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)
WAR WITH IRAN - DAY 74 MAY 12,26 - TRUMPS NOT A HAPPY CAMPER WITH IRAN.
THE
NEXT US-ISRAEL HIT ON IRAN SHOULD BE VERSE 37. ALL OFFENSIVE NUKE SITES
MISSLES,DRONES,AND OF COURSE KHEMENI AND THE IRGC GUARDS.THEN AFTER
IRANS REGIME CHANGE. MUSLIMS COME TO JESUS BY THE MILLIONS.
JEREMEIAH 49:32-39 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITES AND ALL OFENSIVE WEAPONS DESTROYED IN IRAN)
Jeremiah 49:32-39
32
Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a
spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of
their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of
them, says Yahweh.
33 Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a
desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of
man sojourn therein.(Location & Size: It was strategically located
along the Via Maris (Way of the Sea), a major trade route connecting
Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia.)
34 The word of Yahweh that came to
Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam,(IRAN) in the beginning of the
reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus says Yahweh of
Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS)
the chief of their might.(MISSLES AND NUKE SITES)
36 On Elam (IRAN)
will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will
scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where
the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(SINCE 1979 IRANIANS HAVE GOTTIN OUT
OF IRAN BECAUSE OF KHEMENI AND HIS APOCOPOLIPTIC DEATH CULT
BELIEF-BLACK HATER 12ERS)
37 I will cause Elam (IRAN) to be dismayed
before their enemies, and before those who seek their life;(ISRAEL THE
LITTLE SATAN AND THE U.S THE BIG SATAN) and I will bring evil on them,
(MISSLES) even my fierce anger,(FIRE) says Yahweh; and I will send the
sword after them,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) until I have consumed them;
(DESTROYED THEM ALL NUKE SITES,MISSLES ETC)
38 and I will set my
throne in Elam,(IRAN WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN NATION) and will destroy
from there king (KHEMENI, ISLAM) and princes, says Yahweh.(IRANIAN ARMY
GUARDS)
39 But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring
back the captivity of Elam,(IRAN) says Yahweh.(WERE IN THE LATTER DAYS
NOW)
WHEN ARE THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL IN THE SPRING TIME.(GET READY ISLAM TO BE BIRD SEED FOR THESE BIRDS)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m0bXU5Xqc5M
The
500 million migratory birds in Israel during the spring arrive from
Africa and head toward Europe and Asia, with the peak migration
occurring in March and April. While migration starts in late February,
the most intense movements, particularly of birds of prey, storks, and
pelicans, occur during the third week of March and continue into April.
Key Details on the Spring Migration
Peak Period: Mid-March through April.
Main
Migration Route: The birds use the Great Rift Valley, which includes
the Hula Valley and Eilat, acting as a "bottleneck" where millions of
birds fly through the narrow land bridge.
Best Spots: The Hula Lake
Park (Northern Israel) and the Eilat Birding Center (Southern Israel)
are primary locations for observing the migration.
Key Species:
Hundreds of thousands of white storks, along with black kites, raptors,
and pelicans, pass through over these months.
uration: The spring migration runs from late February and continues into June, though the heaviest traffic is in March/April.
The
500 million migratory birds fly over Israel in the fall between late
August and mid-December. The peak migration period for the autumn, when
the highest volume of bird traffic occurs, is typically October and
November.
Key Fall Migration Details
Location: The Hula Valley (Agamon Hula Park) in northern Israel is the premier spot to witness this phenomenon.
Timing: Migration starts as early as late June with some waders, but intensifies from mid-August through November.
Peak Festival: The "Annual Hula Valley Bird Festival" is usually held in November to align with the peak migration traffic.
Key
Species: Many birds of prey (raptors), including honey buzzards and
steppe eagles, cross during this time, along with massive flocks of
storks and cranes.
While roughly 500 million birds pass through in
the autumn on their way to Africa, the same number crosses again in the
spring (mid-February to May) on their way back to Europe and Asia.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23
Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they
have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the
sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24
Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath
seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in
travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of
war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I
will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it
shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN
DAMASCUS)
Iran says US must accept peace plan or face 'failure'.
Tehran,
May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Iran's chief negotiator said Tuesday that
Washington must accept Tehran's latest peace plan or face failure, after
US President Donald Trump warned the truce in the Middle East war was
on the brink of collapse.The war, which erupted more than two months ago
with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread throughout the Middle East
and roiled the global economy despite the ceasefire, impacting hundreds
of millions worldwide.Both sides have refused to make concessions and
repeatedly threatened to resume fighting, but neither appears willing to
return to all-out war."There is no alternative but to accept the rights
of the Iranian people as laid out in the 14-point proposal. Any other
approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after
another," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X."The longer they
drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay for it."Iran sent
its proposal in response to an earlier US plan, details of which remain
limited. Media reports have said the American plan involved a one-page
memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the fighting and
establishing a framework for negotiations on Iran's nuclear
programme.Iran's foreign ministry said its response called for ending
the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, halting the US naval blockade
on Iranian ports and securing the release of Iranian assets frozen
abroad under longstanding sanctions.But Trump slammed Tehran's reply as
"TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE", saying the US would enjoy a "complete victory"
over Iran and that the truce that has halted fighting for over a month
was on its last legs.In a show of defiance, Iran's Revolutionary Guards
said they carried out drills in Tehran aimed at "enhancing combat
capability to confront any movement of the American-Zionist enemy",
state media reported Tuesday.The war of words has unnerved people in
Iran who do not know what the coming months will bring."We are just
trying to dig our nails into anything that could help us survive. The
future is so uncertain and we are just living day to day," Maryam, a
43-year-old painter from the capital Tehran, told Paris-based
journalists."We are trying to find a way to continue. Keeping hope is
very difficult right now."- Energy shock -Trump's angry reaction to
Iran's counteroffer sparked a spike in oil prices and dashed hopes that a
deal could be quickly negotiated to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to
commercial shipping.Iran is restricting maritime traffic in the waterway
and has been setting up a payment mechanism to charge tolls for
crossing ships, sparking a global energy crisis."The energy supply shock
that began in the first quarter is the largest the world has ever
experienced," the CEO and president of Saudi oil giant Aramco, Amin
Nasser, told investors.US officials have stressed it would be
"unacceptable" for Tehran to control the strait, which usually carries
about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas."Iran should not use
this strait as a weapon to pressure or to blackmail the Gulf countries,"
Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told
reporters in Doha on Tuesday.Trump told Fox News that he was considering
reviving a short-lived US operation to guide oil tankers and commercial
ships through Hormuz, but that he had not yet taken a final
decision.The maritime standoff has also left the world facing a shortage
of fertiliser -- much of which comes from Gulf ports -- and risks food
supplies for tens of millions of people.Jorge Moreira da Silva,
executive director of the United Nations Office for Project Services
(UNOPS), told AFP there were just a few weeks left to avert a
potentially "massive humanitarian crisis" that could force 45 million
more people into hunger.- Battlefield 'hell' -Meanwhile, the US
ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told a conference Tuesday that Israel
sent Iron Dome air defence batteries and personnel to operate them in
the United Arab Emirates during the war, after it was targeted more than
any country by Iran.And elsewhere in the Gulf, Kuwait said that four
people arrested earlier this month as they attempted to enter the
country by sea had confessed to belonging to Iran's Revolutionary
Guards.On the war's Lebanon front, Israeli strikes on a town in the
south killed six people and wounded seven others, state media said
Tuesday, as fighting continued despite a ceasefire agreement.Israel has
intensified its attacks in south Lebanon as it trades fire with
Iran-backed Hezbollah even after the April 17 truce took effect.More
than 2,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since the country was
dragged into the wider war on March 2, according to health
authorities.Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Tuesday his group's weapons
were not part of a third round of upcoming negotiations between Lebanon
and Israel this week, vowing not to surrender "however great the
sacrifices"."We will not abandon the battlefield and we will turn it
into hell for Israel," he said in a statement.bur-jfx/smw
Pentagon says US cost of Iran war nearing $29 billion.
Washington,
United States, May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-The Pentagon said Tuesday that
the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29 billion, as
President Donald Trump faced mounting scrutiny over the conflict and its
impact on military readiness.The new figure, revealed by the Defense
Department during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill, is about $4 billion
higher than the estimate offered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth two
weeks ago.Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, were testifying on a $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027
alongside Pentagon finance chief Jules Hurst III when they were asked
for an update on the war's price tag."At the time of testimony... it was
$25 billion dollars," Hurst told lawmakers, referring to Hegseth's
April 29 estimate. "But the joint staff team and the comptroller are
constantly looking at estimates and now we think it is closer to 29."
Sensing an edge, Iran 'ready to gamble' it can outlast Trump.
Paris,
France, May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Iran's leadership is betting it can
outlast an under-pressure Donald Trump in its peace negotiations with
Washington, but its defiance risks renewed military confrontation and
further stoking domestic tensions, analysts say.With a shaky ceasefire
holding almost two-and-a-half months after the US-Israeli war against
the Islamic republic began, the US president has angrily dismissed
Iran's responses to a US proposal for a settlement, warning the truce is
on its last legs.But analysts say that even after the killing of
long-time supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war,
Iran's leadership remains fiercely ideological and dedicated to the
preservation of the Islamic republic set up in the 1979 revolution that
ousted the shah."They do think they can outlast Trump. The war is
existential for them," Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and
North Africa Programme at the Chatham House think tank in London, told
AFP.Iran understands that by blocking the Strait of Hormuz -- the first
time it has restricted shipping traffic in the key bottleneck for trade
and energy supplies after years of threats -- it has a major strategic
lever.Trump, meanwhile, is under pressure to find an off-ramp to the
conflict, which has proven unpopular at home and driven up prices at the
pump, with midterm elections right around the corner.Iran "is committed
to negotiations but what they don't want is surrender. They want to
extract concessions because of their improved hand," Vakil said."They
are prepared for another round of conflict and they are ready to gamble
on that, which is a risk as the costs for Iran would be huge."-
'Overplayed its hand' before -Analysts say it remains unclear who is
currently running Iran, with the slain supreme leader's son and
successor Mojtaba Khamenei likely involved in decision-making but not
the only player in a scene dominated by the ideologically driven
Revolutionary Guards.Parliament speaker and Guards veteran Mohammad
Bagher Ghalibaf, who has emerged as Iran's frontman in negotiations,
said Tuesday there was "no alternative" to the plan submitted by Iran to
Trump."For the leadership, the perception is that negotiating the best
conditions possible is essential to their very survival," said Thomas
Juneau, professor at Ottawa University."They are therefore entirely
willing to absorb significant economic pain if it means waiting out
Trump."Juneau said the "Hormuz lever is essential for Iran", with the
leadership calculating that Trump will lose patience with the ensuing
higher oil prices as the US midterms near.But he cautioned that the
leadership was taking a gamble, facing a "hugely discontented
population" in the wake of January protests, a struggling economy, and
major damage to civilian and military infrastructure after US-Israeli
attacks."The Islamic Republic has overplayed its hand in the past, and
it absolutely is at risk of doing so again," he said.- 'More
intransigent' -Summing up Tehran's official stance, a new giant
billboard appeared this week in Valiasr square in the capital depicting
Trump's mouth bound by a Hormuz-shaped gag alongside the slogan "At the
breaking point".Arash Azizi, lecturer at Yale University, said Iran's
leadership believed it had a "magic bullet" in its control of Hormuz and
was hoping to "corner" Trump into obtaining better terms."It appears a
bit delusional. It might backfire and lead to resumption of war by Trump
or Israel," he said.But journalist and political analyst Maziar
Khosravi told AFP in Tehran that Trump and Israel could no longer wield
the threat of military action to pressure the leadership."Trump could
try the military option again, hoping to eliminate another layer of
leadership in the Islamic Republic," he said."But this doesn't seem like
a viable option to me, because each new generation of leaders coming to
power is more intransigent than the last."Vakil said neither side
wanted to see a resumption of full hostilities, but noted it wasn't out
of the question, saying the Trump administration appeared to
fundamentally misunderstand the rigidity of the Iranian leadership's
mindset."The military path is unlikely to push Iran into submission. The
Trump administration lacks a true appreciation for the Islamic
republic's ideological position. It sees everything from a military
vantage point."
Iran's Guards hold military drills in capital as ceasefire teeters.
Tehran,
May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Iran's Revolutionary Guards held military
exercises in capital Tehran to prepare for any confrontation, state
media reported Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump warned a
ceasefire in the Middle East war was on the brink of collapse.The drills
involved the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC, the ideological
arm of Iran's military, as well as the Basij, a paramilitary force
affiliated with the Guards, according to state TV."Enhancing combat
capability to confront any movement of the American-Zionist enemy was
one of the goals and scenarios implemented in this drill, which was
successfully carried out," Brigadier General Hassan Hassanzadeh,
commander of the Tehran Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by
state TV.The war, which started more than two months ago with US-Israeli
strikes on Iran, spread across the Middle East and damaged the global
economy, affecting hundreds of millions worldwide.Iran has choked off
the Strait of Hormuz -- a vital route out of the Gulf for oil, gas and
fertiliser, seeking to wield economic leverage over the United States
and its allies.The US Navy, meanwhile, is blockading Iran's ports, at
times disabling or diverting ships heading to and from them.
Kuwait says foiled infiltration attempt by four members of Iran's Guards.
