MERZ PUSHES ABBAS DEATH CULTIST ON ARAB REFORMS IN GAZA.

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)

 MERZ PUSHES ABBAS DEATH CULTIST ON ARAB REFORMS IN GAZA.

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

France’s national digital ID scaling up after graduating from pilot-France Identité to serve as country’s EUDI Wallet, to be used in 2026 elections-Dec 5, 2025, 10:20 am EST    | Masha Borak

France’s national digital identity app, France Identité, has enabled the creation of more than 3.2 million digital IDs, according to new figures.Among these, approximately 525,000 identities have been fully certified, meaning that users have completed an in-person verification process at their local town halls. This means that more than half a million French digital IDs are ready for the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, according to Joerg Lenz, head of marketing at Namirial Group.“France Identité is moving from pilot to scale,” Lenz wrote on LinkedIn, following the TRUSTECH Event held in Paris on Wednesday.Namirial is one of the companies participating in the EUDI Wallet Large-Scale Pilots POTENTIAL and APTITUDE, alongside France Titres, the National Agency for Secured Documents, which is in charge of developing the France Identité project.France Identité has also enabled 6.5 million authentications through the France Connect platform, which allows citizens to log into government and private services. In addition, citizens have generated 655,000 digital identity attestations, Lenz says in his breakdown of the app’s latest figures.The digital ID app has been designated by the European Commission as the future digital wallet for France. By the end of 2026, the country plans to open the app to all French residents, reaching 5 million users.The scheme targets adult French citizens and allows them to use the digital ID in place of a physical card. It also enables services such as mobile driving licences (mDLs) and one-time identity credentials. Under the government’s plan, mobile driving licenses will be accepted when individuals are stopped by traffic officers or when renting vehicles.Last week, authorities announced that France Identité will also be used in the country’s municipal elections, which will be held from March 15th to 22nd, 2026.“The Ministry of the Interior has rolled out a fully digital proxy voting system for all elections, thanks to the France Identité app,” says the announcement.

ASEAN plans to roll out digital business ID to boost cross‑border trade-Dec 5, 2025, 7:34 am EST    | Lu-Hai Liang

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is preparing to roll out a regionwide digital business identity system aimed at transforming cross‑border trade, strengthening trust between companies and accelerating the region’s digital economy.The initiative, known as the Unique Business Identification Number (UBIN), is expected to move into implementation following the adoption of its official roadmap, writes Dr Le Quang Lan, Director of Market Integration Directorate at the ASEAN Secretariat, for Bernama.ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn said digital interconnectedness is now essential economic infrastructure, and UBIN will help remove long‑standing barriers to doing business across the region.The system will allow companies to be recognized and verified in real time across all ASEAN member states, enabling smoother trade and reducing administrative friction. ASEAN covers all 11 countries in Southeast Asia, comprising more than 600 million people and is projected to be the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030 (more on that below).Nadhir Ashafiq, co-founder of logistics platform The Lorry, said a unified digital business identity would simplify approvals, company setup and regulatory processes across ASEAN, particularly for younger and smaller firms seeking to expand regionally.The UBIN initiative builds on ASEAN’s broader digital transformation agenda, including the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) launched in 2023. Supported by Australia through the Aus4ASEAN Futures Initiative, ASEAN has spent the past two years developing guidelines and technical standards for a regionally interoperable business ID system.Under the UBIN framework, interoperability will be driven by five pillars: secure data exchange between business registries, decentralized verification technology, common governance structures, regulatory alignment, and capacity‑building programmes for member states. A study by Boston Consulting Group estimates that full implementation could unlock $110 billion to $300 billion in economic value — equivalent to up to a quarter of DEFA’s projected contribution to ASEAN’s digital economy.ASEAN officials say the system is designed not only to boost efficiency but also to promote inclusive growth. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are a major fixture of commerce in ASEAN, accounting for around 45 percent of ASEAN’s GDP, but only 18 percent are exporting. But this backbone of ASEAN’s economy stands to benefit from simplified compliance and verification along with increased trust from foreign partners.Women‑owned businesses, which are disproportionately affected by bureaucratic barriers and limited access to finance, are also expected to gain from improved visibility and credibility through a recognized digital business ID.The implementation roadmap outlines five phases, from establishing governance structures to rolling out advanced use cases such as e‑contracts and secure digital document exchange. Early applications will include regionwide company search tools and standardized business information services, enabling firms to quickly verify potential partners.In the long term, UBIN will support secure cross‑border exchange of digital documents such as invoices, trade licences and customs permits, which will reduce fraud risks and cut costs for MSMEs. Once fully implemented, UBIN is expected to serve as a regional trust anchor, enabling businesses of all sizes to operate more confidently and competitively across ASEAN.WEF calls for regulatory alignment, cybersecurity-Southeast Asia enjoys demographic advantages and a dynamic business landscape. It has a young population, growing cities and economies. The World Economic Forum projects ASEAN to become the world’s fourth‑largest economy by 2030.The region’s digital economy alone is expected to more than double to $560 billion, creating new jobs and innovation opportunities. But sustained success, the World Economic Forum argues, will require coordinated strategy, public‑private collaboration and a shared commitment to inclusive growth.ASEAN’s youthful dynamism and desire to leapfrog older technologies confers advantages. Local innovation is accelerating, such as Malaysia’s YTL AI Labs developing ILMU, a Bahasa Malaysia large language model designed for use across business, education and government.Further integration via harmonized regulations, reduced non‑tariff barriers and initiatives like the proposed ASEAN Business Entity could strengthen the region’s position as a global growth engine.Supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is central to this vision. MSMEs make up more than 97 percent of ASEAN businesses and 85 percent of its workforce, yet many struggle to scale due to limited financing, mentorship and market access.Without digital identities or credit histories, up to 60 percent report difficulty securing loans. New partnerships aim to close this gap. In 2024, the Mastercard Impact Fund committed $5 million to unlock up to $1 billion in Asian Development Bank financing for MSMEs, demonstrating how targeted private‑sector investment can catalyze broader credit access.Digitalization offers another major opportunity. Digital payments in the region are expected to surpass $1 trillion this year, enabling MSMEs to reach more customers and stay competitive. Embracing QR codes, digital ID wallets and contactless payments could enable MSMEs to find more customers and boost sales.But increased connectivity also heightens exposure to cyber threats. In this, biometrics and passkeys and digital identity could offer protections against fraud and scams — a trend playing out in the likes of Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.The World Economic Forum and ASEAN‑Business Advisory Council argue that ASEAN can become a global model for resilient, inclusive and sustainable growth. They argue this requires businesses and governments to cooperate to strengthen the foundations of the digital economy.By expanding access to capital, improving regulatory alignment and bolstering cybersecurity, the region can ensure economic competitiveness that endures.

Microchip Unveils First 3 nm PCIe® Gen 6 Switch to Power Modern AI Infrastructure-Switchtec™ Gen 6 PCIe Fanout Switches deliver extra bandwidth, low latency and advanced security for high-performance compute, cloud computing and hyperscale data centers

CHANDLER, Ariz., October 13, 2025 — As artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and high-performance computing (HPC) applications continue to drive unprecedented demand for faster data movement and lower latency, Microchip Technology (Nasdaq: MCHP) has introduced its next generation of Switchtec™ Gen 6 PCIe® Switches. The industry’s first PCIe Gen 6 switches manufactured using a 3 nm process, the Switchtec Gen 6 family is designed to deliver lower power consumption and support up to 160 lanes for high-density AI system connectivity. Advanced security features include a hardware root of trust and secure boot, utilizing post-quantum safe cryptography compliant with the Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite (CNSA) 2.0.Previous PCIe generations created bandwidth bottlenecks as data transferred between CPUs, GPUs, memory and storage, leading to underutilization and wasted compute cycles. PCIe 6.0 doubles the bandwidth of PCIe 5.0 to 64 GT/s (giga transfers per second) per lane, providing the necessary data pipeline to keep the most powerful AI accelerators consistently supplied. Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches enable high-speed connectivity between CPUs, GPUs, SoCs, AI accelerators and storage devices, and are designed to help data center architects scale to the potential of next generation AI and cloud infrastructure.“Rapid innovation in the AI era is prompting data center architectures to move away from traditional designs and shift to a model where components are organized as a pool of shared resources,” said Brian McCarson, corporate vice president of Microchip’s data center solutions business unit. “By expanding our proven Switchtec product line to PCIe 6.0, we’re enabling this transformation with technology that facilitates direct communication between critical compute resources and delivers the most powerful and energy efficient switch we've ever produced.”By acting as a high-performance interconnect, the switches allow for simpler, more direct interfaces between GPUs in a server rack, which is crucial for reducing signal loss and maintaining the low latency required by AI fabrics. The PCIe 6.0 standard also introduces Flow Control Unit (FLIT) mode, a lightweight Forward Error Correction (FEC) system and dynamic resource allocation. These changes make data transfer more efficient and reliable, especially for small packets which are common in AI workloads. These updates lead to higher overall throughput and lower effective latency.Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches feature 20 ports and 10 stacks with each port featuring hot- and surprise-plug controllers. Switchtec also supports NTB (Non-Transparent Bridging) to connect and isolate multiple host domains and multicast for one-to-many data distribution within a single domain. The switches are designed with advanced error containment and comprehensive diagnostics and debug capabilities, a wide breadth of I/O interfaces and an integrated MIPS processor with bifurcation options at x8 and x16. Input and output reference clocks are based on PCIe stacks with four input clocks per stack. Visit the website to learn more about Microchip’s full portfolio of PCIe switches.Development Tools-The Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe Switch family is supported by Microchip’s ChipLink diagnostic tools, offering comprehensive debug, diagnostics, configuration and analysis through an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). ChipLink connects via in-band PCIe or sideband signals such as UART, TWI and EJTAG, enabling flexible, efficient monitoring and troubleshooting throughout design and deployment. The switches are also supported by the PM61160-KIT Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe Switch Evaluation Kit with multiple interfaces.Pricing and Availability-Switchtec Gen 6 PCIe switches are available for sampling to qualified customers. Contact a Microchip sales representative or authorized worldwide distributor for more information.Resources-About Microchip-Microchip Technology Inc. is committed to making innovative design easier through total system solutions that address critical challenges at the intersection of emerging technologies and durable end markets. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio support customers throughout the design process, from concept to completion. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support and delivers solutions across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.Note: The Microchip name and logo and the Microchip logo are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. Switchtec is a trademark of Microchip Technology Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.

UK tucks biometric bias reports deep into police facial recognition plan-Cognitec, Idemia join NEC as algorithm suppliers for police, Home Office-Dec 4, 2025, 3:07 pm EST    | Chris Burt

The UK government pledged on Thursday to increase its use of facial recognition and biometrics to identify wanted suspects. The pledge came as part of a massive and poorly-communicated information dump that reveals UK law enforcement is using face biometrics algorithms from Cognitec and Idemia, and a vague plan to overhaul the body responsible for biometrics oversight.Proposed changes to the way UK police use facial recognition and other biometrics include more frequent use of the technology, but also possible police access to civil government databases like those used for passports and driver’s licenses.Home Office announced the proposal, along with a 10-week consultation on a “legal framework for using facial recognition in law enforcement,” which takes in forensic (or retrospective) facial recognition, operator-initiated facial recognition (like in body cams) and live facial recognition.The proposal also includes the creation of a new oversight and regulatory body for “police use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies.” Home Office will gather views on what responsibilities this regulatory should have during the consultation.Home Office says the consultation will consider the benefits of facial recognition, what safeguards are needed for it and “similar technologies which are likely to follow.” How the technologies should be used, privacy protections and proportionality will be addressed. The consultation opened Thursday and closes February 12, 2026.Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones described facial recognition as “the biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA matching.”In response, Big Brother Watch Director Silkie Carlo said: “Facial recognition is indeed a powerful technology much like DNA, but we would never accept DNA checkpoints across our high streets and nor should we accept widespread face recognition checkpoints, treating us all like criminals in a constant line up.”The announcement notes that Home Office spent £12.6 million on facial recognition last year, including £2.8 million on live facial recognition deployed in fixed-location pilots and vans. Another £6.6 million is budgeted for a further rollout this year, including £3.9 million for a national face matching service.Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed in July that the Home Office was working on a governance framework for police use of live facial recognition.Questions as proposal-The consultation paper says that while the government has determined a legal framework is already in place for police to use facial recognition, it is insufficient for police “confidence to use it at a significantly greater scale” or to give the public confidence that its use is responsible and according to clear rules.It asks 17 questions about which technologies and organizations the new framework should apply to, what factors should be considered in assessing privacy impacts, what purpose the technologies should be allowed for and who should be responsible for authorizing the use of the biometric technologies.Home Office also asks if police should be allowed to search public records like the government’s passport and driver’s license databases. Currently, they have to ask the Home Office to do so on their behalf, and the request has to meet a standard set of criteria.Carlo from Big Brother Watch says the consultation is long overdue but that if the government was going to take the consultation seriously, it would halt police use of facial recognition pending its outcome instead of allocating funds for a program expansion.Biometrics Commissioner role change-To oversee the expanded system, Home Office proposes the creation of a regulatory and oversight body which would “encompass and build upon the existing roles of the” BSCC and Forensic Science Regulator for England and Wales.What this means for the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner role is unclear. University of Stirling Professor William Webster was appointed BSCC effective November 1 after the biometrics role was left vacant for just under a year and the surveillance camera role continuously since last August.The role is mentioned only once in the announcement, by Former Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Neil Basu.“The live facial recognition system was, but no longer is, discriminatory but it will still require proper legal safeguards and oversight by the surveillance commissioner,” Basu says.The consultation plan points out that the BSCC, the Information Commissioner, HMICFRS, Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct all currently play parts in overseeing police use of facial recognition, and argues the arrangement is inefficient.“We believe that a structural change would make oversight more effective and propose creating a ‘one stop shop’ serving a common group of stakeholders with similar concerns and need for clarity.”It describes a new role strikingly similar to the old one:“We envisage giving this body the necessary powers to provide assurance that law enforcement use of biometric technologies is legal, responsible, and necessary. These powers could include setting standards to assure scientific validity, issuing codes of practice and investigating instances where a technology has been misused, hacked or accessed without authorisation.”Cognitec and Idemia facial recognition evaluated by NPLThe government also asks how bias and discrimination should be prevented.Home Office provides links to a new guide and factsheet on police use of facial recognition,  and a survey on public support for facial recognition. It also links to newly-published tests on facial recognition carried out by the UK’s National Physical Laboratory. The new test by NPL were conducted with similar but updated methodology to the tests of NEC’s NeoFace in 2023 for London’s Metropolitan Police.Cognitec’s FaceVACS DBScan ID v5.5 returns a correct match in more than 99 percent of searches at the operational setting used by UK police when a true match is in the gallery, according to NPL. The assessment found statistically significant variance in the performance of Cognitec’s algorithm at a face-match threshold of 0.8 between genders, skin color and older and younger subjects.The Idemia MBSS FR algorithm used by Home Office and intended for use in the new national facial matching service was found to have “no significant demographic variation in performance,” with a true positive identification rate (TPIR) of 100 percent and a false positive identification rate (FPIR) of 0 percent for all groups at face-match thresholds between 3052 and 3981.The Cognitec algorithm was contracted by Home Office for police to use with the Police National Database (PND), while Idemia’s algorithm is for Home Office’s own use and the proposed national service. NEC’s algorithm is still used by UK police for live (or “real-time”) facial recognition.

