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)
6 COUNTRIES COMMITTED TO THE GAZY FORCE.US expects leaders of Egypt, Qatar, UAE, UK, Italy, Germany to sit on top.
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @ 39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS) and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Zephaniah 2:1-15
1 Gather together, yes, gather,O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect[a] -before the day passes away like chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands;[b] seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows[c] for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab (JORDAN) and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever.The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria,(SYRIA) and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts;[d] even the owl and the hedgehog[e] shall lodge in her capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.Sa'ar: No free meals; talks possible if more hostages freed Israel halts aid into Gaza, citing Hamas refusal to extend first phase of truce
Footnotes-a -Zephaniah 2:2 Hebrew gives birth, b-Zephaniah 2:3 Or who carry out his judgment, c-Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves, d-Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of every nation, e-Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain
DANIEL 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
DANIEL 7:17-26
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
THE WORLD IN 10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS LEAD BY THE EUROPEAN UNION THE WORLD LEADER, NOT AMERICA.I PREDICT.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND REVIVED ROMAN WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17
First From Daniel Chapter 2
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES
Now From Daniel Chapter 7
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS
REV 17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS. THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23, REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16
REVELATION 17:10-12
10 And there are seven kings (7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY) five are fallen, (EGYPT, ASSYRIA, BABYLON,:MEDO-PERSIAN,GREECE and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS DAY-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh,(FUTURE-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE-EUROPEAN UNION TODAY) he must continue a short space.(7 YEARS OF WORLD DOMINATION-BUT 3 1/2 YEARS OF NEW WORLD ORDER OR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT)
12 And the ten horns (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS OR REGIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS-NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind,(WORLD SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
DICK MORRIS-This truly creates a global economic system. From now on, don’t look to Washington for the rule making, look to Brussels.
THE CLUB OF ROME FOUNDER AURELIO PECCEI WANTS THE WORLD IN 10 REGIONAL TRADING BLOCKS.
REVELATION 16:1-2
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE. UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION 13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE), OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX, KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125 THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM 1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE; FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 - STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick; (cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.; Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian, Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
HERES WHAT THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE (SINCE THERE WILL BE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE FUTURE)-UPDATED VERSION (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
01 CANADA, U.S.A, MEXICO
02 EUROPEAN UNION,WESTERN EUROPE
03 JAPAN
04 AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND, S AFRICA, ISRAEL AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
05 EASTERN EUROPE
06 SOUTHERN, CENTRAL AND LATIN AMERICAS
07 NORTH AFRICA, AND MIDEAST (MOSLEMS)
08 CENTRAL AFRICA
09 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
10 CENTRAL ASIA
THE CLUB OF ROME WANTS A WORLD CHARISMATIC DICTATOR (EITHER RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL OR SCIENTIFICAL) TO HEAD THIS WORLD GOVERNMENT. REV 13:3,7-8, DAN 7:23-24
WORLD POWERS IN THE END TIME
NORTH - RUSSIA EZEK 38:1-2, 39:1-2
SOUTH - EGYPT DAN 11:42
EAST - CHINA DAN 11:44,REV 16:12
WEST - EUROPEAN UNION DAN 7:23-24 (NOT THE U.S.A)
http://israel7777777.blogspot.ca/2012/03/10-world-trade-blocs-one-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2006/09/how-eu-takes-world-control.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/one-world-religion-crislam.html
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @ 39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS) and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
COUNCIL FOR EUROPE ON DEFENCE
https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/document/download/6d6f889c-e58d-4caa-8f3b-8b93154fe206_en?filename=SAFE%20Regulation.pdf
ExclusiveItaly willing to send troops to Gaza force, says official-Six countries have committed to joining Trump’s Board of Peace, say officials-US expects leaders of Egypt, Qatar, UAE, UK, Italy, Germany to sit on top panel overseeing Strip’s rebuild, but similar commitments to join ISF lacking amid questions about mandateBy Jacob Magid-17 December 2025, 8:22 pm
WASHINGTON — The US is telling interlocutors that it has secured commitments from Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany to have their leaders join US President Donald Trump on the Board of Peace that will oversee the postwar management of Gaza, four officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.Commitments from six countries — including prominent stakeholders in the Mideast and Europe — offer critical international buy-in to the Trump administration’s efforts to advance its Gaza peace plan out of the initial ceasefire phase.However, willingness to sit on the Board of Peace does not mean further support from each country is guaranteed, according to a US official, an Israeli official and two Arab diplomats who spoke to The Times of Israel for this story on condition of anonymity.Still, the US is hoping that broad, prominent membership in the Board of Peace will boost the initiative’s international legitimacy and increase the likelihood that countries will be willing to contribute funds, troops or other forms of support.Accordingly, the US is aiming for roughly half a dozen more leaders to join the panel headed by Trump, including Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.The State Department, along with the foreign ministries of the aforementioned countries, did not respond to requests for comment.Eyes on Riyadh and AnkaraTrump even said publicly during bin Salman’s visit to Washington last month that he hopes the de facto Saudi leader will join him on the Board of Peace.The four officials said Riyadh is still holding off on making such a decision until there is more clarity regarding the situation in Gaza, where Hamas has pledged to hold onto its weapons and Israeli forces have opened fire on or conducted strikes against Palestinians crossing the ceasefire line on a near-daily basis since a fragile ceasefire was signed on October 9.While bin Salman would be a welcome addition to the Board of Peace, as far as Israel is concerned, Jerusalem continues to resist Turkish involvement in the postwar management of Gaza, particularly in the International Stabilization Force that the Trump plan envisions will phase out the IDF in the Strip.The Israeli official said that he expects the US pressure in the coming weeks to intensify, with the aim of coaxing Jerusalem to lift its blanket veto on Turkish involvement in postwar Gaza and agree to a compromise where Erdogan sits on the Board of Peace or Ankara is involved in the command structure of the ISF, even if it doesn’t have boots on the ground in Gaza.ISF mandate issues-Securing foreign troop commitments to the ISF has been a much more uphill battle than Board of Peace membership, as countries are still seeking more clarity regarding the force’s mandate, and there is also widespread unease regarding the war-like conditions on the ground in Gaza.Washington sought to address some of those concerns at a conference that the US Central Command hosted in Doha on Tuesday, where it laid out its vision for the ISF to representatives from several dozen potential contributors.It laid out five different ways in which countries can participate in the ISF: troops, law enforcement officers, logistical support, training of Palestinian police officers or funding.While more clarity was provided regarding the ISF’s size, makeup and command structure, along with elements of its mandate, thornier issues related to Hamas disarmament remain unaddressed, the two Arab diplomats said.The resolution that the US pushed through the UN Security Council states that the ISF will “ensure” the demilitarization of Gaza, but the US has told interlocutors that it is not expecting the force to at first deploy on the western half of the Gaza Strip currently under de facto Hamas control and referred to as the “red zone,” the four officials said.Instead, the US wants to initially station the ISF along the Yellow Line boundary to which Israel withdrew at the start of the October ceasefire, leaving it in control of roughly 53 percent of the Strip, according to the four officials.Washington has also told potential contributors that it doesn’t envision the ISF actively sparring with Hamas to take away its weapons, and instead expects the terror group to comply with a gradual disarmament plan.However, the two Arab diplomats said that talks on such an agreement between Hamas and the Mideast mediators are still in very early stages, and that US engagement has been limited. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff had planned to meet with top Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya last month, but that meeting was scrapped and has not since been rescheduled.Rome is calling-Meanwhile, Italy has in recent days renewed its willingness to dispatch its Carabinieri and military forces to join the ISF, the US official said, confirming a report in the Repubblica Italian daily.But like Azerbaijan and Indonesia, Rome is seeking more clarity regarding the ISF mandate before formally signing on, the US official said.The US is aiming to hold a follow-up conference in Washington around the second week of January and to have outstanding questions addressed by then, but the two Arab diplomats and the Israeli official expressed heavy skepticism over the Trump administration’s desire to have the force deployed in that same month.The administration has already pushed off Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire’s second phase that was initially planned for mid to late December, with the president saying last week that it will take place sometime early next year.The four officials stressed that Netanyahu’s planned December 29 meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago will be decisive in addressing many of the outstanding issues holding countries back from making decisions regarding the extent to which they’ll participate in the postwar management of Gaza.Hamas slows search for Gvili.For its part, Israel has dismissed the notion of a gradual disarmament process, decreasing the likelihood that it will be willing to further pull back its forces from deep inside Gaza, the four officials said.It is also pushing back on transitioning to the ceasefire’s second phase before the body of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, has been returned.The two Arab diplomats said that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s search for Gvili has slowed in recent days against the backdrop of Israeli strikes in Gaza. An IDF strike over the weekend killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saad, in what Washington has privately recognized was a violation of the ceasefire, the US official said.The two Arab diplomats said it wasn’t immediately clear whether the slowed search for Gvili was due to the difficult security conditions on the ground or Hamas’s response to the Israeli strikes.Israel also isn’t thrilled about the idea of Qatar being on the Board of Peace, but the Israeli official said Jerusalem recognizes that it can’t be seen as blocking every aspect of Trump’s plan.Moreover, the Board of Peace is largely symbolic, with real responsibility in managing and overseeing expected to be placed with a mid-tier executive committee staffed by Witkoff, fellow Trump aide Jared Kushner, former UK prime minister Tony Blair and former UN envoy to the Mideast Nickolay Mladenov — all of whom have productive working relationships with Israel’s leadership, the Israeli official said.Also sitting on the executive committee will be a number of high-profile American business leaders, while Mladenov will be tasked with overseeing the Palestinian technocratic committee responsible for running the day-to-day affairs in the Strip, the Israeli official said.A source familiar with the matter said that the US is also working to finalize the charter of the Board of Peace, at which point formal invitations will be extended, including to those who have already committed to joining.
Frontex lays groundwork for full rollout of new EU border management systems-Entry/Exit System, ETIAS change travel in world fraught with tension over borders-Dec 18, 2025, 3:39 pm EST | Joel R. McConvey
The massive digital shift happening across sectors is also complicating border crossing. The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) and ETIAS introduce new digital border management systems that promise better security for the Schengen area, but do not come without challenges,Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, has posted a Q&A with Uku Särekanno, who oversees administration and information management for the agency. Frontex, which developed the Travel to Europe pre-clearance app, is also supporting the systems’ implementation by providing training, guidance and tools for pre-registration, and simulation tools to prepare the relevant border crossing points.Reflecting on the rollout of EES, which launched in October 2025, Särekanno says it’s “a very symbolic milestone, as for the first time in Europe we are going to have a centralised oversight of who is in and who has left the Schengen area. This understanding is fundamental if we talk about controlled and well-managed migration to Europe.”Full rollout is expected to be complete by April 2026. But there are large tasks to attend to before that can happen. “The most difficult part is still ahead of us, when the biometrics will start to be collected in the biggest travel hubs,” says Särekanno. “Introducing a major system like the EES is not only a technical exercise; it is also a matter of rethinking our infrastructure and procedures to fit the new reality at our borders.”The new reality is a world in which temperatures are running high over the issue of migration, spurring support for governments on the far right end of the political spectrum. The UK and U.S. are both struggling with their own brands of immigration-related crisis, and the Trump administration has made clear its intention to pressure European countries to align with American interests.This all loads additional baggage onto the EES, which already comes with technical, logistical and operational challenges. Moreover, the EES will be followed by the introduction of ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) in the last quarter of 2026.Särekanno is optimistic. He says “the start of ETIAS means an entry into a new core area: pre-travel control of non-EU visitors. Frontex will become the central hub of Europe in pre-entry checks of hundreds of millions of travellers, providing unique support both to them and to Member States and carriers.”“ETIAS will allow us to better manage the risks related to people arriving in Europe, while also facilitating entry for bona fide travellers. The gradual roll-out of the EES has already taught us many lessons that can help us with ETIAS launch next year. It has shown the importance of maintaining connectivity, providing proper training and having the necessary business continuity plans in place. But of course, no matter how well prepared we are, the reality will only kick in once the system starts operations.”Major shift in how travelers apply to enter Schengen area-Särekanno acknowledges that the ETIAS and the EES “introduce a major change in travelling to Europe. The number of people affected is not small: we have more than 600 million entries and exits at EU external borders every year. It is important that we prepare the ground, raise awareness and collaborate with our partners, ensuring that everyone is ready for these changes.”Raising awareness, he says, “is especially important when it comes to ETIAS, as the introduction of the European travel authorisation for visa-free travellers is not only a technical matter but also carries political weight.”Särekanno believes that a fully digitized border needs to “strike a delicate balance between keeping our external borders secure and ensuring smoother travel.” Biometrics and improved identity management will play a key role in personalizing security assessment and risk management. A long-term goal is automation of entry procedures for bona fide travellers.“We are heavily investing in electronic gates and seamless travel procedures, such as digital travel documents. Initiatives like Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) will bring travel document management into the 21st century, enhance security and speed up procedures. We already have digital wallets and different identification methods on our phones. So why not use your phone and the digital credentials there instead of a paper-based passport?”Priorities for eu-LISA include support for ETIAS-The European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) has published its Single Programming Document for 2026-2028, laying out priorities to “drive Europe’s border, migration and justice systems into their next phase of operational maturity.”In a shift towards “full operational consolidation,” 2026 will see eu-LISA support the entry into operation of the new Eurodac system in June 2026, as well as ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN, including integration, governance, testing and operational assistance.“Looking ahead, the focus remains on maintaining reliable and resilient operations, strengthening cooperation with Member States and ensuring that Europe’s core information systems are prepared for future requirements.”
ADVP, Tony Blair Institute debate UK digital ID plans: Biometric Update podcast.The government wants a digital ID; identity providers say they can deliver it now-Dec 12, 2025, 1:30 pm EST | Joel R. McConvey
Two distinct sides have emerged in the debate over how to implement digital identity in the UK. One says a national digital ID is a government project. The other says the private sector needs a prominent place in any digital ID scheme, and the government has already committed to that with its Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF).The issues at hand go beyond standard identity nerd fare to touch on deep-rooted cultural beliefs, immigration, legal frameworks and how Britons see themselves. Is a national digital identity run by the state a one-way ticket to mass surveillance? Or is it just common sense for a government wallet to optimize digital public services? In this special edition of the Biometric Update Podcast, BU Managing Editor Chris Burt moderates a civil discussion between representatives of both sides. David Crack is the chair of the Association of Digital Verification Professionals (ADVP); he believes his members already have everything needed to deliver digital identity at scale. Alexander Iosad is the director of government innovation policy at the Tony Blair Institute; he says the government is the logical entity for managing a digital ID scheme.The two sides agree on some things, and disagree on others. Both, however, are emphatic on one point: digital ID in the UK is well worth arguing about.
Itsme acquires iDIN in merger of Benelux bank-driven verification systems-Belgian app to replace Dutch IDV service once terms of deal are finalized-Dec 18, 2025, 11:34 am EST | Joel R. McConvey
Itsme, a bank-driven digital identity firm based in Belgium, has acquired Dutch banking verification service iDIN. A release says the deal will help reinforce Itsme’s app as “the European reference for digital identity.”Created by major Belgian banks and telecom operators and launched in 2021, Itsme is now the largest provider of mobile identification services in Belgium, with more than 80 percent of the adult population using the identity app, accounting for approximately 7 million users completing more than 1 million actions daily.In absorbing iDIN, which will be merged into Itsme, it adds a major name on the Dutch market to its list. iDIN was developed by Currence, a collaboration between major Dutch banks ING, Rabobank, ABN Amro and ASN Bank. It leverages users’ bank app for identity verification and age assurance across some 300 local websites linked to the private market. By mid-2026, iDIN will be completely integrated into Itsme.Tom Van Den Bosch, CEO of Itsme, says that “with the acquisition of iDIN we are reinforcing our position as the European standard for a safe, digital identity and are accelerating our presence in the Dutch market. iDIN is a trusted name, and by joining forces we are preparing for the future with one solution that combines ease of use with the highest international security standards.”Daniel van Delft, CEO of Currence, says that “with iDIN, the banks have offered a secure and trusted way of digital identification for the past ten years. Now the banks are taking the next step. Itsme has a strong track record, meets all regulatory requirements and has a clear focus on innovation, which makes it the ideal party to prepare iDIN for the future.”Users of iDN need not worry: the Itsme app is already widely available in the Netherlands and can easily be installed with a Dutch identity document. Per the release, the transition from iDIN to Itsme will commence after the terms agreed between both parties have been met in the first half of 2026 and will likely be finalized in 2028.Earlier in December, Itsme announced a full European expansion, making its app available in all 27 EU member states.
