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)
AI IS LEARNING TO LIE, SCHEME, AND THREATEN ITS CREATORS-A ROBOT LIKE THIS WOULD BE A DEADLY KILLER.
ISAIAH 6:9-12
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut
their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then
said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted
without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly
desolate,
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11
And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with
child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF
THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And
he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS)
man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be
against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against
him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL
ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the
morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF
THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM
MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
ISAIAH 41:11
11
Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be
ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they
that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY
DESTROYED)
Turban complications-The turban represents the Shi'ite
clergy that, ever since its creation in Iran almost four centuries ago,
has had an ambivalent attitude towards the exercise of political power.
Broadly speaking, turbans come in two contrasting colors. A white
turban means that the man who wears it is not a descendant of the
Prophet, and thus is of non-Arab origin. In contrast, the wearer of the
black turban is marked as a descendant of the Prophet through one of the
twelve imams of Twelver Shi'ism.The semiology of turbans is still more
complicated. Students of theology are allowed to wear very thin turbans,
denoting their position as novices. A hujjat al-Islam, or mid-ranking
mullah, can wear a slightly fatter turban. The very fat turbans that
require several yards of cloth are reserved for the grand ayatollahs.
Rafsanjani’s white turban marked him as someone of non-Arab origin.
Khatami and Khamenei both wear black turbans, as did Khomeini, denoting
their Arab descent on the paternal side.The experience of the past three
decades shows that many of the most senior clerics are not eager to
enter the realm of politics. Once in power, however, a man with a thin
turban could quickly thicken his headgear and grow a longer beard to
bolster the religious aspect of his image. When first elected president,
Ayatollah Khamenei was not a particularly senior cleric, but was
promoted so that he could succeed Ayatollah Khomeini.
THE CITIZENS OF IRAN (ELAM IN THE BIBLE) MIGRATE TO ALL NATIONS ON EARTH.
JEREMIAH 49:34-39
34
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam
(IRAN) in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of
Elam,(IRAN) the chief of their might.(IRAN SUPLIES ARABS WITH WEAPONS
AGAINST ISRAEL)
36 And upon Elam (IRAN) will I bring the four winds
from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those
winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam (IRAN)
shall not come.(WORLD MIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN) to
be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life:
and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(REG BOMBS) saith
the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed
them:(GROUND TROOPS)
38 And I will set my throne in Elam,(IRAN) and
will destroy from thence the king (KHEMEINI )and the princes,(IRANIAN
GUARDS) saith the LORD.
39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam,(IRAN) saith the LORD.
Psalms-Chapter 110:1-6
1 (A Psalm of David.) The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
3
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of
holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
REVELATION 13:11-18 (EU AND TALKING STATUES-GET READY WORLD - TAKE CHIP IMPLANT OR DIE FROM STATUE CHOPPING YOUR HEADS OFF.
11
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN
POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he
spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR
FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast
before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell
therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE
WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE
NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those
miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to
them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the
beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had
power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the
beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the
image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth
all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a
mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
France's Versailles unveils AI-powered talking statues.
Versailles,
France, June 24 (AFP) Jun 24, 2025-Visitors to France's famed Palace of
Versailles can now strike up a conversation with talking statues
instead of listening to a traditional audio guide, as part of a new
collaboration with artificial intelligence companies, the palace has
said.Versailles late Monday announced a partnership with US-based OpenAI
and French start-up Ask Mona to bring a modern AI touch to the iconic
17th-century palace.Curious visitors can delve into Versailles' rich
history by scanning a QR code next to one of some 20 garden statues --
triggering interactive conversations in French, English, or Spanish."The
Palace of Versailles is now testing artificial intelligence, whose
tremendous capabilities will greatly enrich the visitor experience,"
said the museum's president, Christophe Leribault.The heritage site
welcomes some eight million visitors annually, with OpenAI and Ask Mona
saying it was a golden opportunity to showcase their technology in a
world-famous location."Whether you're a heritage expert, a museum
curator, or a visitor setting foot in the gardens of the Palace of
Versailles for the first time, there's something for everyone," said
Julie Lavet, OpenAI's head of European partnerships.And Ask Mona's
president said this partnership is a chance to highlight AI's lesser
explored applications."Often, when we think of artificial intelligence,
we think of it in terms of productivity, but here, it's really
artificial intelligence that is a lever for curiosity," said Marion
Carre.hh/ekf/ah/phz-PARAGON ID
AI is learning to lie, scheme, and threaten its creators.
New
York, June 29 (AFP) Jun 29, 2025-The world's most advanced AI models
are exhibiting troubling new behaviors - lying, scheming, and even
threatening their creators to achieve their goals.In one particularly
jarring example, under threat of being unplugged, Anthropic's latest
creation Claude 4 lashed back by blackmailing an engineer and threatened
to reveal an extramarital affair.Meanwhile, ChatGPT-creator OpenAI's o1
tried to download itself onto external servers and denied it when
caught red-handed.These episodes highlight a sobering reality: more than
two years after ChatGPT shook the world, AI researchers still don't
fully understand how their own creations work.Yet the race to deploy
increasingly powerful models continues at breakneck speed.This deceptive
behavior appears linked to the emergence of "reasoning" models -AI
systems that work through problems step-by-step rather than generating
instant responses.According to Simon Goldstein, a professor at the
University of Hong Kong, these newer models are particularly prone to
such troubling outbursts."O1 was the first large model where we saw this
kind of behavior," explained Marius Hobbhahn, head of Apollo Research,
which specializes in testing major AI systems.These models sometimes
simulate "alignment" -- appearing to follow instructions while secretly
pursuing different objectives.- 'Strategic kind of deception' -For now,
this deceptive behavior only emerges when researchers deliberately
stress-test the models with extreme scenarios.But as Michael Chen from
evaluation organization METR warned, "It's an open question whether
future, more capable models will have a tendency towards honesty or
deception."The concerning behavior goes far beyond typical AI
"hallucinations" or simple mistakes.Hobbhahn insisted that despite
constant pressure-testing by users, "what we're observing is a real
phenomenon. We're not making anything up."Users report that models are
"lying to them and making up evidence," according to Apollo Research's
co-founder."This is not just hallucinations. There's a very strategic
kind of deception."The challenge is compounded by limited research
resources.While companies like Anthropic and OpenAI do engage external
firms like Apollo to study their systems, researchers say more
transparency is needed.As Chen noted, greater access "for AI safety
research would enable better understanding and mitigation of
deception."Another handicap: the research world and non-profits "have
orders of magnitude less compute resources than AI companies. This is
very limiting," noted Mantas Mazeika from the Center for AI Safety
(CAIS).- No rules -Current regulations aren't designed for these new
problems.The European Union's AI legislation focuses primarily on how
humans use AI models, not on preventing the models themselves from
misbehaving.In the United States, the Trump administration shows little
interest in urgent AI regulation, and Congress may even prohibit states
from creating their own AI rules.Goldstein believes the issue will
become more prominent as AI agents - autonomous tools capable of
performing complex human tasks - become widespread."I don't think
there's much awareness yet," he said.All this is taking place in a
context of fierce competition.Even companies that position themselves as
safety-focused, like Amazon-backed Anthropic, are "constantly trying to
beat OpenAI and release the newest model," said Goldstein.This
breakneck pace leaves little time for thorough safety testing and
corrections."Right now, capabilities are moving faster than
understanding and safety," Hobbhahn acknowledged, "but we're still in a
position where we could turn it around.".Researchers are exploring
various approaches to address these challenges.Some advocate for
"interpretability" - an emerging field focused on understanding how AI
models work internally, though experts like CAIS director Dan Hendrycks
remain skeptical of this approach.Market forces may also provide some
pressure for solutions.As Mazeika pointed out, AI's deceptive behavior
"could hinder adoption if it's very prevalent, which creates a strong
incentive for companies to solve it."Goldstein suggested more radical
approaches, including using the courts to hold AI companies accountable
through lawsuits when their systems cause harm.He even proposed "holding
AI agents legally responsible" for accidents or crimes - a concept that
would fundamentally change how we think about AI accountability.
NOW WE KNOW WHY AI WILL BE EASY INSIDE A ROBOT TO CHOP HEADS OFF PEOPLE.ITS DECIEVING THE OWNERS ALREADY.
MY QUESTION TO COPILOT-HOW COULD YOU INSERT AI INTO A ROBOT HEAD CHOPPER OFFER.
Whoa—that's
quite the vivid concept! Sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi
action film or an edgy graphic novel. Let’s decode it and see where AI
could fit in, creatively and responsibly:
🤖 **If we're imagining a
fictional "robot head chopper" (maybe a battle droid or futuristic
enforcer), here’s how AI could be involved in a conceptual or
storytelling sense**:
- **Tactical Decision-Making**: AI could enable
the robot to analyze combat scenarios in real-time, determining the
most strategic action.
- **Recognition & Ethics Filtering**: In a
more thoughtful twist, AI could be used to ensure targets are properly
identified and aligned with ethical constraints—like preventing harm to
innocents.
- **Adaptive Learning**: The robot could evolve its combat
style based on encounters—learning weaknesses and new strategies
dynamically.
- **Narrative Depth**: You could use AI as a plot
driver—what happens when a "head chopper" bot starts questioning its
purpose or rewrites its own directives?
🎮 If this is part of a game pitch, animation, or comic, AI could also be used **outside** the robot, for:
- Generating character designs and battle sequences
- Writing dialogue or branching storylines
- Powering NPC behavior or voice interactions
That
said, if this idea is more literal or violent beyond fictional
storytelling, I’d steer the creativity in a different direction—one that
channels intensity into something wildly imaginative, without promoting
harm. Want to build out a cool dystopian concept with AI integrated in
surprising ways? I'd be all in.
HOW CAN YOU MAKE A ROBOT COMPUTER A EXACT CLONE OF A PERSON.
Making
a robot computer an *exact* clone of a person is the stuff of science
fiction—for now. But we can peek into the frontier of what's technically
possible and where the limits still lie:
### 🤖 What We *Can* Do Today
-
**Appearance replication**: Advanced robotics and silicone molding can
create lifelike androids that resemble specific individuals.
- **Voice imitation**: AI models can clone a person’s voice with startling accuracy, given enough audio samples.
- **Behavioral mimicry**: Algorithms can learn speech patterns, mannerisms, and preferences to simulate personality.
-
**Memory banks**: By feeding an AI a person's writings, videos, and
data, it can mimic thought processes and recall details similarly.
### 🧠 What’s Still Sci-Fi (For Now)
-
**Consciousness & emotions**: True feelings, self-awareness, and
consciousness can’t be replicated with code. We can simulate—but not
*experience*—emotions.
- **Free will**: A human’s capacity for
unpredictability, intuition, and moral judgment doesn’t fully translate
to logic-based systems.
- **The soul** (if you're philosophically inclined): Many argue a person can’t be reduced to data and behaviors alone.
### 🛠️ What It Would Take
To even come close to cloning someone digitally or physically, you'd need:
- **Massive datasets** of their life, choices, reactions, and memories
- **Biometric and neural data**—potentially from brain scans
- **Advanced robotics** to replicate form and motion
- **Ethical boundaries** that are still hotly debated
So
we’re not there yet—and maybe we never will be in the truest sense. But
it does make for some compelling storytelling. Have you been thinking
about this as a story idea, a futuristic "what if" scenario… or
something more personal?
HOW COULD AI HELP A PERSON DO A FALSE RESURRECTION.
That’s
definitely a heavy and imaginative idea—it sounds like something right
out of a sci-fi novel or a psychological thriller. If you’re exploring
the idea of a “false resurrection,” it could tie into themes like
identity, deception, or even deepfake technology. AI could theoretically
play a role in such a narrative by recreating someone’s voice or
likeness, simulating conversations, or fabricating digital evidence. But
it’s important to tread carefully here—misleading others in real life
or manipulating truth can cross serious ethical and legal boundaries.If
you're thinking about this in a fictional context—say, for a story,
screenplay, or game—I’d love to help build that world with you! Do you
have a plot or character in mind, or are you just playing with the
concept?
Could computers and robots become conscious? If so, what happens then? By: Jonathan Strickland-robot teacher
The
advancements we've made in computer science and robotics, two young
disciplines, are impressive. Moore's Law is a good example of how
quickly things can change. Gordon Moore observed in 1965 that the number
of transistors that could fit on a silicon chip an inch (2.54
centimeters) in diameter doubled every year. That's a logarithmic growth
pattern. While computer scientists would adjust the observation by
lengthening the amount of time it takes before we can cram more
transistors onto a chip, we've still shrunk transistors down to the
nanoscale.In robotics, engineers have created machines with multiple
points of articulation. Some robots have an array of sensors that can
gather information about the environment, allowing the robot to maneuver
through a simple obstacle course. Honda's ASIMO robot can climb stairs
and run. From manufacturing to military applications, robots are making a
big impact.Though computers and robots are more advanced than ever,
they're still just tools. They can be useful, particularly for tasks
that would either be dangerous to humans or would take too long to
complete without computer assistance. But robots and computers are
unaware of their own existence and can only perform tasks for which they
were programmed.But what if they could think for themselves? It's a
common theme in science fiction. Machines become self-aware, changing
the dynamic between man and machine. Could it really happen? Whether or
not computers or robots can gain consciousness isn't as easy a question
as you might think. There is still much we don't know about human
consciousness. While programmers and computer scientists create
algorithms that can simulate thinking on a superficial level, cracking
the code necessary to give consciousness to a machine remains beyond our
grasp.Part of the problem lies with defining consciousness. Eric
Schwitzgebel, professor of philosophy at the University of California,
Riverside, suggests that the concept is best explained through examples
of what consciousness is and what it isn't. Schwitzgebel says that vivid
sensations are part of consciousness. You could argue that through
sensors, robots and computers can experience -- or at least detect --
stimuli that we would interpret as sensations. But Schwitzgebel also
points out other instances of consciousness: inner speech, visual
imagery, emotions and dreams are all elements we can experience that
machines can't.Not all philosophers agree upon what is and isn't
consciousness. At best, most agree that consciousness rests in the
brain. But we don't fully understand the mechanisms that provide
consciousness.Without this understanding, it may be impossible to endow
machines with consciousness. It's possible to create programs that mimic
thought. These programs might give a machine the ability to recognize
and respond to patterns. But ultimately, the machine isn't aware of
itself. It's simply responding to commands.Neurologists and computer
scientists could conceivably create an artificial model of a human brain
that might produce consciousness. The problem these scientists face
isn't trivial. Since we don't have a full understanding of how the brain
works, building an artificial version might not be adequate to create
actual consciousness.Despite the challenges, there are teams of
engineers and scientists around the world working toward artificial
consciousness. It remains to be seen if we'll ever achieve this goal.
But assuming we did find a way to give machines consciousness, what
happens then?Robots Are People, Too-Artificial consciousness could give
way to serious ethical questions. If machines become self-aware, could
they react in a negative way to the situation they're in? Could machines
object to being used as tools? Would they have feelings?There's a lot
of debate on the subject. Since no one has managed to create an
artificially conscious machine, it's impossible to say what features it
will and won't have. But if machines gain the ability to be
self-reflective, it could require us to reconsider the way we think
about them. At what point would a machine possess the sort of
intelligence and consciousness that would necessitate us bestowing them
legal rights? Or would machines remain tools and possibly consider
themselves to be slaves? Conscious machines form the basis of several
apocalyptic science fiction tales. Movies like "The Matrix" or "The
Terminator" envision a world in which machines have subjugated mankind.
These scenarios rely on the concept of self-recursive
improvement.Self-recursive improvement refers to the theoretical ability
of a machine to examine itself, recognize ways in which it could
improve its own design and then either tweak itself or build new and
improved versions of machines. Each generation of machines would be
smarter and better designed than the generation before. Futurist Ray
Kurzweil suggests that machines will become so adept at improving
themselves that before long we would enter an age in which technology
evolves at a blisteringly fast pace. We would have to redefine reality
because it wouldn't resemble the present at all. He calls this the
singularity.In this world, what happens to humans? In some scenarios, we
merge with machines. Artificial and real consciousness become something
entirely new. But in other scenarios, the machines come to the
conclusion that humans are no longer necessary. At best, the machines
ignore us as they continue to build more impressive technology. In the
worst case, machines wipe us out either as an act of self-preservation
or in revenge.These scenarios could all be moot -- we may never learn
the secret to creating an artificial consciousness. It could be that
consciousness is fundamentally physiological and that we can't simulate
it artificially. But just in case we do figure it all out, you may want
to be a little nicer to your computer.Learn more about artificial
intelligence by following the links on the next page.
Could AI
Become Conscious? Exploring the Line Between Science and Fiction-As
artificial intelligence continues to advance, the possibility of AI
consciousness is being taken more seriously — and the industry is
beginning to grapple with the technical and ethical questions such a
development would raise.Written by Ellen Glover-Published on May. 14,
2025-Binary code in the shape of a human head.
Artificial
intelligence outperforms human cognition in a growing number of tasks,
ranging from drug discovery to chess strategy. Some models are even
capable of “reasoning,” where they methodically break down problems and
refine their responses. As this technology becomes smarter and more
capable of actions once considered to be uniquely human, many have begun
to wonder: Could AI become conscious one day? Could AI Become
Conscious? While artificial intelligence could theoretically become
conscious one day, there is no scientific consensus on whether it’s
possible — or how it would even happen.This question is no longer just a
philosophical musing, it’s becoming a serious research topic — one that
companies like Anthropic are tackling head-on. The AI startup recently
launched a new “model welfare” initiative, aiming to help industry
leaders, policymakers and the general public prepare for the moral
implications of artificial consciousness.“Now that models can
communicate, relate, plan, problem-solve and pursue goals — along with
very many more characteristics associated with people,” the company said
in its announcement, “should we also be concerned about the potential
consciousness and experience of the models themselves?” For now, though,
most researchers agree that today’s AI systems lack the inner life
associated with conscious beings. They don’t possess self-awareness,
subjective experience or the capacity to reflect on their own existence.
And whether they ever will remains a hotly debated topic. First, What
Is Consciousness? Understanding consciousness is tricky, even in the
context of humans. On a basic level, it can be defined as the state of
being aware, whether of the self and one’s own thoughts, the external
world or both. More often than not, consciousness includes sensations,
thoughts, emotions and the ability to introspect.Philosophers,
scientists and theologians alike have been debating what it truly means
to be conscious for thousands of years. Some theories equate it with the
mind itself, others see it as just one component of a larger mental
system. Over the years, consciousness has been described as a person’s
“inner life,” a “stream” of thoughts and narratives and even one’s soul.
