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)
THE COWARD IRANIANS CLAIM THEIR GOING TO ATTACK ISRAEL IN THE NEXT 48
HOURS.GET READY MIGRATING BIRDS YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT FEAST ON ISLAM.
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.
LUKE 21:11
11 And
great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and
pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great
signs shall there be from heaven.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And
this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people
that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while
they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their
holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it
shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall
be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his
neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his
neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
Leviticus 26:15-17 (KJV)
15-and
if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so
that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
16-I
also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror,
consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and
cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your
enemies shall eat it.
17-And I will set my face against you, and ye
shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over
you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
Job 22:4-22 (KJV)
4-Will he reprove you for fear of you? will he enter with you into judgment?
5-Is not your wickedness great? and your iniquities without end?
6-For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7-You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8-But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelt in it.
9-You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10-Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden fear troubles you;
11-Or darkness, that you can not see; and abundance of waters cover you.
12-Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13-And you say, How does God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
14-Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he sees not; and he walks in the circle of heaven.
15-Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16-Who were cut down before their time, whose foundation was swept away with a flood:
17-Who said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do to us?
18-Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19-The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.
20-Surely our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumes.
21-Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto you.
22-Receive, I pray you, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
REVELATION 16:3-7
3
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as
the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the
sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,
which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6
For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints
and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are
worthy.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
through which the
world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water. But by His
word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being
kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.
Gallant:
Israel 'will know how to respond' if attacked-Report warns Iran could
launch major drone and missile attack within hours
US general meets
with Israeli defense brass to discuss expected Iranian retaliation for
alleged Israeli strike on IRGC members; Halevi says IDF ‘ready for any
scenario’By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff Today, 8:47 pm-APR 12,24
A
major retaliatory attack by Iran on Israel could come as soon as
Friday, according to an American media report, as the top United States
general in the Mideast visited for talks with the defense brass on
military readiness amid the Iranian threats.Citing two unnamed US
officials, CBS reported the attack could possibly include more than 100
drones and dozens of missiles aimed at military targets inside the
country, the officials said, while warning Israel would be challenged to
fend off an assault of that scale.The officials said it was possible
Tehran may still opt for a smaller-magnitude strike in order to avoid a
dramatic escalation.Israel has been on high alert amid multiple threats
and intelligence assessments that Iran would launch a strike on Israeli
targets in a bid to avenge the April 1 airstrike on an Iranian consulate
building in the Syrian capital of Damascus, which killed several
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, including two
generals.Both Tehran and Damascus have blamed Israel for the strike and
vowed revenge, although Jerusalem has not commented on the matter.“We
still deem the potential threat by Iran here to be real, to be viable,”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on
Friday.Kirby added that the US was looking at its own force posture in
the region in light of Tehran’s threat and was watching the situation
very closely. An unnamed American defense official told Fox News that
the US was moving “additional assets” to the region “to bolster regional
deterrence efforts and increase force protection for US forces,”
without providing specifics.Amid concerns an Iranian attack on Israel
could spark a broader conflagration in the Middle East, CENTCOM chief
Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla met Friday with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. Gallant’s office said the
two discussed “readiness for an Iranian attack against the State of
Israel, which may lead to regional escalation.”“Our enemies think that
they can pull apart Israel and the United States, but the opposite is
true, they are bringing us together and strengthening our ties. We stand
shoulder to shoulder,” Gallant said in a statement after the meeting.“I
am certain that the world sees the true face of Iran, the terrorist
body that incites terror attacks across the Middle East, and funds
Hamas, Hezbollah, and additional forces [proxies], and now also
threatens the State of Israel,” he continued.“We are prepared to defend
ourselves on the ground and in the air, in close cooperation with our
partners, and we will know how to respond,” Gallant added.The meeting
between Gallant and Kurilla was also attended by the IDF Deputy Chief of
Staff, Maj. Gem. Amir Baram, the head of the ministry’s
Political-Military Bureau, Dror Shalom, and the minister’s military
secretary, Brig. Gen. Guy Markizeno.Before meeting with Kurilla, the IDF
said Halevi held a “comprehensive” assessment of the military’s
“readiness for all scenarios.”“The IDF is well prepared in attack and
defense against any threat. We are at war and have been on high alert
for about six months. The IDF continues to closely monitor what is
happening in Iran and in the various arenas, while constantly preparing
to deal with existing and potential threats in coordination with the
United States armed forces,” Halevi said following the assessment, in
remarks published by the IDF.“Our forces are prepared and ready at any
time and against any scenario,” he added.The assessment was attended by
Baram, the head of the Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen Oded Basiuk, the
head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva,
the commander of the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, the commander of
the Home Front Command, Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, and other officers,
according to the army.The IDF said the top commanders presented their
preparations “for attack and defense, while referring to possible
scenarios and adjusting the operational response.”After the talks
between Halevi and Kurilla, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said
the two “held a joint assessment of the situation, to ensure that our
coordination is tight.” Hagari added there were still no changes in
instructions to civilians amid the heightened alert of a potential
Iranian attack.“If there are any changes, we will update [the public]
immediately,” Hagari said, stressing that civilians should still remain
vigilant, as Israel’s air defenses are “among the best in the world, but
not hermetic.”“We have been at war for the past six months, and we have
dealt with all the existing threats. Our defense is ready, and knows
how to handle each threat individually. We are also ready for attack,
with a variety of capabilities, to protect the citizens of Israel,” he
said.Hagari accused Iran of “escalating the situation in the Middle
East” amid the war in Gaza. “We will know how to operate wherever
needed,” he said.Responding to a question on the IDF’s threat
assessments of Iran, Hagari said Tehran has been acting against Israel
since the start of the war, citing attacks by its proxies in Yemen,
Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.“We’ve been acting against them [all] since the
start of the war,” he said. “Iran is escalating, pushing for regional
escalation. We’ll know how to deal with the Iranian threat. We are
well-prepared and will know how to respond to anything.”Meanwhile, US
officials quoted by Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath said Washington will
respond to any Iranian attack that targets American soldiers, bases or
interests.The unnamed officials echoed previous US comments that
Washington has sent a clear message to Tehran that it was not involved
in an April 1 airstrike on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus.
The Saudi paper reported that US officials were confident that Iran has
received the message, having been told, “We are not Israel and Israel is
the one that launched the attack.”American officials cited by the Axios
news site said Iran has sent indirect warnings to that it will attack
US troops in the region if the US gets involved militarily. It also
reported US has asked Israel to notify the Biden administration and give
it a say before deciding on a response.Also Friday, India advised its
citizens against traveling to Iran and Israel until further notice in
view of the “prevailing situation in the region.”The Indian foreign
ministry said visitors to the two countries should observe “utmost
precautions about their safety and restrict their movements to the
minimum.”“Any escalation may lead to significant restrictions in air
traffic and the inability to cross land border crossings.”France on
Friday warned its citizens to “imperatively refrain from travel in the
coming days to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories.”
Poland also advised against travel to Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and
Lebanon.“It cannot be ruled out that there will be a sudden escalation
of military operations, which would cause significant difficulties in
leaving these three countries,” the Polish foreign ministry said in a
statement, amid expectations for an Iranian retaliatory strike against
Israel.On Thursday, the US said it had restricted its employees in
Israel and their family members from personal travel outside the greater
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheba areas amid Iran’s threats “out of an
abundance of caution.”Agencies contributed to this report.
