ORGANISMS REDESIGN THEMSELVES AS TEMPERATURES RISE.

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)

ORGANISMS REDESIGN THEMSELVES AS TEMPERATURES RISE

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

AT SPRINGTIME 2026 THE CRIPTO MARKET BY ONE OR TWO OF THE BIGGEST COMPANIES.WILL LOSE 40% TO 70% OF ITS VALUE. THIS COULD POSSIBLY BE BY COUNTRIES LAWS AGAINST CRYPTO CURRENCIES BEING CHANGED.BY DEVIL CRAIG HAMILTON PARKER. 

PARTS OF MALAYSIAN MH370 MISSING PLANE WILL BE WASHED UP IN THAILAND.WERE DID THAT PLANE REALLY CRASH? 2026 PRINCE CHARLES DIES.CHINAS,XI,TURKIES ERDOGEN,RUSSIAS PUTIN,NORTH KOREAS KIM UN WILL HAVE HEALTH PROBLEMS.AND SECRET SCHEMES TO GET RID OF THESE BAD HEALTH LEADERS,FOR NEW LEADERS.CHP DEVIL PREDICTIONS. 

MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD WILL HAVE WATER SHORTAGES INCLUDING AUSTRALIA.MACRON GOES.TURKEY HAS A GIGANTIC EARTHQUAKE THAT DESTROYS INFASTRUCTURE AND THE FINANCIAL VISITING DOLLARS WHICH CAUSES POLITICAL UNREST IN TURKEY. IRAN, ALSO FEELS THE QUAKE. AND 2 OTHER COUNTRIES FEEL THAT TURKEY QUAKE.A NUCLEAR OR CHEMICAL SPILL WILL OCCURR IN FRANCE.CHP DEVIL PREDICTER. 

AI systems proposed to boost launch cadence reliability and traffic management.by Riko Seibo.

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 26, 2025-The global space sector is entering a phase of large-scale satellite constellations and expanded human lunar activity, driving a sharp increase in demand for access to orbit. Within the next two decades, the total mass launched to space is expected to reach several hundred thousand tons, with annual launch counts projected in the tens of thousands and continuing to grow. Launch providers therefore face simultaneous requirements for low cost, high flight rates, and airline-style reliability in space transportation systems.Reusable launch vehicles have reduced per-flight cost, but they do not yet deliver the launch tempo and reliability needed for this next phase of activity. A study in the Chinese Journal of Aeronautics argues that artificial intelligence applied across launch vehicle life cycles could address these remaining bottlenecks and become a disruptive technology following reusability in space transportation.The authors outline four main roles for AI in launch systems: agile test and launch preparation, high-reliability flight, rapid maintenance, and efficient safety operation and control. Their goal is an intelligent space transportation system that integrates smart test launches, autonomous flight management, health assessment, and operational control across space and ground segments.In test and launch preparation, AI-based methods aim to automate inspection, testing, and decision-making so that large launch vehicles can move from checkout to launch on hour-level timelines. When combined with return-to-launch-site capabilities, the system is intended to support re-launch within hours after vehicle recovery, rather than on current multi-day or longer cycles.During flight, AI-enabled autonomy would handle real-time fault diagnosis, mission replanning, and fault-tolerant control within seconds when anomalies occur. The study suggests that such capabilities could improve flight reliability by 1-2 orders of magnitude even when non-fatal faults arise, by rapidly detecting issues and adjusting guidance and control strategies without waiting for ground intervention.For post-flight maintenance, the authors propose continuous health monitoring and lifespan prediction for critical components to guide reuse decisions. Reliable and agile health assessment is intended to support maintenance strategies that balance safety and cost while optimizing the reusable lifetime of launch vehicles.The concept also extends beyond individual vehicles to the broader space-Earth system, where AI would support integrated situational awareness, flight operations scheduling, and coordinated control. This approach targets safe and efficient management of dense launch traffic and on-orbit activity as satellite constellations and debris continue to grow.The paper notes several challenges that must be addressed before AI can be widely deployed in launch transportation, including tight coupling between subsystems, uncertain failure modes, narrow flight safety corridors, limited sensor data, and the need to process large volumes of heterogeneous information in real time. The authors argue that, despite these obstacles, AI offers significant potential to improve design, manufacturing, and testing through multidisciplinary optimization and reduced reliance on physical testing, further supporting future high-cadence launch architectures.

EU 'strongly condemns' US sanctions against five Europeans.

Brussels, Belgium, Dec 24 (AFP)-The European Union and some member states reacted sharply Wednesday to US sanctions imposed on five European figures involved in regulating tech companies, including former European commissioner Thierry Breton.They were responding after the US State Department announced Tuesday it would deny visas to the five, accusing them of seeking to "coerce" American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.France, Germany and Spain also condemned the news from Washington.A statement from the Commission said: "We have requested clarifications from the US authorities and remain engaged. If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures."Our digital rules ensure a safe, fair, and level playing field for all companies, applied fairly and without discrimination."Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, often clashed with tycoons including Elon Musk over their obligations to follow EU rules.The State Department has described him as the "mastermind" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.- 'Extraterritorial censorship' -The DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and ensure researchers can carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content.But the act has become a bitter rallying point for US conservatives who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation the EU furiously denies."The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X Tuesday.French President Emmanuel Macron said on X: "France condemns the visa restriction measures taken by the United States against Thierry Breton and four other European figures.""These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty," he added, saying Europe would defend its "regulatory autonomy".German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote in a post on X Wednesday: "The DSA was democratically adopted by the EU for the EU -- it does not have extraterritorial effect."The visa bans, he added, "are not acceptable".Spain's foreign ministry also condemned the US measures, saying in a statement: "A safe digital space, free from illegal content and disinformation, is a fundamental value for democracy in Europe and a responsibility for everyone."- A 'witch hunt' -Breton himself drew parallels with McCarthyism, the communist witch hunt that shook the United States in the 1950s."Is McCarthy's witch hunt back?" he asked in a post on X, complete with a broomstick emoji."As a reminder: 90% of the European Parliament -- our democratically elected body -- and all 27 Member States unanimously voted for DSA," he added. "To our American friends: 'Censorship isn't where you think it is'."Breton, before his time as a commissioner, served as finance minister in France and led several major French technology companies. And even after quitting the commission in 2024 he continued to exchange barbs online with Musk.Stephane Sejourne, his successor in charge of the EU's internal market, said on X that "no sanction will silence the sovereignty of the European peoples".The visa ban also targeted British national Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that fights online misinformation; and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German organisation that the State Department said functions as a trusted flagger for enforcing the DSA.Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was also on the list.A British government spokesperson said: "While every country has the right to set its own visa rules, we support the laws and institutions which are working to keep the Internet free from the most harmful content."A statement from HateAid called the US government decision an "act of repression by an administration that increasingly disregards the rule of law and tries to silence its critics with all its might".A GDI spokesperson said the measures were "an egregious act of government censorship" as well as "immoral, unlawful, and un-American".adc/jj/rh