Malaysia to integrate 95 percent of public services with MyDigital ID by 2030-Dec 15, 2025, 3:09 pm EST | Ayang Macdonald
The Malaysian government is moving to have more public and private sector services integrated with the country’s MyDigital ID as part of the strategy to expand adoption.In a recent report by local outlet The Star, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said some of the next services in line for integration are passport applications as well as wedding and death certificates.Other services programmed for integration next year include payments for government services, police summons, some local council operations, tourism, public housing, and social protection services.Already, telecommunications services are being integrated with the ID, requiring SIM cards, for example, to be activated using MyDigital ID.The minister said while the MyDigital ID adoption is not compulsory, it is essential for facilitating access to a wide gamut of services provided by both government and the private sector. In line with this, he said the government is working to make the system secure and convenient to render it attractive for adoption.According to Deo, close to 6.4 million people have already registered for MyDigital ID with an average of 50,000 new registrants each day.“The national goal is for 95 percent of all federal government services to be fully online by 2030. This cannot be achieved if citizens rely on multiple logins or physical verification. MyDigital ID will be the standard secure credential for services from JPJ, Inland Revenue Board, Health Ministry and all other agencies,” Deo is quoted by The Star as saying.Without the need to have multiple usernames and passport to log into different government services anymore, the government says access to services will become faster and more secure as identity theft incidence will reduce.MyDigital ID is a decentralized digital ID system which the Malaysian government is relying on as the foundation for its ongoing digital transformation. The government had set a target to get 15 million people enrolled by the end of this year.Launched in 2023, the MyDigital ID was met with a mix of challenges, but the situation is gradually changing thanks to an awareness field campaign that was led by a PR and marketing agency hired for that purpose, according to Marketech APAC.The campaign, according to the outlet, set out to reverse the low awareness of what a digital ID is, fear and misinformation, and the lack of full trust in the system.Thanks to the campaign, which ran in three phases from May to December 2024, mindsets changed and citizens have been embracing the system. Awareness level, for instance, reached 51.3 percent by the time the campaign concluded, up from 37.4 percent prior to it.
Deepfakes, social engineering working together to ‘break human judgment’Sophistication of tools means you should not believe your eyes, say experts-Dec 18, 2025, 2:02 pm EST | Joel R. McConvey
One of 2025’s top tech trends looks just like your boss, or maybe your mom, or Aunt Stella. Deepfakes have entered the mainstream, as the product of generative AI tech that makes creating them cheap, easy and – for fraudsters – potentially very lucrative. Realistic video of fake people can be weaponized for scams, espionage and political manipulation. Fake employees have become a scourge to remote job interviews. So-called nudify apps have become such a problem that the UK government pledged, today, to ban them.It is no longer a given conclusion that the person on your screen is a real human, and that’s a much bigger problem than a few extra fingers.“When people think about deepfakes, they often picture fake videos or voice-cloned calls,” says Arif Mamedov, CEO of identity provider Regula Forensics, in an article from TechNewsWorld. “In reality, the bigger risk runs much deeper. Deepfakes are dangerous because they attack identity itself, which is the foundation of digital trust.”Mamedov identifies three significant risks associated with deepfakes. Authentication is easily compromised in systems that rely on static or replayable signals – which is to say, those lacking liveness detection. The speed at which fraud can scale is another; Mamedov asserts that generative AI tools have turned fraud into “an industrial process.” Finally, deepfakes create false confidence. “They often pass existing controls, so organizations think they’re protected while fraud quietly grows.”TechNewsWorld quotes several executives from the biometrics and digital identity space in its look at deepfakes. Most express some variant on the same theme. Mike Engle, chief strategy officer for 1Kosmos, warns that “AI can now convincingly impersonate executives, employees, job candidates, or customers using synthetic voices, faces and documents, allowing attackers to bypass onboarding and help desk and approval workflows that were never designed to detect manufactured identities. Once a fake identity is enrolled, every downstream control — MFA, VPNs, SSO — ends up protecting the attacker instead of the organization.”David Lee, field CTO of Saviynt, says most people still naively assume that authority is legitimate. In this, deepfakes “break human judgment.”“A believable executive voice can authorize payments, override processes, or create urgency that short-circuits rational decision-making before security controls ever come into play,” Lee says.James E. Lee, president of the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), notes that deepfake-driven scams can be particularly dangerous for businesses operating at a thin margin. Ruth Azar-Knupffer, co-founder of VerifyLabs, points out that “the proliferation of digital communication, such as video calls and social media, has expanded attack opportunities, making deepfakes a growing vector for scams and disinformation.”Emotional alerts a better flag than audio, video tells-Mamedov says the quality of deepfakes now exceeds what many verification systems were built to handle, and generating them in hordes can be as easy as playing a video game. “What used to be an individual effort to craft a convincing deepfake is now a plug-and-play ecosystem. Fraudsters can buy complete ‘persona kits’ on demand: synthetic faces, deepfake voices, digital backstories.” Regula’s data shows that about one in three organizations has already experienced deepfake fraud. “Identity spoofing, biometric fraud, and deepfakes now sit firmly in the mainstream fraud playbook.”As such, the need for up-to-date training is urgent. Organizations like Florida-based KnowBe4 are now coaching businesses on how to trust their instinct when it comes to GenAI – especially when their eyes are no longer reliable, as tells like weird mouths or choppy voices get ironed out of deepfake outputs.KnowBe4 Chief Human Risk Management Strategist Perry Carpenter says “the single best thing that anybody can do is if they feel like there’s an emotion that’s being pulled in some way, some emotional lever that’s being touched, whether that is fear or urgency or authority or hope or anything else, that should actually be a signal for them to slow down, and start to analyze the story, the thing that’s being asked of them, and ask does it raise any red flags?”“The last thing I want somebody to do is to believe that there will always be a visual or audio tell that they can figure out,” he says. “The best thing is always going to be, am I feeling manipulated in some way? Is this asking me to do something out of the ordinary? Is it touching on an emotion in some way? Then how can I verify this through another channel?”James E. Lee says part of the problem is lacklustre verification technology. “Deepfakes aren’t the core problem. They’re a stress test. They expose how many organizations still rely on recognition instead of verification.”“The long-term solution isn’t better human detection. It’s treating identity as something that must be explicitly validated and continuously enforced by systems.”Fake Sam Altman to star in real documentary-The world, in short, is becoming much less certain, and a lot weirder. Witness the forthcoming documentary, previewed by Wired, about a filmmaker who tried to meet Sam Altman, but was denied – so, he used ChaGPT to generate a fake Sam Altman.Deepfaking Sam Altman, directed by Adam Bhala Lough, will be released in January.
OpenID Foundation launching self-certification program for 3 specs in Feb 2026-CEO calls standards ‘what the entire industry has been working towards for years’Dec 18, 2025, 1:16 pm EST | Joel R. McConvey
The OpenID Foundation will soon release conformance testing for three final identity specifications, in what a release calls “a defining moment for global digital identity systems worldwide.” Starting in February 2026, self-certification will be available for OpenID for Verifiable Presentations, OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance, and the High Assurance Interoperability Profile (HAIP) specifications.These test suites give any organization developing digital credential issuance, digital wallets and verification systems a way to validate their products against security and interoperability requirements. Per the release, implementers will submit self-certified logs with successful submissions published by OpenID Foundation on openid.net. The goal is “ecosystem wide transparency” on compliance.“This is what the entire industry has been working towards for years,” says Gail Hodges, executive director of the OpenID Foundation. “With stable standards and conformance testing launching in February 2026, we finally have the foundations for digital identity ecosystems and their conformance programs to flourish at production scale.”Regulatory shifts favor OpenID open source standards, testing-The forthcoming specifications speak to regulatory changes happening around the globe, as nations navigate digital transformation and wrestle with the questions of national digital identity and cross-border interoperability – including the 2026 deadline for EU member states to offer citizens a digital identity wallet under the eIDAS 2.0 framework.To support this specifically, OID has published a dedicated resource to help European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) participants easily find compliance tools.But the movement is global. More than 38 jurisdictions are already implementing the OpenID specifications, including the EU, the UK Government, the Swiss Confederation, the Western Balkans, and Japan’s Digital Agency. The Foundation says California’s DMV and NIST National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) have also “committed to OpenID specifications for their digital credential infrastructure.”In providing free, open source tests and conformance tooling options, the OID Foundation hopes to empower developers, promote uniformity in conformance testing, and generate a base of knowledge for the wider ecosystem.Early tests of the system by the the Digital Credentials Protocol Working Group showed a 98 percent passing rate for OpenID4VP 1.0 combined with HAIP 1.0 and the Digital Credentials API across 44 wallet/verifier pairs; and an 82 percent passing rate for OpenID4VCI testing across 22 issuer-wallet pairs. Participants included Mattr, Bundesdruckerei GmbH, Google Wallet, Panasonic Connect, MyMahi and Meeco.Self-certifications under the new specifications can be reviewed by an independent third-party, “at transparent, non-profit pricing.” The OpenID Foundation will launch accreditation services to follow the testing suites in mid-2026.
Seamfix revealed as developer of Benin’s biometric passport renewal app-ePass app for Beninese expats could serve as model for other African governments-Dec 18, 2025, 1:10 pm EST | Chris Burt
Seamfix has been revealed as the developer of Benin’s self-service passport renewal app with face biometrics and liveness detection.The company developed the ePass app in collaboration with Benin’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Direction de l’émigration et l’immigration (DEI) for use by Beninese citizens living abroad. ePass was initially launched in October, and is now available in more than 80 countries.Benin’s government has been promoting the availability of the ePass app on the Google Play and Apple App stores, and its commitment to the delivery of renewed passports within four weeks on social media.In addition to biometrics capture, the app provides secure identity document submission, online payment functions and application tracking throughout the submission and production process. Passports can also be delivered directly to applicants, so the entire process can be completed without traveling to an embassy.The app is built on Seamfix’s GovSmart platform, through which it is integrated with Benin’s national ID and immigration systems. The integration enables real-time identity verification and strong data protection, according to a company announcement of its progress.“With ePass, distance is no longer a barrier to trusted identification or access to essential government services,” says Seamfix Group CEO Chimezie Emewulu. “Our UK-based operations, with direct access to global banking and payment infrastructure, allow us to support governments and citizens seamlessly across Africa and globally. By eliminating the need for long-distance travel, time away from work or school, and extended embassy visits for biometric capture, ePass expands equal access to public services and reinforces every individual’s right to their identity.”Benin’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the renewals process with the app typically takes about 15 minutes, and that its biometric capture capabilities comply with all international standards for passports.A potential blueprintSeamfix sees the early success of the app as an indication that the project could serve as a model for other African governments to deliver the same and related digital identity services, utilizing its GovSmart platform as a scalable foundation.“GovSmart provides governments with a scalable foundation for secure digital service delivery,” says Seamfix COO Frank Atube. “The ePass deployment demonstrates how digital identity systems can be designed to meet national requirements while remaining secure, inclusive, and scalable. It shows that governments can modernize critical citizen services without compromising control, compliance, or future expansion.”Seamfix raised $4.5 million in 2024 to expand the market reach of its digital identity services across Africa. CEO Emewulu discussed the potential impact on economies and people’s rights across the continent in an interview with Biometric Update in the wake of the funding announcement.The company also recently announced that MTC Cote d-Ivoire registered 8 million SIM card subscribers in just 10 months using its biometric KYC platform BioSmart.
Laos launches national digital ID as digital transformation picks up pace-Dec 18, 2025, 11:30 am EST | Lu-Hai Liang
The Laos government has begun nationwide issuance of its new national digital identity card, with the system officially going live December 17.The nationwide rollout comes as the government accelerates broader digital reforms, from social protection and data‑sharing systems to regional tech partnerships with South Korea and Vietnam.The Ministry of Public Security confirmed that citizens can now apply for the digital ID at designated offices nationwide. Until now, applications were restricted to the Department of Census Management and Grassroot Development (CMGD) in Vientiane during a pilot phase that started in October.CMGD said it intends to strengthen the accuracy and efficiency of identity verification, according to a report from The Laotian Times. Authorities expect the digital ID to streamline access to public services and support the government’s wider digital transformation agenda.Citizens have been advised to apply at the provincial or district public security offices where their household registration is recorded. The ministry said all administrative units are now prepared for rollout, with additional staff deployed to handle data collection and card issuance.Applicants must present their household registration book, their current national ID card and, if available, a passport copy. Beginning earlier this year, government agencies began integrating the country’s chip-enabled identity cards and citizen databases.Ministries, local authorities and state agencies were required to integrate the digital ID system to streamline public services and improve efficiency and coordination, according to a July 8 order from Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone.The digital ID initiative was first announced in July 2024 following high‑level discussions between Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith and then‑Vietnamese President To Lam. Prime Minister Siphandone later directed full nationwide implementation in July 2025.The new digital identity card will replace the legacy paper-based system and serve as an official proof of identity throughout a citizen’s lifetime.Laos talks digital transformation, next digitalization focuses-At the Second National Symposium on Social Protection in Vientiane, digital transformation was the order of the day, allowing for updates on progress, reports Devdiscourse.Officials pointed to major recent advances, including the development of a national Social Registry to better identify poor households, new API-based data connections that allow real-time information sharing across ministries, and the launch of LSSO, the country’s first social security mobile app.The app is designed to help informal workers and rural populations register for social security, view contributions, receive updates and communicate with officials, which is expected to reduce administrative barriers and widen access to contributory schemes.The Symposium took place as the current 2020–2025 National Social Protection Strategy comes to an end and work begins on the 2026–2030 framework, in which digitalization is expected to play a central role. It’s expected the framework will focus on improving governance, strengthening identification of vulnerable groups, streamlining benefits and expanding access to underserved communities.The Symposium also engaged young innovators through a student competition at the National University of Laos, where winning teams presented digital solutions for welfare delivery to national policymakers.South Korea provides funding, Vietnam offers digital support-South Korea committed $9.9 million to help advance Laos’ digital transformation.The money will go to a new five‑year project to establish a Digital‑Human Resources Development Centre. It will focus on improving civil servants’ digital skills, strengthening digital governance foundations and enhancing public service delivery.Funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and implemented with the Ministry of Technology and Communications’ Digital Government Centre, the initiative will run from 2025 to 2029. The project will create a dedicated national training center, develop a digital skills master plan, produce learning materials and deliver structured training programs for government staff.A Record of Discussion was signed in Vientiane by KOICA Country Director Sungsoo Oh and Deputy Minister Keovisouk Solaphom, with senior Lao and Korean officials attending the ceremony. Officials expect the initiative to build a sustainable digital education system within the public sector, support more efficient citizen services and contribute to broader socio‑economic development.The project aligns with Laos’ national digital economy strategies and is seen as a step toward deepening bilateral cooperation between the two countries.Meanwhile, Vietnam and Laos are deepening cooperation on digital infrastructure, data systems and technology development.Lao officials believe digital connectivity is becoming as important to bilateral ties as traditional transport and economic links. Laos welcomed Vietnam’s support across key areas, including national data centers, cloud infrastructure, AI applications, cybersecurity and the development of high quality digital human resources.Lao Deputy Minister Saysana Sitthiphone noted that collaboration has already strengthened Laos’ digital capacity. He said Laos hopes to expand this partnership as it builds population databases, modernizes public services and advances its broader socio‑economic development goals.