Austin
chides Gallant for lack of warning on Damascus strike-US intel said to
indicate Iran could strike ‘Israeli soil’ in next 24 to 48 hours-WSJ
also quotes Iranian official as saying Khamenei yet to decide on plans,
fearing Israel will intercept missiles and respond with major strike on
Iran’s strategic infrastructure-By ToI Staff, Emanuel Fabian-and
Agencies Today, 11:50 am-APR 12,24
Iran could launch an attack on
Israeli soil within the next 24 to 48 hours, the Wall Street Journal on
Friday quoted a US official as saying, citing American intelligence
reports.Israel has been on high alert amid multiple threats and
intelligence assessments that Iran would launch a strike on Israeli
targets in a bid to avenge the April 1 airstrike on an Iranian consulate
building in the Syrian capital of Damascus, which killed several
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, including two
generals.Both Tehran and Damascus have blamed Israel for the strike and
vowed revenge, although Jerusalem has not commented on the matter.A US
official with knowledge of the matter told WSJ that American
intelligence reports now indicate an Iranian retaliatory strike within
days, “possibly on Israeli soil” as opposed to Israeli interests
elsewhere.He said the strike could come within the next 24 to 48 hours,
and that Israel was preparing for a possible strike on either southern
or northern Israel.However, the same report also quoted a person briefed
by the Iranian leadership as saying that no final decision has been
taken by Tehran.According to the report, quoting an IRGC advisor,
earlier in the week, the Guards provided Iranian Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with several options to strike Israeli
interests.It said that among the options was a direct attack on Israel
with sophisticated medium-range missiles, he said.Unverified posts on
social media in recent days have shown Iranian threats of simulated
attacks on targets in Israel including the nuclear facility in Dimona
and the small airport in Haifa, which only operates flights to
Cyprus.But Khamenei has yet to decide on the plans. He is concerned a
direct attack could backfire with the projectiles being intercepted and
Israel responding with a massive retaliation on Iran’s strategic
infrastructure, the Journal reported.“The strike plans are in front of
the Supreme Leader and he is still weighing the political risk,” the
adviser told the WSJ.Tensions surrounding a potential Iranian attack on
Israel appeared to reach new heights Thursday as the Israeli military
said it was fully prepared for an incoming strike and as multiple
international actors warned Tehran against a major assault on the Jewish
state.Israel is “on alert and highly prepared for various scenarios,
and we are constantly assessing the situation,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm.
Daniel Hagari said at a press conference.“We are ready for attack and
defense using a variety of capabilities that the IDF has, and also ready
with our strategic partners,” he said, referring to the head of US
Central Command (CENTCOM) Gen. Michael Kurilla, who arrived in Israel on
Thursday morning to hold an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen.
Herzi Halevi on the ongoing security challenges in the region.Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant also spoke with his American counterpart Lloyd
Austin overnight Thursday, according to a Pentagon statement that said
the latter stressed “ironclad US support for Israel’s defense in the
face of growing threats from Iran and its regional proxies.”“Secretary
Austin assured Minister Gallant that Israel could count on full US
support to defend Israel against Iranian attacks, which Tehran has
publicly threatened,” the readout added.According to Gallant’s office,
he told Austin that “A direct Iranian attack will require an appropriate
Israeli response against Iran.”However, the Washinton Post also
reported that Austin complained to Gallant that Washington was not
notified before the April 1 airstrike.US officials quoted in the report
said Austin’s complaint was based on the fact that the strike increased
the risks to American forces in the region.Also Friday, US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken asked Beijing to use its influence to dissuade Iran
from striking Israel, during a call with his Chinese counterpart,
according to the US State Department.Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, also
urged the US to take “a constructive role” in the Middle East during
the call with Blinken, according to the US statement.The United States
has repeatedly made public appeals for China to do more to address the
crisis, including through pressure on Iran, which supports-Hamas.
Meanwhile, the United States said it had restricted its employees in
Israel and their family members from personal travel outside the greater
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheba areas amid Iran’s threats “out of an
abundance of caution.”France on Friday also warned its citizens to
“imperatively refrain from travel in the coming days to Iran, Lebanon,
Israel and the Palestinian territories,” French Foreign Minister
Stephane Sejourne’s entourage told AFP.In a statement on X, the French
foreign ministry added that relatives of Iran-based diplomats will
return to France and that French civil servants are now banned from
conducting any missions in Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian
territories.Apparently seeking to lower the flames, Iranian sources told
Reuters Thursday that Tehran has signaled to Washington it will respond
in a way that aims to avoid major escalation and it will not act
hastily.Iran’s message to Washington was conveyed by Iranian Foreign
Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a visit on Sunday to the Gulf
Arab state of Oman, which has often acted as an intermediary between
Tehran and Washington, the sources said.A White House spokesperson
declined to comment. A source familiar with US intelligence was not
aware of the message conveyed via Oman but said Iran has “been very
clear” that its response to the attack on its Damascus embassy compound
would be “controlled” and “non-escalatory” and planned “to use regional
proxies to launch a number of attacks on Israel.”Israeli and US
officials across various agencies have been in contact over the last few
days to prepare for an attack they believe is imminent, with Kurilla’s
visit to the region the latest show of cooperation between the two
countries in the face of Iranian threats.“Our strategic relationship
with the US armed forces is strong and tight,” Hagari said to the
press,” adding that “an attack from Iranian territory would be clear
proof of Iranian intentions to escalate the situation in the Middle
East, and to stop hiding behind the proxies.”The IDF will “know how to
operate wherever is needed,” Hagari said, adding that in recent months,
it has “upgraded and improved” its attack capabilities.He stressed,
however, that even as the defense establishment prepares for what
intelligence reports estimate will be an attack launched either by Iran
itself or by its regional proxies, the instructions issued to the public
have not changed.“We have a multi-layered [air] defense capability that
has proven itself amid the war, with thousands of successful
interceptions,” he said. “But the defense is never going to be
hermetic,” he continued, adding that civilians should continue to follow
the existing and unchanged Home Front Command guidelines and remain
vigilant.“We are braced and ready, on high alert, defensively and
offensively,” he added.While Hagari stressed that there had been no
change to Home Front Command instructions, the Kan public broadcaster
reported on Thursday evening that the military’s civil defense body had
instructed municipalities around the country to prepare for an attack
and ensure that public shelters are fit for use, while at the same time
stating there was no need for citizens to panic.There was no official
confirmation of the report.Alongside the US, other countries, including
France, Germany, the UK and Russia. also urged Iran to act with
restraint.Iran, for its part, claimed on Thursday that the “imperative”
to retaliate for the attack on its embassy compound might have been
avoided had the UN Security Council condemned the strike.“Had the UN
Security Council condemned the Zionist regime’s reprehensible act of
aggression on our diplomatic premises in Damascus and subsequently
brought to justice its perpetrators, the imperative for Iran to punish
this rogue regime might have been obviated,” Tehran’s mission to the
United Nations wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
IDF kills 2
Palestinians, including Hamas commander, in northern West Bank
clashes-Army says Mohammad Omar Daraghmeh was a ‘central Hamas
operative’ in the Tubas area, was planning ‘significant terror acts’
against Israel-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 4:24 pm-APR 12,24
Two
Palestinian gunmen were killed early Friday in confrontations with
Israeli forces in the West Bank, Palestinian medics and the army said,
with the Islamic terror group Hamas later acknowledging one of those
killed was a local commander in its military wing.The Palestine Red
Crescent Society said another three people were wounded, including one
who sustained serious injuries, during the clashes in the northern West
Bank town of Tubas and the adjacent refugee camp of al-Faraa. The area
around Tubas is a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups and the
frequent target of Israeli military incursions.Mohammad Omar Daraghmeh,
the head of a local Hamas infrastructure in Tubas, was killed during an
exchange of fire with troops, the Israel Defense Forces said.Amid the
overnight incident, Daraghmeh shot at troops from a vehicle, who then
returned fire, killing him. Several firearms and other military
equipment were seized from his car.Daraghmeh was a “central Hamas
operative” in the Tubas area and in recent months was working on
“advancing significant terror acts against Israel,” according to the
IDF.The IDF said the second Palestinian man, named by Palestinian media
as Mohammad Shahmawi, was killed when troops opened fire on Palestinians
who were shooting and throwing explosive devices at them.Hamas said it
mourned Shahmawi’s death, but did not claim him as a member of the
terror group.Since October 7, troops have arrested some 3,700 wanted
Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,600 affiliated
with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more
than 450 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF
says the vast majority of them were gunmen or terrorists carrying out
attacks.Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Troops
raid school as part of anti-Hamas op in central Gaza-IDF announces
first aid convoy entered northern Gaza through new land
crossing-‘Northern Crossing’ opens after army declares ‘next phase’ of
humanitarian operations in Strip; leaflets reportedly dropped over Rafah
urging Palestinians to help find hostages-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 5:34
pm-APR 12,24
The military announced Friday that the first convoy
of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians was transferred to
the northern Gaza Strip via a new land crossing the night before, as