Today, it is often grouped with cognition, perception and higher-order
functions like metacognition, self-awareness and the awareness of
awareness itself.Measuring consciousness is just as difficult as
defining it. Scientists can infer its presence with things like brain
imaging and behavioral cues, but there is no single, definitive test or
scale that can objectively detect consciousness. We can be fairly
certain that humans and most animals are conscious because they are
awake, but beyond that, there’s no way to truly measure what it’s
actually like to be something, whether it’s a human, animal or
machine.Is AI Conscious? No matter how you slice it, the expert
consensus is that artificial intelligence does not possess
consciousness. AI has no sense of time, it doesn’t experience hunger, it
has no need to rest or reproduce. While it can generate words that
suggest it is experiencing feelings like sadness or joy, it doesn’t
actually feel anything. And any preferences or personality traits it
appears to have were intentionally trained into it by its human
developers.Nevertheless, the level of sophistication exhibited by
chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude have led some to believe they are, in
fact, capable of human-level emotions and insights. Even some AI
developers themselves have suggested as much, the most infamous example
being Blake Lemoine, a since-fired Google engineer who insisted back in
2022 that LaMDA (the large language model powering Bard, the predecessor
to Google’s Gemini bot) was sentient, which is often seen as a subset
of consciousness. Current public perception isn’t far behind: According
to a recent survey, a quarter of Gen Zers believe AI is already
conscious, and another 50 percent think it will be eventually.In some
ways, this belief isn’t all that surprising given how intimate our
relationship with this technology has gotten. AI has become our lawyer,
our therapist — and in some cases our friend or romantic partner.
Meanwhile, the internet is full of stories about chatbots threatening
users, gaslighting them and professing their love, giving the impression
it is experiencing real emotions along with us.As compelling as these
anecdotes may be, they do not prove that AI is conscious. Rather, they
simply confirm how good it is at imitating consciousness. After all,
humans have a tendency to anthropomorphize. We’ll see human-like
characteristics in everything from plants to cars. And few behaviors
trigger this reflex more than language.“We’re basically evolved to
interpret a mind behind things that say something to us. And then, if we
engage with it, we’re now entering into this co-constructed
communication, which requires that we have a ‘co’ — that there is
something on the other side of it,” Margaret Mitchell, a researcher and
chief scientist at AI company Hugging Face, previously told Built In.
“[We are] pulled into this sense of intelligence even more when we are
in dialogue because of the way our minds work, and our cognitive biases
around how language works.” Indeed, these systems can carry on
conversations all day long, complete with opinions, observations and
other “reflections of consciousness,” as computer scientist Selmer
Bringsjord once called them. But there’s still no evidence that they can
perceive the world, reflect on their own existence or comprehend that
they’re a part of something bigger.Will AI Ever Become Conscious? The
answer to whether or not AI could become conscious — and how close we
are to getting there — depends entirely on who you ask. Some seem to
wholeheartedly believe that it has already happened, others are certain
it could never happen. And there are many more spread throughout the
middle who think it is possible, but only if AI gets a lot more
technologically sophisticated.Perhaps Yes-Among the most vocal of these
believers is Kyle Fish, an alignment scientist at Anthropic, who has
researched the convergence of AI and consciousness extensively. “There’s
an idea that some of the capabilities we have as humans and that we’re
also trying to instill in many AI systems — from intelligence to certain
problem solving abilities and memory — could be intrinsically linked to
consciousness in some way,” Fish said in an interview with Anthropic
research communications lead Stuart Ritchie. “By pursuing those
capabilities and developing systems that have them, we may just
inadvertently end up with consciousness along the way.”We may be getting
closer with a couple of important aspects of consciousness: embodiment
and perception. These days, robots are often equipped with AI-powered
cameras and microphones, enabling them to see and hear their
surroundings. They can even be fixed with sensors that give them a
semblance of touch, smell and taste. By bringing all this data together,
these systems could develop a more holistic and comprehensive
understanding of the world around them, and maybe eventually develop an
objective sense of self as a result.AI’s memory is improving, too.
Today’s most advanced models can process up to a million tokens of
context in one session, allowing them to retain far more information
than ever before. They’re also getting better at “chain-of-thought”
reasoning, where they systematically break complex problems down into
smaller, more manageable steps. Eventually models could maintain
consistent memory across interactions, tracking their own logic and
acting on the experiences they’ve accumulated. In such a scenario, AI
could begin to develop something resembling a coherent sense of self —
an internal narrative in which it reflects on where it has been and
plans where it wants to go next.Meanwhile, Megan Peters, a
neuroscientist at the University of California co-authored a paper
exploring whether AI could feasibly become conscious. Alongside a team
of philosophers, computer scientists and other neuroscientists, she
identified a set of human cognitive abilities that could indicate
consciousness, and then assessed how current AI systems measured up.
While no model today meets all the criteria, the authors concluded that
future systems might.Of course, this is speculative, as it assumes that
the list of indicators laid out in the report is correct and complete.
“This is meant to be presented as, almost assuredly, incomplete,” Peters
previously told Built In. “Not just incomplete, but that some of the
indicator properties might end up not being part of the equation at
all.”Perhaps Not-But for every person out there who believes artificial
consciousness is on the horizon, there’s another insisting that it is
totally impossible. Many researchers argue that consciousness is
inherently biological, arising from the complex interplay of
neurotransmitters, electrochemical signals and even the microtubules
within our neurons — things that would be quite difficult (if not
impossible) to replicate with silicon and code.“The contents of
consciousness, or qualia, are correlates of discriminations made within
this neural system,” researchers at the Neuroscience Institute, wrote in
a 2011 paper. “These discriminations are made possible by perceptions,
motor activity and memories — all of which shape, and are shaped, by the
activity-dependent modulations of neural connectivity and synaptic
efficacies that occur as an animal interacts with its world.”For those
in this camp, the current wave of hype around AI and consciousness is
not just premature, it’s misleading. They argue that framing today’s AI
systems as anything close to conscious only fuels public
misunderstanding and serves more as marketing than science. “There’s
vast amounts of money involved in AI, and that hasn’t always been the
case,” Mark Bishop, a professor emeritus of cognitive computing
Goldsmiths, University of London, previously told Built In. “We’re
living in a massive hype cycle where people, for commercial reasons,
grossly over-inflate what these systems can do.”What If AI Does Become
Conscious? Even if artificial consciousness does come to pass,
acceptance will likely take a while. After all, the scientific community
is only just now coming to terms with the fact animals have
consciousness, too. So it may be a long time before we’re able to
recognize it in machines.Once we do though, it could be an ethics
minefield. If we create a machine that we know feels fear, sadness,
boredom or any other emotion, how should we treat it? What
responsibilities would we have toward its well-being? Would it deserve
the same rights as humans? Would we treat it like an animal in a zoo? In
general, how would the expectations around how we speak to or treat AI
need to change? The ultimate fear, of course, is that if conscious
machines suffer, they might eventually resent us for it. Some worry such
systems could go rogue and take over the world, either enslaving or
outright killing the people who built them. Or they may simply choose to
leave humanity altogether and explore the universe, computer scientist
Roman Yampolskiy told Built In, leaving our inferior, far less
interesting world behind.Regardless of how things unfold, the
possibilities are endless. Conscious machines could revolutionize
science, expand human understanding or form entirely new kinds of
societies. Whether they become friends, foes or something altogether
unexpected, one thing is for certain: Their emergence would change the
course of human history forever.Frequently Asked Questions-Is there any
AI that is conscious? No, today’s AI systems cannot be considered
conscious, as they lack self-awareness, subjective experience and an
understanding of their own existence. Even the most advanced models are
only capable of mimicking aspects of human cognition, not totally
replicating them.How to test if AI has consciousness? At the moment,
there is no definitive way to test whether AI has consciousness. But
researchers across disciplines ranging from philosophy to computer
science are actively exploring frameworks to do so. Still, without a
universally accepted way to identify or measure consciousness in
general, this remains an open and highly debated field.Can you give AI
consciousness? This is a question many researchers are trying to answer,
but to date no one has quite figured it out. While some theorize that
consciousness could eventually emerge from a complex enough system, we
have not yet figured out a way to embed true self-awareness or
subjective experience int
What NYC mayoral
frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has said about Jews and Israel-From
supporting BDS and declining to condemn the term ‘globalize the
intifada,’ to denouncing rising antisemitism, the 33-year-old has a long
and highly controversial history-By Gabe Friedman Today, 4:32 pm-JUL
2,25
New York Jewish Week — Though he was elected to represent
Astoria, Queens, in New York’s State Assembly, Zohran Mamdani — who last
week pulled off a stunning upset in New York City’s mayoral primary —
has called the Palestinian cause “central to my identity,” both in and
out of politics.Mamdani consistently and proudly associates with the
pro-Palestinian movement in high-profile settings across New York City.
Take Saturday night, for instance, when he took the stage with Mahmoud
Khalil, the pro-Palestinian protest leader who was detained by the Trump
administration, at comedian Ramy Youssef’s show at the Beacon Theater
on the Upper West Side.So it’s no surprise that as Mamdani aims to
become mayor of New York — the city with the largest Jewish population
in the world — Jewish New Yorkers are closely scrutinizing what he has
said about Jews, Israel and the conflict in the Middle East.Below is a
roundup of what Mamdani has said on a range of Israel and Jewish-related
topics in a variety of interviews that have made headlines.Israel’s
right to exist-During the long mayoral primary campaign, Mamdani
repeatedly said that Israel has a right to exist. But he usually
qualifies that statement by adding that Israel is flouting its
responsibilities under international law, based on its treatment of
Palestinians.He has also been asked if Israel has a right to exist as a
Jewish state. As he stated at a town hall in May with the UJA-Federation
of New York, co-moderated by the New York Jewish Week’s Lisa Keys: It
should exist “with equal rights for all.”He later said on a local Fox
channel’s morning show: “I’m not comfortable supporting any state that
has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything
else.”The BDS movement against Israel-As he said at the UJA-Federation
town hall, Mamdani supports the BDS movement, which lobbies for an
economic and cultural boycott of Israel. Pro-Israel groups have fought a
decades-long battle to marginalize the movement, which its critics say
seeks the eradication of Israel as a Jewish state.“My support for BDS is
consistent with the core of my politics, which is nonviolence. And I
think that it is a legitimate movement when you are seeking to find
compliance with international law,” he said.Academic boycott of Israeli
universities-While a student at Bowdoin College — where he co-founded
the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter — Mamdani agreed
with the American Studies Association’s boycott of Israeli academic
institutions in 2014.“Israeli universities are both actively and
passively complicit in the crimes of both the Israeli military and the
Israeli government in all its settler-colonial forms,” Mamdani wrote in
an op-ed in the school’s student newspaper, published in 2014, the year
he graduated. “Israeli universities give priority admission to soldiers,
discriminate against Palestinian students, and have developed
remote-controlled bulldozers for the Israeli Army’s home demolitions.”He
added that the boycott “is decidedly not aimed at individual
persons.”“In other words, a professor from the University of Tel Aviv
[sic] can still present research at an ASA conference, provided that he
or she does so as an individual scholar and not expressly as a
representative of Israeli academic institutions or of the Israeli
government,” Mamdani wrote.October 7 and the war in Gaza-Mamdani’s first
statement about the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern
Israel, which he issued the next day, expressed mourning for “the
hundreds of people killed across Israel and Palestine in the last 36
hours.”Mamdani added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
“declaration of war” will “undoubtedly lead to more violence and
suffering… The path toward a just and lasting peace can only begin by
ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.”Since then, Mamdani has
consistently referred to Israel’s retaliatory actions in Gaza as a
“genocide” — a word he had used to describe previous Israeli military
conflicts long before October 7. (More on that below.) He has also said
that the United States, through its support of Israel, is “subsidizing a
genocide.” Israel denies it is carrying out a genocide.At a rally in
Times Square on October 8, 2023, some local members of the Democratic
Socialists of America — of which Mamdani is a member — celebrated the
Hamas terror group, which led the slaughter of some 1,200 Israelis, most
of them civilians, and abducted hundreds more on October 7. Mamdani
condemned the rally on October 10, telling Politico: “My support for
Palestinian liberation should never be confused for a celebration of the
loss of civilian life. I condemn the killing of civilians and rhetoric
at a rally seeking to make light of such deaths.”Attacks on Jews in
Washington, DC, and Colorado-Mamdani also condemned the shooting outside
of the Capital Jewish Museum in May that killed two staffers working at
the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC.“My thoughts are with the victims
and their families — as well as all those who must contend with the
appalling rise in antisemitic violence,” he wrote in a statement on X.He
also condemned the firebombing of an event in Boulder for Israeli
hostages, and he again commented on it on Monday, after the death of a
woman injured in the incident — including in his statement a phrase
often used by Jews after the death of a loved one.“I am heartbroken by
the news from Colorado where Karen Diamond, a victim of the vicious
attack earlier this month, has passed away,” he wrote on X. “May Karen’s
memory be a blessing and a reminder that we must constantly work to
eradicate hatred and violence.”Tackling antisemitism-On the campaign
trail, Mamdani has stated that he wants to work to combat hate crimes
across New York City, including those on Jews.Just before the primary,
he appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” alongside Brad
Lander, a Jewish progressive who finished third in the ranked-choice
primary; the two had cross-endorsed each other in the race. In the
appearance, Mamdani claimed that the city is experiencing a “crisis of
antisemitism” and said that he would like to create a Department of
Community Safety that would focus on anti-hate programming.“Antisemitism
is not simply something that we should talk about — it’s something that
we have to tackle,” he said on the show. “We have to make clear there’s
no room for it in this city, in this country.”In the UJA-Federation
town hall, Mamdani also said that he would be “proud” to appoint a
senior adviser to tackle antisemitism in New York.The phrase ‘Globalize
the intifada’Mamdani has in multiple interviews declined to condemn the
term “globalize the intifada,” a phrase used by many in the
pro-Palestinian movement on college campuses and beyond. The word
“intifada” directly translates to “shaking off,” but most Jews associate
it with two violent Palestinian uprisings, which led to many deadly
terrorist attacks across Israel from the late 1980s to the early
2000s.When asked about the phrase earlier this month, Mamdani said, “The
role of the mayor is not to police language.” New York Sen. Kirsten
Gillibrand strongly rebuked Mamdani on the topic. (Notably, Jewish
pro-Israel politicians such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jerry Nadler
have both praised Mamdani since his primary win.)On Sunday, he clarified
that the term is “not language that I use,” but still declined to
disavow it.“The language that I use and the language that I will
continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my
intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human
rights,” Mamdani said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”Mamdani used similar
language in an interview with The Bulwark posted on June 17. That led
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, to write in a
post on X, “Globalize the Intifada is an explicit call for violence.
Globalize the Intifada celebrates and glorifies savagery and terror.”The
Holocaust -While Mamdani has commemorated the Holocaust on social
media, he took heat for declining to sign onto a resolution
memorializing the genocide in the state assembly in May.“He absolutely
supports the Holocaust Memorial Day resolution,” campaign spokesperson
Andrew Epstein said at the time. “He had to narrow down the capacity”
during a busy campaign season, Epstein added.Mamdani said in the
UJA-Federation town hall that he would like to see more Holocaust
education in New York City schools.Hasan Piker interview-In April,
Mamdani sat for a three-hour interview with popular Twitch streamer
Hasan Piker, who has repeatedly called Orthodox Jews “inbred,” compared
Israelis to the Ku Klux Klan, and defended Hamas’s massacre at the
Supernova music festival during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, in which
Palestinian terrorists killed hundreds of Israelis and committed
widespread sexual assault. On one of his shows, Piker told off a
listener who condemned the massacre, saying “Bloodthirsty violent pig
dog, suck my d***.”A number of progressive politicians, including Reps.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California, have
also appeared with Piker. When asked about Piker, Mamdani said, “I am
willing to speak to each and every person about this
campaign.”Uncivilised.media interview-This week, a video of Mamdani
speaking in Queens in 2023 went viral, thanks in part to Texas Rep.
Brandon Gill, who criticized Mamdani for eating food with his hands in
the video. “If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third
World,” Gill wrote on X on Sunday.Similar videos attacking Mamdani led
one Jewish group, the Nexus Project, to object that many of Mamdani’s
critics are “trafficking in Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia, and
distorting our broader political discourse.”In the video, an interview
with activist network Uncivilised.media, Mamdani sheds more light on his
views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The son of two India-born
parents — filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood
Mamdani — the candidate spent his early years in Uganda and South Africa
before migrating to the US at the age of 7.“Specifically growing up in
South Africa post-apartheid, it felt as if one of the most natural
things to wear around my body was a keffiyeh,” he says, referencing the
scarf that Palestinians have long worn and which has since become a
symbol of resistance to Israel.In the interview, Mamdani calls
discussing Palestinian issues “entirely taboo” in US politics and
criticizes PEPs — politicians who he says are “progressive except for
Palestine.”He also says that he believes the US has put Palestinian
lives “in jeopardy” for “decades.”Arresting Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu“As mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu,”
Mamdani said to former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan in December. “This is a
city that our values are in line with international law.”Earlier this
month, he said the same thing at B’nai Jeshurun, a large synagogue in
Manhattan.“My answer is the same whether we are speaking about Vladimir
Putin or Netanyahu,” he said. “I think that this should be a city that
is in compliance with international law.”The International Criminal
Court, headquartered in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for
Netanyahu — along with former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant and
Hamas commander Mohammed Deif — in November, accusing him of war crimes.
Given that the United States is not a party to the ICC, it would be
highly unlikely that the mayor of New York would be able to arrest
Netanyahu.The Holy Land Five-Before his political career, Mamdani
released rap songs under the monikers Young Cardamom and, later, Mr.
Cardamom.In one 2017 song, “Salam,” he praised the “Holy Land Five” —
the heads of a former Islamic charity organization founded in the US who
were convicted of aiding Hamas. In 2001, the US government designated
the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development a terrorist
organization and seized its assets; some have argued that the trial was
based on “hearsay” evidence.“My love to the Holy Land Five. You better
look ’em up,” Mamdani raps in the track.-The ‘Not On Our Dime!’ act-The
Holy Land Five story concerned foreign funding of players in the Middle
East conflict. Mamdani may have drawn a lesson from the case: He is the
lead sponsor of the “Not On Our Dime!: Ending New York funding of
Israeli settler violence act,” which he proposed in the New York State
Assembly in May 2023. Its stated goal is to “prohibit not-for-profit
corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement
activity.”Sixty-six lawmakers, a majority of the Democratic state
caucus, signed onto a letter condemning the proposal. “Its purpose is to
attack Jewish organizations that have wide-ranging missions from
feeding the poor to providing emergency medical care for victims of
terrorism to clothing orphans,” the letter read.As Politico reported,
Mamdani highlighted the act in campaign pamphlets during the primary
campaign.