FAAA launches AML tool from FrankieOne for Australian financial advisors-Dec 18, 2025, 8:29 am EST | Masha Borak
The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) has launched a client identity verification tool that will help financial advisors meet anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism (CTF) obligations.The FAAA SafeID software is based on technology from KordaMentha, a financial crime advisory and database, AML technology company Vigilance AML and identity and fraud prevention firm FrankieOne. The tool performs online identity checks against official data sources such as the Australian Document Verification Service (DVS), matching it with biographic information from the client’s ID documents.The tool was created to simplify client identification and verification and make it more secure. Currently, some advisors require certified copies of client IDs to be sent by email, a practice that is potentially unsafe, according to FAAA CEO Sarah Abood.“When a client is verified by an adviser using SafeID, they can be confident that their ID and personal data are protected and identity checks will be managed in line with AUSTRAC requirements,” she says.Advisers can also perform checks on Politically Exposed Persons (PEP), sanctions and other screenings, while documenting the information. If copies of IDs are required for manual verification, these documents can be stored within the secure platform, reports SMSF Advisor.The FAAA SafeID tool will allow advisers to meet both current and upcoming AUSTRAC obligations, notes Abood.Australia is preparing for an overhaul of AML and CTF obligations on March 31st, 2026, extending compliance requirements to entities that want to provide item 54 services. The changes affect accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, property developers and financial advisers.The tool will also benefit the industry more broadly, KordaMentha partner Alice Saveneh-Murray told Ifa.com.“The solution that the FAAA SafeID provides really is going to take the complexity out of client identification for advisers,” says Saveneh-Murray.FrankieOne has also signed up global cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to use its identity verification platform for KYC, KYB AML and sanctions screening. The company’s platform brings together face biometrics and liveness, behavioral biometrics, reputation scores, transaction monitoring and other signals in a single API.“As exchanges like Gemini expand their presence across more jurisdictions, they need infrastructure that helps them navigate differing onboarding, verification and compliance requirements efficiently and consistently,” says FrankieOne Co-founder and CEO Simon Costello. “Our role is to give them a single connection point to the identity, fraud and compliance infrastructure required to scale safely and consistently across regions.”
Indonesia rolling out biometric SIM card registration in 2026-6 month pilot starts in January ahead of mandatory enforcement-Dec 18, 2025, 8:02 am EST | Lu-Hai Liang
Indonesia will introduce face biometrics for SIM card registration in 2026 to curb digital fraud by ensuring mobile numbers can only be activated by verified users.The country’s Ministry of Communication and Digital announced the new system will begin trials on 1 January 2026, allowing new customers to register either with their National Identification Number (NIK) or through facial biometric verification.From 1 July 2026, biometric verification will become mandatory for all new SIM registrations. The policy is being implemented in partnership with the Indonesian Telecommunications Providers Association (ATSI).It follows an October trial conducted in collaboration with Telkomsel. A central feature of the trial was ISO 30107-compliant liveness detection to confirm registrants are real, living individuals rather than static images, deepfakes or video recordings.Director General of Digital Ecosystems Edwin Hidayat Abdullah said mobile numbers remain the main entry point for cybercriminals conducting scam calls, spoofing, smishing and social‑engineering attacks.“Every year there are around 300 million more scam calls, and the average Indonesian who has a mobile phone receives a scam message at least once a week,” the director general said, as reported by Voi. If we don’t manage this, this is not just a problem of small fraud, but it harms the whole economy.”He cited more than 30 million scam calls each month and national losses exceeding Rp7 trillion (US$407 million) as evidence of the challenge. Facial recognition, he said, will close loopholes that allow criminals to misuse borrowed or stolen identity data under the previous NIK‑based registration system.Authorities also expect the biometric requirement to help operators clean up inactive or suspicious numbers. Indonesia currently has more than 310 million mobile numbers in circulation, which far exceeds its adult population, while the Indonesia Anti‑Scam Center has recorded more than 380,000 fraudulent accounts and losses of Rp4.8 trillion ($279 million) as of late 2025.The new regulation updates earlier rules issued in 2021, replacing document‑based registration with biometric verification designed to prevent identity misuse and ensure that SIM cards are tied to legitimate, uniquely authenticated users.According to Voi, Pratama Persadha, cybersecurity expert and chair of the Communication and Information System Security Research Center (CISSReC) recommended oversight to safeguard biometric data. He suggested establishing a Personal Data Protection (PDP) supervisory agency.Fellow Southeast Asian country Thailand has also implemented biometrics with the method seen as a way to tackle rising fraud and scam schemes associated with SIM registration.
South Korea’s AJ2 says iris biometrics natural successor to facial recognition-Higher accuracy, stronger privacy positions iris recognition for dominance-Dec 18, 2025, 8:24 am EST | Lu-Hai Liang
Long‑range iris recognition could rival facial recognition as the dominant biometric technology. That’s if AJ2 has anything to do with it.South Korean company AJ2 is positioning iris biometrics as the next big shift in the industry, arguing that the technology offers both higher accuracy and stronger privacy protections.At the Global Media Meet‑up in Seoul, AJ2 CEO Edward Jung touted iris biometrics as one of the most stable and difficult‑to‑forge human identifiers, reports Vietnam Plus. The iris develops at birth and remains largely unchanged throughout a person’s life. Irises are also highly unique with the chances of two people having identical patterns being extremely low.This inherent stability, Jung argued, makes it a natural successor to facial recognition, which is increasingly vulnerable to environmental interference, regulatory pressure and AI‑driven spoofing.AJ2 points to how the iris contains more than 170 independent identifying characteristics and can achieve accuracy rates of up to 99.99 percent. However, iris recognition has historically faced certain challenges. Early systems required users to stand close to a sensor, were expensive to deploy, and performed poorly outdoors or in bright light.AJ2 says it has overcome these barriers by developing its own specialized cameras, IR LED modules, and proprietary AI algorithms. The company claims its system can capture irises at distances of one to three metres, even in sunny outdoor environments and even when users are wearing glasses. The technology is fully patented, according to the company.AJ2’s long‑range iris modules are already being used at airports in the U.S. and Canada, where they have been integrated into security control systems, according to the report. The company is also participating in government biometric tenders in Singapore and preparing for large‑scale deployments in Mexico. Beyond border control, the technology is being tested for contactless payments, online identity verification and national ID systems.As synthetic faces become easier to produce and harder to detect, facial recognition is facing a reckoning. However, biometric companies are leveraging algorithms and machine learning (what gets called “AI”) to fight AI-fuelled deepfakery. Fighting fire with fire, as it were.But AJ2 argues that the iris is extremely difficult to replicate using AI‑generated imagery, making it an attractive option for institutions concerned about biometric spoofing. While this may be true, it may also be that demand for iris spoofing is limited. But this is not deterring the Korean firm as AJ2 says it aims to build an identification ecosystem containing more than 100 million registered irises.In 2022, South Korea-based KT&C won government accreditation for a patented iris recognition solution that works at a meter’s (3.3 feet) distance. In the United States, iris recognition via a mobile app is being deployed by ICE for real-time identity verification from distances up to a meter. The FBI NGI database has over 6 million iris biometric records as of November 2025.
Amazon Pay adds biometrics to UPI payment options in India-Dec 18, 2025, 8:01 am EST | Lu-Hai Liang
Amazon Pay has rolled out biometric authentication for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in India.Users can now approve payments using fingerprint or face biometrics instead of entering a PIN. The feature enables PIN‑free transactions of up to 5,000 Indian rupees (US$55) and is designed to strengthen security.According to Amazon, customers can now authenticate UPI payments across common use cases such as peer‑to‑peer transfers, merchant payments, Scan & Pay transactions and balance checks.The company says the shift will reduce fraud risks associated with stolen or compromised UPI PINs and make everyday payments faster and more seamless. The biometric data remains stored on the user’s device, and higher value transactions will continue to require a traditional UPI PIN in line with existing security rules.Amazon Pay joins a growing list of payment providers adopting biometric UPI authentication, reports Gadgets 360. Navi UPI introduced similar functionality in October, claiming to be the first to offer facial and fingerprint verification for UPI payments without a PIN.The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) also rolled out biometric and wearable‑based authentication methods the same month, while Samsung Wallet added support shortly thereafter.UPI is a payments network that facilitates around 18 billion digital payment transactions a month. From October, the network enabled biometrics for payment approvals in India.India’s Ministry of Finance launched three digital initiatives related to the UPI: payment authentication with on-device biometrics; Aadhaar-based face authentication for resetting a UPI PIN; and a new cash withdrawal mode using API through Micro ATMs. UIDAI’s FaceRD App is used for Aadhaar-based facial verification.The Reserve Bank of India mandated that multi-factor authentication methods beyond the standard numeric PIN should be implemented, and which made banks fully liable if safeguards fail, is fuelling the biometric uptake. Aadhaar biometrics stored by the central government and native device biometrics are acceptable as an inherence factor.
ICE’s use of CBP biometric surveillance app built on paper thin oversight-Questionable privacy filing allowed Mobile Fortify to expand facial recognition on U.S. streets as its watchdogs were sidelined-Dec 17, 2025, 4:22 pm EST | Anthony Kimery
The document justifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) use of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Mobile Fortify app is just strong enough to move fast, but not nearly strong enough to withstand sustained congressional or judicial scrutiny once its internal contradictions are forced into the open.Mobile Fortify is a smartphone application that was developed by CBP but has been made available to ICE agents operating in the field. CBP is supporting ICE as a technical service provider, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).At the center of the issue is the joint ICE/CBP Mobile Fortify Privacy Threshold Analysis (PTA), a required first step review used by DHS to determine whether a new system that collects personal data triggers deeper legal obligations, in particular a full Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and a public System of Records Notice (SORN) as required by the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974 as amended.In the case of Mobile Fortify, the PTA quietly acknowledges that the app allows ICE agents to capture facial images and contactless fingerprints of people encountered in the field, attach geolocation data to those encounters, and store the resulting biometric records for up to fifteen years, even when no match is found and even when the individual is a U.S. citizen.Yet, the same document is also being used to justify ICE’s apparent decision not to publish a standalone PIA for the app, and not to issue a new SORN explaining how those biometric records are created, retained, shared, or challenged as federal law requires.This despite the PTA stating that “the CBP and ICE Privacy Officers find that the Mobile Fortify Application is privacy sensitive and requires a Privacy Impact Assessment and a System of Records Notice.”Ordinarily, that kind of mismatch would draw scrutiny from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), the independent watchdog Congress created after 9/11 to examine national security and law enforcement programs that implicate constitutional rights.But under President Trump’s second term, the PCLOB has been virtually incapacitated, its membership hollowed out, its authority undermined, and its ability to conduct sustained oversight sharply curtailed.The result is a regulatory vacuum in which programs like Mobile Fortify can advance on the strength of minimal justification without facing the probing review that the federal privacy framework was designed to ensure.That gap between what the Privacy Threshold Analysis admits about Mobile Fortify’s real world operation and what ICE claims about its legal and privacy compliance is now the central fault line.If the app were challenged in court or subjected to a serious review by the DHS Inspector General, Government Accountability Office (GAO), or a reconstituted PCLOB, the discrepancy would be difficult to reconcile.That contradiction is sharpened by DHS’s own internal rules governing mobile surveillance tools. The Privacy Policy for DHS Mobile Applications referenced by the PTA makes clear that a PTA is not meant to serve as final authorization, but as an initial screening step to determine whether deeper privacy compliance is required.Under that policy, mobile apps that collect sensitive personally identifiable information including biometric identifiers and geolocation data are expected to trigger a full Privacy Impact Assessment public notice under the Privacy Act, and ongoing privacy compliance reviews.The policy also requires notice at the point of collection and transparency about how data is used, retained, and shared. In the case of Mobile Fortify, the PTA acknowledges the collection of facial images, fingerprints, and location data without notice or consent, yet is still being treated as sufficient to deploy and expand the app, placing ICE’s practice in direct tension with DHS’s own written privacy framework.According to the PTA that was completed in February, the app allows agents to photograph individuals encountered during enforcement operations and to conduct facial recognition searches against CBP’s TravelerVerification Service.If no facial match is returned, agents can capture contactless fingerprints using the phone’s camera, which are then searched against DHS’s Automated Biometric Identification System maintained by the Office of Biometric Identity Management.The app collects new biometric data, tags that data with geolocation metadata, and returns biographic information that can include a person’s name, date of birth, Alien Registration Number, possible overstay status, possible citizenship status, and family relationships.The PTA makes clear that this is not a consent-based system. “ICE does not provide the opportunity for individuals to decline or consent to the collection and use of biometric data/photograph collection,” the PTA states. Additionally, no Privacy Act Statement or notice is given at the time photographs or fingerprints are taken.Every encounter – regardless of whether a match is found – is treated as a record and stored in the Automated Targeting System for fifteen years, a retention period more commonly associated with border crossing records than with domestic street encounters.Despite these admissions, ICE has not published a standalone PIA for Mobile Fortify. Instead, the agency has pointed to the May 2019 Privacy Impact Assessment for the Enforcement Integrated Database (EID) as the privacy documentation that purportedly covers the app. The problem is that EID was never designed to govern the kind of activity Mobile Fortify now enables.The EID PIA covers systems and data used in ICE enforcement and removal operations and addresses biometrics only for individuals already known to ICE, not random individuals encountered in the field via a mobile face recognition tool. Its biometric discussion is framed around identity verification within those preexisting workflows.Mobile Fortify, on the other hand, is built to generate new encounters in the field by scanning people whose identities may be entirely unknown to ICE at the time their biometrics are captured. That distinction is not academic; the law requires a separate PIA and SORN.Under the Privacy Act, a system of records exists when an agency maintains information about individuals that is retrieved by a personal identifier and used to make determinations about them. Mobile Fortify does exactly that.The PTA confirms that the app creates new biometric records, associates them with geolocation data, stores them for years, and uses them to populate identity profiles that can drive enforcement decisions. Calling this merely an extension of EID stretches the concept of “coverage” past recognition.The document itself reflects that strain. While the PTA states that Mobile Fortify “does not retain records on the app itself,” it immediately clarifies that CBP saves every photograph and fingerprint in backend systems for fifteen years.From a legal standpoint, where the data is stored is irrelevant. What matters is that new records are created, retained, and retrievable by identifiers such as facial images, fingerprints, names, or A-numbers. That is the very scenario the Privacy Act’s notice and transparency requirements were designed to address.The authority cited for this collection – the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act – also sits uneasily with the technology that is being deployed.Those statutes authorize immigration enforcement and identity verification, but they predate mobile facial recognition, contactless fingerprinting, and real-time biometric searches against databases containing hundreds of millions of images.Nothing in the PTA though suggests that Congress contemplated warrantless biometric scanning of people on U.S. streets, including citizens, as a default investigative technique. Yet the document acknowledges that U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents may be scanned, that no opt-out exists, and that the resulting data will be retained alongside records of noncitizens.The operational context only heightens the stakes. The PTA explicitly links Mobile Fortify to President Trump’s January 20, 2025, executive order on immigration enforcement, framing the app as part of a broader “Fortify the Border” effort to identify removable individuals inside the United States.In practice, reporting has already documented ICE agents using the app during street encounters, sometimes treating a biometric match as definitive even when individuals present documentary proof of citizenship.Those incidents underscore how quickly a mobile identity tool can become a determinative enforcement mechanism rather than a supplemental check.What makes Mobile Fortify especially vulnerable to scrutiny is that the PTA itself provides much of the evidence critics would need. It confirms that sensitive biometric and location data are collected without notice, that records are retained for extended periods, and that the app operates across multiple backend systems originally built for border screening and targeted enforcement.At the same time, the agency maintains that no new system of records exists and that no standalone PIA or SORN is required. That mismatch between the app’s acknowledged capabilities and the narrow compliance framework ICE relies upon is where serious oversight would inevitably focus.A GAO review would likely ask why a tool that creates long-lived biometric records of people encountered in public does not trigger new Privacy Act obligations. A PCLOB inquiry would examine how a system built on border authorities migrated into domestic policing without clear guardrails, notice, or consent.A federal court, faced with a wrongful detention or Fourth Amendment challenge, would scrutinize whether statutory immigration authorities can reasonably be read to authorize suspicionless biometric scanning and long-term data retention.For now, Mobile Fortify continues to operate in that gray space, propelled by justifications that are procedurally sufficient to deploy but substantively thin.The PTA reads less like a comprehensive privacy analysis than a document drafted to clear an internal hurdle as quickly as possible. It acknowledges the risks in plain language but stops short of grappling with their legal consequences.Once the mismatch is forced into the open by litigation, congressional inquiry, or an independent oversight body, the same admissions that allowed the app to move fast could become the evidence that stops it.