Israel works to significantly ramp up the amount of assistance entering
the enclave amid heavy United States-led international pressure.The
“Northern Crossing,” located on the northern border of Gaza, was built
as a part of a series of steps by the Israel Defense Forces aimed at
improving the humanitarian situation in the Strip amid the ongoing war
there. It is located near Kibbutz Zikim, defense officials have said.The
IDF said the aid was “thoroughly” inspected by authorities at the Kerem
Shalom border crossing on the southern Gaza border before entering via
the Strip’s north.The statement does not specify how many trucks were in
the convoy.At the start of the war, trucks only entered Gaza from
Egypt’s Rafah Crossing, with the IDF later opening the Kerem Shalom
Crossing from Israel to the south of the Strip. More recently, the IDF
has also allowed aid trucks to use a military road in central Gaza and
enter via a crossing known as Gate 96.IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel
Hagari Hagari said Thursday the new crossing was expected to handle at
least 50 aid trucks per day, and will “enable more aid to flow directly
to civilians in the areas that have been challenging for trucks to
access.”The opening of the crossing came a day the military declared the
start of its “next phase” of humanitarian operations in Gaza. The White
House praised the Israeli moves, saying there was “good progress, but
it’s still not enough.”Earlier Friday, the IDF and Shin Bet said the
head of Hamas’s internal security in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya was killed
in an airstrike the day before.In addition to serving as a Hamas police
chief in Jabaliya, Radwan Muhammad Abdullah Radwan, according to the
IDF and Shin Bet, was an operative in the military wing of the terror
group.“Radwan gave orders to Hamas operatives and was responsible for
directing armed terrorists to take control of humanitarian aid trucks in
the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement.It added that his
killing “degrades Hamas’s capabilities to attack and take control of
humanitarian aid” in the Jabaliya area.Another strike Thursday killed
Hamed Muhammad Ali Ahmed, a commander in the Hamas military wing who was
also responsible for internal security in Jabaliya, and another
operative in the terror group’s Jabaliya Battalion, the IDF added.The
IDF also said Friday that troops raided a school used by gunmen in the
central Gaza Strip, as part of an ongoing pinpoint operation against
Hamas and other terror groups on the outskirts of Nuseirat.At the Martyr
Ibrahim al-Maqadma School, just northeast of Nuseirat, the IDF said
troops of the Nahal Brigade located and neutralized several heavy primed
explosives that were hidden in the classrooms and courtyard.The IDF
said the troops also located an observation post at the school that had
been used by the gunmen.When the troops arrived, the operatives had
already fled, according to the IDF, leaving behind some
equipment.Explosives left by gunmen at a school on the outskirts of
central Gaza’s Nuseirat, in a handout image published April 12, 2024.
(Israel Defense Forces)-Prior to the “targeted operation” announced
Thursday, Israeli ground forces had not previously entered Nuseirat,
though last month Hamas’s third-in-command, Marwan Issa, was killed in
an airstrike in the area.The operation occurred as Israel appeared to
dial back the use of ground troops and shift from a wide-scale offensive
to pinpoint operations. This was in line with US demands for changes to
the way fighting is taking place amid international concern over the
deaths of civilians in the Strip and claims of near-famine
conditions.Israeli officials have said that 18 of Hamas’s 24 original
battalions in the Gaza Strip have been dismantled, meaning they do not
function as an organized military unit, although smaller cells still
exist. Four Hamas battalions remain virtually untouched in southern
Gaza’s Rafah, and another two are in the central part of the Strip,
according to Israeli assessments.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
repeatedly said he approved the military’s plans for an operation in
Rafah, although he has not given the green light to carry them out.The
planned Rafah offensive has caused intense consternation in the
international community, including in the US and Egypt, due to the
southern Gaza City now hosting more than a million Palestinians
displaced from elsewhere in the Strip. Israel has said it is making
plans to evacuate and protect civilians from Rafah as part of its
offensive plans.On Friday, the IDF reportedly dropped leaflets in
Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood, urging Palestinians seeking refuge
there to help locate hostages held by Hamas.“If you want to protect your
families and guarantee your future, do not hesitate to provide us with
information about the hostages or those holding them,” read the flyers,
which show the names and photos of 35 hostages.The leaflets included a
phone number that can be contacted via the Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal
messaging apps. There was also a link to a website that displays
similar information.The IDF has made use of leaflets to encourage Gazans
to share information on hostages’ whereabouts throughout the war, as
well as on the location of Hamas leaders, placing sizable bounties on
the enclave’s arch-terrorists.It is believed that 129 hostages abducted
by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza. Hamas has also been holding the
bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as
well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who
are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own
accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.The ongoing war erupted when
thousands of Hamas terrorists poured across the border with Israel in a
mass assault on October 7 during which they killed almost 1,200 people
and abducted 253.Israel responded with a military offensive to destroy
Hamas and free the hostages, half of whom remain in captivity in
Gaza.The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 33,000 people
have been killed in the fighting, an unverified figure that includes
some 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. The IDF
says it killed 1,000 Hamas and other terrorists inside Israel on and
immediately after October 7.Times of Israel staff contributed to this
report.
US blacklists Hamas military spokesman, heads of drone
unit-EU sanctions armed wings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad for sexual
violence on Oct. 7-Bloc says abuses by the Palestinian terrorists
include ‘rape and subsequent murder of female minors, mutilation of
corpses as well as genital mutilation’By Agencies Today, 9:40 pm-APR 12
The
European Union on Friday imposed sanctions on the armed wings of Hamas
and Islamic Jihad for “widespread” sexual violence during the October 7
onslaught against Israel.The bloc said terrorists from the two
Palestinian groups — already on the European Union’s terrorism blacklist
— “committed widespread sexual and gender-based violence in a
systematic manner, using it as a weapon of war.”The decision to impose
the sanctions was part of an agreement among EU states that will now see
the bloc blacklist violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank.During the
Hamas-led attack on October 7, Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200
people and took 253 hostages while committing brutal atrocities,
sparking the ongoing war between Israel and the Gaza-ruling terror
group.The EU said that the abuses by Hamas terrorists included “the rape
and subsequent murder of female minors, mutilation of corpses as well
as genital mutilation.”It also accused the assailants of the “targeted
abduction of women and girls.”Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department on
Friday announced new sanctions on the spokesman of Hamas’s military wing
and leaders of its drone unit.The US sanctions targeted Hudhayfa Samir
‘Abdallah al-Kahlut, also known as “Abu Obeida,” who has been the
spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades since at least 2007, the
department said.The sanctions also targeted William Abu Shanab,
commander of the Lebanon-based al-Shimali unit, Bara’a Hasan Farhat
assistant to Abu Shanab, the commander of the al-Shimali unit, and
Khalil Muhammad ‘Azzam, an intelligence official.“Today’s joint action
reinforces our continued, collective focus on disrupting Hamas’s ability
to conduct further attacks, including through cyber warfare and the
production of UAVs,” Brian Nelson, Treasury under secretary for
terrorism and financial intelligence, said, referring to unmanned aerial
vehicles.“Treasury, in coordination with our allies and partners, will
continue to target Hamas’s facilitation networks wherever they operate,
including in the cyber domain,” he said.As a result of the sanctions,
all property and interests in property of the designated people that are
in the US or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and
must be reported to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Russia
says it foiled terror plot against Moscow synagogue-Suspect, described
as a ‘Central Asian national,’ said killed while being detained; Russian
chief rabbi commends Federal Security Service’s swift action-By ToI
Staff Today, 2:57 pm-APR 12,24
Russia’s Federal Security Service,
or FSB, said it prevented an attack on a synagogue in Moscow, Russian
state news agencies reported on Thursday.“The Russian Federal Security
Service has suppressed the criminal activity of a Central Asian national
who was planning to perpetrate a terrorist attack on a Jewish religious
institution in Moscow at the time of a mass gathering there,” FSB said
in a statement, according to Russian state media outlet Interfax.The
statement added that a “Central Asian national” who was plotting the
attack was “killed during detention.”The FSB also said that the man had
been previously incarcerated and became radicalized during his
imprisonment, according to state-controlled TV news network RT
International. He was eventually released and came to Russia in 2023.The
suspect reportedly was surveilling the synagogue and had purchased the
materials to make explosives when he was caught and arrested on
Wednesday.According to media outlet Ynet, Russia’s chief rabbi, Berel
Lazar, thanked the FSB for its work in preventing the attack.This comes
weeks after the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil in recent
history, which occurred in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall music venue and
left 139 dead.The Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate claimed it
carried out the attack, and US intelligence said it had information
confirming the group was responsible.That attack followed an early March
incident in which the FSB reportedly prevented another attack on a
synagogue in Moscow that was plotted by an Islamic State cell.The FSB
said that the members of the organization had been planning “to commit a
terrorist act against one of the Jewish religious institutions in
Moscow,” the RIA news agency quoted the report as saying.Attackers
opened fire during the attempted arrest, and were “neutralized by return
fire,” the FSB said.Agencies contributed to this report.