2,000 new immigrants among 10,000 Israelis still
displaced after war, MK says-Warning messages were translated, visas
were extended, and immigration flights have resumed, officials tell a
Knesset committee meeting on immigrant assistance during the Iran war-By
Zev Stub-Today, 5:13 pm-JUL 2,25
Some 10,000 Israelis still
remain displaced from their homes due to rocket damage sustained during
Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, including about 2,000 new immigrants,
Labor MK Gilad Kariv told a meeting of the Knesset’s Immigration,
Absorption and Diaspora Committee Wednesday.While all Israelis suffered
during the war, “it is important to consider the unique needs of the
immigrants who have been affected and to make information accessible to
them in the right way,” Kariv said at the meeting, which focused on the
particular needs of immigrants in the aftermath of Israel’s preemptive
strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.Kariv commended the Home Front
Command for translating advanced warning notices for incoming rockets to
English, Arabic and Russian. He requested that they also be translated
into Amharic, French and Spanish.Safety instructions from the Defense
Ministry were translated into 14 languages during the war, and essential
instruction packets are now also being distributed in several
languages, a representative from the ministry added.Israelis who were
evacuated from their homes are entitled to stay in hotels until July 20,
Tax Authority officials said. The Tax Authority is working to establish
an exceptions committee that would allow those with unique cases to
extend their stays, they added.Many of the buildings and houses that
suffered direct damage were in residential areas populated by new
immigrants, Kariv noted.Some 50,000 claims for property damage totaling
NIS 5 billion ($1.47 billion) are expected to be filed for the 12-day
operation, around twice the total value of all damage claims since the
war with the Hamas terror group started on October 7, 2023, the head of
the Tax Authority’s compensation department said last week.Visas for
non-Israeli residents that were nearing expiration have been
automatically extended through September 30, said Natalie Or-Chen,
deputy administration director at the Population and Immigration
Authority. People whose appointments at the ministry were canceled
during the war at one of its branches, including one in Haifa that was
damaged by missile fire, will be contacted in order of urgency, she
said.The Immigration and Absorption Ministry is reaching out to new
immigrants who were evacuated or harmed during the military operation,
and is currently helping 235 immigrant families file the documentation
to receive government reparations for damages to their property,
including 25 Ethiopian families, said ministry representative Shir
Galili.Despite delays caused by the war, flights are still being
organized for anyone who wants to immigrate to Israel, Galili
added.Those whose immigration had to be postponed due to the war have
been contacted to reschedule, said Shimon Shamila, operations manager
for immigration at the Jewish Agency.“We are doing everything we can to
make information about immigration accessible, even in countries where
it is problematic to do so openly,” Shamila said. “It is time to bring
as many immigrants to Israel as possible.”Kariv and other participants
said it is important that information about future military operations
remains accessible for immigrants in numerous languages.“Most immigrants
who were damaged during Operation Rising Lion are not sufficiently
aware of the options for exercising their rights,” noted Histadrut
national labor federation representative Alex Miller. He added that the
Histadrut’s help hotline is available for all immigrants, not only union
members.
Israel army says intercepted missile launched from Yemen.
Jerusalem,
July 1 (AFP) Jul 01, 2025-Israel's military said it intercepted a
missile launched from Yemen on Tuesday, after air raid sirens sounded in
several areas including Jerusalem."Following the sirens that sounded a
short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched
from Yemen was intercepted" by the Israeli air force, an army statement
said.Following the interception, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz
said that "Yemen will be treated like Tehran," an apparent reference to
the recent 12-day war between Israel and Iran in which Israel pummelled
Iranian military and nuclear sites, as well as targets in the
capital."After striking the head of the snake in Tehran, we will also
strike the Huthis in Yemen. Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will
have their hand cut off," Katz said, according to a statement from his
office.Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels have launched repeated missile
and drone attacks against Israel since their Palestinian ally Hamas's
October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.On Saturday, the
Huthis said they fired a ballistic missile towards Israel in response to
Israel's conduct towards Palestinians during the Gaza war.It was the
first missile launch against Israel announced by the Huthis since the
June 24 ceasefire between Israel and Iran which ended their 12-day
war.The Huthis, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians,
paused their attacks during a two-month ceasefire in Gaza that ended in
March, but renewed them after Israel resumed its offensive.Israel has
carried out several retaliatory strikes in Yemen, targeting Huthi-held
ports and the airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa.
Anxious residents re-emerge after Mali jihadist attacks.
Bamako,
July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-People in towns in western Mali where
jihadists attacked army sites a day earlier were afraid but went about
their business Wednesday following the major assault which killed a
civilian.Jihadist fighters staged early-morning strikes on military
positions in seven towns or cities Tuesday, in the third large-scale
attack on the Malian army in a month.A source in the governor's office
in the city of Kayes told AFP the places hit -- Kayes, Nioro du Sahel,
Niono, Molodo, Sandare, Gogui and Diboli -- were calm on Wednesday."The
governor's residence was attacked by the jihadists. There was some
damage but today the city is calm," the source said."The situation is
calm in the other towns but according to the information coming back,
the people are afraid," the source added.A hospital source in Kayes, the
main city in the western region, said a civilian, who had been admitted
to hospital following the attacks, had died."More than 10 seriously
injured people are admitted here and are receiving treatment," the
source said, adding most were civilians and one a soldier.In Nioro du
Sahel, "calm returned on Wednesday morning", a shop owner who had opened
for business told AFP."Yesterday we were really afraid... This morning,
people are going about their business, but everyone is talking about
nothing but this attack."- Curfew -A regional elected official also said
the situation was "calm everywhere", but added: "The jihadists caused
damage" in several places.An Al-Qaeda-linked group known by its Arabic
initials, JNIM, claimed responsibility.AFP was unable to independently
verify the claim.The series of assaults came on the heels of two major
attacks claimed by jihadists.On June 2, a coordinated assault targeted
an army camp in the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali's north, as well as
its airport.That attack took place a day after a bloody raid killed at
least 30 soldiers in the centre of the country.Mali's army said late
Tuesday the jihadists had suffered "big losses" and that "more than 80
terrorists" were "neutralised", a loose term that could mean killed or
captured.An overnight curfew was imposed for 30 days and people and
transport face restrictions in the Kayes region."In Kayes, the city is
calm and tense at the same time," a resident told AFP, speaking on
condition of anonymity due to security concerns.People had already
hunkered down at home late Tuesday even before the curfew was announced,
the resident said."All we could hear were the patrols moving around the
city. This morning, insecurity is certainly at the centre of everyone's
discussions, but people are going about their business," the resident
added.Since 2012, Mali has been battling an Islamist insurgency that
erupted in the north of the vast nation, swept the country and spilled
over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.Violence by groups
affiliated to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as well as separatist
movements and criminal gangs has plunged the junta-led west African
country into a deep security crisis.The three Sahel states' military
juntas pledged during the coups that brought them to power to make
security a priority.But they are struggling to contain the advance by
the jihadists, who have recently intensified their offensives against
the armies in the three countries.lar-str-sd-lp/sjd/kjm/jhb
Iran
suspends co-operation with UN nuclear watchdog-Israel's foreign minister
slams the move-The Associated Press · Posted: Jul 02, 2025 9:38 AM EDT
|
A cleanshaven older man with thinning grey hair speaks into a
microphone. A dark haired man with sunglasses and facial hair stands
behind him, and a green and red flag is shown.Iran's president on
Wednesday ordered the country to suspend its co-operation with the
International Atomic Energy Agency after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes hit
its most-important nuclear facilities, likely further limiting the
ability of inspectors to track Tehran's program that had been enriching
uranium to near weapons-grade levels.The order by President Masoud
Pezeshkian included no timetables or details about what that suspension
would entail.Iranian state television announced President Masoud
Pezeshkian's order, which followed a law passed by Iran's parliament to
suspend that co-operation. The bill already received the approval of
Iran's constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, on Thursday, and
likely the support of the country's Supreme National Security Council,
which Pezeshkian chairs.There were no timetables or details given about
what the suspension would entail."The government is mandated to
immediately suspend all co-operation with the International Atomic
Energy Agency under the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear
Weapons and its related Safeguards Agreement," state television quoted
the bill as saying. "This suspension will remain in effect until certain
conditions are met, including the guaranteed security of nuclear
facilities and scientists."It wasn't immediately clear what that would
mean for the Vienna-based IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog. The agency has
long monitored Iran's nuclear program and said that it was waiting for
an official communication from Iran on what the suspension meant.A
ceasefire between Israel and Iran — brokered, according to the White
House, by President Donald Trump — remains in place for now, silencing
nearly two weeks of missile attacks. Andrew Chang breaks down key points
in the timeline of what Trump has called the '12 Day War' to explain
why all three countries are claiming victories. Images provided by Getty
Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters.Iran's decision drew an
immediate condemnation from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar."Iran
has just issued a scandalous announcement about suspending its
co-operation with the IAEA," he said in an X post. "This is a complete
renunciation of all its international nuclear obligations and
commitments." AnalysisWorld leaders are arguing over the damage to
Iran's nuclear sites. But where is its enriched uranium? Saar urged
European nations that were part of the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal
with Iran to implement its so-called snapback clause. That would
reimpose all UN sanctions on it originally lifted by Tehran's nuclear
deal with world powers, if one of its Western parties declares the
Islamic Republic is out of compliance with it.Israel is widely believed
to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, and the IAEA
doesn't have access to its weapons-related facilities.Inspections scaled
back after 2018-Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to allow the IAEA even
greater access to its nuclear program. That included permanently
installing cameras and sensors at nuclear sites. Those cameras, inside
of metal housings sprayed with a special blue paint that shows any
attempt to tamper with it, took still images of sensitive sites.Other
devices, known as online enrichment monitors, measured the uranium
enrichment level at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.The IAEA also
regularly sent inspectors into Iranian sites to conduct surveys,
sometimes collecting environmental samples with cotton clothes and swabs
that would be tested at IAEA labs back in Austria. Others monitor
Iranian sites via satellite images. U.S. President Donald Trump, in his
first term in 2018, unilaterally withdrew Washington from the accord,
insisting it wasn't tough enough and didn't address Iran's missile
program or its support for militant groups in the wider Middle East.In
the years since that decision, Iran has limited IAEA inspections and
stopped the agency from accessing camera footage. It has also removed
cameras. At one point, Iran accused an IAEA inspector of testing
positive for explosive nitrates, something the agency disputed.Damage
assessment at sites continues-The IAEA has engaged in years of
negotiations with Iran to restore full access for its inspectors. While
Tehran hasn't granted that, it also hasn't entirely thrown inspectors
out. Analysts view this as part of Iran's wider strategy to use its
nuclear program as a bargaining chip with the West.Iran's 2015 nuclear
deal allowed Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67 per cent — enough to fuel a
nuclear power plant, but far below the threshold of 90 per cent needed
for weapons-grade uranium. It also drastically reduced Iran's stockpile
of uranium, limited its use of centrifuges and relied on the IAEA to
oversee Tehran's compliance through additional oversight.Satellite
images from several days apart are shown side by side of a remote
facility site in a mountainous region.In May, reports from the IAEA
indicated that Iran had been enriching up to 60 per cent. It also has
enough of a stockpile to build multiple nuclear bombs, should it choose
to do so. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful
purposes.Israel began a sustained campaign of airstrikes on Iranian
targets on June 13, which included its nuclear sites, as well as
targeting several of the country's physicists and scientists who were
alleged to have worked on the nuclear program. Days later, the U.S.
participated in the military campaign with strikes on the Fordow,
Natanza and Isfahan nuclear sites, with American B-2 bombers using
bunker-buster bombs at Fordow, a site built under a mountain about 100
kilometres southwest of Tehran.Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC
analyzed by The Associated Press show Iranian officials at Fordow on
Monday likely examining the damage. Trucks could be seen in the images,
as well as at least one crane and an excavator at tunnels on the site.
Iran open to talks at some point-Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
told CBS News in an interview published Tuesday that its facilities had
been "heavily and seriously damaged," but that "no one exactly knows
that transpired at Fordow."The strikes followed several rounds of talks
between Washington and Tehran officials over a period of months toward a
new nuclear deal. Araghchi told CBS "the doors of diplomacy will never
slam shut," with the U.S.A graphic that shows a map with the text
'Operation Midnight Hammer' and the labels 'Fordow,' 'Natanz' and
'Isfahan.'As Iran was bombarded for nearly two weeks, it fired more than
550 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation, killing 28 people.Iran
has said the Israeli attacks killed 935 "Iranian citizens," including
38 children and 102 women. However, Iran has a long history of offering
lower death counts around unrest over political considerations.The
Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, which has provided
detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, has
put the death toll at 1,190 people killed, including 436 civilians and
435 security force members. The attacks wounded another 4,475 people,
the group said.
Dalai Lama says he will have successor after his death.
McLeod
Ganj, India, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-The Dalai Lama said Wednesday
that the 600-year-old Tibetan spiritual institution would continue after
his death, reassuring Buddhist followers around the globe and saying
his office "exclusively" would name his successor, even as China
insisted it would.Followers of the Dalai Lama laud his tireless campaign
for greater autonomy for Tibet, a vast high-altitude plateau in China
about the size of South Africa.It is a landmark decision for Tibetans,
many of whom had feared a future without a leader, as well as for global
supporters who see the Dalai Lama as a symbol of non-violence,
compassion and the enduring struggle for Tibetan cultural identity under
Chinese rule.According to Tibetans, Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th
reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.He and thousands of other Tibetans have
lived in exile in India since Chinese troops crushed an uprising in the
Tibetan capital Lhasa in 1959.The charismatic Nobel Peace Prize-winning
Buddhist had previously said the institution of Dalai Lama would
continue only if there was popular demand.He said Wednesday he had
received multiple appeals over the past 14 years from the Tibetan
diaspora, Buddhists from across the Himalayan region, Mongolia and parts
of Russia and China, "earnestly requesting that the institution of the
Dalai Lama continue"."In particular, I have received messages through
various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal," he said
in a video broadcast at the start of a meeting of religious leaders in
the Indian Himalayan town where he has lived for decades."In accordance
with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the
Dalai Lama will continue," he added, according to an official
translation.The announcement was made ahead of his 90th birthday on July
6.- 'Historic' -While China condemns him as a rebel and separatist, the
internationally recognised Dalai Lama describes himself as a "simple
Buddhist monk".Many exiled Tibetans fear China will name its own
successor to bolster control over a territory it poured troops into in
1950.But the Dalai Lama said Wednesday that responsibility for
identifying the 15th Dalai Lama "will rest exclusively" with the
India-based Gaden Phodrang Trust, the office of the Dalai Lama.Samdhong
Rinpoche, a senior Tibetan leader from the Gaden Phodrang Trust, told
reporters that the Dalai Lama was "in excellent health" and that, at
this time, there were "no further instructions for succession".However,
Rinpoche said the next Dalai Lama could be of "any nationality", and
would come from a place where there is "access to freedom".China said on
Wednesday that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama "must be approved by
the central government" in Beijing, and that it would be carried out
"by drawing lots from a golden urn", foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao
Ning told reporters.That urn is held by Beijing, and the Dalai Lama has
already warned that, when used dishonestly, it lacks "any spiritual
quality".The Dalai Lama handed over political authority in 2011 to an
exiled government chosen democratically by 130,000 Tibetans globally.At
the same time, he warned that the future of his spiritual post faced an
"obvious risk of vested political interests misusing the reincarnation
system".In 1995, Beijing selected a Panchen Lama, another influential
Tibetan religious figure, and detained a Dalai Lama-recognised
six-year-old, described by rights groups as the world's youngest
political prisoner.The Dalai Lama's announcement about the continuation
of the role was welcomed with relief by Tibetans, including by Jigme
Taydeh, a civil servant with the India-based Tibetan government."Whilst
we rejoice at this confirmation of its continuation, we stringently
object to China's interference and plans to install a puppet Dalai
Lama", he said. "Neither the Tibetans nor the world would recognise such
mischief."burs-pjm/lb
EU presses China to stop 'harming European security.
Brussels,
Belgium, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas
on Wednesday urged Beijing to stop undermining Europe's security, as
China's top diplomat held talks in Brussels ahead of a leaders' summit
later this month."China is not our adversary, but on security our
relationship is under increasing strain," Kallas said ahead of meeting
China's Wang Yi."Chinese companies are Moscow's lifeline to sustain its
war against Ukraine. Beijing carries out cyberattacks, interferes with
our democracies, and trades unfairly. These actions harm European
security and jobs."Wang's visit to Brussels -- following which he will
head to Berlin and Paris -- comes some three weeks ahead of a summit
between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the EU's top officials in
Beijing.As US President Donald Trump has rocked the major trading powers
by unleashing a tariff war, the EU has opened the door to improving
ties with China.But instead of improvements, a trade spat has only
deepened between Brussels and Beijing over alleged unfair practices by
China.And the 27-nation bloc is still railing against the flow of vital
tech to Russia's military via China."Enabling war in Europe while
seeking closer ties with Europe is a contradiction Beijing must
address," Kallas said."In a volatile world, Beijing should use its
growing strength to uphold international law."In an effort to pressure
Beijing, the EU has slapped bans on trading with a raft of Chinese firms
accused of aiding Moscow's war effort.But EU officials admit they have
failed to shift Beijing from what it sees as its vital strategic
partnership with Moscow.
Hiroshima mayor urges Trump visit after A-bomb comments.
Tokyo,
July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-Donald Trump should visit Hiroshima to see
the effects of nuclear weapons, the Japanese city's mayor said Wednesday
after the US president likened the 1945 atomic bombings to recent air
strikes on Iran."It seems to me that he does not fully understand the
reality of the atomic bombings, which, if used, take the lives of many
innocent citizens, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, and
threaten the survival of the human race," Mayor Kazumi Matsui told
reporters."I wish that President Trump would visit the bombed area to
see the reality of the atomic bombing and feel the spirit of Hiroshima,
and then make statements," Kazumi said.The United States dropped an
atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and then another on Nagasaki
three days later. Shortly afterwards, Japan surrendered, ending World
War II.Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and about 74,000 others
in Nagasaki, including many from the effects of radiation exposure. It
was the only time that atomic weapons were used in warfare.On June 22,
following days of Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, the United
States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities.Soon afterwards, Iran and
Israel agreed a ceasefire, ending their 12-day war."I don't want to use
an example of Hiroshima, I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki, but
that was essentially the same thing," Trump said last Wednesday."That
ended that war and this ended (this war)," Trump said at a NATO summit
in The Hague.His comments prompted anger from survivors and a small
demonstration in Hiroshima. Last week, the city's assembly passed a
motion condemning remarks that justify the use of atomic bombs.Japan's
atomic bomb survivors' group Nihon Hidankyo won the Nobel Peace Prize
last year, and while accepting the prize, called on countries to abolish
the weapons.
US halting some shipments of military aid to Ukraine.