Kuwait
City, Kuwait, May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Kuwait said Tuesday that four
people arrested earlier this month as they attempted to enter the
country by sea have confessed to belonging to Iran's Revolutionary
Guards.The four men -- two navy colonels, a captain, and a lieutenant
commander -- admitted they had been tasked by Iran's ideological army
with "infiltrating" Bubiyan Island, Kuwait's interior ministry said in a
statement published by state news agency Kuna.The island is Kuwait's
largest and is located near the Iranian coast. The group attempted to
enter on May 1 "aboard a fishing boat specially chartered to carry out
hostile actions against Kuwait", the ministry said.A Kuwaiti serviceman
was wounded during an exchange of fire with Kuwaiti forces on the
island, and two of the Revolutionary Guard members managed to escape, it
added.On May 3, the defence ministry said it arrested four people
attempting to enter Kuwait by sea.Since the Middle East war began in
late February, Kuwaiti authorities have sought to crack down on
individuals and groups with alleged links to Iran.And in mid-April, 24
people were arrested in the country for financing "terrorist" entities,
according to the interior ministry, while a security source said five
former lawmakers were among those arrested.
Analysis-Iran gambles
that Trump will blink first in Hormuz standoff, but risks overplaying
its hand-Analysts say Tehran, viewing talks with US as existential, is
willing to suffer to outlast president who faces midterm elections;
however, Iran also faces ‘discontented population’By Stuart Williams
Today, 8:03 pm-MAY 12,26
PARIS, France (AFP) — Iran’s leadership
is betting it can outlast an under-pressure Donald Trump in its peace
negotiations with Washington, but its defiance risks renewed military
confrontation and further stoking domestic tensions, analysts say.With a
shaky ceasefire holding almost two-and-a-half months after the
US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic began, the US president has
angrily dismissed Iran’s responses to a US proposal for a settlement,
warning the truce is on its last legs.But analysts say that even after
the killing of longtime supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of
the war on February 28, Iran’s leadership remains fiercely ideological
and dedicated to the preservation of the Islamic Republic set up in the
1979 revolution that ousted the shah.“They do think they can outlast
Trump. The war is existential for them,” Sanam Vakil, director of the
Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Chatham House think tank
in London, told AFP.Iran understands that by blocking the Strait of
Hormuz — the first time it has restricted shipping traffic in the key
bottleneck for trade and energy supplies after years of threats — it has
a major strategic lever.Trump, meanwhile, is under pressure to find an
off-ramp to the conflict, which has proven unpopular at home and driven
up prices at the pump, with midterm elections right around the
corner.Iran “is committed to negotiations but what they don’t want is
surrender. They want to extract concessions because of their improved
hand,” Vakil said. “They are prepared for another round of conflict and
they are ready to gamble on that, which is a risk as the costs for Iran
would be huge.”‘Overplayed its hand’ before-Analysts say it remains
unclear who is currently running Iran, with the slain supreme leader’s
son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, likely involved in decision-making
but not the only player in a scene dominated by the ideologically driven
Revolutionary Guards.Parliament speaker and Guards veteran Mohammad
Bagher Ghalibaf, who has emerged as Iran’s frontman in negotiations,
said Tuesday there was “no alternative” to the plan submitted by Iran to
Trump.“For the leadership, the perception is that negotiating the best
conditions possible is essential to their very survival,” said Thomas
Juneau, professor at Ottawa University. “They are therefore entirely
willing to absorb significant economic pain if it means waiting out
Trump.”Juneau said the “Hormuz lever is essential for Iran,” with the
leadership calculating that Trump will lose patience with the ensuing
higher oil prices as the US midterms near.But he cautioned that the
leadership was taking a gamble, facing a “hugely discontented
population” in the wake of January protests, a struggling economy, and
major damage to civilian and military infrastructure after US-Israeli
attacks.“The Islamic Republic has overplayed its hand in the past, and
it absolutely is at risk of doing so again,” he said.‘More
intransigent’Summing up Tehran’s official stance, a new giant billboard
appeared this week in Valiasr Square in the capital depicting Trump’s
mouth bound by a Hormuz-shaped gag alongside the slogan: “At the
breaking point.”Arash Azizi, lecturer at Yale University, said Iran’s
leadership believed it had a “magic bullet” in its control of Hormuz and
was hoping to “corner” Trump into obtaining better terms.“It appears a
bit delusional. It might backfire and lead to resumption of war by Trump
or Israel,” he said.But journalist and political analyst Maziar
Khosravi told AFP in Tehran that Trump and Israel could no longer wield
the threat of military action to pressure the leadership.“Trump could
try the military option again, hoping to eliminate another layer of
leadership in the Islamic Republic,” he said. “But this doesn’t seem
like a viable option to me, because each new generation of leaders
coming to power is more intransigent than the last.”Vakil said neither
side wanted to see a resumption of full hostilities, but noted it wasn’t
out of the question, saying the Trump administration appeared to
fundamentally misunderstand the rigidity of the Iranian leadership’s
mindset.“The military path is unlikely to push Iran into submission. The
Trump administration lacks a true appreciation for the Islamic
Republic’s ideological position. It sees everything from a military
vantage point.”
Trump says Iran ceasefire ‘on life support’ after
Tehran submitted ‘garbage’ proposal-US president says he’s considering
renewing operation to escort ships through Hormuz, as Netanyahu convenes
security cabinet and Iran calls US ‘greatest threat’ to world peace By
Jacob Magid,Lazar Berman,Nava Freiberg and Agencies 11 May 2026, 5:16
pmUpdated at 9:06 pm
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on
Monday said the ceasefire with Iran was “on life support,” a day after
he rejected the proposal submitted by Iran over the weekend for a
permanent truce.“It’s unbelievably weak,” Trump said of the truce, while
speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. “I would call it the weakest
right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn’t
even finish reading it.”The US president claimed that Iranian
negotiators told their American counterparts that they were prepared for
the US to retrieve Tehran’s stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium, but
then refrained from putting that concession in the response paper
submitted over the weekend. Iran has shown no public indication that it
is prepared to make such a concession.“Two days ago, they said, ‘You’re
going to have to take it.’ We were going to go with them. But they
changed their mind because they didn’t put it in the paper,” Trump told
reporters.Trump also asserted that Iran’s negotiators said that the
uranium stockpiles are difficult to retrieve due to Washington’s strikes
on Tehran’s nuclear sites last year, and that only the US or China have
the tools capable of pulling it out from underground.He also claimed
that Iranian negotiators had also “guarantee[d that they wouldn’t
obtain] nuclear weapons for a very long period of time,” only to leave
that out of Tehran’s official proposal as well.The fact that Trump
indicated he would have accepted such a guarantee, even though it was
not indefinite, appears to be out of step with his longstanding
insistence that he intends to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear
weapon.Asked whether he still thinks he can make a deal with the current
regime, Trump responded in the affirmative, while adding that it is
comprised of moderates who desperately want to reach an agreement and
“lunatics” who want to keep fighting.Addressing criticism that he has no
coherent plan in dealing with Iran, Trump insisted: “I do have a plan.
The plan is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”He then repeated his
unproven claim that the US sent Kurdish militants guns for use against
the Iranian regime but that the Kurds decided to keep them.Earlier
Monday, in an interview with Fox News, Trump asserted that the Iranian
regime was “going to fold” in talks with the US.Trump also said that he
is considering renewing the operation to assist stuck ships out of the
Iran-blocked Strait of Hormuz after he called it off last week about a
day after it began. He told the TV station that if he decides to renew
Project Freedom, it would “only be a piece” of a larger military
operation.Asked if he’ll need to take out another layer of Iran’s
leaders amid stalled diplomatic efforts, Trump responded: “I will deal
with them until they make a deal.”A US official told The Times of Israel
on Sunday evening that Trump was holding a high-level security meeting
in the White House Situation Room to discuss next steps on
Iran.Participants in the meeting include Vice President JD Vance,
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA
Director John Ratcliffe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General
Dan Caine, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.Meanwhile, Netanyahu on
Monday convened a security consultation in his office in Jerusalem, as
Israeli military officials have repeatedly asserted that Israel is ready
to return to fighting at any point.Further details on the prime
minister’s discussion, reported to The Times of Israel by the office of
one of the attendees, were not immediately available.The meeting — for
which Netanyahu’s testimony in his corruption trial was cut short — came
the day after Trump deemed Iran’s response to an American ceasefire
proposal “unacceptable,” and after the premier himself told “60 Minutes”
that the war was “not over,” citing Iran’s remaining stockpile of
highly enriched uranium.It also came ahead of direct Israel-Lebanon
talks in Washington later this week, and amid a continued US blockade on
Iranian ports and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.Iran’s Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, in a press conference Monday,
pronounced the US “the greatest threat to international peace and
security.”“The very presence of the United States in the region, the US
military bases in the region,” said Baghaei, “are an example of creating
a cycle of violence and bullying in the region.”Contrasting what he
called Iran’s “generous and responsible offer” to Washington’s
“unreasonable demands,” Baghaei listed Tehran’s demands as “an end to
the war, lifting the [US] blockade and piracy, and releasing Iranian
assets that have been unjustly frozen in banks.”The demands also
included “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and establishing
security in the region and Lebanon.”The US has been blockading Iran’s
ports as Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has demanded a
ceasefire in Lebanon as part of the talks as well; while there is
technically a truce in place there, it has largely unraveled.“Iran has
shown that it is a responsible power in the region, and at the same
time, we are not bullying,” Baghaei said. “We are against
bullying.”Baghaei called on European countries not to send warships to
the Strait of Hormuz, saying: “They should refrain from any move that
would undermine their interests.”“This war is not only unethical but
also illegal. The US and Israel started their aggression against Iran.
European countries shouldn’t be fooled,” he said.Hours after Baghaei’s
warning, however, the United Kingdom and France announced they will host
a multinational meeting on Tuesday of more than 40 defense ministers,
on military plans to restore trade flows through the strait.France has
already sent its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de
Gaulle, to the region, and the UK on Saturday said it was sending a
destroyer, HMS Dragon.The virtual meeting follows a two-day gathering in
London in April of military planners who thrashed out the
practicalities of a multinational mission led by the UK and France to
protect navigation in the key waterway following a sustainable
ceasefire.Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad acknowledged on state TV
that the country’s oil industry has run into trouble as a result of the
war and blockade, but said the country was taking countermeasures,
without giving further details.“During the 40 days of war, our
production didn’t decrease and the export process was favorable,”
Paknejad says. “Naturally, in the days following the (US) blockade, we
have faced challenges but measures were taken and this process
continues” adding that “the enemy is full of delusions.”Agios Fanourios
I, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) tanker loaded with Iraqi crude oil
and bound to Vietnam, crossed the straight through Iran’s designated
route on Sunday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said, after it
was reported that the ship crossed by switching off trackers to avoid
Iranian attacks.Agios Fanourios I, a VLCC tanker loaded with Iraqi crude
and bound to Vietnam crossed the Strait of Hormuz through Iran’s
designated route, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency says, after it
was reported it crossed by switching off trackers to avoid Iranian
attacks.… — Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 11, 2026-Turkish
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to visit Qatar on Tuesday for
talks on the Iran war, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters.The
discussions will focus on the war’s impact on the Gulf and efforts to
ensure navigational safety in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the
source.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
UAE
secretly launched strikes on Iran during war, attacked oil refinery —
report-April attack on Persian Gulf site only specific instance
mentioned in report; US said to welcome Abu Dhabi’s involvement after
other Gulf countries refused to join war effort By ToI Staff and Reuters
Today, 3:14 am-MAY 12,26
The United Arab Emirates carried out
military strikes on Iran, making it the only other country to join the
United States and Israel in their war against the Islamic Republic,
according to a Monday report.The strikes, which the UAE has not publicly
acknowledged, included an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island
in the Persian Gulf, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people
familiar with the matter.The attack took place in early April, according
to the report, which said it was around the time US President Donald
Trump announced a ceasefire, but did not specify if it was before or
after the declaration.Iran acknowledged at the time that the site had
been attacked by an unspecified enemy, then responded by firing missiles
and drones at the UAE and Kuwait, the Journal noted.The Lavan Island
attack was the only specific instance of the UAE participating in the
war mentioned in the report.One of the sources told the Journal that
Washington positively received Abu Dhabi’s participation in the war,
after other Gulf countries refused to actively join in the conflict.The
UAE’s Foreign Ministry declined the Journal’s request for comment on the
reported strikes, but pointed to past declarations that it had a right
to respond to Iran’s attacks. The Pentagon also declined to comment.In
March, multiple Hebrew media outlets put out near-simultaneous reports
that the UAE had struck a desalination plant in Iran in response to
Tehran’s strikes across the Gulf. The accounts sparked fury among
Emirati officials, who called out what they called false Israeli media
reports.The Journal article did not shed light on that report.During the
US-Israel war on Iran, Tehran launched sustained attacks on the UAE,
firing some 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 2,200
drones, according to the Emirati defense ministry, making it the
most-targeted country in the region, including Israel.The UAE reported
likely Iranian attacks restarted over the past week in their
territories, as Tehran appeared to be ramping up its strikes in the
region despite the fragile ceasefire.Iran, which had vowed to strike US
bases in the region, targeted states across the Gulf with missile fire
during the war. It also blocked the Strait of Hormuz, choking off a key
pathway for the flow of oil and natural gas.While most projectiles fired
at the UAE were intercepted, some struck military and civilian
targets.Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, to
degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, distance threats
posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs —
and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime,
the military and other Israeli leaders have said.The ceasefire declared
by Trump in April came with the core declared goals of the war
unfulfilled.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION
PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH) (DO NOT EVER LISTEN TO ANYBODY THAT SAYS THE
WORLD IS ENDING.ITS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN-4 BILLION WILL BE LEFT ON EARTH
TO GO INTO JESUS" 1000 YEAR RULE)(THAT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE THE END OF
THE WORLD TO ANY ONE, DOES IT-NOT ME.THE EARTH IS JUST RENOVATED.NEVER
ENDED.