Somalia digital ID major pillar of World Bank-funded SPRING initiative-Dec 17, 2025, 1:33 pm EST | Ayang Macdonald
Since 2023, Somalia has been running an ambitious national identity project which the government views as a crucial part of the country’s digital transformation agenda.The ID program, which has funding support from the World Bank and a technical push from other bilateral and multilateral partners, seeks to provide legal identity to citizens in a country that has suffered years of economic downtime due to a maze of political and security challenges.The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), the government agency running the ID program, says it hopes to ensure at least 15 million Somalis have a national ID by 2029.This is not just for people to identify themselves as citizens, but more importantly to use the ID card as a tool to make life easier for them by facilitating access to a wide range of services in the public and private sectors.Perhaps, it is for that reason that NIRA has been drafted in as one of the government agencies and institutions with a key role to play in the implementation of a sustainable growth project sponsored by the World Bank.Last month, the country’s Finance Minister launched the Somalia Productive, Resilience and Inclusive Growth (SPRING) initiative, and cited NIRA among public institutions that have the responsibility to support the successful realization of the objectives.The SPRING project which is estimated at more than $100 million seeks to support efforts mostly driven by the private sector to create jobs and enhance the digital economy. It is also requires a number of reforms which entails multi-agency collaboration.Specifically, SPRING’s main objective is to strengthen Somalia’s economic resilience by improving the business environment, expanding access to financial and digitally enabled services, and supporting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to flourish.Other institutions involved in the SPRING project include the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Central Bank of Somalia, the Financial Reporting Center, and the agency responsible for MSMEs.Each of these government bodies are expected to play specific roles. For NIRA, it’s obvious. Digital ID has been framed as the central pillar in Somalia’s digital transformation, which is inextricably linked to economic growth.Digital ID and DPI make up an important component in the realization of the project as these systems are necessary in ensuring that individuals, especially women, marginalized groups, and displaced persons, can securely access financial services, training, and credit. The understanding is that with a robust digital identity framework in place, the project will help reduce exclusion risks, strengthen data protection, and enable transparent identification of beneficiaries for social protection programs.At a recent National ID conference in Mogadishu, NIRA indicated plans to have more public services integrated with the national ID system, to make it easier, more secure and convenient for citizens to access services.Already, more than one million Somalis have been enrolled for the national ID, with more than 24 public services integrated.Speaking during the event, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, underlined the importance of a national ID for the country’s development, and urged every citizen to have one. He reminded citizens that the ID is not only important in identifying them but in ensuring that they easily get access to important government services.Somalia’s digital ID is part of a DPI ecosystem the country is building. Experts argue that with safe, inclusive and interoperable DPI, countries like Somalia can significantly enhance their economic development and growth chances. Some emerging nations are already doing so.Through the SPRING project, it is hoped that NIRA will play a massive role in building trust in institutions, widening access to opportunities, and embedding integrity and inclusivity into Somalia’s economic transformation.
Incode contributes biometrics to $37M Login.gov contract for stronger IDV-Dec 17, 2025, 1:28 pm EST | Chris Burt
Incode will contribute biometrics to improve the identity security and fraud protection of the U.S. government’s Login.gov platform. The face biometrics provider is a subcontractor to Diamond Capture Associates on the Next Generation Identity Proofing contract, which is worth up to $37.4 million.The U.S. Federal Acquisition Service’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) under the General Services Administration (GSA) awarded the contract as a blanket purchase agreement.The overall goal of the contract is to strengthen the identity verification capabilities of the government’s single sign-on (SSO) platform.Diamond Capture Associates President and CEO Barbara Rivera emphasized the importance of “innovative, secure, and accessible identity verification solutions that protect citizens’ information” in the announcement.“Incode is honored to support Login.gov’s NG BPA of Remote Unsupervised Identity Proofing Solutions alongside Diamond Capture Associates,” says Ricardo Amper, founder and CEO of Incode Technologies. “Our proprietary biometric identity platform is designed to help federal agencies verify identities with greater accuracy, security, and fairness while protecting people’s privacy. By bringing this technology to Login.gov, we can make secure access simple for millions of users and help agencies stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated digital fraud.”There were 7 bidders for contract 47QPCA26F0004, according to AI contract data provider OrangeSlices.This makes sense, as a master blanket purchase agreement for Login.gov’s Next Generation Identity Proofing project, worth up to $194.5 million, was awarded to eight entities in March of 2024, including Diamond Capture Associates. Experian, Idemia I&S, Carahsoft, LexisNexis, Aderas, Celerity, and TransUnion were the others, and Federal Compass shows a $4 million contract for LexisNexis and a $3.4 million contract for Xcelerate Solutions (Celerity).When GSA tested biometric bias last year on its way to implementing selfie biometrics to meet IAL2, Incode was one of seven developers whose technology was evaluated. AuthenticID was another, but it was acquired by Incode in August.Incode is also in the midst of trying to raise between $150 million and $300 million to capitalize on the opportunities its new scale affords for government biometrics contracts.
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.
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:
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION-HEAVENLY OBJECTS) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
AVI LOEB ON COMET 31/ATLAS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hq7nmYFV0k
I BELIEVE ITS JESUS" FACE IN THE SHROUD-WHEN JESUS WAS PRAYING FOR ME AT THE FOOT OF MY BED. HIS FACE LOOKED LIKE IN THE SHROUD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWcqpRWONdI
ON DEC 17 COMET 31/ATLAS DOUBLED OVER NIGHT.DUE TO RADIATION AND EXPANSION.
Harvard scientist slams 'superficial' new research claiming 3I/ATLAS is not a spaceship — and hints at more advanced defense technologies-Story by Ben Cost-DEC 18,25
With 3I/ATLAS slated to fly-by Earth tomorrow, theories over its nature have hit a fever pitch. A new study asserts that our interstellar visitor behaves like other comets in our solar system — a theory Harvard scientist Avi Loeb labeled a non-argument that ignores its many “anomalies.”In the study, published in Research Notes of the AAS, lead author Thomas Marshall Eubanks of the aerospace firm Space Initiatives dubbed 3I/ATLAS’ non-gravitational acceleration “typical of normal comets,” Spaceweather.com reported.Loeb had previously dubbed its locomotion anomalous, citing ATLAS’ unusual maneuver during its closest approach to the sun last month, which he deemed evidence that it potentially deployed technological thrusters.However, Eubanks and co determine that these rocket-like propulsions were actually caused by the gentle push comets receive from offgassing. Most active comets move this way as gas and dust blast off their surface near our solar star, giving the object tiny pushes that alter their speed, orbit and spin.The team determined this by measuring the “non-gravitational acceleration of 3I/ATLAS using long-baseline astrometry (the science of measuring the positions, distances, and motions of celestial objects) from NASA’s Psyche spacecraft and ESA’s Mars Trace Gas Orbiter,” Eubanks explained.Their final conclusion: “3I/ATLAS is exotic and wonderful. It is also a comet.”“It has obvious cometary outgassing with a non-gravitational acceleration to match,” the team wrote. “Claiming that it, too, is a spacecraft does not fit the data.”“What they need to do, instead of explaining what are the commonalities with familiar comets, which they often do, is explain the anomalies,” Loeb told tThe Post. He speculated that the comet’s jet could be a solar wind deflector shield. The Joe Rogan Experience-However, Loeb dubbed their correlation tenuous — on par with seeing a dirt plume shoot up and assuming it’s caused by a living creature.“When you see a cloud of dust in the desert, you might argue that it’s an animal making this cloud because animals, when they run in the desert, they make a cloud of dust,” he told The Post. “But it could also be a car. So it’s really very superficial to say, ‘oh, just because we see dust, it must be a comet.'”He added, “What they need to do, instead of explaining what are the commonalities with familiar comets, which they often do, is explain the anomalies.”Loeb argued that they failed to address 3I/ATLAS’ 13 non-cometary traits, including the high levels of nickel (an industrial element) in its plume, its unusual trajectory around our planets, and a tail pointing toward the sun rather than away as is typical.In a recent post to Medium, the astrophysicist floated a 14th anomaly — a rotation axis in the direction of the sun that he suspected could be evidence of a solar deflector shield.Loeb referenced a new letter published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, in which Spanish astronomers detected “a wobbling high-altitude jet” in ATLAS between early July and September.They found that the Sunward “anti-tail” is angled within eight degrees of the poles associated with the object’s axis of rotation — an extremely specific orientation.This means, per Loeb, that “3I/ATLAS has a steady dayside and a steady nightside, which switch roles” during its closest approach to the Sun, which occurred on October 29.Loeb found it highly unlikely — a probability of just 0.5% — that an interstellar object would be oriented so constantly Sunwardly and provide such a seamless transition from dayside to nightside.One theory, Loeb told the Post, is that ATLAS is “technological” and had deployed a Sun-facing jet-like shield to protect itself from the solar wind and radiation. “It would launch a jet that somehow deflects the solar wind particles in the direction of the sun always,” he theorized.He said this could explain why the jet was so tightly “collimated” — ten times longer than it is wide — rather than going in all directions as is typical when an ice pocket evaporates.This concentrated beam would, in theory, protect its technological or biological exterior from any hazards from the sun.
Mysterious interstellar object spreading life-creating particles throughout the solar system as it nears Earth-By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR-Published: 21:05 EST, 9 December 2025 |
The mysterious interstellar object that's been flying through the solar system may be leaving behind the building blocks of life on our neighboring worlds.Scans of 3I/ATLAS have revealed two key substances being released from the object, methanol and hydrogen cyanide, which combine to kickstart the chemical process needed to create genetic material like DNA and RNA.Although 3I/ATLAS, which NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have declared a comet, will only come within 170million miles of Earth in December 19, it's been getting much closer to several other planets and moons this year.Its relatively close passes by Venus, Mars, and Jupiter have led Harvard Professor Avi Loeb to suspect that live-giving particles may be raining down on these worlds - a phenomenon called panspermia.This cosmic process takes place when chemicals like methanol and hydrogen cyanide hitchhike on comets and later land on planets or moons, paving the way for organisms to form.Loeb and other scientists have previously theorized that life on Earth began through a similar process, such as a meteor strike, billions of years ago.Loeb added that 3I/ATLAS could end up playing the role of a 'friendly gardener,' seeding our solar system with new life, especially on moons which have been found to contain liquid water and ice, such as Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Enceladus.However, the astrophysicist still questioned whether this was a natural comet or something else, noting yet another strange anomaly in the space rock's makeup which scientists can't explain. Compared to other comets humans have seen, the powerful ALMA telescope in Chile found 3I/ATLAS has an unusually high amount of the 'good' methanol compared to the 'risky' hydrogen cyanide, releasing over 100 times more methanol.Loeb revealed that's the highest ratio ever recorded except for one oddball comet in our own solar system, giving it a chemical balance which favors life over toxic contamination.Prior to this discovery, the Harvard professor had uncovered a dozen other strange properties of 3I/ATLAS, including a cometary tail pointing in the wrong direction, the object turning blue as it neared the sun, and course changes that defy gravity.In fact, its gravity-bending course has brought the interstellar object within 18million miles of Mars, 60million miles of Venus, and is set to take 3I/ATLAS with 33million miles of Jupiter in March 2026.Loeb explained that such a unique flight path through the solar system was so rare, it suggested that the object was intentionally guided on that course by an unknown intelligence.NASA and other astronomers have largely rejected the interstellar spacecraft theory, contending that 3I/ATLAS has so many strange characteristics because it formed in a distant solar system under chemical conditions far different from our solar system.Whether the object is a comet or an artificial object, the new scans revealed it's giving off more and more gas the closer it gets to the sun.The hydrogen cyanide has mostly come straight from the space rock's core, while the methanol has been produced both from the core and in the gas cloud trailing behind it for hundreds of miles.Methanol is a simple type of alcohol. In space, it's commonly found around new stars and baby planets. On Earth, however, tiny organisms like bacteria and yeasts can eat it as food to grow and make energy.Plants make it naturally too, and it helps them fight off bugs or heal wounds. It works as building block for life by serving as an abundant organic molecule in space that can transform into more complex molecules such as sugars and amino acids.Meanwhile, hydrogen cyanide is a bit trickier, existing as a gas that can be deadly in large doses. In smaller amounts, however, it's helpful.Plants and bacteria produce it to protect themselves from attackers or to help seeds sprout under tough conditions. Chemically, it can link up to form the bases in DNA (adenine) and amino acids, which are life's core tools.Loeb noted the discovery of a pro-life balance of these chemicals helps to rule out the speculation that this object could be a 'serial killer' moving through the solar system with hostile intent.'The anomalously large ratio of methanol to hydrogen-cyanide production by 3I/ATLAS suggests a friendly nature for this interstellar visitor,' he concluded in a statement.
Rocket Lab advances US Space Force mission with early STP S30 launch by Clarence Oxford.
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2025-Rocket Lab Corporation has successfully launched the STP-S30 mission for the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command, placing four DiskSat spacecraft into low Earth orbit and completing the task five months earlier than planned. The mission supports the Department of War's Space Test Program and is intended to mature technologies that preserve U.S. advantages in space operations.The Electron rocket flight, designated Don't Be Such A Square, lifted off from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, at 12:03 a.m. local time on December 18, corresponding to 05:03 UTC. The vehicle delivered the DiskSat payloads to a 550 kilometer circular low Earth orbit, meeting mission requirements for the Space Test Program.DiskSat is a proposed alternative architecture to conventional CubeSat small satellites, designed to change how future small spacecraft are built, integrated, and priced. The platform aims to broaden options for commercial, government, and defense missions by altering form factor while maintaining compatibility with small launch vehicles and rideshare opportunities.The STP-S30 mission was managed by Space Systems Command's System Delta 89 Capability Development Branch, led by Lt Col Cesar Rodriguez. The Aerospace Corporation developed the DiskSat spacecraft, with funding from NASA's Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems program based at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley within the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.Working with the U.S. Space Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program, Rocket Lab advanced the launch timeline to fly the mission five months ahead of the original schedule. Rocket Lab received the STP-S30 task order in April 2024 under the Orbital Services Program 4 (OSP-4) contract, which supports rapid, flexible access to space for national security customers.The Don't Be Such A Square mission extends a sequence of four Electron launches in three months from Launch Complex 2, all focused on national security and defense technology objectives for the Department of War. Over this period, Rocket Lab has provided dedicated small launch services for missions supporting defense and government partners from the Virginia site.Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck says: "Rocket Lab's speed, streamlined operations, and reliability were on full display with this flawless Electron launch for STP-S30, and we're proud to be strengthening the nation's space capabilities. We're meeting the space access demands of the U.S. Space Force with our consistent execution, and this launch is another proud moment in Rocket Lab's long history of successful missions for defense, national security, and commercial space users."Lt. Col. Brian Shimek, Director, Department of War Space Test Program, says: "We are immensely proud of this collaboration with Rocket Lab, the Capability Development Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), The Aerospace Corporation, and the Rocket Systems Launch Program. Their exceptional teamwork and dedication have made this achievement possible. Proving these advanced technologies in the space environment is a critical step towards their integration into future operational Space Force systems, ensuring our nation maintains its edge in space. Accelerating this launch by five months underscores our commitment to rapidly delivering innovative capabilities to the Space Force. This achievement is a testament to the dedication and expertise of the entire STP-S30 team."Don't Be Such A Square is Electron's 20th launch of 2025 and the company's 78th mission overall. With this flight, Rocket Lab extends its annual launch record and continues to build cadence from both New Zealand and U.S. launch sites in support of civil, commercial, and defense customers.
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access by Clarence Oxford.