How commercial surveillance tools became essential to FBI investigations-Clearview AI, Babel Street, and ZeroFox sit at the center of the bureau’s investigative workflow-Dec 5, 2025, 3:52 pm EST    | Anthony Kimery

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has come to rely on Clearview AI, Babel Street, and ZeroFox to support its open-source intelligence (OSINT) operations – three tools a federal watchdog said are “capable of collecting … sensitive data” on people.While the FBI has long used publicly available information to supplement traditional investigative methods, these systems have transformed its OSINT into a continuous, data-driven capability that can identify individuals, map networks, and monitor broad swaths of online activity with unprecedented speed.A series of disclosures in recent years, including a November 2025 report from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) on the FBI’s growing use of OSINT, confirm that the three platforms sit at the center of the FBI’s investigative workflow, even as it has withheld most operational details from public view.The PCLOB report says “the FBI determined it could not decontrol certain information, including about its use of … Clearview AI, ZeroFox, and Babel Street …”As a result, the unclassified report contains only high-level descriptions of the tools and the privacy safeguards that surround them, while the operational specifics – including how often the platforms are used, in what kinds of investigations, and under what internal criteria – are confined to a classified annex accessible only to the White House, FBI leadership, and congressional intelligence committees.This withheld section underscores how central and sensitive the FBI’s OSINT capabilities have become, even as they remain largely shielded from outside scrutiny.This lack of transparency takes on special importance given that “the collection and use of open-source information poses some risk to privacy and civil liberties, especially when aggregated with other information that may reveal sensitive personal information,” PCLOB concluded.The report’s release by Beth A. Williams, a Republican and Trump-appointed member of the board, added an unexpected layer of significance.PCLOB is structured to be bipartisan, but it is unusual for a Trump nominee to preside over the release of a document that underscores gaps in transparency around federal surveillance tools, particularly in a political climate where the administration has attempted to remove Democratic PCLOB members and tighten control over oversight bodies.Williams’s role in issuing the report lent it credibility across the political spectrum and underscored the degree to which PCLOB, despite recent turmoil, continues to function with a measure of institutional independence.The PCLOB report says, “commercial tools [used by the FBI] consolidate substantial amounts of open-source information, enabling users to more efficiently conduct searches by bypassing the need to visit individual websites and conduct manual searches.”The report noted that “these tools also filter vast amounts of open-source information, thereby limiting the amount of information that must be reviewed.”Clearview AI anchors the bureau’s identity-resolution layer. The company’s database, built from billions of images scraped from social media platforms and public websites, allows law enforcement users to upload a photograph and receive possible matches tied to names, accounts, and online histories.The FBI has not publicly described its use of Clearview, but PCLOB confirmed that it reviewed the FBI’s use of the tool in detail and that the bureau declined to decontrol any portion of that review for public release.The inclusion of Clearview in the classified annex strongly implies active deployment and reflects how facial recognition-enabled OSINT has become both routine and operationally sensitive.For FBI agents, the technology allows a face captured in surveillance footage, a livestream, a protest image, or a social media screenshot to be converted into a set of potential identities within minutes.Babel Street’s platforms help the FBI to determine what they are doing and how they are connected online. Through its Babel X product, the bureau has access to a system that ingests data from social networks, blogs, forums, messaging platforms, news outlets, and other parts of the public web, applying translation tools, geospatial filtering, entity extraction, and trend analysis.Procurement records show that the FBI acquired approximately 5,000 Babel X licenses, indicating bureau-wide adoption across field offices, headquarters units, and joint task forces.PCLOB identified Babel Street as one of the FBI’s more comprehensive OSINT systems and cited it as subject to additional safeguards and audit logging because of the sensitivity of the information it can retrieve.“The FBI reported that its employees may directly access and enter search terms into commercial tools” like Babel Street, but that with tools like ZeroFox “the FBI provides its search terms to the commercial tool provider who conducts searches on behalf of the FBI.While the PCLOB’s public report does not describe specific FBI techniques, the platform’s documented capabilities support functions ranging from targeted research to ongoing monitoring of online discussions, emerging narratives, and geotagged activity relevant to bureau investigations.ZeroFox fills a distinct but complementary role. Originally marketed as a cybersecurity and brand protection product, ZeroFox has expanded into a broad external threat intelligence service that scans social media platforms, the surface web, and, according to the company’s own documentation, parts of the deep and dark web for indicators of harm.PCLOB confirmed that it reviewed the FBI’s ZeroFox Privacy Threshold Analysis, placing it in the same category of enhanced sensitivity tools as Babel Street.Although the public report offers few specifics, ZeroFox’s documented capabilities align with likely FBI use cases, including protection of agents and facilities, detection of impersonation schemes involving federal branding, monitoring of threat activity that bridges online and physical spaces, and identification of coordinated malicious campaigns.Taken together, the three OSINT systems allow the FBI to conduct open-source investigations that go far beyond manual review of public posts. Clearview provides rapid biometric identification. Babel Street structures and analyzes vast quantities of public and commercially acquired data. And ZeroFox monitors the broader online environment for threats directed at bureau personnel, facilities, or operations.As a combined capability, they enable investigators to move from an unidentified face or online alias to a detailed portrait of a person’s digital activity and associations, often in near real time.The PCLOB report underscores the extent of this integration. It noted that the FBI “often relies on such information … in early stages of counterterrorism investigations” and that three sensitive tools were subject to heightened safeguards.At the same time, the FBI declined to release even high-level public descriptions of how Clearview, Babel Street, and ZeroFox are used in practice. This refusal illustrates both how central the tools have become and how sensitive their deployment is considered.It also leaves unresolved questions about the role of commercial data, the handling of First Amendment protected activity, the accuracy of algorithmic outputs, and the sufficiency of internal oversight.What is clear from the available evidence is that commercial surveillance technology now shapes the FBI’s OSINT capabilities at least as much as traditional investigative technique.And “as access to aggregated open-source information continues to evolve,” PCLOB cautioned, “the FBI will need to continually evaluate the privacy and civil liberties impacts of new tools and datasets.”

Alaska seeks major AI overhaul of state services through myAlaska mobile app-Dec 5, 2025, 3:30 pm EST    | Anthony Kimery

Alaska is exploring a sweeping redesign of its statewide digital services platform, issuing a Request for Information (RFI) that signals one of the most ambitious state-level deployments of artificial intelligence to date.The RFI, released November 25 by the Department of Administration’s Office of Information Technology, outlines plans to embed “agentic AI” into the existing myAlaska mobile application, transforming the platform from a basic services portal into an automated system capable of completing complex transactions, managing user workflows, and interacting directly with legacy state systems.The myAlaska app currently serves as a single-entry point for a broad range of government services, from applying for Alaska Permanent Fund dividends to accessing DMV records and retirement benefits. The new proposal would dramatically expand that functionality.In the first phase, the state is considering the integration of autonomous AI modules capable of carrying out multi-step government processes on behalf of users, provided users give explicit consent.These modules would also be designed to generate proactive reminders, deliver personalized service recommendations, retrieve and fill forms dynamically, check eligibility for state programs, and learn from previous user interactions to improve future performance.According to the RFI, the intent is to create an AI-driven interface that not only responds to user requests but anticipates them, reducing friction across dozens of government touchpoints.These AI functions would need to connect with existing state infrastructure, many parts of which rely on older digital systems.To accommodate this, the state is asking vendors to describe approaches for secure communication between the app’s AI modules and legacy platforms, including the orchestration of data workflows and fulfillment processes that span multiple agencies.The RFI emphasizes security, privacy, and compliance throughout, calling for adherence to relevant National Institute of Standards and Technology guidelines, strong user-consent controls, robust auditing, explainability features, and incident-response protocols for potential misuse or data breaches.Alaska is also requiring adversarial testing to examine vulnerabilities such as hallucination, manipulation, or unauthorized data access – issues that have become central to public-sector AI deployments nationwide.A second phase of the enhancement plan envisions a broader expansion of the app’s capabilities, including the integration of a digital “smart wallet” that could store or present credentials such as driver’s licenses, hunting and fishing permits, and professional certifications.The wallet may also support digital payments or prepaid balances if vendors can guarantee compliance with PCI DSS standards.The state is simultaneously seeking full voice navigation throughout the application, allowing users to complete forms, access services, and move through menus using natural language commands.The RFI notes that all voice features must meet federal accessibility standards, including WCAG 2.1 and Section 508, which is part of a 1998 amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which requires all federal electronic content to be accessible.Biometric features are also under consideration. Alaska proposes to expand identity verification within the app by supporting facial recognition or fingerprint authentication through native Apple and Android APIs.These additions would have to integrate cleanly with the existing Azure B2C identity platform and operate alongside single sign-on and multi-factor authentication mechanisms already in use across state systems.The plan also calls for an in-app survey tool designed to capture user feedback and analytics more systematically, and for full multilingual support, allowing users to switch between languages within the interface.One of the more structural changes contemplated in the RFI concerns the app’s user interface. Vendors are asked to redesign the experience so the system can scale to roughly 300 digital services, an order-of-magnitude increase that would require a more sophisticated discovery and navigation model.To support this, the state is also seeking improvements to the app’s existing AI chatbot, including architectural reviews and updated lifecycle designs.The state is not requesting bids at this stage. Instead, it is gathering input on cost, timelines, risks, and implementation approaches from companies experienced in mobile development, digital wallets, biometric authentication, voice interfaces, and large-scale personalization systems.All responses are due by December 8, at 2:00 p.m. Alaska Standard Time.The RFI warns that entities that respond inadequately may be excluded from participating in any future procurement, and it includes special provisions tied to Administrative Order 352 concerning businesses’ positions on boycotts of Israel.If Alaska moves forward, the upgrades could position myAlaska as one of the most advanced state-run digital service platforms in the country, capable not only of housing government functions but autonomously carrying them out.The next stage will depend on the proposals vendors submit over the coming weeks, which will determine whether the state issues a full solicitation early next year.

African digital ID systems need better governance by stronger independent bodies: Researchers-Dec 5, 2025, 1:38 pm EST    | Chris Burt

Digital ID systems backed by biometrics are being imposed on Africans, preventing millions from receiving essential services they are entitled to, according to a new report from the UK-based Institute of Development Studies (IDS).The report “Digital-ID in Africa: Assessing progress and challenges to date” looks at 10 countries; Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Senegal, and Tunisia. It uses the Evaluation Framework for Digital Identity developed in 2019 by the India-based Centre for Internet and Society. The CIS and Research ICT Africa applied the Framework to the digital ID systems being deployed across Africa in 2021.Researchers carried out 15 diagnostic tests to assess the legal foundations, human rights implications and risk considerations of digital identity systems.Sophisticated legal frameworks that protect human rights are in place in some African nations, the researchers found, but gaps and failings effect even those with adequate laws in place. As argued in other analysis, African governments must enable strong, independent governance of digital identity systems to realize their benefits while protecting human rights.“Translating legal provisions into tangible benefits also requires that adequate resources and expertise are dedicated to independent oversight and redress mechanisms to correct mistakes and errors that inevitably occur and demand prompt and adequate attention,” the report authors write.Common concerns around inadequate data privacy, particularly for biometrics, mission creep and exclusion are reflected in observations about all of the countries examined, though to varying degrees.The researchers conclude that “Africa’s biometric-ID systems blocking citizens from rights and services,” an outcome difficult to avoid given their observation that “Digital-ID systems in Africa emerged from colonial tools of control and post-independence mechanisms of power consolidation, and are now digitised infrastructures that increasingly serve government and corporate interests.”“To address these gaps,” they argue, “African countries must shift from rhetorical commitment to practical governance: adopting clear, enforceable protections; empowering independent regulators; and ensuring inclusive participation by those most affected.”

No pints with digital ID or porn from Belize for UK revelers this Christmas-Kyle’s age check promise falls flat as cask ale while Ofcom slaps fines on adult network-Dec 5, 2025, 3:15 pm EST    | Joel R. McConvey

UK drinkers raising a glass to former Technology Secretary Peter Kyle this Christmas would best honour him with a glass of milk. The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology has reportedly confirmed to licensees that the changes to the Mandatory Licensing Conditions won’t be ready in time to make good on Kyle’s promise, made in December 2024, that digital ID would be an option for age verification in UK pubs by the yuletide. A post on LinkedIn from the Age Verification Provider’s Association (AVPA) says the change has been delayed to 2026, “subject to Parliamentary timeline.” “When we joked that Peter Kyle didn’t say which Christmas,” says AVPA, “we should have penciled in 2027.” Ofcom hammers away at noncompliant porn sitesMore adept at keeping promises is UK regulator Ofcom, which enforces the Online Safety Act. An announcement from Ofcom says it has fined AVS Group Ltd, a Belize-based operator of 18 adult content websites, for violating the OSA’s age verification requirement. The company now faces a fine of 1 million pounds, plus an extra 50,000 for failing to respond to requests for information. “While AVS has implemented what it refers to as age verification, we do not consider it to be highly effective,” Ofcom says. “AVS must now implement highly effective age assurance within 72 hours of today’s decision, or face a daily penalty of £1,000 per day.” The regulator has faced outcry from major porn providers that have complied with the law, only to see their traffic nosedive as users seek alternatives. Aylo, which owns Pornhub, has called for a level playing field – in effect, a push to crack down on noncompliant sites that may be sucking its traffic. AVPA also supports a fair application of the laws. On LinkedIn, it says “the success of this new regulatory regime rests on Ofcom ensuring there is a level playing field, so high-profile sites do not face an existential loss of custom to smaller sites not yet brought into line by the regulator.”  Geography can’t be a factor, either: “it must also apply to sites regardless of their geographical location, which is why the court-ordered ISP blocks, payment disruptions, or search result removals need to be deployed swiftly, in the absence of compliance.”Need a lifeline? Call a friend-AVPA speculates that, since AVS has been unresponsive and is based in Belize, it may be “the first opportunity to apply real teeth of the Online Safety Act where Ofcom has the power to require the withdrawal of critical business services from non-compliant sites.” But, it adds, “HM King Charles III is the Head of State of Belize which is a member of the Commonwealth, so some investigatory cooperation may be achievable.” 

More missing children than transparency in UK police live facial recognition watchlists-Dec 5, 2025, 12:13 pm EST    | Masha Borak

Police in the UK have included hundreds of minors on its facial recognition surveillance watchlist, including children under the age of 12. The discovery is sparking concern among civil rights organizations and lawmakers, including England’s Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza.Individuals under the age of 18 have been featured at least 1,600 times on live facial recognition (LFR) systems used by six police forces across the country, according to a new investigation published this week by rights group Liberty and The Times.The figure could be much higher as some forces, including the London Metropolitan Police, were unable to provide the full numbers. As the UK’s largest police force, the Met Police has conducted hundreds of LFR deployments since 2022.A total of four police forces have confirmed they include minors in facial recognition watchlists and provided relevant data.Commissioner de Souza said she is “deeply concerned” that police forces are including minors in LFR watchlists.“It raises serious questions about why this is needed and how it is being used,” she says. “The police’s duty to protect the public must not come at the expense of the protection of vulnerable children who need care and support.”Both Conservative and Labour Party Members of the UK Parliament (MPs) argue that limits on the technology should be introduced in light of the revelation, while campaigners have called for greater protection of children’s privacy.“It is appalling to find police using this invasive technology on children, who are particularly vulnerable to the privacy and safeguarding risks that live facial recognition carries,” Green Party MP Siân Berry told The Times.UK police push back-The investigation comes amid plans to expand the use of LFR and set a legal foundation for its use across 43 regional police forces and the British Transport Police.Police deployments of LRF are currently conducted by mounting a camera on top of a van, which scans crowds at public areas, matching faces to individuals on police watchlists of suspects and missing persons. If there is no match, the facial image is automatically deleted.The UK government wants the technology to become a permanent fixture: Instead of just mounting cameras on vans, fixed cameras would be placed to monitor crowds, including at train stations.People can be included on a facial recognition watchlist for various reasons, including being wanted by the police or by courts, being reported missing or being a victim of a crime, according to the College of Policing, a professional body for UK police.“The reality is that there are some serious crimes committed by offenders under the age of 18 … We will also be using the technology to help find high-risk missing people, of which a significant proportion reported to us are under 18,” says a spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary.According to data from 2023-2024, 65 percent of all missing persons were minors, former prison governor Ian Acheson explains in an opinion piece in The Spectator.“Many of these children abscond from care homes and are at acute risk from sexual and criminal exploitation,” says Acheson, who is currently the director of Community Safety at the UK Home Office.Young people are also sometimes offenders and can inflict extreme harm, he adds. Among 53,000 offenses involving knives, 18 percent involved juveniles, according to data from 2024 ending in March. Young people are also engaged in antisocial behavior as well as theft, intimidation and vandalism, he argues.“In this sense, the systems should make no discrimination in terms of age,” says Acheson.The police, however, must do more to regulate deployments of facial recognition, including its use on minors, he adds.LFR needs clear regulation-Police are currently required to “specifically identify and document” the inclusion of minors’ images on LFR watchlists, according to the College of Policing. Different police forces, however, interpret this requirement in different ways and there is no unified approach to documenting children on watchlists.Some police forces include specific numbers of minors on watchlists and others don’t, while none provide reasons for the minors’ inclusion.“Police must ensure deployments comply with the law, protect children’s privacy, and have a clear rationale for including any individual on a watchlist,” says the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). “At the same time, data protection should not become a barrier to safeguarding children, careful consideration is needed to balance both.”Community Safety Director Acheson notes that traditional policing methods are unable to cope with the volume of crimes. But while the expansion of LFR surveillance systems is necessary, the safeguards for their use are insufficient.“New bespoke legislation is probably required with national standards and parliamentary scrutiny built in to ensure LFR is strictly confined to combatting criminality on intelligence and facts, not forecasts,” he says.Earlier this week, the Home Office announced a proposal for a “legal framework for using facial recognition in law enforcement.” The framework includes both live and retrospective facial recognition as well as operator-initiated facial recognition (OIFR).The proposal also includes the creation of a new oversight and regulatory body for “police use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies.” The consultation will last 10 weeks.