UN says waterborne illnesses spread in Gaza due to heat, unsafe water-By Reuters-APR 12,24
Waterborne
diseases are spreading in Gaza due to a lack of clean water and rising
temperatures, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Gaza
says.“It is becoming very hot there,” Jamie McGoldrick tells reporters
via video link from Jerusalem. “People are getting much less water than
they need, and as a result, there have been waterborne diseases due to
lack of safe and clean water and the disruption of the sanitation
systems.”“We have to find a way in the months ahead of how we can have a
better supply of water into the areas where people are currently
crowded at the moment,” he says, after making his final visit to Gaza at
the end of his three-month assignment.Contaminated water and poor
sanitation are linked to diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery
and hepatitis A, according to the World Health Organization.Since
mid-October, following the assault on Gaza in response to deadly attacks
in southern Israel by Hamas, the WHO has recorded more than 345,000
cases of diarrhea, including more than 105,000 in children under
5.Israel has committed to facilitating the ability of humanitarian
organizations to scale up aid in Gaza, and has approved the resumption
of the operation of the water pipeline in northern Gaza.The Gaza Strip’s
only natural source of water is the Coastal Aquifer Basin, which runs
along the eastern Mediterranean coast from the northern Sinai Peninsula
in Egypt, through Gaza and into Israel.Its quality over the years has
deteriorated rapidly, largely because it had been pumped out to meet the
demands of Gaza’s population more rapidly than it could be replaced by
rainwater.
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)
1 TIMOTHY 1:10
10
for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave
traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to
the sound doctrine
DEUTERONOMY 24:7
7 If someone is caught
kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave,
the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.
REV 9:21
21 and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries (DRUG HIGHS) nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.
HEBREWS 10:26
For
if we go on willfully and deliberately sinning after receiving the
knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice [to atone]
for our sins [that is, no further offering to anticipate],
ISAIAH 49:26
26-And
I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall
be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh
shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty
One of Jacob.(ISRAEL)
European Parliament votes yes on controversial Asylum and Migration Pact-Apr 10, 2024, 12:24 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
Today,
the European parliament voted to adopt the contentious Asylum and
Migration Pact, which includes reforms to the EURODAC biometric database
and how biometrics are collected from minors. The president of the
European parliament, Roberta Metsola, followed the vote with a simple
statement: “History made.”In a press briefing on the controversial pact
this week, a group of EU rapporteurs from parliament said the pact is
three and a half years in the making, the result of “difficult and heavy
work”. Although today’s vote on the pact is not binding, the text has
variously been called a symbolic landmark, a necessary step forward, and
a “shipwreck for asylum rights,” with critics expressing particular
concern about the collection of biometric data from children as young as
seven.The pact aims to enhance security screening and registry at
borders, and to expedite processes for those who are denied asylum. But
harsh critics say it will result in draconian asylum policies and
practices being into use. In the context of the proposed reform of the
EU’s EURODAC asylum database, biometrics and facial recognition are at
the center of the debate.“Reform of this 20-year-old database will make
it the technological sword of EU’s hostile asylum and border policies,”
says a harsh critique in the EU Observer. “It will harness the most
nefarious surveillance technologies that exist to date – namely the
capture, processing and analysis of biometric data – and enable EU
states to have full control over migrants’ bodies and
movements.”“EURODAC is also being turned into a mass surveillance tool
by targeting even more groups of people than before — including children
as young as six.”The EU rapporteurs acknowledge that the pact is
imperfect, citing massive complexity and compromise in arriving at a
text acceptable for all EU member states. Some say it is undeniably a
step forward, and lament the work that would be lost if the pact were to
be rejected. Others call it a chance to implement a more humane common
system. As to the question of collecting biometrics from minors,
proponents of the bill say gathering biometric data from kids can help
reunite them with family members.Spanish MEP Jorge Buxade Villalba
argues that “the European Union is a human organization, and we need
updated data, accurate data, so that it does not just come down to the
opinion of an international organization that is not a part of the EU or
what a certain member state believes that the numbers are. Also, facial
recognition images will assist us in understanding those who have fake
or bogus documents when member states are requesting a clarification of
this information.”It is clear that there is high political tension
around the vote, as the detention and death of migrants haunts the EU’s
border policies, and global conflicts cause continued displacement.
There are those arguing that voting for the package is being loyal to
Europe, and others who argue the same for voting no. The vote on the
Asylum and Migration Pact is in, but the debate over technological
deployments at Europe’s borders will surely continue.
EU data
protection bodies bring the gavel down on biometric privacy
violations-Italy’s watchdog warns Worldcoin; Greece and Spain issue
fines for GDPR noncompliance-Apr 11, 2024, 3:33 pm EDT-Joel R. McConvey
Fines
and warnings are flying in the EU, as national data privacy watchdogs
dole out disciplinary action for violations of European data protection
law through their use of biometrics.Italian privacy authority gives
Worldcoin the evil eye over iris biometrics-Italy’s data protection
agency, Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, has sent a warning
to Worldcoin, saying that the biometric identity firm’s iris scanning
operations, in theory, “would in all likelihood violate EU regulation
(GDPR), with all the sanctioning consequences provided for by the
legislation.”Worldcoin trades units of its cryptocurrency, WLD tokens,
for scans of a user’s iris biometrics, which it collects with a
spherical iris scanner called the Orb to generate a World ID. “Even if
Orb devices are not yet functional in Italy,” says the privacy
guarantor, “Italian citizens can already download the World App from the
app stores, provide their personal data and reserve their free WLD
tokens.”“The Authority believes that the processing of biometric data
based on the consent of the participants in the project, issued on the
basis of insufficient information, cannot be considered a valid legal
basis according to the requirements required by the European
Regulation,” says its summary of the warning. It notes that offering
financial compensation undermines free and unconditional consent, and
cites the absence of adequate age verification as a problem.An article
in the National Law Review, written by Charles-Albert Helleputte of
Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, points out that the Worldcoin warning is
not the first time the Garante has taken a stance against digital
identity tech. But Helleputte says this particular warning is
justified.“Worldcoin proposes a very disruptive digital identity
compared to where the EU currently stands,” says Helleputte. He believes
the revision of the eIDAS framework promoting digital identity wallets
does not go far enough to protect the online safety of minors.
“Worldcoin is another dimension, close to science fiction,” he writes.
“The potential of harm to those who have their iris scanned and their
data later compromised is infinite. A digital identity based on iris
scanning, when compromised, stays as such forever.”In March, Portugal
ordered Worldcoin to suspend its iris-scanning operations, also pointing
to a lack of safeguards to stop minors from trading biometrics for WLD.