The European laws curbing big tech... and irking Trump.

Brussels, Belgium, Dec 24 (AFP) Dec 24, 2025-The European Union is back in the crosshairs of the Trump administration over its tech rules, which Washington denounced as an attempt to "coerce" American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.The US State Department said Tuesday it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, saying they "have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states -- in each case targeting American speakers and American companies".Trump has vowed to punish countries that seek to curb US big tech firms.Brussels has adopted a powerful legal arsenal aimed at reining in tech giants -- namely through its Digital Markets Act (DMA) which covers competition and the Digital Services Act (DSA) on content moderation.The EU has already slapped heavy fines on US behemoths including Apple, Meta and X under the new rules.Here is a look at the EU rules drawing Trump's ire:- Digital Services Act -Rolled out in stages since 2023, the mammoth Digital Services Act forces online firms to aggressively police content in the 27 countries of the European Union -- or face major fines.Aimed at protecting consumers from disinformation and hate speech as well as counterfeit or dangerous goods, it obliges platforms to swiftly remove illegal content or make it inaccessible.The law instructs platforms to suspend users who frequently share illegal content such as hate speech -- a provision framed as "censorship" by detractors across the Atlantic.Tougher rules apply to a designated list of "very large" platforms that include US giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Microsoft, Snapchat and X.These giants must assess dangers linked to their services regarding illegal content and privacy, set up internal risk mitigation systems, and give regulators access to their data to verify compliance.Violators can face fines of up to six percent of global turnover, and the EU has the power to ban offending platforms from Europe for repeated non-compliance.Elon Musk's X was hit with the first fine under the DSA on December 5, a 120-million-euro ($140 million) penalty for a lack of transparency over what the EU calls the deceptive design of its "blue checkmark" for supposedly verified accounts, and its failure to provide access to public data for researchers.- Digital Markets Act -Since March 2024, the world's biggest digital companies have faced strict EU rules intended to limit abuses linked to market dominance, favour the emergence of start-ups in Europe and improve options for consumers.Brussels has so far named seven so-called gatekeepers covered by the Digital Markets Act: Google's Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Microsoft and travel giant Booking.Gatekeepers can be fined for locking in customers to use pre-installed services, such as a web browser, mapping or weather information.The DMA has forced Google to overhaul its search display to avoid favouring its own services -- such as Google flights or shopping.It requires that users be able to choose what app stores they use -- without going via the dominant two players, Apple's App Store and Google Play.And it has forced Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment options directly to consumers -- outside of the App Store, hitting it with a fine of 500 million euros in April.The DMA has also imposed interoperability between messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger and competitors who request it.The EU fined Meta 200 million euros in April over its "pay or consent" system after it violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram.Failure to comply with the DMA can carry fines in the billions of dollars, reaching 20 percent of global turnover for repeat offenders.- RGPD and AI -The EU's data protection rules (RGPD) have also tripped up US tech giants, with Brussels issuing numerous fines since they came into force in 2018.The rules require firms to seek the consent of users to collect personal data and to explain what it will be used for, and gives users the right to ask firms to delete personal data.Fines for violations can go as high as 20 million euros, or four percent of a company's global turnover.The EU has also adopted its AI act which will gradually bring in guardrails on using artificial intelligence in high-risk areas such as security, health and civic rights. In the face of pressure from the industry, the EU is considering weakening the measures and delaying their implementation.

Chinese villagers win battle against forced cremation after protests.