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
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.(CAN YOU SAY
TORNADOES,HURRICANES,VOLCANOES,EARTH QUAKES,LANDSLIDES,FLASH
FLOODING,EXPLOSIONS,SNOW STORMS,THEN FINALLY NUKESAND ANY OTHER
JUDGEMENTS THE EARTH CAN VOMIT THE SINNERS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH
WITH.
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.
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.
Forest fire burns near Chernobyl nuclear plant after drone crash.
Kyiv,
Ukraine, May 8 (AFP) May 08, 2026-A large forest fire burned through
the Chernobyl exclusion zone on Friday following a drone crash near the
disaster-tainted nuclear plant the previous day, Ukrainian authorities
said.Radiation levels at the site were within "normal limits",
authorities reported, adding that firefighters were working to contain
the blaze.Images showed columns of white smoke billowing from the area,
parts of which are closed off to the public due to high levels of
radioactivity.The site surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant has been
largely deserted since the plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown in
1986. It has since been converted into a nature reserve."As of 3:00 pm
(1200 GMT) the estimated area of the fire, which broke out after two
drones crashed within the Chernobyl nature reserve, is about 1,180
hectares (12 square kilometres, five square miles)," the reserve's
director Denis Nesterov said in a post on Facebook.He did not say the
origin of the drones.The governor of the neighbouring Chernigiv region
gave a higher estimate, suggesting the fire had spread across an area
spanning 40 square kilometres (15 square miles)."The aggressor is
preventing the fire from being extinguished. Their drones are constantly
hovering over the area," Chernigiv governor Vyacheslav Chaus added.Kyiv
has repeatedly accused Moscow of recklessly attacking its nuclear
sites, including the Chernobyl complex.A Russian drone last year
punctured a hole in one of the radiation shells covering the reactor
unit that exploded on April 26, 1986.Rescuers were working to prevent
the further spread of the fire, Ukraine's state emergency service
said."Due to strong gusts of wind, the fire is rapidly spreading across
the territory, covering new sections of the forest," it said."The
situation is complicated by dry weather, strong winds and mine danger in
certain areas of the territory, which significantly limits the
possibility of extinguishing work."The exclusion zone suffered wildfires
in 2020, which lasted several weeks and caused a spike in background
radiation.Ukraine only last month marked 40 years since the disaster.
Drone attack kills six in Sudan's Darfur.
Khartoum,
May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-A drone attack killed six people on Tuesday
in the paramilitary-controlled city of al-Daein in Sudan's Darfur
region, a medical source and two residents told AFP, as the Rapid
Support Forces face a wave of defections.Drone strikes by both Sudan's
army and the paramilitary RSF have intensified across Sudan in recent
months, with some attacks killing dozens of civilians at a time.A
medical source at al-Daein hospital said six bodies were received after
Tuesday's strike, which also wounded five people, three of them
critically. The source did not identify who was responsible.Two locals
said an army drone hit residential neighbourhoods in the north and west
of the city early on Tuesday. They spoke via Starlink satellite
internet, widely used in Darfur amid widespread communications
outages.An RSF-led alliance accused the Sudanese army of carrying out
the attack, saying in a statement that drone strikes began late on
Monday and continued into Tuesday morning. The army has not
commented.Sudan's war between the army and the RSF, now in its fourth
year, has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and
triggered what the United Nations has described as one of the world's
worst humanitarian crises.After the RSF seized control of North Darfur
capital El-Fasher, the army's last stronghold in the region, fighting
spread to southern Kordofan and Blue Nile state in the southeast, near
the borders with Ethiopia and South Sudan.But the RSF has faced mounting
defections of late.On Monday, a senior commander in East Darfur, Ali
Rizqallah, known as "Savanna", announced in a video posted on social
media that he had split from the force.Last week, RSF commander Bashara
al-Huweira defected in North Kordofan, weeks after another leader,
al-Nur al-Quba, said he and his fighters had left their positions in
North Darfur and joined the Sudanese army.In Blue Nile state, where
control remains contested, the army said last week it had captured the
Keili area, which lies on a strategic road linking state capital
El-Damazin to the border town of al-Kurmuk.AFP has been unable to
independently verify which side controls the area due to access
restrictions.The United Nations said on Tuesday that nearly 50,000
people had fled Blue Nile between January and May, including about
19,000 from Kurmuk alone.
Israeli troops conduct raid along south Lebanon's Litani river.
Jerusalem,
May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-The Israeli military said on Tuesday its
troops had conducted a days-long raid in the area of the Litani river in
south Lebanon, where exchanges of fire with Hezbollah persist despite a
ceasefire.In a statement, the military said that over the past week,
troops had conducted a "special operation to clear terrorist
infrastructure from the Litani area and establish operational control in
the area".It said soldiers had been operating south of the
Israeli-declared "yellow line" that runs around 10 kilometres (six
miles) north of the border and where Israeli forces continue to be
stationed.Israeli media reported that troops had gone beyond the Litani
river and operated on the outskirts of the town of Zawtar
al-Sharqiyah.When asked by AFP, the Israeli military said it was unable
to confirm whether troops had crossed the Litani, but it published
photos from the operation showing soldiers walking along a bridge
traversing a river.Other photos published by the military showed tanks
and soldiers operating along the riverbank."During the operation, the
troops located compounds used by Hezbollah terrorists, underground
tunnel routes containing large quantities of weapons, weapons storage
facilities, and missile launchers," the military said, adding that it
had struck more than 100 targets.It also said troops had "struck and
eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters combat, alongside
aerial support."Israel and Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah have been
trading fire in south Lebanon despite a ceasefire in place since April
17 between Israel and Lebanon.Lebanon's health ministry on Tuesday told
AFP that Israeli strikes have killed 380 people since the ceasefire took
effect.The Israeli military says five soldiers have been killed by the
fighting in south Lebanon since the start of the truce.Hezbollah drew
Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on March 2 when it launched
rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader.Israel
responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion.In a separate statement
on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had identified an "unsuccessful
attempt to launch a surface-to-air missile toward an Israeli Air Force
aircraft," but that no damage or injuries were caused.The military's
Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issued fresh evacuation
warnings for several villages in south Lebanon on Tuesday.
Israel sent Iron Dome batteries, personnel to UAE: US ambassador to Israel.
Jerusalem,
May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Israel sent Iron Dome air defence batteries
and personnel to operate them in the United Arab Emirates during the war
with Iran, the US ambassador to Israel said on Tuesday."Can I say a
word of appreciation, deep appreciation and admiration for the United
Arab Emirates?" Mike Huckabee said during a conference at Tel Aviv
University."They were the first Abraham Accords member but look at the
benefits that they have had as a result. Israel just sent them Iron Dome
batteries and personnel to help operate them. How come? Because there's
an extraordinary relationship between the UAE and Israel based on the
Abraham Accords," he said.Iran targeted the UAE more than any other
country during the war, which was sparked by US-Israeli strikes on the
Islamic republic at the end of February.Despite a ceasefire that came
into effect last month, the UAE has since reported multiple missile and
drone attacks from Iran.The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is a top US
ally in the region and among the Arab nations with official ties to
Israel after signing the Abraham Accords during US President Donald
Trump's first term in 2020.
US-Iran deadlock pushes oil higher, Seoul falls on calls for AI social tax.
Hong
Kong, May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Oil prices climbed on Tuesday as
US-Iran talks stalled, while South Korean calls for a social tax on AI
profits dragged down the tech-rich Kospi index.Seoul plunged five
percent after a top official proposed a "national dividend" to
redistribute excess corporate profits from artificial intelligence.South
Korea is riding an AI chip boom driving massive earnings for tech
giants Samsung and SK hynix, which had sent the Kospi to record highs in
recent weeks.Southeast Asia's biggest economy Indonesia also took a
hit, with Jakarta falling two percent at one point after the rupiah hit a
record low against the dollar.Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Bangkok,
Manila and Singapore were marginally down, while London, Paris and
Frankfurt also opened in the red.Taipei and Kuala Lumpur posted marginal
gains.Tokyo closed 0.5 percent higher after Finance Minister Satsuki
Katayama said Japan and the United States were "coordinating very well"
on currency policy during Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's visit.The
mixed picture follows US President Donald Trump's warning that the
US-Iran ceasefire was "unbelievably weak" after Tehran rejected his
administration's proposal to ease the conflict.The impasse, which leaves
the vital Strait of Hormuz mostly closed to oil tanker traffic,
unnerved global energy markets.The international benchmark Brent crude
jumped 2.2 percent to $106 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas
Intermediate rose 2.7 percent to $100 a barrel.- Wait and see -Traders
are now looking to Beijing, where Trump lands this week to meet
President Xi Jinping, the first visit by a US president since his own in
2017.Taiwan, tariffs, rare earths and the war in Iran are set to top
the agenda, while top executives including Tesla boss Elon Musk and
Apple's Tim Cook will fly in to back Trump's push to ramp up trade with
Beijing.Iranian officials will be keeping a close eye on Trump's visit,
where he is expected to press Xi -- whose country is a major buyer of
Iranian oil.Analysts said traders were in wait-and-see mode as the war
creeps towards its three-month mark."For now, President Trump is still
talking about the idea that the ceasefire is on a 'massive life
support'," analyst Rodrigo Catril told the NAB Morning Call podcast,
referring to comments to reporters on Monday."The theme, I think, for
markets is that as much as President Trump is not happy with what is on
offer, he's also not suggesting that there's going to be an
escalation."US stocks held modest gains in Monday's trade, finishing a
meandering session marginally higher as enthusiasm about artificial
intelligence managed to offset concerns about higher oil prices.But
analysts have warned crude prices could spike dramatically if the war
drags on into next month as supplies dwindle."Beneath the surface calm
sits a market increasingly dependent on the assumption that the Strait
of Hormuz will gradually reopen sometime before late June," said Stephen
Innes, analyst with SPI Asset Management."An extended disruption (to
traffic in the strait) would almost certainly force oil prices
materially higher, tighten global financial conditions, and inflict far
more serious economic damage than markets currently price in," he said.-
Key figures at around 0815 GMT -Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.3 percent
at $105.55 a barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $99.65 a
barrel-London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 10,208.71-Paris - CAC 40:
DOWN 0.7 percent at 8,003.16-Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 1 percent at
24,115.43-Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 62,742.57 (close)-Hong
Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.2 percent at 26,347.91 (close)-Shanghai -
Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,214.49 (close)-Euro/dollar: DOWN at
$1.1754 from $1.1775 on Monday-Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3554 from
$1.3628-Dollar/yen: UP at 157.42 from 157.23 yen-Euro/pound: UP at 86.72
pence from 86.40 pence-New York - DOW: UP 0.2 percent at 49,704.47
(close) cms/ami
Trump brushes aside Taiwan concerns ahead of Xi meet.
Washington,
United States, May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-President Donald Trump has
said he is ready to discuss US arms sales to Taiwan during his visit to
Beijing this week, as he suggested his personal chemistry with
counterpart Xi Jinping would prevent a Chinese invasion of the
island.The White House said Trump will bring along top US executives
including his former nemesis Elon Musk and Apple's Tim Cook for a trip
expected to focus heavily on the US president's hopes to ramp up
trade.China said it hoped to achieve greater stability between the
world's two largest economies during the visit lasting Wednesday through
Friday, the first by a US president since Trump went in 2017.Asked if
the United States should keep selling weapons to Taiwan, a key irritant
for Beijing, Trump did not answer directly but said on Monday: "I'm
going to have that discussion with President Xi.""President Xi would
like us not to, and I'll have that discussion. That's one of the many
things I'll be talking about," he told reporters in the Oval
Office.Trump, after referencing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said of
Taiwan, "I don't think it'll happen.""I think we'll be fine. I have a
very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don't want that to
happen," he said.But Trump also noted that the United States was "very,
very far away" compared with China.When asked for a response to Trump's
remarks, Taiwan's foreign ministry vowed to "continue to strengthen
cooperation" with the United States, the island's main security backer,
and "build effective deterrence capabilities in order to jointly
maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."Beijing's foreign
ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday that "China's opposition
to the United States' sale of weapons to China's Taiwan region is
consistent and clear".- Congress backs Taiwan -The United States
recognizes only Beijing but under domestic law is required to provide
weapons for the defense of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy which
China considers its own.Under the 1982 "Six Assurances," a key
foundation of US policy on Taiwan after the switch of recognition, the
United States said it would not "consult" with Beijing about arms sales
to the island.Trump has long berated allies as not spending enough on
their own defense. Days ahead of his trip to China, Taiwan's parliament
Friday approved a $25 billion defense spending bill, although it fell
short of the government's proposal.Pointing to the vote by parliament, a
group of US senators led by Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Trump should immediately
green-light a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan."We urge you and your
team to make clear that America's support for Taiwan is inviolable,"
wrote the senators, mostly Democrats but including two centrists from
Trump's Republican Party.Trump should also state that "American support
for Taiwan is not up for negotiation," they wrote.- New sanctions over
Iran -Trump delayed the trip once due to the war he launched with Israel
against Iran, which is still rebuffing his appeals for an
agreement.China is the main international customer for Iran's oil, which
Trump has tried to stop all countries from buying through unilateral US
sanctions.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview
Sunday with CBS News' "60 Minutes," said he was unhappy that Beijing had
shared missile technology with Iran.Trump's Treasury Department on
Monday issued sanctions against 12 individuals and entities it said
facilitated the sale and shipment of Iranian oil to China.The sanctions
came even as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepared to set up Trump's
visit during talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Seoul on
Wednesday.Bessent and He have been the chief negotiators for the United
States and China on all trade and economic issues.Foreign ministry
spokesman Guo added on Tuesday that China "firmly opposes" to the
sanctions and would safeguard the interests of domestic
enterprises."Regarding the Iran conflict, the most pressing tasks is to
do everything to avoid the resumption of fighting rather than use the
conflict to maliciously smear China," he told a regular news
briefing.Trump and Xi last met face-to-face in October on the sidelines
of a regional summit in South Korea.They agreed then to a one-year truce
in a blistering trade war that saw tariffs on many goods exceed 100
percent.burs-sct-amj/dhw/abs
Big hug' or colder shoulder? Xi-Trump talks spotlight contrasting styles, expectations.