FIDO Alliance broadens scope with new digital credentials work, deployments-Passkey champion makes updates, shifts focus to support world of wallets, digital ID-Dec 5, 2025, 11:26 am EST    | Joel R. McConvey

The FIDO Alliance is leveling up. Several announcements show the passwordless-focused organization evolving, as it expands beyond its initial push for passkeys to engage with the wider identity ecosystem.After dropping hints on the Biometric Update Podcast, the FIDO Alliance today announced the launch of a new digital credentials initiative, to be carried out by a new Digital Credentials Working Group (DCWG). The company’s announcement calls it an expansion of the FIDO Alliance’s mission to accelerate the adoption of verifiable digital credentials and identity wallets. Work will focus on three foundational workstreams: wallet certification, specification development and usability and relying party enablement.The digital credentials pivot will be among the projects on the agenda at the newly announced Authenticate APAC 2026 event in Singapore next year, billed as “the first time the industry’s only conference dedicated to digital identity and phishing-resistant authentication will be held in the Asia-Pacific region.” Also on the bill are a new metadata service, a new deployment in the Japanese mobile banking sector, and a new adaptable FIDO authentication product from Fingerprint Cards.Updated metadata service gives RPs new ways to verify authenticator compliance-The FIDO Alliance has updated its FIDO Metadata Service (MDS), which helps ensure organizations have the information necessary to successfully validate authenticators. In a blog, the organization says that “to support the continued evolution of the FIDO ecosystem, we have released an update to the MDS that provides new tools for relying parties (RPs) to verify authenticator compliance, improve interoperability and life cycle management, while enhancing the user experience.”Specific updates include enforcement of a standardized security policy, so relying parties can “ensure the correct level of FIPS compliance by verifying that authenticators meet their exact security criteria before granting access.” Streamlined cross-provider integration means RPs can “dynamically discover and retrieve detailed information about the passkey provider’s Credential Exchange (CX) definitions.” There is a new “retired” authenticator status value, to “accurately reflect MDS entries that are no longer actively supported or recommended for use.The MDS version check “cuts processing times by introducing localCopySerial, a new parameter that can be specified to only return metadata if a new version of the MDS BLOB is available.”FIDO has also launched a new Convenience Metadata Service, which simplifies UX for passkeys so it’s consistent across platforms. “This includes standardized, user-friendly names for passkey providers, and high-quality logos for RPs to use in user interfaces and presentation layers.”Both the updated FIDO MDS and the new Convenience Metadata Service are now live.Japanese banks look to FIDO as regulations shift-A FIDO member company has a new deployment in Japan, where Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SuMiTB) has selected OneSpan to enhance mobile banking security. GlobalData says the move introduces OneSpan’s cloud-based FIDO authentication product to the Japanese mobile banking sector, following on-premises deployments in the country.OneSpan CEO Victor Limongelli says his firm’s selection “not only underscores OneSpan’s leadership and credibility in Japan’s rapidly evolving FIDO market but also demonstrates our ability to deliver enterprise-scale, phishing-resistant authentication that meets the highest regulatory standards.”SuMiTB plans to extend FIDO’s use to mobile banking transactions in part to address losses of hundreds of millions of yen from phishing-related fraud and account takeover, and in part to align with evolving regulations from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), which has proposed requiring financial institutions to use phishing-resistant authentication methods.Authenticate APAC brings conference to Asia for first time-The Authenticate APAC 2026 event will run from June 4-5, 2026 in Singapore. The FIDO Association intends for it to serve as a “regional hub for education, collaboration and innovation,” as the region gains influence on the cybersecurity landscape and momentum on government digital identity initiatives and commercial passkey deployments.“The FIDO Authenticate conference has become the defining event for the authentication community, and we are proud to extend this platform to the Asia-Pacific region,” says Andrew Shikiar, CEO of the FIDO Alliance. “There is tremendous innovation happening across APAC, and this event will provide a dedicated space for local and global leaders to collaborate and help build the future of a secure, user-friendly and interoperable internet.”

LexisNexis upgrades IDVerse biometric platform for higher accuracy in fewer steps-Dec 5, 2025, 11:25 am EST    | Masha Borak

Biometric anti-fraud platform IDVerse, acquired by LexisNexis Risk Solutions earlier this year, is getting an upgrade. Its new owner has also announced it would integrate the platform within its software suite, allowing clients to simplify fraud protection.IDVerse provides user onboarding through selfie biometrics, detecting sophisticated fraud such as deepfakes, synthetic identities and forged documents. The upgrade will allow the platform to increase its identity verification accuracy and simplify the verification process with fewer steps, LexisNexis explains in the announcement.“We integrate innovative deepfake defenses and a more intuitive user experience, so organizations gain stronger protection without adding barriers for legitimate users,” says Kimberly Sutherland, global head of fraud and identity at LexisNexis Risk Solutions.The company also plans to offer organizations a single API that will combine services such as identity fraud controls, digital identity profiling, device risk detection, risk pattern analysis, and suspicious behavior monitoring.“The integration of IDVerse into the Dynamic Decision Platform provides unified orchestration and a 360-degree view of identity risk,” the company says.The identity verification product is geared towards organizations working in financial services, gaming, retail, telecommunications and more, all of which require robust anti-fraud solutions. In its annual Cybercrime Report, LexisNexis warns that companies need to prepare for the “coming storm powered by AI.”But the company is also working with the government sector: Earlier this year, LexisNexis was found to be working with a police force in the U.S. state of Virginia.IDVerse, on the other hand, became one of the companies chosen to participate in Australia’s federal government trial of digital identity for property rentals last month. The firm has previously participated in Australia’s Age Assurance Technology Trial.

Fingerprint Cards AllKey Ultra FIDO aims to simplify token adoption-Dec 5, 2025, 11:24 am EST    | Joel R. McConvey

Fingerprint Cards AB (FPC) and jNet Secure have launched a new FIDO product, the FPC AllKey Ultra FIDO – a “tiny biometric module that anyone can build on.” A release says the latest iteration of the AllKey Ultra biometric access control product, is designed primarily for “small and large product companies that want to enter the FIDO token market but lack the in-house hardware, biometric, or security engineering resources to develop a compliant solution themselves.”Delivered as a System-In-Package (SiP) and billed as a turnkey solution, FPC AllKey Ultra FIDO allows product companies to quickly and easily create their own customized FIDO hardware authenticators. The Secure Element, firmware and FIDO stack are already integrated and validated, meaning the time needed for development cycles can be cut dramatically.The tool is fully FIDO2 CTAP 2.3 compliant, supports on-device biometric verification, and can ship pre-loaded as a FIDO USB authenticator. Its compact design enables slim and small token form factors to unlock novel industrial design possibilities.Adam Philpott, CEO of FPC, says organizations are racing to deploy phishing-resistant FIDO tokens, but integration can be complex and time-consuming. AllKey Ultra FIDO “solves that problem by delivering a fully integrated biometric FIDO solution, built with our partner jNet, that gets customers to market faster while maintaining the strongest levels of security.”According to Mikhail Friedland, CEO of jNet Secure, since the secure SiP and its applet framework are fully programmable, “FIDO is just the first chapter.”“The same module can evolve into enterprise badges, digital wallets or entirely new categories of devices. With this kind of platform, our customers’ imagination is the real design constraint.”

IBM joins growing verifiable digital credentials marketplace-Turing Space integrates IOTA-Dec 5, 2025, 10:16 am EST    | Chris Burt

IBM has launched standards-based software that allows organizations to issue and verify secure, interoperable digital credentials and Turing Space is working with IOTA as positioning for the emerging verifiable digital credentials market intensifies. Verifiable digital credentials are increasingly an essential component of digital public infrastructure, SpruceID Founder and CEO Wayne Chang argued in a presentation at the recent NAPHSIS Identity & Security Conference.A LinkedIn post from IBM announcing its Verify Digital Credentials software argues that they help businesses limit the likelihood of and damage from data breaches.The software utilizes open standards including ISO/IEC 18013-5 (commonly associated with mobile driver’s licenses or mDLs), IETF SD-JWT, OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance (OID4VCI) and OpenID for Verifiable Presentations (OID4VP). The result is that the credentials can be stored in user’s preferred device location, without reliance on centralized databases and with support for selective disclosure to protect data privacy.The technology is scalable, IBM says, and suitable for post-secondary academic credentials, photo ID cards or passports, health credentials, citizenship or permanent resident cards, motor vehicle registration certificates and employments records.The initial launch of IBM Verify Digital Credentials is as a containerized solution, which the company says makes it easy to deploy to public or private clouds, on-premises infrastructure or hybrid environments.Turing Space turns to IOTA DLT for faster verification-Decentralized digital identity provider Turing Space has joined the IOTA Business Innovation Program to explore using IOTA’s blockchain infrastructure.The company is aiming to reduce the time and cost of verifications with its Turing Certs by 80 and 50 percent, respectively, according to a blog post from IOTA.IOTA says its native identity framework supports decentralized identifiers (DIDs) for simple integration important to multi-chain architecture.“IOTA’s low-cost transaction fee model, combined with sponsored transactions, allows us to deliver a better experience for end users while scaling credential issuance affordably for large-scale enterprise,” says Turing Space Co-founder and CTO Henry Hang.

Ethiopia aims for Africa’s best digital payments network by 2035-Dec 5, 2025, 6:27 am EST    | Ayang Macdonald

Ethiopia has unveiled a strategic roadmap which aims to enable the country set up one of the leading digital payment networks on the continent in the next 10 years.The country’s national interoperable digital payments platform EthSwitch recently signed a 15-year plan with partner Genesis Analytics to realize this ambition.EthSwitch is a national switch owned by public and private banks in Ethiopia. Genesis Analytics is an economic and development consulting firm headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.In an announcement on its Facebook page, the EthSwitch stated that the “strategy will focus on expanding digital financial products, improving service delivery for both existing and emerging customer groups, and strengthening the company’s role in driving innovation within the digital finance ecosystem.”It added that as part of the agreement, a detailed assessment of EthSwitch’s current infrastructure will be carried out by Genesis Analytics to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for growth, and the outcome “will guide the design and implementation of a future-ready national digital payment system.”Strategic deal with Mastercard-As part of its partnership expansion efforts and payments infrastructure boost, EthSwitch also recently signed a partnership agreement with Mastercard in Addis Ababa.According to the terms of the deal, EthSwitch will be connected to the Mastercard network through the Mastercard Interface Point (MIP) and Mastercard’s global payment gateway services (MPGS), the company announced.The partnership is expected to “advance Ethiopia’s digital payment ecosystem and deepen its connection to the global financial network,” and also make it possible for businesses in the country to accept international payments while significantly expanding opportunities for cross-border trade.“This collaboration will allow Ethiopian banks to issue co-branded prepaid hard currency cards that offer global acceptance at ATMs, POS terminals, and online merchants, dramatically enhancing payment convenience for consumers and supporting the country’s transition to a cash-lite economy,” said EthSwitch.EthSwitch’s interoperable digital payments infrastructure exemplifies what a digital payments expert suggested as one sure way to strengthen Africa’s digital payments landscape, in an interview with Biometric Update in September.

Next Biometrics supports payment authentication in Vietnam-Dec 5, 2025, 5:17 am EST    | Ayang Macdonald

Next Biometrics has received a substantial production order for its fingerprint sensors from a system integrator in Vietnam.The sensors will be integrated into a biometric authentication system for digital payments in that country, the company said an announcement. It will also be deployed for other digital Know Your Customer (eKYC) transactions.Senior Vice President, Head of Sales, South-East Asia at Next Biometrics, Joshua Chiu, said of the order: “The Vietnamese ID market is primed for rapid growth as government policy continues to drive demand for trusted authentication and KYC processes.”The company described the mass production order as “modest” but noted that yearly demand for the sensor could hit 10,000 by next year.Next also recently announced the supply of its flagship sensor to customers in Nigeria and Sri Lanka to drive financial inclusion with secure biometric authentication.

Pandemic surveillance – how AI will police the next global health crisis-Dec 4, 2025, 2:31 pm EST-Fraser Sampson By Professor Fraser Sampson, former UK Biometrics & Surveillance Camera Commissioner

Fears about AI-enabled biometric tools like facial recognition are often fuelled by what one legal researcher called omniveillance – the ability to watch all of us, all of the time. There’s another term for something that covers the entire population and it’s very topical again in the UK.Since 2019, the word ‘pandemic’ has marked the moment when the latest variant of the corona virus was detected but the adjective comes from the Greek pan demos meaning ‘across all people’. The sheer breadth and scale of the threat affected all the people and called for a pan demic response. Despite all the fictional portents, the policing scenario demanding the greatest level of surveillance saturation for the past 50 years came, not from crime and disorder, but from disease. Severe restrictions on movement and basic social interaction led to extensive surveillance and use of policing powers like stop and search and the issuing of criminal penalties.In its first ‘module’ report, the UK COVID-19 inquiry has concluded that preparedness was inadequate, risk assessment flawed and lessons from previous civil emergencies had not been fully learned. There are several policing and law enforcement lessons we can learn from this one.The global exigencies of the COVID-19 pandemic required temporary, emergency measures some of which involved segregation, restriction on movement, assembly and attendance at school, as well as the ban on public worship. Stopping people doing things that for the past half a century had been cherished constitutional freedoms was never going to be straightforward and an effective police response required a high level of vigilance over the entire population. This was a period of literal pan demic surveillance in both senses of the term, watching everyone to constrain a global disease. But even viewed against the scale of the emergency, the extraordinary powers for policing were seen by some as unacceptably broad in their scope and discriminatory in their execution. Using surveillance capability like drones and automated number plate recognition (ANPR), local police forces became agencies of health enforcement. A surge in citizen stops, chaotic communication and – in a move away from the Peelian principles – the overzealous issuing of on-the-spot fines, led to allegations that the response undermined the British model of policing by consent.Some lawyers will say that this is just another question for proportionality – pandemic threats warrant pan demic solutions – but does every global emergency threatening the lives of millions justify near total state surveillance? Many scientists have testified to the immediate and irreversible threat to humanity from global warming and climate change. If that’s not pan demos I don’t know what is, but does it mean local government emission zone surveillance can be as extensive and intrusive as that for COVID-19? When its purpose is to avoid the death of our planet, what would a dis-proportionate use of AI-enabled surveillance look like?The inquiry noted how tackling the spread of the virus across the population relied on the enlistment of the population and suggests more volunteers will need to be ‘engaged’ in future crisis responses. This will bring some interesting surveillance issues. As I’ve noted, public space surveillance is no longer about where the police put their cameras, it’s about what they do with the data from everyone’s cameras. Since 2019, there’s been a big uplift in both domestic surveillance capability and our willingness to put it at the disposal of the police in an emergency. We are tracking everything from pets to golf balls, cheaply and reliably and if citizens make the content of their private devices available, why wouldn’t the police use it to save lives? How could they decide which data to ignore? In tackling future health crises, our aggregated surveillance capability will be a powerful community asset. But self-surveillance is far more intrusive than anything the police operate directly and the lines around processing our personal data are much more restrictive for law enforcement than those constraining what we do domestically. When lending our fine location apps watching our children and smart device captures from doorbells and dashcams to reinforce the mass surveillance capability of the state, we enter a very grey area, legally and societally.The inquiry recommends a new UK-wide approach to the development of better systems of data collection and sharing. Advances in biometrics and surveillance have put our capability and capacity to prepare for, respond to and recover from global crises beyond even what was available only six years ago; at the same time, this has created dependencies and vulnerabilities on a similar scale. At times of universal threat, pragmatism rules – switching off the constitutional firewall is easy, but can all the AI watchdogs be put back in the kennel once the emergency has passed? Levitsky and Ziblatt observe that during security crises, “citizens are more likely to tolerate and even support authoritarian measures – especially when they fear for their own safety.” Next time, AI-enabled capabilities combing databases and combining results with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) information, vehicle telemetrics and Frankenstein CCTV cameras will give governments a formidable weapon to discharge their overarching duty – to keep their people safe. But it will be crucial to ensure that any pan demic response is transient and used only to the extent necessary to counter the pandemic threat. Who will we trust to monitor and enforce that? We have probably not witnessed the last global-level infection and the next one will be monitored by AI-enabled technology. The coalescence of two critical features – the need to monitor the entire population and the technological ability to achieve it – makes it a practical certainty. In preparing for it, we should start modelling the realities of pan demic surveillance now.