Beijing, Dec 26 (AFP) Dec 26, 2025-Protests in rural China have thwarted government attempts to enforce cremation in place of traditional burials, demonstrators say, as economic pressures fuel unrest in poor areas.Such outbursts of dissent are rare in China, where authorities act swiftly to stamp out civil disobedience both on the ground and online, though monitors say localised protests appear to be increasing.Since November, videos have shown crowds in mountainous Guizhou province confronting officials who allegedly tried to force the cremation of dead people despite the strong local preference for burials.The Chinese government has promoted cremation for decades, arguing it preserves land, reduces costs and represents "modern" funeral practice.Cremation is commonplace in cities, but many rural communities view burials as an essential rite for the dead.The recent unrest in Guizhou's Mushan village, Xifeng county, began after officials tried to force the cremation of a recently buried resident, locals and relatives of the deceased told AFP."They would come every day to harass my family," one relative said, adding that drones monitored the site overhead.Videos -- many of them now apparently removed by China's online censors -- showed crowds of dozens of people guarding burial grounds from local officials who residents say wanted to exhume the body.- 'Extremely tough' -A 37-year-old Xifeng resident surnamed Shen told AFP he and many others had travelled to Mushan to support the family of the deceased in undertaking a burial.Authorities showed "disrespect for local customs", Shen said, describing their response, which included sending police officers, as "extremely tough".The family "worried that the body would be forcibly dug up and cremated", he said, adding their watch continued throughout the night.In another incident in November, crowds in Shanshuping, also in Xifeng, blocked a funeral home vehicle and forced three men identified as local officials to wear white funerary headbands and kneel in front of a coffin, videos posted by the protest-tracking X account, Yesterday Big Cat, showed.According to Shen, by the end of November, police blocked roads into Mushan, stopping supplies and supporters from entering.Local authorities were "forcibly preventing the incident from spreading and stopping the people from protecting their rights", he said.In December, videos showed similar scenes of villagers confronting officials during a funeral in Sangba village, around 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Mushan.It was unclear if the incidents were related.- Contentious practice -While exceptions exist for 10 mainly Muslim ethnic minorities, the state encourages cremation wherever local conditions allow.Huwy-min Liu, associate professor of anthropology at George Mason University, notes that for China's Han majority -- which makes up more than 90 percent of the population -- burial has ancient roots.Traditionally, body burials were "at the core of thinking about what being a person means for Han Chinese", she said.So when cremation is done "by force, and people aren't ready for it", opposition is likely, Liu said.In 2016, some elderly residents in Anqing, a city in Anhui province, reportedly killed themselves to ensure they were buried before a new cremation mandate.And a 2018 campaign against burials in Jiangxi province sparked outcry, including from state media, after videos showed officials destroying coffins.- Brief reprieve -The unrest in Guizhou came as rural protests have increased 75 percent this year, according to Kevin Slaten at the China Dissent Monitor (CDM), which tracks unrest in the country.The rise could be due to the sluggish economy fuelling problems like unemployment and rural land grabs by indebted local governments, he said.CDM also recorded 19 incidents linked to cremation policies this year, up from 11 in 2024.Protests aimed at local government, like the demonstrations in Mushan, were "not unusual", Slaten said, because China's political system provides citizens few other means to pursue grievances.The moves were "high risk, but might have some success", he said.After nearly a month-long standoff in Mushan, authorities have stayed away since the beginning of December, another relative of the deceased told AFP."Everything has now subsided," they said, confirming the body remains buried.While social media users hailed this as a victory, Xifeng's civil affairs bureau, responsible for funeral management, has regularly posted cremation rules on its WeChat account since the unrest began, citing provincial regulations dating back to 2003.And according to Liu, mandatory cremation will spread as China continues to urbanise, regardless of local resistance.sam/je/lga/lb/rsc

Maintaining the Gold Standard: The Future of Landsat Calibration and Validation by Amit Angal, Senior Engineer for GSFC News.

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 17, 2025-The Landsat Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) group helps uphold Landsat's reputation as the gold standard of satellite imagery. They ensure that the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) aboard Landsats 8 and 9 provide high-quality scientific measurements to users around the world. In 2025, the Cal/Val group contributed over 60 pages to the second edition of "Comprehensive Remote Sensing" (Kaita et. al, 2026), organizing content from NASA, USGS, academia, and industry scientists. Cal/Val support staff authored multiple sections, including a summary of results from Landsat 9 and of the evolution of spectral, spatial, and radiometric characteristics throughout the Landsat missions.The Cal/Val team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center works closely with the Landsat Flight Operations Team to plan weekly calibration activities to maintain the radiometric accuracy of Landsat products. In October 2025, a Landsat 9 anomaly occurred related to its solar array drive assembly (SADA) potentiometer. The spacecraft and instruments were placed in a safehold, pausing data collections. The Cal/Val team assessed the instruments after they recovered from this anomaly, including monitoring the instrument telemetry, detector gains, and noise performance. The team identified a mis-loaded detector map and updated the calibration of both the reflective and thermal emissive bands to ensure consistent, accurate data. After six days in the safehold, the instrument resumed normal operations.The NASA Cal/Val team supports their USGS counterparts with quarterly updates to the Calibration Parameter File (CPF) by providing inputs for relative and absolute gains as needed. This work involves collaborating with USGS scientists to ensure the consistency of the Combined Radiometric Model (CRaM). The CRaM approach integrates radiometric responses from on-board calibrators to enhance long-term calibration stability throughout mission lifetimes. The CRaM algorithm also provides an extensible framework for future satellite missions. A peer-reviewed publication detailing the CRaM's approach and future applications was submitted to Science of Remote Sensing.On January 14-16, 2025, the Landsat Cal/Val team organized and hosted the first semiannual Technical Information Meeting (TIM) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA and USGS scientists welcomed collaborating scientists from South Dakota State University (SDSU), the University of Arizona Tucson, and Rochester Institute of Technology for presentations and discussions on Landsat imaging performance, algorithms, and instrument health. On May 28-29, 2025, the Cal/Val team attended the second semiannual TIM at SDSU.The Landsat Cal/Val Team is validating the accuracy of the Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) v2.0 product, which combines data from multiple satellites to create a continuous record of Earth's surface reflectance measurements since 2013. The team is testing the dataset using RadCalNet, a global network of automated ground stations that provide precise, standardized measurements. The team compared measurements from four RadCalNet sites, including the well-established Railroad Valley Playa site in Nevada, against near-simultaneous HLS data. Their analysis shows the satellite and ground measurements agree within expected uncertainty ranges - a strong validation of the HLS product's accuracy.The team presented these findings at the CEOS IVOS calibration meeting in Tucson, Arizona (September 1-5, 2025) and is currently preparing a peer-reviewed article to share the complete results.Path Forward-The Cal/Val team applies lessons learned from Landsat missions to better plan calibration efforts for the next generation of instruments. Using instrument performance checklists from Landsat 8/9, the team is building a framework of in-house geometric and radiometric testing and extending algorithms for future Landsat instruments.The Landsat Cal/Val Team is actively tackling a critical challenge in solar irradiance modeling. While new hyperspectral sensor technologies have made it possible to create highly accurate solar models with much lower uncertainty, the remote sensing community still lacks agreed-upon methods for applying these advanced models. A dedicated subgroup within the Landsat Cal/Val Team is now developing and testing standardized approaches to bridge this gap. Their goal is to create clear recommendations and best practices that the scientific community can refine together and implement consistently.This work addresses a fundamental need - transforming promising hyperspectral solar modeling capabilities into practical, standardized tools that researchers can confidently use across different projects and applications.