Beijing,
May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Donald Trump has said he expects a "big, fat
hug" from China's Xi Jinping when they meet in Beijing this week, though
multiple thorny issues between the two sides could see the US president
kept at arm's length.Taiwan, tariffs, rare earths and the war in Iran
are among the contentious topics set to be discussed by the two leaders,
whose styles of communication could hardly be more different.Trump's
often bombastic, freewheeling comportment on the international stage
contrasts dramatically with Xi's measured, tight-lipped approach to
foreign policy.In mid-April, the US president predicted that Xi would
greet him with a "big, fat hug" upon his arrival in Beijing, adding that
"we are working together smartly, and very well!"China, in contrast,
did not confirm the visit was taking place until Monday, typical of its
reserve on such matters.Despite the clash of styles, Beijing's foreign
ministry said Monday that China considers leader-to-leader diplomacy as
playing an "irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-US
relations".Trump's trip to China, set to begin Wednesday, is the first
by a US president since his own in 2017.During that first-term sojourn,
he received what the Chinese termed "state visit-plus" treatment,
including a private tea reception in the Forbidden City.His 2026 trip is
expected to include a tour of the Temple of Heaven and a state banquet,
but analysts say the pomp will not match that of nine years ago.Since
Trump's first visit, China has learned that while "aggrandisement...
plays to his ego, it cannot prevent him from a quick flip-flop in his
attitude towards China", Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American
Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University, told AFP.- 'Less romantic' -In
2017, Chinese state media presented "personal diplomacy as opening a new
phase of pragmatic cooperation and great power diplomacy", wrote the
National University of Singapore's Bert Hofman in a newsletter on
Monday.But Trump's subsequent anti-China policy tack over the course of
his first term, followed by a blistering trade war at the beginning of
his second, disabused Beijing of that notion."The revived Trump-era
discourse in 2025-2026 is less romantic about leader chemistry (in
contrast to Trump's continued mentioning of his friendship with Xi),"
Hofman wrote.While there is no longer hope the two men's personal
relationship can be transformative, there is acknowledgement it could
"prevent derailment, restart channels, and produce tactical bargains",
he said.Beijing has rolled out the red carpet for a broad swathe of
other foreign guests recently.Russian President Vladimir Putin and North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un were among the attendees to be warmly
welcomed at a military parade in Beijing in September.And French
President Emmanuel Macron got significant facetime with Xi both in the
capital and in the southwestern city of Chengdu.But some analysts think
the connection between the leaders of the world's two largest economies
is unforced.John Gong, professor at the University of International
Business and Economics in Beijing, told AFP he thought Trump and Xi
"really do get along very well"."I think they genuinely have some kind
of a warm relationship towards each other," he said.- 'Modest'
expectations -Whether that personal relationship trumps the many sore
points in the bilateral one remains doubtful.Trump, who will turn 80
next month, and Xi, who will turn 73 a day later, last met face-to-face
in October on the sidelines of a regional summit in South Korea.There,
the two agreed to a one-year truce in a trade war that saw tariffs on
many goods exceed 100 percent.This week's talks will be overshadowed by
the US-Israel war in Iran, the most recent addition to a long roster of
issues on which the two sides find themselves at
loggerheads.Expectations for outcomes this time should be "modest", said
Wendy Cutler, a trade diplomat and vice president of the Asia Society
Policy Institute, in the Geoeconomic Competition podcast last week."This
year, we may see a number of meetings between Presidents Trump and Xi
Jinping, and so all the deliverables don't have to be announced at the
first meeting," she said."For each leader, stabilisation makes sense in
the relationship," she added.
North Korea says not bound by nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Seoul,
May 7 (AFP) May 07, 2026-North Korea's UN envoy said his country was
not bound by the Non-Proliferation Treaty on nuclear weapons and
external pressure would not change its status as a nuclear-armed state,
official media reported Thursday.Pyongyang threatened to withdraw from
the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1993 and formally did so in
2003.It has since conducted six nuclear tests -- prompting a raft of
international sanctions -- and is believed to possess dozens of nuclear
warheads.Signatories of the NPT have been holding a review meeting of
the landmark pact at the United Nations.There, "the United States and
certain countries following its lead are groundlessly calling into
question the current status and exercise of sovereign rights" of North
Korea, Pyongyang's top UN envoy Kim Song said in a statement carried by
the official Korean Central News Agency."The status of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea as a nuclear-armed state will not change
based on external rhetorical claims or unilateral desires," he added,
using North Korea's official name."To make it clear once again, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea will not be bound by the
Non-Proliferation Treaty under any circumstances whatsoever."He
continued that the country's status as a nuclear-armed state has been
"enshrined in the constitution, transparently declaring the principles
of nuclear weapons use".North Korea has insisted that it will not give
up its nuclear arsenal, describing its path as "irreversible" and vowing
to strengthen its capabilities.The NPT, which went into force in 1970
and is signed by almost all countries on the planet -- with notable
exceptions including North Korea, Israel, India and Pakistan -- aims to
prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament and
encourage cooperation on civilian nuclear projects.But the spirit of the
treaty has been "eroding", UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said
in his opening remarks at the review session last week."Commitments
remain unfulfilled. Trust and credibility are wearing thin. The drivers
of proliferation are accelerating," he said.The nine nuclear-armed
states -- Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China,
India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea -- possessed 12,241 nuclear
warheads in January 2025, the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI) reported.The US and Russia hold nearly 90 percent of
nuclear weapons globally and have carried out major programmes to
modernise them in recent years, according to SIPRI.Pyongyang has sent
ground troops and artillery shells to support Russia's invasion of
Ukraine, and observers say Pyongyang is receiving military, economic and
technical assistance from Moscow in return.
Serbia hosts first-ever joint military exercise with NATO.
Belgrade,
May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-The first joint NATO-Serbia military
exercises are under way in the Balkan country, the defence ministry said
Tuesday, marking a significant cooperation with a country the Alliance
once bombed.Around 600 troops from Serbia, Italy, Romania and Turkey are
taking part in the "NATO-Serbia" exercise, alongside military planners
and observers from several Alliance countries, the ministry said.It is
the first military exercise conducted directly with NATO, which remains a
sensitive subject in Serbia following the Alliance's 1999 air campaign
against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo war.Photographs released Tuesday
showed Serbian and NATO soldiers now standing side by side at a military
training ground near Bujanovac in southern Serbia, alongside armoured
vehicles from both forces.The tactical exercise will run until May 23
under NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, which Belgrade said
"respects Serbia's military neutrality"."The cooperation is aimed at
preserving peace and stability in the region," the ministry said.Serbia
is one of the few Balkan countries not in the Alliance, with Belgrade
insisting on a long-held policy of neutrality while enjoying close ties
with both NATO and Russia.Serbia has been part of the Partnership for
Peace programme for nearly two decades, and regularly participates in
drills with NATO members.The country has also invested heavily in arms
over the past decade, buying weapons from NATO member states as well as
Russia and China."This is an important training activity. It will be
hosted by Serbia and conducted in full respect of Serbia's stated policy
of military neutrality," a NATO official told AFP ahead of the
exercise.NATO-led peacekeeping force has remained deployed in Kosovo
since the end of the war in Serbia's former province, whose independence
Belgrade has never recognised.
Russia tests long-range missile after US nuclear treaty expires.
Moscow,
May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Russia on Tuesday tested a new long-range
missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, months after the last
treaty with the United States limiting their atomic arsenals lapsed.The
ending of the New START agreement in February formally released the
world's two largest nuclear powers from a raft of restrictions."This is
the most powerful missile system in the world," claimed Russian
President Vladimir Putin after receiving a report of a successful launch
of Sarmat, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).He said the
missile could carry a warhead more than four times more powerful than
anything Western militaries possessed, adding that Sarmat would be on
"combat duty" by the end of this year.Even though Moscow and Washington
agreed to reestablish high-level military dialogue shortly after New
START expired, there were no immediate signs of renewing or prolonging
it.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressed for a new treaty to
include China, whose arsenal is growing but still significantly smaller
than those of Russia or the US, but Beijing has publicly rejected the
pressure.Trump had been mostly silent on Russian calls to extend New
START, which was signed in 2010 and imposed the last restrictions on
Moscow and Washington after decades of agreements dating from the Cold
War.Both countries have repeatedly accused each other of failing to
adhere to the agreement.Sarmat, referred to as "Satan II" in NATO
designation, is the first ICBM produced in post-Soviet Russia to be
classed as "super heavy".Put said it was capable of travelling 35,000
kilometres (22,000 miles).
Lebanon says Israeli strikes have killed 380 since truce.
Beirut,
Lebanon, May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-Israeli strikes on Lebanon have
killed 380 people since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war began on
April 17, Lebanon's Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine told a press
conference on Tuesday.The overall toll in Israeli strikes since the war
erupted between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2 has reached 2,882 people
including 279 women and 200 children, he added.Since the ceasefire,
"380 people have been killed and 1,122 wounded," Nassereddine said.A
ministry official told AFP that the toll includes 39 women and 22
children.Under the terms of the truce released by Washington, Israel
reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing
attacks".In addition to carrying out ongoing airstrikes, Israeli troops
have been operating behind a so-called "yellow line" that runs around 10
kilometres (six miles) north of the border between the two
countries.Some 108 emergency and health workers are among the overall
death toll while 249 others have been wounded and "16 hospitals have
been damaged" since the start of the conflict, Nassereddine said."It's a
massacre... there are no armed men or fighters in these (ambulance)
vehicles, just medical equipment and wounded, contrary to what Israel
says," he added.Israel has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances and
medical facilities for military purposes, an accusation the group
denies.Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on March 2
when it launched rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's
supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.Israel responded with massive
strikes and a ground invasion in the country's south.The Iran-backed
Hezbollah says its fighters are included in the government
tolls.Lebanese leaders on Monday urged the United States to pressure
Israel to halt its attacks, which have intensified in recent days.The
appeal came as Lebanese and Israeli representatives are set to meet
later this week in Washington for a third round of direct talks.
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of
all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
Zephaniah 2:1-15
1 Gather together, yes, gather,O shameless nation,
2
before the decree takes effect[a] -before the day passes away like
chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before
there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the
Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands;[b] seek
righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of
the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon
shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the
seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against
you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no
inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows[c] for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7
The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of
Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they
shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of
them and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab
(JORDAN) and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my
people and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I
live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become
like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles
and salt pits, and a waste forever.The remnant of my people shall
plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11
The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods
of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the
lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
13
And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy
Assyria,(SYRIA) and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like
the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of
beasts;[d] even the owl and the hedgehog[e] shall lodge in her
capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the
threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the
exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and
there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild
beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.Sa'ar: No
free meals; talks possible if more hostages freed Israel halts aid into
Gaza, citing Hamas refusal to extend first phase of truce
Footnotes-a
-Zephaniah 2:2 Hebrew gives birth, b-Zephaniah 2:3 Or who carry out his
judgment, c-Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves, d-Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of
every nation, e-Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl
and hedgehog is uncertain
DANIEL 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and
the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made
thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these,
shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the
feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom
shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron,
forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never
be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the
brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known
to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
DANIEL 7:17-26
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19
Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from
all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his
nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue
with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of
the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn
that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was
more stout than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of
the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the
ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and
another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first,
and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words
against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,
and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his
hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
THE WORLD IN 10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS LEAD BY THE EUROPEAN UNION THE WORLD LEADER, NOT AMERICA.I PREDICT.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND REVIVED ROMAN WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17
First From Daniel Chapter 2
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES
Now From Daniel Chapter 7
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS
REV
17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS.
THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23,
REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16
REVELATION 17:10-12
10 And there are
seven kings (7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY) five are fallen, (EGYPT,
ASSYRIA, BABYLON,:MEDO-PERSIAN,GREECE and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS
DAY-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he
cometh,(FUTURE-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE-EUROPEAN UNION TODAY) he must
continue a short space.(7 YEARS OF WORLD DOMINATION-BUT 3 1/2 YEARS OF
NEW WORLD ORDER OR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT)
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS OR REGIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour
with the beast.
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS-NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the
beast.
13 These have one mind,(WORLD SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
We
shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only
question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or
consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February
1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in
1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a
man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection
to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten
to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept
him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
DICK
MORRIS-This truly creates a global economic system. From now on, don’t
look to Washington for the rule making, look to Brussels.
