POPULATION 4 BILLION DIE ON EARTH.
2 I will also gather all nations,
and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead
with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
Studying war in the new nuclear age-by Peter Dizikes | MIT News.
Boston
MA (SPX) Oct 31, 2025-Nuclear security can be a daunting topic: The
consequences seem unimaginable, but the threat is real. Some scholars,
though, thrive on the close study of the world's most dangerous weapons.
That includes Caitlin Talmadge PhD '11, an MIT faculty member who is
part of the Institute's standout group of nuclear security
specialists.Talmadge, who joined the MIT faculty in 2023, has become a
prominent scholar in security studies, conducting meticulous research
about militaries' on-the-ground capabilities and how they are influenced
by political circumstances.Earlier in her career, Talmadge studied the
military capabilities of armies run by dictatorships. For much of the
last decade, though, she has focused on specific issues of nuclear
security: When can conventional wars raise risks of nuclear use? In what
circumstances will countries ratchet up nuclear threats?"A scenario
that's interested me a lot is one where the conduct of a conventional
war actually raises specific nuclear escalation risks," Talmadge says,
noting that military operations may put pressure on an adversary's
nuclear capabilities. "There are many other instabilities in the world.
But I've gotten pretty interested in what it means that the U.S., unlike
in the Cold War when there was more of a bipolar competition, now faces
multiple nuclear-armed adversaries."MIT is a natural intellectual home
for Talmadge, who is the Raphael Dorman and Helen Starbuck Associate
Professor in MIT's Department of Political Science. She is also part of
MIT's Security Studies Program, long the home of several of the
Institute's nuclear experts, and a core member of the recently launched
MIT Center for Nuclear Security Policy, which supports scholarship as
well as engagement with nuclear security officials."I think dialogue for
practitioners and scholars is important for both sides," says Talmadge,
who served on the Defense Policy Board, a panel of outside experts that
directly advises senior Pentagon leaders, during the Biden
administration. "It's important for me to do scholarship that speaks to
real-world problems. And part of what we do at MIT is train future
practitioners. We also sometimes brief current practitioners, meet with
them, and get a perspective on the very difficult problems they
encounter. That interaction is mutually beneficial."Why coup-proofing
hurts armies-From a young age, Talmadge was interested in global events,
especially military operations, while growing up in a family that
supported her curiosity about the world."I was fortunate to have parents
that encouraged those interests," Talmadge says. "Education was a
really big value in our family. I had great teachers as well."Talmadge
earned her BA degree at Harvard University, where her interests in
international relations and military operations expanded."I didn't even
know the term security studies before I went to college," she says. "But
I did, in college, get very interested in studying the problems that
had been left by the Soviet nuclear legacy."Talmadge then worked at a
think tank before deciding to attend graduate school. She had not been
fully set on academia, as opposed to, say, working in Washington policy
circles. But while earning her PhD at the Institute, she recalls, "it
turned out that I really liked research, and I really liked teaching.
And I loved being at MIT."Talmadge is quick to credit MIT's security
studies faculty for their intellectual guidance, citing the
encouragement of a slew of faculty, including Barry Posen (her
dissertation advisor), Taylor Fravel, Roger Peterson, Cindy Williams,
Owen Cote, and Harvey Sapolsky. Her dissertation examined the combat
power of armies run by authoritarians.That research became her 2015
book, "The Dictator's Army: Battlefield Effectiveness in Authoritarian
Regimes," published by Cornell University Press. In it she examines how,
for one thing, using a military for domestic "coup-proofing" limits its
utility against external forces. In the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, to
cite one example, Iraq's military improved in the later years of the
war, after coup-proofing measures were dropped, whereas Iran's army
performed worse over time as it became more preoccupied with domestic
opposition."We tend to think of militaries as being designed for
external conventional wars, but autocrats use the military for
regime-protection tasks, and the more you optimize your military for
doing that, sometimes it's harder to aggregate combat power against an
external adversary," Talmadge says.In the time since that book was
published, even more examples have become evident in the world."It may
be why the Russian invasion of Ukraine did so poorly in 2022," she adds.
"When you're a personalist dictator and divide the military so it can't
be strong enough to overthrow you, and direct the intelligence
apparatus internally instead of at Ukraine, it affects what your
military can achieve. It was not the only factor in 2022, but I think
the authoritarian character of Russia's civil-military relations has
played a role in Russia's rather surprising underperformance in that
war."On to nuclear escalation-After earning her PhD from MIT, Talmadge
joined the faculty of George Washington University, where she taught
from 2011 to 2018; she then served on the faculty at Georgetown
University, before returning to MIT. And for the last decade, she has
continued to study conventional military operations while also exploring
the relationship between those operations and nuclear risk.One issue is
that conventional military strikes that might degrade an opponent's
nuclear capabilities. Talmadge is examining why states adopt military
postures that threaten adversaries in this way in a book that's in
progress; her co-author is Brendan Rittenhouse Green PhD '11, a
political scientist at the University of Cincinnati.The book focuses on
why the U.S. has at times adopted military postures that increase
nuclear pressure on opponents. Historically these escalatory postures
have been viewed as unintentional, the result of aggressive military
planning."In this book we make a different argument, which is that often
these escalatory risks are hardwired into force posture deliberately
and knowingly by civilian [government leaders] who at times have
strategic rationales," Talmadge says. "If you're my opponent and I want
to deter you from starting a war, it might be helpful to convince you
that if you start that war, you're eventually going to be backed into a
nuclear corner."This logic may explain why many countries adopt force
postures that seem dangerous, and it may offer clues as to how future
wars involving the U.S., Russia, China, North Korea, India, or Pakistan
could unfold. It also suggests that reining in nuclear escalation risk
requires more attention to civilian decisions, not just military
behavior.While being in the middle of research, book-writing, teaching,
and engaging with others in the field, Talmadge is certain she has
landed in an ideal academic home, especially with MIT's work in her
field being bolstered by the Stanton Foundation gift to establish the
Center for Nuclear Security Policy."We're so grateful for the support of
the Stanton Foundation," Talmadge says. "It's incredibly invigorating
to be in a place with so much talent and just constantly learning from
the people around you. It's really amazing, and I do not take it for
granted."She adds: "It is a little surreal at times to be here because
I'm going into the same rooms where I have memories as myself as a grad
student, but now I'm the professor. I have a little bit of nostalgia.
But one of my primary reasons for coming to MIT, besides the great
faculty colleagues, was the students, including the chance to work with
the PhD students in the Security Studies Program, and I have not been
disappointed. It doesn't feel like work. It's a joy to try to have a
positive influence helping them become scholars."
Putin defies Trump with second nuclear weapons test in days by AFP Staff Writers.
Moscow
(AFP) Oct 29, 2025-Russia has successfully tested a nuclear-capable,
nuclear-powered underwater drone, President Vladimir Putin said
Wednesday, defying US President Donald Trump's warnings with Moscow's
second test of a new nuclear weapons system in just a few days.Putin on
Sunday oversaw a test of another advanced nuclear-capable weapon -- the
Burevestnik cruise missile, which he said had an "unlimited range".
Trump called that exercise not "appropriate"."Yesterday, another test
was conducted for another prospective system -- the unmanned underwater
device 'Poseidon,' also equipped with a nuclear power unit," Putin said
in televised remarks while visiting a military hospital treating Russian
soldiers wounded in Ukraine.The Russian leader said there was "no way
to intercept" the drone torpedo, which, according to Putin, can travel
at a speed higher than conventional submarines and reach any continent
in the world.Putin said no country could match Poseidon's speed and
diving depth, adding, "it is unlikely that anything similar will appear
in the near future."The device can operate at a depth of more than one
kilometre (0.6 mile) and travel at speeds of up to 70 knots while
remaining undetectable, according to a source in the Russian
military-industrial complex quoted by state news agency TASS.First
tested in 2018, it is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead of up to two
megatons, the source told TASS.After Sunday's cruise missile test,
Trump urged Putin to focus instead on ending the war in Ukraine."He
ought to get the war (in Ukraine) ended. A war that should have taken
one week is now soon in its fourth year. That's what he ought to do
instead of testing missiles," Trump said.The US president last week
scrapped a planned summit with Putin in Budapest over what he cast as
the Russian leader's unwillingness to compromise to end the
conflict.Trump has been trying to secure a deal since he returned to the
White House in January, but talks have yielded no progress and he has
shown increasing frustration with Putin, who has rejected multiple calls
for a ceasefire.Washington last week slapped sanctions on Russia's two
largest oil companies, complaining that his talks with Putin to end the
Ukraine war "don't go anywhere."Putin first announced Russia had
developed the Burevestnik and the Poseidon during a fiery anti-Western
speech in 2018.
Russia says recent weapons tests 'not nuclear' after Trump orders US tests by AFP Staff Writers.
Moscow
(AFP) Oct 30, 2025-Moscow on Thursday sought to cool rising nuclear
tensions with Washington, after two tests of new Russian nuclear-capable
weapons systems prompted US President Donald Trump order his own
nuclear tests.The Kremlin said its testing of nuclear-powered
nuclear-capable weapons -- the Burevestnik cruise missile and the
Poseidon underwater drone -- did not constitute a direct test of an
atomic weapon.Both countries observe a de facto moratorium on testing
nuclear warheads, though Russia regularly runs military drills involving
systems that are capable of carrying such weapons."Regarding the tests
of Poseidon and Burevestnik, we hope that the information was conveyed
correctly to President Trump," Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told
journalists, including AFP, during a daily briefing."This cannot in any
way be interpreted as a nuclear test," he added.Trump said Thursday he
was ordering the US tests as a response to actions by other
states."Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed
the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal
basis," he said Thursday in a social media post.But it was not
immediately clear if Trump was referring to testing nuclear warheads --
something the United States last did in 1992 -- or testing weapons
systems capable of carrying atomic warheads.The Kremlin implied Thursday
that it would also test nuclear warheads if Trump ordered a live test
of an atomic weapon."If someone departs from the moratorium, Russia will
act accordingly," Peskov said.Russian President Vladimir Putin has
repeatedly said if the United States started testing nuclear weapons
again, Russia would follow suit.In 1996, the two countries signed -- but
have not ratified -- the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which
bans all atomic test blasts, whether for military or civilian
purposes.Announcing the recent tests, Putin boasted that Russia's new
nuclear-powered devices could reach any continent in the world and were
impervious to defences.Russia and the United States hold 90 percent of
the world's nuclear arsenal, or about 11,000 warheads, according to the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Trump stirs tensions with surprise nuclear test order.