MDA Space partners with Canada defence department and Telesat to deliver next generation military satcom by Clarence Oxford.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 22, 2025-MDA Space has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Canadian Department of National Defence and satellite operator Telesat to deliver advanced military satellite communications capabilities for the Canadian Armed Forces.The partnership will focus on providing secure, resilient, and high capacity satellite communications by integrating MDA Space spacecraft and systems expertise with Telesat's low Earth orbit satellite network. The effort is intended to support modern military operations that require reliable connectivity across land, sea, air, and space domains.Under the agreement, the partners will collaborate on the development and demonstration of next generation communications services that can deliver low latency data links, improved bandwidth, and enhanced resilience against interference and disruption. These capabilities are designed to support command and control, intelligence sharing, and mission coordination for deployed forces.The initiative aligns with Canada's broader defence modernization objectives, which emphasize secure digital infrastructure and interoperability with allied forces. By leveraging a proliferated low Earth orbit architecture, the partnership aims to provide communications services that are less vulnerable to single point failures than traditional geostationary systems.MDA Space brings experience in satellite platforms, payload integration, and ground systems, while Telesat contributes its Lightspeed low Earth orbit constellation and global network management capabilities. The Department of National Defence will guide operational requirements and integration with existing military communications infrastructure.The collaboration is expected to advance Canada's sovereign space capabilities while strengthening its ability to operate within allied and coalition environments that increasingly depend on space based communications.The partners stated that the work will also support future expansion of military satellite communications services, including potential integration with allied networks and the introduction of new data services as operational needs evolve.

HOMILY OF POPE LEO XIV-St Peter's Basilica-Thursday, 25 December 2025
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Dear brothers and sisters,“Break forth together into songs of joy” (Is 52:9), cries the messenger of peace to those standing amid the ruins of a city in desperate need of rebuilding. Though dusty and wounded, his feet are beautiful, writes the prophet (cf. Is 52:7), because, along rugged and weary roads they have carried a glad announcement in which everything is reborn. A new day has dawned! We too are part of this new beginning, even if few as yet believe it: peace is real, and it is already among us.“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (Jn 14:27). Thus Jesus spoke to the disciples, whose feet he had just washed. They were to be messengers of peace, sent to journey tirelessly through the world to reveal to all the “power to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). Today, therefore, we are not only surprised by the peace that is already here; we also celebrate the way in which this gift has been given to us. In this “how,” in fact, shines the divine difference that causes us to break forth into songs of joy. For this reason, throughout the world, Christmas is a feast par excellence of music and song.The prologue of the fourth Gospel is itself a hymn, with the Word of God as its protagonist. The “Word” is a word that acts. This is a hallmark of God’s Word: it is never without effect. Indeed, many of our own words also have effects, sometimes unintended. Yes, words “act.” Yet here is the surprise that the Christmas liturgy presents to us: the Word of God appears but cannot speak. He comes to us as a newborn baby who can only cry and babble. “The Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Though he will grow and one day learn the language of his people, for now he speaks only through his simple, fragile presence. “Flesh” is the radical nakedness that, in Bethlehem as on Calvary, remains even without words – just as so many brothers and sisters, stripped of their dignity and reduced to silence, have no words today. Human flesh asks for care; it pleads for welcome and recognition; it seeks hands capable of tenderness and minds willing to listen; it longs for words of kindness.“He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (Jn 1:11-12). This is the paradoxical way in which peace is already among us: God’s gift invites us in; it seeks to be welcomed and, in turn, inspires our own self-giving. God surprises us because he leaves himself open to rejection. He also captivates us because he draws us away from indifference.  Becoming children of God is a true power – one that remains buried so long as we keep our distance from the cry of children and the frailty of the elderly, from the helpless silence of victims and the resigned melancholy of those who do the evil they do not want.To remind us of the joy of the Gospel, our beloved Pope Francis wrote: “Sometimes we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s length. Yet Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness” (Evangelii Gaudium, 270).Dear brothers and sisters, since the Word was made flesh, humanity now speaks, crying out with God’s own desire to encounter us. The Word has pitched his fragile tent among us. How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold; and of those of so many other refugees and displaced persons on every continent; or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities? Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds. Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.When the fragility of others penetrates our hearts, when their pain shatters our rigid certainties, then peace has already begun. The peace of God is born from a newborn’s cry that is welcomed, from weeping that is heard. It is born amidst ruins that call out for new forms of solidarity. It is born from dreams and visions that, like prophecies, reverse the course of history. Yes, all this exists, because Jesus is the Logos, the Meaning, from which everything has taken shape. “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (Jn 1:3). This mystery speaks to us from the nativity scenes we have built; it opens our eyes to a world in which the Word still resonates, “many times and in many ways” (cf. Heb 1:1), and still calls us to conversion.To be sure, the Gospel does not hide the resistance of darkness to the light.  It describes the path of the Word of God as a rugged road, strewn with obstacles. To this day, authentic messengers of peace follow the Word along this path, which ultimately reaches hearts – restless hearts that often desire the very thing they resist. In this way, Christmas gives fresh impetus to a missionary Church, urging her onto the paths that the Word of God has traced for her. We do not serve a domineering Word – too many of those already resound everywhere – but a presence that inspires goodness, knows its efficacy and does not claim a monopoly over it.This is the way of mission: a path toward others. In God, every word is an addressed word; it is an invitation to conversation, a word never closed in on itself. This is the renewal that the Second Vatican Council promoted, which will bear fruit only if we walk together with the whole of humanity, never separating ourselves from it. The opposite is worldliness: to have oneself at the center. The movement of the Incarnation is a dynamics of conversation.  There will be peace when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other. In this, the Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church, the Star of Evangelization, the Queen of Peace. In her, we understand that nothing is born from the display of force, and everything is reborn from the silent power of life welcomed.