THE CLUB OF ROME FOUNDER AURELIO PECCEI WANTS THE WORLD IN 10 REGIONAL TRADING BLOCKS.
REVELATION 16:1-2
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the
earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;
and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the
mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16
And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL
BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK
SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE
VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW
LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE.
UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION
13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION
AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO
IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE
SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE),
OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX,
KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125
THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR
RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM
1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE;
FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 -
STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick;
(cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.;
Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According
to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of
their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to
indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even
some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their
gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα
τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in
Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left
there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by
him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and
approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on
Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian,
Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
HERES WHAT THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE (SINCE THERE WILL BE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE FUTURE)-UPDATED VERSION (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
01 CANADA, U.S.A, MEXICO
02 EUROPEAN UNION,WESTERN EUROPE
03 JAPAN
04 AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND, S AFRICA, ISRAEL AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
05 EASTERN EUROPE
06 SOUTHERN, CENTRAL AND LATIN AMERICAS
07 NORTH AFRICA, AND MIDEAST (MOSLEMS)
08 CENTRAL AFRICA
09 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
10 CENTRAL ASIA
THE
CLUB OF ROME WANTS A WORLD CHARISMATIC DICTATOR (EITHER RELIGIOUS,
POLITICAL OR SCIENTIFICAL) TO HEAD THIS WORLD GOVERNMENT. REV 13:3,7-8,
DAN 7:23-24
WORLD POWERS IN THE END TIME
NORTH - RUSSIA EZEK 38:1-2, 39:1-2
SOUTH - EGYPT DAN 11:42
EAST - CHINA DAN 11:44,REV 16:12
WEST - EUROPEAN UNION DAN 7:23-24 (NOT THE U.S.A)
http://israel7777777.blogspot.ca/2012/03/10-world-trade-blocs-one-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2006/09/how-eu-takes-world-control.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/one-world-religion-crislam.html
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of
all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
COUNCIL FOR EUROPE ON DEFENCE
https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/document/download/6d6f889c-e58d-4caa-8f3b-8b93154fe206_en?filename=SAFE%20Regulation.pdf
EU says could expand naval mission to Strait of Hormuz.
Brussels,
Belgium, May 12 (AFP) May 12, 2026-EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said
Tuesday the bloc could expand a naval mission it has in the Red Sea to
cover the Strait of Hormuz, once the Iran war ends."Operation Aspides
already makes a crucial contribution in protecting shipping in the Red
Sea but its activities could also be extended to the strait," Kallas
said after a meeting of European Union defence ministers.Kallas said
that some countries were already promising to contribute more ships to
the mission and that could help if the decision is taken to extend its
scope.Reeling from Trump's war on Iran and the global economic fallout,
Europe has been scrambling to play a role to get shipping moving again
once the conflict ends.France and Britain have led talks on a potential
naval effort in the region, with defence ministers from four dozen
countries to hold a fresh round of discussions Tuesday.EU defence
ministers in March initially rebuffed proposals to expand the Red Sea
mission.Negotiations between the United States and Iran to end the
Middle East war and re-open the crucial waterway appear to have
stalled.Iran's blockade of the strait, through which about a fifth of
the world's oil and natural gas usually passes, has pushed up global
energy prices.The EU's Aspides mission was launched in 2024 to help
protect shipping in the Red Sea, another crucial Middle East waterway,
from attacks by the Houthis in Yemen.
VPNs on regulatory block in
EU, UK as lawmakers address age check circumvention-Are VPNs ‘loophole
that needs closing,’ bastions of privacy – or just profit-driven
companies? May 11, 2026, 1:33 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
A
philosophical tug-of-war is at play in the debate over whether Virtual
Private Networks (VPNs) enable easy circumvention of age assurance
mechanisms.On the one hand, there is the notion that biometric age
checks have users flocking to VPNs to protect their anonymity. A paper
newly pushed out by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS)
suggests “there has been a significant surge in the number of virtual
private networks (VPNs) used to bypass online age verification methods
in countries where these have been put in place by law.”Given this, some
see VPNs as a “loophole that needs closing,” arguing that “access to
VPN services should be restricted to users above a digital age of
majority.” The UK has floated this idea, as well. And in the U.S., Utah
recently passed Senate Bill 73, which explicitly applies to anyone in
Utah, regardless of whether or not they are pretending to not be in Utah
by using a VPN.A competing idea says VPNs represent the spirit of a
free, anonymous internet free from censorship and surveillance.
Regulating VPNs would mean everyone, everywhere doing age checks – and
the spike in use as a workaround for age verification legislation simply
proves that the laws as structured do not and cannot work.So far, the
age assurance industry’s response to the latter argument has involved
pointing out that compliance doesn’t stop counting when users turn to
VPNs. In a sense, the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA)
agrees with the loophole theory, but doesn’t see the need to ban VPNs:
“in practice, there are ways to detect and address circumvention and
there is no need to even consider banning VPNs outright.”VPNs not
charities, can also exploit user data for gain-Another argument that may
ultimately have more force is highlighted in a “multi-perspective study
of VPN users and VPN providers” conducted by researchers at the
University of Michigan in 2023. Whereas age assurance is fighting
against the idea that it invades privacy, VPNs are positively associated
with privacy – but that reputation may be unearned. A quantitative
survey of 1,252 VPN users in the U.S. and qualitative interviews with
nine providers show that “users rely on and trust VPN review sites, but
VPN providers shed light on how they are mostly motivated by money.”
Worryingly, say the researchers, “we find that users have flawed mental
models about the protection VPNs provide, and about the data collected
by VPNs.”Like age assurance providers, VPNs are online businesses with a
bottom line. Unlike age assurance providers, they aren’t
regulated.“Commercial VPNs are now a multi-billion global industry with
numerous VPN providers, and apps on almost every platform,” says the
research paper. “As our VPN provider interviews highlight, many of these
companies have unknown ownership and multiple providers mention that
setting up a VPN and offering a service is not technically difficult,
especially with the existing open source solution.” One provider
suggests that “two people in a basement with half-decent power can run a
VPN.”That’s a lot of uncertainty shouldering a lot of risk. “In simple
terms, a user using a VPN is simply transferring trust, say from their
internet provider, onto the VPN provider,” the paper says. “internet
service providers (ISPs) have been around for longer and have many
regulations globally. However, such regulations and advocacy has not yet
caught up to the VPN industry.”The notion that VPNs increase privacy
hinges on the assumption that VPN companies will respect and not exploit
users’ private data for profit. That’s a convenient bit of optimism
that highlights a largely unspoken truth: VPN providers benefit from an
unearned trust of the sort the age assurance industry is trying to earn.
ICE
smart glasses plan points to broader DHS push to make biometrics mobile
and routine-May 11, 2026, 10:57 pm EDT | Anthony Kimery
The
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is moving toward a broader
biometric enforcement architecture that would extend facial recognition
and identity-matching tools from airport checkpoints and ports of entry
into the field, including through a proposed smart glasses prototype for
immigration agents.Biometric Update reported last month that the
smart-glasses effort appears in DHS’s fiscal year 2027 budget
justification for the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T),
where it is placed under the Border Security and Immigration Mission
Center’s Detention and Removal Operations program.S&T is developing
the smart glasses for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to
supplement Mobile Fortify, the facial recognition app already used by
ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers to identify people in the
field.According to 404 Media, a DHS official and another person who
attended a recent conference said ICE is exploring smart glasses that
would work with or support Mobile Fortify.The S&T program is funded
at $7.5 million for FY 2027 and is designed to support new data
analytics methods, automated systems, and hardware for immigration
enforcement operations.The project schedule says S&T plans in FY
2027 to “develop an operational prototype of smart glasses that enables
biometric identification of illegal aliens.”The budget language is
striking because it does not describe smart glasses as a speculative
concept or future-facing technology experiment. It says the project will
“deliver innovative hardware” that includes operational prototypes of
smart glasses intended to give immigration enforcement agents real-time
access to information and biometric identification capabilities in the
field.The significance is not only that ICE may eventually use the smart
glasses being developed inside S&T. It is that DHS is describing
the glasses as part of a broader operational shift toward mobile,
real-time biometric identification.The glasses would serve as a field
interface for immigration enforcement agents, potentially allowing them
to access identity information and biometric matching capabilities while
conducting arrests, field interviews, custody transfers, or other
enforcement operations.That would mark an escalation from phone-based
biometric checks to wearable biometric systems. Mobile Fortify already
allows agents to capture facial images, contactless fingerprints, and
identity document photographs, sending that information to CBP for
matching against government biometric systems.DHS’s 2025 AI Use Case
Inventory identified NEC as the vendor behind the app, said the tool was
in deployment for both CBP and ICE, and described ICE as having access
to it as of May 20, 2025.The app has already generated civil liberties
concerns because it is used not only at borders or checkpoints, but in
domestic field settings. Mobile Fortify is used to identify undocumented
immigrants and U.S. citizens alike and can return possible matches and
biographic information after facial or fingerprint matching.The
smart-glasses proposal would build on that architecture by making the
biometric interface more seamless and less visible. Instead of an
officer holding up a phone to scan a person’s face, camera-equipped
glasses could place facial recognition capability directly in an agent’s
line of sight.That raises new questions about notice, consent,
accuracy, retention, and whether people would know when they are being
scanned.The DHS budget places the smart-glasses project within a larger
effort to improve immigration enforcement data collection, validation,
and coordination between CBP and ICE.The budget language frames the work
as part of an attempt to automate information flows, support custody
transfers and removals, and improve field access to identity data.In
practical terms, the glasses are not being developed as a standalone
gadget. They are being developed as a mobile biometric endpoint for a
department-wide identity infrastructure.That broader infrastructure is
visible across DHS’s FY 2027 budget request. In the S&T Border
Security and Immigration portfolio, DHS requests $16 million for
Biometrics and Identity Management, including $6 million for Biometric
Emerging Concepts and $10 million for Biometrics and Identity
Screening.The Biometrics and Identity Screening project is aimed at
helping CBP identify, evaluate, and implement advanced biometric tools
that can strengthen traveler vetting, improve security, and streamline
travel at ports of entry.S&T says the project will deliver software
and hardware that allow rapid identification and verification of people
entering, exiting, and traveling within the United States.The budget
says those capabilities are intended to reduce the risk of fraudulent
identities and help confirm familial relationships, including in cases
involving the trafficking of minors.The FY 2027 milestone is to deliver
software and hardware solutions for rapid identification and
verification at ports of entry.ICE appears in the budget as an
operational user of biometric tools developed, funded, or integrated
elsewhere in DHS.Its Fugitive Operations budget lists biometric readers
among the equipment used for law enforcement operations, while the
smart-glasses project appears in S&T’s research portfolio rather
than ICE’s component budget.DHS is not simply buying isolated biometric
tools. It is building a layered identity environment in which facial
recognition, fingerprint capture, document authentication, traveler
vetting, mobile field checks, and backend database matching can
reinforce one another.For supporters inside DHS, that architecture
promises faster identification, more efficient screening, stronger fraud
prevention, and better coordination between border and interior
enforcement.For critics, the same architecture points toward a future in
which biometric surveillance becomes increasingly hard to see, hard to
avoid, and hard to challenge.The smart glasses make that tension more
concrete. A phone-based app is already controversial because it allows
agents to scan faces and fingerprints in the field.Wearable smart
glasses could make that process faster, less obvious, and more
continuous. The budget request shows that DHS is treating that
possibility not as science fiction, but as an operational prototype to
be developed in FY 2027.
Stop treating identity as a compliance
step. It’s infrastructure now-May 6, 2026, 5:10 pm EDT | Harry
Varatharasan By Harry Varatharasan, Chief Product Officer, ComplyCube
The
UK governmentʼs digital identity consultation is closing, and for most
commentators, this represents just another milestone in a slow-moving
legislative process. For companies building the systems that power
digital identity at scale, it embodies the moment ID verification stops
being a back-office compliance function and becomes
infrastructure.Across regulated sectors such as fintech, telecoms,
insurance, digital assets, and government services, ID verification has
become the primary mechanism through which organizations establish
trust, grant access, and prevent fraud at scale.It is no longer niche,
and over the past year, weʼve seen a significant shift in how the
industry deploys it. Businesses have stopped asking about verification
accuracy in isolation and have started asking about orchestration,
reuse, and interoperability. They are consolidating toward a single,
reusable identity capability across products and user journeys rather
than building separate verification processes for each service.Identity
is now embedded as a shared layer. It is no longer a compliance upgrade;
it is the infrastructure that everything else sits on top of.The policy
conversation has not caught up. Regulated businesses are already
designing onboarding flows, fraud controls, and customer journeys on the
assumption that verification can be trusted, ported, and built upon.
The consultation is one of the first chances for UK policy to meet that
reality, and to set the terms on which the next decade of digital
services gets built.The starting point for getting it right is being
honest about what infrastructure actually demands.What ‘infrastructureʼ
actually means in practice-ID verification has become a foundational
layer on which other systems, services, and interactions depend. If it
fails or fragments, the downstream effects are significant.