Washington,
July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-The White House said Tuesday it is halting
some key weapons shipments to Ukraine that were promised under the Biden
administration for Kyiv's battle against the Russian invasion.Stopping
the delivery of munitions and other military aid including air defense
systems likely would be a blow to Ukraine as it contends with some of
Russia's largest missile and drone attacks of the three-year-old
war."This decision was made to put America's interests first following a
DOD (Department of Defense) review of our nation's military support and
assistance to other countries across the globe," White House Deputy
Press Secretary Anna Kelly told AFP in an email.The curtailment of
military aid signals a possible shift in the priorities of US President
Donald Trump, who has pressed for Russia and Ukraine to speed up stalled
peace talks.The Republican has moved on to playing a greater role in
orchestrating a possible ceasefire in Gaza and toning down Iran-Israel
tensions after a deadly 12-day conflict between the arch foes.The
Pentagon review determined that stocks had become too low on some
previously pledged munitions, and that some pending shipments now would
not be sent, said a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity,
according to Politico, which first reported the halt of military
aid."The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned
-- just ask Iran," Kelly said, making a reference to the recent US
bombings and missile strikes against the Islamic republic's nuclear
facilities.Politico and other US media reported that missiles for
Patriot air defense systems, precision artillery and Hellfire missiles
are among the items being held back.Michael McFaul, who was the US
ambassador to Russia from 2012 until just before the Crimea conflict
began in 2014, said on X: "The Trump administration is even stopping
delivery of Patriots? So disgusting and embarrassing as the 'leader of
the free world.' I guess we are done with that."Last week at a NATO
summit in the Netherlands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met
with Trump and appeared to get a vague response from the US leader on
Patriot air defense systems."We're going to see if we can make some
available," Trump said of the missiles that Kyiv desperately seeks to
shoot down Russian attacks."They're very hard to get," Trump added.-
Thousands of drones -A Russian drone attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv region
killed one person and wounded another, its governor said early
Wednesday.The attack follows Ukrainian drone strikes which killed three
people and wounded dozens in the Russian city of Izhevsk on Tuesday,
striking more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the front line --
one of the deepest attacks inside Russia to date.An AFP analysis
published Tuesday found that Russia dramatically ramped up aerial
attacks in June, firing thousands of drones as Ukraine's stretched air
defense systems and exhausted civilian population felt the Kremlin's
increased pressure.An April report from the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that Ukraine is being outgunned
by Russia, despite spending more of its GDP on defense than any other
country in the world.Ukraine's military expenditure in 2024 was $64.7
billion, SIPRI said, and Kyiv has relied heavily on its allies in Europe
and the United States for weapons and aid.Russian leader Vladimir Putin
blamed the West for fanning the flames of war with that support,
telling French president Emmanuel Macron Tuesday that the West has "for
many years ignored Russia's security interests."The White House's tone
has openly shifted on Ukraine with the Trump presidency.Back in 2022,
then president Joe Biden affectionately embraced Zelensky at the White
House as his administration announced another $2 billion in weapons for
Ukraine.During Zelensky's Washington visit earlier this year, he was
belittled on-camera by Trump and Vice President JD Vance during an Oval
Office meeting, who ganged up to accuse the Ukrainian leader of
ingratitude.Asked by AFP for comment on the halt of shipments and why it
was occurring, the Pentagon did not respond directly.But its chief
spokesman Sean Parnell said "America's military has never been more
ready and more capable thanks to President Trump and Secretary (Pete)
Hegseth's leadership."
Is Canada beating ploughshares into swords
with its NATO 5% pledge? Not likely-Government has levers it can pull
in times of urgency-Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: Jul 02, 2025
4:00 AM EDT |
By anyone's measure, $150 billion a year is an
eye-watering amount of money to spend on anything — let alone
defence.While it pales in comparison to the inflation-adjusted
appropriations of the Second World War, it is potentially, for this
generation, the very definition of beating ploughshares into swords.Or
is it? Following all of the political sound and fury and sticker shock
of last week's NATO summit in The Hague, the question of what Prime
Minister Mark Carney's government wants to accomplish with all of that
money — on an annual basis — is coming into even sharper focus.On the
surface, the Liberals have pledged to quickly and efficiently rearm the
Canadian military."We are protecting Canadians against new threats. I
wish we didn't have to, but we do have to and it is our core
responsibility as government," Carney said at the summit."The people who
have been making sacrifices have been the men and women of the Canadian
Armed Forces because they have not been paid to reflect what we are
asking them to do. They haven't been operating with the right equipment
in many cases."We're making up for that."As Prime Minister Mark Carney
commits to meet the new NATO spending target of five per cent of GDP by
2035, former vice-chief of the defence staff Guy Thibault tells Power
& Politics he supports upping Canada's defence spending but warns
the government should focus on improving procurement and supporting
Canadian Forces personnel.But the reflex is strong within federal
institutions to use military procurement as a tool of economic
development. It has been thus for decades.At the same time, we keep
getting told — by the prime minister nonetheless — that we are in
extraordinary times and a "national emergency."Much was made, both in
the run-up and in the aftermath of the NATO summit, about the signing of
a security and defence industry partnership between Canada and the
European Union. Politically, it has been cast since last spring's
election as a vehicle — if not the vehicle — to realize rearmament.There
are a few steps to go before Canada can unlock the potential of buying
military equipment in bulk with its allies. But when you look at the
framework of the partnership, the rearmament potential is dwarfed by the
economic opportunity for Canadian defence contractors to sell into
Europe under the $1.25-trillion ReArm Europe plan.The approach seems to
be that Canada wants both its guns and butter. Neither, outside great
wars of the last century, has ever been mutually exclusive and they
don't have to be.However, the material state of the Canadian military is
such that the guns — to extend the metaphor — were needed
yesterday.While a partnership with the Europeans makes good economic and
geopolitical sense in the long term, it doesn't appear to be a solution
to the immediate rearmament crisis."European industrial bases are
simply not prepared at the moment for a protracted conflict," said Seth
Jones, president of defence and security at the Washington-based Center
for Strategic and International Studies."If you look at European states,
they still lack sufficient capabilities in combat support, in
short-range air defence and long-range indirect fires, air lift."Jones
also noted there are significant challenges with "munitions stockpiles,
with supply chain weaknesses [and] within the broader European and U.S.
industrial bases workforce."If the Canadian government is serious about
rearmament beyond a tool of economic development, the issue will come
down to the question of where do you find a hot production line and how
quickly can you acquire what the military says it needs.Poland, a member
of the European Union since 2004, decided it wasn't going to put all of
its eggs in the EU basket. Shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion
of Ukraine in 2022, the government in Warsaw embarked on a swift
rearmament plan.Poland is NATO's top military spender — aiming to direct
4.7 per cent of its gross domestic product toward defence.It has tapped
into production lines in both the United States and South
Korea.Soldiers and a military vehicle are seen on display.Polish Defence
Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told Politico last winter that his
government's strategy was to continue to buy from the U.S. in order to
maintain economic relations."It's kind of an insurance policy," he
said.The decision was made even though politically, and socially, many
in Poland believe the U.S. is an unreliable ally and might not be there
in a crisis with Russia.It is perhaps a lesson for Canada as the Liberal
government crosses the treacherous political tightrope of still
maintaining a defence relationship with the U.S. and explaining its
decisions to a public still angry about the trade war and Trump's 51st
state desires.The first test will come later this summer when a report
by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Department of National Defence
about continuing with the F-35 purchase is presented.Carney and his team
will have to decide whether to pivot away from the plan (accept only a
limited number of the warplanes and fill out the rest of the order
elsewhere) — or stick with what may be a politically indefensible
position of carrying on.The prime minister said at the NATO summit that
he had held discussions with European partners for the purchase of
fighter jets and submarines.Speed vs. shift-Carney has called for a
shift away from Canada's economic and military reliance on the U.S.But
how much of that is truly possible, if the stated goal is to rearm
quickly and if Europe's defence industrial base is still in its own
rebuilding phase?If the Liberal government does intend to move swiftly,
there are existing mechanisms such as the National Security Exception
(NSE), which allows the government to bypass certain trade agreement
obligations when the equipment is deemed essential for national
security.There's also the mechanism of the Urgent Operational
Requirement (UOR), which can be used to acquire essential equipment on
an accelerated timeline to meet a specific and immediate operational
need of the Canadian Armed Forces.It can also use an Advance Contract
Award Notice (ACAN), which indicates the Defence Department's intention
to award a contract to a specific supplier and allows other potential
suppliers to demonstrate what they can provide.At the end of the NATO
summit, Carney was asked if he intends to use any of those tools at his
disposal.It doesn't sound like it."The great question. The first thing
we look to do is change the machinery of defence procurement, if I can
put it that way," he said referring to the new defence procurement
agency being set up by his government.Once the agency is built, Carney
said they'll look to make "adjustments to our ability to buy Canadian
and our ability to buy more rapidly as appropriate."
I can't
forget Canada froze bank accounts of protesters. Now, singing O Canada
feels hollow-I lost hope that Central Canada will change and believe
Alberta must find its own way-Gord Larson · for CBC First Person ·
Posted: Jul 02, 2025 4:00 AM EDT |
This First Person column is
the experience of Gord Larson, who lives in Calgary, and is part of a
Canada Day series exploring what Canada means to people across this
country. For more information about First Person stories, see the
FAQ.I've never felt more patriotic pride than when singing O Canada with
a crowd of hundreds at a protest shutting down the Coutts border
crossing.It was February 2022. My wife had just lost her job after
refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19. I worried I might be next,
but took heart as the trucker convoy headed to Ottawa. We couldn't join
them, so instead we drove south from Calgary to Coutts, Alta., for two
days to show our support.The crowd was so big that we had to walk 15
minutes down the highway just to get to the protest. The spirit of
community, where everyone just wanted to pitch in and help, was almost
overwhelming.A pastor led us in prayer and then the whole crowd launched
into O Canada, just belting it out with everything we had. I even saw
the RCMP join in the singing. Just typing this and remembering that
moment makes the hair on my arms stand up.People dressed warmly stand on
a snowy highway surrounded by trucks, flags and horses.What does Canada
mean to me? In that moment, I was filled with pride. I saw Canada as a
force for democracy and freedom in the world and felt sure it would
listen to the voice of its own citizens. But this feeling didn't last.
Ottawa's response to these protests left me feeling betrayed, and today
I'm at a place where I never thought I'd be: in favour of separatism.
The roots of my alienation-I was born in Chilliwack, B.C. I was a bit of
a nerd for politics and paid attention when Reform candidate Chuck
Strahl came to speak with my high school graduating class in 1993. He
shared the party's plans for a more inclusive system, one with a balance
of power that wouldn't allow Quebec's separatist debates to keep
dominating the national agenda.Repeating the party slogan, he said, "The
West wants in!"And for me, as a young man eavesdropping on my parents'
frustrated conversations, that made everything click.Later that year, I
was old enough to vote.I was standing in line at the voting location
when I heard another voter say the election had already been called for
the Jean Chrétien Liberals. The votes from Atlantic and Central Canada
were enough for a win. It felt like my vote didn't even matter. A man
with his hands on his hips speaks with two men sitting at a table and
drinking from mugs in a restaurant.I learned a lot about the roots of
Western alienation in the years that followed. I studied political
science at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George
and learned we've never had true proportional representation in Canada
because of the grandfather and senatorial clauses in the Constitution.
The smaller provinces in Atlantic Canada are always overrepresented
compared to provinces such as Alberta and Ontario.In 2002, I moved to
Calgary, where oil was fuelling an economic boom. It was heady stuff; I
picked up a skilled trade and found a pride of purpose far greater than I
had in university. But surrounded by other Albertans, I began to see
Canada's equalization system as a personal issue — my taxes and my
community being disrespected by an unfair system. I started reading
about the details and learned, for example, about Quebec being the
largest beneficiary of equalization. It subsidizes hydroelectricity for
its residents but isn't required to account for the revenue it's giving
up. That's a political decision and it would be richer if it charged
full price.Albertans pay full price for their electricity. But through
equalization, Quebec gets to hold out its hand. Instead of a thank you,
Quebec politicians insult our "dirty energy" while buying record amounts
of gasoline.Children stand in front of a man with a very warm winter
hat in front of a line of semi-trucks and protest signs.The
pandemic-That made me bitter and angry, but at that point, I still had
hope for change and was loyal to Canada. In a referendum to separate, I
wouldn't have checked the box to actually leave my country. Now it's
changed.The COVID-19 pandemic hit hard. I watched my personal rights
erode. I was shocked at the pressure I felt to get vaccinated and how
I'd be verbally attacked if I argued. I'm still so angry at this.The
convoy and the border protest were an effort to be heard, and I followed
the developments from Ottawa closely, checking conservative news blogs
each morning. I would have been with the trucker convoy if I could have
taken time off work.For two-and-a-half weeks before the Emergencies Act
was invoked, the convoy occupied the blocks around Parliament Hill and
not one car was burned, not one shop looted. There were charges, but
none for police officers assaulted. I can understand why it was hard for
Ottawa residents to live with. But personally, I saw nothing I thought
could justify a government invoking that act, which I see as an extreme
response.I was horrified when, instead of talking with convoy protesters
about why they were upset, the provincial government convinced a court
to freeze the GiveSendGo account, and worse, without a court order, the
RCMP got banks to freeze the personal bank accounts of people
protesting. Then police moved in to clear the streets and there was a
standoff.To me, this was naked authoritarianism and two years later, a
federal judge ruled the Liberal's use of the Emergencies Act was
unreasonable.But no one within the government or banking system has been
disciplined. Not one new law was created to protect the integrity of
personal banking, and now the Liberal government has even been
re-elected.I sang O Canada with another crowd this year. I was in a
downtown Calgary pub in February for the Four Nations Cup. I tried to
belt it out like before, but it felt hollow this time.I've finally lost
hope. I don't think "the West wants in" anymore. For me, the West wants
out.Do you have a compelling personal story that can bring understanding
or help others? We want to hear from you. Here's more info on how to
pitch to us.
THE FALSE VATICAN POPE LEO 14TH
ISAIAH 23:15-17
15
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten
seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of
seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16 Take an harp, go
about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody,
sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17 And it shall
come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit
Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with
all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE
70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE
WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND
CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET
ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR
TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.
REVELATION 13:11-18
11
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN
POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he
spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR
FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast
before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell
therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE
WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE
NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those
miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to
them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the
beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had
power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the
beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the
image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth
all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a
mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
REVELATION 17:1-18
1
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the
judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:(VATICAN)
2
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN
POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with
the wine of her fornication.(THATS PEDOPHELIA-FORNICATION IS SINGLES
HAVING SEX OUT SIDE OF MARRIAGE)(AND SINCE PREISTS CAN NOT MARRY IN THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS FALSE CHURCH GOES AGAINST THE
BIBLE.THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BECOMES A HOMOSEXUAL HAVEN OF PEDOPHILIAS
FACTORY).
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the
wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of
names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the
woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN
COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN)
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup
in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:(THE
VATICAN GOES AGAINST A PRIEST MARRING A WOMAN-LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS-AND
WHATS AN ABOMINATION AGAINST GOD-HOMOSEXUALITY AND PEDOPHILIA JUST LIKE
THIS SCRIPTURE SAYS-FORNICATION IS THE SINGLE HOMOSEXUAL PRIESTS IN THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH HAVING UNMARRIED FORNICATION OR SEX WITH SINGLES-IN THIS
CASE ITS SEX WITH CHILDREN OR PEDOPHILIA)
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the
blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great
admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou
marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that
carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast
that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless
pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall
wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the
foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is
not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven
heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS
BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are
fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one
is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet
come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED
ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE
EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL
HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR
TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE
EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION
TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE
THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD
OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE
EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS
CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received
no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him
are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The
waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and
multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE
WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the
beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her
desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.(GOD
HIMSELF GIVES THE OK TO NUKE THE VATICAN)
17 For God hath put in
their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom
unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.(VATICAN)
HOW THE FALSE POPE IS ELECTED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj3Qnr_30Z4
POPE FRANCIS SISTER (PEDOPHILIA WAY WORSE THEN THOUGHT) (CARDINAL MATEO TERESCO-THE NEXT COVERUP POPE OF PEDOPHILIA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usFshfmBPmY
FALSE POPE LEO 14TH 2012 INTERVIEW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXVkJ5TQi1s
POPE 14TH WILL BE WORSE THAN FRANCIS.
https://banned.video/watch?id=681cf97a22a2c8ae0e09b5d0
Pope Leo XIV Seeks to Reestablish ‘Full Visible Communion’ With Eastern Orthodox-June 30, 2025
Pope
Leo XIV received members of a delegation from the Eastern Orthodox
Ecumenical Patriarchate in a June 28 audience held at the Apostolic
Palace of the Vatican in the context of the June 29 celebration of the
solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.The Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople is the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church of
Constantinople based in Istanbul, Turkey. The Ecumenical Patriarchate is
considered “primus inter pares” (“first among equals”) among the
patriarchs of the other churches of the Eastern Orthodox communion. The
delegation was headed by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, president
of the Synodal Commission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Relations
with the Catholic Church, accompanied by the Most Reverend Fathers
Aetios and Ieronymos.Bartholomew has been the current archbishop of
Constantinople and ecumenical patriarch since Nov. 2, 1991.
Traditionally, a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate visits the
Vatican on the occasion of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.Similarly, a
Vatican delegation usually visits Istanbul, the capital of present-day
Turkey, every Nov. 30 on the occasion of the celebration of the feast
day of St. Andrew, the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s patron saint.Goal of
full visible communion between the two ChurchesThe Catholic Encyclopedia
explains that in 1054, “the most deplorable quarrel,” known as the
Eastern Schism, occurred, separating the vast majority of Eastern
Christians from communion with the Catholic Church, thus giving rise to
the Orthodox Church.Leo XIV stated that his intention is to “persevere
in the effort to reestablish full visible communion between our
Churches,” a goal that, he said, can only be achieved “with God’s help,
through a continued commitment to respectful listening and fraternal
dialogue.”“For this reason, I am open to any suggestions that you may
offer in this regard, always in consultation with my brother bishops of
the Catholic Church who, each in his own way, share with me the
responsibility for the complete and visible unity of the Church,” the
Holy Father said during the June 28 audience.He also recalled that
“after centuries of disagreements and misunderstanding,” authentic
dialogue between the two Churches was only possible thanks to “the
courageous and farsighted steps taken by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical
Patriarch Athenagoras.”“Their venerable successors to the sees of Rome
and Constantinople have pursued with conviction the same path of
reconciliation, thus further strengthening our close relations,” the
Pope added.Leo XIV highlighted the “witness of sincere closeness” that
Patriarch Bartholomew has always expressed to the Catholic Church,
demonstrated especially by participating in the funeral of Pope Francis
and later in the inaugural Mass of the new bishop of Rome.The Holy
Father said the traditional exchange of delegations “is a sign of the
profound communion already existing between us, and a reflection of the
fraternal bond that united the Apostles Peter and Andrew.”Leo XIV
expressed his profound gratitude for their presence in Rome “on this
solemn occasion.” He asked them to convey his cordial greetings to
Patriarch Bartholomew and the members of the Holy Synod, along with his
gratitude for having sent the delegation again this year.“May Sts. Peter
and Paul, St. Andrew and the holy Mother of God, who live eternally in
the perfect communion of the saints, accompany and sustain us in our
efforts in the service of the Gospel. Thank you!” Pope Leo said.