FBI director hints at bureau’s quiet expansion of global biometrics reach-Top law enforcement agency is scaling a long-running biometric screening architecture that operates far beyond U.S. borders out of public sight-Dec 26, 2025, 12:16 am EST    | Anthony Kimery

When Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel wrote this week on X that the bureau had “undertaken a project earlier this year to vastly expand our overseas biometrics program,” the statement appeared almost throwaway in tone.Embedded in that brief remark was the revelation that the bureau is accelerating a global biometric screening architecture that is designed to identify and disrupt individuals long before they reach U.S. territory.What Patel did not spell out is that this capability is neither experimental nor new. It is the product of a post-9/11 evolution that has steadily pushed U.S. identity surveillance outward, embedding FBI systems deep inside foreign law enforcement and security operations with limited public scrutiny.At the core of this effort is the bureau’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS), a high-tech hub in the hills of West Virginia that serves as the FBI’s biometric backbone.CJIS manages the Next Generation Identification system (NGI), the FBI’s massive biometric repository that contains hundreds of millions of fingerprint records, palm prints, facial images, and iris data.Although NGI is often discussed as a domestic criminal justice system supporting arrests and background checks, FBI policy documents have long made clear that it is built to serve international law enforcement and national security missions as well.To Patel’s point, after declining between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, funding for criminal justice services rebounded sharply in the bureau’s fiscal year 2026 current services baseline.The account rises by tens of millions of dollars year over year ($633 million in FY 2025 to just shy of $800 million in FY 2026), reversing the prior dip and signaling renewed investment in the CJIS enterprise.The FBI does not attribute that increase to any single program, but CJIS is the institutional home of NGI, international biometric exchange, and the technical infrastructure required to ingest, store, and search biometric data at scale.This structure obscures the growth of biometric programs from casual inspection. Unlike counterterrorism or cyber initiatives, which sometimes receive narrative callouts in budget justifications, CJIS funding is presented as a consolidated operational necessity.That consolidation allows biometric systems to expand through modernization, interoperability, and increased throughput without triggering a headline budget request explicitly labeled for overseas identity operations.Complicating the funding picture further is CJIS’s hybrid financing model. In addition to congressional appropriations, CJIS operations are partially supported through user fees paid by federal, state, and local agencies that rely on FBI-managed databases.For years, appropriators have explicitly directed the bureau to use those fee collections to support modernization and interoperability enhancements. As a result, biometric capability can expand through a mix of appropriated funds and fee-funded improvements, leaving little public trace of which specific upgrades support domestic law enforcement versus overseas or national-security use cases.NGI functions as a global identity resolution platform, one increasingly accessible to foreign partners under FBI-controlled terms.The overseas dimension of this work is typically described not as a single branded program, but rather as a set of interlocking initiatives. Chief among them is the foreign biometric exchange framework coordinated by CJIS’s Global Initiatives Unit which focuses on international criminal justice information exchange, managing programs like the Foreign Fingerprint Exchange.Through this unit, the FBI manages biometric data sharing relationships with partner governments and international organizations, allowing fingerprints and other identifiers collected abroad to be queried against U.S. holdings.FBI Legal Attaché offices stationed in U.S. embassies worldwide play a critical role, serving as operational bridges between local security services and U.S. systems. This structure allows biometric checks to occur far from U.S. borders, often in foreign airports, detention facilities, or investigative contexts controlled by partner governments.A key operational tool enabling this reach is the FBI’s Mobile Biometric Application (MBA) service. The MBA allows authorized FBI personnel to collect fingerprints and other biometric identifiers on FBI-issued mobile devices and transmit them securely back to NGI.Importantly, FBI privacy documentation explicitly states that the MBA is deployed outside the U.S., including in overseas operational environments and through Legal Attaché offices.Unlike many domestic law enforcement technologies, this tool was designed from the outset for forward deployment to allow the FBI to perform identity checks in real time in locations where traditional booking infrastructure does not exist.Interoperability further extends the program’s reach. FBI systems are configured to exchange biometric data under defined circumstances with systems operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD).In high-tempo operations, biometric data collected abroad can be checked not only against NGI but also against DHS and DoD holdings, including watchlists and encounter databases built from military, intelligence, and immigration records.In 2022, DHS offered partner nations access to its vast biometric databases in exchange for access to theirs.From a fiscal perspective, this period coincides with a broader federal investment in identity infrastructure across agencies. While DHS and the Department of Defense maintain their own biometric repositories, FBI systems are uniquely positioned as long-term record holders and matching authorities, particularly for fingerprints.A Department of Justice Inspector General report and a DoD’s Inspector General report have shown that during emergency evacuations and similar operations, CJIS personnel have worked alongside DoD and DHS counterparts to ingest and analyze biometric data at scale, supporting rapid determinations about who posed a potential risk.This architecture did not emerge overnight. Its lineage traces back to the post-9/11 transformation of U.S. counterterrorism, when biometrics moved from a niche forensic tool to a core method of identity control.As U.S. forces and intelligence agencies operated in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theaters, fingerprints became indispensable for distinguishing insurgents from civilians, tracking individuals across aliases, and linking people to prior encounters.Over time, those wartime practices hardened into permanent systems. What began as ad hoc deployments evolved into standardized databases and mobile tools, ultimately migrating into CJIS-managed infrastructure designed for continuous global use.Patel’s reference to a “vast expansion” suggests that the FBI is now scaling this existing framework rather than creating a new one.Such an expansion does not require new statutory authority. It can occur through operational decisions that involve the onboarding of additional partner countries, increasing data throughput, deploying more mobile collection devices, and tightening timelines so biometric checks can support pre-travel interdictions.In practical terms, expansion could mean more foreign services feeding fingerprints into FBI-accessible pipelines, faster turnaround for identity checks linked to airline or maritime travel, and deeper integration between biometric hits and downstream enforcement actions.The language Patel chose is telling. By emphasizing stopping “bad actors before they board a plane or vessel to the United States,” he aligned the FBI with a broader U.S. strategy of pushing border enforcement outward.Traditionally, immigration and customs screening occurred at ports of entry where at least some statutory and procedural protections applied. Overseas biometric screening shifts those decisions upstream, into foreign jurisdictions and partner systems that operate under very different legal standards.The result is an enforcement model in which identity determinations are made before travel begins, often beyond the reach of U.S. courts and with little transparency for those affected.These arrangements are rarely symmetrical. Partner governments typically supply raw biometric data while the FBI controls access to NGI and the analytic logic behind matching.A fingerprint submitted abroad may generate a simple “hit” or “no hit” response without revealing which dataset produced the match, how old the underlying record is, or whether conflicting information exists.For individuals flagged as potential threats, the consequences can be immediate and severe: denied boarding, detention by local authorities, or referral for further investigation.Yet avenues for redress are limited, particularly for non-U.S. persons who may never enter U.S. territory but nonetheless find themselves subject to U.S. biometric judgments.Oversight of this expanding system is diffuse at best. There is no single public document that lays out the full scope of the FBI’s overseas biometric activities, the countries involved, or the volume of data exchanged.Privacy Impact Assessments exist for NGI and the Mobile Biometric Application, but they are fragmented and do not present an end-to-end picture of how foreign-collected biometrics flow through U.S. systems.Congress has not held a focused debate on an “overseas biometric expansion,” in part because such growth often occurs through interagency agreements and classified operational decisions rather than legislation.Responsibility is further blurred by the system’s interagency nature. The FBI operates NGI through CJIS, DHS maintains its own biometric repositories for immigration and border screening, and DoD runs databases built from military and intelligence operations.Oversight is split among multiple congressional committees, none of which has a mandate to assess cumulative risk, accuracy rates, or long-term civil liberties implications across the entire biometric ecosystem.In that environment, expansion can proceed quietly, justified internally as efficiency or threat prevention with little external evaluation.Patel’s tweet briefly pulled back the curtain on this reality. It confirmed that overseas biometric identification is no longer a niche support function but a central pillar of U.S. security strategy.As biometric technologies become faster, more automated, and more deeply integrated into global travel systems, the FBI’s ability to identify and act on individuals abroad will only grow.The central policy question is no longer whether the bureau can extend its reach beyond U.S. borders, but rather how far that reach will extend, how errors will be addressed, and whether meaningful accountability will ever catch up to a system that now operates largely out of sight.Patel’s casual tweet on X to a “vast expansion” offered a rare glimpse into that process, revealing a surveillance architecture that now shapes who can travel, who is flagged as a risk, and who may never know why their journey ended before it began.