The company has since introduced age verification. Watchdogs in Greece
and Spain issue hefty fines for GDPR noncompliance-Should there be any
doubt about the GDPR’s potency as an enforcement tool, privacy
authorities in Greece and Spain have demonstrated how to wield it in
monetary terms.Following an in-depth investigation of biometric systems
deployed for managing entry and exit into the Aegean islands, the
Hellenic Data Protection Authority has imposed an administrative fine of
€175,000 (approximately US$187,000) on Greece’s Ministry of Migration
and Asylum, for “breaches found in relation to the cooperation with the
Authority and the impact assessments.” A press release from the agency
says it also sent the Ministry an order to comply within three months
with its obligations under the GDPR.The systems in question are an
integrated digital system for managing electronic and physical security,
known as “Centaur”; and the integrated entry-exit control system using a
fingerprint reader for biometric data processing, called “Hyperion.”An
even larger financial penalty has been issued by the Spanish data
protection authority (AEPD). The company CTC Externalización S.L. (CTC)
faces a fine of €365,000 ($391,000)For multiple GDPR violations. The
firm provides logistics, industrial services and other operations and
services in Spain.The AEPD launched its investigation after an
individual submitted a complaint claiming CTC had collected biometric
fingerprint data from employees without disclosing that the data would
be stored on an employee platform. In its decision, the agency found
that CTC “did not correctly inform its employees about the treatment of
their biometric data, in violation of Article 13 of the
GDPR.”Furthermore, the company has not provided a proven guarantee that
the biometric data will be deleted after collection, and the AEPD is
unable to verify “the security measures implemented to access the hash
of an employee fingerprint and employee identification data, in
violation of Article 32 of the GDPR.”The final claim says that “CTC did
not consider the processing of biometric data as processing special
categories of data or the risks to the rights and freedoms of employees
and did not fulfill its obligation to carry out a Data Protection Impact
Assessment (DPIA), in violation of Article 35 of the GDPR.”The
regulator has given the company six months to implement a series of
corrective measures to attain GDPR compliance.
Regulators pitch
alternative methods at day 2 of Global Age Assurance Standards
Summit-Apr 10, 2024, 11:26 am EDT-Joel R. McConvey.
A variety of
approaches to age verification were on display during Day 2 of the
Global Age Assurance Standards Summit. Presenters representing
regulatory bodies from different countries wrestled with questions about
what age assurance is, what it is not, and how to balance the digital
rights of kids with safeguards designed to keep them away from adult
content.In her keynote, “Towards Global Regulatory Standards for Age
Assurance,” children’s digital rights activist Beeban Tania Kidron makes
a salient point about why age assurance is not widely implemented,
despite being an easy lift.“It’s always felt to me rather pathetic, that
an industry that knows how tall you are, where you live, the makeup of
your family and likely how many steps you took in 2023 — this industry,
for whom personal ization is a core business — that they claimed age
assurance was an insurmountable boundary,” says Baroness Kidron, a
member of the UK’s House of Lords who founded the 5Rights Foundation, a
non-profit dedicated to children’s digital rights.She believes that the
only reason Instagram can know someone likes (for example) red Nikes,
but still claim that they don’t know their age, is “because it’s not in
their interest to know.”“If they know that they’re dealing with a
twelve-year-old boy,” says Kidron, “then they also know that flooding
his feed with porn or passing his image to an infinite number of people
is not what they should be doing.” Kidron considers age assurance to be a
basic part of the KYC process.“Which brings us to the knotty problem
of, can it be done,” she says. “The short answer is, yes. ”Germany’s
‘regulated self-regulation’ system aims for flexibility-So, how?
Speakers from regulatory bodies in Spain and Germany spoke about the
respective approaches their nations take to regulation.Martin Drechsler,
managing director of the German Association for Voluntary
Self-Regulation of Digital Media Service Providers (FSM) outlined the
self-regulatory approach to age assurance in German – what he calls “the
system of ‘regulated self-regulation.’”Companies can choose to become
members of the non-profit private members association, which began as a
kind of legal consultancy providing shortcuts for those facing
allegations of infraction. Now, though, FSM focuses on “giving advice to
our members finding common ground and setting standards together so
that companies can provide family friendly online services and robust
safety measures while being legally compliant.Drechsler says “the law
itself did not and still does not give too many details on how to
provide for effective age verification or age insurance, which is good,
because the law would not become outdated too quickly. But this is also
bad, because the different actors are somewhat left alone when trying to
find out what would be sufficient.” The FSM tries to fill that gap, and
they also prize flexibility. “In essence, we try not to formulate too
strict or narrow standards,” says Drechsler. “We would rather leave them
open and flexible in order to allow for innovation.”“Our legal position
as a regulated self regulator enables the FSM to enter a creative and
constructive dialogue with our members at a very early stage of the
product development.”Drechsler believes the digital identity and age
verification sectors are “holding our breath to see how effective the
European Digital Services Act and the British Online Safety Act will be.
However, when it comes to age verification and age assurance, there can
never be one size fits all. It is always very challenging to define a
clear and final set of rules. And the example from Germany clearly shows
this.”Spain adapts GDPR for decalogue of age assurance principles-The
Spanish Data Protection Authority’s (AEPD) proposals for age
verification solutions emphasize the importance of preserving privacy
while ensuring accuracy. Matra Beltran, chief of the scientific unit in
the innovation and technology division of the AEPD, says the AEPD’s
decalogue of principles is based on GDPR.The decalogue provides
guidelines to ensure the principles “while protecting the best interests
of the child.” Centered on lawfulness, fairness and transparency, it
begins from the core idea that “the system for protecting minors from
inappropriate content must guarantee that the identification, tracking
or location of minors over the Internet is impossible.”Beltran
highlights testing done on the AEPD’s decalogue to try and spur
innovation. “We are a data protection authority. We don’t want to
produce commercial solutions,” she says. “But we wanted to propose
something as an element of analysis and as a source of inspiration,
helping providers to understand what they can do and what they cannot
do. And we also wanted to bring something new to the table, because when
analyzing the market, we found that all the available solutions are
very similar, always repeating the same technical models. In our case,
we wanted to solve the age verification problem without leaving the
users’ devices.”More about the decalogue can be found on AEPD’s website.
US Army base tests facial recognition, AI for threat detection, perimeter monitoring-Apr 11, 2024, 3:32 pm EDT- Joel R. McConvey
The
U.S. Army is testing a commercial, off-the-shelf AI security system at
its Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) in Kentucky. A release issued by Joint
Munitions Command, Public and Congressional Affairs says the system is
“a real-time modular physical threat detection solution using artificial
intelligence and deep neural learning computer vision to modernize
existing electronic security systems”.The U.S. Army has previously
contracted Idemia NSS for computer vision and facial recognition tech,
but the release does not specify which machine learning system or
platform is being trialed at BGAD – only that it is “basically a
software package that integrates with existing CCTV cameras” to detect
“intruders, guns, fights, slips and falls, smoke and fire, facial
recognition, and behavior anomalies of individuals.” Flags will send an
alert to security response forces.Echoing the language of other law
enforcement and military officials, the provost marshal of Joint
Munitions Command, Jim Vaughan, calls the AI system “a game changer for
security and protection.” Vaughan says “the Army is looking to use
current technology to replace and or backstop antiquated security
systems” and that AI is “a great tool that is modernizing existing
technology into our force protection posture.”Potential use cases for
the system include active shooter scenarios, “intrusion detection and
perimeter protection.” In a demo that simulated a real-time active
shooter scenario, Vaughan says AI-based weapon detection typically
occurred within seconds in nearly every case. Another demo showcased the
system’s capabilities for detecting breaches of an established
perimeter.“The system is able to detect from hundreds of meters away
when someone walks into the perimeter,” explains Vaughan. “It can detect
if it’s an animal, say a deer, or a person, and it shows where the
person is at, and gives a description of what they’re doing. The system
can also be trained to look for mechanical flying devices and natural
flying devices (birds).”The system is reportedly currently achieving
around 97 percent accuracy in testing.Funding for the project comes from
the U.S. Army’s Physical Security Enterprise and Analysis Group.