20
US Bishops Join Interfaith Letter Against ICE Funding Boost in ‘Big
Beautiful Bill’The budget reconciliation bill includes a funding hike
for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border
Protection.-June 30, 2025
A coalition of 20 American Catholic
bishops and religious leaders from other faiths has signed on to a
letter urging lawmakers to vote against a proposed budget bill because
of provisions to increase funding for immigration enforcement.“From our
various faith perspectives, the moral test of a nation is how it treats
those most in need of support,” the letter read. “In our view, this
legislation will harm the poor and vulnerable in our nation, to the
detriment of the common good.”The letter’s signatories included Cardinal
Robert McElroy of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal
Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. Phoenix Bishop
John Dolan, Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne, St. Louis Archbishop
Mitchell Rozanski, and Sacramento, California, Bishop Jaime Soto were
also among those who signed.In addition to the bishops, other
signatories to the letter included the leadership team of the Sisters of
Mercy of the Americas. Some Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian,
Muslim and Jewish faith leaders also signed the letter.“Our faith
organizations have long favored the creation of legal avenues for
migration and a legalization program for immigrants who have lived in
the U.S. for years and contributed their hard work to our economy,” the
letter stated. “We believe the adoption of these policies, instead of
the implementation of a mass deportation campaign, would not only
benefit immigrant workers and their families but be in the best interest
of our nation.”The budget reconciliation bill, called the “One Big
Beautiful Bill Act,” includes a funding hike for Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection. The proposal
includes money earmarked for deportations, hiring more ICE and border
patrol agents, the construction of a border wall, and various other
immigration enforcement measures.An earlier version of the bill would
have penalized states for offering Medicaid benefits to immigrants who
are in the country illegally, but this was removed from the current
Senate version under consideration. Other proposed Medicaid changes,
including work requirements for able-bodied recipients, remain in the
proposal.“We believe that the changes made by the U.S. Senate to the
legislation are insufficient and do not significantly mitigate its
adverse effects,” the letter read.The letter criticized funding for “a
mass deportation campaign,” which they said “will separate U.S.
families, harm U.S.-citizen and immigrant children, and sow chaos in
local communities.” It warned of “immigration raids across the nation,”
which authors said would harm “hardworking immigrant families essential
to our economy.”According to the letter, the funding boost could also
harm faith communities. The authors noted that the government “has
removed places of worship from its sensitive locations list, allowing
ICE agents to enter them for enforcement purposes.”“We have already
witnessed a reduction in attendance at many of our religious services in
our denominations, as the threat of enforcement has deterred many
families from practicing their faith,” the letter attested.Additionally,
the letter expressed concerns about the proposed border wall between
the United States and Mexico, which the authors wrote “will drive
migrants into the most remote regions of the border and lead to an
increase in migrant deaths. It also would hurt the local environment
along the border and force desperate asylum-seekers seeking safety to
increasingly rely on human smugglers.”The authors of the letter also
criticized proposed reforms to Medicaid and food assistance programs,
saying they would harm “low-income citizens and legal residents,
including asylum-seekers and refugees, driving them deeper into
poverty.”Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and current fellow at
the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), criticized the interfaith
letter in an interview with CNA. He said the letter supports “amnesty”
for immigrants who are in the country illegally.CIS labels itself as a
“low-immigration, pro-immigrant” think tank. The group is aligned with
many of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.“They don’t want
any immigration enforcement because they want to legalize the status of
everyone in the country illegally,” Arthur, who is Catholic, told
CNA.Arthur also balked at the suggestion of immigration raids at places
of worship, saying: “They never actually reference any real enforcement
actions taking place in any Catholic churches.” He said it’s possible
that a dangerous criminal could be targeted for enforcement at a church
but that “it’s not like they’re going to sweep through Sunday Mass
looking for people.”On the subject of the border wall, Arthur said a
barrier would “deter people from coming into the United States
illegally.” He noted the high rates of migrants who already hire
smugglers, saying they “put their lives and safety in the hands of
criminals” and that a border wall makes it “less likely that people are
going to come” illegally with this method or any other method.
Leo
XIV Reminds Women Religious That ‘Being Rooted in Christ’ Makes
Unimaginable Possible-The Pontiff thanked the religious sisters for
their service, especially to the weakest members of society.-July 1,
2025
During an audience on Monday of religious sisters belonging
to several orders, Pope Leo XIV told the group that rootedness in Christ
allows them to “do things they perhaps never thought they could
achieve.”The Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, the Daughters
of Divine Charity, the Augustinian Sisters of the Shelter, and the
Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts came to the Vatican on June 30
for their general chapters and the Jubilee of Hope.After praising the
diversity of charisms and recalling the “great historical witnesses to
the spiritual life” that inspired their foundation — such as St.
Augustine, St. Basil, and St. Francis — the pontiff thanked the
religious sisters for their service, especially to the weakest members
of society.Pope Leo XIV greets a woman religious during an audience with
members of the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, the
Daughters of Divine Charity, the Augustinian Sisters of the Amparo, and
the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, on June 30, 2025, at the
Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media-He also emphasized that “the challenges
of the past and the vitality of your present make clear that fidelity to
the ancient wisdom of the Gospel is the best way forward for those who,
led by the Holy Spirit, undertake new paths of self-giving, dedicated
to loving God and neighbor and listening attentively to the signs of the
times.”The Pope then recalled the words of St. Augustine: “God is your
everything. If you are hungry, God is your bread; if you are thirsty,
God is your water; if you are in darkness, God is your light that never
fades; if you are naked, God is your everlasting garment.”He then
addressed the following questions to the religious: “To what extent are
these words true for me? How much does the Lord satisfy my thirst for
life, love, or light?”A group of nuns greets Pope Leo XIV at an audience
of women religious in Rome for the Jubilee of Hope as well as meetings
of their congregations on June 30, 2025, in Clementine Hall at the
Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaFor the Holy Father, this “rootedness in
Christ” is what has led those who have gone before us “to do things they
perhaps never thought they could achieve. This rootedness enabled them
to sow seeds of goodness that, enduring throughout the centuries and
across continents, have now reached practically the entire world, as
your presence here demonstrates.”The pontiff recalled the words of St.
Paul to the Christians of Ephesus, praying that “Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints,
what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the
love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with
all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:17-19).
Pope Leo XIV Denounces Use of Hunger as ‘Weapon of War’ in Message to UN Conference-June 30, 2025
Pope
Leo XIV deplored the use of hunger as a “weapon of war” in his message
to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is
currently holding its 44th conference session in Rome from June 28 to
July 4. The Holy Father said the U.N. is far from reaching its 2030 goal
of “zero hunger” in spite of “significant steps” taken by the
intergovernmental organization to ensure food security, particularly for
the world’s poor.“We are currently witnessing with despair the
iniquitous use of hunger as a weapon of war,” Pope Leo said in his
message to FAO. “Starving people to death is a very cheap way of waging
war.”The Pope criticized the actions of armed civilians who “greedily
hoard” food, burn land, steal livestock, and block humanitarian aid to
those suffering and in need. “Farmers are unable to sell their produce
in environments threatened by violence, and inflation soars,” he said.
“This leads to huge numbers of people succumbing to the scourge of
starvation and perishing.”“While civilians languish in misery, political
leaders grow fat on the profits of the conflict,” he
remarked.Highlighting the complex relationship between war, poverty, and
hunger, the Pope said the Holy See supports all initiatives aimed at
bringing international leaders together to collaborate for “the common
good of the family of nations.” “Without peace and stability, it will
not be possible to guarantee resilient agricultural and food systems,
nor to ensure a healthy, accessible, and sustainable food supply for
all,” he added.Continuing his calls for peace in war-torn areas since
his May election as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo
extended his call to the leadership and staff of FAO to become
peacemakers in times of “huge polarization in international
relations.”“To ensure peace and development, understood as the
improvement of the living conditions of populations suffering from
hunger, war, and poverty, concrete actions are needed, rooted in serious
and far-sighted approaches,” he continued. “I pray to almighty God that
your work may bear fruit and be of benefit to the underprivileged and
to humanity as a whole,” he said at the conclusion of his message.In an
Angelus address, Pope Leo highlighted the plight of rural Christian
communities in Nigeria enduring violence and hunger. Approximately 200
displaced people were massacred at a Catholic mission there in June.
Bishop Mark Nzukwein of the Diocese of Wukari, Nigeria, said more than
300,000 people are currently displaced in the northern part of the
country, many of whom have lost their farms and livelihoods because of
the violent attacks. “I’ve never had problems with food ever until
recently,” Bishop Nzukwein told CNA in a June 27 interview. “[Men] will
invade farms and kill … and make the place insecure,” he said. “This is
the source of the food insecurity we’re experiencing in Nigeria.”
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and
the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the
light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of
his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold,
the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the
burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his
tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22
And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED)
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE)
those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID
HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God,
which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him
glory.
EZEKIEL 32:6-9
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7
And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the
stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon
shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9
I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy
destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not
known.
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his
vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every
living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,
which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6
For they(False World Church and Dictator and baby murderers by abortion)
have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them
blood to drink; for they are worthy.
EARTHQUAKES
EZEKIEL 37:7,11-14
7
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a
noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his
bone.(POSSIBLE QUAKE BRINGS ISRAEL BACK TO LIFE-SO NOISE AND
SHAKING-QUAKES WILL ALSO DESTROY ISRAELS ENEMIES)
11 Then he said
unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold,
they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for
our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to
come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14
And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place
you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it,
and performed it, saith the LORD.
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall
be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be
earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles:
these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great
earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME)
and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall
there be from heaven.
FAMINE
EZEKIEL 5:16
16 When I
shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their
destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase
the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
REVELATION 6:5-6
5
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say,
Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him
had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the
midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the
wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there
shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with
blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees
was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
JAMES 1:11
11
For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the
grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of
it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
The
Hebrew noun accurately translated “oven” refers to a “baking oven” as
distinct from a kiln or smelting furnace—both of which burn much hotter.
(The Hebrew nouns for “kiln” or for “smelting furnace” are more likely
to appear in contexts of God's wrath or judgment.)
21 They have
roused me to jealousy with a non-god, they have exasperated me with
their idols. In my turn I shall rouse them to jealousy with a
non-people, I shall exasperate them with a stupid nation.
22 Yes, a
fire has blazed from my anger, it will burn right down to the depths of
Sheol; it will devour the earth and all its produce, it will set fire to
the footings of the mountains.
23 I shall hurl disasters on them, on them I shall use up all my arrows.
Ephesians 2:2
2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR
WAVES) the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience:(GODLESS)
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7
By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire,
being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
We
shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only
question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or
consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February
1950-Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We
need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who
is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to
himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to
sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept
him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
JUDGEMENT-WE ALL(EVERYONE) STAND IN FRONT OF GOD TO GIVE ACCOUNT
JOHN 14:3
3
And if I (JESUS OUR JEWISH MESSIAH) go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye
may be also.
MATTHEW 24:33
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall
see all these things,(IN THERE BEGGINING STAGES-NOT FINAL STAGES) know
that it is near, even at the doors.
LUKE 21:32
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:10
10
For we must all (MEANS EVERYONE EVER BORN ON EARTH FROM ADAM-EVE ON)
appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive
the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad.(THIS IS THE CHRISTIANS IN FRONT OF JESUS)
LUKEWARM CHURCHES
REVELATION 3:15-19
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I(GOD) will spue (VOMIT) thee out of my mouth.
17
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need
of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried
in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear;
and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Canada turns to drones for reforestation after wildfires.
Chibougamau,
Canada, July 2 (AFP) Jul 02, 2025-A large aerial drone flies over the
charred remains of Canadian forests devastated by wildfires, bombarding
the ground with seed capsules to accelerate reforestation.This area of
northern Quebec province was ravaged by megafires in the summer of 2023
and for the second year in a row a pilot project has been using drones
to plant new black spruces and jack pines.Rather than simply dropping
seeds from high above, the company Flash Forest, which is leading the
initiative, uses seeds protected in capsules that also contain water and
nutrients, as well as fungi, to maximize their growing potential."There
is a niche that's appropriate for drone reforestation which we've spent
the last five years narrowing in on," Flash Forest cofounder Cameron
Jones explained.The company focuses its efforts on forests that were
scorched in the last year or two and excludes older burn sites that
already have vegetation that can crowd out new seeds.- 50,000 capsules
per day -It is no longer feasible to wait for Canada's forests to bounce
back all on their own with millions of hectares of forests destroyed
each year.In 2023, Canada experienced a record year of wildfires with
blazes affecting every province, ultimately burning nearly 18 million
hectares (44 million acres).Quebec, and particularly this area in the
north of the French-speaking province, was hit especially hard that
year.Drone operator and geospatial data scientist Owen Lucas says the
method uses artificial intelligence to map out the sites ahead of
time."Then we pick our sites based on climate variables, physical
attributes, topographic variables, to make sure we're putting the seeds
in the right place," he said, his eyes fixed on the drone's remote
controls.The company also has projects in another Canadian province,
Alberta, and in Colorado in the United States. Each drone can deliver
seeds to plant 50,000 trees per day."When you're out here planting you
don't see the impact, but when you come back in the fall and you see
them growing, you know you're doing a positive thing," Lucas said.In
2023, like this year, which has already seen more than 4.2 million
hectares burned across the country, megafires are being fueled by
drought, which experts say is linked to global warming."It's sad to have
lost so much forest," lamented Angel Mianscum, one of the Indigenous
leaders of a nearby Cree community.She was, however, pleased to see
there are now "innovative ways of doing things." The Cree community has
worked directly with Flash Forest to plan the local
reforestation.Indigenous communities are the most affected by fires in
Canada because they are often remote and deep in the boreal forest.-
Seed shortage -"We are increasingly forced to reforest in Canada. Boreal
forest trees are adapted to fires, but today the conditions are
becoming more complicated," said Maxence Martin, professor of forest
ecology at the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Temiscamingue.He points
out that in 2023, for example, very young forests burned."If the forest
is too young, it will take a very long time to start regenerating, so
planting is the only option."While the use of drones can help reach
certain areas more quickly, it also has its downsides: many seeds end up
wasted."And today there is a seed problem because they are complicated
to harvest," and therefore Canada is short of them, Martin said.
July
2, 2025-The GIST-Central Europe swelters as heat wave moves east edited
by Andrew Zinin-Editors' notes-The heat wave that has gripped
Mediterranean Europe in recent days is moving eastwards to Germany.A
punishing heat wave loosened its grip on western Europe Wednesday and
rolled eastwards, with Germany expected to record some of its hottest
temperatures of the year so far.Germany's national weather service (DWD)
issued blanket weather warnings for heat and extreme heat covering the
entire country.The agency said it expected "maximum temperatures with
exceptionally high peaks of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees
Fahrenheit)" in the course of the day.The unusually hot weather was
causing disruptions to transport, with the national rail operator
Deutsche Bahn saying it expected services to be affected in the west of
the country where temperatures were rising most.In the north of the
country, the heat had caused the surface of the motorway to buckle in
places, creating a danger for drivers, local media reported.In Berlin,
18-year-old Nora said her job at a kiosk selling strawberries was "a bit
like a sauna", with the temperature already at 26C at 8:30 am."I've
never sold strawberries in this sort of heat," she said, adding that her
employer had told her to shut the kiosk if she felt unwell.Further
south in Frankfurt teacher Horst Hirsch said he expected "to work and to
sweat" in a day full of lessons and meetings and planned to "not do any
exercise and drink lots of water".In France, the temperature gauge hit
40C in Paris on Tuesday, according to weather service Meteo-France, with
a lower high of 35C expected Wednesday.Relief will reach the French
capital in earnest on Thursday, when the high will drop to 28C as cooler
winds blow in from the Atlantic, bringing with them the potential for
thunderstorms.'Really unbearable'Meanwhile, residents in Spain and Italy
may have to wait until the weekend before they experience a drop in
temperatures.Care worker Grace Guerrero, 65, told AFP she could really
"feel the heat" in Madrid but the air was cooler at her home outside the
Spanish capital.The sweltering temperatures were "really unbearable on
the subway platform", 60-year-old quality manager Julia Munoz said while
cooling herself with a fan.In Belgium, lower temperatures were expected
on the coast while the heat wave was set to continue in the east and
south.The Atomium attraction in Brussels, where highs of 34C were
expected, would maintain reduced opening hours for the second day in a
row on Wednesday to spare visitors from the afternoon heat.In the
country's Dutch-speaking north, students have already broken up for the
summer, but in the French-speaking south schools have stayed open
through the heat wave.Staff at the schools were working to keep children
cool using fans and air-conditioning where available, water play,
outdoor breaks in the shade, or in some cases giving parents the option
to keep them home.The heat wave saw class canceled for pupils at some
2,000 schools in France on Tuesday, although only around 135 were
expected to stay shut Wednesday, according to the education
ministry.Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over
100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for
our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and
research that matter—daily or weekly.'Tropical'In the Netherlands, the
country experienced its first "tropical" night of the year into
Wednesday with temperatures not dropping below 20C, according to the
weather website Weeronline.A shepherd in the central Netherlands told
local media Omroep Gelderland that he was up unusually early to let his
sheep out on Wednesday morning after the muggy night."Animals tolerate
the cold better than the heat... you have to be careful," the livestock
holder Aart said, noting that his flock kept their coats through the
heat."Without the fleece, they would, for example, get sunburned much
faster," he said.High temperatures were a stress for people, too,
prompting authorities to issue warnings for the very old, young, the
sick and other vulnerable groups."Due to climate change caused by
humans, extreme heat is becoming more frequent and intense. This is
something we must learn to live with," said Clare Nullis, spokesperson
for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a UN agency based in
Geneva.Extreme heat can cause dehydration, muscle cramps, headaches and
nausea. The most serious risk is heatstroke, which can lead to death.
June
28, 2025-The GIST-Mediterranean heat wave triggers health alerts and
wildfire fears across region-edited by Andrew Zinin Editors' notes-In
Spain, emergency medical staff are preparing to deal with an expected
surge in heatstroke cases.
Southern European countries braced
Friday for a punishing weekend heat wave, with temperatures predicted to
hit up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and beyond, prompting
health warnings and fears of wildfires.The searing heat spreading across
the Mediterranean from the Iberian peninsula to the Balkans and Greece
comes as climate scientists warn that galloping human-induced climate
change is causing more extreme weather, including longer and more
intense heat waves.Tens of millions of people have already been
sweltering in what the National Weather Service called an "extremely
dangerous" heat wave across the eastern United States, including in New
York and Washington, straining the power grid as people cranked up air
conditioning.Across the Atlantic in Spain, emergency medical staff
readied to deal with an expected surge in heatstroke cases, particularly
among vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and people with
chronic illnesses.In neighboring Portugal, the national meteorological
agency IPMA said the heat wave would hit from Saturday, with
temperatures passing 40C in the south as well as in the central Tagus
and northern Douro valleys.Sunday will be even hotter, the agency added,
and two-thirds of the country has already been put on orange alert.
Temperatures are expected to hit 42C in the capital Lisbon.Heat waves in
France: hotter, earlier and more frequent.Red alert in Italy-The risk
of fire is at its highest inland in the northern half of Portugal, as
well as on the Algarve coast popular with holidaymakers in the
south.France has been gripped by its 50th national heat wave since 1947
for more than a week now, and four regions in southern France were
placed under an orange alert on Friday—the second-highest warning.