Infrastructure-grade ID verification has three defining
characteristics.The first is reliability at scale — systems must perform
consistently across high-volume, real-time environments — not as
one-off checks but as continuous, automated processes. The second is
interoperability: as public and private verification systems begin to
converge, the ability to operate across frameworks, certifications, and
jurisdictions becomes essential. The third is trust by design, where
governance, audit trails, and certification are no longer optional
extras but the foundation on which public and regulatory confidence
rests.Of these three, interoperability is the bottleneck. The industry
has largely solved for point-in-time verification and is making progress
on trust frameworks and governance – but identity still does not port
well, especially across use cases. Businesses are being asked to treat
identity as reusable infrastructure, yet the ecosystem is fragmented
across standards, regulators, and geographies. Until identity can be
reliably reused across contexts, it behaves like a series of siloed
checks. And even where portability exists in theory, the burden of
liability does not automatically transfer: an identity previously
approved within one sector or geography can still be deemed too risky by
a new business operating in a different context. Interoperability must
solve for liability, not just technical compatibility.What the UK
consultation signals for regulated industries-The consultationʼs
practical implications are already taking shape – regardless of what the
final policy framework looks like. Three shifts are worth
naming.Assurance levels are becoming the unit of procurement. The DIATF
framework is already pushing organizations to demonstrate not just that
they verify identity, but at what level of confidence. That changes how
verification is bought and evaluated – and the consequences will land
hard once assurance levels get written into sector-specific regulation.
To confidently stand behind a particular assurance level, that level
must be considered equivalent across jurisdictions and regulators. It
must also be practically attainable by the actual customer demographic a
business serves. Raising the bar is only meaningful if the bar can be
cleared.‘Verify once, reuse’ is moving from principle to expectation.
Across sectors from property to financial services, customers and
regulators alike now expect that identity checks should not need to be
repeated for the same individual at every touchpoint.That expectation is
colliding with an ecosystem not yet built to deliver it, and the
compliance overhead falls on businesses operating across multiple
product lines.Private-sector verification systems are being asked to do
more than the policy frameworks anticipate. Online safety legislation,
age verification mandates, and AML requirements are all expanding the
contexts in which verification is required – often faster than policy
frameworks can formalize them. The regulated sector is not waiting for
governments to catch up. It is building ahead of the curve.Where public
and private systems are already converging-The blurring line between
government-led digital identity initiatives and private-sector
verification infrastructure is not a future scenario. It is already
underway.Telecoms is one of the clearest examples. Onboarding is
conducted through private deployments, yet those verified identities are
increasingly used as a supporting signal in law enforcement and public
sector investigations. When a number is linked to a criminal inquiry,
disclosure processes draw on the identity infrastructure built and
maintained by private operators. The boundary between public
infrastructure and private verification has, in this context, already
dissolved.Certified identity service providers operating under DIATF
frameworks, DVLA-connected driver entitlement verification,
ACCS-approved age verification — these are not future convergence
points. They are the present. The private sector is not waiting for
governments to build digital identity infrastructure. It is already
building the systems that national frameworks will depend on. The policy
question is not whether to enable this convergence, but how to govern
it.The cost of fragmented standards-If trust infrastructure does not
keep pace with adoption, specific things break. This is not a
theoretical concern.Fragmentation hits hardest where organizations
operate across multiple regulatory environments at once. A fintech
platform may need to meet AML/KYC requirements while aligning with
fraud-prevention standards and, in some cases, age-verification or
platform-safety obligations — each with different expectations of what
“good” verification looks like. Telecoms companies conducting onboarding
checks meet strict identity requirements, but those verified identities
are not always portable to adjacent services such as banking,
insurance, or employment checks. A group holding company director
managing a portfolio of businesses across banking, property, and
telecoms may need to repeat verification to varying levels across each:
duplicated effort, with no shared benefit.The consequences compound
across three dimensions. Operationally, businesses absorb higher
compliance costs and integration overhead as they scale across use
cases. From a risk perspective, inconsistent assurance levels create
exploitable gaps, particularly where lower-assurance checks in one
context are wrongly relied on in higher-risk environments. And from the
user’s perspective, fragmentation translates into friction: people
encounter different verification processes and data requirements across
what feels, to them, like a single connected journey.From a risk
perspective, inconsistent assurance levels across the sectors create
exploitable gaps — particularly where lower-assurance checks in one
context are incorrectly relied upon in higher-risk environments. From a
user perspective, this fragmentation translates into friction and
confusion: individuals encounter different verification processes and
data requirements across what feels, to them, like a single connected
journey.Identity is being treated as reusable in theory. In practice, it
remains siloed, with different industries interpreting, verifying, and
trusting identity in inconsistent ways.Policy must keep pace with
practice-The digital identity consultation closing is not the end of a
debate — it is the beginning of an implementation challenge. The systems
being built now will determine how the UKʼs digital identity
infrastructure actually functions in practice.The question worth asking
now is not whether identity verification is critical infrastructure.
That argument is already won. The question is whether standards and
governance being written today are being written for the industry that
exists, or the one that existed five years ago.
Agentic AI
pushes financial sector toward continuous identity-Industry turns to
biometrics, passkeys and behavioral signals as AI agents challenge
traditional authentication-May 7, 2026, 3:48 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
Agentic
AI is forcing a rethink of identity and authentication in payments, as
systems designed for human approval struggle to handle transactions
initiated by autonomous software.A new paper from the International
Monetary Fund warns that AI agents capable of executing payments expose
gaps in Know Your Customer (KYC) and multifactor authentication, which
rely on explicit human action. The shift is driving demand for new
frameworks that can verify both the identity of an AI agent and the
user’s delegated authority — effectively introducing “Know Your Agent”
models and continuous identity verification.AI agents capable of making
transactions challenge traditional identity and authentication
frameworks in payments: Common authorization mechanisms, such as Know
Your Customer (KYC) and multifactor authentication (MFA), are designed
for human users who explicitly approve transactions.However, when AI
agents are tasked with initiating payments, verifying the identity of
the agent and the intent of the users becomes significantly more
complex, says the report, authored by IMF’s digital technology experts
Herve Tourpe and Sonja Davidovic.“Traditional fraud models rely on human
behavioral patterns, which become ineffective when transactions are
initiated by autonomous agents,” the paper notes. “Hence, developing
authentication frameworks that verify both the AI agent’s identity and
the user’s delegated authority remains key.”Payment networks and
technology providers will need to move towards trusted identity
frameworks and interoperable standards for Know-Your-Agent verification
and delegated authority. Digital wallet providers should also introduce
“agent-ready” capabilities and build agent-friendly authentication using
passkeys and biometric verification. At the same time, regulators will
need to find new ways to regulate and supervise the use of AI in the
financial industry.“Mitigating these risks will require coordinated
action from both private and public stakeholders,” the report
notes.Identity industry proposes integrated approach for AI agents-The
rethink of authentication within the industry from the arrival of AI
agents and other AI technologies is also pushing the market towards
continuous verification.An April analysis from LexisNexis Risk Solutions
revealed that agentic traffic rose a whopping 450 percent in 2025,
driven mainly by credit card payments and logins to gaming and gambling
sites. The trend has shed light on the challenges of detecting fraud in a
world where transactions are conducted by bots.“Cybercriminals are
experimenting with the same technologies that are transforming digital
commerce and organizations must prepare for a future where both
legitimate users and malicious actors rely on automated agents to
interact online,” says Stephen Topliss, vice president of fraud and
identity at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. “Those that succeed must be able
to confidently distinguish between humans, bots and agents as well as
determining intent.”Because a single login or credential check is no
longer sufficient to prevent fraud, the financial industry is seeing a
shift from a model in which a human user undergoes a single
authentication process to gain access to a service to continuous,
independent validation by autonomous AI.Organizations will likely move
towards integrated approaches that combine biometrics, document
analysis, device intelligence and real-time behavioral signals,
according to Henry Patishman, executive vice president of identity
verification solutions at Regula. The goal is ensuring that the identity
behind an action remains valid, current and uncompromised throughout
the interaction.“Authentication can no longer rely on a single login,”
he told news site Pymnts. “In an agent-led environment, it also needs to
focus on identity assurance throughout the whole journey.”Identity
will, in other words, become a gatekeeper, a layer that determines
whether an AI system is reliable, according to B. Scott Swann, CEO at
biometrics company ROC.Both public and private organizations are
prioritizing systems that offer transparency, control, and reliability
at scale, driving the shift from isolated tools toward integrated
identity platforms that can operate across environments. This makes
identity a core layer of modern systems, with the industry potentially
worth over $100 billion, he told financial news outlet
Benziga.“Cybersecurity protects systems, but biometric identity
determines who is accessing them,” says Swann.iProov also emphasizes the
importance of continuous identity threat detection and alignment with
standards. The company is also warning businesses about the
“accountability vacuum,” in which high‑impact decisions are made without
verifiable human authorization.“Identity is becoming the new
battleground in cybersecurity,” says Andrew Newell, the firm’s chief
scientific officer. “Generative AI is allowing attackers to
industrialize digital impersonation at scale. To defend against this,
organizations must be able to establish genuine human presence in
digital interactions to ensure trust and security.”
FTC reminds tech platforms of deadline to comply with Take It Down Act-May 11, 2026, 10:19 pm EDT | Anthony Kimery
The
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning major technology companies
that they must comply with the Take It Down Act (TIDA) by May 19, when
covered platforms are required to have systems in place for removing
nonconsensual intimate images from their services.Signed into law on May
19, 2025, TIDA is designed to combat non-consensual intimate imagery,
including AI-generated deepfakes. It criminalizes the publication of
these images, requires platforms to remove them within 48 hours, and
provides victims a legal pathway for removal.FTC Chairman Andrew N.
Ferguson sent letters to more than a dozen companies, including Amazon,
Alphabet, Apple, Automattic, Bumble, Discord, Match Group, Meta,
Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, SmugMug, Snapchat, TikTok, and X.The
letters outline the law’s definitions, compliance obligations, and
penalties for violations.TIDA requires covered platforms to provide
clear and conspicuous notice of a removal process for victims, including
children, whose intimate photos or videos were shared without
consent.Platforms must remove the reported content, along with identical
copies, within 48 hours after receiving a valid request.The law applies
broadly to online services such as social media, messaging, image and
video sharing, and gaming platforms, placing responsibility on companies
that host or distribute user-generated content.Ferguson said the FTC is
prepared to monitor compliance, investigate violations, and enforce the
law, framing the measure as part of the agency’s effort to protect
children and other victims from online abuse.“We stand ready to monitor
compliance, investigate violations, and enforce the Take It Down Act,”
said Ferguson. “Protecting the vulnerable – especially children—from
this harmful abuse is a top priority for this agency and this
administration. The Trump-Vance FTC is grateful for the First Lady’s
leadership on the Take It Down Act and on children’s issues.”Under the
law, “covered platforms” include various websites, apps and online
services, such as social media, messaging, image or video sharing, and
gaming platforms.The FTC has issued guidance about what companies should
do as they prepare to comply with TIDA.
Face biometrics use cases outnumbered only by important considerations-May 9, 2026, 12:30 pm EDT | Chris Burt
With
face biometrics now used regularly in many different sectors and areas
of life, stakeholders are asking questions about a wide range of
details. Top stories of the week on Biometric Update reflect the
importance of details in regulation, testing, new technology and
partnerships involving facial recognition and authentication, across law
enforcement, government contract opportunities, online age checks,
smartphones and airport tech. Elsewhere, experiences in the UK and Sri
Lanka show that the early stages of national ID projects are filled with
pitfalls.National ID trust and sustainability-Trust in national
identity systems is vital but fragile, even in the planning stages, as
seen in the UK and Sri Lanka.Tony Allen of the ACCS warns against
governments building their own digital ID systems on grounds they are
not as good at maintaining their effectiveness over time. But responses
to the UK’s consultation by Richard Oliphant and the ADVP warn that even
if the government can manage the digital ID as a product, there are
legal market competition reasons it cannot.Allen argues that digital ID
is more like a product than infrastructure, but ComplyCube CPO Harry
Varatharasan makes the case in a Biometric Update guest post that
establishing trust and preventing fraud across sectors at scale makes ID
verification exactly that.Sri Lanka’s government added Madras Security
Printers to the short list of bidders for the Master Systems Integrator
contract for the country’s national digital ID after it published its
initial list. The irregularity is drawing criticism from a civil society
group, which referred to a previous issue in a tender involving the
same company.UK tenders-The UK Home Office has launched two market
engagements: an initial step for SCBP and a third round for producing
the country’s biometric passports.The platform, which is used for
biometrics, identity and law enforcement applications, may change
significantly to include new technologies or delivery models based on
two potential future procurements.Thales holds the current passport
contract, and the replacement has grown to £576 million over 12
years.The Department for Work and Pensions has a £2 million tender out
for surveillance hardware and software for use in benefits fraud
investigations.Age restrictions target VPNs and AI chatbotsLawmakers in
Utah have tightened the language in a bill targeting the use of VPNs to
get around age assurance. The EFF warns that legal risk could push
websites to ban traffic from VPNs, and NordVPN warns that is not
technically possible, so all users will have to be subjected to age
checks just in case they are in Utah.U.S. legislators are also
considering age verification at the federal level, with a pair of bills
that would impose restrictions on AI chatbots.Across the border,
Canada’s privacy regulator has set out guidelines for what age assurance
would have to look like. The guidance sets out principles for compliant
— meaning privacy-preserving — age checks, taking lessons from the UK
and Australia.An independent report suggests one of the key lessons from
the UK is that for the Online Safety Act to deliver its intended
effect, enforcement must be robust.Face biometrics testing, innovation,
regulation and deployments-CLR Labs has been accredited to the ISO
standard for testing laboratories by COFRAC. Since COFRAC is the NAB,
that means CLR’s PAD, IAD and biometrics performance evaluation services
are now recognized throughout the EU.Metalenz has developed an
under-display payment-grade face biometric authentication system for
smartphones with its optical metasurface technology. Polar ID UDC
debuted at Display Week, and the company says it blocks all spoof
attempts.UK Biometrics Commissioners past and present are united in
their view that the legal underpinning for police use of facial
recognition is inadequate and must be fixed. A look at existing policies
and similarity thresholds shows a kaleidoscope of approaches and
beliefs about the technology’s effectiveness.New strategic partners
Leidos and Idemia Public Security plan to deploy biometric eGates and
CAT-2s in American airports rapidly at scale. Smooth integrations can
help move passengers through quickly with high security, they say.Teresa
Wu of Idemia Public Security and the Security Industry Association
joins the Biometric Update Podcast to discuss the SIA’s new Corporate
Credential Design Guide.Congratulations to the Okta’s Identity 25 for
2026. The list includes recent guests of the Biometric Update Podcast as
well as ID4Africa EC Dr. Joseph Atick.Biometric Update will report from
on location at ID4Africa’s 2026 AGM in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire next
week.Please let us know if you spot any video presentations, podcasts or
other content you would like us to share with the people in biometrics
and the digital identity community, either using the comment form below
or through social media.