Washington
(AFP) Oct 31, 2025 - US President Donald Trump landed back in
Washington Thursday after a surprise directive to begin nuclear weapons
testing that raised the specter of renewed superpower tensions.The
announcement on social media was issued just before Trump -- who boasts
frequently about being a peace president -- went into a summit with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea.But Trump's announcement left
much unanswered -- chiefly about whether he meant testing weapons
systems or actually conducting test explosions, something the United
States has not done since 1992.It appeared to alarm key US foe Iran,
which criticized the directive as "irresponsible."Vice President JD
Vance said the US nuclear arsenal needed to be tested to ensure it
actually "functions properly," but did not elaborate on what type of
tests Trump had ordered.The president's statement "speaks for itself,"
Vance told reporters at the White House."It's an important part of
American national security to make sure that this nuclear arsenal we
have actually functions properly, and that's part of a testing regime,"
he added.Trump's statement nevertheless amounted to unusual nuclear
saber rattling.It came days after Russia declared it had tested
nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missiles and sea drones."Because
of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department
of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis," Trump
said on Truth Social.Trump also claimed that the United States has more
nuclear weapons than any other country and that he had achieved this in
his first term as president.That however appeared to be untrue.The
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says in its
latest annual report that Russia possesses 5,489 nuclear warheads,
compared to 5,177 for the United States and 600 for China.In his post,
Trump said -- minutes ahead of his Xi summit -- that China was expected
to "be even within 5 years."- 'Nuclear-armed bully' -The Kremlin
questioned whether Trump was well-informed about Russia's military
activities.The recent weapons drills "cannot in any way be interpreted
as a nuclear test," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists."We hope
that the information was conveyed correctly to President Trump."Peskov
then implied that Russia would conduct its own live warhead tests if
Trump did it first.Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged
the United States to "earnestly abide" by a global nuclear testing
ban.Both countries observe a de facto moratorium on testing nuclear
warheads, though Russia and the United States do regularly run military
drills involving nuclear-capable systems.The Trump directive to resume
testing appeared to alarm Iran, whose foreign minister called it
"regressive and irresponsible," and a threat to international
security."A nuclear-armed bully is resuming testing of atomic weapons.
The same bully has been demonizing Iran's peaceful nuclear program,"
Abbas Araghchi posted on social media.United Nations chief Antonio
Guterres said through his deputy spokesman that "nuclear testing can
never be permitted under any circumstances."The United States has been a
signatory since 1996 to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,
which bans all atomic test explosions, whether for military or civilian
purposes.Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that it had been
"many years" since the United States had conducted nuclear tests, but it
was "appropriate" to start again.Further muddying the waters, Trump
also repeated in his remarks to reporters a previous claim that he wants
negotiations with Russia and China on reducing nuclear weapons
forces."Denuclearization would be a tremendous thing," he said.- Last US
test in 1992 -The United States conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between
July 16, 1945, when the first test was conducted in New Mexico, and
1992, as well as two nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II.It is
the only country to have used nuclear weapons in combat.The last US
nuclear test explosion was in September 1992, with a 20-kiloton
underground detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security
Site.Then-president George H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium on further
tests in October 1992 that has been continued by successive
administrations.Nuclear testing was replaced by non-nuclear and
subcritical experiments using advanced computer simulations.
Trump orders US to start nuclear weapons testing.
Washington
(AFP) Oct 30, 2025 - US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he
has ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear weapons testing to equal China
and Russia -- just minutes before opening a high-stakes summit with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping.The move comes after Russian President
Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow had successfully tested a
nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, in defiance of
Washington's warnings."Because of other countries testing programs, I
have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear
Weapons on an equal basis," Trump wrote in a social media post.Since
1996 the United States has been a signatory to the the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all atomic test blasts, whether for
military or civilian purposesIt was not immediately clear if Trump was
referring to testing nuclear warheads -- something the United States
last did in 1992 -- or testing weapons systems capable of carrying
atomic warheads.Trump also claimed the US has more nuclear weapons than
any other country, praising his own efforts to do "a complete update and
renovation of existing weapons.""Russia is second, and China is a
distant third, but will be even within five years," he added.The
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) says nine
countries possess nuclear weapons: Russia, the United States, China,
France, United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea.Of the
roughly 12,331 nuclear warheads ICAN counts, more than 5,500 belong to
Russia while the United States owns 5,044.In a press huddle aboard Air
Force One, Trump noted that it had been "many years" since the United
States had conducted nuclear tests."We don't do testing... we've halted
it years, many years ago," adding that to start again was "appropriate"
because others are testing."I'd like to see denuclearization...
denuclearization, would be a tremendous thing," he added.He claimed
"it's something we are actually talking to Russia about, and China would
be added to that if we do something."Trump kept the location and dates
for testing vague during the press conference, but earlier said it would
"begin immediately."Trump is in South Korea to meet with Xi, as the
leaders of the world's top two economies come face-to-face for the first
time in the Republican president's second term.China later urged the US
to "earnestly abide" by a global nuclear testing ban."China hopes the
United States will earnestly abide by the obligations of the
comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty and its commitment to a ban on
nuclear testing, and take concrete actions to safeguard the global
nuclear disarmament," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.Between
1945, when the first ever atomic bomb test happened in New Mexico on
July 16, and 1992 the United States has conducted 1,054 nuclear tests
and two nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II.The last US nuclear
test explosion was in September 1992, with a 20-kiloton underground
detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.In October 1992,
then-president George H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium on further tests,
which has been continued by successive administrations.Nuclear testing
was replaced by non-nuclear and subcritical experiments using advanced
computer simulations.Putin announced on Wednesday the successful testing
of a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, the second
weapons test in days.In televised remarks broadcast from a military
hospital treating Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine, Putin said there
was "no way to intercept" the unmanned drone torpedo dubbed
"Poseidon."He said Poseidon can travel faster than conventional
submarines, dive deep and reach any continent in the world.After a first
test of a cruise missile on Sunday, Trump chided Putin saying he ought
to end the war in Ukraine "instead of testing missiles."Last week, a
planned summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest was scrapped.
Iran
has ‘no desire’ for talks with US, ‘cannot stop uranium enrichment,’
says FM-Abbas Araghchi tells Al Jazeera Washington has offered
‘unacceptable and impossible conditions,’ warns Israel of ‘dire
consequences’ for any future attack-By ToI Staff 1 November 2025, 6:14
pm
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has no
desire for direct talks with the US over its nuclear or missile program,
insisting that the Islamic Republic would not give up its ability to
enrich uranium, according to a Saturday report by Al Jazeera.“We will
never negotiate our missile program, and no rational actor would disarm.
We cannot stop uranium enrichment, and what cannot be achieved by war
cannot be achieved through politics. We have no desire for direct talks
with Washington, but can reach an agreement for indirect negotiations,”
he told the Qatari outlet.“We are ready to negotiate to remove concerns
about our nuclear program and are confident in its peaceful nature.
Reaching a fair agreement is possible, but Washington has proposed
unacceptable and impossible conditions,” Araghchi said.“We are at the
highest state of readiness at all levels, and Israel will face another
defeat in any future conflict. We gained significant experience from
previous wars and tested our missiles in real combat. Any aggressive
move by Israel will have dire consequences,” he added.Israel struck both
the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities during the 12-day war with
Iran, and the US struck both sites as well, in addition to the
underground and hard-to-reach Fordo site, which Israel did not have the
means to target alone.Araghchi went on to add that Iran’s “nuclear
materials remained under the rubble of the attacked nuclear facilities
and were not transferred elsewhere. The technology exists, despite the
losses,” referring to Israel and the US’s attacks on the country’s
nuclear program.Despite US President Donald Trump’s repeated statements
that Iran’s nuclear facilities were obliterated during the war, Rafael
Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, revealed
last week that the body believed that most of Iran’s supply of enriched
uranium survived the war and is still being kept inside the damaged
nuclear facilities.He told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung that
the UN body’s findings suggest that “the majority” of Iran’s 60%
enriched uranium “remains in the nuclear facilities in Isfahan and
Fordo, and some in Natanz,” estimating that Iran has roughly 400
kilograms of 60% enriched uranium still in its possession.Araghchi
himself made similar statements in September, saying that enriched
nuclear material remained “under the rubble” of facilities damaged
during the war with Israel.Israel has assessed that the war set back the
Iranian program by “years,” but has not been definitive in publicly
assessing the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium.Israel said its sweeping
assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium
enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent
the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the
Jewish state.Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear
weapons. However, it has enriched uranium to levels that have no
peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking
its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.
Israel said Iran had taken steps toward weaponization before the June
war.Iran retaliated to Israel’s strikes by launching over 500 ballistic
missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel, killing 32 people and
wounding over 3,000 in Israel, according to health officials and
hospitals.