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2025-U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command has activated System Delta 80 to manage launch solutions, on-orbit servicing, and range systems in support of the Assured Access to Space Program Executive Office portfolio. This new delta is tasked with supporting mobility in, from, and to space for customers across the Department of War, other U.S. government agencies, and commercial industry.The command formally marked the stand-up of System Delta 80 in a ceremony held Dec. 12 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, commander of Space Systems Command, presided as U.S. Space Force Col. Ryan Hiserote assumed command of the new delta."Today's ceremony formally recognizes the Delta's important space work already underway," said Garrant. "Under Col. Hiserote's leadership, I am confident System Delta 80 will accelerate the fielding of capabilities that support responsive and reliable launch, ready and resilient spaceports, and servicing, mobility, and logistics, while partnering with the space launch deltas to ensure delivery of critical assets to orbit."System Delta 80 is organized around six System Program Directors aligned with the Assured Access to Space portfolio. These responsibilities include National Security Space Launch, the Rocket Systems Launch Program, Launch and Test Range Systems, and Servicing, Mobility, and Logistics programs. The delta officially stood up on Oct. 7 during the federal government shutdown."System Delta 80 drives the rapid fielding of critical capabilities to ensure launch solutions and range systems, while also pursuing emerging servicing, mobility, and logistics capabilities," said Col. Hiserote. "This formal recognition underscores our commitment to forging strong partnerships with the Program Executive Officer of Assured Access to Space, Space Launch Deltas 30 and 45, and our commercial partners. Together, we will ensure our Nation maintains its strategic advantage in space and continues to defend our forces, homeland, and allies."System Deltas within Space Systems Command consolidate design, development, and delivery of systems under a mission-focused acquisition structure. This approach is intended to streamline how SSC fields capabilities in key mission areas linked to launch and in-orbit support.
Trump shifts priority to Moon mission, not Mars.
Washington, United States, Dec 19 (AFP) Dec 19, 2025-US President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed that he wants to send astronauts back to the Moon as soon as possible, putting eventual Mars missions on the back burner.In an executive order on his space policy, Trump said he wanted to get Americans to the Moon by 2028, under NASA's Artemis program launched during his first White House term.Such a lunar landing would "assert American leadership in space, lay the foundations for lunar economic development, prepare for the journey to Mars, and inspire the next generation of American explorers," the order says.It also says the US space agency NASA hopes to set up "initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost by 2030" and confirms plans to deploy nuclear reactors "on the Moon and in orbit."Americans are currently scheduled to return to the Moon's surface in mid-2027 on the Artemis 3 mission, but the timeline has been repeatedly pushed back.And industry experts say it likely will be delayed again because the lunar lander in development at Elon Musk's SpaceX is not yet ready.Trump's executive order puts increased pressure on both NASA and the private space sector to reach the administration's objectives.The United States is keen to bypass China, which also intends to send a crew to the Moon by 2030 and set up a base there.Putting the priority on a lunar mission represents a policy shift from what Trump had said earlier this year.When he returned to the White House in January, the Republican said he wanted to put the American flag on Mars before the end of his four-year term, without mentioning any such plans for the Moon.That announcement has sown doubt on the administration's priorities in space, and propelled fears that NASA was going to skip over the Moon altogether.But now, even though Washington has long said it wants to be the first nation to send humans to Mars, that reality seems farther away.The row in June between Trump and Musk, who is passionate about Mars exploration, along with other pressing geopolitical concerns, may have shifted Trump's ambitions.
US & Canada Daily Snow-By Alan Smith, Meteorologist Posted 4 minutes ago December 19, 2025-Heavy Snow for the Northwest this Weekend.
A series of storms will bring heavy snow to the Northwest, Northern Rockies, and Western Canada this weekend and next week with lower snow levels thanks to a colder airmass in place. Tahoe will also see moisture this weekend, but it will mainly be rain at first, before colder air & snow arrive around Christmas. The Northeast will see rain early Friday, with multiple shots of snow thereafter.Short Term Forecast-The Northwest will remain favored over the next 5 days with heavy snow and low snow levels, which will help to build up a base following a slow start to the season. Western Canada will also continue to score the goods, especially over the Interior, where a much deeper base is already in place.Snow totals over the next 5-6 days will generally range from 2-5 feet over the Cascades and BC Coast Range, 1-2 feet across the Canadian Interior and Northern U.S. Rockies, and 6-12 inches over Northern Utah.Forecast for Friday (Dec 19):A strong storm will bring heavy snow to the Northwest and Northern Rockies, with the deepest snow totals expected from the Cascades into Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.In the East, a storm moving through will bring rain initially, but a changeover to snow showers is expected across the Appalachians and New England in the wake of the front. Lake effect snow showers will also developForecast for Saturday (Dec 20):In the West, light to moderate snow will fall over the Central Rockies as a storm departs. Then another storm will make landfall over the Northwest with heavy snow developing across Washington and British Columbia.In the East, a storm will move across the Northern Great Lakes with light to moderate snow expected, before eventually reaching New England on Saturday night. Forecast for Sunday (Dec 21):Two storms will impact the West, with a northern storm bringing more snow to the Northwest and Western Canada, while a southern storm will bring heavy precipitation from Tahoe to Southern Idaho and Western Wyoming, while Northern Utah will get brushed.Temperatures will be warm in Tahoe, and snow levels (the rain/snow line) will be close to ski resort summits as a result. A storm will also move across the Northeast with snow favoring New York, New England, and Quebec.Forecast for Monday (Dec 22):A storm involving subtropical moisture and a southwest flow will continue to impact Tahoe to the Tetons in Western Wyoming. Tahoe will continue to see high snow levels and rain issues, and even the Tetons (Jackson Hole) and Southern Idaho (Sun Valley) could see snow levels approaching mid-mountain. In the Northwest, storms will continue to bring heavy snow to the Cascades and BC Coast Range with moderate snow for the Northern U.S. Rockies and Canadian Interior. Temperatures and snow levels will be much more favorable in this region.Forecast for Tuesday (Dec 23):The West will be in between storms with generally light to moderate snow showers expected across the Northwest and Northern Rockies, though heavier snow is possible over Southwest British Columbia.Another storm will move across the Northeast with snow favoring New York, New England, and Quebec. Extended Forecast-Outlook for Wed (Dec 24) to Sun (Dec 28):A stronger and colder storm is possible around Christmas for Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Range, while impacts could also extend into Utah, Southern Idaho, and Wyoming. Colorado also has a better chance of seeing snow, though overall, temperatures look to remain unseasonably warm across the Central Rockies.The Northwest will remain in a favorable pattern with frequent storms and seasonal temperatures, which at the end of December means continued low snow levels on average.In the Northeast, we are seeing mixed signals with New England and Quebec right on the cusp between a colder airmass to the north and a warmer airmass to the south. Both snow and rain are a possibility in this pattern, while much warmer temperature anomalies are expected over the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.Thanks so much for reading! Next update on Monday (December 22).Alan Smith-Announcements-NEW: PEAKS Model-Following 18 months of development, training, and testing, our new PEAKS model is now live and creating every snow and precipitation forecast in OpenSnow.This is included with Free, Base, and Premium accounts for every snow and precipitation forecast in the OpenSnow app and website. No action is needed to view PEAKS and its forecasts.What is PEAKS? PEAKS is an AI (machine learning) model that is up to 50% more accurate in mountain terrain.PEAKS learns from past storms and transforms normal weather models (used by other apps) into sharper, more location-specific forecasts. Learning from past storms is what human meteorologists do, but unlike humans, PEAKS can forecast for every location on earth with updates taking only seconds.Bottom Line: OpenSnow has developed a world-first mountain forecast model that evaluates past storms to create more accurate predictions. This should provide you with higher confidence when searching for your favorite conditions.
INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.
2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements (NUKES) shall melt with fervent heat,(BLAST) the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.(BUT ITS NO END OF THE WORLD HOGWASH)
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,(BY NUKES INCLUDING 3 BILLION PEOPLE) what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3 PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD IS NOT MOCKED.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
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:
17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
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.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Russian nuclear-capable missile Oreshnik deployed in Belarus.
Moscow, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2025-Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday that a newly developed Russian hypersonic, nuclear-capable missile known as the "Oreshnik" had been deployed in Belarus.Russia unveiled the weapon last year after using it to strike the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, in an escalation during the conflict, now nearing its fourth anniversary.Moscow had already deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus in 2023 and said it could station Oreshnik there by the end of 2025."Oreshnik has been in Belarus since yesterday. And it's going on combat duty," Lukashenko said in his annual speech.Belarus, a former Soviet republic, is a key Russian ally. Moscow used Belarusian territory to launch its offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.In August, Minsk said it would practice the deployment of Oreshnik missiles during the joint Zapad-2025 ("West-2025") drills close to the EU and NATO's eastern flank border.
China, Ukraine diplomats discuss Russia invasion in Beijing talks.
Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2025-A senior Ukrainian diplomat held talks with a Chinese official in Beijing on Thursday, both sides said, including on resolving the near four-year conflict in Ukraine triggered by Russia's invasion.The visit represented a rare meeting between officials from Kyiv and Beijing, which has been accused of aiding Moscow to prolong its war against Ukraine.Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya met with China's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Bin for "political consultations," Kyiv said."There was an in-depth exchange of views on the current situation related to Russia's ongoing armed aggression against Ukraine," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.It added that "international efforts to achieve a stable and lasting peace" had also been discussed.In its read-out after the meeting, China, a close ally of Russia, said the two officials "exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis".Kyslytsya said earlier he was also meeting with US ambassador to China David Perdue.China -- a major Russian trading partner -- has said it takes a neutral stance on the war, and has never condemned Moscow's invasion.Beijing regularly calls for peace talks and respect for the territorial integrity of all countries.But Western governments accuse Beijing of providing Russia with crucial economic support for its war effort, notably by supplying military components for its defence industry.
The Quantum Age will be Powered by Fusion by Simon Mansfield.
Gerroa, Australia (SPX) Dec 19, 2025-From the first stars to any future interstellar civilization, fusion is the energy process that makes complex structure, long-lived stars, and chemically rich worlds possible. It is also the only known energy source that can scale from the galactic to the planetary to the quantum-technological without exhausting matter or destabilizing environments.Long before life, long before planets, fusion shaped the universe's basic architecture. In the early cosmos, gravity gathered hydrogen and helium into immense clouds that collapsed into the first stars; within those stellar cores, nuclear fusion lit up space and set the clock on cosmic evolution.Inside main-sequence stars like the Sun, light nuclei - principally hydrogen - are forced together under colossal pressure and temperature, fusing into helium and releasing energy in accordance with E = mc^2. This process defines a star's luminosity, lifetime, size, and color; in effect, the fusion regime at its core writes the operating manual for the entire stellar system. For billions of years, the balance between inward-pulling gravity and outward-pushing fusion pressure stabilizes stars, allowing long spans of calm conditions in which planets can form and orbits can settle.Fusion does more than shine; it manufactures matter in the form required for chemistry and, ultimately, biology. In successive generations of stars, fusion reactions build heavier nuclei: helium into carbon, carbon into oxygen, and onward up to iron in the cores of massive stars. Beyond iron, explosive events and neutron-capture processes complete the periodic table, but these too depend on fusion-grown seeds and fusion-driven stellar evolution to set the conditions for those cataclysms. When stars shed their outer layers or die in supernovae, they distribute these fusion-forged elements into interstellar space, enriching the gas and dust that will form new stars, planets, and, in time, biospheres.The simple fact that Earth has liquid water, carbon-based molecules, and an atmosphere with oxygen is a direct consequence of billions of years of stellar fusion and stellar death before the Solar System existed. The rocks beneath our feet, the air we breathe, and the biochemistry of every cell are, in a literal sense, stabilized ash from ancient fusion furnaces.Even on the scale of an individual habitable world, fusion sets the terms of existence. The Sun's continuous fusion output fixes the energy balance at Earth's orbit, determining climate zones, atmospheric circulation, and the overall range of temperatures within which liquid water and complex organic chemistry can persist. Photosynthesis, the metabolism that powers almost all known ecosystems, is nothing more than the capture and re-packaging of solar fusion photons into chemical form. Fossil fuels, hydro power, wind, and much of biomass are essentially historical or redistributed sunlight - a long-term bookkeeping record of fusion energy integrated over time and weather.Seen from this angle, fusion is not a special technology or a niche physical process; it is the background engine of the visible universe. It governs star lifetimes, galaxy light output, the distribution of elements, and the energy flows that make planetary climates and biochemistries possible. Any universe with long-lived stars, rich chemistry, and a chance at life is, almost by definition, a universe in which fusion plays the central role.Mastering Fusion: Life's Total Victory-Human civilization already runs on fusion, but only indirectly. Every watt of solar power, every gust of wind turning a turbine, every barrel of oil is a downstream expression of stellar fusion that began in the Sun's core millions of years ago. The crucial step before us is to bring fusion "upstream": to replicate controlled fusion reactions on Earth and use them as a primary, dispatchable energy source for a technological civilization that is pushing into what can be called the Quantum Age.The Quantum Age is defined by devices and infrastructures that exploit quantum-scale behavior as a resource: quantum computers, exquisitely sensitive quantum sensors, secure quantum communication networks, and materials whose properties are engineered from the atomic level up. All of this rests on two requirements: sustained, high-quality energy and extreme control over matter and environment across many scales. Fusion is uniquely matched to both conditions.First, fusion offers energy density that dwarfs chemical fuels and even conventional fission. A small volume of fusion fuel - deuterium and tritium, or more advanced mixtures - can in principle yield gigawatt-scale power with no carbon emissions and with fuel resources that are, on human timescales, effectively inexhaustible in the oceans and crust. Because the physics of fusion does not rely on rare isotopes or fragile supply chains, a mature fusion infrastructure could give civilizations a baseline of abundant energy largely decoupled from geography and weather.Second, fusion's byproducts and waste profile are well-suited to a civilization that must manage intricate quantum systems over centuries. In most leading designs, fusion does not produce long-lived, high-level radioactive waste; activation products exist, but they decay on much shorter timescales than traditional nuclear waste and can be planned for within durable material cycles. This matters in a world where quantum devices, cryogenic systems, and precision manufacturing facilities cannot function in the shadow of chronic contamination and large-scale environmental instability.There is also a structural, systemic argument for fusion in the Quantum Age. As computation, sensing, and communication move deeper into quantum regimes, energy demand will not only grow but also become more timing-sensitive and quality-sensitive: stable power for large cryogenic plants, steady supply for exascale and post-exascale computing centers, and the ability to run complex, energy-intensive fabrication processes without interruption. Intermittent renewables, even with advanced storage, can cover a large share of demand, but the system still needs a firm backbone - an energy substrate that is always on, always available, and scalable by design. Fusion, if realized at industrial scale, can supply that backbone without replicating the carbon and resource burdens of fossil fuels or the political and waste challenges of legacy nuclear technologies.On longer horizons, fusion enables capabilities that transcend the surface of a single planet. High-specific-power fusion systems are natural candidates for deep-space propulsion, off-world industry, and large-scale resource processing on asteroids and icy moons. A civilization that has mastered both quantum engineering and fusion energy can imagine not just local optimization but an extended sphere of activity that includes self-sustaining habitats, distributed manufacturing, and scientific infrastructure far from any star. In that context, fusion ceases to be merely an energy choice and becomes a condition for maintaining complex activity away from the narrow habitable zones of stellar systems.There is a philosophical symmetry here. In the natural cosmos, fusion is the process that turns simple, uniform matter into complex, structured, chemically diverse environments where life and intelligence can arise. In a technological cosmos, controlled fusion is the process that can turn limited, fragile, localized civilizations into robust, long-lived, and expansive ones, capable of sustaining quantum technologies, advanced ecologies, and cultural complexity without quickly exhausting their planetary base.The Quantum Age will not arrive solely through more capable algorithms, more coherent qubits, or better materials. Those advances require a foundational energy layer that is as stable, scalable, and long-lived as the stars themselves. Fusion already plays that role at the cosmic scale; to fully enter the Quantum Age, a civilization must learn to make it the central engine of its own world as well.
Spain to buy 100 military helicopters from Airbus.
Paris, France, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2025-Spain's defence ministry has ordered 100 helicopters from Airbus destined for deployment in various parts of its armed forces, the European aeronautics company said Thursday.The order, involving different helicopter types, is the biggest such purchase by the Spanish military procurement authority to date, Airbus said, without giving financial details.Split into four contracts, the purchase aims "to boost the modernisation of Spain's defence and security assets", the Airbus statement said.It includes 13 helicopters of the H135 type, 50 H145M helicopters, six H175Ms and 31 NH 90s.Spain's Defence Minister Maria Amparo Valcarce Garcia called the helicopters "essential" for the operations of the armed forces."This investment is strategic and is focused on significantly increasing Spain's security and defence capabilities, ensuring national strategic autonomy in a key sector of European defence," she was quoted in the Airbus statement as saying.tq/jh/jj
Plasma turbulence plays dual roles in fusion reactors by Riko Seibo.