Options for biometric age assurance and how to orchestrate them take Summit spotlight-Veratad, ITL and Trust Stamp featured
Apr 12, 2024, 12:23 pm EDT-Chris Burt
Presentations
at the Global Age Assurance Standards Summit on Thursday largely
centered on the technologies available to meet the standards, prevent
the harms and deliver the benefits discussed during the first three days
of the event in Manchester.A day four panel discussion on orchestration
service providers was moderated by Open Identity Exchange Chief
Identity Strategist Nick Mothershaw.The panel consisted of Veratad CEO
John Ahrens, PDMS Founder Chris Gledhill and CDD Services Founder and
Chair David Crack. PDMS is a software development company with extensive
experience working with entitlements for online systems of public
record, and CDD provides an orchestration platform geared towards
regulatory compliance. Veratad provides digital identity and age
verification.The orchestration layer sits between the trust scheme, such
as the UK’s Digital Trust Framework, and relying parties. It translates
the governance scheme into technology. As such, it makes trusted
services like those for age assurance and makes them available to
relying parties in a compliant, and in theory effective, efficient way.
Ahrens described the role as sourcing, managing and standardizing
technologies.The functions of orchestration providers evolve as they
work to make things easier for their customers, Ahrens says. “We’re not
just orchestrating the providers or the methods, we’re orchestrating
the experience as well.”Business models differ between orchestration
service providers, Gledhill points out. PDMS is focussed on “compliance,
convenience, and cost-effectiveness,” he says. The means making
effective technologies consumable for customers. This can be difficult
as new requirements are applied to “legacy contexts.”From a data privacy
and compliance standpoint, the most important function of orchestration
is to minimize the sensitive data that need to be held, by themselves
or relying parties, to provide the service in question, Gledhill says.If
systems are designed properly, orchestration can make compliance a
business enabler, rather than a barrier, saving money by preventing
problems at the beginning of interactions, Crack explains. This is in
contrast with what he calls a “tick-box compliance” approach.Ahrens
pointed out that in contrast with many established uses for digital
identity online, age assurance processes in many cases prioritize data
minimization. This makes the case for reusable IDs particularly
attractive.The discussion also touched on privacy protection, commercial
models for orchestrators and the limits of digital age assurance as
protection against harms in the physical world.In response to a question
from the audience about how to deal with different priorities held by
societies in different jurisdictions, Ahrens noted that Veratad has
integrated seven different digital credential providers, and advises
customers to select among them for different customers based on the
priorities of the jurisdiction they are in.In the case of entitlements,
however, Gledhill points out, tying the attribute of age to the identity
of the person receiving a service is often a practical
necessity.Technology providers showcase emerging options-Biometrics and
digital identity vendors also showcased their ideas and products for
providing age assurance at the event.Trust Stamp Account Executive Amy
Kneale and colleagues presented the company’s vision for Age Estimation
as a Service (AaaS)-By tokenizing a biometric template in a way that
removes the biometric data, Trust Stamp’s Stable IT2 provides a
cryptographic system for facial authentication without exchanging
biometric data.The company hopes to get its Stable IT2 into production
during the second quarter of 2024.A challenge identified to this
approach during the discussion that followed is how to map the
technology against the existing standards and regulation, and those in
development.The summit was not confined entirely to the online world.
Innovative Technology presented its age estimation technology for
in-person transactions at the event.ITL Senior Business Development
Manager Christian Czeskleba recounted the story of a group of youths
entering a store with the company’s MyCheckr visible at the checkout
during a trial. The youths spotted the biometric age-estimating device,
conspicuously conferred in a group, and each purchased a lemonade. The
incident, he says, illustrates the deterrent effect of making clear to
minors that they will be asked to confirm their age if they attempt to
purchase age-restricted goods.The presentation also offered a sneak peak
at the company’s Alerts app.Czeskleba answered a question from Yoti CEO
Robin Tombs that ITL will consider submitting its age estimation
algorithm to NIST for evaluation in the future.
Kenya’s ICT Minister outlines new digital ID, AI regulation plans-Apr 11, 2024, 1:24 pm EDT-Ayang Macdonald
Eliud
Owalo, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Information and Communication
Technology, says his ministry is fronting efforts for a legislation to
regulate the deployment of generative AI technologies in the country. He
also reiterated the country’s ongoing plans to introduce a digital ID
which will facilitate access to services by citizens.Owalo was speaking
as he addressed a Senate Committee on ICT early this week in the port
city of Mombasa, reports NTV.Speaking about the digital ID, Owalo said
it is part of the country’s digital transformation plans and will go a
long way in facilitating the way public and even private sector services
are delivered to users. Kenya has already digitized more than 5,000
government services as part of the digital transformation
push.Underlining the importance of the digital ID, Owalo noted that it
will curb reliance on paperwork which is often not only costly and
cumbersome, but also prone to errors.As explained by Owalo, the new ID
will be different from the other generation of IDs which Kenya has had
in the past. He spoke specifically about the Huduma Namba, saying its
rollout flopped because it was launched in an inopportune period, which
gave room for suspicion and doubts.He used the opportunity to solicit
the contribution of lawmakers to join in a campaign to raise awareness
on the importance and relevance of the new digital ID to be rolled
out.“We will require awareness and explain to Kenyans the rationale of
virtual identification. This will be the success factor that will give
us acceptability,” Owalo is quoted by NTV as responding to a question
from one Senator.Turning to AI, the government official recognized its
impact and importance to the development of a country like Kenya, but
remarked that it would be wise to adopt a proactive approach in
regulating its deployment so as to avert deep potential harms.Other
issues discussed during the exchange between the ICT cabinet secretary
and the Senate ICT Committee members included digital skills
development, supporting and harnessing the potential of the private
sector in relation to Kenya’s digital transformation, and how new
digital technologies can be used in making life better for citizens.
Cameroon
telcos get ultimatum to ID all SIM holders in regions plagued by
security crisis-Namibia telco criticized over biometric registration-Apr
11, 2024, 1:00 pm EDT-Ayang Macdonald
Mobile telecommunication
operators in Cameroon have been given 60 days to thoroughly identify the
holders of all SIM cards currently in use in the Far North, North West
and South Regions of the country.The directive was given early this week
by Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji during a meeting
with representatives of companies offering telecommunications
services.These three regions of Cameroon have been floundering in
security crises for years. In the Far North, Boko Haram insurgency has
been wreaking havoc in many communities. In the North West and South
West, armed separatists are fighting to create a break-away country.
Both crises have given rise to the phenomenon of kidnappings for
ransom.Speaking during the meeting, Atanga Nji expressed worries that
the spate of ransom payments was on the rise in those regions, aided
largely by the use of improperly identified SIM cards. He said it has
been estimated that over FCFA 370 million (about US$605,000) was paid in
ramson in the three crisis-hit regions in the past year using their
mobile money channels.According to the Territorial Administration
Minister, these activities have been successful mainly because SIM cards
used by criminals are either not registered at all, or are registered
with incorrect information.“Our mission is to protect people and their
property and to ensure that security returns to the North West, South
West and Far North regions. But when you have your platforms which are
not controlled, it’s a problem. How can you give 30 SIM cards to a group
of terrorists, knowing very well that they’ll use it to intimidate?
They send messages to people asking for huge sums of money,” said Atanga
Nji.“So, you have to help us to help you. The security of the state
cannot be put at stake. If your customers cannot be clearly identified,
then they have no business with you, not to talk of the terrorists who
are in the bushes. Within this period of 60 days, I am telling you
clearly to put things in order; otherwise, you will face serious
sanctions. We cannot jeopardize the security of the state for any
purpose whatsoever.”The registration of SIM cards is a compulsory
activity in Cameroon, and is regulated by a Prime Ministerial decree of
2015. The decree of September 3, 2015, prohibits the sale of SIM cards
on the streets and in other unauthorized sales points. The legislation
requires a national ID card for the registration of a SIM, and forbids
an individual from having more than three SIM cards registered in their
name on one mobile telephone network.The decree on SIM card registration
was introduced after the industry regulator, the Telecommunications
Regulatory Board, uncovered cases of between 100 to 200 SIM cards
registered with one national ID credential.The regulator has previously
fined Cameroon’s leading telcos for failing to identify subscribers, but
the country has not yet followed some of its neighbors in turning to
biometrics for SIM registration.