Fate of tens of thousands of trapped civilians still
unknown-UN demands probe into ‘horrific accounts’ of executions, gang
rapes, abductions in Sudan-Satellite imagery analyzed by Yale’s
Humanitarian Research Lab shows clusters in Darfur’s El-Fasher
‘consistent with adult human bodies,’ discoloration that may indicate
‘pools of blood’By AFP Today, 11:13 am-NOV 1,25
PORT SUDAN — The
United Nations demanded an investigation Friday into the “horrendous
accounts” of atrocities emerging from Sudan’s El-Fasher as the
paramilitary Rapid Support Forces claimed they had arrested several
fighters accused of abuses during the capture of the city.At war with
the army since April 2023, the RSF seized El-Fasher on Sunday,
dislodging the army’s last stronghold in the western Darfur region after
an 18-month siege marked by bombardment and starvation.Survivors who
reached the nearby town of Tawila told AFP of mass killings, children
shot before their parents, and civilians beaten and robbed as they
fled.The RSF said late Thursday it had detained several men accused of
“violations… during the liberation” of El-Fasher, including one known as
Abu Lulu, who appeared in multiple TikTok videos committing summary
executions.In one clip verified by AFP, he is seen shooting unarmed men
at close range. Another shows him standing among fighters celebrating
near dozens of bodies and burnt vehicles.The RSF released footage
appearing to show Abu Lulu behind bars in what they claimed to be a
North Darfur prison.It pledged to ensure “military discipline during
wartime,” and promised a fair trial for those detained.Since El-Fasher’s
fall, videos circulating online have purportedly shown men in RSF
uniforms carrying out summary executions around the city, which has been
cut off from all communications.Emtithal Mahmoud, a US-based Sudanese
poet from El-Fasher, told AFP she recognized her cousin, Nadifa, in a
video shared by RSF accounts, lying dead on the ground.The UN said the
death toll could reach the hundreds, while army allies have accused the
RSF of killing over 2,000 civilians.‘Horror is continuing’On Friday, the
United Nations voiced alarm at emerging details of executions, gang
rapes and abductions in El-Fasher.“We have received horrendous accounts
of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against
humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said
UN rights office spokesman Seif Magango.Magango called for
“independent, prompt, transparent and thorough investigations” into all
alleged breaches of international law.The World Health Organization,
meanwhile, said it had verified that at least 460 patients and others
were killed Tuesday in attacks on the Saudi Maternity Hospital — one of
the last still functioning in El-Fasher.On Thursday, UN humanitarian
chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council that “the horror is
continuing” in El-Fasher, and questioned the RSF’s commitment to
investigating violations amid the “appalling news” from North Darfur.RSF
leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo had earlier vowed accountability for
“anyone who has made a mistake,” while an RSF-led coalition maintained
many incriminating videos were “fabricated” by the army.Satellite
imagery analyzed by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab showed clusters in
the city “consistent with adult human bodies,” and discoloration that
may indicate “pools of blood,” its director told AFP.Sudanese analyst
Kholood Khair said she was skeptical that the purported arrests would
bring an end to the violence.“We expect these atrocities to continue,
particularly against non-Arab groups,” she told AFP, citing communities
such as the Zaghawa, Fur, Berti and Masalit in Darfur.In 2023, the RSF —
descended from the Janjaweed Arab militias accused of genocide in
Darfur two decades ago — was blamed for massacres against the Masalit
tribe in West Darfur capital El-Geneina, killing up to 15,000
people.“Overall, these patterns reflect a disturbing repetition of
ethnic tensions from 20 years ago, now compounded by disputes over
resource control and political power in the country,” Khair said.More
than 62,000 people have fled El-Fasher between Sunday and Wednesday,
according to the UN’s migration agency, while the fate of tens of
thousands of civilians still trapped in the city remains
unknown.Bloodshed in Kordofan-Fletcher warned that the bloodshed was
spreading beyond Darfur, with atrocities reported in the neighboring
Kordofan region.According to UN figures, between Sunday and Wednesday
more than 35,000 people fled five localities in North Kordofan state,
including Bara, which lies north of state capital El-Obeid on a key
route to Darfur and which was overrun by paramilitaries on
Saturday.Martha Pobee, the assistant UN secretary-general for Africa,
highlighted “reports of large-scale atrocities perpetrated” by the RSF
in Bara, including “ethnically motivated” reprisals.At least 50
civilians were killed there in recent days, both in fighting and
executions, including five Red Crescent volunteers, according to the
UN.Kordofan is “clearly going to be the next area of military
escalation,” analyst Khair said.The RSF Thursday accused the army of
launching a drone attack on a school in eastern North Kordofan, claiming
dozens of students and teachers were killed or injured — an allegation
the army denied.AFP could not independently verify the attack.Both the
army and the RSF have faced war crimes accusations over the course of
the conflict.The RSF has received weapons and drones from the UAE,
according to UN reports. Abu Dhabi has denied giving any support to the
paramilitary group.Meanwhile, the army has drawn on support from Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.The US has previously determined the RSF
committed genocide in Darfur.El-Fasher’s fall to the RSF gave it full
control over all five state capitals in Darfur, effectively splitting
Sudan along an east-west axis. The paramilitaries have established a
self-declared rival government in Darfur.The army holds Sudan’s north,
east and center.
'As a feminist, I really wish there was a better
option' Feminist vs. Jewish: These women say NYC’s mayoral election is
forcing a painful choice-Many fear antisemitism could proliferate
unchecked under virulently anti-Israel frontrunner Mamdani, while rival
Cuomo has a track record of sexual harassment allegations, which he
denies By Jackie Hajdenberg Today, 5:38 am-NOV 1,25
New York
Jewish Week — Tracey Wells didn’t necessarily want to see Andrew Cuomo
resign in disgrace as New York’s governor in 2021.“But I firmly believe
that you believe women,” Wells, the owner of a recruitment firm, said,
noting that at the time New York’s attorney general had substantiated
sexual harassment claims from 11 women. That number would later rise to
13 following a federal Justice Department investigation.Nonetheless,
Wells, who is Jewish, surprised herself by deciding to vote for Cuomo to
become mayor of New York City. She made the decision in part because
she sharply disagrees with Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s critical
views on Israel.“He’s not my favorite, but he’s better than the
alternative options,” Wells said about Cuomo, rationalizing that the
allegations against him could have been more egregious. “He’s obviously
been in trouble before. I’m a woman, a feminist, and I do think that the
things that he got in trouble for, 10 or 15 years ago, would have never
been an issue.”Wells’s thinking reflects the complicated calculus
facing many Jewish women in New York City this week. Mamdani, the
frontrunner, has divided Jewish voters with his vociferous criticism of
Israel, and many of those who are spurning him over that see Cuomo, who
is polling a distant second, as the best chance to keep him out of
Gracie Mansion. But Cuomo has his own baggage: a track record of sexual
harassment allegations — which he denies — that derailed his last stint
in public office, and remains a turnoff for many voters.“As somebody who
identifies as a feminist, I really wish there was a better option,”
said a Lower Manhattan 28-year-old woman who works in influencer
marketing. She declined to share her name, citing concerns about
publicizing her voting record.“Every other election that I voted in,
I’ve been very sure in my decision, and I’ve been excited to cast my
vote and use my voice,” the woman said. “In this election, it feels like
I’m voting more against something than for something that I’m excited
about.”Usually, she casts a ballot on the first day of early voting. But
this year, she waffled until Wednesday, when she voted for Cuomo — not
to support him, but to count against Mamdani.“As the candidate who won
the Democratic primary, I normally would just go for it,” she said. “But
I think just because so much of his platform has been around that
[anti-Zionism], I struggle, I fear, that that would energize that super
anti-Israel base more. And anti-Zionism often bleeds into
antisemitism.”A fevered push among many Jewish leaders to get out the
vote against Mamdani has largely sidestepped Cuomo’s history with women.
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, in a Shabbat sermon urging New Yorkers to back
Cuomo, said only that Cuomo, “like any politician, comes with both
personal and professional baggage.”A letter quoting Cosgrove’s sermon
has now been signed by more than 1,150 rabbis across the country,
including hundreds of women.Tracy Kaplowitz, a rabbi at the Stephen Wise
Free Synagogue on the Upper West Side, was among them. Asked about how
Jewish women should weigh the allegations against Cuomo as they vote,
Kaplowitz said, “Judaism believes in the dignity of every human being.
People need to make their decisions honoring the dignity of every human
being. We are not endorsing any candidate. We’re not encouraging people
to vote in a particular way that’s not our role or our place, and we
recognize people will come to different conclusions.”Writer Emily Tamkin
lives in Washington, DC, and cannot vote in the election. Still, as she
wrote in The Forward, the pro-Cuomo push among prominent Jews feels
unnerving.“The failure of so many Jewish leaders to meaningfully engage
with what Cuomo’s election might mean for women has deeply alarmed me,”
Tamkin wrote.“The idea that I, or any woman, has to pretend that the
normalization of sexual harassment in politics is somehow irrelevant to
our day-to-day safety — because our commitment to Jewish peoplehood
comes first — seems to me to be an extremely limited understanding of
Jewish safety,” she continued.Some rabbis have in fact called attention
to Cuomo’s history as a reason to find the election challenging for
Jewish voters.“When we are considering whom to elect as leaders, a
candidate who has been morally compromised should not easily collect our
votes,” Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Reform movement, wrote in an
essay. “As I have questioned what Mamdani might do based on his
statements, so too I question what Andrew Cuomo might do in light of
past findings of his pattern of harassment.”Rachel Gildiner, executive
director of SRE Network, a group that helps Jewish organizations achieve
gender equity and create inclusive workplaces, said the election is
doubly challenging for many Jewish women.“Today, many Jewish women are
feeling pressure from all sides and wondering if their own safety and
belonging are being fully seen and understood,” Gildiner said in a
statement. “At SRE, we are focused on helping the organizations we work
with support women who are experiencing the double threat of
antisemitism and misogyny in this moment. To all the women struggling:
we see you and you are not alone.”Some Jewish women say they feel no
need to reconcile themselves to supporting a candidate with a record of
allegations against him — because they prefer Mamdani anyway.“I’m really
happy with Zohran,” said Jaime Berman, a 33-year-old attorney and one
of two Democratic state committee members for the 76th Assembly
district, representing the Upper East Side. “And also Cuomo is literally
the most evil person in New York, and is a sexual harasser.”But for
many Jewish women, the decision is proving to be fraught through the
election’s very last days. Alisha Outridge, a tech entrepreneur in her
late 30s living in Manhattan, said she sees advantages and disadvantages
to both leading candidates. For her, the allegations against Cuomo
aren’t weighing heavily.“I think it’s bad, but I wouldn’t make decisions
based on who our mayor is on that,” she said, noting that she is
leaning toward Mamdani. “Local policy is really what I think is most
impactful.”Blima Marcus, an Orthodox nurse in Brooklyn, wrote on
Facebook that she had abandoned an earlier promise not to vote at all
and would cast a ballot for Cuomo if she can make it to the polls.“A
sexual predator is a red line for me, but I must say that after watching
Zohran Mamdani carefully and listening to what he does and does not
say, I don’t want him in office and I don’t want it on my conscience
that I sat this election out,” she wrote.For Wells in Williamsburg, her
vote for Cuomo is coming with the hope that the mistakes of the past are
not soon repeated.“Obviously, he made a few bad calls,” Wells said. “I
would like him not to make any bad calls as the mayor of the city.”
'How
many elected Republicans do you see calling this out?'Ted Cruz to
Jewish Republicans: Antisemitism is ‘an existential crisis in our
party’The Texas senator reiterates comments he made at a megachurch last
week, including the core message that he’s recently seen more
Jew-hatred on the right than ever before By Joseph Strauss Today, 5:13
am-NOV 1,25
LAS VEGAS (JTA) — Ted Cruz warned of rising
antisemitism on the right — and a lack of Republican voices calling it
out — as he kicked off the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit
Thursday night.The speech reiterated comments he made at a San Antonio
megachurch last week, including the core message that he’s recently seen
more right-wing antisemitism than ever before.“In the last six months,
I’ve seen more antisemitism on the right than I had in my entire life,”
Cruz said.“This is a poison,” he continued. “And I believe we are facing
an existential crisis in our party and our country.”The RJC’s annual
gathering, being held this weekend at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas,
comes as a growing number of conservatives are turning against Israel,
while right-wing voices who are spreading antisemitic conspiracies are
finding mainstream audiences.Cruz, a longtime supporter of Israel,
presented the moment of division on the right as “a time for
choosing.”“And as for me, I choose to stand with you,” Cruz said to the
room of about 100 Jewish Republican donors. “I choose to stand with
Israel, and I choose to stand with America.”As at the megachurch, Cruz,
who is Christian, did not name names in his criticism of the
“anti-Israel right.” But on Thursday, he hinted strongly that he was
speaking about Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News personality who
recently hosted a friendly conversation with the white nationalist
livestreamer Nick Fuentes. Carlson said during the interview that GOP
supporters of Israel — including Cruz — are infected by a “brain
virus.”“If you sit there and nod adoringly while someone tells you that
Winston Churchill was the villain of World War II, if you sit there and
nod while someone says, ‘There’s a very good argument America should’ve
intervened on behalf of Nazi Germany in World War II,’ if you sit there
with someone who says ‘Adolf Hitler was very, very cool,’ and that their
mission is to combat and defeat global Jewry, and you say nothing?”