How DPI can accelerate Africa’s push for a single market-A conversation with Tech5 Co-founder, Chairman and CTO, Rahul Parthe, and CEO of ID30, Jaume Dubois-Dec 26, 2025, 2:24 pm EST    | Ayang Macdonald

Since 2019 when continental leaders launched the operational phase of the single market initiative under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), and then the official commencement of trade under the regime in January 2021, so much water has gone under the bridge. Efforts have since been deployed by individual counties, and even jointly, to accelerate steps toward the target for a single African market for goods and services in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.As clearly emphasized from the beginning, the vision of the AfCFTA has been to build a single market of around 1.7 billion people with about $6.7 trillion in spending by 2030, when trade transactions happen seamlessly across borders with less cost and time wasted.This lofty vision notwithstanding, that promise of fluid trade across borders still feels distant many years down the line, as trucks still queue for hours at checkpoints and traders shuffle stacks of paper documents to complete transactions.These challenges and bureaucratic bottlenecks probably largely account for why only about 15.4 percent of trade in Africa currently takes place among African countries, according to figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).Take the case of a trader in Kumasi, Ghana, who wants to sell her traditional Kente fabric to a shop owner in Yaounde, Cameroon. On paper, this should be pretty easy within the framework of the AfCFTA. In practice, however, the Kumasi business woman still faces a litany of paperwork, payment delays, and the challenge of proving who she is to a business person she’s never met.Now, consider a different scenario in which she is able to verify her identity digitally, receive instant cross-border payment within minutes, and maybe sign a digital contract which is recognized across the jurisdictions of the two countries, all from her smartphone.This is possible thanks to the digital interconnected rails of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). These are digital foundations of trust and connectivity that can move as quickly as the ideas and goods they hope to support.True it is that across the continent, in the last few years, governments have been rolling out digital identity systems, real-time payment platforms and data-sharing and interoperability systems at a pace that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.These digital tools are not just technical platforms; they are the connecting blocks that can turn AfCFTA’s ambition into palpable reality, says Jaume Dubois, digital development consultant who masters Africa’s digital identity landscape.DPI requires paradigm shift-But to get the right DPI in place, and in a manner that can truly facilitate cross-border trade, countries must be ready to change the paradigm. They must stop competing over systems, and start collaborating on frameworks, standards, and trust, according to Dubois.“I work with countries individually, and I already see how difficult it is within a single country to achieve interoperability between different government bodies and their data systems. Cross-border interoperability is even more challenging,” Dubois recognizes.“There are many countries that are clearly on the move. But DPI also represents a real paradigm change in mindset. It’s not just a technical upgrade or a simple digitalization exercise. There can be political barriers, infrastructure constraints, and in some cases low levels of literacy that make things very difficult,” he says.“In fact, if you want to succeed with DPI, you need excellent execution and the right context. This is where we see the gap between ambition and reality. Some countries are able to move faster, others more slowly.”To Dubois, the question is no longer whether DPI matters because it creates valuable data for governance and can allow countries to conduct trade with one another seamlessly. It is about how quickly DPI can be built, harmonized, and trusted, in order to unlock billions in efficiency gains, open up new pathways for digital and socio-economic inclusion, and enhance the chance to redefine Africa’s place in the global economy.Rahul Parthe, Co-founder, Chairman and CTO of Tech5, agrees with Dubois. “Africa has moved beyond the question of whether digital ID and wallets are needed. The real conversation now is about how fast they can be scaled and how well they are connected to the economy,” he states.“What we are seeing across the continent is a transition from isolated identity projects to platforms that can support financial services, public services, and private-sector innovation. Digital identities are becoming a key component of national digital ecosystems, not just a digital representation of an ID card.”Tech5 worked together with Visa to develop a digital wallet for Ethiopia dubbed FaydaPass, and both partners are also collaborating on a similar project for Djibouti. They also have a seven-year collaboration to support the development of DPI around the world.According to Parthe, the Ethiopia project comes with many lessons, and the first one is that digital wallets only succeed when they are part of a broader digital public infrastructure, not when they are launched as standalone applications.“Beyond secure storage, the wallet is an agent that the citizen uses to interact with the digital systems. Behind the scenes, it relies on the strong trust framework and governance that ensures the citizen’s security and privacy. Enabling use cases and payments is the real driving factor. For this project, Tech5 provided technology components for Digital Public Infrastructure,” Parthe says.“In Ethiopia, FaydaPass demonstrates how a government-backed wallet can act as a trusted delivery mechanism for both public and private services, starting with financial inclusion and expanding outward and setting a replicable model for the entire Africa. Inclusion is a core design principle in this project: agent-assisted access and biometric trust ensure participation even for those without smartphones,” he mentions.Dubois agrees that digital wallets are very important because they are largely based on recognized standards. “Digital credentials can always be verified. You can trust the signature or go back to the backend to check the information. Compared to paper documents or physical cards, which can be forged, digital wallets significantly increase trust. Another key advantage is that information can be updated. People’s situations change, and trust depends on having fresh information,” he states.Digital ID interoperability, trust-In West Africa, where the idea of a common interoperable digital ID has been abundantly discussed, including at the 2025 West Africa Economic Summit (WAES), Dubois says he has been involved in the process and sees how countries operate.“I’m working on two ECOWAS projects with large consulting teams. One focuses on an e-ID roadmap, and the other on a common ECOWAS framework for identity interoperability. What I observe is that the positions of different countries vary widely. Their levels of progress are different, and they do not all want to share data, nor do they approach identity systems in the same way,” he tells Biometric Update.He mentions that the different levels of progress notwithstanding, there is one point of convergence and that’s about standards.“Standards are what matter. They are proven and global. The big change today with decentralized standards such as W3C standards is that they are sector-agnostic and country-agnostic. Before, we had travel standards, national ID standards, banking standards, trade standards. Now, with W3C, as long as you trust the issuer of a credential, you can use it across contexts,” he explains.As Dubois puts it, that convergence on digital ID and DPI standards of interoperability and trust among countries is indispensable.