NEC takes a stake in PopID, Tencent and Wink biometrics integrated with POS terminals-Payments companies, device makers and cloud providers roll out retail biometric payments-Dec 4, 2025, 1:53 pm EST    | Lu-Hai Liang

Major technology firms and payment providers are racing to replace cards and phones with face, palm and voice biometrics. Payments companies, device makers and cloud providers are rolling out face and palm‑based systems at retail chains, cafés, stadiums and transport hubs in Asia and North America, as identity‑based transactions move to larger-scale deployments.NEC invests in PopID, integrates face biometrics-Japan’s NEC has taken a stake in U.S. payments startup PopID as it looks to expand the use of its facial recognition technology in North America, where PopID’s platform is already deployed in more than 1,000 restaurants and retail locations.The investment was made through the NEC Orchestrating Future Fund, the company’s corporate venture arm. NEC did not disclose the size of its stake or the amount invested, but the deal follows PopID’s Series C funding round in May 2025, which included Verifone, Visa, PayPal, Commerce Ventures and Chipotle’s venture arm, Cultivate Next.The new capital is expected to support the rollout of Verifone biometric payment terminals compatible with PopID across the U.S. “PopID’s advanced payment service contributes to the global adoption of face authentication payments and aligns with NEC’s vision of creating flexible, resilient, and sustainable societies,” said NEC’s Shigeko Wada, Corporate SVP.PopID allows customers to pay by scanning their face biometrics at checkout after registering a photo and linking a bank account or card via the PopID app. The company says the system offers a faster, touch‑free alternative to traditional payments.It also supports direct bank transfers, enabling users without credit cards to make purchases. For merchants, PopID’s transaction fees are around one‑third of typical credit‑card charges.“We are excited to work with NEC, a global leader in biometric authentication technology, to bring the full biometric experience — from entry to payments — to stadiums and theme parks around the world,” said John Miller, PopID CEO and chairman of the Cali Group.The company has grown rapidly, signing up quick‑service chains including Whataburger and Steak ’n Shake. PopID currently uses facial recognition supplied by a U.S. vendor but plans to integrate NEC’s technology, which has repeatedly ranked first for accuracy in tests by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.NEC said the partnership will help accelerate the adoption of biometric payments globally by combining its authentication technology with PopID’s expanding merchant network. The company’s facial recognition systems are already used in more than 50 countries.The deal underscores NEC’s push to position face biometrics as a mainstream payment method. In Japan, NEC partnered with Stripe to enable in-store face payments through the Stripe Reader S700 payment terminal.NEC also piloted its biometric payments system at Expo 2025 in Osaka from April to October in what was the largest deployment of facial recognition in Japan for in-store payments and entrance authentication.OpenSys trials Tencent palm biometric payments in early pilot-OpenSys Technologies has unveiled a prototype palm‑recognition payment system as the Malaysian firm explores biometric alternatives to cards and smartphones.Called “PalmWav” the system is being tested in a controlled pilot and is designed to work with the country’s existing payment infrastructure, including PayNet’s MyDebit network. The company demonstrated the technology internally this week, giving employees and selected partners an early look before wider public trials.Two cafés — Kom.Fi in Kuala Lumpur and Bread Maison in Petaling Jaya — served as initial pilot sites, where customers could make purchases by waving a hand over a reader. PalmWav uses Tencent Cloud’s AI‑based biometrics to generate an encrypted “palm signature” that verifies a user’s identity within seconds.Users enroll through a mobile app and complete a one‑time registration at participating merchants. Once registered, payments can be made without a phone, card or wallet. The system incorporates end‑to‑end encryption, tokenisation and real‑time fraud monitoring, according to the company.“By combining Tencent Cloud’s biometrics expertise with our deep understanding of Malaysia’s payments landscape, this prototype showcases a new easy to make transactions simpler, safer, and more intuitive,” said Wong Siew Pooi, co-CEO of OpenSys Technologies.OpenSys says the prototype is intended to test how palm biometrics could streamline payments by reducing friction at checkout. The company highlights potential benefits for consumers and for merchants, such as shorter queues and hands‑free payments that can integrate with loyalty programs.Previously, Tencent partnered with Visa on the introduction of its palm recognition technology for digital payments in international markets, starting with a pilot programme in Singapore. Mastercard integrated palm biometrics into its biometric checkout program and Amazon has fully deployed its palm-scanning technology, Amazon One, across all Whole Foods stores in the U.S.Tencent-operated WeChat launched its Palm Pay system across convenience stores and various retail outlets in China. The Chinese tech giant is also considering bringing its palm biometrics to Thailand, while rival Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Group is pushing palm biometric payments with its Alipay PL1 product.Users must register their palm and vein biometrics with Alipay and connect them with their payment account to use the PL1 device. At shops using the PL1 device, customers then simply hold their palm over the sensor to verify and approve transactions.Meanwhile, OpenSys plans to continue evaluating palm‑based payments across different sectors as it assesses potential real‑world applications in Malaysia’s digital economy.PAX partners with Wink to bring biometric checkout to POS-PAX Technology has formed a strategic partnership with Wink to integrate multimodal biometric authentication into PAX’s Android payment terminals, enabling customers to pay using face, palm or voice biometrics instead of cards or phones.The collaboration will link PAX’s payment hardware with Wink’s AI‑driven identity platform through semi‑integration with PAX’s BroadPOS app. The companies say the combined system will allow merchants to offer faster, hands-free checkout while adding an additional layer of fraud protection. Wink’s payment platform supports real‑time transaction processing across major global acquirers.“PAX has long set the standard for secure, high-performance payment terminals,” says Deepak Jain, CEO and founder of Wink. Jain spoke with the Biometric Update Podcast on the confluence of payments, biometrics and identity.“Together, we’re pairing their trusted hardware with Wink’s multimodal biometric identity platform to deliver a new era of frictionless, identity-powered payments,” Jain continued.Wink’s technology uses algorithms ranked highly by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), along with tokenized identity data, PCI‑compliant infrastructure and real‑time liveness detection. The company says acquirers, ISOs and merchants will be able to activate biometric authentication on existing PAX terminals without additional hardware.“By working with Wink to bring their functionality to our Android payment devices, the point-of-sale becomes more than a payment terminal — it becomes an identity-enabled commerce platform,” says Clint Jones, chief revenue officer of PAX Technology. “This isn’t just a feature, it’s a fundamental shift representing the future of checkout, one that prioritizes security, speed, and personalization.”The biometric features will be available across PAX’s full terminal range, including countertop devices, mobile units, PIN pads and unattended kiosks. The companies expect the technology to support use cases in retail, quick‑service restaurants, hospitality, transport and events.Consumers who enrol once with a participating merchant or provider can be recognized at any Wink‑enabled PAX terminal, allowing loyalty accounts, age verification and payments to be linked to a single biometric identity.Wink merged with Phoenix Managed Networks, a global payment technology and services provider, earlier this year.

Firms dive head first into agentic AI governance frameworks, dashboard options-Way to manage identity of AI agents becomes headlining problem of late 2025-Dec 4, 2025, 1:52 pm EST    | Joel R. McConvey

ServiceNow has announced its intent to acquire identity security company Veza, in a move that a release says will extend the identity security capabilities of ServiceNow’s security and risk portfolios, and give it a foothold in the race to provide tools to govern agentic AI.The company has put identity security at the core of its security operations, and says Veza’s contributions will bolster its exposure management, incident response and integrated risk management capabilities.Veza’s patented Access Graph maps and analyzes access relationships across human, machine and AI identities, providing an end-to-end access visibility and risk control platform for identity and access management, including access reviews, access requests, and an access hub. This sort of toolkit has become increasingly important (and prominent in startup discussions) as agentic AI supposedly takes over a large swath of transactions that were previously exclusive to humans.Amit Zavery, president, chief operating officer, and chief product officer at ServiceNow, says that “in the era of agentic AI, every identity – human, AI agent, or machine – is a force for enterprise impact.” But, “it’s only when you have continuous visibility into each identity’s permissions that you can trust it. By combining Veza’s industry-first Access Graph with ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower and agentic workflows, we can give customers a true single pane of glass, with control of every identity in their organization.”Tarun Thakur, CEO of Veza, says the product was built to make identity security transparent, scalable, and effective for every organization, to help customers “embrace AI with more confidence.”The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approvals and closing conditions.BeyondTrust, Ping Identity bundle up in AWS Marketplace-BeyondTrust and Ping Identity have made a joint product, the BeyondTrust + Ping Identity Unified Identity Security solution, available as a package in AWS Marketplace.A release says the bundled products streamline procurement and “address critical challenges facing modern enterprises today, including fragmented identity systems, inconsistent governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, and the operational friction caused by managing identity use cases across separate tools and separate purchases.”“By offering the BeyondTrust + Ping Identity Unified Identity Security solutions in AWS Marketplace, we’re making it easier for customers to transform their integrated identity security strategy,” says David Manks, vice president of strategic alliances at BeyondTrust. “The ability to deliver the identity services through a single solution helps our customers strengthen their identity security and Zero Trust initiatives, and scale identity and privilege governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, while simplifying procurement and deployment.”While AWS provides one account and one point of contact for the multi-product suite, customers “maintain the flexibility to negotiate custom pricing and terms with private offers for each product and service. “Saviynt launches agentic identity product, sets up shop in Dubai-Saviynt has new regional headquarters in Dubai and a new strategic partnership with StarLink, one of the Middle East and Africa’s largest specialist cybersecurity distributors. The expansion comes as the firm launches new AI-driven capabilities to accelerate and simplify application onboarding, enabling all apps to be managed from a single, unified identity security platform, and extending Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM) to include every identity, human and otherwise.A press release says Saviynt will locally host its converged Identity Cloud platform in Dubai to “help customers meet data residency requirements and strengthen support for regulated industries including banking, energy, government, and telecommunications.”The Middle East is a ballooning market for cloud computing, and rapid scaling means an inundation of new identities, both human and agentic – all of which need to be managed, authenticated and generally kept on task.“Enterprises across the Middle East are adding thousands of new identities every month, yet many still rely on manual access reviews and fragmented tools,” says Todd Rotger, chief revenue officer at Saviynt. “That gap is exactly where attackers thrive. Our investment in the region is focused on helping customers close it and maintain control before risk becomes breach.”Saviynt, which is based in the U.S., continues to pursue growth across the Middle East, Africa and APAC, including new offices and leadership in Singapore, as well as fresh faces across Europe. Its current focus aligns with market trends: its new Agentic AI Onboarding for Applications tool offers a single platform for governance of hybrid identity and access management.Per a release, the product’s capabilities include Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM) that provides simplified discovery, prioritized risk insights, and integrated access maps enriched with signals from leading security solutions like CrowdStrike; and ISPM for Non-Human Identities (NHI), which lists their access policies and detected violations.Sachin Nayyar, Chief Executive Officer at Saviynt, says “our latest AI innovations ensure that every identity is governed with the same rigor, context and automation. With agentic AI onboarding and comprehensive identity security posture management across all identities, we’re enabling organizations to stay secure, compliant and prepared for what’s next.”

Vatican backs replacement for China underground bishop.

Vatican City, Dec 5 (AFP) Dec 05, 2025-The Vatican announced Friday the ordination of a new bishop in China to replace a clergyman who had been arrested several times during decades operating without Beijing's approval.Pope Leo XIV appointed Francis Li Jianlin to replace Joseph Zhang Weizhu under a controversial deal with China on the appointment of bishops, the Vatican statement said.It said Zhang Weizhu had resigned.According to Catholic newspaper The Tablet, Li Jianlin was one of two people "elected" bishops by Chinese authorities unilaterally in the week after Pope Francis's death in April.The Vatican is unable to ratify appointments of bishops during the power vacuum caused by the death of a pope.The appointment in the city of Xinxiang in the northern Henan province was "particularly contentious" because the Vatican had recognised Zhang Weizhu as the legitimate bishop of the diocese, The Tablet said.Zhang Weizhu is a member of the "underground" Chinese Catholic Church, which is not recognised by the Chinese government.He was detained most recently in May 2021 and remains in custody without trial, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.The Vatican gave no details of his whereabouts.The Vatican and China do not have formal diplomatic relations because the Holy See recognises Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own territory.However, they agreed in a historic deal in 2018 to let both sides have a say in the naming of bishops in China, home to about 12 million Catholics.

Softbank's Son says super AI could make humans like fish, win Nobel Prize.

Seoul, Dec 5 (AFP) Dec 05, 2025-SoftBank CEO and AI investor Masayoshi Son said Friday that advanced artificial intelligence could surpass humans to the extent that "we become fish" and could even win the Nobel Prize in Literature.Meeting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Seoul, Son, whose SoftBank is a major backer of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, described a future in which an advanced AI surpasses humans by a magnitude of 10,000."The difference between the human brain and the... goldfish in the pot -- the difference is 10,000 times," he said."But it's going to be different -- we will become fish, they (the AI) become like humans," he said."They will be 10,000 times smarter than us," he told President Lee, who has vowed to turn South Korea into an AI powerhouse.Son compared the relationship between this artificial super intelligence (ASI) and humankind to relations between human beings and their pets."We try to make them happy... we try to live in peace with them," he said."We don't need to eat them... ASI does not eat protein. They don't need to eat us -- don't worry."Lee responded laughing that he was "a bit concerned now".He asked Son whether ASI could win a Nobel Prize in Literature, won last year by South Korean author Han Kang."I do not believe this is a desirable situation," Lee said."I think it will," Son replied.ASI has been described as a hypothetical scenario when AI overtakes humans.Scientists still consider it a long way off, but say a crucial first step -- artificial general intelligence (AGI), which would outperform humans across most tasks -- could arrive within a decade.Lee said last month that Seoul would triple spending on AI next year -- a move "aimed at propelling South Korea into the ranks of the world's top three AI powers" behind the United States and China.Also on Friday, Lee's office said South Korea would partner with Arm, SoftBank's British semiconductor design unit, to train 1,400 chip professionals.The initiative would provide help in "strengthening areas where South Korea's semiconductor industry is relatively weak," said presidential policy adviser Kim Yong-beom.

Shortly before heading to Israel, Merz pushes Abbas on Palestinian Authority reforms-German chancellor urges PA president to carry out ‘urgently needed reforms’ so West Bank-based body can ‘play a constructive role’ in post-war Gaza, spokesman says-By AFP and ToI Staff 6 December 2025, 3:42 pm

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for reforms of the Palestinian Authority in a phone call with its leader Mahmoud Abbas early Saturday, hours before taking off for Israel.Speaking from Berlin, Merz urged Abbas to push through “urgently necessary reforms” at the Palestinian Authority so that the organization could “play a constructive role in a post-war order,” according to German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.Merz also underscored German support for US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and “welcomed the Palestinian Authority’s cooperative attitude” toward the deal in the call, the spokesman said.In addition, Merz reiterated Germany’s position that a two-state solution remains the ultimate way to achieve peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, according to the spokesman.Trump’s comprehensive plan, whose first phase formed the basis of the October 9 truce-hostage deal, says a reformed PA can take control of Gaza from international forces. The deal suggests that, as a demilitarized Gaza rebuilds and the PA “faithfully” carries out the unspecified reforms, Palestinian statehood could be possible.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Palestinian statehood and a role for the PA in Gaza’s post-war governance. Israel accuses the PA of support for terrorism in its school curriculum and through payments to families of Palestinian prisoners.In a statement on the phone call Saturday, Abbas’s office said the PA president thanked Merz for supporting the two-state solution.Abbas also briefed Merz on how the PA has been “reforming and modernizing school curricula according to UNESCO standards… abolishing the law on prisoner payments and preparing to hold general elections as soon as the war ends and the appropriate conditions are met,” the statement said.In addition, according to the statement, Abbas said municipal PA elections were scheduled for April 16, and a transitional constitution was in the works, “enshrining the principle of one state, one law and one legitimate armed force” — apparently a reference to the disarmament of Hamas, which seized control over Gaza from the PA in 2007.Merz’s call with Abbas came hours before the chancellor, whose country is a major supplier of arms to Israel, was scheduled to leave Berlin late Saturday morning for an overnight visit to Israel.After a brief stop in Jordan, where Merz is scheduled to meet with the Jordanian King Abdullah II, Merz is expected to arrive in Jerusalem for meetings with top Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu.Merz also plans to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel.Germany has supported Israel amid the war in Gaza sparked by the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Merz, who took office in May, partially suspended arms sales to Israel in August over its decision to conquer Gaza City. Berlin announced last month that it would lift the partial embargo following the Gaza ceasefire deal.

In message sent via Lebanese outlet, Israeli envoy to US calls for peace with Beirut-In video outreach, Yechiel Leiter envisages ‘Abraham Accords 2.0,’ says Beirut has been ‘raped’ by Iran, states Israel has no territorial aims in Lebanon: ‘We want Lebanon to be secure’By ToI Staff 6 December 2025, 4:12 pm

In a recorded message published Friday by English-language Lebanese outlet This is Beirut, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter addressed Lebanese citizens, telling them: “We want very much to pursue peace with you.”The video outreach came as Israeli and Lebanese officials held the first direct talks in decades, even as Israel has ramped up strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in what it says are responses to repeated violations from the Iran-baked terror group, a year after the two sides agreed to halt the conflict that smoldered into full-scale war in southern Lebanon last fall.In his message — billed by the Lebanese outlet as an exclusive interview, but with only Leiter seen in the shot, and speaking to camera — the ambassador, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emphasized that Israel’s concerns are solely security-related, saying, “We have no issues with your territory. We have issues only with our security… When we’re threatened, we have to respond.”Continuing, the Israeli envoy said that Lebanon has been “raped by foreigners,” such as Iran, which has been “pumping money into an organization which has really robbed you of your peace,” referring to Tehran’s backing of Hezbollah.Looking ahead, he said he envisions potential bilateral economic and tourism ties, with “Israelis visiting Beirut” and “Lebanese visiting Jerusalem.”He compared the possibilities for Israeli-Lebanese relations to the Abraham Accords signed with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, adding, “I think we can clearly move into Abraham Accords 2.0… We have to expand the broad relationship of moderation within the Middle East.”But “you can’t move forward,” he continued, “if there is civil war, if there is a foreign influence which is compromising the peace and harmony within the country.”“If there is peace, and we have an agreement over the border,” then Lebanese people can move towards a better future, he added.“But because we had missiles raining down on our civilians,” he continued, “we had to move 70,000 people out of their homes for a year. This was very traumatic for the entire country.”Hezbollah began firing into Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel, forcing an evacuation of civilians from Israel’s northern border.“We can’t go back to a situation where we send men, women and children back to their homes and then we have to remove them again because Hezbollah decides they’re going to start firing missiles at us again,” Leiter said.“We have no territorial designs in Lebanon,” he insisted. “We want Lebanon to be secure.”Touting recent talks between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Naqoura, the first direct talks between the two countries in decades, Leiter said that he believes that if the two sides “sit together and do business,” then the issues between them can be solved.While the meeting was a major step, the two sides gave different accounts of its content. Ahead of the sit-down, the Prime Minister’s Office called it “an initial attempt to create a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”However, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam contradicted this, stressing that his country was “far from” diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel.A second meeting is scheduled for later this month.Amid the new talks, tensions in Lebanon have ratcheted up in recent weeks. The IDF accuses Hezbollah of violating the November 2024 ceasefire and has intensified its strikes against terror group targets, including killing its chief of staff in a rare strike in Beirut last month.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.The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, with Hezbollah firing rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel’s response operation, which included bombardment and a ground operation last year, has severely weakened Hezbollah.