Cruz said. “Then you are a coward and you are complicit in that
evil.”His comments came just hours after Kevin Roberts, the president of
leading conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, answered
mounting questions about whether he would continue to associate with
Carlson after the Fuentes interview — with a resounding defense of
Carlson.RJC CEO Matt Brooks told Jewish Insider that, after working with
Heritage over the years, there would be “a reassessment of our
relationship with Heritage in light of this.”Cruz called out the silence
of Republican elected officials who’ve not spoken out against
increasing right-wing antisemitism.“I have to say, too many people are
scared to confront them,” he said, referring to the “grotesque bigots”
who do not plainly see Hitler as “the embodiment of evil.”“How many
elected Republicans do you see standing up and calling this out?” Cruz
said. “How many do you see willing to take on the voices on the
anti-Israel right?”One name invoked by Cruz in a positive light was US
President Donald Trump, whom the Texas senator called “the most
pro-Israel president in the history of the United States,” to loud
applause.Cruz affirmed to the RJC’s membership that with Trump in the
White House, their interest in assisting Israel in its conflicts would
be upheld, and kept away from the skepticism of a growing isolationist
faction that would rather the United States not get involved.(Trump has
not publicly weighed in on Carlson hosting Fuentes; Trump once dined
with Fuentes and rapper Ye between presidential terms in 2022, later
saying that he had not known who Fuentes was.)But Cruz then pointed to
the post-Trump future as a fork in the road moment for the Republican
Party.“When Trump is not in the White House, what then?” Cruz said.One
man called out, “Ted Cruz!”One potential candidate for Republican
leadership in 2028 was not named in Cruz’s speech: JD Vance.Cruz lauded
Trump’s efforts in taking on Hamas and cracking down on campus protests,
but did not name Vance as a friend of Jewish Americans.Vance faced
criticism this week after failing to push back on skeptical questions
about Israel, including one laced with an antisemitic conspiracy theory,
at a Turning Point USA event at Ole Miss. Vance also downplayed the
messages sent in the recent Young Republicans leak, saying the text
messages sent by early-career GOP activists — which included jokes about
gas chambers, racist slurs and praise of Hitler — were simply immature
“jokes” and that critics should “grow up.”Cruz emphasized the need to
“engage in college campuses” and “engage in the facts” in order to
overcome the “handful of voices that are spreading this garbage,” whom
he said were “giving every one of us a time for choosing.”He thanked the
crowd for being “patriots.”“You love America — although the fact that
you are Jewish means that there are idiots who would accuse you of not
loving America simply because of it,” he said, invoking the dual
loyalties trope to which Fuentes subscribes.Cruz’s 25-minute speech
included celebratory jokes about Israel’s pager operation that killed
dozens of Hezbollah terrorists and put 1,500 out of commission due to
their injuries, condemnations of what he called a growing “pro-Hamas
wing” of the Democratic Party, and a reflection on the horrors of the
Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught on Israel.But its main thrust was
that the Republican Party has reached a point where its Jewish and
pro-Israel membership must think about how to stave off a growing
anti-Israel movement, and quell the proliferation of antisemitic
conspiracy theories.Cruz began his speech by remarking that this was the
RJC’s 40th-anniversary summit — a fact that he said poignantly
reinforced the weight of this moment.“Thinking back over the last 40
years, I don’t know that there has been a year in those 40 that the
Republican Jewish Coalition was more needed than right now,” Cruz said.
Drone strike killed elite Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon yesterday, IDF says By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 9:15 am-NOV 1,251
A
Hezbollah operative was killed in a second Israeli drone strike in
southern Lebanon yesterday, the IDF announces.The military says the
strike in the Nabatieh area killed a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan
Force who was involved in “advancing many terror attacks against the
State of Israel and operated to restore Hezbollah military
infrastructure.”“The terrorist’s activities constituted a threat to the
State of Israel and its civilians, and a violation of the understandings
between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF adds.Yesterday, the IDF said it
killed a “Hezbollah maintenance officer” in a strike in the southern
Lebanon town of Kounine.
In video filmed next to bound prisoners,
Ben Gvir urges ‘death penalty for terrorists’Far-right minister brags
about harsh treatment in prisons under his leadership, which several
freed hostages have said led their captors in Gaza to torture them By
AFP and ToI Staff Today, 1:08 am-NOV 1,25
National Security
Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Friday posted a video of himself standing
over a row of Palestinian prisoners lying prone with their hands tied,
while calling for the “death penalty for terrorists.”In footage shared
on his personal Telegram channel, the far-right minister and chairman of
the Otzma Yehudit party addressed the camera while pointing at a dozen
detainees face down in front of an Israeli flag.“These guys, the Nukhba
who came to kill children, women, our babies. Look at them today,” the
far-right minister said, referring to the elite unit of Hamas’s military
wing which led the October 7, 2023, invasion and massacres on southern
Israel.“But there’s still something that must be done: the death penalty
for the terrorists,” he added.Ben Gvir, who is known for his
inflammatory remarks, has threatened to stop voting with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition if his bill calling for a
death penalty for terrorists is not put to a parliamentary vote soon.In a
lengthy caption posted alongside the video on Friday, Ben Gvir said
that after Israel killed Hamas’s leaders, the Islamist terror group
“tortured the hostages” abducted to Gaza after its bloody cross-border
attack on October 7, 2023. He went on to boast about the harsh detention
conditions he had imposed on Palestinian prisoners, something he has
bragged about repeatedly in recent months.Several freed hostages have
reported being tortured as a result of Ben Gvir’s highly publicized
efforts to worsen conditions for Palestinian inmates, including a former
captive who said in an interview aired this week that his captors wrote
“an eye for an eye” on his back as a message to the far-right minister.
Ben Gvir has claimed in response that the reports are “part of a
campaign in the service of Hamas that is intended to improve prison
conditions for the terrorists.”“I am proud of the revolution in the
prisons, unlike anything since the founding of the state; today, instead
of a summer camp, there is deterrence. There are no more smiles there —
we erase them,” Ben Gvir said Friday.“Ask any terrorist who passed
through my prison, if he would like to return there — they are afraid,
trembling, and the number of attacks has fallen remarkably,” he
added.Earlier this month, Ben Gvir told reporters that, with the release
of the last 20 living hostages from Gaza, there were “no more excuses”
not to advance the legislation, which he asserted would deter
terrorism.“As part of the deal signed with Hamas, unfortunately,
hundreds of murderous terrorists were released from prison. When
terrorists remain alive, the terrorists outside are motivated to carry
out kidnappings in order to free their Nazi brothers in future deals,”
he said. “If they murder a Jew, they do not stay alive.”Ben Gvir
recently threatened to bolt the government if Hamas “continues to exist”
after the hostages are freed, stating that his party would not be a
part of “a national defeat” and “eternal disgrace,” and would not agree
to a situation in which the terrorist group is able to rebuild itself
after the end of hostilities.He was one of a small handful of ministers
who voted against the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal. Earlier
this year, Ben Gvir’s party quit the coalition for several months to
protest the acceptance of a previous partial ceasefire-hostage deal that
saw the release of 30 hostages and the return of eight bodies.Following
a deadly terror attack in Jerusalem last month, Otzma Yehudit announced
that it intended to raise the death penalty issue in the Knesset again,
with Hebrew media reporting that the far-right party believed the
coalition had failed to advance the issue fast enough and the discussion
needed to be expedited.The Knesset National Security Committee
subsequently voted to advance a bill by Har-Melech allowing courts to
impose the death penalty on terrorists who kill Israelis, paving the way
for the first of three plenum votes necessary for it to become law.The
legislation had long been stalled due to high-level opposition within
the government and security services.Ben Gvir said in September that he
had been approached by “people in the Prime Minister’s Office” who asked
him to postpone the death penalty discussion over concerns that it
could complicate efforts to free the hostages, but had refused. Instead,
he claimed at the time that the bill would “bring deterrence” and
“advance the return of the hostages” while showing Hamas that “there is a
price tag for what they did” on October 7.Justice Minister Yariv Levin
announced on Thursday that he is advancing legislation in the Knesset to
establish a special criminal tribunal to try Gazans accused of carrying
out massacres and atrocities on October 7, 2023, in a process that
could result in death sentences being handed down to those convicted.
FBI
says it thwarted ‘potential terrorist attack’ in Dearborn,
Michigan-Agency doesn’t reveal details of plot, but CBS reports 5 people
were arrested Friday, says planned attack was inspired by Islamic State
By AFP Today, 12:16 am-NOV 1,25
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash
Patel said Friday that the agency had thwarted a “potential terrorist
attack” planned in the northern US state of Michigan over Halloween
weekend.Patel did not provide any details about the alleged plot, but
CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, said it was “inspired” by the
Islamic State (IS).“This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist
attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly
plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend,” Patel said in a post
on X.“Through swift action and close coordination with our local
partners, a potential act of terror was stopped before it could
unfold.”CBS said five people between the ages of 16 and 20 were arrested
Friday, and one or more of them may have known a former member of the
Michigan National Guard who was arrested in May for planning an
IS-inspired attack on a US Army site in suburban Detroit.The Federal
Bureau of Investigation had been monitoring an online discussion about
the plot for some time, the broadcaster said.According to CNN, members
of the group had chatted online about carrying out an attack, practiced
with automatic weapons at a shooting range, and made references to
“pumpkin day.”In a post on Facebook, the police department in Dearborn, a
city west of Detroit, said the FBI had conducted operations there early
Friday.“We want to assure our residents that there is no threat to the
community at this time,” the police department said.FBI agents were
spotted searching homes in the Dearborn area Friday morning.
'When
the fires start, the birds stop chirping and fly away'As trash burns in
the West Bank, NGO sees huge jump in reports of smoke, foul
smells-Complaints to clean air NGO nearly triple between August and
October; PM urged to intervene, as state agencies point fingers and
Palestinian areas lack infrastructure By Sue Surkes-1 November 2025,
6:10 pm
The first time she smelled the noxious air, Shir
Bushinsky instinctively swept up her baby and drove from Kiryat Ono, in
central Israel, to her parents in the northern coastal town of Zichron
Yaakov.It was October 2023, shortly after Hamas’s onslaught against
Israel and the start of the war against the terror group in Gaza, while
her partner was serving in the IDF reserves.“I had this feeling I needed
to protect myself and my baby,” Bushinsky told The Times of Israel.When
she returned to Kiryat Ono, located around 15 kilometers (nine miles)
from the Green Line, the stench was still there, day after day. In the
two years since, her toddler son has been diagnosed with asthma.