“For example, if you look at what is happening in West Africa with ECOWAS and the AES countries, which are trying to diverge politically, you still see convergence technically. Their new identity cards are ICAO-compliant cards. That already allows for interoperability,” Dubois says.“Many of these countries are also implementing MOSIP as a digital public good. Using the same open-source platform helps create convergence and makes interoperability easier. At the same time, alongside identity frameworks, we are seeing the emergence of regional payment frameworks. Interoperability, digital wallets, W3C verifiable credentials. These are all opportunities to share and exchange trusted information,” the ID30 CEO posits.Speaking further on implementing the right interoperability safeguards for decentralized ID, Dubois expresses concerns about what he fears could be “a new generation of digital vendor lock-in that mirrors the restrictive physical ID contracts of the past.”To navigate this challenge, he suggests that decentralized ID providers must strictly adhere to the four critical layers of interoperability which are Legal, Organizational, Semantic, and Technical, as outlined in the World Bank ID4D Interoperability Framework practitioner’s guide.“This framework ensures that Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) remains open and flexible, but decentralized ID (digital wallets and related technologies as W3C VC) are only ensuring the last one (technical) on the shelves, leaving the three others to be covered, with a risk of creating new proprietary silos. By adopting that four layers approach, Africa can safeguard against a new generation of vendor lock-in that could ruin the long-term benefits of an integrated single market,” says Dubois.A trust framework, he adds, is also important given that cross-border trade is fundamentally based on trust. “Trust in identities, trust in data, and trust that someone signing a contract will pay for goods or services. Building that trust is not just about technology; it is also regulatory and institutional. That layer is extremely important,” he emphasizes.As Parthe puts it, DPI interoperability is more of a question of shared trust and governance, than a technical challenge as it is often framed.“Technically, interoperability is achievable. The bigger challenge is agreeing on common assurance levels, rules for reliance, liability, and data protection. Without those, no country is comfortable relying on another country’s digital identity for trade, payments, or access to services,” he says.“The solution is to think in terms of progressive interoperability. Start with clear economic use cases like cross-border payments, logistics, customs and build trust incrementally. When countries see real value and low risk, cooperation accelerates. Interoperability then becomes an enabler of trade, not an abstract compliance exercise,” the Tech5 Co-founder, Chairman and CTO adds.Building continental capacity-On another note, Dubois also speaks about challenges African countries face trying to maintain sovereignty and autonomy over their systems, and how the projects eventually end up running. He says because of this focus on sovereignty, countries sometimes fail to fully leverage local, regional, and continental capacities.“Take MOSIP as an example. Several African countries now have deep knowledge of MOSIP. Ethiopia has significant expertize, Togo is developing capacity, and more countries are following. Yet there is still no strong regional community around this knowledge,” he states.“MOSIP itself could help create such a community, but ultimately it is the responsibility of African countries to pool their efforts. They could, for example, create a regional branch or shared source-code governance and leverage this collective capacity.”“Maintaining DPI requires a large number of highly specialized professionals. You cannot keep all of them busy full-time within a single country. By rationalizing efforts, sharing competencies, and creating regional talent pools, DPI becomes more sustainable and affordable,” he advises.Sharing his thoughts on sovereignty and capacity, Parthe states: “Equally important are skills and capacity development. Interoperability is sustainable only when countries fully understand and control their own infrastructure. That confidence is what enables trust between systems and, ultimately, between economies.“African countries need shared principles: common trust frameworks, interoperable standards, and mutual recognition, while retaining sovereignty over their national systems. Regional initiatives and continental platforms play a critical role in creating that alignment and reducing fragmentation,” he suggests.Lessons from elsewhere, immediate priorities-According to Dubois, there are many initiatives that aim to encourage collaboration between countries which African nations can draw a leaf from.He cites the example of MERCOSUR, a regional trade bloc in Latin America which countries in the region have leveraged to strengthen free trade, regional integration, and democratic cooperation.“I believe the ASEAN model is more relevant. ASEAN focuses on building bilateral interoperability based on specific, clearly defined use cases. Countries know what they want to achieve and work together pragmatically.”“In terms of technology, decentralized models such as digital wallets, verifiable credentials, and assurance levels like those proposed in Europe, are very promising. These standards help allocate levels of trust depending on the sensitivity of the use case. Over time, this can support real business transactions and cross-border trade,” he adds.Parthe has similar thoughts. He believes cross-border DPI in Africa will not succeed through a single, centralized model. “It will succeed through alignment, not uniformity. As mentioned earlier, the evolution must be use case-led without which they will just become technical projects. There should be an effort in advertising success stories and making case studies when some of these use cases succeed. The beauty is that once the infrastructure is in place, building use cases becomes much easier.”To Parthe, some of the immediate actions which African countries can take in terms of building proper DPI is to make sure they facilitate mutual recognition of digital identity at defined assurance levels, operationalize trade digitization and not just digitalization, ensure interoperable payments and easy cross-border transfers which enable faster trade, an then ensure inclusion by design.“If these elements come together, digital public infrastructure can become one of the most powerful tools Africa can use to unlock intra-African trade and build a truly continental digital economy,” he asserts.Dubois chimes in to say that because digitalization always risks creating exclusion and widening the digital divide, the right choices must be made. He cites the example of their DPI work in Madagascar saying inclusion was their first objective. The country has been implementing a digital transformation initiative with funding of more than $140 million from the World Bank.“The enrolment system was designed to be offline-first, meaning it does not depend on connectivity. Data can even be transported manually. We also designed mobile enrolment kits. Instead of bulky suitcase kits, we developed lightweight backpack kits with solar panels and tablets. This was driven by the country’s needs, not by what vendors were offering,” he notes.“Finally, the cards are QR-based and can even be printed on paper. We included low-cost security features that allow face verification without any device. That is what inclusive design looks like, starting from the realities of the population.”