Last hostage's family demands his body before phase 2 of truce-Qatari PM: Gaza truce can’t be considered ceasefire until Israel leaves the Strip-Also speaking at Doha Forum, Turkish foreign minister says disarmament of Hamas should only come after deployment of international force, which Egypt urges ‘as soon as possible’By Jacob Magid,Agencies and ToI Staff 6 December 2025, 5:01 pm

DOHA — Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Saturday that Doha does not consider the current situation in Gaza to be a ceasefire, arguing that this would require an Israeli withdrawal from the entirety of the enclave.Al Thani’s comments were made during a panel discussion at the Doha Forum, and were later echoed by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who laid out Ankara’s vision for a successful implementation of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which the US is looking to begin in the coming weeks.“We are at the critical moment,” Al Thani said about the Gaza peace process.“What we have just done is a pause. We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire. A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza [and] people can go in and out, which is not the case today,” he maintained.At the start of the truce on October 10, Israel withdrew its forces to a newly drawn Yellow Line that roughly divides the Gaza Strip into eastern and western halves. While Israel was supposed to allow the reopening of the Rafah Border Crossing, it held off on doing so for well over a month, arguing that Hamas must release the remaining deceased hostages in Gaza. The body of a slain police officer Ran Gvili is still held in the Strip.“The first phase of the hostage deal is still not completed, while Rani hasn’t returned home. We demand that Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump pressure Hamas and Islamic Jihad to return Rani home immediately! We can’t move to the second phase of the deal without Rani here,” Gvili’s family said in a statement Saturday evening that was carried by Hebrew-language media outlets.Earlier this week, Israel said it would allow the Rafah crossing to reopen in one direction, for the transit of Palestinians out of Gaza, but Egypt has rejected this framework, insisting that Palestinians be allowed to enter the Strip as well.Al Thani said the mediating countries Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and the US are “getting together in order to force the way forward for the next phase.”A US official told The Times of Israel on Thursday that Washington is aiming to announce a transition to the second phase — which will see the operationalization of a technocratic Palestinian government and International Stabilization Force overseen by a Board of Peace headed by US President Donald Trump — in the next two weeks or so.But Al Thani clarified that Qatar also views phase two as “temporary because at the end of the day, if we are just resolving what happened in Gaza… it’s not enough. There is a root for this conflict.”“This conflict is not only about Gaza, but also the West Bank. It’s about the rights of the Palestinians for their state,” the Qatari premier continued. “We are hoping that we can work together with the US administration to achieve this vision.”Al Thani credited the Trump administration for its determination in the Gaza ceasefire talks, arguing that Washington’s willingness to speak directly with Hamas was what helped secure “breakthroughs” needed for the agreement in October.Asked about opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partners to elements of the Trump peace plan that include a potential pathway to a future Palestinian state, the Qatari prime minister said the US role will be critical in ensuring that Israel adheres to the deal’s terms.Pressed on Qatar’s hosting of Hamas’s leaders, Al Thani claimed this open channel with the terror group was critical for reaching every one of the ceasefire and hostage release deals throughout the Gaza war.He argued that many of Qatar’s most vocal critics come from countries that rely on Doha’s mediation efforts, in an apparent reference to Israel, where many government officials have knocked the Gulf country over its longstanding support for Hamas.“Qatar provides a platform for those parties to talk. It doesn’t mean that we are taking one side or the other. Our role is to make sure that the dialogue is ongoing and the dialogue is coming out with a positive outcome… that ends conflicts,” Al Thani said.Turkey urges ‘realistic’ expectations for ISF-Also speaking at the Doha Forum, Turkey’s top diplomat Hakan Fidan stated that “we should be realistic” about what to expect from the International Stabilization Force the Trump administration is hoping to stand up at the beginning of 2026.“When we define the mission of the ISF, we should be realistic and nuanced in expecting certain things from ISF because there are realities in the field,” Fidan said.The Turkish foreign minister did not get into specifics, but appeared to be referring to assertions by Israel that the ISF play an active role in the disarmament of Hamas — a demand that is said to concern many countries considering contributing troops to the force due to fears of clashes with Hamas operatives or of finding themselves in the middle of fighting between Palestinian terror groups and Israeli forces.While Turkey — one of the ceasefire mediators — has privately offered to contribute troops to the ISF, Israel has been adamant that it will not allow such a development, as Ankara has been one of the world’s leading critics of Jerusalem since the start of the war and is a leading backer of Hamas. Asked at the Doha Forum whether Turkey is prepared to contribute to the ISF, Fidan avoided answering directly but says that his country “is ready and willing to do whatever it takes for us to contribute to ongoing peace.”Fidan then indicated that negotiations on standing up of the ISF are still in their early stages, with many key questions left unanswered.“There is a big discussion taking place [on] how to form [the ISF], what [will be] the specific mission statements and what will be the rules of engagement,” he said, adding that the list of contributing countries is still not final, along with the command structure.“Our first objective in deploying the ISF is to separate Palestinians from the Israelis on [the] borderline. This will be our main objective. Then we can address the other remaining issues,” Fidan continued, apparently referring to the Gaza border, as opposed to the Yellow Line, which was the demarcation set up as part of the October 10 ceasefire that leaves Israel in control of the eastern half of Gaza.He noted that the ISF will work alongside a vetted and trained Palestinian police force, along with a Palestinian governing body, which will be overseen by the Board of Peace, headed by Trump. “All these organs supposedly will work together in a synchronized manner.”After the panel discussion, Fidan told Reuters that a credible Palestinian civil administration and a vetted, trained police force should be in place to allow Hamas to disarm, claiming the terrorist organization is prepared to hand over governance of the enclave. While Hamas has expressed openness to handing over power to a technocratic government, it has refused to hand over its weapons as required by Trump’s plan.In an interview on the sidelines of the event, Fidan said that without those initial steps, expecting Hamas to disarm in the first phase of the ceasefire deal is neither “realistic nor doable.”He said the proposed police force would exclude Hamas members and would be backed by an international stabilization force, and that Washington is pressing Israel over Turkey’s bid to join the force.Fidan warned that failure by the international community to advance the ceasefire plan to its next stage would amount to a “huge failure” for the world and for Washington, noting that Trump has personally led the push.Egyptian FM: ISF should begin ‘as soon as possible’Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty also spoke in Doha, urging the rapid deployment of the ISF and the implementation of the ceasefire’s second phase.“As for the International Stabilization Force, we need to deploy this force as soon as possible on the ground because one party, which is Israel, is every day violating the ceasefire… so we need monitors,” the minister said.He also said the Rafah crossing “is not going to be a gateway for displacement. It’s only for flooding Gaza with humanitarian and medical care.”Israel announced on Wednesday that it will reopen the Rafah crossing in the coming days for the exit of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt, though Cairo denied it was coordinating with Jerusalem on renewing operations at the facility.Reacting to the move, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates “expressed their deep concern regarding the statements issued by the Israeli side concerning the opening of the Rafah Border Crossing in one direction with the aim of transferring residents of the Gaza Strip to” Egypt, they said in a joint statement.The ministers voiced “their absolute rejection of any attempts to expel the Palestinian people from their land” and said they were against “compelling any resident of the Gaza Strip to leave,” urging for the crossing to be opened in both directions.

Exclusive'We tried to give Israel what it needed, not what it wanted'The day after that never came: How time ran out on Blinken’s plan for postwar Gaza-Top Biden diplomat’s proposal sought to end the war while reviving the Saudi normalization talks derailed on Oct. 7. But he couldn’t get it finalized, and Trump now faces many of the same obstacles-By Jacob Magid-5 December 2025, 3:27 pm

WASHINGTON — Had the world not been turned upside down, Antony Blinken would have been in Israel on October 10, 2023. Had Hamas terrorists not shaken the Middle East and pulverized plans for its future, the US secretary of state would have flown from Israel to Saudi Arabia a few days later as part of a multi-stop tour aimed at bridging some of the final gaps between the two countries on long-elusive normalization, a deal that could have been as positively transformative as the Hamas massacre and ensuing war were devastatingly destructive.For months ahead of the scheduled trip, the US had been hard at work crafting a document with Saudi Arabia, laying out what Israel would need to do in exchange for Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, namely a series of relatively minor concessions meant to assuage Palestinian aspirations for statehood. Blinken planned to bring that document to Jerusalem for approval, two senior Biden officials told The Times of Israel.Israel was aware of where things stood and was comfortable enough with the modest steps discussed by Washington and Riyadh for the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem to draft a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, according to the two former US officials and a current Israeli official.Blinken did end up making it to Israel that week, but under very different circumstances, as then-US president Joe Biden’s administration rallied to support the Jewish state following the Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7 that cut down some 1,200 people and saw 251 more taken hostage into Gaza.Documents uncovered by the IDF from Gaza during the war revealed that one of the motivations of Hamas’s leaders in launching the attack was scuttling the US effort to broker that brewing normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.To a great extent, the terror group succeeded. The Biden administration’s normalization push was shelved in favor of, first, providing Israel with the military and diplomatic support needed to restore deterrence against Iran and its proxies, and second, working to secure an end to the war through a hostage release deal.Many leading figures in the administration saw freeing the abductees as the key to ending the war and accordingly concentrated their attention on the indirect hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, which largely ran through Qatar and Egypt. But Blinken grew to believe that setting up the security and governing bodies to help administer Gaza the “day after” the war was no less critical.“Israel needed the confidence to know that [its] security would not be threatened by withdrawing from Gaza, and Hamas needed the confidence to know that the war would end if it gave up the remaining hostages,” said a senior Biden aide, who was one of 10 government officials and well-placed regional sources interviewed for this story.That logic was the basis for a “Transitional Mission” that Blinken worked to establish, which would steer the Strip after the war. The initiative, as laid out in a 14-point plan that would have been part of the ceasefire agreement, was aimed at “support[ing] the provision of governance, security and humanitarian assistance for Gaza” after the war, according to a never-before-reported US government document outlining the plan, which was obtained and verified by The Times of Israel.The proposed mission was to involve civilian and military personnel, funding and other contributions from a handful of foreign governments, including Saudi Arabia, whose involvement Blinken hoped would provide an opening to revive the stalled normalization negotiations.To ensure strong Arab support, the proposal characterized the initiative as a “first step toward establishing an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.” That made the idea a hard sell to Jerusalem, but Blinken believed the prospect of Saudi normalization could be enough of a carrot to overcome Israel’s likely objections.The result was a precarious house of cards, but one that Blinken thought could lay the foundation for not just a temporary halt in hostilities, but a durable, lasting peace and a truly transformed region.The US held months of talks to advance the plan and Saudi normalization, but neither got off the ground by the time Biden left office in January 2025. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was brokered during the waning hours of the previous administration, helped by critical pressure from the incoming Trump team. But Israel still wasn’t interested in discussing postwar arrangements of the kind Blinken sought to finalize, and the Trump administration backed Jerusalem’s decision to resume the war in March.Seven months later, Israelis celebrated the return of all 20 of the final living hostages, and Gazans breathed a cautious sigh of relief for the end of fighting as both sides agreed to a new ceasefire crafted by the Trump administration.Trump built momentum for that agreement by rallying the international community around a broader 20-point plan for long-term peace in Gaza. He got Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly endorse it, and US officials claim that Hamas leaders also backed its terms during a private, high-stakes meeting on the eve of the ceasefire’s signing.“Now you have peace,” Trump declared from the Knesset on October 13.His 20-point plan includes elements that appear strikingly similar to those drawn up by Blinken, but crucially, it omits or softens much of the language Israel would have had the most trouble agreeing to.Today, attempts to advance Trump’s plan beyond its initial ceasefire stage appear stuck, as do negotiations aimed at reshaping the wider Middle East, and despite the president’s triumphant declarations, peace, or anything resembling it, may still be far off.Blinken’s efforts, many of which are revealed here for the first time, offer a telling window into some of the challenges facing the Trump administration as it seeks to advance initiatives for the postwar management of Gaza and expansion of the Abraham Accords.From Tokyo to Cairo-Before there was a 20-point plan, or a 14-point plan, or a Transitional Mission,  there were the Tokyo Principles, unveiled by Blinken at a G7 conference in Japan just one month after the October 7 attack.They comprised five red lines and three affirmative principles regarding the future of Gaza, and served as the foundation for Blinken’s day-after plan.The five “nos” were:No forced displacement of Palestinians-No Israeli reoccupation of Gaza-No reduction of Gaza’s territory-No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism-No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza-There were also three “musts” for the US in its day-after planning:Palestinian voices must be at the center of postwar Gaza governance-Gaza and the West Bank must be unified under the Palestinian Authority-A sustained mechanism for reconstruction must be established alongside a pathway to a two-state solution.Notably, some of these principles — such as opposition to the forced displacement of Gazans — were included in the plan that Trump unveiled nearly two years later. Both Democratic and Republican administrations apparently recognized that adhering to such fundamentals would be essential in securing international support.But with war raging, not everyone shared the US’s determination to plot Gaza’s future in the months immediately following the October 7 attack.In Israel, Netanyahu avoided any day-after planning altogether for months, insisting that his focus was on defeating Hamas. Ignoring the issue allowed Netanyahu to skirt far-right coalition partners pushing plans to permanently occupy Gaza and re-establish settlements. While the premier said he opposed such ideas, he also had little interest in entertaining more internationally palatable schemes that risked collapsing his government.Arab allies were also initially “less than enthusiastic” about getting involved in day-after planning, said a senior Biden official, amid concerns that Israel’s avoidance of the issue was a show of support for the far-right’s plans.Blinken declined to comment to The Times of Israel on the record about his efforts to end the war and plan for Gaza’s future.The Arab approach did “gradually and grudgingly” shift, according to the senior Biden official. In an initial move toward practical post-war planning, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi proposed to American officials in January 2024 that his country send troops to help secure the Strip after an anticipated Israeli withdrawal.He raised the idea during a one-on-one Cairo meeting with Blinken, appending two asks — that the Egyptian troops be joined by American soldiers and that the force also be deployed in the West Bank, where Palestinians have come under near-daily attacks by settler extremists.Regarding the latter request, Blinken said it was something that Israel would never allow. And while he told Sissi that it was highly unlikely that US boots would be placed on the ground in Gaza, the secretary of state said Washington was prepared to help with the command of an international force, the senior Biden official recalled to The Times of Israel.The Pentagon, through the US Army’s Central Command, was subsequently instructed to prepare to establish such a hub in Egypt.With Sissi leaning into the idea of sending troops, Blinken had an easier time approaching other countries about doing the same, the senior Biden official said.Washington was particularly interested in getting the United Arab Emirates on board with the plan, due to Abu Dhabi’s productive relationship with Israel, along with Qatar, which the US thought would be critical in securing guarantees from Hamas not to sabotage the plan.Ultimately, the US secured varying commitments from roughly half a dozen Arab partners to take part in the post-war management of Gaza, two senior Biden officials said.Saudi Arabia agreed to finance the Transitional Mission initiative, while the UAE and Qatar agreed to donate both funds and troops, according to the senior Biden officials and three Arab diplomats. However, each country had its own conditions-Egypt, Jordan and Morocco each gave the US verbal assurances that they would contribute troops to an interim multinational force for Gaza that would help secure Gaza, roughly parallel to the International Security Force that wound up being included in Trump’s plan.Saudi Arabia agreed to finance the Transitional Mission initiative, while the UAE and Qatar agreed to donate both funds and troops, according to the senior Biden officials and three Arab diplomats.However, each country had its own conditions, which were largely centered around receiving a formal invitation from the PA to avoid accusations that they were entering Gaza as foreign occupiers. The Arab countries were also intent on chaperoning Ramallah through a comprehensive reform process so that it could be equipped to eventually replace the Transitional Mission, reunifying Gaza and the West Bank under a single Palestinian governing body and thereby reestablishing a pathway to a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the officials said.In addition to the core group of Arab states, a variety of “third countries” also offered to take part in the mission if it came together, including Italy, Spain and Indonesia, the two senior Biden officials said.But the former US officials admitted that the troop commitments were not ironclad and that countries wanted to see the war end first or for Israel to accept their conditions regarding a pathway to Palestinian statehood before they moved forward.The UAE committed in principle to contribute troops to the postwar international Gaza force, but when conversations turned to exact numbers, Abu Dhabi got “skittish,” one of the senior Biden officials recalled.Blinken’s plan envisioned the multinational force operating as an arm of the Transitional Mission responsible for “administer[ing] border crossings and facilitat[ing] safe and secure delivery of humanitarian assistance,” according to the draft obtained by The Times of Israel.Day-to-day policing of Gaza was to be left in the hands of the PA’s security forces, and the scheme envisioned the US and its Arab allies ‘vetting, recruiting, training and equipping’ personnel-Day-to-day policing was to be left in the hands of the PA’s security forces, and the scheme envisioned the US and its Arab allies “vetting, recruiting, training and equipping” personnel. Over the last year of Biden’s term, hundreds of police recruits were sent to Egypt and Jordan for training at military bases, US and Arab officials said.The US plan didn’t task the international force with disarming Hamas, and in fact disarmament is not explicitly required in the 14-point proposal that eventually emerged from the talks.However, participating countries were expected to sign a “Statement of Purpose” declaring, “Groups that espouse the use of violence or commit terrorist attacks against civilians cannot govern or dictate Gaza’s future. All terrorist organizations and armed groups must disarm and renounce violence. A disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration mechanism will facilitate this process in Gaza.”Senior Biden officials believed that the presence of the internationally backed Transitional Mission would at the very least marginalize Hamas politically in the eyes of Palestinians, thereby giving the terror group less legitimacy to continue holding on to its weapons-The document didn’t get into specifics on how that disarmament process would unfold, and the senior Biden officials acknowledged that depriving Hamas of its weapons would have been a major hurdle, leaving open the possibility that, as Israel withdrew, the Transitional Mission could wind up vying with Hamas for control of the Strip.But the senior Biden officials believed that the presence of the internationally backed Transitional Mission would at the very least marginalize Hamas politically in the eyes of Palestinians, thereby giving the terror group less legitimacy to continue holding on to its weapons.Wanted: An ’empowered’ PA premier-While troop contributions from Arab allies weren’t as firm, funding commitments were concrete enough for the US to put specific figures in writing when the plan was drafted in the fall of 2024.The 14-point plan for the Transitional Mission stated that “Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will each contribute 10 million USD monthly (40 million USD in total) to operationalize a fund that will provide the PA in Ramallah with predictable, direct, monthly budgetary support during the transitional period and to support its reform efforts.”To further ease the PA’s financial situation, the plan stated that Israel would be required to release the several billion dollars in Palestinian clearance revenues that it has been withholding from the PA over the years.Meanwhile, countries participating in the plan would establish a trust to raise funds for Gaza’s recovery, and that money would “be channeled through a reformed PA,” the plan stated.Blinken’s plan required the PA to govern transparently and fight corruption, while also implementing reforms of its education and welfare systems.These improvements were designed, at least in part, to address Israel’s fervent opposition to granting the PA any role in Gaza in addition to long-held international concern regarding credible allegations of corruption and financial malfeasance in Ramallah.Blinken’s plan also required PA President Mahmoud Abbas to appoint a “new, credible, independent, and empowered PM who will reform and revitalize the PA.”This was a notable stipulation, given that Abbas only months earlier had appointed Mohammed Mustafa — an economist who held senior positions in the World Bank — as premier in a step aimed at addressing international reform demands.