Searching for an explanation for the odor, she discovered Citizens for
Clean Air, whose homepage greets visitors with a giant photo of burning
garbage and the headline “Eradicating the pirate trash fires.”The
problem Bushinsky encountered was a common one, and according to
Citizens for Clean Air, it has been getting worse. For years, West Bank
Palestinians, with a dearth of landfills and unreliable public services,
have resorted to burning their refuse by the side of the road. Now,
complaints from Israelis about the resulting pollution are spiking — and
the government is still formulating a coordinated response.“Over the
past two or three months, it’s become impossible,” Bushinsky said. “We
have headaches, we’re tired and coughing all day, and my eyes start to
sting towards the evening. I’ve noticed that when the fires start, the
birds stop chirping and fly away.”Citizens for Clean Air reports that
this month, they have seen a huge jump in complaints about pollution
from these fires, logging 1,800 in October. That’s almost triple the 610
complaints submitted in August.Yaniv Bleicher, who chairs the NGO, told
The Times of Israel that while October is usually a bad month for
fires, this year is far worse than normal.“We’re in the olive harvesting
period, so more branches are being burned,” he said. “It’s mixed
household waste from the Palestinian villages.”The fires, which he said
are also a result of “neglect,” have prompted increasing reports of
pollution not just from northern and central towns adjacent to or in the
West Bank, but also cities that are a bit farther afield.“There’s a
steep rise in complaints from communities along the Green Line,”
Bleicher said. “Furthermore, unlike in previous years, we’re also
hearing morning and night from people in Yehud, Kiryat Ono, and Petah
Tikva, and even from Tel Aviv when the nights are particularly bad. It
wasn’t like this before.”On Sunday, the organization wrote to Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on him to hold an emergency meeting
with Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman and Finance Minister
Bezalel Smotrich, who has authority over civilian affairs in the West
Bank.The letter cited the “dimensions of the phenomenon, its severity,
and the ongoing shifting of responsibility between the various
government ministries.”The letter also cited Environmental Protection
Ministry pollution data (which does not include information from the
West Bank), showing that waste fires were responsible for 75 percent of
the emissions of carcinogenic substances into the air in Israel and
around 27% of the emissions of particulate matter, an invisible
pollutant made of tiny particles of soot, dirt, carbon, and minerals
that penetrates deep into the respiratory system and can cause severe
respiratory illness.It quoted 2023 data from the Environmental
Protection and Health Ministries saying that some 4,700 premature deaths
occurred in Israel annually as a result of exposure to the
pollutant.Bleicher said the long-running problem of trash burning in the
West Bank is due to a combination of poverty, crime, a shortage of
accessible landfill sites, inadequate enforcement, and insufficient
government coordination. Serious enforcement and a dedicated body to
oversee action on the ground would help reduce the phenomenon, he
said.On paper, local Palestinian authorities in the West Bank are
supposed to collect trash from households and contract with truck
companies that will transport non-recyclable garbage to landfill sites.
But, in reality, to save time and money, many truck drivers dump the
trash along the road, without fear of consequences from law enforcement.
The piles are burned outside of the Palestinian villages, though it is
unclear whether the truck drivers or locals light the fires.The problem
in the West Bank, according to Bleicher, is particularly acute in
central Samaria, the northern region of the West Bank that lies due east
of the Tel Aviv metro area. There, trash is collected, but not
transported in any organized fashion. Just one landfill site serves all
of Samaria, near the city of Jenin, while another serves the southern
West Bank, near Bethlehem. A new site is being planned near Ramallah, in
the territory’s center, but it is only expected to begin operating
years from now.In addition, the West Bank is home to another, related
problem — the burning of electronic waste illegally smuggled from Israel
into the West Bank. However, this typically happens in the southern
West Bank, according to a report by the state comptroller.Within Israel,
there are seven operational landfills, but illegal waste burning is
still a problem, mainly in Arab towns. Citizens for Clean Air helped
push for the creation in 2019 of a team of 14 government inspectors
whose job it is to stop the phenomenon. It is financed from the Cleanup
Fund, an independent body funded by payments such as landfill fees.
Bleicher said his NGO was pushing to get more inspectors into that unit,
and to establish a similar one for the West Bank.The state comptroller
estimated that the cross-border pollution has cost the Israeli economy
around NIS 1.3 billion (just under $400 million) per year, accounting
for damage both to the environment and to public health. Several
agencies bear responsibility, the report said, from Israel’s Civil
Administration, a Defense Ministry body that governs civilian affairs
for West Bank Palestinians, to the Environmental Protection and Health
Ministries, the Fire and Rescue Services, and the Israel Police.In June
2023, the government ordered the Environmental Protection and Defense
Ministries to establish an inter-ministerial team to formulate a
comprehensive plan within six months.The October 7 attack happened
several months later. But Bleicher’s letter said that the requested plan
was since formulated, but has yet to be approved.“A draft report has
been circulating among government ministries for months,” the letter
said. “The completion of the team’s work is being delayed without a
plausible reason, and government ministries are blaming each other for
the delay.”Last week, Silman wrote her own letter to the Defense
Ministry’s settlement directorate, saying it held the authority to deal
with burning waste, and accusing it of foot-dragging. She wrote, “We ask
that you give the issue high priority, with all that this implies, and
we expect you to approve the proposed plan so that it can be brought to
the government’s approval.”An Environmental Protection Ministry
spokesman said the key points of the plan would be published in the
coming days to spur momentum. Silman’s office did not respond to a
request for comment.The Civil Administration responded to her letter
that it was investing “significant resources and budgets” to clamp down
on the problem, and that its Environmental Quality Unit had extinguished
over 80 fires during the last month alone. It did not say what
proportion of the total blazes that number constituted.It said plans had
been approved to increase enforcement and, referring to the new
landfill site envisaged for the Ramallah area, to create more waste
infrastructure throughout the West Bank.Until that happens,
rank-and-file Israelis have been left to search for a solution. Dolev
Hilell, 32, bought an apartment in the northern Israeli town of Harish
in 2021, but is now reconsidering. His apartment is less than a
kilometer from the Green Line.“It’s sad we should have to live this way,
” he said, adding that his partner, Maor, has wanted to leave for a
long time. “Where’s the state?” he asked.As for Bushinsky, she and her
partner have already decided, with heavy hearts, to leave Kiryat Ono.“It
smells of plastic, tires, and electronic material,” she said. “It
worsens in the early evening, when the fires start, and the wind blows
from east to west, and it can linger up to noon the next day. During
those hours, our windows are closed, although not hermetically. It still
gets in.”
Trump threatens military action in Nigeria over killing of Christians.
West
Palm Beach, United States, Nov 1 (AFP) Nov 01, 2025-President Donald
Trump on Saturday threatened to send US forces into Nigeria with
"guns-a-blazing" if Africa's most populous country does not stem what he
described as the killing of Christians by Islamists.In an explosive
post on his Truth Social platform, the Republican leader -- who had
campaigned unsuccessfully for the Nobel Peace Prize -- said he asked the
Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack, one day after warning
that Christianity was "facing an existential threat in Nigeria.""If the
Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the
U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may
very well go into that now disgraced country, 'guns-a-blazing,' to
completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these
horrible atrocities," he said."I am hereby instructing our Department of
War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast,
vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED
Christians," he added, warning the Nigerian government that they "BETTER
MOVE FAST!"Nigeria is embroiled in numerous conflicts that experts say
have killed both Christians and Muslims without distinction.Trump on
Friday posted, without evidence, that "thousands of Christians are being
killed (and) Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass
slaughter."Conservative politicians have fueled the accusations.In
March, US congressman Chris Smith called for Nigeria to be listed by the
State Department as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) -- a move
announced by Trump on Friday over what he called an "existential threat"
to the African nation's Christian population.And in early October, US
Senator Ted Cruz and House Republican Riley Moore accused the Nigerian
government of turning a blind eye to the "mass murder" of
Christians.Claims of Christian persecution have also been pushed by some
in Nigeria, where ethnic, religious and regional divisions have flared
with deadly consequences in the past and still shape the country's
modern politics.Some US officials argue Christians in Nigeria are facing
a "genocide" -- a claim that Abuja denies."The characterisation of
Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national
reality," Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu posted Saturday on X
after Trump made his CPC announcement."Religious freedom and tolerance
have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always
remain so," Tinubu added.Nigeria is almost evenly divided between a
Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south.The country is
consumed by security issues. Its northeastern region is at the epicenter
of a Boko Haram jihadist insurgency, which has killed more than 40,000
people and displaced more than two million since 2009, according to the
United Nations.In central Nigeria, majority-Muslim herders have
repeatedly clashed with majority-Christian farmers. The conflict is
frequently portrayed as inter-religious but generally stems from
competition over land access.
New satellite images suggest mass killings persist in Sudan's El-Fasher.
Port
Sudan, Sudan, Nov 1 (AFP) Nov 01, 2025-New satellite imagery suggests
that mass killings are likely continuing in and around the Sudanese city
of El-Fasher, Yale researchers said, days after it fell to the
paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.At war with the regular army since
April 2023, the RSF seized El-Fasher on Sunday, pushing the army out its
last stronghold in the western Darfur region after a grinding 18-month
siege.Since the city's fall, reports have emerged of summary executions,
sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, looting and abductions, while
communications remain largely cut off.A report by Yale University's
Humanitarian Research Lab on Friday said fresh images gave them reason
to believe much of the population may be "dead, captured, or in
hiding".The lab identified at least 31 clusters of objects consistent
with human bodies between Monday and Friday, across neighbourhoods,
university grounds and military sites."Indicators that mass killing is
continuing are clearly visible," the lab said.Survivors from El-Fasher
who reached the nearby town of Tawila have told AFP of mass killings,
children shot before their parents, and civilians beaten and robbed as
they fled.Hayat, a mother of five who fled El-Fasher, said that "young
men travelling with us were stopped" along the way by paramilitaries and
"we don't know what happened to them".The UN said more than 65,000
people have fled El-Fasher but tens of thousands remain trapped.Around
260,000 people were in the city before the RSF's final assault.The RSF
claimed to have arrested several fighters accused of abuses on Thursday,
but UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher questioned the RSF's commitment
to investigate violations.Both the RSF and the army have faced war
crimes accusations over the course of the conflict.El-Fasher's capture
gives the RSF full control over all five state capitals in Darfur,
effectively splitting Sudan along an east-west axis, with the army
controlling the north, east and centre.
Mediator Oman calls on Iran, US to resume nuclear talks.
Manama,
Nov 1 (AFP) Nov 01, 2025-Oman, which hosted several rounds of US-Iran
nuclear talks that were derailed by the Israel-Iran war in June, urged
the countries on Saturday to go back to the negotiating table."We want
to return to the negotiations between Iran (and) the United States,"
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said during a panel at the IISS
Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain.Oman, Iran's traditional
intermediary, hosted five rounds of US-Iran talks this year.However,
"just three days before the sixth and possibly decisive round of talks,
Israel unleashed its bombs and missiles in an illegal and deadly act of
sabotage", Albusaidi said.The talks had aimed for a new agreement that
would curb Iran's nuclear activities in return for sanctions
relief.Western countries, including the United States, have long accused
Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Iran insists its
nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.Albusaidi called for fellow
Gulf nations to favour dialogue with Iran and others long seen as foes
and rivals in the region."Over the years, the GCC has at best sat back
and permitted the isolation of Iran," he said, referring to the Gulf
Cooperation Council regional bloc."I believe this needs to change,"
Albusaidi added."Oman has long hoped for a more comprehensive mechanism
for dialogue with all states in the region including Iran, Iraq and
Yemen," he said.