Cameroon recently launched a
campaign to issue 80k birth certificates to children preparing to take
final exams.Data privacy concerns raised again with SIM registration in
Namibia-In a SIM-identification related story, preoccupations remain
about the continuous collection of biometric data for SIM card
registration in Malawi.The concerns this time around have been raised by
the country chapter of Internet Society, a digital rights advocacy
group, Windhoek Observer reports.The group has chided Mobile
Telecommunication Limited for the biometric collection, arguing it
contravenes the laws in force.Anna Amoomo, the society’s president, is
quoted as criticizing the fact that those who refuse to get their
biometrics captured are refused SIM registration. To him, biometrics do
not need to be part of the registration process, and is calling on
authorities to respect the law.The SIM registration process in Namibia
has been rocked by several challenges and criticisms of biometric
collection in the past.
IN Groupe races to rescue of Eurotunnel with 224 biometric kiosks ahead of EES launch-Apr 11, 2024, 12:40 pm EDT | Chris Burt
Eurotunnel
is installing biometric kiosks specially designed for Eurotunnel
deployment by IN Groupe at access points on either side of the English
channel’s international border.The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is
scheduled to take effect on October 6, and both French and UK
authorities and transport operators have warned that border crossings
will be slowed down by the new biometrics capture requirements.
Officials warned a UK parliamentary committee last week that travelers
should expect duplicative processes at the border.A total of 224
biometric kiosks supplied by IN Groupe will be installed at terminals in
Folkestone, England and Coquelles, France, Kent Online reports.“EES is a
big challenge this year for border control and Eurotunnel case study is
a good example,” IN Groupe Marketing & Communication Manager,
Identity SBU, Céline Fauvet tells Biometric Update in an
email.Eurotunnel operator Getlink says it has invested £68 million
(roughly US$85.5 million) in the last three years. The company is also
running AI simulations to help anticipate passenger volumes.Getlink is
also in the process of building a separate area for processing the
passports of non-EU nationals.An app meant to accelerate the border
clearance process through pre-registration is also in development, and
expected to reach the testing phase around the same time EES comes into
force. Testing is not expected to be complete, however, until 2025,
delaying a production rollout.IN Groupe and Eurotunnel will present a
live demonstration of the specially designed kiosks at the 2024
Passenger Terminal Expo in Frankfurt on April 16.
IdRamp partners with Clear for reusable biometric identity and authentication-Apr 11, 2024, 10:51 am EDT | Bianca Gonzalez
Decentralized
digital identity orchestration provider IdRamp has partnered with Clear
to offer Sign In With Clear, a biometric reusable identity
authentication service with a variety of use cases, according to an
announcement.The service can be deployed without code and integrated
with existing services. The user experience minimizes friction while
assuring a person is who they say they are, according to the
announcement.The offering can perform phone verification, document
verification to assure authenticity, or credential verification to
confirm military or employment status. It can also be used with
supplementary database checks. It supports Identity Assurance Level 2
(IAL2) through face biometrics for entities who must meet high security
standards.Sign In With Clear can be used for MFA, passwordless
authentication and biometric authentication. It can also be used for
identity proofing when someone is trying to access a service or system,
as well as onboarding and account recovery uses.Verifying identity in
the workforce can enhance security, and verifying customers can minimize
fraud attempts. In the public sector, government online services can be
kept secure, improving trust among citizens.Clear has verified over 20
million users, and was recently accredited for authenticator assurance
level 2 by Kantara.
Sierra Leone putting digital ID at the center
of its digital transformation agenda-An interview with NCRA Deputy
Director Moses T.F. Vibbie-Apr 11, 2024, 10:45 am EDT-Ayang Macdonald
The
West African nation of Sierra Leone is at full throttle with its
digital transformation efforts, and its MOSIP-based foundational
identity system is the nucleus of this undertaking, according to an
official with the country’s ID authority.The Deputy Director of ICT at
the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), Moses T.F. Vibbie, in
an interview with Biometric Update on the sideline of the MOSIP Connect
event which took place last month in Addis Ababa, explains that the
strong political will of the country’s Head of State, Julius Maada Bio,
and the dedication of the NCRA’s Director General, Mohamed Mubashir
Massaquoi, are the other driving forces behind the initiative. Massaquoi
is also an ID4Africa Ambassador.“Foundational digital ID managed by the
NCRA is at the centre of Sierra Leone’s digital transformation agenda.
The National ID Card or NIN is mandatory for accessing services in
Sierra Leone as enshrined in the National Civil Registration Act of 2016
(NCR Act 2016),” says Vibbie.So far, he says digital ID has been
instrumental in the country’s ongoing digital government efforts as
almost all government services have been digitized and linked to the
digital ID.“According to the parliament of Sierra Leone’s ratification
and directives, the NIN is linked to all government and key private
sector services including SIM card registration, education, government
payroll, employment in public and private sectors, insurance, financial
inclusion and services, vehicle registration and driver’s license,
health care, pension and social security, properties and land
registration and more,” he outlines. It is required for passports, work
and residence permits.Sierra Leone started to implement a modern ID
system in 2016/2017, and later signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
MOSIP to establish an open-source ID system that will respond to the
specific needs of the country and enable citizens have access to a
number of important public and even private sector services.Successful
MOSIP pilot-“NCRA Sierra Leone, which is responsible for civil
registration and ID services, first piloted the MOSIP Platform as a test
case in order to understand the modules, features, functionality and
level of customization and localization of MOSIP and to ascertain if it
can work for us or meet our use case in Sierra Leone. The pilot was
completed in February, 2024, and we are okay with the outcome,” the
official discloses.Explaining why Sierra Leone opted for the MOSIP-based
digital ID, Vibbie remarks: “Sierra Leone is a strong believer in
open-source and Digital Public Goods (DPGs), and a founding and board
member of Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA).”“We are switching to a
MOSIP platform because it’s an open source (DPG), has no vendor lock-in,
no license fees, we can customize it to our requirement, and it’s
flexible, as compared to its commercial and closed-source
counterparts.”Enrollment for the digital ID has been ongoing in the
country with over 90 percent of the population already registered,
according to Vibbie. He says the government has underscored the fact
that the digital ID is mandatory for all citizens to ensure effective
service delivery, and for legal residents in the country to easily
access services.New deadline to obtain ID cards-As part of measures to
encourage more digital ID adoption, the NCRA set a deadline of March 31,
2024, for all citizens and legal residents to acquire the new digital
ID card as part of the push to expand adoption, Vibbie told Biometric
Update. However, in a public notice issued on March 28, a new deadline
has been set for June 28, with authorities saying the move is to allow
more time for people to go for the ID as part of their fundamental
right.“The director general of NCRA, Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi, who is
also an Ambassador for ID4Africa, is a determined and committed man
working fervently to advance CRVS and ID Services in Sierra Leone, in
line with the strong political will from the President of Sierra Leone,
His Excellency Julius Maada Bio,” Vibbie acknowledges.“He is strongly
committed to see that Sierra Leone works with the MOSIP team to
implement a MOSIP-based ID in the country. We may start with few modules
and transition gradually since we already have an ID system in place.