World Bank unveils DPI procurement guide for more integrated digital services-May 11, 2026, 6:23 pm EDT | Ayang Macdonald
The
World Bank Group has published a guidance note that aims to assist
countries in selecting the most appropriate procurement methods to build
digital ID systems that are scalable and future-ready.The publication,
according to the Bank, offers practical insights on procurement
practices that can offset the challenges of scaling digital systems and
services. It is accompanied by three annexes on procurement neutrality
for digital ID, framework agreement templates, and key example contract
clauses.Countries often pursue procurement models that lead to
fragmented systems, hence making integrated service delivery a
nightmare, the publication notes.These challenges not only have to do
with procurement missteps, but also architectural requirements and
design implementation, especially at a time when countries are
accelerating efforts to digitize almost everything. The result is
monolithic turnkey contracts, proprietary data silos, and systems that
risk collapsing once project funding runs out.With the guide, the
objective is to enable nations to make procurement decisions that
advance inclusion, interoperability, sustainability, and public value
for the digital infrastructure they intend to put in place.One of the
key recommendations of the report is for countries to pivot from
technology-prescriptive to outcome-based and technology-neutral
procurement. This means that countries must focus on the goal they
intend to achieve in terms of interoperability, scalability, security,
and user-centricity, and not on which product or vendor to use. When
procurement is designed like this, it enables competition, innovation,
better value for money, and also reduces lock-in risk, the report
says.Apart from focusing on outcomes rather than on the vendor,
countries must also avoid what the Bank calls “gold-specs” that exceed
actual needs, define clear acceptance criteria, and balance specificity
by being careful not to over-specify which may stifle innovation, or
under-specify, which may create ambiguity.The blueprint, which is
produced by the World Bank’s Vice Presidency for Digital & AI, calls
for keen attention to certain evaluation criteria such as solution
design and architecture which can account for between 25-30 percent of
the success of a DPI project.It also suggests the inclusion of clear
criteria in procurement documents, which must provide clarity on issues
including data ownership, source code control, documentation
obligations, interoperability and portability, and the right to
audit.Other useful points include designing procurements that treat
cybersecurity as a core contractual obligation, encouraging the
participation of local and regional SMEs and startups, considering an
Independent Verification Agent for technical oversight, requiring
vendors to provide a comprehensive handover strategy to ensure
sustainability planning, and establishing governance and implementation
support bodies such as a technical review committee, performance
monitoring, and contract management.UNDP experts consider procurement a
key part of digital ID developments and recommend that countries make it
a part of their process right from the design stage, and not an
afterthought.Procurement advice is a regular feature at ID4Africa’s
AGMs. The 2026 edition opens tomorrow, May 12, in Côte d’Ivoire.
MainMoney palm biometrics platform to support DRC’s financial inclusion drive-May 11, 2026, 6:12 pm EDT | Ayang Macdonald
The
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is looking to strengthen its
financial inclusion push with MainMoney, a digital payment platform
which has been integrated with the country’s national payments
infrastructure. Recently, the company launched its palm-based biometrics
system in Kinshasa to facilitate digital payments in the Central
African country, Bankable Africa reports.In 2024, Keyo announced that
its palm biometrics system was also integrated by local partner AI.Tech
to launch MainMoney, with the aim of facilitating secure digital
payments in DRC.Speaking at the launch of the system, the CEO and
Founder of AI.Tech, the company that owns MainMoney, Sylvain Mubenga,
underscored the importance of the innovation, saying it will enable
individuals to easily make payments by using their palm as a wallet.
They will not need to hold a bank card or a smartphone, he said.Mubenga
noted that the idea is to strengthen the digital payments landscape in
the country and expand financial inclusion because cash-based
transactions currently still dominate, despite almost 30 million
citizens having a mobile money account.Meanwhile, MainMoney has been
made a part of the DRC Central Bank’s strategy of modernising and
strengthening the national financial ecosystem, writes Africa Digital
News.This, according to officials, is to address some of the challenges
that have hindered access to financial services in the country in the
past, such as high cost and infrastructure inadequacies.With MainMoney,
the government hopes to ensure Congolese have access to easy and secure
payments, even in the most remote parts of the vast country. The
government is aiming to raise financial inclusion to nearly 70 percent
by 2028, according to the country’s 2023-2028 National Financial
Inclusion Strategy.The company wrote on LinkedIn that being integrated
with the DRC’s national financial strategy is not only a validation of
their services, but also a responsibility they must be sure to
meet.“From the very beginning, our conviction has been simple. Every
Congolese person, wherever they may be, deserves access to simple,
secure, and reliable financial services,” said MainMoney.It adds that
the three main pillars on which MainMoney has been built are inclusion,
which seeks to reach all those left behind by traditional banking
systems; modernization which is driving the shift to digital payments;
and trust which means ensuring that all payment transactions are
traceable and secure.According to MainMoney, its integration into the
DRC’s national financial strategy is not the end of the road, but the
beginning of a deep structural transformation of the country’s financial
ecosystem.In an interview with Observers in 2024, Mubenga said the
platform seeks to build trust in the country’s digital financial
ecosystem. He said because of lack of a national digital ID system t the
time, they tapped in Keyo palm biometrics to help with identity
verification for MainMoney users.The financial inclusion push is part
and parcel of the DRC’s ongoing digital transformation journey which
includes efforts to establish a fully functional digital government
through major digital public infrastructure (DPI) undertakings. The
government launched DRCPass last year with Singaporean partner Trident.
Idex’ $1.75M deal with ID Centric for biometric payment cards back on-May 11, 2026, 6:06 pm EDT | Chris Burt
Singapore
and Malaysia-based ID Centric will build fingerprint sensors from Idex
Biometrics into its biometric payment cards through a $1.75 million
initial binding purchase order that replaces a more elaborate
near-agreement that would have seen the former become a major investor
in the latter.Under the new agreement, Idex becomes the exclusive
supplier of biometric technology for ID Centric’s card portfolio, and
the companies are planning comprehensive coordination on technology
development, product strategy and go-to-market execution, according to a
new announcement.Idex and ID Centric announced a proposed private
placement in April that included a NOK 90 million Norwegian kroner
(approximately US$9.7 million) investment in Idex for a 20 percent
stake, along with an initial order of fingerprint sensors under terms
agreed to in March and consistent with those of the new
announcement.Deliveries were scheduled to begin in April, though the
agreement was announced May 8.Idex booked only $254,000 in revenue
during fiscal 2025. Therefore, while the company replaced the proposed
financing from ID Centric with NOK 20 million ($2.2 million) from CEO
Anders Storbråten and board member Robert Keith, bringing in significant
revenue by selling its inventory of biometric sensors represents an
important step towards restoring Idex’ fiscal balance.
Police
drone programs raise questions about use of AI, facial recognition-Data
retention remains one of the weakest links in drone oversight-May 11,
2026, 5:25 pm EDT | Anthony Kimery
Law enforcement drone programs
are moving from specialized public safety tools into a broader
surveillance infrastructure that can put aerial cameras, live video
feeds, automated tracking, and data sharing into routine policing.The
concern is not simply that police departments are flying drones. It is
that drone programs are being built into larger public safety ecosystems
before privacy rules, data retention limits, facial recognition
restrictions, and public oversight have caught up.Across the country,
agencies describe drones as tools for search and rescue, crash
reconstruction, tactical support, missing person cases, barricaded
suspects, disaster response, and officer safety. Those uses can be
legitimate and, in some cases, lifesaving.A drone can get eyes on a
dangerous scene without sending officers into it and can help
firefighters assess a burning building, help rescue teams search
difficult terrain, or give commanders a wider view of an emergency.That
is the public-facing case for the technology and why drone programs win
support from local officials.But the same capabilities that make drones
useful in emergencies also make them powerful surveillance tools. A
drone can hover over a neighborhood, monitor a protest, track a vehicle,
record people moving through public space, or stream video into a
command center.And when those feeds are retained, searched, shared, or
combined with other systems, the drone becomes more than a flying
camera. It becomes a node in a surveillance network.Funding is one
reason the technology is spreading quickly. Police drone programs can be
paid for through ordinary municipal budgets, federal grants, state
homeland security programs, private donations, police foundations, asset
forfeiture funds, or vendor pilot programs. This funding patchwork
matters because each funding route can bypass or dilute public debate.A
city council may approve a small drone purchase as a public safety
expense without fully considering the data systems, analytics software,
retention policies, or future integrations that come with it. A
department may start with a limited use case and then expand operations
once the aircraft, operators, policies, and vendor relationships are in
place.Federal funding is also helping normalize drone-related
infrastructure. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s
Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Grant Program supports state, local,
tribal, and territorial governments in combatting unlawful drone use,
and the program is tied to detection, tracking, identification,
monitoring, and mitigation capabilities.The Department of Homeland
Security also launched a Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aircraft
Systems and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems, with a $115 million
counter-drone investment for America250 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup in
final stages.Counter-drone systems are primarily designed to detect,
track, identify, and mitigate unauthorized aircraft, not to surveil
people on the ground. But it is still relevant because it shows how
rapidly drone-related procurement pipelines are expanding under the
banner of public safety and event security.Major events can justify
large investments in sensors, cameras, command centers, detection
platforms, and interagency coordination. And once those systems are
purchased and deployed, they can become part of the permanent security
architecture.The same dynamic applies to local law enforcement drone
programs. The initial justification may be narrow, but the operational
environment tends to expand.A department may begin by using drones only
for SWAT calls or missing persons, but later may use them for traffic
enforcement, crowd monitoring, routine patrol support, or “drone as
first responder” deployments in which a drone is launched to 911 calls
before officers arrive.At that point, drones are no longer occasional
tools. They become part of the front end of policing. The core issue is
that many drone policies regulate flight operations, but not the broader
surveillance lifecycle created by drone data.They may limit when drones
can be launched or how long footage is formally retained but often fail
to address whether that footage can be streamed, copied, analyzed with
AI, shared with other agencies or vendors, used for facial recognition,
deployed at sensitive First Amendment events, or preserved indirectly
through another system.In practice, the privacy risk comes less from the
drone itself than from what happens to the images, video, metadata, and
analytics after collection.Those gaps create opportunities to sidestep
privacy and data retention restrictions. Many cities have adopted rules
limiting or banning facial recognition, but those laws may not cover
drone footage unless they are written broadly.This is where facial
recognition becomes a critical concern. The danger is not only live
facial recognition from a drone, although that is one possible future.
The more immediate risk is workflow convergence.An original drone
program may have been approved as an aerial response tool, but the
practical result is biometric identification from aerial surveillance
imagery.Object recognition and tracking raise similar concerns even when
no face is identified. AI-enabled video analytics can be used to detect
vehicles, people, bags, weapons, crowds, or unusual movement.A drone
that can automatically follow a person or vehicle changes the scale of
police monitoring by reducing the labor needed for surveillance.If
analysts no longer need to manually watch every feed, departments can
monitor more places, more often, at lower cost. That is how a technology
designed for situational awareness can become a mass surveillance
tool.The risks are especially acute around First Amendment activity.
Drones used over protests, demonstrations, labor actions, religious
gatherings, or political events can chill lawful activity even if no
arrests follow.People may not know whether they are being recorded, how
long footage will be kept, whether their movements are being analyzed,
or whether images will later be compared against identity
databases.Aerial surveillance can be less visible than officers on the
ground, and that invisibility can weaken public accountability.The
vendor market is likely to push these programs toward deeper
integration. Drone companies and public safety technology vendors
increasingly sell platforms rather than standalone devices.The aircraft
may come with cloud storage, video management, mapping, analytics,
automated flight tools, thermal imaging, live-streaming, evidence
management, and links to command center software.Broader debates over
AI-powered drones also reflect how autonomy, spectrum access, domestic
drone manufacturing, and national security are becoming intertwined.Once
agencies buy into an ecosystem, additional capabilities can be added
through software updates, new modules, or integrations with existing
surveillance tools.Data retention is one of the least resolved issues.