Trinidad and Tobago military on alert amid US-Venezuela tensions.
Port
of Spain, Nov 1 (AFP) Nov 01, 2025-Trinidad and Tobago put its military
on alert Friday and recalled all personnel to their bases amid a
deepening row between the United States and Venezuela and a deadly US
military buildup in the Caribbean.Trinidadian forces have been placed on
"STATE ONE ALERT LEVEL" and have been ordered to report to base,
according to a message sent by the army seen by AFP. Police said that
"all leave is restricted" until further notice.The island nation of
Trinidad and Tobago is located just off Venezuela's coast, and the
mobilization comes after the United States carried out airstrikes on at
least 15 alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the
Pacific, killing 62.The alert caused panic in Port of Spain, where
locals rushed to buy food and fuel, as witnessed by AFP
reporters.Officials urged calm, and said "the Government of Trinidad and
Tobago is in active contact with the Embassy of the United States of
America in Port of Spain."In the name of curbing drug trafficking,
Washington has deployed a massive military force, with eight US Navy
ships to the Caribbean, F-35 stealth warplanes to Puerto Rico, and an
aircraft carrier strike group is en route to the region.Venezuelan
leader Nicolas Maduro, who faces indictment on drug charges in the
United States, accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext
for "imposing regime change" in Caracas to seize Venezuelan oil.But US
President Donald Trump said Friday he was not considering strikes
against Venezuela, dialing back previous posturing."No," Trump responded
when asked by a journalist aboard Air Force One about reports that he
was considering such strikes.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered
the same message, lambasting an article in the Miami Herald that said
Washington's forces were poised to hit Venezuela.
Trump keeps world guessing with shock nuclear test order.
Aboard
Air Force One, Oct 31 (AFP) Oct 31, 2025-President Donald Trump
reiterated Friday that he wants testing of US nuclear weapons, but again
failed to clarify whether he meant live explosions in an order that has
provoked global tension and confusion..Asked by an AFP journalist
whether he meant conducting underground blasts for the first time in the
United States since 1992, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: "I
am not going to say.""You'll find out very soon, but we're going to do
some testing, yeah. Other countries do it. If they're going to do it,
we're going do it," he said on his way to spend Halloween at his golf
resort in Florida.No country other than North Korea has conducted an
explosive nuclear weapon test for decades. Russia and China have not
carried out such tests since 1990 and 1996 respectively.The 79-year-old
Republican first made his surprise testing announcement by social media
post on Thursday, minutes before entering a summit with Chinese leader
Xi Jinping in South Korea.The announcement came in the wake of Russia
saying it had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the
Burevestnik, and a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater
drone.Iran, whose own controversial nuclear program was bombed by US
forces on Trump's orders earlier this year, called Trump's directive
"regressive and irresponsible.""A nuclear-armed bully is resuming
testing of atomic weapons. The same bully has been demonizing Iran's
peaceful nuclear program," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on
social media.- 'Pretty responsible' -Japanese atomic bomb survivors
group Nihon Hidankyo sent a letter of protest to the US embassy in
Japan.The order "directly contradicts the efforts by nations around the
world striving for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons and is
utterly unacceptable," the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group said in the
letter obtained by AFP.Amid concern abroad and some in the US Congress,
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was moving "quickly" to
follow Trump's orders and said testing was "responsible.""The president
was clear. We need to have a credible nuclear deterrent," he told
reporters in Kuala Lumpur."Resuming testing is a pretty responsible,
very responsible way to do that. I think it makes nuclear conflict less
likely."But China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged the
United States to "earnestly abide" by a global nuclear testing
ban.United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said through a spokesman that
"nuclear testing can never be permitted under any circumstances."The
United States has been a signatory since 1996 to the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all atomic test explosions, whether
for military or civilian purposes.- Russia pushes back -Russia pushed
back against any idea that its recent weapon systems tests could justify
a return to live test explosions.The Kremlin questioned whether Trump
was well-informed -- and implied Russia would conduct its own live
detonations if Trump does so first.The recent weapons drills "cannot in
any way be interpreted as a nuclear test," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told
journalists. "We hope that the information was conveyed correctly to
President Trump."According to the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute, the Russian stockpile of deployed and stored warheads is
4,309, compared to 3,700 for the United States and 600 for China --
figures that don't take into account hundreds of other warheads
scheduled for dismantling.The United States conducted 1,054 nuclear
tests between July 16, 1945, when the first was conducted in New Mexico,
and 1992.Its two nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II make it
the only country to have used the weapons in combat.The last US nuclear
test explosion was in September 1992, a 20-kiloton underground
detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.Then-president George
H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium on further tests in October 1992 that has
been continued by successive administrations.burs-sms-dk/bjt
Biometrics follows twisty policy path towards innovative privacy protections-Nov 1, 2025, 2:45 pm EDT | Chris Burt
Innovations
in biometrics and digital identity are making their way into daily
life, in the form of airport security checks with facial recognition and
age verification for restricted content online. But those changes are
related to new kinds of IDs, in the form of digital wallets, like those
Signicat, SITA, Indicio and iDAKTO are piloting for travel, mDLs like
those GET Group demonstrated verification of, and reusable digital
identity, for which Jumio, Persona and Sumsub have all introduced
solutions. These kinds of ID advancements are increasingly backed by
privacy-protecting technologies like those combining biometrics and
cryptography.Policy changes, reusable IDs and biometrics
innovation-Biometric entry-exit will finally be live at all U.S. borders
and points of entry on Boxing Day with DHS publishing a final rule that
removes limits on the number of airports and exemptions for people
under 14 and over 79. The move unifies CBP’s facial recognition
operations and extends them from “Simplified Arrivals” to all foreigners
entering and leaving the country. The security program also aligns with
global efforts to allow travelers to use biometrics instead of physical
travel documents.Arun Vemury, director of DHS S&T’s Biometric and
Identity Technology Center tells GovCIO’s CyberCast podcast about work
on challenges like matching face biometrics of people inside vehicles at
border crossings, along with CREDAs and other topics. “Getting people
in the driver’s seat of the car is actually a lot easier than getting
people, let’s say in the third of a minivan, in the back,” Vemury
says.The latest EUDI Wallet Large-Scale Pilot, Aptitude, brings together
Signicat, SITA, Indicio, iDAKTO and others to work on digital travel
credentials. The pilot will explore the use of passport-based and
reusable DTCs, including for booking flights, train tickets and hotels
with a single credential.GET Group has integrated its universal verifier
software with readers from HID to support identity verification with
both mobile driver’s licenses and “the higher bar” of Utah’s SEDI. The
verifier uses native device biometrics, and GET Group showed off its
compatibility with mDLs’ mDOC standard at a recent SEDI event.Biometrics
providers are rushing into the reusable digital identity market, with
Jumio launching selfie.DONE for fast onboarding and re-verification with
face biometrics. Persona is in too, introducing Connect to help
enterprises build data-sharing networks, and Sumsub has partnered with
Binance to bring Web2 credentials Web3 applications.Ping Identity will
integrate biometric multi-factor authentication with cryptographic
proofs from Keyless after acquiring the Zero-Knowledge Biometrics
provider. The deal brings fraud protection strengthened with injection
attack detection to enterprise CIAM, workforce and B2B use cases.The
homomorphic encryption technology developed by Mobai for biometric
template protection and the Norwegian Data Protection Authority’s report
on the software and the problem it addresses were explored in an EAB
webinar. Homomorphic encryption like Mobai’s SALT enables centralized
biometrics processing without the data security challenges that
generally entails.Age-gating the internet-The age-gating of websites and
online platforms is one of the significant shifts affecting consumers
around the world. The 2025 Online Age Assurance Market Report &
Buyers Guide from Biometric Update and Goode Intelligence forecasts more
than 4.5 billion age verification by 2027.Age assurance requirements
are crushing traffic to pornography websites that comply, Aylo says,
sounding the alarm. The AVPA notes that some of that drop is accounted
for by adults using VPNs, and some is reduced traffic from children,
which is the OSA’s point in the first place.Verifymy COO Andy Lulham
says on this past week’s episode of the Biometric Update Podcast that
the myth persists that an age check is the same thing as an identity
check. He discussed Ofcom’s approach to enforcing the OSA and how much
friction is really necessary for age assurance.Google has introduced age
assurance to the Play Store to stay ahead of legislation in multiple
American states. The company offers its own API, a variety of age check
methods including facial age estimation, and Verifymy provides
email-based age inference.Vape vendor Juul is looking to make a comeback
in a huge market with its PodID authentication technology, which uses a
third party age verification provider’s technology. A survey from IKE
Tech shows support for age verification at the point of use, rather than
sale, is strong amongst vapers.
Other top biometrics news of the
week-IDverse and ConnectID are among a dozen companies that make up four
consortia chosen to participate in Australia’s trial of digital
identity and open banking to improve the property rental applications
process.Mali has launched its new biometric passport, and Emptech
revealed as the supplier with the contract.Please let us know in the
comments below or through social media if you see any videos, podcasts
or other content we should share with those in biometrics and digital
identity.