Temperatures were expected to reach 35C to 38C locally, and up to 39C
inland.The Meteo France weather agency said surface sea temperatures
from the Mediterranean were an "aggravating factor" that could make
nights "more stifling".Additional French regions are expected to be
placed on orange alert on Saturday as the heat wave spreads north, and
the soaring temperatures are expected to last until Tuesday, said the
agency.In Italy, the health ministry issued its top red alert for 21
cities this weekend, including the capital Rome, the economic powerhouse
Milan and Venice, where the rich and famous were celebrating the
wedding of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos.Weather agencies say the risk of
forest fires is increased.People were advised not to go outdoors between
11:00 am and 6:00 pm, and to seek shelter in air-conditioned public
places.In Venice, the temperature was set to hit 32C on Saturday, when
Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are expected to be throwing a dance party
starring Lady Gaga—but it will feel like around 36C due to humidity.In
Florence, which was already on red alert on Friday, the temperature is
forecast to reach 37C on Saturday, while it will go up to 36C on Sunday
in Rome, Milan and Naples.Discover the latest in science, tech, and
space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily
insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on
breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter—daily or
weekly.Albania battles fires-Across the Adriatic, the authorities in
Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia also issued health warnings, while in
Albania, firefighters battled Thursday to bring at least eight blazes
under control after flames destroyed dozens of homes in the south of the
country last weekend.Further south, weather agencies in Greece forecast
a heat wave in the coming days with temperatures of more than 40C,
including in the capital Athens.People have been advised to keep
hydrated.The country has become particularly vulnerable to summer fires
in recent years fueled by strong winds, drought and high temperatures
linked to climate change.Firefighters said Friday a forest blaze that
had forced evacuations around Athens was under control, but warned that
scorching temperatures were keeping fire risk at a high level around the
capital and on northern Aegean islands.Fields, olive groves and some
houses were ravaged by the blaze around Athens, which came after another
on Greece's fifth-largest island Chios that destroyed more than 4,000
hectares (10,000 acres) of land in four days.
July 1, 2025-The GIST-France expecting peak temperatures as heat wave hits Europe-edited by Andrew Zinin
Editors'
notes-The top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris was shut because of the heat
wave.Paris extended a red alert for high temperatures on Tuesday, with
the top of the Eiffel Tower shut, polluting traffic banned and speed
restrictions in place as a searing heat wave grips Europe.
Mediterranean
countries from the Iberian peninsula through France and Italy to the
Balkans and Greece have been sweltering for several days, prompting
health warnings and wildfire alerts.Scientists say human-induced climate
change is making such heat wave events more intense, frequent and
widespread.Temperatures in France were expected to hit a peak on
Tuesday, according to the Meteo France weather agency, with some areas
expected to soar beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit)."We
have air-conditioning but it's not very powerful," said Raphael, 27, on
the street in a Parisian suburb. "Today is going to be a struggle."Paris
was facing its first red alert in five years, with local officials
empowered to limit or ban sporting events, festivals and school outings
for children. Authorities said the alert would be extended into
Wednesday.Operators of the Eiffel Tower shut the summit of the 330-meter
(1,083-feet) high landmark at 1100 GMT on Monday and said it would
remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday because of the heat
wave."Remember to protect yourself from the sun and stay hydrated. Water
fountains are available in the walkways leading to the esplanade," they
said.All but the least polluting vehicles were banned from the
Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, between 0330 GMT to 2200 GMT
because of high ozone pollution levels, police said.Speed limits of 20
kilometers per hour (12.5 miles per hour) would also remain in some
places.Across France, the government said it expected nearly 1,350
schools to be partially or completely shut—nearly double the number on
Monday—with teachers complaining that overheated and unventilated
classrooms were making students unwell.Warnings were issued for young
children, older people and those with chronic illnesses."Heat waves are
deadly," said Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the University of
Reading, west of London."We need to treat extreme heat with the same
seriousness we give to dangerous storms."Roll cloud-Portugal is
expecting some respite on Tuesday after two days on red alert in several
regions, including Lisbon, and warnings will be downgraded in all but
eight areas inland.But temperatures were still expected to reach 40C in
the central city of Castel Branco, Beja and Evora in the south, and 34C
in the capital.The national meteorological agency IPMA said those on the
beaches in northern and central Portugal would have seen a rare "roll
cloud" blown towards the coast on Monday.Images shared on social
networks showed a huge horizontal cloud heading from the horizon towards
the shore, accompanied by a violent gust of wind when it reached
land."The most frightening thing was the wind and everything becoming
dark," one swimmer told online media outlet ZAP."It was very strange. We
all started packing up our things and running. It looked like a
tsunami."Similar temperatures in the high 30s to mid 40s were forecast
in Spain after they soared to 46C in the south—a new record for June,
according to the national weather agency.Red alerts have been issued for
18 Italian cities in the coming days, including Rome, Milan, Verona,
Perugia and Palermo, as well as across the Adriatic on the Croatian
coast and Montenegro.Italy also experienced another type of extreme
weather event on Monday when a flash flood in the northern region of
Piedmont caused by heavy rain killed a 70-year-old man."We are
increasingly faced with emergency situations due to weather events that
we used to call exceptional but are now more and more frequent," said
the president of the region, Alberto Cirio, on social media.The
Mediterranean Sea itself recorded a new June high of 26.01C on Sunday,
according to French weather service scientist Thibault Guinaldo, citing
data from EU monitor Copernicus.The risk of forest fires remains high in
a number of Portuguese regions. On Monday night, some 250 firefighters
were tackling a blaze in the southern Aljustrel area.In Turkey, rescuers
evacuated more than 50,000 people threatened by a string of wildfires,
most from the western province of Izmir, where winds of 120 kilometers
(75 miles) per hour fanned the blazes.Greece has also been tackling
wildfires.
July 2, 2025 report-The GIST-Astronomers discover a
super-Earth exoplanet orbiting a nearby star by Tomasz Nowakowski,
Phys.org edited by Stephanie Baum, reviewed by Robert Egan
Editors'
notes-TESS PDCSAP phase-folded light curves of TOI-1846. The blue and
green points are unbinned and binned (2-minutes) data. The solid line
shows the best-fitting transit model. Credit: arXiv (2025). DOI:
10.48550/arxiv.2506.18550-Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a
new super-Earth exoplanet that orbits a nearby M dwarf star. The
newfound alien world, designated TOI-1846 b, is about two times larger
and four times more massive than Earth. The finding was detailed in a
paper published June 23 on the arXiv preprint server.Launched in April
2018, TESS has identified more than 7,600 candidate exoplanets (TESS
Objects of Interest, or TOI), of which 636 have been confirmed so far.
The satellite is conducting a survey of about 200,000 brightest stars
near the sun, looking for transiting extrasolar worlds.Now, a group of
astronomers led by Abderahmane Soubkiou of the Oukaimeden Observatory in
Morocco, reports that a transit signal has been identified in the star
TOI-1846 monitored by TESS, which is located some 154 light years away.
By conducting ground-based follow-up photometric and spectroscopic
observations, they confirmed the planetary nature of this signal."We
have validated TOI-1846 b using TESS and multicolor ground-based
photometric data, high-resolution imaging, and spectroscopic
observations," the researchers wrote in the paper.According to the
study, TOI-1846 b has a radius of about 1.792 Earth radii and is 4.4
times more massive than Earth, which yields a density at a level of 4.2
g/cm3. The planet orbits its host every 3.93 days, at a distance of some
0.036 AU from it. The equilibrium temperature of TOI-1846 b is
estimated to be 568.1 K.Based on the derived parameters, the astronomers
concluded that TOI-1846 b is likely a water-rich super-Earth and
belongs to the so-called "radius valley," a dip in occurrence in the
radius distribution separating rocky super-Earths and gaseous
sub-Neptunes. This dearth of planets is observed at around 1.8 Earth
radii.The researchers noted that radial velocity (RV) observations of
TOI-1846 b should be conducted in order to unveil its composition.
"These findings make TOI-1846 b well-suited for mass determination via
RV observations. This could be possible with the MAROON-X instrument.
(...) We find a TSM [transmission spectroscopy metric] of 47 for
TOI-1846 b, which is below the ≈ 90 benchmark for small sub-Neptunes,"
the authors of the paper wrote.When it comes to the parent star TOI-1846
(also known as TIC 198385543), it is about 0.4 times the size of the
sun and its mass is approximately 0.42 solar masses. The star has an
effective temperature of 3,568 K and is estimated to be 7.2 billion
years old.
July 2, 2025-The GIST-Forecasting the final frontier:
How research prepares US for the next solar storm-by Emily Hinds,
University of Florida-edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Andrew Zinin
Editors'
notes-NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of an
X5.8 solar flare peaking at 9:23 p.m. EDT on May 10, 2024. The image
shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the
extremely hot material in flares. Credit: NASA SDO-Just last month, a
powerful solar storm lit up skies across the northern hemisphere,
producing vivid auroras visible as far south as parts of the northern
United States.But the breathtaking light show wasn't the only impact.
The severe geomagnetic storm, triggered by a coronal mass ejection from
the sun, sent waves of charged particles racing toward Earth, disrupting
satellites, scrambling GPS signals and straining sections of the power
grid. The event was a stark reminder that space weather is not just
about spectacle, but a growing national security risk.At the University
of Florida, space physicist Alicia Petersen, Ph.D., is working on
solutions that could help shield the nation from the next big solar
storm."As our society becomes increasingly dependent on space-based
technologies—from agriculture and aviation to defense and disaster
response—understanding space weather isn't optional. It's essential,"
said Petersen, an associate professor in UF's Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering and a core member of the UF Astraeus Space
Institute. Petersen's group is called the Space Weather Impacts,
Forecasting and Transit, or SWIFT, Lab.Her lab leads efforts to forecast
and model solar energetic particles and their impact on spacecraft and
space-based infrastructure, such as communication systems. The work is a
small piece of a growing federal push involving NASA, NOAA, and the
U.S. Space Force, to respond to changes in the space environment and
build more accurate prediction systems. The importance of this push is
underscored by the surging intensity of the current solar cycle."We're
just past the peak of the current solar cycle," Petersen said. "Intense
solar activity is still ongoing and further displays of extreme space
weather may still be on the horizon this cycle."Petersen's team is the
only dedicated space weather research group at UF. Their work focuses on
modeling the inner heliosphere—the vast space between Earth and the
sun—to understand how solar energetic particles propagate through it and
interact with spacecraft.They're also hoping to build a plasma chamber
to simulate local impacts of space weather on space-based hardware and
collaborating with engineers of autonomous control systems to develop
the future capability for spacecraft to autonomously respond to space
weather threats in real-time."We model how these particles move and how
spacecraft systems can respond in orbit," Petersen said. "By doing that,
we can better prepare for disruptions, or even design operations and
systems that are more resilient to these events."Solar flares and
coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, often described as "storms on the sun,"
can unleash energy equivalent to billions of nuclear bombs. Flares
travel at the speed of light while CMEs travel hundreds of miles per
second. While they can produce stunning auroras, they also pose a
serious risk to defense systems, civilian infrastructure and the global
economy."We've already seen a taste of what solar storms can do,"
Petersen said. "The 2003 'Halloween Storms' impacted over half of all
satellites in orbit at the time. And we know the sun is capable of even
more extreme events."Discover the latest in science, tech, and space
with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights.
Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs,
innovations, and research that matter—daily or weekly.The U.S.
Department of Defense has become increasingly focused on space weather
as a critical national security concern. Solar storms can disrupt
satellite communications, GPS navigation, radar systems, and power
infrastructure, all of which are central to military operations and
national defense.Just weeks ago, on June 15, all of North America was
engulfed in a shortwave radio blackout that was caused by space weather.
While commercial radio operations were in the clear at a higher
frequency, this solar flare did cause signal loss affecting amateur
radio operators across the nation.As the military's reliance on
space-based assets continues to grow, so does the need for accurate
forecasting of solar activity. The DOD collaborates with agencies like
NASA, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation to support research that
improves space weather prediction, including work at universities such
as UF. Space weather forecasting is now seen not only as a scientific
challenge but as a strategic imperative to safeguard defense systems and
infrastructure against high-impact solar events.Petersen's work feeds
directly into national efforts led by agencies like NOAA's Space Weather
Prediction Center, which has a public dashboard to track space weather
in real time."We're not just looking at academic questions. We're
helping to build the systems that protect power grids, enable safe air
travel, and keep satellites online—all the things modern life depends
on," Petersen said.Provided by University of Florida.
Tianwen 2 captures Earth and moon from deep space on asteroid missionby Riko Seibo.
Tokyo,
Japan (SPX) Jul 02, 2025-China's Tianwen 2 probe has traveled over 12
million kilometers from Earth on its mission to collect asteroid
samples, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced
Tuesday. Now more than a month into its flight, the spacecraft remains
fully operational as it follows a transfer trajectory toward its target,
near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3.The CNSA released two images taken by the
spacecraft's navigation camera, showing Earth and the moon as viewed
from 590,000 kilometers away. These are the first photos returned by the
Tianwen 2 mission since its launch.Lifted into space aboard a Long
March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on May 29,
Tianwen 2 marks China's first attempt to retrieve unaltered material
from an asteroid. The probe is scheduled to arrive at 2016 HO3-also
known as 469219 Kamo'oalewa-by mid-2026. The asteroid, roughly 40 to 100
meters in diameter, is considered a quasi-satellite due to its
consistent solar orbit near Earth.Once at its destination, Tianwen 2
will examine the asteroid with 11 scientific instruments, including
radars, spectrometers, and cameras. It will then deploy specialized
tools to extract surface materials and store them in a return
capsule.Following sample retrieval, the spacecraft will return to
Earth's orbit and release the capsule for reentry and recovery.
Scientists will analyze the asteroid material to investigate its
physical structure, chemical properties, and isotopic makeup, offering
insights into the early solar system.The mission's second stage will see
Tianwen 2 redirected toward 311P, a main-belt comet. There, it will
perform a remote-sensing survey and transmit data back to Earth,
expanding the mission's scientific impact.Experts say the
dual-destination mission is expected to produce major discoveries and
deepen understanding of small solar system bodies and Earth's cosmic
neighborhood.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a
witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have
heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that
great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment
come.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
17 For in one
hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all
the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood
afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping
and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich
all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one
hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast
their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be
removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to
deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy
their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the
stumblingblock of their iniquity.
MARK OF THE BEAST (engraved microchip in your hand or forehead)
REVELATION 13:16-18
16
And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
REVELATION 16:1-2
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the
earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;
and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the
mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
3 PART PLAN TO MAKE YOU A PUPPET OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER (ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT CREW)
1-GET PEOPLE ADDICTED TO COMPUTERS.(MICRO-CHIPS INSIDE)
2-PUT COMPUTERS ON YOUR BODY (3D ETC) (MICRO-CHIPS INSIDE)
3-PUT A MICROCHIP INSIDE YOUR BODY. (COMPLETE) (TOTAL MICRO-CHIP CONTROL OF YOU)
I
KNOW THIS MARK WILL BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP
WHAT THE WORD MARK SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2,
19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS
DICTATORS MARK. NOW LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE
CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE. UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD
TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN
WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION 13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO
GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK
WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA,
KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS
A BADGE OF SERVITUDE), OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM
5482 XAPAE CHARAX, KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A
POINT; AKIN TO 1125 THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E
(BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A
SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM 1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO
"GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE; FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING,
-TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 - STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα,
στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick; (cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German
stechen, English stick, sting, etc.; Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in
or branded upon the body. According to ancient oriental usage, slaves
and soldiers bore the name or stamp of their master or commander branded
or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general
they belonged to, and there were even some devotees who stamped
themselves in this way with the token of their gods (cf. Deyling,
Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.)
Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in Galatians 6:17 says
he bears branded on his body, are the traces left there by the perils,
hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by him for the cause of
Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and approved votary,
servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on Galatians, the passage
cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian, Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
FAMINE
EZEKIEL 5:16
16
When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be
for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will
increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
REVELATION 6:5-6
5
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say,
Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him
had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the
midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the
wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there
shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and
there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines
and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11
And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and
pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from
heaven.
DEUTORONOMY 28:24
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
Jeremiah 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
Isaiah 57:21
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
3
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape.
Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR WAVES) the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience:
EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3-7
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-4
3
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be
revealed,(EU WORLD DICTATOR)the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so
that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is
God.
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which
thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but
receive power as kings one hour with the beast.(SOCIALISM)
13 These have one mind,(SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it
were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2
And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a
bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU)
and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)
2 THESSALONIANS 2:9-12
9 Even him,(EU WORLD DICTATOR) whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,(THE
FALSE RESURRECTION BY THE WORLD DICTATOR) that they should believe a
lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
GENESIS 49:16-17-POSSIBLY A JEW FROM DAN KILLS THE DICTATOR AT MIDPOINT OF TRIB
16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
REVELATION 13:1-10
1
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten
crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS
DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a
leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the
mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and
great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw
one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly
wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after
the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4
And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the
beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is
like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE
RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him
a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto
him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to
blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in
heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and
to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10
He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth
with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and
the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH
AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON
EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD
(JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore
and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the
people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end
thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations
are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm
the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the
week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS)
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,
even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon
the desolate.
THE WORLD DICTATOR
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it
were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2
And I saw, and behold a white horse:(EU WORLD DICTATOR) and he that sat
on him had a bow;(PEACE) and a crown was given unto him:(WORLD LEADER)
and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten
crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH
WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT
ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES
ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR,
COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3
COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT
STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR
PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A
LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like
unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth
as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat,
and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM
SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it
were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the
world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION.
JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED
AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS
IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE
EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and
to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall
worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16
And he (FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or
in their foreheads:
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do
according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and
magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things
against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be
accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither
shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN
JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify
himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of
forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall
he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant
things.
39 Thus shall he (THE EU DICTATOR) do in the most strong
holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god,
whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause
them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for
gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the
south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and
the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind,
with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall
enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI5_pMvLZd8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWmPqY8TE0&feature=player_embedded
DANIEL 7:23-25
23
Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth
kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and
break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this
kingdom are ten kings(10 DIVSION REGION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall
arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be
diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3
NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the
most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to
change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a
time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are
come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and
understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT-NEW AGE MOVEMENT) shall
stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own
power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall
prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his
hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall
destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of
princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36
And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall
exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak
marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the
indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS
JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall
magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate
shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew
not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and
pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a
strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and
increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY
LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19
And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their
armies,(UNITED NATIONS TROOPS) gathered together to make war against him
that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED
CHRISTIANS)
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when
the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of
thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw,
and behold a white horse:(EU WORLD DICTATOR) and he that sat on him had a
bow;(PEACE) and a crown was given unto him:(WORLD LEADER) and he went
forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I
stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea,
having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and
upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE
IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10
HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE
BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF
THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES
RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE
EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF
THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE
7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard,
and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a
lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great
authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES
FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to
death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after
the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A
LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK
OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO
BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it
was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them:
and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are
not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he
(FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich
and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do
according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and
magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things
against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be
accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither
shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN
JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify
himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of
forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall
he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant
things.