A close confidant of Abbas, Mustafa was not a satisfactory choice for the UAE, which conditioned its involvement in the Transitional Mission on his replacement, the senior Biden officials said.While some in the Biden administration felt that the UAE demand to replace Mustafa was more about elevating an Emirati ally than it was about reforming the PA, the US agreed to include the condition in its plan for the Transitional Mission.However, it carefully crafted the clause’s wording to stipulate that the appointment of a new prime minister be made “in conjunction” with the PA’s invitation to countries to join the initiative, rather than making it a prerequisite.It also leveraged the UAE’s desire to see Mustafa replaced in order to secure a more solid commitment from the Emiratis, conditioning Mustafa’s departure on Abu Dhabi actively contributing to the postwar management of Gaza, the two senior Biden officials said.The Blair project-The Biden administration didn’t want to ignore the Emirati concerns entirely, though, because the UAE was playing a central role in setting up facets of the Transitional Mission that would deal with the governance of postwar Gaza.By the summer of 2024, Netanyahu had quietly lifted his ban on postwar planning and dispatched his closest adviser, then-strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, to hold talks with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed on the matter, building on the goodwill that Jerusalem had established with Abu Dhabi since the two countries normalized relations in 2020.That channel quietly made progress, thanks in no small part to the assistance of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who used his extensive contacts in the region to craft a plan for the creation of a temporary governing committee that would administer Gaza after the war, similar to the Board of Peace laid out in the subsequent Trump plan, in which Blair also played a part.Blair looped the Biden administration in on the Israeli-Emirati talks, as both countries recognized that the US would be needed to move them forward. While Blinken had discussed postwar governing mechanisms for Gaza with Arab and Palestinian counterparts as part of his efforts to build the Transitional Mission, the Blair-backed Israeli-Emirati channel was more developed by the fall of 2024.Blinken organized a meeting with Dermer and bin Zayed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2024 to formalize that channel and to eventually turn its main ideas — along with the feedback he was getting elsewhere in the region — into what became the 14-point plan for the establishment of a Transitional Mission for the postwar governance, security and reconstruction of Gaza.The plan also included many of the ideas pushed by Dermer in his talks with bin Zayed, including the need to limit the role of the PA in post-war Gaza until it has undergone significant reforms.This did not sit well with Ramallah, which wanted to do more than just invite foreign troops and personnel to run postwar Gaza on its behalf.Some officials in Jerusalem mockingly branded Blinken’s proposal the ‘Mr. Potato Head Plan’ because they felt he was trying to adopt ideas from various stakeholders in a way that didn’t fit realities on the ground, an Israeli official said-But the plan also contained elements in support of Palestinian statehood that were liable to draw Israeli objections.While the 14 points were largely focused on Gaza, they also included a requirement for Israel to “refrain from taking measures in the West Bank [that] would impede or imperil the achievement of a just, comprehensive, realistic, and enduring solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”And the Statement of Purpose attached to the 14-point plan included a commitment from partner countries to a two-state solution “on the basis of the June 4, 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps and a just and agreed solution for Palestinian refugees.”Washington understood that these stipulations would be fiercely opposed by Jerusalem, particularly after the October 7 attack caused Israeli faith in Palestinian independence to further plummet. However, the US deemed them essential both for securing the participation of partner countries in the Transitional Mission and also for ensuring that the cycle of violence would end.The Biden administration sought to sell the plan as something that Israel needed, even if it wasn’t what it wanted-The Biden administration sought to sell the plan as something that Israel needed, even if it wasn’t what it wanted.“Israel needed to make sure that October 7 wasn’t going to happen again, and that’s what we were going to ensure by being behind the [Transitional Mission’s multinational] force,” said one of the senior Biden officials, reiterating Washington’s preparedness to take part in the command of the foreign troops, even if American boots would not be on the ground in Gaza.Israel wasn’t impressed, and some officials in Jerusalem mockingly branded Blinken’s proposal the “Mr. Potato Head Plan” because they felt the secretary of state was trying to adopt ideas from various stakeholders in a manner that didn’t fit realities on the ground, an Israeli official said.Riyadh raises its price-But Washington was still looking to sweeten the deal for Israel, and the Biden official said the US likely would have also signed a secret “side letter” with Jerusalem, giving the latter a green light to intervene militarily in Gaza “under extreme circumstances.”Another selling point for Israel was supposed to be the Transitional Mission’s inclusion of Saudi Arabia, necessarily expanding Israel’s cooperation with Riyadh and potentially reviving the Abraham Accords.“The possibility of normalization between Saudi Arabia and other Arab states and Israel, with concrete progress toward a two-state solution, is a promising avenue to achieving peace, security, and regional integration that will benefit all,” read the US plan’s Statement of Purpose.While the October 7 onslaught froze the normalization effort, by January 2024, bin Salman told Blinken he was prepared to resume discussions on the topic.But this time, the crown prince asked for more concrete measures from Israel toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, the two senior Biden officials said.Previously, the Saudis had entertained relatively moderate steps from Israel as part of the normalization deal. These included a proposal for Israel to give the PA control over additional West Bank territory by changing parts of Israeli-controlled Area C to Area B, where the PA has limited authority, and parts of Area B to Area A, which is under Palestinian security control and governance.‘Our plan — especially if [Harris] won the the election — was to confront Bibi with a choice: Either end the war and create a path to a two-state solution and Saudi normalization or reject what we saw as the only path to longterm security and regional integration’Now, Riyadh was demanding the launch of a time-bound, irreversible process to establish a Palestinian state, officials from multiple countries told The Times of Israel.The upped demand had less to do with bin Salman’s personal attachment to the Palestinians and more to do with what he told interlocutors was his fear of ending up like Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president assassinated in 1981 after making peace with Israel, one of the Biden officials said.The Saudi foreign ministry, which typically refrains from interacting with Israeli press, did not respond to requests for comment.Regardless, the Biden administration saw an opportunity to broker a normalization agreement in 2024, believing that a Democratic president would have an easier time securing the support of two-thirds of the Senate, which would be needed to ratify the side-deal defense treaties that Riyadh was also seeking in exchange for joining the Abraham Accords.By coupling the Transitional Mission with the Saudi normalization push, “the underlying concept was to present the Israeli government with what they needed to end the war in Gaza along with a way to achieve the dream of recognition by all of its key neighbors,” said James P. Rubin, who was Blinken’s point man in the State Department on Gaza day after planning.“We tried to put all of these things together in a package that would be attractive to the Israeli government and in the process defeat the ideology of Hamas by enshrining a two-state solution, which its founding charter opposes,” Rubin, a former assistant secretary of state in the Clinton Administration, told The Times of Israel.The US recognized that this was a long shot, as it would have required Netanyahu to part ways with his far-right coalition partners. However, Biden officials still noticed him “leaning in” when they raised the topic, leading them to believe that it wasn’t an impossible task.Still, it was going to require convincing the Israeli premier that the consequence of not picking up the baton with the plan being put together would be endless war and increasing global isolation.“Our plan — especially if [then-US vice president Kamala Harris] won the [November 2024 presidential] election, but ideally before that — was to confront Bibi with a choice: Either end the war and create a path to a two-state solution and Saudi normalization, or reject what we saw as the only path to longterm security and regional integration,” said one of the senior Biden officials.Things fall apart-But the war in Gaza dragged on through the fall, Harris lost to Trump and whatever leverage the Biden administration had over regional stakeholders “evaporated,” the former senior US official said.Blinken’s State Department also didn’t have the full backing of the White House, which prioritized the talks on the “phase one” initial ceasefire and hostage release deal over the “phase two” negotiations regarding the postwar management of Gaza, one of the former US officials said. Accordingly, the White House chafed at efforts to publicly corner Israel regarding day-after planning when doing so could risk emboldening Hamas in the ceasefire negotiations.The prevailing opinion in the Biden administration was that the US couldn’t fully challenge Israel, the PA or Arab allies to truly commit to the US day-after plan while the war was still ongoing.Unable to see his own plan to fruition, Blinken was satisfied with giving a speech during his final week as secretary of state in which he laid out the contours of his vision for the postwar management of Gaza.“From the outset, we recognized that we couldn’t afford to wait until a ceasefire to plan for what would follow it,” he said in those remarks. “For many months, we’ve been working intensively with our partners to develop a detailed post-conflict plan that would allow Israel to fully withdraw from Gaza, prevent Hamas from filling back in, and provide for Gaza’s governance, security, and reconstruction — drawing on the principles that I originally set out in Tokyo. We will hand off that plan to the Trump administration to carry forward.”Similar plans, different problems-While Trump initially entertained a different day-after approach, declaring in February that the US would take over Gaza, clear the territory of its Palestinians and create a“Riviera of the Middle East,” he eventually settled on a plan that was very similar to Blinken’s.This likely had to do with the decision to bring Blair back into the fold, with the former British premier working closely with Trump’s top adviser Jared Kushner.The Trump administration refashioned the governance aspects of the Transitional Mission into a Board of Peace, and the multinational force became the International Stabilization Force (ISF). Both bodies were enshrined in a US-championed resolution adopted by the UN Security Council last month — something also envisioned by Blinken’s plan.The Blinken idea of a CENTCOM-led ceasefire monitoring hub was also adopted by the Trump administration, albeit in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat, rather than in Egypt’s El-Arish.The fact that Trump managed to secure support for his 20-point initiative from both Israel and Arab allies in September, two weeks before an actual ceasefire was agreed on, could point to the wisdom of Blinken’s prioritization of post-war planning rather than the wider Biden administration’s approach of largely decoupling it from a ceasefire and hostage release.But Trump’s plan also contains key differences that skirt Israeli objections that could have doomed the Blinken proposal but were seen as key to ensuring Gaza’s post-war future.While both plans envisioned an eventual transfer of Gaza governance to a reformed PA, Trump’s offers Ramallah virtually no role in the interim, whereas Blinken’s sought to involve the PA in the process from the get-go. As Blinken found, without PA buy-in, Arab commitments are likely to remain in the realm of words, rather than actions.Indeed, while the Security Council has backed the creation of a Board of Peace and ISF, countries have yet to step forward with troop contributions, despite whatever verbal commitments may have been made to the Trump administration before the UN resolution was adopted.Both plans also use language regarding a pathway to Palestinian statehood, though Trump’s presents it only as a possibility, as opposed to Blinken’s proposal, where it was a requirement — albeit one that would lay the groundwork for Israel’s integration into the Middle East.The softened statehood language and the icing out of the PA offered Trump an easier way to bring Israel on board without having to resort to ultimatums. But the shortcut may have also dampened Arab and international enthusiasm for investing in Gaza’s future. The 20-point plan is currently half realized, even though Trump insists that phase two is imminent.For now, at least, hopes for a reborn Gaza are at risk of fading amid fears of a return to war. And realizing the dream of Saudi normalization no longer seems within reach, as it did on October 6, 2023.

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) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

Radiation Fog: A 643-Kilometer Belt Of Mist Lingers Over California's Central Valley-The soggy foothills of the Central Valley in California have been overtaken.Tom Hale-Senior Journalist byLaura Simmons.

A giant blanket of radiation fog has smothered California’s Central Valley for several days and is expected to linger for days more. But fear not, the fog has nothing to do with nuclear meltdowns or the splitting of atoms.What is radiation fog? Radiation fog is a perfectly normal type of fog that’s most common when things get chilly in the fall and winter. It develops on clear, calm nights when the ground cools rapidly, chilling the air just above it. Once that air reaches saturation, moisture condenses into millions of tiny droplets, creating a thick mist that hangs in the air. It’s called radiation fog because it forms through radiational cooling, not because it contains ionizing radiation.Each fall and winter in parts of California, a special form of radiation fog can linger for days or weeks at a time, known as tule fog. It’s the result of cool, moist air from the Pacific close to the surface. This creates high humidity, especially after recent heavy rain, which provides plenty of moisture to fuel the fog and help it persist.Tule fog in California’s Central Valley-This is exactly what’s been happening over the past week in the Central Valley of California. Following a downpour of heavy rain in late November, the region's damp valleys have been invaded by a cloak of fog. Trapped in the low-lying terrain with no strong winds or weather systems to stir it up, the fog is expected to linger for several days.The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast said on Thursday, December 4, that there’s a large outgrowth of the Tule Fog across the Central Valley. It started to emerge last week in late November and is due to hang around for some time. “Expect another round of Tule Fog impacts tonight into Friday morning, mainly across the interior Bay Area with potential impacts in the North Bay valleys,” reads the NWS forecast.Satellite images show it hovering over the Central Valley, like a big, fluffy, white sausage. The patch of tule fog covers a vast area, nearly 643 kilometers (400 miles) long, stretching from Bakersfield to north of Sacramento, near Red Bluff and Redding, according to the Washington Post.Back on the ground, tule fog can reduce visibility to as little as 3 meters (10 feet) in severe conditions, making driving extraordinarily difficult. In response, several NWS offices have issued Dense Fog Advisories, warning motorists to use extra caution and consider delaying their journey if possible.Indeed, the seasonal fog has been known to cause tragic incidents on the highways. In November 2007, tule fog was responsible for a massive 108-car pile-up on the Northbound California State Route 99 near Fresno, killing two people. It isn’t all negative news, however, as tule fog plays an important role in California’s agriculture. The blanket of cool, moist air helps crops such as almonds, pistachios, cherries, apricots, and peaches to enter and stay in their necessary winter dormant period. This cold-induced dormancy allows the plants to save energy and produce buds and flowers properly in the spring.Many farmers and scientists are worried that the Central Valley is undergoing a significant dip in wintertime fog based on year-on-year statistics, but this week's weather shows that it’s still part of the region’s seasonal rhythm.

Thick tule fog returned to California’s Central Valley this fall. Here’s what caused it-By Anthony Edwards, Newsroom MeteorologistDec 2, 2025-Tule fog blankets the Central Valley on Monday morning. The radiation fog forms during periods of light winds after fall and winter rainstorms.