That’s in fact the beauty of MOSIP because it is modular, so we can
implement modules that are of interest to us at a given time.”In
addition to the strong technical leadership and political will
propelling the national digital ID project, the Vibbie cites other
factors including legal and institutional reforms, public awareness and
sensitization campaigns as well as other collaborative efforts aimed at
popularising civil registration and vital statistics and identity
services. As the implementation of the project advances, the deputy ICT
director at the NRCA says the agency is open to more support and
partnerships for the digital ID and digital transformation drive.Over
the last couple of months, the NCRA has been urging citizens to acquire
the digital IDs not only to facilitate access to services, but also to
ensure their personal security.-Sierra Leone delegation lauds MOSIP
Connect-Vibbie, who was among a delegation of representatives from
Sierra Leone at the MOSIP Connect 2024 in Addis Ababa, admits it was an
interesting event from which they learnt so much.“I learnt a lot from
there. We had experience sharing with other countries, and learning from
those that have implemented MOSIP. It was also an opportunity to better
understand current trends in Digital ID using Digital Public Goods
(DPGs) and Digital Public Infrastructure, and the drive towards digital
ID and verifiable credentials.”“There was a lot to learn about identity
verification and authentication, networking with other identity
stakeholders including government, the private sector and donor
partners/NGOs. The presentations and panel discussions, as well as the
solution corner where different companies, service providers and
partners showcased their Identity solutions, products and services, were
other important points of attraction for the event.”Sierra Leone’s CRVS
and identity system is integrated and managed by the NCRA, in line with
the resolution of African Ministers responsible for Civil
Registrations, as well as the recommendation of UN on CRVS Systems.
New Zealand welcomes input on draft biometrics code-Apr 11, 2024, 10:23 am EDT-Joel R. McConvey
The
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand is seeking public
feedback on draft rules for the use of biometrics. A release from the
office says the Commissioner has “drafted additional rules that New
Zealand organizations would need to follow if they were using biometric
technologies.”“We’re keen to know whether New Zealanders agree with what
we’ve drafted,” says Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster. “The Privacy
Act 2020 regulates the use of personal information in New Zealand (and
therefore biometrics), but we think biometrics need special protections
especially in specific circumstances. Biometrics are fundamental to who a
person is; they’re a very special type of personal information.”Per the
release, New Zealand does not currently have special rules for
biometric technologies. Questions being posed to the public address
issues of informed consent, transparency, limitations, and
proportionality in weighing the benefits and the risks of
biometrics.“The use of biometrics is growing and diversifying, and I
want to ensure New Zealanders and New Zealand businesses that they can
harness the benefits of this technology, but also be protected from
potential harm,” says Webster. “Biometrics can be used to surveil and
monitor large numbers of people or identify people on a watchlist and
some of their uses are so highly intrusive that they shouldn’t be used
lightly.”Input on the exposure draft is welcome until May 8, 2024.
Feedback can be emailed to biometrics@privacy.org.nz. Interested parties
outside of New Zealand also benefit from a bit of Kiwi hospitality:
commenters “can say a little or a lot,” says the Commissioner, “and
don’t have to be a New Zealand resident to have their say.”The full
draft biometrics code and a consultation document can be found at
privacy.org.nz.
India orders integration of two health IDs to facilitate access to unified services-Apr 11, 2024, 10:12 am EDT-Ayang Macdonald
Since
April 1, it has become compulsory for Indians to link their Central
Government Health Services (CGHS) beneficiary ID with the Ayushman
Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID.As Business Standard (BS) reports, the
reason for the linkage is to bring together various government health
programs onto one consolidated platform.The CGHS is a government-run
program which offers healthcare services to government workers,
pensioners and dependents, while the ABHA is a 14-digit ID used for
identity verification within India’s healthcare landscape. Early this
year, India said 500 million people had been issued the ABHA ID.The
memorandum, issued by the central government, indicates that CGHS
beneficiaries shall have 30 days from April 1 to complete the linkage
process.A source familiar with the development is quoted by BS as saying
that part of the reason is to establish a system in which a digital
health ID will be created for all beneficiaries as well as a platform to
store their digital records.As of April 2, just 21,362 beneficiaries
had linked to the IDs, out of about 4.4 million people covered by the
CGHS health scheme.Shuchin Bajaj, founder director, Ujala Cygnus Group
of Hospitals, praised the idea of linking CGHS accounts and the ABHA ID,
saying it will “streamline healthcare services and enhance patient
identification by facilitating seamless sharing of digital health
records across platforms.” Bajaj however notes that the merger process
could lead to some concerns such as privacy which authorities must pay
keen attention to.Another official, Sunil Rao, chief operating officer,
Sahyadri Group of Hospitals in Pune, also lauds the move, and expresses
optimism that “it will be easier for the government to make it
compulsory and achieve their deadline to integrate both IDs.” Rao, like
Bajaj, suggests that given the privacy issues the linkage may provoke,
it is important for the government to consider strong data protection
measures.Meanwhile, the importance of integrating national digital ID
(NDI) has been highlighted in an opinionated piece by a Totm
Technologies official.Eric Drury, digital ID and trust advisor at the
company argues in a LinkedIn newsletter that national digital ID can
facilitate patient management and care provision if integrated into
healthcare systems.Drury believes that integrating national digital ID
with “national healthcare systems is paramount for the advancement of
Citizen Healthcare Services, offering a pathway to a more interconnected
and patient-centric future.”
3 biometric access control
partnerships expand market reach, deployment options-Fingerprint Cards
and Freevolt, Precise and Flowmark, ZKTeco and Telaeris strengthen
ties-Apr 11, 2024, 10:07 am EDT-Chris Burt
Fingerprint Cards has
implemented biometric cards from Freevolt Technologies for physical
access control at its headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.The S-Keys
supplied by Freevolt are built with Fingerprint Cards’ T2 biometric
sensors. Implementing them across the site strengthens its security and
allows the company to utilize role-based access control, while being
convenient and easy-to-use for employees, according to the company
announcement.Freevolt began building S-Keys with T2 sensors through a
partnership formed last October.“Fingerprints are leaders in biometrics,
with sensors in billions of products, so they know what makes a good
biometric solution,” says Freevolt Head of Product & Business
Development Gonzalo de Gisbert. “We’re therefore thrilled that
Fingerprints has chosen S-Key to strengthen security at their global
headquarters, in Gothenburg. Our leading radio frequency energy
harvesting technology combined with Fingerprints’ ‘T2’ sensors, known as
FPC 1323, enables S-Key to be completely battery-less, lasting for many
years. Roll-out was seamless, with everyone set-up in less than 1 hour.
That’s simple, safe, and secure biometrics, powered by Freevolt.”The
second generation of Fingerprint Cards’ T-shaped T2 sensor was launched
in 2020.Precise and Flowmark reseller partnership reaches new
regions-Precise Biometrics has agreed to an expanded reseller agreement
with proptech provider Flowscape Technology to bring YOUNiQ Visit to the
Nordic, UK and Middle Eastern markets.The partners originally agreed to
a deal covering distribution of YOUNiQ biometric visitor management
technology in North America last April. YOUNiQ Visit is also known as
EastCoast Visit in Sweden. Flowscape CEO Peter Reigo refers to a joint
customer win in the UK early in the extended partnership as evidence of
the competitive advantage provided by the addition of Precise’s
biometric software to its portfolio. The customer is a global consulting
firm, the partners say.“The collaboration is fully in line with our
commercialization strategy, where partners like Flowscape are crucial to
being able to accelerate growth in a cost-effective way,” says Precise
Biometrics CEO Joakim Nydemark.-ZKTeco platform integrated by
Telaeris-ZKTeco USA’s biometric platform is being integrated with
XPressEntry’s biometric scanners for physical access control systems,
made by Telaeris.XPressEntry scanners can now be managed with ZKTeco’s
ZKBiosecurity v5000 web-based security platform to provide flexible
identity verification and access control checks with handheld and kiosk
readers.The partners suggest customers can use their integrated software
for handheld badge verification, emergency evacuation mustering,
corporate events and training, workplace surveys, time and attendance
and a range of other use cases.“With XPressEntry handheld, mobile badge,
and biometric readers including facial and palm authentication, ZKTeco
customers now benefit from enhanced mobile features, elevating
convenience and, most importantly, fortifying end-customer security and
safety,” says Telaeris CEO Dr. David Carta.ZKTeco USA President and
Founder Manish Dalal says the partnership “provides an end-to-end
security solution for any facility.”