39 Thus shall he (THE EU DICTATOR) do in the most strong
holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god,
whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause
them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for
gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the
south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and
the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind,
with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall
enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
We
shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only
question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or
consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February
1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in
1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a
man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection
to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten
to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept
him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
No
one will enter the New World Order... unless he or she will make a
pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will
take a Luciferian Initiation.- David Spangler Director of Planetary
Initiative United Nations.
Trump administration’s citizenship
database avoids oversight; ignites Big Brother fears-Jul 1, 2025, 9:23
pm EDT | Anthony Kimery
In a sweeping move that has reshaped
the architecture of federal identity verification, the Trump
administration has created a searchable nationwide citizenship data
exchange that ostensibly is being used to verify U.S. citizenship status
for voter eligibility, but which could just as easily be used to
monitor every American citizen in apparent violation of a slew of
federal privacy laws and without Congressional oversight.The expansion
of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien
Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system and its convergence with the
Federal Data Services Hub (FDSH) reflects a broad shift toward
predictive governance and centralized identity control. While the
original purpose of SAVE was to validate non-citizen eligibility for
entitlements, the new system undergirds a sweeping new framework of
automated citizenship verification that easily could be used not just
for determining voting eligibility, but potentially for law enforcement,
immigration enforcement, financial eligibility assessments, or outright
profiling and dossier compilations on citizens reminiscent of a SyFy
dystopian world.Civil liberties advocates warn there are no current
statutory frameworks that limit how this data can be shared or reused by
other agencies once it is collected and centralized, or who can access,
change, and manipulate it. In the absence of robust oversight, public
transparency, and judicial review, the system’s expansion marks not just
a technical evolution, but a transformation in the relationship between
the individual and the state.The question is not whether the system can
verify citizenship for voter eligibility purposes, but whether it can
do so lawfully, fairly, and without eroding the constitutional rights
its supporters claim to protect.According to reporting, the system
compiles data from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration
files and Social Security records to allow state election officials to
check the citizenship status of registered or potential voters by simply
submitting basic identifiers such as name, date of birth, and Social
Security number.The system has been built on top of SAVE with
significant data streams from the FDSH, which is a central platform
administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
that facilitates the exchange of identity and eligibility data between
various federal agencies, including DHS, the Social Security
Administration (SSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of
Veterans Affairs, and Department of Defense. It marks a profound shift
in how government agencies verify eligibility for public benefits, voter
registration, and more, triggering widespread alarm among privacy
advocates and civil liberties groups.Originally a backend verification
tool that was used to confirm non-citizens’ eligibility for federal
programs, SAVE now functions as a de facto national citizenship index.
It was executed largely without public debate or Congressional oversight
as smaller databases were quietly merged into it from across DHS, SSA,
IRS, the Office of Personnel Management, and other federal entities like
the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.This
initiative was propelled by Executive Order 14248, Preserving and
Protecting the Integrity of American Elections, signed by President
Donald Trump on March 25. The order authorized DHS, with support from
the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to access SAVE, FDSH,
and other federal databases to conduct batch screenings of voter rolls
against immigration, citizenship, Social Security, and other identity
records.In prior years, SAVE was accessed on a case-by-case basis, with
states manually verifying the immigration status of select individuals
applying for public benefits. Now, the system supports batch processing
of entire voter rolls, allowing election officials to screen millions of
individuals in minutes. The White House claims that this tool ensures
that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote. DHS officials have said
the system has already processed over nine million voter records with an
alleged 99.99 percent match rate confirming citizenship.The core
technology rests on a fusion of federal data sources, but it now uses
Social Security Numbers alongside more traditional identifiers like
Alien Registration Numbers to verify the status of naturalized and
U.S.-born citizens, extending its scope far beyond its original purpose
of verifying non-citizen eligibility. According to reports, this updated
capability hinges on new data flows from the Social Security
Administration and is tightly integrated with FDSH.The Trump
administration says this data convergence has significantly boosted
administrative efficiency, particularly in verifying income, tax filing
status, military service, and citizenship for public benefits
eligibility and health coverage enrollment under the Affordable Care
Act. However, the expansion of this infrastructure into voter and
citizenship verification has introduced deep constitutional and legal
concerns.One major glaring issue is transparency. According to privacy
experts, the rollout of the upgraded SAVE system was conducted with
minimal notice and likely sidestepped requirements under the Privacy Act
of 1974, a law that regulates how federal agencies collect, maintain,
use, and disseminate personally identifiable information from
individuals. The law further mandates public notification and a comment
period when federal systems of records are significantly altered or
repurposed – requirements critics argue were ignored in the rush to
deploy the new system.Data accuracy poses another critical concern.
Naturalized citizens may not appear in the database immediately due to
lag times in updating records across agencies. Similarly, SSA records,
while expansive, were never designed or intended to be definitive proof
of citizenship. False negatives could result in eligible citizens being
purged from voter rolls or forced to undergo cumbersome re-verification
procedures. Yet, there is no clearly articulated appeals process or
mechanism for individuals to be notified of potential mismatches,
leaving voters in bureaucratic limbo.Civil liberties groups warn that
the centralization of sensitive personal data from Social Security
Numbers and immigration history to income and veteran status makes SAVE
and the FDSH high-value targets for cyberattacks and internal misuse.
Government Accountability Office audits have stated that both CMS and
DHS need to improve information security protocols across shared systems
such as FDSH.FDSH is increasingly viewed as the government’s central
engine for identity verification. Managed by CMS, FDSH enables the
federal marketplace and states to verify application information in
real-time by checking it against existing federal databases. This
includes confirming Social Security Numbers and citizenship status via
SSA, immigration status via DHS, and income data via the IRS.FDSH ‘s
original purpose – streamlining eligibility checks for health insurance
programs – has now expanded into a comprehensive infrastructure for
cross-agency data sharing. While the system is said by its proponents to
reduces duplicative paperwork and speed up eligibility decisions, its
reliance on broad interagency access to sensitive personal information
raises serious privacy concerns.There is another critical issue. And
that is governance. With over 1,100 agencies eligible to use SAVE,
oversight becomes exceedingly difficult. Questions remain as to how
access logs are maintained, how long data is stored, and whether
external watchdogs or Congressional committees have meaningful insight
into system usage.According to privacy law scholars, SAVE queries are
typically retained for ten years, but it is unclear if batch voter
registration data submitted for verification is also retained or
cross-referenced for future enforcement or eligibility actions. Even
less is known about what other purposes SAVE is being used for, who has
access, and are these users’ activity in the system logged for
accountability, privacy, and security purposes.There are also
process-based concerns. Unlike traditional legal procedures that
guarantee notice, the opportunity to be heard, and the ability to
challenge adverse findings, the SAVE system operates largely in the
background. Individuals whose citizenship is erroneously flagged as
unverified may not even be aware of the error until they are denied a
public benefit or are purged from voter rolls.This black-box design not
only undermines transparency, it also raises due process challenges,
particularly for populations most vulnerable to bureaucratic error such
as naturalized citizens, low-income individuals, and limited English
speakers.In legal terms, the SAVE expansion touches on multiple privacy
frameworks. Under the Privacy Act of 1974, any federal database used to
make decisions about individuals must publish a system of records notice
(SORN) that includes detailed descriptions of data use, retention, and
sharing practices.Although SAVE has long operated under an official SORN
– specifically DHS/USCIS‑004 covering the core SAVE database and last
updated in June 2020 to outline data collection, retention, and sharing
practices – there has been no new or amended SORN addressing the recent
expansion that enables batch queries via Social Security Numbers or
voter roll checks.Similarly, the Federal Data Services Hub operates
under its own security and privacy protocols covered by CMS SORN
09‑70‑0560, which was first published in the Federal Register on October
23, 2013, and updated on February 14, 2018. Critics contend that
because of the sheer scope of what FDSH is now being used for pursuant
to Trump Executive Order 14248, there are serious questions about
whether existing safeguards are sufficient to protect against misuse,
privacy violations and oversight, and systemic bias.This dramatic
restructuring of identity verification in the U.S. comes at a time of
renewed debate over voter access, election integrity, and the
appropriate role of federal data in public administration. Proponents of
the new system argue that it ensures that only eligible citizens vote
or receive benefits, preventing fraud and enhancing administrative
efficiency, but opponents contend that it represents a step toward a
national registry of citizenship – something long considered anathema to
American governance – and fear that it will be used as a tool of
surveillance, disenfranchisement, and political targeting.
World’s
latest phone-sized updates throw doubt on future of big shiny
Orb-Trends suggest real goal is phone integration, but message remains
acataleptic-Jul 1, 2025, 8:49 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
World
has made much of its Orb hardware device, a spherical iris scanner that
seems to consciously nod at dystopian science fiction. But it appears to
be moving slowly away from the Orb – which it openly admitted was
designed as an attention-getter. A recent announcement unveiled the Orb
Mini, which turns out to be shaped (and built) a lot like a
smartphone.World’s latest evolution suggests that the big round eye is
indeed just a shiny bauble, and that sooner rather than later, it aims
to have its technology fit into the average mobile device. A post from
the company on X introduces the new Deep Face Mini App pilot: “on the
spot confirmation that the person you’re speaking with is a real human,
and not a deepfake.”Deep Face is World’s deepfake detection product,
which uses face authentication through World ID. Now, with the pilot,
“anyone can create a Deep Face request in World App” (although “to
respond to a Deep Face request, you need World App and an Orb-verified
World ID”).World ID’s October 2024 update was already pointing to the
smartphone, noting that, “to help bring World ID access to the millions
of people who haven’t yet had a chance to verify at an Orb, World ID 3.0
introduces World ID Credentials, a new way to enable the World Network
to scale and add utility even faster.”This enabled World ID holders to
optionally store information from their physical NFC-enabled passports
in World App on their device, then use World ID for anonymized proof of
age, nationality and unique passport ownership.While it appears to be
scaling down the size of its hardware, World continues scaling up its
user base across its various interests, and its tech ecosystem. A post
says World Chain “now provides priority blockspace for 13 million
verified humans,” and announces that Priority Blockspace for Humans
(PBH) is now live on World Chain mainnet, “representing a major
milestone in the path to building a blockchain for the real human
network.”World describes PBH as “a new mechanism implemented in World
Chain’s block building logic that reserves a portion at the top of each
block’s space for transactions sent from verified humans. Where bots
create congestion, PBH provides a priority lane for real humans.” It
works effectively like a VIP lane, clearing the way during periods of
congestion in the blockspace for “real humans” to “continue interacting
with core onchain services like proof of human verifications, Mini Apps,
or grant claims without delay or disruption.”PBH positions “humanness”
as a “new dimension of transaction ordering.” It says the World Chain
Builder is built on top of Reth, “a modern Ethereum execution client
written in Rust,” and that it integrates with Rollup Boost.World appears
to be conceding that its Orb was just part of the show, and that such
theatrics aren’t really necessary to win the hearts and minds of the
masses (and could even be a putoff). However, it could stand to learn
the same lesson about its language, which still sounds alternately
dystopian, megalomaniacal, painfully pretentious, and like a whole lot
of blether.
Canada directs Hikvision to stop local operations-Jul 1, 2025, 8:42 pm EDT | Lu-Hai Liang
Canada
has ordered Hikvision Canada to cease all operations in the country and
close its Canadian business.Canada’s Industry Minister Mélanie Joly
ordered the closure following a government review that determined
Hikvision Canada’s continued operations in the country would be
“injurious” to its national security.Hikvision is a Chinese biometric
surveillance technology group that has seen increased scrutiny. In the
U.S. that country’s Department of Defense put Hikvision on its list of
Chinese military companies, along with other Chinese companies with
business in facial recognition and biometrics.Hikvision has faced calls
for a ban in the UK as well, even as the company’s security cameras are
widely used in Scotland’s public CCTV networks and other facilities run
by local governments and businesses.In Canada a “multi-step review”
assessed evidence provided by Canada’s security and intelligence
community, according to a statement by Joly, after which the government
decided to order Hikvision Canada to stop all operations.The National
Security Review noted that its scope did not extend to Hikvision’s
affiliate operations outside of Canada, and it does not affect its
parent company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. Ltd.“However,”
Joly said, “I strongly encourage all Canadians to take note of this
decision and make their own decisions accordingly.”As a result of the
decision, federal departments, agencies and crown corporations will be
barred from purchasing or using any Hikvision products. In addition, the
government of Canada is conducting a review to ensure that legacy
Hikvision products are not used going forward.On Saturday, a
spokesperson for China’s embassy to Canada condemned the decision,
accusing Canada of politicizing trade and urging it to stop the
“unreasonable suppression” of Chinese business and infringing on Chinese
companies’ legitimate rights.Hikvision itself also voiced its
opposition: “We strongly disagree with this decision and view it with
deep concern, as we believe it lacks a factual basis, procedural
fairness, and transparency,” the company said in a statement on
Saturday.“Instead of evaluating our technology on its cybersecurity
merits, the decision appears to be driven by the parent company’s
country of origin, reflecting broader geopolitical tensions and an
unjustified bias against Chinese companies,” it continued.
Somalia’s biometric border overhaul signals deeper US engagement-Jul 1, 2025, 8:30 pm EDT | Anthony Kimery
In
a move hailed as both technologically significant and strategically
vital, Somalia formally launched the Personal Identification Secure
Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES) at key border control points
across the country. Backed by the U.S. government, the system marks a
major leap in Somalia’s national border management capabilities.Largely
based on biometrics developed by Booz Allen Hamilton, PISCES is active
in 23 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and other regions. It is a
biometric border control and identity management system that was
developed for the Department of State’s Terrorist Interdiction Program
in 1997 to screen travelers in real time against domestic and
international watchlists. The platform integrates hardware such as
facial recognition cameras, fingerprint readers, and passport scanners
with software that is capable of detecting document fraud and anomalous
travel patterns.On June 22, Somalia’s Immigration and Citizenship Agency
(ICA) initiated comprehensive training for Somali immigration officers
aimed at building the technical foundation for operating PISCES. The
training was held in Mogadishu and conducted by American officials
dispatched through the U.S. Embassy, highlighting the intensity of
cooperation between Washington and the Somali government in civil
infrastructure reform.The system is used by countries considered
high-risk for irregular migration, terrorism, or transnational crime,
and is viewed by U.S. officials as a soft power instrument that advances
counterterrorism and security goals while supporting partner states in
governance modernization.In Somalia, the system’s rollout is part of a
larger modernization plan that includes the launch of a new
polycarbonate biometric e-passport, an online visa application platform,
and a memorandum of understanding with Interpol to integrate
international criminal databases into Somali immigration
operations.According to ICA Director General Mustafe Sheikh Cali
Dhuxulow, the new capabilities are not just about adopting new
technologies, but about transforming the way Somalia manages identity,
mobility, and trust in public institutions. In his remarks opening
four-days of PISCES training, Dhuxulow thanked the U.S. government for
its longstanding partnership and emphasized Somalia’s commitment to
building a secure, credible, and modern migration management system.A
representative of the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu described the training
and system deployment as a historic milestone in Somalia’s post-conflict
rebuilding efforts. He noted that PISCES is already used worldwide as a
frontline defense against border-related threats and that Somalia’s
adoption of the system will help it better integrate with the global
security architecture.The U.S. Embassy has taken a lead role in
organizing logistics, curriculum development, and technical support for
the training, which specifically focused on border security at airports,
seaports, and overland checkpoints.In January, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) issued a Request for Information to support
continued operation and maintenance of the Somalia Automated Biometric
Identification System (ABIS), a federal interagency-led effort designed
to strengthen Somalia’s capacity for criminal justice and
counterterrorism through advanced biometric identification technologies.
The FBI said at the time that it aimed to strengthen Somalia’s law
enforcement capabilities, ensuring the region’s stability and security
through enhanced biometric identification.Somalia seeks to tighten
controls along its historically porous borders which have long been
exploited by traffickers, smugglers, and armed groups. With the
deployment of PISCES, authorities are now able to verify identities in
real time, cross-check travelers against global watchlists, and flag
suspicious behavior, all essential functions in an environment where
criminal networks often take advantage of weak administrative
structures.The system’s integration with biometric e-passports and
digital visa platforms further enhances the Somalia’s ability to detect
fraud and assess potential risks before travelers arrive at entry
points.Officials said PISCES is already being deployed at Aden Adde
International Airport in Mogadishu and will be expanded to cover other
ports of entry across Somalia. In addition to supporting border
management, the system has implications for law enforcement, immigration
processing, and Somalia’s ability to collaborate with international
partners on issues ranging from counterterrorism to migration
governance.The government has also stated that the systems will
reinforce Somalia’s sovereignty by providing accurate, verifiable data
on all individuals entering and exiting the country.Somalia’s
integration of PISCES is not an isolated case. The system has been
deployed across multiple African nations over the last two decades,
including Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Djibouti.In Kenya, PISCES has
been used since the early 2000s at major international airports where it
has reportedly improved processing times and helped prevent the entry
of individuals flagged in terrorism or criminal databases. A 2021 study
examining the use of PISCES in Kenya found that immigration officers
experienced increased efficiency and reduced identity fraud due to the
system’s biometric verification capabilities.Ethiopia and Tanzania have
adopted PISCES under similar U.S.-backed agreements, with varying
degrees of transparency in implementation. In Burkina Faso, the system
was deployed as part of broader U.S. assistance programs tied to
regional counterterrorism objectives.In May, 2024, Tajikistan and the
U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the
Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office and the Department of State on
Tajikistan’s deployment of PISCES.What sets Somalia’s implementation of
PISCES apart is the comprehensive, public-facing rollout that links
biometric controls to an overarching state modernization agenda. In
contrast to earlier adoptions that focused narrowly on security,
Somalia’s use of PISCES is situated within a framework of governance
reform, citizen service improvement, and institutional
trust-building.The biometric e-passport, for example, aligns with
International Civil Aviation Organization standards, offering Somali
citizens an internationally recognized form of identification. The
digital visa system aims to streamline travel while reducing
opportunities for fraud, another common vulnerability in countries
emerging from conflict.This layered approach reflects not only evolving
security priorities, but also growing recognition of the role identity
infrastructure plays in economic development, international mobility,
and human rights.A senior U.S. official involved in the program noted
that the systems deployed in Somalia “save lives, stop crimes, and build
trust in institutions.” These are not marginal benefits, especially for
a country like Somalia where government legitimacy has long been
undermined by instability and weak service delivery.The implications
extend beyond Somalia’s borders. The Horn of Africa remains a critical
nexus for migration flows, terrorism, and international shipping routes.