Sacramento just endured its longest stretch of autumn fog in years as a stubborn pattern created ideal conditions for low clouds and cold weather in the Central Valley.The Sacramento office of the National Weather Service issued nine dense fog advisories in November, the most it has issued in a month this early in the wet season since at least 2005. Fog advisories are issued only when visibility drops below a quarter of a mile. Sunshine finally emerged Monday, but the pattern favorable for patchy fog was expected to linger for another week or two.Locally referred to as tule fog but scientifically known as radiation fog, the misty mass is prevalent in the Central Valley and parts of the Bay Area during periods of light winds after wet weather, especially in winter. November weather this year provided the perfect ingredients for thick tule fog. Mid-month storms dropped several inches of rain in Walnut Creek, Sacramento, Fresno and other valley areas. A dry spell quickly followed as a high-pressure system expanded over California and resulted in calm winds, trapping moisture from the recent rains near the ground.During long late fall and winter nights, there is plenty of time for heat to escape to space, allowing the air to cool. As the temperature drops, it approaches the dew point. When the temperature matches the dew point, the air reaches saturation, causing water vapor to condense to visible fog droplets.Although the recent foggy spell was memorable compared to recent years, tule fog was much more dangerous in the 20th century. Longtime valley residents recount stories of the fog so thick they couldn’t see across the street. Multi-vehicle crashes were a life-threatening hazard on highways during the foggiest days.The decline in thick fog since the 1980s is attributed largely to falling levels of air pollution, according to scientists at UC Berkeley. Microscopic particles from vehicular emissions provide the seed that cloud droplets need to form, but the number of those particles has declined in recent decades as air pollution regulations were enacted.The cleaner air doesn’t prevent fog from forming, but it does kick off a feedback loop.With fewer seeds to latch on to, low clouds aren’t as thick and allow more sunshine to filter through. In turn, the ground warms up and evaporates the landscape, which is less favorable for future fog development.Without as much fog, Central Valley crops are feeling the effects. Fruit and nut trees need sufficiently cold winters to achieve adequate rest before the next growing season. The declining fog and warming temperatures have unfavorable effects on crops.Widespread fog was forecast to continue in the San Joaquin Valley through the first week of December. Drier winds in Northern California were expected to bring afternoon clearing to the Sacramento Valley and the Bay Area after periods of patchy morning fog.

Police close all roads in and out of Eilat as flooding intensifies-Several highways closed as storms batter Arava and Negev desert regions, effectively cutting off southern resort city from the rest of Israel; airbase damaged by the harsh weather By ToI Staff 6 December 2025, 5:57 pm

Eilat was cut off from the rest of the country Saturday due to flooding, with police closing all highway access to the southern resort city as heavy rains continued to batter the region.The storms began Friday night and continued unabated into Saturday, causing major floods throughout southern Israel, where the desert landscape is especially susceptible to severe weather and flash floods.Flooding along several sections of Route 90, the main highway that passes through southern Israel’s Arava region, forced the full closure of the city’s northern exit, police said Saturday afternoon.Earlier in the day, Routes 12 and 40 — the only other main roads connecting Eilat to the rest of the country — were also closed amid flash flood warnings.Videos posted to social media showed hundreds of cars backed up along Route 90, as thousands tried to return home from weekend trips to Eilat.With all three highways blocked, authorities urged drivers to exercise patience and follow police instructions, adding that updates will continue to be issued through media channels.The Israel Meteorological Society also issued flash-flood warnings in the Judean Desert, Dead Sea and eastern Negev regions.Due to the harsh weather conditions, the military reported damage to “infrastructure and communication systems” at the Ovda Airbase in the Negev.The base is used by the Israeli Air Force for training, and it also houses the Border Defense Corps’ school.“There is no impact on operational readiness,” the Israel Defense Forces said, adding that commanders are “conducting damage assessments to ensure a quick and safe response to the malfunctions.”The stormy weather was expected to continue through Saturday evening, with clearer skies forecasted for Sunday and the early part of next week.

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.

Arms makers see record revenues as global tensions fuel demand By Johannes LEDEL.

Stockholm (AFP) Dec 05, 2025-Sales by the world's top 100 arms makers reached a record $679 billion last year, as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza boosted demand, researchers said Monday, but production issues hampered deliveries.The figure was 5.9 percent higher than the year before, and, over the 2015-2024 period, revenues for the top 100 arms makers have risen 26 percent according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)."Last year global arms revenues reached the highest level ever recorded by SIPRI as producers capitalised on high demand," Lorenzo Scarazzato, researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said in a statement.Jade Guiberteau Ricard, a researcher for the same programme, explained to AFP that "it's mostly driven by Europe," although "all areas have increased except for Asia and Oceania".Ricard said the increased demand in Europe was tied to the war in Ukraine and "the threat perception of Russia by European states".According to SIPRI, demand from Ukraine as well as from countries militarily supporting it and which need to replenish stockpiles helped drive demand.Ricard added that many European countries are also now looking to expand and modernise their own militaries, "which will present a new source of demand".- Supply woes -The United States is home to 39 of the world's top 100 arms makers, including the top three: Lockheed Martin, RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies) and Northrop Grumman.US arms makers saw their combined revenues rise 3.8 percent to reach $334 billion in 2024, nearly half of the world's total.At the same time, the authors of the report noted that budget overruns and delays plague several key US-led programmes, like the F-35 fighter jet and the Columbia-class submarine.The 26 of the top 100 arms maker which are based in Europe saw aggregate revenues grow by 13 percent to $151 billion.Czech company Czechoslovak Group saw revenue spike by 193 percent -- the sharpest increase of all the top 100 -- reaching $3.6 billion.The company benefitted from the Czech Ammunition Initiative which provides artillery shells for Ukraine.But European arms makers are also facing difficulties in responding to the increased demand, with SIPRI noting that sourcing materials looks to become more challenging.The authors noted that Airbus and France's Safran sourced half of their titanium from Russia before 2022 and have had to find new suppliers.Chinese export restrictions on critical minerals have led companies -- such as France's Thales and Germany's Rheinmetall -- to warn of higher costs as they restructure supply chains.Two Russian arms makers are also among the top 100, Rostec and United Shipbuilding Corporation, and they saw combined revenue rise by 23 percent to $31.2 billion, despite a shortfall of components due to international sanctions, as domestic demand more than compensated for falling exports.The report also noted that the Russian arms industry is struggling to find enough skilled labour "to support the projected rates of production needed to sustain Russia's war aims".- Israeli weapons still popular -The Asia and Oceania region was the only region to see the overall revenues of the 23 companies based there go down -- their combined revenues dropped 1.2 percent to $130 billion.But the authors stressed that the picture across Asia was varied and the overall drop was the result of by a larger drop among Chinese arms makers."A host of corruption allegations in Chinese arms procurement led to major arms contracts being postponed or cancelled in 2024," Nan Tian, Director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said in a statement.Tian added that the drop deepened "uncertainty" around China's efforts to modernise its military.In contrast, Japanese and South Korean weapons makers saw their revenues increase, also driven by European demand.Meanwhile, nine of the top 100 arms companies were based in the Middle East, with combined revenues of $31 billion.The three Israeli arms companies in the ranking accounted for more than half of that, as their combined revenues grew by 16 percent to $16.2 billion.SIPRI researcher Zubaida Karim noted in a statement that "the growing backlash over Israel's actions in Gaza seems to have had little impact on interest in Israeli weapons".jll/rmb

Milei welcomes Argentina's first F-16 fighter jets.

Río Cuarto, Argentina, Dec 6 (AFP) Dec 06, 2025-President Javier Milei on Saturday hailed the arrival of Argentina's first six F-16 jets purchased from Denmark, describing them as "guardian angels" that will strengthen the South American country's armed forces.The US-built aircraft are among the 24 used supersonic fighters bought last year from Copenhagen for roughly $300 million, an exchange Milei's government described at the time as Argentina's most important military acquisition in 50 years."After a long wait, I finally have behind me the first six F-16 fighter jets," Milei said on the tarmac of a military base in Rio Cuarto, some 600 kilometers (373 miles) west of Buenos Aires."Thanks to this significant investment, we will considerably strengthen our air force."Following a ceremony, Milei boarded one of the F-16 Fighting Falcons -- which had flown low over Argentina's capital before landing in Rio Cuarto -- and was seen smiling in the cockpit next to his sister Karina Milei, who serves as general secretary of the presidency, and Defense Minister Luis Petri."Hundreds of thousands of Argentines were able to look up and see their guardian angels in the sky for the first time," the president said.When the sale was announced in April 2024, Argentina's defense ministry said the modernized Danish F-16s would form "the backbone of Argentina's air defense system."They replace Argentina's French Mirage jets, the last of which were retired in 2017 after four decades of service.The US administration of President Donald Trump, a Milei ally, approved the transfer of F-16s.The US Embassy in Buenos Aires said in a statement Saturday that Argentina's jet acquisition marks "a major step in the country's efforts to modernize its air capabilities and deepen defense cooperation with the United States."It said the delivery was the first of four batches, with six additional aircraft to be delivered to Argentina each December through 2028.

France probes mystery drone flight over nuclear sub base.

Brest, France, Dec 5 (AFP) Dec 05, 2025-The French military used jammers as several suspected drones flew over a closely guarded base housing nuclear ballistic submarines, prosecutors said Friday.It was the latest in a series of mysterious drone flights over airports and sensitive military and industrial sites across Europe.Three-and-a-half years into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there is growing concern that such disruption could be part of hybrid war tactics by Moscow against the European Union, which has backed Kyiv.No drones were shot down and no pilots were identified during the flyover Thursday evening at the submarine base on Ile Longue, a peninsula off the Brittany coast in northwestern France, prosecutors said as they opened an investigation."No link with foreign interference" has been established at this stage, said prosecutor Frederic Teillet.The investigation had to "confirm whether or not these were drones" and determine "the type and number of devices," he added.One source close to the case told AFP that five drones had been detected above the base at around 1830 GMT Thursday.An anti-drone and search operation was launched, and the marine battalion, which protects the base, fired several anti-drone shots, the source added."The marines fired a jammer, not a firearm," said Teillet.The Ile Longue base is home to France's four ballistic missile submarines -- Le Triomphant, Le Temeraire, Le Vigilant and Le Terrible.At least one is permanently at sea to ensure nuclear deterrence.- 'Intended to cause concern' -"Sensitive infrastructure was not threatened," Guillaume Le Rasle, spokesman for the maritime prefecture, told AFP.Speaking earlier in the day, he said that it was "too early to determine" the origin of the drones, adding however that the flights had been "intended to cause concern among the population".Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin told French broadcaster TF1 that any overflight of a military base was prohibited in France.Praising the response of the military personnel at the base, she added: "A complaint has been filed, an investigation is underway, and it is this investigation that will determine what this overflight was all about."France and the United Kingdom are the only European countries other than Russia with nuclear weapons.France has maintained a sea-based nuclear deterrent force since 1971. Its ballistic missile submarines are equipped with M51 strategic missiles with multiple nuclear warheads.The Ile Longue base is a closely guarded site, employing 2,000 people including 1,500 civilians. It is protected by 120 maritime police officers in coordination with marines.Drone flights are prohibited over the Crozon peninsula which includes Ile Longue in order to protect the military infrastructure located there.However, drone flights in the restricted area are not unprecedented, said Le Rasle.aag-cl-as/jj

18 killed in central Myanmar airstrike.

Tabayin, Myanmar, Dec 6 (AFP) Dec 06, 2025-Eighteen people were killed in an airstrike on a town in central Myanmar, according to a local official, a rescue worker and two residents who spoke to AFP on Saturday.Myanmar has been rocked by civil war since the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, and its battles with numerous anti-coup fighters have brought frequent airstrikes that often kill civilians.Two bombs were dropped on Tabayin township in Sagaing region on Friday evening, with one hitting a busy teashop, according to a local administration official.He told AFP that 18 people were killed and 20 were wounded in the attacks."Deaths were high at the teashop as it was crowded time," he said. All of the sources who spoke to AFP requested anonymity for their protection.A rescue worker who arrived on the scene 15 minutes after the strike said seven people were killed on the spot and 11 others died later at hospital.The teashop -- a traditional social hub in Myanmar -- and around a dozen houses nearby were "totally destroyed", he said.A survivor said he was watching a televised boxing match in the teashop when the bomb hit."As soon as I heard aircraft fly over, I got my body to the ground," he said, adding that the sound from the blast was deafening."I saw a big fire over my head... I was lucky, I returned home after that."A junta spokesman did not answer a call from an AFP reporter.Funerals for those killed were held on Saturday, with some victims' faces covered by towels as they had been rendered unrecognisable, a local resident said."I feel very sad because I knew some of them very well," she said.A junta airstrike in Sagaing in May killed 22 people, including 20 children, despite a purported ceasefire called after a devastating earthquake hit Myanmar.

Taiwan says China deploys warships in 'military operations'.

Taipei, Dec 5 (AFP) Dec 05, 2025-Taiwan said Friday that China had deployed warships for "military operations" stretching hundreds of kilometres from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea, posing a "threat" to the region.Beijing, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, neither confirmed nor denied the manoeuvres.Taiwan's defence ministry and other security agencies were monitoring China's activities and had a "complete grasp of the situation", Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo told reporters.She did not say how many Chinese ships were involved in the deployment, but a security source told AFP the number was "significant". The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.The operations were not limited to the Taiwan Strait, but extended from the southern Yellow Sea, to the East China Sea near the disputed Diaoyu Islands and on into the South China Sea and even the Western Pacific, Kuo said."This indeed poses a threat and impact on the Indo-Pacific and the entire region," she said.Taiwan urged China to "exercise restraint", Kuo said, adding: "We are also confident that we can handle this matter well."Neither China's armed forces nor state media have announced any increased military activity in the region where Taiwan said Chinese ships had been detected.Beijing's defence ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said Friday that the navy's training on the high seas complies with international law and "is not directed at any specific country or target".He was responding to a question about a Chinese naval flotilla that reportedly may be heading towards Australia.A spokesman for China's foreign ministry said Beijing "has consistently followed a defensive policy" and urged "relevant parties" not to "overreact or... engage in groundless hype".China has refused to rule out using force to take Taiwan, and also contentiously claims nearly all of the South China Sea.Taiwan's intelligence chief Tsai Ming-yen said Wednesday that October to December was the "peak season" for China's "annual evaluation exercises".There was a possibility that China's ruling Communist Party could turn seemingly routine military activities into drills targeting Taiwan, Tsai warned.Taiwan's defence ministry reported at 7:00 pm (1100 GMT) that it had detected 24 Chinese military aircraft near Taiwan since 2:22 pm, including 19 that crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait to participate in a joint combat patrol with navy ships.Last December, Taiwan said about 90 Chinese warships and coast guard vessels took part in vast exercises including simulating attacks on foreign ships and practising blockading sea routes in Beijing's biggest maritime drills in years.Beijing did not confirm the drills at that time.The United States has long been Taiwan's most important security backer and biggest supplier of arms.But President Donald Trump's administration signalled a potential shift in that policy on Friday, saying in a strategy document that its Asian allies Japan and South Korea should take on more of the burden of defending the region.

In Russia's shadow, Norway to buy two submarines and missiles.

Oslo, Dec 5 (AFP) Dec 05, 2025-Norway is to buy two more German-made submarines along with long-range missiles as the country bordering Russia bolsters its defences, the government announced Friday."Norway is a coastal and maritime nation, and submarines are absolutely essential to the defence of our country. We are seeing an increase in the activity of Russian forces in the North Atlantic and the Barents Sea," Defence Minister Tore Sandvik said in a statement announcing the multi-billion dollar purchases.Norway has a 198-kilometre (123-mile) land border with Russia, which is fighting a protracted war in Ukraine, as well as a maritime border in the Barents Sea.The government had already ordered four submarines from German firm Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems in 2021 and the first of those is to be delivered in 2029, the ministry said in the statement."As NATO's 'eyes and ears' in the North, this requires a greater capacity to show our presence, to monitor and to deter in our immediate vicinity. In this context, submarines are absolutely indispensable," Sandvik added.The government proposed increasing the defence budget by 46 billion krone ($4.5 billion) because the cost of submarines and their arms systems had increased.In a separate statement, the defence ministry said 19 billion krone would be spent on missiles able to reach targets up to 500 kilometres (300 miles) away.The ministry did not say which missiles would be bought but the NTB news agency said the US Himars system, South Korea's Chunmoo missiles and a system made by Germany's KNDS group were being considered.

THIS IS A PILE OF DUNG. BUT IF THESE ARAB TERRORIST WERE KILLING JEWS AND CLAIMING THEIR BEING STARVED. I WOULD GIVE THESE TERRORIST THE INSTANT DEATH PENALTY. THESE TERRORIST WANNA DIE FOR THEIR ALLAH MOON GOD SATAN. I WOULD SUPPLY THEIR WISH. I'D HAVE A PIT OF FIVE LIONS. I'D POUR PIGS BLOOD ALL OVER THE TERRORIST. THEN I WOULD ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE GET UP BESIDE THE WELL LIKE PEN OF LIONS. I WOULD HIP CHECK THE ARAB WITH HIS LEGS AN ARMS TIED. DOWN INTO THE LIONS DEN AND SAY OOPS.YOU CAN GO WITH ALLAH SLASH SATAN YOUR MOON GOD.RIGHT TO HELL FIRE.