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 11, 2025-Researchers in Japan have directly observed that turbulence in magnetically confined fusion plasmas serves two distinct functions, both transporting heat and linking distant regions so that temperature changes can spread almost instantly across the plasma volume.The team at the National Institute for Fusion Science used the Large Helical Device (LHD), a large superconducting helical confinement experiment in Toki, Gifu, to study how heat and turbulence propagate when the plasma core is briefly heated. They applied short heat pulses and monitored the response with high precision diagnostic systems that use electromagnetic waves at multiple wavelengths to track electron temperature, turbulence, and heat flow with microsecond time resolution and millimeter spatial resolution.Measurements showed that soon after the core heating, a form of mediator turbulence appeared that coupled separated regions of the plasma in less than one ten thousandth of a second, so that remote locations responded almost simultaneously. This mediator turbulence acts as a relay that rapidly passes heat and energy between distant zones, similar to players quickly passing a ball across a field. Following this initial phase, a second class of turbulence transported heat more gradually outward, shaping the steady temperature profile like a player advancing while holding the ball.The experiments further indicated that shortening the duration of the heat pulse strengthened the mediator turbulence and led to faster heat spreading across the plasma. Taken together, the observations demonstrate that turbulence in magnetically confined plasmas performs a two-in-one role: it directly carries heat outward and simultaneously connects far-apart regions so that heat can redistribute suddenly across the entire device.This work represents the first high resolution experimental identification of mediator-type turbulence that links distant parts of a confined plasma, along with the first direct demonstration that such turbulence simultaneously drives local and nonlocal heat transport. The results help explain how heat injected at the core can reach the edge rapidly and provide a basis for predictive models and control strategies for heat transport in future fusion reactors, including approaches that suppress or modify mediator turbulence to improve energy confinement. Because similar long-range coupling appears in systems such as ocean and atmospheric circulation and energy transfer in materials, the findings may also inform research in other areas of physics and geoscience.
India's parliament passes bill to open nuclear power to private firms.
New Delhi, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2025-India's parliament on Thursday passed legislation to open nuclear power generation to private companies as part of the government's ambitious plan to nearly triple clean energy production within six years.India is the third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, and remains deeply dependent on polluting coal, which accounts for 75 percent of the country's total power generation, to meet its soaring energy demand.Power blackouts are common in the world's most populous nation, and demand is rising quickly as the economy grows and the middle class expands.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the legislation "marks a transformational moment for our technology landscape" and also opens "numerous opportunities" for the private sector."From safely powering AI to enabling green manufacturing, it delivers a decisive boost to a clean-energy future for the country and the world," Modi said in a statement, adding this was "the ideal time to invest, innovate and build in India".At present, India's state-run Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) operates the country's nuclear power plants."The government has initiated steps to increase nuclear power capacity, from the current 8,180 MW to 22,480 MW by 2031-32", India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said in February."This expansion includes the construction and commissioning of 10 reactors, totalling 8,000 MW," it added.Six other 1208-MW plants with US support already have in-principle approval.In 2006, India and the United States signed a landmark nuclear deal under which New Delhi agreed to place its civilian atomic reactors under global scrutiny for the first time.The government aims to reach 100 GW nuclear power capacity by 2047, "positioning nuclear energy as a major pillar in India's energy mix", the DAE has said.- Radioactive waste -India emitted 4.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent -- a measure of all planet-warming greenhouse gases -- in 2024, according to the UN, behind only China and the United States.However, with 1.4 billion people, its per capita emissions and historical contributions to global warming are much smaller.India has committed to net-zero emissions by 2070, and is on track to meet and exceed its pledge to reduce emission intensity by 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.Nuclear-armed India is not a signatory to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.The new legislation is dubbed "SHANTI" -- peace in Hindi -- an acronym for Sustainable Harnessing of Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India.India has one of the world's largest reserves of thorium -- a nuclear fuel that is safer to use than uranium.Opposition parties have raised concerns about some provisions of the legislation, saying it does not provide a robust framework on dealing with radioactive waste.The legislation was approved by the lower house of parliament on Wednesday.Concerns about radiation leaks and impact on livelihoods have previously led to protests by fishermen around the Kundankulam power plant in southern state of Tamil Nadu, built with Russian help.ash-pzb/abh/md
Denmark blames cyberattacks on groups tied to Russian state.
Copenhagen, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2025-Denmark on Thursday accused two hacker groups linked to the Russian state of carrying out two cyberattacks, one on a Danish water treatment plant in 2024 and one on local elections last month.The government said it would summon the Russian ambassador over the matter, Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a press conference.Water pipes were exploded in the 2024 incident -- attributed to pro-Russian group Z-Pentest -- in which household water supply was briefly affected, he said.The country's environmental agency at the time said the attack was quickly detected, but "underscored that cyberattacks can affect security of supply".The second attack occurred on the eve of Denmark's municipal and regional elections in November, when the websites of several political parties, municipalities, public institutions and a defence company were inaccessible due to a cyberattack claimed by the Russian hacker group NoName057."We are very confident that these are pro-Russian groups linked to the Russian state," said the head of Denmark's military intelligence agency (FE), Thomas Ahrenkiel.FE said in a statement that the Russian state uses both NoName057 and Z-Pentest "as instruments of its hybrid war against the West"."The aim is to create insecurity in the targeted countries and to punish those that support Ukraine," it said."Russia's cyber operations form part of a broader influence campaign intended to undermine Western support for Ukraine."Both attacks caused limited damage, but highlighted vulnerabilities, according to Denmark's Minister for Resilience and Preparedness, Torsten Schack Pedersen."This shows that there are forces capable of bringing essential services in our society to a halt."- 'Very serious' -Denmark is one of Ukraine's most ardent supporters, as illustrated earlier this month with a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Ukrainian arms factory on Danish soil.In late September, unidentified drones flew over several Danish airports and the Skrydstrup air base -- where Ukrainian pilots are trained on F-16 fighter jets.Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pointed the finger at Moscow for the overflights, saying Russia posed "a threat to Europe's security".The government said Thursday it intended to beef up measures to protect the country."We have taken numerous initiatives and we will take more, because Russia's way of acting is profoundly unacceptable," Lund Poulsen said.He said the government would set up a new cyber-surveillance network and an online operations centre to quickly respond to threats, among other things."It's very serious to be able to attribute the attacks to the Russian state. That it's not just sympathisers, but a group directly linked to the Russian state. This underscores that the situation is particularly grave," Schack Pedersen told public broadcaster DR."We are not in a state of war, we are not in a state of peace, but we are in hybrid warfare," he said.Cyberattacks were expected to continue despite the government's best efforts, he warned."You'd have to be incredibly naive to believe we've achieved our cybersecurity goal."
Deadly attack on US troops exposes Syrian security gaps: analysts.
Beirut, Lebanon, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2025-A deadly attack on US troops by a member of Syria's security forces has exposed flaws in the new authorities' recruitment drive, which appears poorly designed to filter out extremists, analysts said.The attack, which Syria and the United States blamed on the Islamic State group, put authorities in a tough spot and raised the question: have they done enough to root out radical elements from within their own ranks?- What flaws? -In the first such incident since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year, two US troops and an American interpreter were killed in an attack in central Syria's Palmyra.Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said the perpetrator was a security forces member who was due to be fired for his "extremist Islamist ideas".He was among more than 5,000 new recruits who joined the security forces in the Syrian desert in recent months, Baba said.IS, which has not claimed the attack, once controlled the desert areas of Palmyra before its defeat in 2019.Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said in a report that "the attack from within Syria's own ranks underscores one of the state's critical vulnerabilities".After Assad's ouster, the new authorities dissolved security and military institutions and began integrating armed factions into the defence ministry and forming new security forces.They have also joined the US-led coalition against IS.Jerome Drevon, a specialist in Islamist militancy at the International Crisis Group, told AFP that authorities had to choose between a time-consuming but strong vetting process for new security personnel, or a shorter process "to recruit more people".They chose the second option, he said, adding that some recruits may be "more radical, willing to fight US troops, because they oppose the government's decision to reach out to Western countries".To Hawach, what is concerning is that the attacker may not be the only member with extremist ideas."Because authorities have worked so quickly to consolidate disparate armed factions into state structures, vetting, integration and oversight have been uneven, leaving Syria's reconstituted security institutions vulnerable to infiltration," he said.President Sharaa's former Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has also disbanded, had roots in the Al-Qaeda jihadist network, which fought IS in the past.A European security source, requesting anonymity, noted some hardline former HTS fighters may be opposed to the shift from armed struggle against Assad to state politics.- Danger from IS? -The source said IS jihadists have come out of the desert since Assad's fall and "re-established themselves, particularly in northwest Syria and Damascus. They are pursuing the goal of destabilising the authorities."Drevon said there is a "real risk" from IS regarding "how they try to spread in cities, try to recruit, try to exploit the bad economic situation".There are also "more and more attacks claimed by the group", he added.Syrian officials told AFP that Syrian forces and the US-led coalition had launched an operation against IS sleeper cells in the desert since the attack, while 11 security personnel were brought in for questioning.Drevon said the government needed to "increase its efforts in doing counterintelligence", improve monitoring of new recruits and ensure "that people with more radical ideas are expelled"."They can calm it down, they can limit the consequences, as long as it does not happen again," he added.- Ties with the West? -US President Donald Trump vowed "very serious retaliation" after the attack, which he said occurred "in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by" the new authorities.The attack has heightened pressure on Sharaa, who has sought to reset ties with the West in order to end Syria's isolation, build trust and relaunch the economy."The incident may accelerate discussions around scaling back US troop presence in Syria" and constraining counter-IS operations "as assets are redirected to force protection", said Hawach from the International Crisis group.It could also prompt the US "to consider greater emphasis on working with the Syrian Democratic Forces in the country's northeast, which has been the US's local partner for the past decade".The Kurdish-led SDF spearheaded the offensive that ultimately led to IS's defeat in Syria.The Kurdish administration has committed to integrating its institutions into the new central government, but the process has stalled.A Western diplomatic source told AFP that the attack could prompt the Syrian authorities to join forces with the Kurds against IS.That, however, would be contingent on a "willingness on both sides, and if countries support that", the source added.
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus by AFP Staff Writers.
Vienna (AFP) Dec 7, 2025-The UN nuclear watchdog has said that the protective structure surrounding the exploded reactor at Chernobyl can no longer perform its main function of blocking radiation, after a Russian drone strike earlier this year.Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began a rare visit to Ukraine on December 1, to assess the status of key electrical substations supplying the country's three nuclear sites that are still operational.As part of the trip, the team also checked the defunct Chernobyl site's New Safe Confinement (NSC), which was put in place to stop the release of radioactive material after the explosion of one of its reactors in 1986.The roof of the NSC was severely damaged in a drone strike in February, which also caused a major fire in the outer cladding of the steel structure."The mission confirmed that the NSC had lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability, but also found that there was no permanent damage to its load-bearing structures or monitoring systems," the IAEA said in a statement on Friday.IAEA director general Rafael Grossi added: "Limited temporary repairs have been carried out on the roof but timely and comprehensive restoration remains essential to prevent further degradation and ensure long-term nuclear safety."The NSC was installed in 2016 and officially inaugurated in 2019, replacing an original "sarcophagus" built by the Soviets.The IAEA said further temporary repairs to re-establish the confinement function would take place in 2026, "paving the way for full restoration once the conflict ends" between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump signs $900 bn defense policy bill into law.
Washington, United States, Dec 19 (AFP)-President Donald Trump signed a sweeping defense policy bill into law Thursday that signaled strong bipartisan support for Europe and defied the US leader's increasingly hostile posture toward NATO and America's closest allies.The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), one the few remaining rituals of cross-party cooperation in Congress even as divisions sharpen elsewhere in Washington, sets out the country's national security and foreign policy priority areas for the coming year, according to lawmakers.White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump signed into law a measure which raises pay for US troops, codifies the country's "PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH agenda," and "funds the Golden Dome" air and missile defense system backed by Trump.The NDAA, at some $900 billion, also "removes woke priorities" like diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs opposed by many conservatives, and "requires promotions based on merit, not DEI," Kelly added.The Senate easily passed the NDAA measure on Wednesday following the House's green light last week.The success comes amid unease in European capitals over Trump's rhetoric, especially after the recent White House national security strategy painted Europe as over-regulated, culturally adrift and insufficiently committed to its own defense.The strategy questioned the continent's strategic value and openly echoed themes championed by far-right parties, fueling fears of a widening transatlantic rift.By contrast, the NDAA reflects lawmakers' determination to anchor the United States firmly in Europe.The bill bars US troop levels on the continent from falling below 76,000 for more than 45 days and restricts the removal of major military equipment, effectively tying the administration's hands on any rapid drawdown.It also boosts resources for frontline NATO states, particularly in the Baltic region, reinforcing the alliance's northeastern flank.The measure authorizes roughly $8 billion more than the administration requested, a signal of congressional assertiveness on defense priorities.Beyond Europe, the NDAA locks in $400 million in security assistance for Ukraine, aiming to preserve a baseline of support even as broader funding debates grind on, and places new limits on any reduction of the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea.As ever, the NDAA drew fire from multiple directions -- from conservative critics of Ukraine aid to safety experts warning about aviation provisions rolling back critical air-safety requirements for military aircraft operating in Washington's restricted airspace.But none came close to derailing a package long seen as must-pass legislation.
Trump rebrands housing supplement as $1,776 bonuses for US troops.
Washington, United States, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2025-The $1,776 payments to US troops announced by President Donald Trump will come from funds already allocated by Congress to supplement military housing allowances, officials said on Thursday.Trump announced the so-called "warrior dividend" in an address to the nation on Wednesday. He said it would be paid for with revenue from the sweeping tariffs he has imposed and presented it as a new initiative.Lawmakers from the opposition Democratic Party sharply criticized the president over the announcement, while a top Republican senator confirmed that the funding Trump is employing was aimed at offsetting housing costs for troops.The "$1,776 'warrior checks' aren't Christmas bonuses -- you're just stealing money out of a fund meant to help our troops find affordable housing," Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), wrote on X.Democratic Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, also took aim at Trump, saying he "isn't giving our brave service members a bonus, he's just shuffling around money so he can claim he is."Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the planned payments are the result of Trump's "unwavering commitment to our warriors and the provisions provided in the One Big Beautiful Bill" -- a reference to a major legislative package that Trump signed into law in July.Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of SASC, praised the announcement by Trump, saying it would implement additional funding provided by Congress in that law "to help offset housing costs for service members."The law provided for $2.9 billion in funding "to supplement the basic allowance for housing" for members of the military.
Kristi Noem pauses visa program Brown University shooting suspect used to enter US Portrait of Katie Landeck Katie Landeck.USA TODAY NETWORK - New England-Dec. 19, 2025, 1:16 a.m. ET
Following the shooting at Brown University that killed two and injured nine on Dec. 13, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) would be paused, effective immediately.On Thursday, Dec. 18, law enforcement identified Claudio Manuel Neves Valente as the shooter at Brown University, and as the killer of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro, who was shot to death in his Brookline home on Dec. 16.Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, was in the country on a DV1 visa, according to officials. He died by suicide and was found in New Hampshire on Dec. 18."The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card. This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," Noem wrote on X. "In 2017, President Trump fought to end this program, following the devastating NYC truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist, who entered under the DV1 program, and murdered eight people. At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program."Under the program, up to 55,000 immigrants can enter the country each year from “countries with low rates of immigration to the United States,” according to the State Department’s website.Thao Nguyen at USA Today contributed to this report.