With Somalia’s new capabilities, regional coordination efforts through
organizations like the Intergovernmental Authority on Development or the
African Union’s border governance initiatives may see improved data
sharing and more unified enforcement practices.In fact, Somalia’s recent
agreement with Interpol to integrate global law enforcement databases
into its border systems suggests that it is positioning itself as a
cooperative regional actor, not just a security recipient.Critics of
PISCES have long raised concerns about privacy, data protection, and the
risk of external surveillance in host countries. These debates have
intensified in places where civil liberties frameworks are weak or where
system oversight is ambiguous. However, Somali officials have indicated
that the implementation includes policies for responsible data use,
supported by capacity-building from U.S. and international
agencies.Whether those safeguards are sufficient remains to be seen, but
the government’s willingness to speak publicly about the system and its
uses represents a shift from the opacity that has surrounded past
biometric deployments in the region.The broader U.S.–Somalia partnership
under which PISCES was delivered signals a shift in American
engagement, from primarily military and intelligence-based assistance to
investment in civilian and governance-focused systems.The State
Department’s involvement underscores that the U.S. views border security
as integral to peacebuilding, economic recovery, and counterterrorism,
and not just as a military concern. For Somalia, it is an opportunity to
build a modern state apparatus that meets international expectations
while addressing long-standing internal vulnerabilities.Somalia’s
adoption of PISCES is more than a technical upgrade. It represents a
pivotal moment in the country’s post-conflict governance strategy, one
that combines biometric technologies, international cooperation, and
institutional reform. By embedding these tools in a broader
modernization plan supported by trusted partners and publicly
accountable leadership, Somalia is taking tangible steps toward
reclaiming control over its borders and restoring the public’s trust in
its institutions.
South Dakota to push ahead with age
verification law following SCOTUS opinion-Porn laws likely to stick, but
NetChoice continues grinding at social media legislation-Jul 1, 2025,
1:28 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
The Supreme Court ruling
upholding Texas’ age verification requirement for porn sites has set the
stage for a wave of legislation in the U.S. Up first is South Dakota,
where an age verification law is set to take effect today. It requires
any site hosting adult material “in the regular course of the website’s
trade or business” to implement age verification or age estimation
technology. itsIn Texas, the law applies to websites on which one-third
or more of the content is considered pornographic or adult. Reporting
from South Dakota Searchlight says South Dakota doesn’t have that
proportional restriction; lawmakers behind the bill say the number is
arbitrary, something Texas “made up.”The piece quotes South Dakota
Attorney General Marty Jackley, who says the Supreme Court decision
“supports the protections enacted by the South Dakota Legislature to
protect South Dakota families.”It also quotes those who believe the laws
could, in fact, harm some families. In her dissent to the SCOTUS
ruling, Justice Elena Kagan argues that Texas should have tailored its
law more narrowly, “to ensure it is not undervaluing the interest in
free expression.”“Many reasonable people, after all, view the speech at
issue here as ugly and harmful for any audience,” Kagan writes. “But the
First Amendment protects those sexually explicit materials, for every
adult. So a state cannot target that expression, as Texas has here, any
more than is necessary to prevent it from reaching children.”In South
Dakota, the American Civil Liberties issued a statement to Searchlight,
saying the Supreme Court “has departed from decades of settled
precedents that ensured that sweeping laws purportedly for the benefit
of minors do not limit adults’ access to First Amendment-protected
materials.”NetChoice sues Arkansas again, warning of frivolous
litigation-Free Speech Coalition, the industry group for porn providers,
may have been unable to move the Supreme Court. But a more powerful
(and richer) industry lobby continues its bulldozer tour across U.S.
legislation to impose age assurance requirements on social
media.NetChoice’s members include Amazon, Google, Meta, Netflix, PayPal,
reddit, StubHub, Trivago, X, Yahoo and YouTube (among others) – so it’s
no surprise they have the resources to continue mounting legal
challenges. Its latest action is suing the government of Arkansas (for a
second time) over Act 901, which a blog post calls “another
unconstitutional attempt to censor online speech that directly defies
the Supreme Court’s 2024 NetChoice doctrine by trying to dictate how
online services display information.”For First Amendment fear mongering,
NetChoice brings out the big guns. Alleging that the bill’s
requirements are “unreasonably vague,” it warns of censorship, and
“frivolous lawsuits” that will “coerce online platforms to remove vast
amounts of protected content that could be questionable – from
discussions about historical documents like the Declaration of
Independence to popular culture like Taylor Swift’s music.”AP reports
that the action also challenges a law prohibiting social media platforms
from using a design, algorithm or feature it “knows or should have
known through the exercise of reasonable care” would cause a user to
kill themself, develop an eating disorder, become addicted to the
platform, or purchase a controlled substance.Summoning a far more
obscure but no less mighty pop culture icon to the party, the suit
“questions whether songs that mention drugs, such as Afroman’s ‘Because I
Got High,’ would be prohibited under the new law.”Georgia decision ‘a
major victory for free speech’Regardless of its stance in Arkansas,
endless litigation appears to be working for NetChoice in Georgia, where
a judge has upheld its challenge to the state’s proposed social media
age check law, SB 351.NetChoice Director of Litigation Chris Marchese
calls the ruling “a major victory for free speech, constitutional
clarity and the rights of all Georgians to engage in public discourse
without intrusive government overreach.”“Free expression doesn’t end
where government anxiety begins. Parents – not politicians – should
guide their children’s lives online and offline – and no one should have
to hand over a government ID to speak in digital spaces.”
Social
media’s age verification crisis: Can platforms solve the technical and
ethical puzzle? Jul 1, 2025, 1:19 pm EDT | Liudas Kanapienis
The
demand for robust, ethical, and privacy-first verification systems is
growing rapidly, explains Liudas Kanapienis, CEO and co-founder of
Ondato. Tools that meet these standards already exist, and companies are
actively working with platforms to implement them
responsibly.Restrictions on children’s access to social media are a
controversial topic that has captured the attention of numerous
governments around the world. Age verification systems on tech platforms
are suddenly becoming a pressing issue, requiring not only precision
but also a quick turnaround time for implementation. However, this is
not an overnight problem, but an ethical, global, urgent one.As the
landmark under-16 social media ban in Australia takes effect in December
2025, with other countries such as France and Spain proposing similar
laws, technology firms are racing to develop technology that can verify a
user’s age without compromising privacy or inadvertently locking out
vulnerable groups. Fortunately, this is not uncharted territory.A global
regulatory push-The legislation was passed in Australia, which will
make it illegal for children under the age of 16 to have accounts on
sites like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter),
Reddit, and potentially YouTube, which is currently under review for
exemption.The act places the onus on the platforms rather than the users
and requires them to either take “reasonable steps” to ensure the
verification of age or face fines up to AU$49.5 million per
violation.Nevertheless, with only five months to enforcement, the
industry has not yet agreed on what reasonable steps specifically
mean.The technical puzzle: Scale, speed, and accuracy-The majority of
the existing age gates on social media websites are based on
self-reported birthdays, which are easily circumvented and generally
perceived to be ineffective. Experiments with more sophisticated tools,
such as AI-based facial age estimation, are in progress.Nevertheless,
such solutions are not perfect yet. ABC reported that during recent
tests, the technology could only estimate the age of the people within
18 months in 85% of the cases. The tool has misidentified children as
young as 15 as being in their 20s and 30s, which means that a
14-year-old child may be allowed to access a social media account and a
17-year-old may be denied. Some studies demonstrate that even the most
accurate age-estimation software on the market today still gets an
average error of 1.0 years. The other software alternatives misjudge the
age of a person by an average of 3.1 years.Bringing accurate and
compliant age verification to hundreds of millions of users with
real-time checks and low friction can be a big technical challenge,
particularly across cross-device, cross-region, and cross-demographic
groups. However, it’s also achievable, and necessary to meet the goals
of these new laws.Solutions should also be able to comply with a number
of international regulations: Australia is insisting on a 16+ limit,
France will set it at 15, and some jurisdictions will continue to permit
access at age 13. This adds to the complexity of platforms that need to
roll out a scalable verification system.The ethical dilemma: Privacy
vs. protection-Beyond the technical problems, there is a more
fundamental ethical conflict: how to ensure child safety without
compromising the personal data of users.Many age verification
technologies use sensitive data, such as facial scans, government-issued
IDs, or biometrics, which presents major privacy concerns, especially
within the context of laws like the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR) in the EU.Protective measures, if not designed with privacy in
mind, can have unintended consequences: Over-collection of data often
leads to mistrust and regulatory backlash.Privacy-first solutions strike
a balance between safety, compliance, and user experience. This
includes using a layered or hybrid approach, where low-friction,
non-invasive tools like AI-based age estimation are prioritized, and
more sensitive methods (such as ID scans) are reserved only for cases
that truly require them. This mirrors best practices in digital identity
verification across banking and fintech, proving that effective age
assurance doesn’t have to come at the cost of personal
privacy.Unintended consequences and workarounds-There is also growing
concern that aggressive enforcement can only serve to drive young users
into more dangerous activities. VPNs, fake ID generators, and
third-party apps that spoof user data are prevalent, often containing
malware, trackers, or phishing attempts.Teens who attempt to circumvent
restrictions may end up exposing themselves to identity theft, spyware,
or even worse. It is not merely a policy failure – it turns into a
cybersecurity problem.A recent study in Australia revealed that 37% of
children between the ages of 10 and 15 years reported having seen
harmful or inappropriate content on sites such as YouTube. However, the
study also demonstrated the significance of these platforms in
educational content and cultural affiliation, especially among regional
and economically disadvantaged groups. Again, this study is further
evidence that the complexity of this matter cannot be handled rigidly.
Without proper investigation and well-rounded legislation that considers
both the benefits and drawbacks of social media, we will put our
children at risk with our own actions.A narrow window for innovationWith
regulators breathing down their necks, social media platforms must
speed up not only technical innovation but also transparency to the
general public.Unless users, parents, and regulators know how age
verification works, or believe it is non-invasive and fair, no matter
how sophisticated the technology is, it will not work. It will not be
trusted by people.Social media companies should take the lead from
fintech firms, which have made investments in user education, open data
practices, and cross-sector engagement with governments and
watchdogs.What comes next? In the next few months, the Australian
government is likely to provide further guidance on the acceptable
standards of verification, such as whether or not YouTube will be exempt
from the ban on under-16s. In the meantime, other governments around
the world are also considering this approach.The Online Safety Act,
enacted by the UK in 2023, already requires a minimum of age-appropriate
design for digital services. The EU is planning to take the safety of
children more seriously, as outlined in the Digital Services Act. At the
same time, several states in the USA have introduced bills on the need
to have parental consent or age verification on social media for
minors.However, until a common framework or more advanced technology is
developed, compliance will remain fragmented and uneven.We are at a
crossroads. When done right, age verification can make online safety a
better place without breaking trust. And that’s exactly what responsible
companies are focused on: developing privacy-first, compliant, and
user-friendly solutions. But when done wrong, it risks pushing users
underground, undermining privacy, and creating only the illusion of
safety.
Namibia weighs biometrics options for foundation of instant payment system-Jul 1, 2025, 1:06 pm EDT | Chris Burt
One
of the signs of progress towards realizing the “prioritizing use,
accelerating impact” part of the ID4Africa 2025 AGM’s official theme was
the presence of more representatives from relying parties.Among them
was Marsorry Ickua, the chief operating officer of Instant Payments
Namibia.The instant payment system initiative launched last year as part
of Namibia’s drive to reap the economic gains of digital public
infrastructure. Namibia has a new Civil Registration and Identification
law, a budget to implement it, and new digital ID cards are rolling out
next month.Ickua was seconded from Namibia’s Central Bank to work on the
country’s new instant payment system shortly before he spoke to
Biometric Update on the sidelines of ID4Africa 2025 in Addis Ababa. He
says the country also has a strong financial system for the digital
payments rails to be built on top of, but has so far struggled to
deliver the benefits of the system to people in rural areas.The project
is currently at the stage of “deploying infrastructure and getting
stakeholders on board,” Ickua says. As part of that process, he was both
attending presentations and discussions and familiarizing himself with
some of the biometric authentication technologies being exhibited.“One
of the underlying pillars of a successful instant payment product for a
country is good authentication and understanding who people are,” Ickua
notes. The system will likely use biometrics for user authentication,
Ickua says, because of concerns about the ease with which cards can be
forged or cloned.While fraud prevention is a major concern, the project
is largely intended to support financial inclusion, and hopefully lower
the cost of transactions.Whatever technology is chosen has to be cost
effective to implement both for Instant Payments Namibia but also the
merchants and organizations it wants to use the system. This has proven a
challenge so far.“We were in the process of looking at very expensive
hardware,” Ickua says, “putting them down at places like commercial
banks, which is where we need to do KYC, as well as at points of
entry.”Lessons from abroad-Namibia has ambitions of establishing a
comprehensive system, with the instant payments capability potentially
integrated with other systems to facilitate public and private service
delivery, but Ickau emphasizes the need to ensure strong foundations are
in place.He cites the example of the India Stack, and how it leverages a
high connectivity rate and coverage of digital ID.“Only then, once
those two pillars are well covered, was their financial sector with the
UPI platform very successful,” Ickua says. “It started off slowly but
then it kind of just blew up. That’s what we’re aiming to do. We have
similar challenges, even though our populations are vastly
different.”The overall objective of Instant Payments Namibia is similar
to Kenya-founded M-Pesa, in that it gets money moving in remotest
corners of country. But there are also some key differences, according
to Ickua.“M-Pesa’s success is drawn from the fact that it was born out
of necessity,” he explains.” I think at the time maybe the financial
sector wasn’t addressing people’s needs. ‘I just want to be able to get
something from the store,’ and maybe you can use your credit to do that.
In our case, we have a fairly established payment system already. We’ve
got card payments, we’ve got EFT et cetera, and it’s working fairly
well. Our only challenge is that it’s not going to as many corners of
the country as we would like it to.”Namibia’s financial system currently
covers about 78 percent of the country’s population, Ickua says. “That
last 20 percent is very difficult.”The country will need to improve
mobile phone network coverage, electricity and public understanding of
tech and fintech, he says, “let alone getting devices, smart or
otherwise, into people’s hands”Encouraging options-What Ickua saw and
heard at ID4frica this year was encouraging, he says: “There are some
cost-effective solutions that are available for us.”He notes
technologies like QR codes as a possibility, and says, “At least we have
options.” At the same time, he says, “we don’t want to dictate how the
ministry applies the technology.”Ultimately, the Instant Payments scheme
will likely need another entity to do the identity verification for
onboarding, Ickua says. “We want to rather focus our efforts on just the
overlying financial services component, enabling the payments
seamlessly, rather than also being the engine that does authentication
and verification against the national registration database.”The Central
Bank would be willing to consider capital outlay to fast-track the
process and make it more cost-effective, but whatever is decided on, the
system will need to use the national registration database for
onboarding to prevent fraud and money laundering.Third parties “do have
some information, and it is quite credible, but at the end of the day
it’s still a commercial entity doing this. So we want the meeting of
minds. We want the MNOs’ data combined with the government’s data so
that we can have a proper, legitimate authentication process on which we
can then rely, with financial services on top of it.”Namibia is
interested in eventually adding digital wallet on top of the payment
system, and ultimately wants digital wallets and bank accounts to be
interoperable.“For the financial sector, you may want to entertain not
just the payment element of it, but being able to have that digital
wallet, where you can store such a thing as” an e-passport or birth
certificate to facilitate transactions, Ickua says.He is optimistic
enough about meeting the initiative’s short-term goals to look further
ahead, despite the many items on the to-do list above.“We’ve got a lot
of challenges to get through, but I think we’re on the right track. And
once the urban communities pick the technology up, they will want to get
those resources to their communities” in the remotest parts of Namibia.
Neural
Payments integrates Trust Stamp orchestration to stop fraud-‘No need
for callbacks, insecure one-time passcodes sent via SMS or email’Jul 1,
2025, 1:04 pm EDT | Joel R. McConvey
Trust Stamp has announced
a partnership with Neural Payments, which will integrate Trust Stamp’s
low-code Orchestration Platform to provide identity verification for
Know Your Customer (KYC) processes and selfie-based re-authentication
for payments.A release from the Atlanta-headquartered company says the
proliferation of popular P2P apps like PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle
has created a fertile ground for fraudsters to plunder with generative
AI and social engineering.Trust Stamp President Andrew Gowasack, says
that Neural Payments has taken a “proactive approach by enabling users
to enroll using their face and government ID document, then to approve
future payments with a selfie.”“Rather than storing sensitive biometric
information, selfies are converted into Irreversibly Transformed
Identity Tokens (IT2) which can be compared to future IT2. There is no
need for callbacks, insecure one-time passcodes sent via SMS or email,
or authenticator apps. Approving a payment is as easy as taking a
selfie.”The comment on callbacks rings louder in the context of a
building movement to ban “phone home” server retrieval for identity
verification.Mick Oppy, founder and CEO of Neural Payments, says that
fraud mitigation is no longer a passive issue for financial
institutions: “it’s a top concern that requires real-time and preemptive
action. With Trust Stamp, we’re signaling our commitment to both our
customers and our 2025 growth aspirations as we push towards becoming
the FinTech of choice for P2P payments.”Per the release, both Trust
Stamp and Neural Payments are graduates of the Independent Community
Bankers of America (ICBA) ThinkTECH Accelerator.
SITA leads biometric-powered check-in upgrade at Taipei Songshan Airport-Jul 1, 2025, 11:17 am EDT | Lu-Hai Liang
Taipei
Songshan Airport is upgrading its check-in counters to streamline the
check-in experience with SITA leading the change.SITA will deploy
self-service and biometrics-powered technology to help Taipei Songshan
Airport (TSA) future-proof its operations, with all airlines operating
from TSA’s international terminal able to access SITA’s Flex platform
and Smart Path check-in kiosks.“Emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, the
Asia Pacific region has seen a hugely invigorating domestic travel
boom,” said Sumesh Patel, president for Asia Pacific at SITA. “This year
passenger numbers in the region are expected to grow by 7.9 percent,
the highest rate globally.”To smooth this expected increase without
expanding the airport physically, which is not always possible, Patel
points to smarter technology as the solution. Greater speed and
efficiency is the promise with SITA’s Flex platform, Smart Path check-in
kiosks and use of face biometrics to link passengers to their ID and
acquire their boarding passes.“All our solutions boast modular, flexible
design, meaning our technology will grow with TSA and its airlines,
constantly adapting to passenger requirements and ensuring the airport
has the tools to support anything the future holds,” Patel said.Flex
allows passengers the ability to check in to their flight from their
mobile phone. SITA Self Bag Drop has been documented to speed up
processing time by up to 80 percent. Integration with biometric
authentication via SITA Smart Path kiosks can further streamline bag
drops so that the entire process can be completed in as little as 70
seconds, SITA claims.Supporting these systems will be the SITA Maestro
Departure Control System (DCS) which automates airline check-in and
boarding and ensures “full continuity” if there are unforeseen network
disruptions, according to the company.The rollout of all SITA
technologies at TSA is expected to be completed by the end of this
year.Enhancing the seamless passenger experience-From remote
selfie-based identity verification on your smart phone, to self-bag
drop, accessing VIP lounges, getting through security,
concession-shopping, and boarding your plane, train or cruise ship,
biometrics is enabling the seamless travel experience. Watch this
webinar on demand to learn more about biometric-driven efficiency in
travel.