Public defender reports Palestinian inmates suffering ‘severe hunger’ in Israeli jails-As prison population has swelled beyond capacity, Public Defender’s Office says most detainees are held in tiny, unsanitary cells; guards said to often beat security prisoners By Charlie Summers-6 December 2025, 11:29 pm

Palestinian security prisoners have been held in increasingly dire conditions since October 2023, with many suffering from severe hunger, according to an audit published this week by the Public Defender’s Office.Inmates who met with agency representatives reported “drastic weight loss and signs of malnutrition,” the audit said. It added that inspectors witnessed that many of the prisoners were very thin, “in some cases to an extreme degree.”The report, which addresses the treatment of detainees suspected of criminal and security offenses, attests to worsening detention conditions for both sets of inmates as Israel’s prison population has soared since the outbreak of the two-year war with Hamas, sparked by the terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack.Security prisoners have been subject to particularly harsh treatment, according to the audit, which said these detainees are given meager food rations, beaten regularly by guards and held in unsanitary conditions that have allowed diseases to spread quickly in crowded, tiny cells.Inspectors in the Public Defender’s Office who authored the report examined 43 total detention facilities in 2023 and 2024, including 27 under the supervision of the Israel Prison Service, 12 police station holding cells and four courthouse holding cells.Human rights groups in both Israel and abroad have been sounding alarm bells about worsening prison conditions for the past several years; however, the audit from the Public Defender’s Office marked a rare instance in which an Israeli government body reported on the worsening situation.National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the Israel Prison Service in his role, has publicly boasted about harsh measures implemented against security detainees on his watch, telling a Knesset committee in October that he is proud that jails “have turned into a nightmare for terrorists.”Scabies, scant food and routine beatings-Soon after the outbreak of the war, IPS issued an order to limit — if not cancel entirely — so-called “routine activities” that take place during peacetime in facilities holding security prisoners.Unlike standard criminal prisoners, security prisoners are in custody for committing “security offenses,” which can range from deadly terror attacks to publishing what Israel deems incendiary content online.In practice, the October 16, 2023, order barred Palestinian security inmates from making phone calls, meeting with family or Red Cross representatives, leaving their cells except for one hour each day, and holding onto personal items, such as books or family photos.The restrictions apply to all security prisoners, including minors, “regardless of the severity of their actions or their personal circumstances,” the audit noted.The prison service also put together a special, reduced food menu in military prisons that provides significantly smaller portions than those of criminal detainees. In practice, inspectors found that the actual meals served to security prisoners were even more scant than those in the reduced menu, and at times contained food unfit for consumption, such as uncooked rice and rotten vegetables.Inspectors — who visited the Ramon, Megiddo, Ayalon, Shatta, Eshel and Ketziot military prisons — were repeatedly informed of a “severe feeling of hunger” among the detainees, and found that in some facilities there was even limited access to drinking water.In September, the High Court ordered the government to provide security prisoners with enough food to “ensure a basic existence.” However, it appears that not much has changed, as rights groups continue to push the Prison Service to provide inmates with proper nutrition.Detainees also reported “routine” violence by guards towards prisoners. Such beatings typically occur during cell searches or while transporting prisoners between wings, to court hearings, or to receive external medical care, according to the report. In some cases, fear of beatings dissuaded prisoners from seeking medical attention, only exacerbating the dire medical conditions.Inspectors also found that scabies, a contagious skin infection caused by small mites that burrow into the skin, was widespread among security inmates and, during certain periods, “developed into an epidemic within these facilities.”The infestation was able to spread all the more quickly due to overcrowded cells, as Israel’s prison population soars far above the prison system’s official capacity.‘Unprecedented’ overcrowding crisis-Soon after the war’s outset, the Knesset approved emergency provisions that have allowed the Prison Service to hold inmates of all kinds in overcrowded cells, sometimes without a bed to sleep on.Israel saw a massive leap in its detained population over the past two years, which has turned prison overcrowding into an “unprecedented crisis,” the Public Defender’s Office wrote.Many prisoners, both criminal and security detainees, are held in cramped, crowded cells and made to sleep on the floor for lack of beds. Sometimes, prisoners were driven to sleep on the floor despite empty beds, due to a pervasive bedbug problem, inspectors found during several visits to criminal wings.Before the outbreak of the war, Israel had already exceeded the prison system’s capacity of 14,500 detainees, and on October 6, 2023, was holding 16,353 prisoners. Within two months, the prisoner population jumped by 3,000 people, and by the end of 2024, the Prison Service had 23,000 prisoners in custody.More recent data from September 2025, published by the Knesset Research and Information Center, put the total figure at 24,715 — among them 11,115 security prisoners.While 35% of criminal detainees are held in a living space less than 3 square meters (32 square feet), over 90% of security detainees are held in such conditions, despite a 2018 High Court ruling stipulating that no less than 4.5 square meters (48 square feet) should be allocated to an individual prisoner.As prisons overflow, some suspects have been made to stay in police station holding cells for days or weeks on end, even though the facilities are unequipped to handle detainees for prolonged periods.During a visit to the Bat Yam police station, inspectors encountered detainees who had been held for 10 days, without so much as a change of clothes. They slept on the ground, without any mattresses, towels or toothbrushes.Similar stories arose in the Jaffa, Mesubim and Glilot stations, in which detainees were held in their cells for days on end in the same clothes, with no means to maintain basic hygiene.

Palestinian speeding car toward troops in Hebron killed, as is passerby; soldier lightly hurt-Paratroopers targeted while operating near a checkpoint in flashpoint West Bank city, less than a week after ramming attack in the area that lightly wounded soldier By Emanuel Fabian-6 December 2025, 10:35 pmUpdated at 11:33 pm

A Palestinian was shot dead by IDF soldiers on Saturday after accelerating in a vehicle toward the troops, Paratroopers Brigade soldiers who were operating near a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron.An uninvolved Palestinian civilian who was passing by was also shot dead by the soldiers amid the incident.The army initially said that both of the Palestinians killed were in the accelerating car, but later issued another statement saying that, after a preliminary investigation, it was determined that only one of them was in the car, and the other was uninvolved.First responders said one soldier was lightly hurt in the incident.Last Monday, another soldier was lightly wounded in a car-ramming attack near Hebron. The assailant was killed during a subsequent attempt to arrest him. Hours later, two soldiers were lightly wounded in a stabbing attack near the northern West Bank settlement of Ateret. That attacker, too, was shot dead.Violence in the West Bank has surged since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023. According to the Palestinian Authority, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since then. The IDF has said that most of those killed were gunmen, rioters clashing with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.During the same period, 63 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.Attacks by settler extremists have also risen sharply. The IDF has recorded more than 752 incidents of settler violence in the West Bank since the start of the year, surpassing the 675 incidents recorded in 2024.

Disarming Hezbollah 'a Lebanese demand,' says top diplomat-Hezbollah won’t give up its weapons without a decision from Iran — Lebanese FM-Youssef Rajji says terror group is ‘rebuilding itself in many ways’ and seeking to ‘regain its power internally,’ confirms speaking about disarmament with his Iranian counterpart-By Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff 6 December 2025, 8:01 pm

Iran will have the final say on whether or not its Lebanese proxy terror group Hezbollah agrees to disarm, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told the Saudi Al Arabiya news outlet in an interview published Saturday.Rajji said he has brought the issue up with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, and that disarmament remains a key demand of the Lebanese government as it tries to maintain the fragile calm brought about by a ceasefire agreement with Israel last November.Under the terms of the ceasefire, which ended the October 2023-November 2024 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group was to be disarmed and allow the Lebanese Armed Forces to deploy fully across the country. This has not yet happened, however, and Lebanon is under increasing pressure to speed up the process or risk a renewed Israeli military operation.“Hezbollah won’t hand over its weapons without an Iranian decision,” Rajji told Al Arabiya. “Right now [Hezbollah] is concerned with preserving itself and regaining power.”He said Hezbollah started work on “rebuilding itself in many ways,” including financially, and was trying to “regain its power internally,” after being severely weakened by its year-long conflict with Israel.To this end, Rajji said, he was disappointed that Hezbollah did not believe disarmament to be in the interest of the Lebanese public, and indeed in its own interest as a political party.“The credibility of the state today depends on the extent to which it extends its authority over all Lebanese territory and confines the weapons of all armed groups to the legitimate security forces in its own territory, and with weapons exclusively in its hands,” he said, as “only then will the international community take us seriously.”“Disarming Hezbollah and dismantling its military structure are a Lebanese demand, regardless of the international demand,” he stressed, likely referring to pressure from the US and Israel to force Hezbollah to give up its weapons.Contrary to Hezbollah’s claims, its weapons have failed to “support Gaza, liberate Jerusalem or defend Lebanon” from Israeli attacks, said Rajji, explaining why the Lebanese government was eager to see it disarm.He told the outlet that the Lebanese Armed Forces were determined to seize all Hezbollah weapons in southern Lebanon by the end of the year, before widening its operations to disarm the terror group in areas further north at the start of 2026.Hezbollah “provokes the government every day with the talk by its chief, Sheikh Naim Qassem, about rearming,” said Rajji, a day after Qassem accused Beirut of giving Israel a “free concession” by dispatching a civilian rather than a military envoy to attend the first direct talks with Israel in decades on Wednesday.The meeting at the UN peacekeeping forces’ headquarters in Naqoura, Lebanon, was held under the auspices of the “Cessation of Hostilities Implementation Mechanism” — made up of US, UNIFIL, Israeli, French, and Lebanese officials — which is aimed at pushing forward with the November 2024 ceasefire.Israel was represented at the meeting by the National Security Council Deputy Director for Foreign Policy Uri Resnick, while Lebanon was represented by former ambassador to the US Simon Karam.Acknowledging the unexpected choice to send a civilian representative rather than a military one, Rajji told Al Arabiya that he hoped doing so was a “positive step” which could “spare Lebanon a large-scale military operation by Israel.”Israeli and US officials have warned that the IDF could embark on a major operation if the Lebanese government fails to make progress in disarming Hezbollah.Unnamed Israeli officials have described the meeting as productive, saying that representatives of both countries had agreed to come to the follow-up sit-down with proposals for promoting economic cooperation in areas such as agriculture, technology, transportation and infrastructure.Lebanon’s portrayal of the meeting differed somewhat, with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam rejecting the possibility of economic cooperation before normalization — which Lebanon has conditioned on the creation of a Palestinian state.“Lebanon is very far from signing a peace deal with Israel,” Rajji likewise told Al Arabiya, adding that Karam was holding talks with Israel only on “military issues” such as an end to Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon and the withdrawal of the IDF from there.And it was too soon to tell whether Rajji’s hope of avoiding a renewed Israeli military campaign was realistic, as on Thursday, the day after the meeting, the IDF launched a wave of airstrikes against what it said were Hezbollah weapons depots in southern Lebanon.Tensions in Lebanon have ratcheted up in recent weeks. The IDF accuses Hezbollah of violating the November 2024 ceasefire and has intensified its strikes against terror group targets, including killing its chief of staff in a rare strike in Beirut last month.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.The operations included demolishing terror infrastructure, thwarting Hezbollah intelligence collection efforts, and other activities to damage the terror group’s capabilities, the army said. During the raids, troops located numerous weapons, rocket-launching sites, and other buildings used by Hezbollah, the army added.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.

Syria’s Sharaa slams Israel for ‘exporting’ conflict to region to hide Gaza ‘massacres’President who ousted Assad says Israel ‘in a fight against ghosts’ as he decries IDF operations in Syria, acknowledges ‘atrocities’ committed against minority groups in Sweida By Jacob Magid-6 December 2025, 6:58 pm

DOHA, Qatar — Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday accused Israel of “exporting crises” to other countries around the region in order to distract from its “horrifying massacres” in Gaza.Sharaa’s comments, which were perhaps his sharpest against Israel since becoming Syria’s leader a year ago, were made during the annual Doha Forum hosted in the Qatari capital and followed several other regional leaders who also spoke about the war in Gaza.“Israel… tries to run away from the horrifying massacres committed in Gaza, and it does so by attempting to export crises,” Sharaa said during an onstage interview.“Israel has become a country that is in a fight against ghosts,” he claimed, saying that Israel uses the guise of security concerns and the need to prevent another October 7 massacre to justify every action it takes, even though no such correlation exists.“Since we arrived in Damascus, we sent positive messages regarding regional peace and stability… and that we are not interested in being a country that exports conflict, including to Israel,” Sharaa continued, referring to his jihadist group’s toppling of the Assad regime last year.“But in return, Israel has met us with extreme violence,” Sharaa said, highlighting the deadly Israeli raid on terrorists in the southern Syrian town of Beit Jinn last month.“Syria has suffered massive violations of our airspace, and we’ve been victim of over 1000 airstrikes and over 400 incursions,” he said.Sharaa reiterated his call for Israel to withdraw from the Golan territories in southern Syria that it has occupied since December, after Assad fled, with Jerusalem wary of the new Syrian leader’s past as an al-Qaeda commander and citing fears the area would fall into the wrong hands.He expressed his support for the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, adding that tampering with it “and seeking other agreements such as a demilitarized zone… could lead us to a dangerous place.”Israel’s actions in the country recently drew stern comments from US President Donald Trump, who warned earlier in the week against destabilizing Syria and its new leadership, days after IDF soldiers battled gunmen in the country’s south.“It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State,” Trump said, adding that he is “very satisfied” with the country’s performance under Sharaa.Turning to issues within his own country, Sharaa acknowledged “atrocities” that have been committed against minorities in the Sweida region but insisted that Syria is a country governed by the rule of law, which will hold those responsible accountable.Some of Israel’s military intervention in Syria has been with the declared aim of protecting members of the Druze minority, notably during the violence in Sweida this summer that pitted Sunni Muslim Bedouin fighters and government forces against Druze fighters.Along with the violence in Sweida, which a war monitor reported left over 2,000 dead, including hundreds of Druze civilians, some government forces or their allies have been implicated in other outbreaks of sectarian violence, including the Alawite community massacres in March that are estimated to have killed more than 1,700 people.Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Abu Shabab said beaten to death over Israel collaboration-Anti-Hamas militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab killed in ‘internal clash’ in Gaza-Separately, commander of Hamas’s East Rafah Battalion, his deputy, and two other terror operatives killed by Israeli forces on Sunday after emerging from tunnels in southern Gaza, IDF confirms By Emanuel Fabian-4 December 2025, 6:55 pm

Anti-Hamas militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab was killed Thursday, Israeli defense sources said, in what they described as an “internal clash” — i.e., not with Hamas — in the southern Gaza Strip.Abu Shabab was taken to a hospital in Israel, where he died of his wounds, according to the sources.The Ynet news site cited a “senior source within the militia,” who said a fight broke out between families and groups within the militia, which deteriorated until shots were fired, at which point Abu Shabab was killed. Ynet later cited an Israeli security official as saying he was beaten to death as part of an argument over collaborating with Israel.However, there was no official comment from the militia or Israeli authorities as of Thursday afternoon.Abu Shabab, a Bedouin tribal leader based in Israeli-held Rafah in southern Gaza, had led the most prominent of several small anti-Hamas groups that emerged in Gaza during the war.Hamas branded him a collaborator and ordered its fighters to kill or capture him.Abu Shabab’s group has denied being backed by Israel.The group has continued to operate in areas controlled by Israeli forces since a US-backed ceasefire was reached in October.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged in June that Israel had armed anti-Hamas clans, though Israel has announced few details of the policy since then.Abu Shabab’s group posted a video on November 18 showing dozens of fighters receiving orders from his deputy to launch a security sweep to “clear Rafah of terror,” an apparent reference to Hamas fighters believed to be holed up there.Hamas battalion commander, 3 other operatives killed by IDF-The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that security forces have killed more than 40 Hamas operatives in that area, including,  it officially confirmed, the commander of Hamas’s East Rafah Battalion, his deputy, and two other terror operatives, who were all killed on Sunday.The four were spotted emerging from the tunnels in eastern Rafah. According to the military, the four operatives were killed by troops and the Israeli Air Force.The IDF said that following a review of intelligence, it could officially confirm that Mohammad Bawab, the East Rafah Battalion commander; Ismail Abu Labda, the deputy battalion commander; Tawfiq Salem, a company commander; and Abdullah Hamad, the son of a senior Hamas official, were the four operatives killed.Bawab and Abu Labda were responsible for planning the battalion’s invasion of southern Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, the military says.Hamad, the son of senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, served as a security officer in Bawab’s team, according to the army.Operative crosses ceasefire line, hit by troops – IDF-Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade stationed in southern Gaza opened fire Thursday on a Palestinian terror operative who crossed the so-called Yellow Line that divides Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement, the military said.The IDF said the operative posed “an immediate threat” to the soldiers.“The troops opened fire on the terrorists to remove the threat, and a hit was identified,” the military said.The developments came as Israel confirmed that the remains of Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai farmer whom terrorists kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, had been returned to Israel, leaving only one hostage’s body — that of police officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili — held in the Strip.In the next stage of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, Israel is meant to withdraw further from the Strip, alongside the establishment of a transitional authority to govern Gaza, the deployment of a multinational security force meant to take over from the Israeli military, the disarmament of Hamas, and the start of reconstruction.Hamas has so far refused to agree on the matter of demilitarization. Israel insists the Strip must be demilitarized before Trump’s plan can advance. However, the US leader said Wednesday that phase two is “going to happen pretty soon,” saying the process — which has seen near-daily, deadly violence — is “going along well.”Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.