Will Indians be hit by US pause on green card lottery system? All you need to know
Though Homeland Security claimed the pause was because the Brown University shooter had entered the US with a DV1 visa, netizens quickly fact-checked her-The Week News Desk By The Week News Desk Updated: December 19, 2025 13:19 IST
The Donald Trump administration on Friday paused its Diversity Visa (DV1) Program, better known as the green card lottery system, alleging that a violent criminal from a recent shooting came into the US via this route.In an X post on Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declared that she had instructed the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to "immediately" pause the DV1 programme, after orders from the US president.Though she claimed that the Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, had entered the US via a DV1 visa, she was fact-checked by netizens, citing reports that he had come into the US via a student visa in 2000, and obtained permanent residency 17 years later.Valente, who is also suspected of having killed MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro earlier this week, should "never have been allowed in our country", she said."In 2017, President Trump fought to end this programme ... At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 programme to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme," Noem added.Will Indians be affected? The green card lottery system, which makes up to 50,000 green cards available in the US, is only for people from countries that are little represented in the US, as per the USCIS website.India, however, has had far more than 50,000 people—the eligibility cap—emigrating to the US over the past five years. This automatically makes Indians ineligible for DV1 visas (till 2028) anyway.In 2021, 93,450 Indians emigrated to the US, as per an NDTV report. This jumped to 1.27 lakh people in 2022, but steeply declined to 78,070 people in 2023.Other nations that don't qualify for DV1 visas for 2026 include China, South Korea, Canada, and Pakistan.
Brown and MIT prof shooter suspect Neves Valente is found dead, authorities say-Published Thu, Dec 18 20259:54 PM EST-Dan Mangan
Key Points
The man suspected of the shooting at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others Saturday, and killing an MIT professor days later, was found dead in Salem, New Hampshire.
The suspect was identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, Nuno Gomes Loureiro, is believed to have attended the same university at Valente in their native Portugal.
The man suspected of the shooting at Brown University that killed two students and injured nine others last Saturday, and then of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor days later, was found dead from suicide on Thursday, authorities said.“There’s no longer a threat to the public,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston said in a statement.The suspect in the shootings was identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who had been a graduate student in physics at Brown in the early 2000s. Neves Valente most recently lived in Miami.Authorities announced his identity and suspected role in the Brown shooting hours after his body was discovered in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, with guns found at the scene.Providence, Rhode Island, police had obtained a warrant for Neves Valente’s arrest charging him with two counts of murder, and multiple assault and firearms counts related to the shooting Saturday afternoon in an auditorium at Brown’s Barus & Holley Building, where a group of students were taking an exam review for Principles of Economics.The MIT professor, Nuno Gomes Loureiro, 47, was found shot in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Monday, and died at a hospital on Tuesday.Authorities said they had identified Neves Valente as their suspect on Wednesday after a man who noticed him hanging around Brown’s campus, and who had had a confrontation with him before the shooting there, described their interactions to police.“He blew this case right open,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said of that witness, at a press conference.“Earlier this evening, law enforcement tracked Neves Valente to a Salem, New Hampshire storage unit,” the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. “After obtaining a federal search warrant for the unit, authorities entered and found Neves Valente deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”Neves Valente had been a PhD program student in physics at Brown.He is believed to have attended the same university in Lisbon, Portugal, as Loureiro, who was a member of MIT’s departments of nuclear science and engineering and physics.Neves Valente is the “individual we believe responsible for the Brown shooting,” FBI Special-Agent-in-Charge Ted Docks said at a press conference in Providence.“Many questions need to be answered,” said Docks.Authorities did not disclose a motive for the slayings.Authorities believe Neves Valente acted alone and that he eluded capture for days because he was traveling in a rental car whose license plates he kept changing.But authorities managed to track the rental, which was originally made in Boston, and were able to identify Neves Valente through that, and to learn that he had rented the storage unit in Salem where he was found.Brown University President Christina Paxson said, “It is safe to assume that this man, when he was a student, spent a lot of time in that building,” Barus & Holley, where Saturday’s shooting occurred.The last class Neves Valente took at Brown was in 2001 before going on a leave of absence.Authorities said he is believed to have originally been in the United States on a student visa and obtained lawful permanent resident status in 2017.
IDF: Hezbollah operative nabbed last year was key to group’s ‘secret maritime file’Military says Imad Amhaz was member of Hezbollah’s coast-to-sea missile unit, involved in advancing classified project directed by former terror chief Nasrallah By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 1:29 pm-DEC 19,25
The Israel Defense Forces on Friday revealed new information on a raid carried out by naval commandos last year, during which a “significant” Hezbollah operative was nabbed.On November 1, 2024, members of the Israeli Navy’s elite Shayetet 13 unit arrived from the sea and raided a chalet on the coast of Batroun, south of Tripoli — some 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Israel’s maritime border with Lebanon.The commandos captured Imad Amhaz, whom the military said on Friday was “one of the most significant figures in Hezbollah’s secret maritime file and a member of the coast-to-sea missile unit (7900).”In an unusual move, the IDF published footage of his interrogation.As part of his role in the coast-to-sea missile unit, Amhaz “received military training in Iran and Lebanon and gained extensive maritime expertise and experience for the purpose of carrying out maritime terror attacks,” the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, said on X.Adraee said that Amhaz had trained at a civilian Lebanese maritime institute, “which constitutes another example of Hezbollah’s cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilian institutions to advance its terror activities.”According to Adraee, Amhaz told interrogators he held a key role in Hezbollah’s “secret maritime file” and provided sensitive intelligence on the unit, described as one of the group’s most secret projects, using civilian cover to build maritime terror infrastructure targeting Israeli and international targets.He said that the project was directed by Hassan Nasrallah, the terror group’s former leader, and Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s former military chief — both of whom were killed by Israel — as well as Ali Abd al-Hassan Nour al-Din, “head of the secret maritime file.”Adraee said the IDF was able to disrupt Hezbollah’s progress in advancing the secret maritime file “at a critical point in time,” as a result of the elimination of the terror group’s leadership and the information provided by Amhaz in his interrogation.The commando raid took place at the height of an Israeli ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, several weeks before a ceasefire between Israel and the terror group, which mostly brought a halt to more than a year of hostilities.Since the ceasefire, the IDF said it has killed over 380 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups in strikes, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon — saying it has been operating against Hezbollah violations of the truce.Weakened by the war and still facing regular Israeli strikes, Hezbollah is under internal and international pressure to hand over its weapons, with the Lebanese army having drawn up a plan to disarm it.
Swimmers paddle out to sea to honor victims-Four more victims of Bondi attack laid to rest, including couple that tackled terrorist-Boris and Sofia Gurman died ‘not just because they were Jewish, but fighting for being Jewish,’ says rabbi; ‘Charitable’ Edith Brutman, ‘gentle’ Boris Tetleroyd also memorialized-By ToI Staff and Agencies Today, 1:28 pm-DEC 19,25
Four people killed in the antisemitic terror attack in Sydney on Sunday were laid to rest Friday, including a couple who were shot dead after tackling one of the two terrorists who killed 15 people and wounded dozens at the Hanukkah candle-lighting event on Bondi Beach.Boris and Sofia Gurman were buried at the Chevra Kadisha in Woollahra, and Edith Brutman and Boris Tetleroyd were buried at the Rookwood Cemetery in Lidcombe, according to local media.Senior Sydney Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, whose son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger was also killed in the terror attack, led all four funerals on Friday.“Yesterday we buried a 10-year-old girl; it’s been years since I’ve seen two coffins next to each other,” said Ulman at the Gurmans’ funeral.“Boris and Sofia were taken from us, not just because they were Jewish, but fighting for being Jewish,” said Ulman.Ulman, who, like the Gurmans, was born in the Soviet Union, read aloud a statement by their son Alex, who was wounded in the attack.“If you were lucky enough to know Sofia and Boris, you didn’t just know them, you felt their presence in your life,” the statement said. It described how Sofia, 61, and Boris, 69, left Ukraine after Alex was born.“They started from ground zero in Sydney, in a new country with a new language, and a completely new life. They bought their first house in Bondi, and over time, Sydney became their home.”The Guardian reported that Ulman wept as he described how Alex expressed concern that his parents were distant from their Jewish faith.“You thought your parents were very far from Judaism, you told me. But I will tell you, they were closer than all of us,” he said.Speaking later at the funeral for Brutman, who was vice president of the New South Wales branch of B’nai Brith, Ulman said Brutman, 68, was “charitable in every way,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.“And she did it with love, with devotion and without being asked,” said Ulman.“Edith wasn’t just a part of our lives; she was a very, very vocal part of our lives. But her love, her loyalty, her devotion, was really unique in every way,” he said.Boris Tetleroyd, whose son Yakov was seriously injured in the terror attack, was memorialized by his family as “a gentle man, a gifted musician and a valued member of his community,” according to a statement cited in Australian media.“He was well known to his neighbors, deeply connected to our wider community, and cherished by his family,” said the statement.Also on Friday, Australia’s Jewish community gathered at Bondi Beach for prayers, while hundreds of swimmers and surfers formed a huge circle in the waters off the beach to honor the victims of Sunday’s terror attack.“They slaughtered innocent victims, and today I’m swimming out there and being part of my community again to bring back the light,” security consultant Jason Carr told AFP.“We’re still burying bodies. But I just felt it was important,” the 53-year-old said. “I’m not going to let someone so evil, someone so dark, stop me from doing what I do and what I enjoy doing.”Carole Schlessinger, a 58-year-old chief executive of a children’s charity, said there was a “beautiful energy” at the ocean gathering.“To be together is such an important way of trying to deal with what’s going on,” she told AFP.“It was really lovely to be part of it. I personally am feeling very numb. I’m feeling super angry. I’m feeling furious.”Community leaders described the support as deeply moving amid heightened fears over a surge in antisemitic incidents.“Over the past two years, there’s been a lot of people who have been questioning whether we’re still welcome here in Australia because we saw people calling for our death on the streets on a weekly basis,” Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt from Sydney’s Central Synagogue told ABC News after attending the paddle-out event.“So it’s been so heart-warming to see the outpouring of love and support. It’s really so therapeutic.”
Interview-‘From the river to the sea’ chant is antisemitic, says France’s human rights envoy-Speaking to The Times of Israel from Jaffa days after deadly Sydney shooting, Isabelle Lonvis-Rome says attacking Israel’s ‘existence’ is intolerable-By Lazar Berman-Today, 1:23 pm-DEC 19,25
Some chants routinely heard at anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests around the world are antisemitic, said France’s human rights ambassador, two days after 15 people were killed in a shooting attack at a Sydney Hanukkah event.“‘From the river to the sea.’ We consider that to have an antisemitic purpose,” Isabelle Lonvis-Rome told The Times of Israel during an interview in Jaffa. “That’s clear.”Lonvis-Rome, whose remit includes the fight against antisemitism and perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust, was in Israel to represent France at the Jerusalem Plenary of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance at Yad Vashem, which Israel currently heads.Antisemitism has skyrocketed worldwide, including in France, since Hamas launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023.Antisemitic acts in France nearly quadrupled in 2024, with 1,570 incidents recorded, or 62 percent of all religious hate crimes in the country, according to the Jewish organization Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France (CRIF).Of these, 65% included violent aggression against people, and over 10% were physical assaults. This surge has created a climate where French Jews increasingly feel the need to hide their identity, such as by removing mezuzahs from homes or changing their names online, the report said.Antisemitism in France increasingly targets students, with the Ministry of National Education reporting a 420% increase in antisemitic acts in schools during the 2023-2024 school year. Surveys show that 64% of the French population believes Jews have reason to fear living in France, the report noted.The spike in antisemitism has been accompanied by frequent mass rallies against Israel, often featuring calls like “Globalize the intifada” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”“What is sure is that to attack the existence of the state of Israel is antisemitic,” said Lonvis-Rome. “When we speak about anti-Zionism, I prefer to say very clearly, it’s forbidden to attack the existence of the state of Israel.”She argued that there must be increased efforts to combat antisemitism online as well, because it can lead to physical attacks on Jews.“Social media has a very dramatic role and antisemitic speech, for me, is very important,” said Lonvis-Rome. “We must fight against antisemitic speech because I think that antisemitic speech is the step before antisemitic violence.”In her previous position as France’s minister for gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities, Lonvis-Rome led the crafting of France’s latest four-year national plan to fight antisemitism and racism.In her current post, she meets regularly with international human rights agencies, many of which Israel accuses of being biased against the Jewish state.Lonvis-Rome disagrees with that assessment: “Personally, I don’t see this problem. I think that… the fight against antisemitism must be disconnected from politics.”During her visit to Israel, Lonvis-Rome’s first, she visited Area C in the West Bank, met with civil rights activists fighting against the death penalty for terrorists legislation, and with groups like B’Tselem that accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.She also visited the site of the Nova music festival near the Gaza border, where Hamas murdered 378 people and kidnapped dozens more on October 7.“It’s also a way to be close to the Jewish people and to say that France is supporting them and that France has a very specific policy to fight against antisemitism,” she said of the visit.She insisted that the fight against antisemitism “must be unconditional and universal.”At the same time, she stressed that “it’s not my role to fight against antisemitism in the Middle East.”Polls consistently show that antisemitism is higher in the Middle East and North Africa than anywhere else in the world. An Anti-Defamation League survey released earlier this year found that over 75% of those in the MENA region harbor antisemitic attitudes, including 97% of Palestinians and Kuwaitis.“The fight against antisemitism must be treated outside of politics, and that, within the context of the Middle East, it’s really hard to disconnect antisemitism from geopolitics,” she explained. “It’s a tough thing to do, and especially for France, which is outside the Middle East. It’s harder for us from outside.”Zev Stub contributed to this report.
Turkey said hoping to return Russian air defense systems to clear way for F-35 sale-Kremlin denies Putin discussed issue with Erdogan during a meeting last week, as Ankara considers how best to bolster its fleet of aging aircraft-By ToI Staff and Reuters 18 December 2025, 9:45 pm
Turkey is looking to return the S-400 air defense systems that it purchased from Russia in 2017, hoping that doing so will clear the way for it to purchase F-35 fighter jets from the United States, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing Turkish and Russian officials familiar with the matter.According to the report, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the issue with his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, when the pair met on the sidelines of a summit in Turkmenistan last week.Ankara is also hoping to receive a refund if it returns the S-400 systems, Bloomberg reported, which could be granted in the form of discounted oil and natural gas imports from Russia.The Kremlin denied the contents of the report on Thursday, saying that the matter of returning the S-400 systems “was not on the agenda” when the two leaders met. Turkey declined to comment on the report.Turkey has expressed interest in buying a number of F-35 jets from the US, but it is currently barred from doing so due to its 2017 purchase of Russian-made S-400 air defense systems.Last week, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said that the countries were holding “fruitful” talks on the potential sale of the advanced stealth fighters.“As laid out in US law, Turkey must no longer operate nor possess the S-400 system to return to the F-35 program,” Barrack wrote on X.“The positive relationship between President Trump and President Erdogan has created a new atmosphere of cooperation, which has led to the most fruitful conversations we have had on this topic in nearly a decade,” he said.“Our hope is that these talks will yield a breakthrough in the coming months that meets both the security requirements of the United States and Turkey,” Barrack added.During US President Donald Trump’s first term, the US removed Turkey, a NATO ally, from its flagship F-35 fighter jet program, after Ankara purchased the S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia. US officials worried that Turkey’s use of the missile defense system could be used to gather data on the capabilities of the F-35 and that the information could end up in Russian hands.Israel has expressed concern in the past over the potential sale of the advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and other nearby countries, as it is anxious to preserve its qualitative military edge in the region.Today, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with F-35s in its arsenal, currently operating 45 of the aircraft with another 30 units on order.However, Trump recently announced the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, sparking worry in the Jewish state. US officials and defense experts have told Reuters that the jets to be sold to the Saudis will be less advanced than those used by the IDF.In recent months, Turkey, which has the NATO alliance’s second-largest military, has aimed to leverage its best relations with the West in years to add to its aging fleet 40 Eurofighter Typhoons and later also US-made F-35 jets.Ankara has seen success in its bid for new Eurofighter Typhoons, as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in October that the UK would sell Turkey 20 new Eurofighters. Until those are ready, Turkey said it will acquire 12 Eurofighters from Qatar and 12 from Oman to bolster its fleet.Erdogan is one of the world’s most outspoken critics of Israel, often accusing Israel of genocide over the past two years of war, comparing it to Nazi Germany and likening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.He has also cozied up to Hamas over the years, hosting top officials and calling the terror group “freedom fighters.”