Some agencies delete footage quickly unless it is tied to a specific
case. Others retain video for longer periods, especially if it is
classified as evidence, training material, intelligence, or part of an
ongoing investigation.Counter-drone debates show that retention rules
are already becoming contested as agencies argue that longer retention
is needed to identify patterns and adapt to evolving drone threats.The
same argument can easily migrate to law enforcement drone footage:
agencies may say they need to keep aerial data to identify crime
patterns, support investigations, train AI systems, or improve
response.The result is a familiar pattern in surveillance policy.
Technology is adopted for a narrow purpose, expanded for efficiency,
integrated for interoperability, and normalized before lawmakers revisit
the rules. By the time privacy concerns surface, agencies can argue
that the tools are already essential.The most meaningful oversight would
focus on the full lifecycle of drone data. Communities need to know not
only when drones fly, but what they collect, where footage goes, who
can access it, how long it is retained, whether it can be searched
later, whether AI analytics are used, whether biometric identification
is prohibited, and whether vendors can use the data for product
development or model training.The question is not whether drones can
help police respond to emergencies. They can. The question is whether
the same systems, funded through fragmented grants and local
procurement, will quietly create routine aerial monitoring without
meaningful democratic control.Without strict limits, police drone
programs risk becoming another surveillance technology that arrives as a
public safety tool and matures into an infrastructure for tracking,
identifying, and analyzing people in public space.
Webinar to
demystify biometric physical access control decisions-Alcatraz,
RealSense present innovations, discuss deployment considerations-May 11,
2026, 2:50 pm EDT | Chris Burt
The biometric physical access
control is changing, with shifts driven by factors including ubiquitous
face biometrics, alignment between logical and physical access systems
and privacy regulations. Biometric Update is hosting a webinar on May 19
to highlight these changes, and how businesses can take advantage of
them to improve security, lower costs or strengthen compliance.A new
report on “Biometric physical access control in 2026: what to know
before choosing a solution,” from Biometric Update and Goode
Intelligence, unpacks the implications of the evolving market to help
organizations select the kind of technology they can get full benefit
from.Biometric Update and Goode Intelligence will present and discuss
the report’s key findings in the May 19 webinar. They will be joined by
Alcatraz and RealSense, which will each demonstrate new technologies
influencing the market’s direction.Goode Intelligence forecasts the
global biometric physical access control market will surpass $9.8
billion by 2028.Register for free to attend the webinar and learn about
the latest developments in biometric physical access control.Phygital
access cards and cloud-based phone systems-The most recognizable product
on the market for many consumers is the e-gates used at airports, but
several other areas, including biometric access control card deployments
by enterprises, are growing.The convergence of physical and logical
access control is part of this trend, as seen in the launch of the
Crayonic Badge, a wearable identity wallet which integrates biometric
sensors from Fingerprint Cards. The product is designed for multi-factor
authentication to support secure access control for demanding
environments like hospitals and critical infrastructure.Phone-based
access control is also on the rise, with Paxton launching cloud-based
solution Solo for easy integration with its physical access portfolio
and authentication with native device biometrics. The company says Solo
is designed for small businesses, residential settings and places where
fixed data infrastructure is unavailable.
Digital ID systems fail
migrants due to policy gaps, Caribou finds-Research says exclusion
stems from governance and policy choices rather than technology
limits-May 4, 2026, 9:38 am EDT | Ayang Macdonald
A new report by
research organization Caribou has warned that digital ID systems around
the world have continued to deepen and exacerbate the very exclusionary
tendencies they were designed to address.The report, which is titled
Digital Identity and Migration: Struggles for Equitable Technology
Governance, is premised on years of fieldwork conducted in Kenya and
Germany under Caribou’s “Identity in the age of migration” project.It
makes a thorough assessment of the discriminatory and biased manner in
which biometric digital ID systems are being deployed, and warns that
the global digital identity revolution is headed in the wrong direction
if adequate corrective measures are not taken as a matter of urgency.In
Kenya and Germany, the research highlights cases of documented migrants
trapped in bureaucratic cycles that the digital systems in place do
little to break. In Germany, for instance, one asylum seeker recounted
receiving an ID document stating their nationality was “unclear” despite
providing extensive proof of Syrian origin.It’s the same scenario in
Kenya where refugees are reported to be routinely shut out of the
country’s digital public infrastructure (DPI), including mobile money
services, due to SIM card registration issues or exclusion from the
national health database. Kenya has faced severe criticisms over issues
of exclusion, human rights and privacy related to its successive digital
ID projects.To the researchers, the lingering issue of digital ID
exclusion for migrants and other forcibly displaced persons is more of a
fundamentally political problem that one of technology. This point is
substantiated by a look into three different digital ID cases that
deploy one kind of technology, but with totally different political
agenda.The report looks at the EU digital ID wallet which excludes
non-EU migrants by design, the proposed BritCard in the UK which is
partly farmed as a tool to fight illegal immigration, as well as Red
Cross’s DIGID initiative in Kenya, a blockchain-based wallet for
refugees without official IDs, which showed genuine promise for
inclusion, but ultimately failed to scale beyond its pilots partly due
to lack of funding.In order to fix the problems and make digital public
infrastructure systems better serve migrants and other vulnerable
persons in society such as the elderly and those with physical
disabilities, the report calls for political reforms which cannot be
substituted even by the most cutting-edge technological
solutions.“Technological solutionism cannot substitute for political
reform. Centering the experiences of the most marginalized is not only a
matter of justice but a strategic approach to building systems that
work for everyone,” a part of the report reads.Some of the actionable
principles for policymakers which the report suggests include aligning
digital ID with policies that can facilitate access to a broad range of
services like banking and healthcare; adopt risk-proportionate standards
which means not requiring maximum security verification for low-risk
services where vulnerable users are excluded; embed privacy by design
into systems; put in place the right connectivity infrastructure to
guarantee basic digital access for everyone; and design inclusive access
methods.Other measures include creating digital ID interfaces that are
usable across literacy levels, languages, and cultural contexts;
establish participatory governance; invest in capacity building by
provide digital literacy support; train staff to work effectively with
diverse populations; and put in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure
accountability and oversight in the way those systems run.Last year,
Caribou, in a brief, called on countries to first address the legal and
institutional causes of statelessness before they can begin to think of
having inclusive digital identity systems.IOM efforts to close
gaps-Meanwhile, during a legal identity conference last month in Ankara,
Türkiye, stakeholders explored ways of closing existing gaps with
regard to global digital identity access.Convened by the International
Organization for Migration (IOM), the conference, which is part of the
COMPASS program, rallied government representatives, international
organizations, the private sector and academia.This conference comes at a
critical moment as governments transition toward digital identity
systems, especially in Africa and the Middle East,” Nelson Goncalves,
IOM Head of Legal Identity Unit, said. “We see strong interest in
learning and exchanging experiences to ensure these systems are
inclusive, secure, and benefit the most vulnerable.”
Thailand
mandates biometric IDV for all social media advertisers to curb
scams-Advertisers must verify identity through facial recognition
matched to national ID cards or recognized digital ID systems-May 11,
2026, 1:28 pm EDT | Masha Borak
Social media platforms in
Thailand, such as Facebook, will need to introduce identity verification
for advertisers, according to a new decision from the Thai government,
which cites the growing danger of fake ads and scams.Users placing ads
will need to verify their identity through facial recognition matched
with a national ID card, or through a legally recognized digital ID
system, according to the Technology Crime Prevention Measures (No. 2),
officially published last week.The rules also require overseas-based
nationals to undergo mandatory verification if they want to target users
in Thailand. Foreign nationals will need to submit a passport or
corporate documents, thereby closing a loophole used by foreign
fraudsters.“This measure forces platforms to screen 100 percent of
advertisers, making it much harder for fake pages or fraudsters abroad
to target Thai users with ads,” says Pawat Pongwityapanu, a candidate
for the Minister of Digital Economy and Society by the People’s Party at
the upcoming Thai elections.The measures come amid an explosion of
financial scams and fraud on popular social networks driven by criminal
organizations in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. Funds stolen by criminal
syndicates based in Mekong countries likely exceed US$43.8 billion a
year, according to data from the U.S. Institute of Peace.Facebook has
become a favorite destination for scammers, as approximately 85 percent
of the population uses the platform. The Thai government has previously
threatened to shut down Facebook in the country, accusing Meta of not
doing enough to screen the advertisements it runs.The new measures cover
all social platforms that sell advertisements. Platforms would be
required to hold advertiser records, including those of anyone paying on
their behalf, for at least 90 days post-campaign, giving authorities a
window to investigate fraud.The enforcement of the new rule is expected
to start within 180 days, in early November 2026, Nation Thailand
reports.The news comes as other countries in the ASEAN region attempt to
reign in widespread scams on Facebook. Last year, the Singaporean
authorities implemented a directive that required Meta to bring in
measures including facial recognition to curb scams.Malaysia looking
into legal action against Meta over impersonation-Last week, the
Malaysian government announced it was considering legal action against
social media platforms after fake accounts impersonating members of
royal families appeared on Facebook. More than 15,000 fake accounts
impersonating 26 members of the royal family were identified between
January and April 2026.“We will study several measures, including legal
action against platforms that continue to fail in curbing the existence
of fake accounts, especially those involving the Malay rulers,” says
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.The country is also looking into
the proliferation of scams and gambling on social platforms, The Straits
Times reports. Under the Malay Online Safety Act (ONSA), fines could
reach up to 10 million Malaysian ringgits (US$2.5 million).ASEAN
countries signed a declaration in January pledging to boost
collaboration to prevent online scams and to invest in technologies such
as AI.
Jordan grants legal status to Sanad digital ID as users
pass 2.6M-Amended Civil Status Law gives app-based IDs full legal
validity across public services-May 11, 2026, 12:19 pm EDT | Joel R.
McConvey
Jordan’s Sanad digital identity app, which operates
using iris biometrics from IrisGuard, now has full legal status. A
report from the Jordan Times says it comes with publication of the
amended Civil Status Law of 2026, which “explicitly recognises digital
IDs issued through applications approved by the Ministry of Digital
Economy and Entrepreneurship, granting them the same legal validity as
physical national ID cards for all purposes under Jordanian
law.”Specifically, an amendment to Article 39 of the law dictates that
digital ID is officially defined as “the electronic version of the
national ID card and is legally accepted for all procedures and
transactions covered by existing legislation.”The piece quotes Sanad
Director Mohammad Battikhi, who says that, “in simple terms, your
digital ID on Sanad now carries the same legal authority as the physical
civil status card in your pocket.”According to Jordan’s Ministry of
Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, more than 2.6 million citizens
have activated their digital identities through the Sanad app, with
600,000 of those activated since the beginning of 2026. Adoption is
driven partly by the introduction of a unified service model which
includes a fully mobile digital identity issuance process, eliminating
the need for users to visit a physical service station. But uptake is
not much of a surprise, given that the amendments to the country’s civil
status legislation make digital ID mandatory for access to public
services.In total, Sanad offers access to more than 500 online services –
around 80 percent of the whole. Sanad users can remotely activate
digital IDs, update phone numbers, reset passwords, enhance the display
of digital documents, enable offline access to documents through
fingerprint authentication, and link documents to related
services.Recent upgrades to the app added e-passport services, vehicle
registration renewals, and digital signature services, and added payment
support for Apple Pay and Google Pay alongside credit cards and direct
transfers. In effect, it is Jordan’s version of the government wallet,
and it is at the center of Jordan’s digital transformation efforts,
which aim to position it as a digitalization leader in the Middle East.
Sri
Lanka launches data-driven early warning system for conflict
response-Platform uses real-time analytics to detect tensions, as
digital identity is framed as a tool for inclusion and trust-May 11,
2026, 12:13 pm EDT | Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera
As part of a
broader push to strengthen governance through digital infrastructure,
Sri Lanka has launched a new Early Warning and Early Response (EWER)
system designed to detect and address potential ethnic or religious
tensions using real-time data analytics. The early warning system
operates under the National Council for Disaster Management, supported
by the National Emergency Operation Plan (NEOP).The Ministry of Digital
Economy has positioned the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SL-UDI) as
a “cornerstone for inclusive governance,” aimed at expanding access to
public services across regions, particularly in former conflict zones in
the North and East. Digital ID is also framed as a tool to improve
transparency by reducing corruption and administrative friction, while
extending formal identity to historically underserved groups such as
plantation workers and war widows. However, access gaps remain,
highlighting the challenge of translating digital identity
infrastructure into meaningful inclusion.The system, introduced by the
Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) and the Ministry of
Digital Economy, aims to identify risks early and coordinate responses
across government agencies, community leaders and security services.
Officials say the platform will support non-violent conflict resolution
by enabling faster, more coordinated interventions. Deputy Minister of
Digital Economy Eranga Weeraratne said the initiative aligns with the
country’s National Digital Economy Strategy 2030, which prioritizes
digitization of public services, payments and cybersecurity.This is done
by integrating socioeconomic data, which may be linked to digital
identity, which can help in identifying early warnings of conflict
situations, the Minister said. He also said that the digital ID will
integrate community reporting, digital technology, and, with
multi-stakeholder coordination, it will identify risks and prevent
conflicts, or disaster impacts in the Island. The rollout also
highlights how Sri Lanka is linking its reconciliation agenda to broader
digital transformation efforts, including the development of a national
digital identity system. Officials emphasize that the EWER system will
operate with safeguards for data privacy and individual freedoms, in
line with international standards, as the government seeks to balance
security, governance and civil liberties.The initiative reflects a
broader trend toward using data-driven systems to manage social risk,
raising questions about how such platforms are governed, how data is
used and what oversight mechanisms are in place as digital
infrastructure expands.
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