Trump administration expands facial recognition while erasing oversight policy-Oct 31, 2025, 4:38 pm EDT | Anthony Kimery
The
Trump administration quietly erased a Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) policy on facial recognition from its public website while
deepening its embrace of the controversial technology, including a
multimillion-dollar contract with Clearview AI, a company legally barred
from selling its software to law-enforcement agencies in Illinois.That
ban stems from a landmark settlement under Illinois’s Biometric
Information Privacy Act, a 2008 law that requires informed consent for
the collection of biometric identifiers such as fingerprints or facial
scans.The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups sued
Clearview AI in 2020, arguing that its massive database of photographs
scraped from social media platforms violated residents’ privacy
rights.The resulting settlement blocked most businesses and state or
local law enforcement agencies in Illinois from using the technology,
but did not block federal agencies, including DHS and Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE).Meanwhile, ICE has deployed a smartphone tool
called Mobile Fortify which lets agents scan a person’s face or
fingerprints during street encounters to verify identity and immigration
status. Internal ICE documents state that persons photographed are not
given “an opportunity to decline collection,” even if they are U.S.
citizens.Procurement records show ICE issued a purchase order to
Clearview in September 2024 for forensic software services with a
ceiling of about $1.1 million. A year later, this past September 5, the
agency awarded a follow-on contract with an initial obligation of $3.75
million toward a total value reported at $9.2 million.That award
coincided with ICE’s “Midway Blitz,” a large-scale immigration
enforcement operation across the Chicago area that continues
today.Independent reporting found ICE now holds “at least $3.6 million
worth of contracts” with Clearview to provide software capable of
matching names, social-media profiles, and other personal
identifiers.Federal contract databases also list Clearview agreements
with the FBI (a $18,000 license), the U.S. Army (a $75,000 purchase
order), the U.S. Marshals Service, and Customs and Border Protection.In
February, DHS removed from its website the text of Directive 026-11, Use
of Face Recognition and Face Capture Technologies, issued in September
2023 under the Biden administration.The Privacy and Civil Liberties
Oversight Board’s (PCLOB) May 9 staff report, Use of Facial Recognition
Technology by the Transportation Security Administration, noted the
deletion and said, “DHS did not clarify whether DHS Directive 026-11
still applies to DHS components or whether there are specific plans to
issue an updated policy that would address the same issues.”DHS
officials said the removal reflected routine website maintenance, not a
policy change. “They do not represent a change in policy,” a
spokesperson said. “DHS continually reviews issuances to strengthen
clarity and accuracy.”But the absence of public documentation leaves
lawmakers and watchdogs uncertain about the department’s standards for
biometric use, including requirements for training, accuracy testing,
and civil liberties safeguards.Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from
Illinois, has pressed for stronger guardrails on federal use of facial
recognition technology. In a September 11 letter, Senators Edward
Markey, Ron Wyden, and Jeff Merkley joined Durbin and other Democrats in
demanding that ICE halt deployment of a new facial recognition app and
explain its legal basis and privacy protections.Clearview AI has been
the subject of multiple lawsuits and global regulatory actions. In
Illinois, a federal judge approved a class action settlement in March
allowing plaintiffs a 23 percent equity stake in Clearview, an
arrangement valued at $51.75 million based on the company’s $225 million
valuation.Internationally, regulators in Canada and Europe fined or
banned Clearview for violating data protection laws.Clearview executives
have long sought to expand federal business. In 2022, the company’s
then-CEO Hoan Ton That said the goal was to move from six-figure to
multi-million-dollar government contracts. Critics argue the deeper
issue is not the cost but the erosion of privacy.Jeramie D. Scott,
senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said, “It’s
very unclear what the policy is, or if there even is a policy that’s in
effect with respect to DHS’s use of facial recognition technology. ICE
is now seemingly using it without any guardrails to identify anyone they
deem suspicious. This is what dystopian nightmares are made of –
continual expansion of surveillance without any real oversight or
restrictions.”The company’s leadership reflects the political
environment shaping its growth. In February, Clearview appointed Hal
Lambert and Richard Schwartz as co-chief executives, replacing Ton That.
Lambert, a Texas investor and Republican megadonor, founded the MAGA
ETF fund and served on Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee.Schwartz,
a longtime adviser to former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and
veteran of the conservative Manhattan Institute, joined him as
co-CEO.Both executives have stated they aim to expand Clearview’s
federal footprint.Lambert has cited interest from the Department of
Defense and DHS, positioning Clearview to capitalize on Trump-era
enforcement priorities such as immigration and border security. The
leadership shift placed Clearview squarely in Trump-aligned political
circles just as federal agencies increased biometric surveillance
contracts.Earlier litigation had also spotlighted individuals around the
company’s formative years with ties to far-right groups, including
Charles Johnson, who later faced a $71 million civil judgment in an
unrelated case.Clearview has denied Johnson was ever an employee or
insider, and Ton-That publicly rejected claims that the company operates
with any political agenda. Still, with Lambert and Schwartz at the
helm, critics say Clearview’s trajectory increasingly aligns with
Trump-era political and policy networks.While Clearview deepens its ties
to federal enforcement, ICE has also deployed the Mobile Fortify app.A
DHS Privacy Threshold Analysis obtained and reported by 404 Media shows
the app draws on more than 200 million images across federal databases
and stores new biometric data for 15 years.While the “intended purpose
of the Mobile Fortify Application is to identify aliens who are
removable from the United States, users may use Mobile Fortify to
collect information in identifiable form about individuals regardless of
citizenship or immigration status,” the document states.Continuing, the
document says, “It is conceivable that a photo taken by an agent using
the Mobile Fortify mobile application could be that of someone other
than an alien, including U.S. citizens or lawful permanent
residents.”The document says access to app is limited to ICE agents and
officers but that at least some CBP administrative users and “select CBP
Officers that are assisting with removal operations” have access to the
app.Representative Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the House
Committee on Homeland Security, said ICE officials have described a
facial match from the app as a “definitive determination” of status,
even over a birth certificate. “ICE using a mobile biometrics app in
ways its developers never intended is a frightening, repugnant, and
unconstitutional attack on Americans’ rights and freedoms,” Thompson
said.Civil liberties groups warn that such tools expand biometric
policing with no public consent or clear legal boundaries.In September,
nine Senate Democrats led by Markey and Wyden pressed acting ICE
Director Todd Lyons to suspend Mobile Fortify pending a full privacy
review. Their letter argued the technology could misidentify people of
color and erode Fourth-Amendment protections.For Durbin and other
lawmakers, the issue is not just accuracy, but accountability: the
federal government is expanding facial recognition and biometric
surveillance with little clarity on who is watching the watchers.
Aadhaar Vision 2032 committee launches to ensure digital ID tech-readiness, inclusion-Oct 31, 2025, 2:52 pm EDT | Chris Burt
Aadhaar,
the world’s largest national digital identity scheme, is undergoing a
technological and strategic review under the guidance of a newly formed
expert committee, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
has announced.The goal of the review is to inform the roadmap for a new
“Aadhaar Vision 2032.” The framework is intended to strengthen Aadhaar’s
technological foundation, integrate emerging innovations and keep the
country’s digital ID robust, inclusive and future-ready, according to
the announcement.The inclusivity of Aadhaar has been repeatedly called
into question, and the UIDAI said recently it is upgrading the system’s
biometrics to address verification failures.Cutting-edge technologies
specifically noted in the announcement include AI, blockchain, quantum
computing, advanced encryption and next-generation data security tools.
The UIDAI has been steadily increasing the biometric security
requirements for Aadhaar, and building up its research and development
ecosystem.The expert committee includes UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar and a
cadre of digital identity luminaries. MOSIP Head of Engineering
Sasikumar Ganesan, Michigan State University Professor Anil Jain and
Nutanix Founder Dheeraj Pandey are joined by half a dozen others on the
committee.The committee will craft an Aadhaar Vision 2032 policy
document, outlining a framework for a new generation of Aadhaar
architecture that will align with India’s Digital Personal Data
Protection (DPDP) Act and emerging global standards.“With this
initiative, UIDAI reaffirms its commitment to technological excellence,
innovation, and public trust ensuring Aadhaar continues to be a
transformative force in India’s digital governance journey,” UIDAI says.
“The Vision 2032 roadmap is not only about sustaining technological
leadership but also about reinforcing Aadhaar’s role as a secure,
inclusive, and people-centric digital identity.”
NYPD faces federal lawsuit over alleged unconstitutional citywide surveillance-Oct 31, 2025, 1:45 pm EDT | Anthony Kimery
A
new federal lawsuit accuses the New York City Police Department (NYPD)
of operating an unconstitutional mass surveillance system that tracks
residents and visitors across the five boroughs.The 29-page complaint,
filed October 27 in the Southern District of New York, alleges that the
NYPD’s Domain Awareness System (DAS) fuses cameras, sensors,
license-plate readers, biometric databases, and social-media monitoring
into an integrated network that surveils millions of people without
warrants or adequate oversight.The plaintiffs, Brooklyn residents Pamela
Wridt and Robert Sauve, argue that the system violates their First and
Fourth Amendment rights by turning everyday life in New York into a
continuous police search.The suit, backed by the Surveillance Technology
Oversight Project and the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward
& Maazel LLP, seeks to halt warrantless use of DAS and compel the
city to adopt clear limits on data storage and access.According to the
complaint, the Domain Awareness System – developed by NYPD in
partnership with Microsoft and expanded since about 2012 – consolidates
more than a dozen surveillance technologies into a single interface.The
plaintiffs say it links video cameras, automated license-plate readers,
drones, ShotSpotter gunshot detectors, biometric and facial-recognition
systems, and social-media analytics, allowing officers to track
individuals across space and time.Wridt and Sauve claim the system’s
reach extends directly into their home. Two NYPD cameras mounted outside
their Bedford-Stuyvesant residence, they allege, are aimed through
their living-room and bedroom windows.The complaint describes DAS as a
centralized platform integrating thousands of stationary and mobile
cameras operated by both the NYPD and its private-sector partners. It
cites public disclosures showing that video feeds flow into the system
from other city agencies and private businesses, including
housing-authority cameras.Drones and helicopters, the plaintiffs say,
supply additional live and archived footage of public areas. Police can
view these feeds in real time or retrieve stored video for roughly 30
days, according to NYPD policy documents referenced in the
lawsuit.Automated license-plate readers record vehicles as they pass
through checkpoints, capturing location, time, and images of drivers and
passengers. The complaint asserts that NYPD pairs its database with
records from private contractor Vigilant Solutions, which adds more than
a million new plate scans each day, and alleges that plate data may be
retained for years regardless of whether suspicion exists.Those claims
have not been independently verified.The plaintiffs also allege that
NYPD’s ShotSpotter gunshot-detection microphones can pick up nearby
conversations, including those occurring inside homes. The city has
spent tens of millions of dollars on the system, though the lawsuit
cites audit findings suggesting that a large share of alerts are false
positives.Another section of the complaint describes the department’s
collection of biometric information, including fingerprints, facial
images, and DNA. It points to an NYPD DNA database containing tens of
thousands of profiles, some drawn from individuals never convicted of
crimes.Wridt and Sauve claim that New Yorkers unknowingly contribute
personal identifiers to this database through licensing or benefit
programs, unaware that the information can be accessed for policing
purposes.The plaintiffs further allege that NYPD employs advanced
analytic tools within DAS to connect disparate data points linking
camera footage, location histories, and social-media activity to create
detailed digital dossiers on individuals.According to the complaint, the
system’s pattern-recognition software can follow a person across
multiple cameras based on features such as clothing color or gait.The
lawsuit also highlights alleged social-media surveillance. Officers, it
says, use undercover accounts to monitor online groups and scrape posts,
photos, and messages from platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and
TikTok.Those records are then cross-referenced with other datasets such
as license-plate or facial-recognition results to map the political and
social connections of city residents.In addition, the complaint contends
that NYPD shares personal data gathered through DAS with state and
federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, after
which the department “loses control” of how the information is used.The
plaintiffs cite testimony indicating that local surveillance data has
previously been shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
including a protester’s sealed arrest record, to illustrate how city
information can end up in federal hands despite sanctuary-city
policies.The plaintiffs warn that this kind of sharing could expose New
Yorkers to out-of-state prosecutions or other legal actions as federal
systems integrate local data through private contractors such as
Palantir.Their legal arguments rest on two constitutional claims. Under
the Fourth Amendment, they assert that the Domain Awareness System
constitutes an “indiscriminate search” conducted without warrants or
individualized suspicion, capturing “the privacies of life.”Under the
First Amendment, they argue that constant monitoring chills free
expression and association, discouraging people from attending protests,
religious services, or community meetings.The lawsuit asks the court to
declare NYPD’s practices unconstitutional and to restrict the use of
DAS unless officers first obtain warrants. It seeks an injunction
requiring the department to establish written policies governing data
access and sharing, to maintain audit logs to prevent abuse, and to
adopt a time limit for retaining surveillance data.The plaintiffs also
request compensatory damages for emotional distress and loss of
enjoyment of their property.City officials have not yet filed a
response. NYPD has long defended the Domain Awareness System as a
critical public-safety tool for counterterrorism and crime prevention.
Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch have praised its
effectiveness, describing it as an example of technological innovation
in policing.The plaintiffs counter that despite billions of dollars
invested over more than a decade, there is no publicly available
evidence showing that DAS has measurably reduced crime. They argue
instead that it has created a climate of constant observation that
erodes constitutional freedoms in the nation’s largest city.
AI
chatbots face age assurance clampdown prompted by teen suicide,
psychosis-Big Tech lobby already denouncing law that would stop AI from
recommending nooses-Oct 31, 2025, 1:39 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
What
are nightmares made of? Halloween lore would say vampires and
werewolves and witches and ghosts. But it turns out the ghoulies lurking
in our homes aren’t movie monsters. In fact, they may be large language
models (LLMS) deployed as AI chatbots.As generative AI tech has swept
the globe, powered by relentless evangelizing from its developers and
investors, so too has a new sickness descended. AI is driving people
insane: this week, OpenAI disclosed that more than a million people a
week display suicidal intent when conversing with ChatGPT and that
hundreds of thousands have signs of psychosis. And the tally is growing
of parents who place the blame for their children’s suicides on the
shoulders of chatbots.Regulators are taking note. This month, Canada’s
AI minister publicly pondered age checks for AI chatbots, and U.S.
states are already flexing legislation. Now, the issue has reached
America’s federal government.Hawley bill aims to stop AI from ‘breaking’
children-U.S. legislators are moving quickly on regulations for large
language model (LLM) chatbots, as the tech marketed as the future of the
global economy continues to show its capacity to send people to the
grave.Missouri Senator Josh Hawley introduced S3062, “A bill to require
artificial intelligence chatbots to implement age verification measures
and make certain disclosures, and for other purposes,” leading a group
of senators who hope to curb chatbots’ abilities to have sexually
explicit conversations with children, or counsel them to kill themselves
or others.According to a report from Roll Call, the bipartisan bill
would enshrine criminal penalties for companies allowing chatbots to
engage in the prohibited conversations with kids, and would impose age
verification requirements on so-called AI chatbots.Lawmakers appear to
have gotten wise to Silicon Valley’s tactics; having seen the damage
social media has caused, they are presumably in no rush to explain to
the nation’s parents why ChatGPT should be allowed to recommend the
right noose for hanging oneself simply because Sam Altman wants to
accrue more wealth.“They are the richest companies in the history of the
world,” says Hawley of the tech lords, “and they live by a motto that I
think we’re all now all too familiar with, ‘move fast and break
things.’ But increasingly, those things are our children.”In addition to
imposing potential punitive measures, the bill would require chatbots
to make a series of disclosures at regular intervals during a
conversation, reminding users that they are not licensed lawyers,
therapists, doctors, priests or financial advisers – all of which, says
Hawley, they have claimed to be at some point.“The chatbot would then be
required to disclose that it doesn’t provide medical, legal, financial
or psychological services and that users should consult licensed
professionals.”If it becomes law, the bill would mark an ongoing shift
in the U.S. administration’s position on AI regulation, which it earlier
this year tried to abolish for a decade.U.S. soon to find out if AI is
covered by First Amendment-Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, a
co-sponsor of the bill, expresses anger “because we could have achieved
by now some of the safeguards in this bill if Big Tech were not opposing
it with armies of lawyers and lobbyists, millions and millions of
dollars.”He’s likely to get more angry: NetChoice, the largest and most
active of Silicon Valley’s legal militias with backers including Meta,
Google and Amazon, has already called the age verification requirement
for LLM chatbots a “terrible policy and a violation of fundamental
constitutional rights.” It continues to use the free speech argument
based on the U.S. First Amendment as its primary weapon.Hawley calls
that argument “absurd,” noting that social media platforms have often
claimed they are not publishers and therefore not legally accountable
for what goes on their sites, while arguing in other cases that they
have First Amendment protection for what they publish.Character.AI to
ban open-ended conversations for users under 18 In the case of LLM
chatbots, the content in question is increasingly revealed to be
intimate, misleading and, in some cases, fatal. To date, the most high
profile case has been that of Adam Raine, the teenager whose parents say
was counseled by ChatGPT to hang himself. Their lawsuit against ChatGPT
creator OpenAI alleges wrongful death, design defects and failure to
warn of risks associated with the LLM tool.Although Chat is the most
widely-used chatbot, it’s not the only one counseling kids to end their
lives. Character.AI, a generative AI chatbot service where users can
customize the characters they interact with, has been served with at
least four lawsuits from parents whose kids blame the tool for
encouraging their teen’s suicide.Now, the company has announced a
prohibition on open-ended chats for users under 18, set to take effect
on November 25. An announcement from the company says it’s making the
changes to its under-18 platform “in light of the evolving landscape
around AI and teens.”“We have seen recent news reports raising
questions, and have received questions from regulators, about the
content teens may encounter when chatting with AI and about how
open-ended AI chat in general might affect teens, even when content
controls work perfectly.”According to the Guardian, an “age assurance
functionality” will ensure “users receive the right experience for their
age”.66.6% of UK, US parents concerned about kids’ safety
online-Parents are not just concerned – they’re calling for stronger age
assurance measures. A new study from More in Common, a UK think tank
devoted to tackling polarisation and division in Western societies,
confirms as much. A key finding of the research, which analyzed data
from conversations with almost 10,000 parents across the US, UK, France,
Poland and the Netherlands, is that around nine in ten parents across
countries are concerned about children’s online safety.“For many parents
that concern is particularly severe. Two thirds of British and American
parents are very concerned, and half of French, Polish and Dutch
parents are very concerned about children’s online safety. Most parents
think that politicians and tech companies aren’t taking children’s
online safety seriously enough.”The data shows “strong support from
parents for new laws and measures from tech companies to make being
online safer for children – action on algorithms, better age
verification on social media and new measures to detect and remove
explicit images of children command strong support among parents.”The
issue is a rare bipartisan political win, spanning the full political
spectrum across the globe: more than three in five parents in the EU
support putting more responsibility on politicians and tech companies,
while over half of American parents hold the same view.A noteworthy
finding in light of NetChoice’s endless First Amendment arguments is
that most parents prioritize online safety safeguards ahead of privacy
or free speech considerations. Most parents, it turns out, draw the line
at robots that take away their children.
World ID coming to
blockchain gaming, dating age verification, more credentials-Pudgy Party
players can soon prove humanness in landscape overrun with AI bots-Oct
31, 2025, 1:37 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
A brave new world, a
whole new Orb, proof of humanity: World (the company) loves to claim
it’s changing the world (the planet/society). Its latest announcement
says it is partnering with Mythical Games to “usher in a new era for
in-game economies.” “World is teaming up with Mythical Games, the studio
behind hits like NFL Rivals, FIFA Rivals and Pudgy Party, to advance
gaming in the age of AI,” says a blog. The studio will also launch the
Mythos Chain, the first Layer 3 blockchain built on World Chain, a Level
2 chain secured by Ethereum.World ID, World’s decentralized
proof-of-personhood (PoP) and digital ID network, will be integrated
into sign-on for games built in Mythical. The company says it will help
stop bots from “bumming serious gamers out.” Rogue AI is being used to
manipulate in-game economies, gain unfair advantages and snap up
rewards.“Nearly 75 percent of gamers say these uninvited ‘players’ are
making games less fun,” World says. “Research on the topic found bot
traffic on games hit 147 billion requests in one month (January 2024) –
more than 6 times the traffic compared to the same period last year.”
For ten MYTH coins, buy yourself some healthcare-World and Mythical
promise “human-centered gaming.” But the vision is clearly centered on
gamifying the world, so to speak, blurring the lines between physical
and digital economies. “Because Mythical’s games are built on blockchain
infrastructure, asset ownership isn’t pretend,” says the blog.
“Millions of players flock to Mythical’s titles not only because they’re
fun, but also because the Mythical platform lets them truly own and
trade their game assets. By integrating proof of human, Mythical ensures
those economies stay fair and transparent.”“World Chain prioritizes
blockspace for humans, so bots can’t crowd out real players or inflate
gas prices. World ID further protects tournaments, leaderboards and
matchmaking from smurfing and farming.” Why play games for fun when you
can turn them into a hybrid of banking, online commerce and digital
Risk? This is the “ownership economy,” wherein every digital transaction
and asset can be assigned a value and attached to a verified identity –
and this, apparently, is “human-centered gaming.” Enjoys long walks on
the beach, snuggles, zero-knowledge IDV-Gaming, of course, is but one of
the properties in World’s colossal project to transform everything into
some version of itself. Age verification is also to be transformed by
World ID, according to another blog, which makes the case for World as
an age assurance provider, and announces it will soon be playing the
role for Match Group’s dating apps.Uploading identity documents can be
daunting for some, and World is like, WTF? “Why do you need to give an
online platform your driver’s license to watch a movie trailer?”
Besides, it says, most age assurance methods create huge, scrumptious
meals of data for greedy fraudsters. “The current reality requires us to
trust every website to individually secure massive repositories of
identity documents – environments too tempting for criminals to
resist.”World ID, on the other hand, beckons not voracious fiends. “The
app or service receives only what it needs: cryptographic confirmation
you meet the age requirement. No names. No addresses. No documents
stored on servers waiting to be breached.” Verification with World ID
happens on your device, and the only thing that leaves it is a
zero-knowledge “mathematical confirmation that reveals nothing about
your identity” while confirming a yes or no for authorization. Now, it
may seem supernatural to be able to verify age without knowing anything
about anyone. Indeed, while World’s use of ZKPs means no uploading of
IDs for document verification, it does use your device to read the
secure chip in your passport, confirm your age locally, and generate
that zero-knowledge cryptographic proof.That’s not stopping
organizations from signing up for World ID. A release from Medirom
Healthcare Technologies Inc. says it has surpassed 10,000 verifications
of World ID on Orbs installed at its Re.Ra.Ku wellness salons throughout
Japan.World also keeps growing its geographical reach. World ID
Credentials are now available in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, South Korea, Taiwan, the United
Kingdom and the United States to enable the creation and verification of
credentials derived from government ID documents with NFC chips.
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