Report: Netanyahu, Trump planned Iran strike far in advance, ran deception campaign-Washington Post says two leaders began plotting attack in February, leaked false stories to US and Israeli media painting daylight between countries’ policies toward Tehran-By Lazar Berman-17 December 2025, 11:55 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump began planning for a potential strike on Iran’s nuclear program after a meeting in February 2025, and developed an elaborate public deception program, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.During the February meeting, their first under Trump’s second term, Netanyahu presented Trump with four options on what an attack on Iran could look like, according to the report. The four scenarios were an exclusively Israeli attack, an attack led by Israel with minimal US help, full collaboration, and a US-led assault.While Trump chose to give nuclear diplomacy an opportunity, the intelligence-sharing and preparations for an attack continued, per the report. “The thinking was, if talks fail, we are ready to go,” said one person familiar with the details.As they moved closer to a strike, the two leaders sought to lull Iran into complacency.On June 12, Trump said that he preferred a negotiated solution to a military strike. Israeli officials leaked word that top Netanyahu adviser Ron Dermer and Mossad director David Barnea would be meeting senior White House envoy Steve Witkoff in the near future, and a round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran was scheduled for June 15.Both countries also leaked signs that there were tensions between them. “All the reports that were written about Bibi not being on the same page with Witkoff or Trump were not true,” said a person familiar with the details. “But it was good that this was the general perception; it helped to move on with the planning without many people noticing it.”According to the US outlet, in preparation for the attack, the Mossad intelligence agency armed more than 100 Iranian agents, some of whom were trained in Israel.They were given specific missions, but were not told that it was part of a broad assault on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program.“This operation is unprecedented in history,” an Israeli official said. “We mobilized our own assets and agents to go close to Tehran and launch the ground operation before the air force could enter Iranian airspace.”Some Iranian agents were given a three-piece “special weapon” designed for precision strikes, a senior Israeli security official added.Iran managed to retrieve some of the launchers, but not the missiles or a “secret third component,” said the Israeli official.Israel also assassinated 11 senior Iranian nuclear scientists in the early stages of the attack, in what it called Operation Narnia. To prepare, according to The Washington Post, Israel chose around a dozen top scientists from an initial list of 100, and closely tracked each one and their movements, homes, and work.A senior Israeli intelligence officer said that Israel tried to minimize collateral damage as much as possible, though dozens of civilians were killed in the strikes.During the war, while Israel was hammering Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Trump made another, secret offer to Iran on June 15. The offer was far less favorable to Iran than previous ones, and would see Iran stop supporting armed proxies and shut down its enrichment facilities. Trump would then lift all sanctions, according to the offer.The US sent the offer to Iran via Qatar, but the Iranians rejected it, and Trump decided to join the Israeli operation, according to a senior diplomat.Israel said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.Israel said Iran had recently taken steps toward weaponization. Iran retaliated to Israel’s strikes by launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel.The attacks killed 32 people and wounded over 3,000 in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals.In all, there were 36 missile impacts and one drone strike in populated areas, causing damage to 2,305 homes in 240 buildings, along with two universities and a hospital, and leaving over 13,000 Israelis displaced.
Israeli, Lebanese officials meet directly for 2nd time amid efforts to maintain truce-Meeting attended by security and civilian officials; PM’s office says ‘economic initiatives’ were the focus; US reports the sides agreed political and economic progress crucial to stabilityBy ToI Staff, Agencies and Lazar Berman-Today, 6:03 pm-DEC 19,25
Israeli and Lebanese officials met directly in the southern Lebanon town of Naqoura on Friday, as the two enemy states look to maintain the year-old ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah, amid fears that conflict with the Iran-backed terror group could soon erupt again.Friday’s forum was the 15th time the so-called “Pentalateral” committee, aimed at preserving the ceasefire has convened, though it was only the second time in decades that Israeli and Lebanese civilian officials have met directly, after a meeting earlier this month. Lebanon and Israel have been officially enemy nations since the Jewish state’s founding in 1948.Representing Israel at the meeting was National Security Council official Joseph (Yossi) Draznin, replacing his deputy, Eli Resnick, who represented Israel at the first direct talks on December 3.The talks, which were held at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in the coastal border town, were also attended by a number of civilian representatives from the two countries.According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the meeting examined “ways to advance economic initiatives in order to demonstrate the mutual interest in removing the Hezbollah threat and to ensure sustainable security for residents on both sides of the border.”The meeting was “a continuation of the security dialogue aimed at ensuring the disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese Armed Forces,” the PMO said in a statement.While the meeting was ostensibly about economic cooperation, Axios’s Barak Ravid reported, citing a source familiar with the details, that it was unofficially aimed at preventing a resumption of the war.The report seemed to be confirmed by the US Embassy in Beirut, which said Friday’s talks focused on addressing civilian issues to help prevent renewed war.“Civilian participants, in parallel, focused on setting conditions for residents to return safely to their homes, advancing reconstruction, and addressing economic priorities,” the embassy said.The statement added that military participants gave “operational updates and remained focused on deepening the military-to-military cooperation by finding ways to increase coordination.”The Lebanese and Israeli participants agreed that durable political and economic progress was essential to reinforcing security gains and ensuring long-term stability and prosperity, the embassy said.A source familiar with the discussions told Reuters they also addressed disputes over how to limit weaponry south of the Litani River and deploying the Lebanese army into the Hezbollah.The committee added that a strengthened Lebanese army, which participants described as the guarantor of security south of the Litani River but was for many years outgunned by Hezbollah, was critical to sustaining stability.Lebanese President Joseph Aoun affirmed the priority of returning residents of border villages to their homes, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement, adding that the committee would reconvene on January 7.On Thursday, French, Saudi Arabian and American officials met in Paris with the head of the Lebanese army, in talks aimed at finalizing a roadmap to a mechanism for Hezbollah’s disarmament, as an end-of-year deadline nears for Lebanon’s central government to disarm the group.Israel has been ramping up its military operations in Lebanon in recent weeks, amid reports of a possible widescale Israeli offensive targeting Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire that began in November 2024.Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to vacate southern Lebanon, while Israel was given 60 days to do so. The IDF later withdrew from all but five posts along the border with Lebanon, citing the incomplete dismantling of Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the country’s south.In addition to hundreds of airstrikes amid the ceasefire, the military said, ground troops have conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon, mostly in areas surrounding the five “strategic” border posts, to prevent Hezbollah from restoring its capabilities.Israel invaded Lebanon in September 2024 in a bid to secure the return home of some 60,000 residents displaced by Hezbollah’s near-daily attacks on northern Israel starting October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.
IPC monitor says ‘famine conditions’ over but Gaza food security still ‘critical’; Israel rejects findings-COGAT slams ‘distorted and biased’ report, says 500,000 tons of food has entered Strip since ceasefire, well over the enclave’s nutritional requirements as stated by the IPC-By Jeremy Sharon-Today, 4:57 pm-DEC 19,25
The IPC famine monitoring organization stated on Friday that food security conditions in the entire Gaza Strip “remain critical,” in a new report covering the second half of October and all of November that classified the territory as being in its “Emergency” Phase 4 category — the fourth highest of its five levels of food insecurity.The organization said, however, that the situation has improved since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on October 10 due to increased volumes of aid going into the territory, and changed its determination of Gaza from Phase 5 — Catastrophe — in July and August to Phase 4.In the IPC’s August report, it said “famine” had broken out in Gaza during the second half of July and throughout August. But its new report found that “famine conditions” were no longer prevailing in that district, or anywhere else in the territory. Israel’s COGAT agency, which coordinates the entry of aid into Gaza, strongly rejected the IPC’s findings that the humanitarian situation in the Strip remained critical.It described the IPC report as a “distorted, biased and unfounded picture of the humanitarian situation,” which suffered from “severe gaps in data collection” and relies on “sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance.”COGAT also stated that some 500,000 metric tons of food have entered the territory since October 10, far outweighing the needs of the Gaza population according to metrics from the World Food Programme, and as accepted by the IPC itself.According to the new study, some one million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity ranking as IPC Phase 3 between 16 October and 30 November 2025, while 500,000 people were still in Emergency Phase 4 levels of food insecurity, and 100,000 people were still in Phase 5 — Catastrophe. The organization projected that these conditions would improve in the period from December to April however.“Despite the improved situation, the population of the Gaza Strip still faces high levels of acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition. Although humanitarian assistance, including food aid, has increased, only basic survival needs are being met,” the organization claimed.“While humanitarian aid is ongoing, it barely meets people’s survival needs,” the IPC study said, adding “People’s diets remain poor” and that while “more nutritious foods, such as fresh vegetables and fruits are available in markets, most families cannot afford to buy them.”
It also stated that hygiene and sanitation conditions “continue to be very poor, accelerating the spread of acute respiratory infections (ARIs), diarrhea and skin infections, especially among children.”COGAT, however, vigorously challenged the IPC study’s findings.“COGAT strongly rejects the claims and conclusions presented in the IPC report published today (Friday), which once again portrays a distorted, biased and unfounded picture of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.” the agency said of the new study.“The report relies on severe gaps in data collection and on sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance. As such, it misleads the international community, fuels disinformation, and presents a false depiction of the reality on the ground.”COGAT pointed out that between 600 to 800 aid trucks have been entering the Gaza Strip every day since late October, 70 percent of which carry food aid.“In this context, nearly 30,000 food trucks carrying more than 500,000 tons of food entered the Gaza Strip throughout the ceasefire period,” the agency said.The new IPC report also failed to include consolidated, weighted data on malnutrition rates in Gaza with which it would be able to evaluate its claims from August that famine had broken out in the Gaza governorate.Such data is readily available from the Global Nutrition Cluster organization, which monitors malnutrition on the ground around the world, including in Gaza, and which has found that malnutrition rates never crossed famine levels even in July and August, and actually remained 23 percent under that level even at the peak of food insecurity.The IPC itself uses Global Nutrition Cluster data in its reports, including in the latest update on Gaza, but failed to show the consolidated, weighted data used by that organization.According to consolidated, weighted malnutrition data from the Global Nutrition Cluster’s State of Palestine department, malnutrition peaked in July and August, and then steadily improved in September, October and November.The new IPC report did for the first time include data on non-trauma mortality rates in Gaza during 2025, one of IPC’s three key metrics for determining whether famine has broken out.The organization asserted, however, that the data was incomplete. The data it did present from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry did show non-trauma mortality and deaths specifically attributed to malnutrition having spiked in July and August.But those rates nevertheless appear well under the threshold for famine, although the specific metrics available were different from those usually used to evaluate famine conditions.“The manner in which the IPC conducted itself during the preparation of the report raises serious questions regarding its credibility and professional integrity,” said COGAT.The authors of the report agreed to meet with Israeli professional officials and representatives of the US Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) only after the report had already been written and its conclusions formulated.“During the meeting, the authors were presented with complete, daily and verified data regarding the volume of food trucks entering the Gaza Strip,” COGAT said. “Despite this, the IPC chose to present a series of excuses regarding the use of the data and relied only partially on the information provided. This conduct does not reflect a legitimate professional disagreement, but rather biased writing based on partial and skewed data, indicating that the report’s conclusions were determined in advance.”
Russian citizen in Israel on work permit indicted over suspected espionage tied to Iran-Prosecutors accuse Vitaly Zvyagintsev of sending Iranian agent footage of military vessels and strategic area before he was arrested at airbase earlier this month-By Charlie Summers-and Reuters Today, 4:45 pm-DEC 19,25
Prosecutors have indicted a Russian national on espionage charges after he was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iranian interests, the State Attorney’s Office said Friday.Vitaly Zvyagintsev, a Russian citizen who had been living in Israel on a work permit, is accused of taking pictures of sensitive sites across the country for an Iranian agent.Zyvagintsev and the agent were in contact from early October until December 4, when the Russian citizen was arrested at an air force base, the State Attorney’s Office said.Zvyagintsev allegedly photographed the ports of Eilat, Haifa and Ashdod, as well as the Herzliya Marina, and sent the documentation to his handler. The defendant is also accused of traveling to Nesher Park, which overlooks parts of Haifa, in order to film oil refineries in the city.The defendant also allegedly photographed military vessels, including an armed merchant cruiser belonging to the US Navy and a Dolphin-class submarine belonging to the Israeli Navy.He was paid hundreds of dollars in cryptocurrency for each task, prosecutors said.He was arrested earlier this month at the Ramat David Air Force Base, where he tried to carry out another espionage mission, according to prosecutors. He had taken photos of the site, but was arrested by security forces before he could pass them onto his handler, the indictment said.Though police usually coordinate with the Shin Bet to investigate Iranian espionage cases, the probe was overseen jointly by the Shin Bet and the Director of Security of the Defense Establishment, an internal Defense Ministry investigatory unit known by its Hebrew acronym Malmab.The defendant was charged in the Central District Court on Friday with maintaining contact with a foreign agent and passing information to the enemy.Israel has arrested dozens of citizens who allegedly spied for Iran, in what sources told Reuters has been Tehran’s biggest effort in decades to infiltrate its arch foe.The arrests follow repeated efforts by Iranian intelligence operatives over the years to recruit ordinary Israelis to gather intelligence and carry out attacks in exchange for money.In a statement sent to media in 2024 following a wave of arrests by Israel of Jewish citizens suspected of spying for Iran, Iran’s UN mission did not confirm or deny seeking to recruit Israelis and said that “from a logical standpoint,” any such efforts by Iranian intelligence services would focus on non-Iranian and non-Muslim individuals to lessen suspicion.Following the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, Iran has executed dozens of people it accuses of having links with the Mossad and facilitating its operations in the country.
Former PM Ehud Barak seen in a new Epstein estate image released by US Congress-Latest batch of 68 photos, published a day before US Justice Department’s deadline to release files, includes close-up of ‘Lolita’ quotes written in black ink across a woman’s body-By ToI Staff and Reuters Today, 3:44 pm-DEC 19,25
Former prime minister Ehud Barak appears in one of the dozens of photos that Democrats in the US Congress released from the estate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday.An undated photo shows Barak seated at a table between billionaire Thomas Pritzker and director Woody Allen, with magician David Blaine standing to the side. Epstein, who died by suicide in federal prison after he was charged with sex trafficking of young women, can be seen standing between Barak and Allen.Barak reportedly met with Epstein dozens of times beginning in 2013, Barak’s final year as Israel’s defense minister. The former premier has previously defended his business dealings with Epstein, saying he believed Epstein had already paid his debt to society for an earlier charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor. Blaine, Pritzker and Allen could not immediately be reached for comment.The previously unreleased photo of Barak was one of 68 images that Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee released on Thursday, a day before the US Justice Department is required by law to release unclassified files from its investigation of the disgraced financier.The latest batch of images includes close-ups of sentences from “Lolita,” a book about a man’s obsession with a 12-year-old girl, scribbled in black ink across a woman’s body — chest, foot, neck and back; redacted identification cards of women from Russia, Morocco, Italy, Czech Republic, South Africa, Ukraine and Lithuania; and a late-night text thread about sending girls for someone identified as “j” for $1,000 each.The 68 photos are among some 95,000 that Epstein’s estate released to the US House Oversight Committee. Last week, oversight Democrats released 19 photos, including some featuring now-US President Donald Trump, who dismissed the images as “no big deal.” Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates, professor and left-wing activist Noam Chomsky and former Trump aide Steve Bannon are also pictured in the latest images.Representatives for Gates, Chomsky and Bannon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Democrats on the Oversight Committee said the images released Thursday “were selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos” and “to provide insights into Epstein’s network and his extremely disturbing activities.”Democrats said they had thousands more images, “both graphic and mundane,” which they are continuing to analyze.“Oversight Democrats will continue to release photographs and documents from the Epstein estate to provide transparency for the American people,” said California Representative Robert Garcia, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. “As we approach the deadline for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, these new images raise more questions about what exactly the Department of Justice has in its possession. We must end this White House cover-up, and the DOJ must release the Epstein files now.”White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the latest release changes nothing.“President Trump has been consistently calling for transparency related to the Epstein files and his administration has delivered,” she said in a statement.The US Congress voted overwhelmingly last month to release the Epstein files, two days after Trump announced his support for the move in an about-face that followed months of trying to scuttle it.