More collaboration needed to secure biometrics and digital ID in 2026-Snapshot of forecasts and trends from technology suppliers-Dec 23, 2025, 1:33 pm EST    | Chris Burt

There is a general consensus on what the dominant trends in identity are as 2025 draws to a close. How they will play out markets like identity verification, biometric authentication and ID issuance is less certain, but those participating in them have some ideas.More AI, and AI agents in particular, more sophisticated fraud and the deprecation of more legacy multi-factor authentication systems are popular predictions. The deepfake problem will get worse before it gets better, most seem in agreement.Reality Defender Co-founder and CEO Ben Colman says AI agents are partially to blame. On a more optimistic note, however, he also sees deepfake detection and cross-industry collaboration ultimately gaining ground.Reusable identity and evolved IDV-In digital identity, Trinsic sees mobile driver’s license (mDL) verification finally taking off during 2026, particularly in the U.S. and Australia, but is worried about the digital IDs becoming politicized. The company also expects Apple Wallet to extend support for digital IDs into Canada, though mDLs will be around evenly split between OEM wallets and “jurisdiction-specific” ones. The UK public will continue to show a preference for reusable digital IDs provided by the private sector. In emerging markets, a billion people could become eligible for wallet-based digital IDs.A potential brake on the progress of digital ID adoption, however, could come from insistence on “privacy maximalism.”Au10tix CEO Yair Tal is more optimistic on this front, seeing verifiable credentials, when paired with continuous risk intelligence, resolving “the privacy paradox.”Jumio is likewise watching the balance between privacy and biometric authentication closely, as it too predicts reusable identity to become the standard. The introduction of age restrictions for social media is just the beginning of a larger shift, Jumio predicts, with identity verification requirements for social platforms as part of a push to reduce security risks by decentralizing customer data.“As reusable identity becomes the standard, the market will split into two groups: those with a reusable identity network at global critical mass and everyone else,” says Jumio CPO and CTO Bala Kumar. “The first group will deliver frictionless experiences, detect fraud patterns that only emerge across ecosystems, and materially reduce operational costs. Everyone else will be stuck re-verifying users repeatedly — paying more, converting less, and missing the signals that matter.”Adaptive, orchestrated identity verification that can handle emerging fraud tactics is also a growing trend, according to Regula’s “What’s Reshaping IDV in Banking & Fintech: 2026 Trends and Predictions” report, as AI supercharges fraud and IDV goes from a regulatory requirement to a competitive priority.Daon echoes above predictions about digital wallet and AI agent adoption scaling and deepfakes becoming a central concern. The company also identifies two trends in identity verification: biometric verification moving toward device edges and employment verification transitioning from pre-hire screening to a continuous process.Verifiable credentials becoming standard for employment screening is among a fascinating set of 10 predictions from iProov includes several specific incidents the company is anticipating. The company also expects more airport automation.Storm watch 2026-Forecasts for growth in digital identity adoption and stronger systems for biometric authentication are tempered somewhat by worries about talent, fragmentation and political will.On the negative side, iProov forecasts a third-party synthetic identity causing a national power grid disruption, the discovery of a huge “sleeper cell” of previously undetected accounts belonging to synthetic identities.SecureAuth CEO Joseph Dhanapal is concerned that a likely shortage of digital identity experts will hinder organizations trying to make the most of their identity and access management (IAM) tools.3DiVi warns that the facial recognition market is fragmenting, and different countries or geopolitical blocs are working on their identity architecture. The result could be the emergence of regional biometrics hubs in 2026.BioCatch Director of Global Advisory for EMEA Jonathan Frost worries that fraud strategies in the UK and EU are losing momentum, and “2026 risks becoming another transitional year. Criminal innovation is accelerating, and policymakers must decide whether to keep reacting or try to get ahead of the curve.”The tide can only be turned on fraud next year, Frost says, with a coordinated response across sectors.Whether to thwart deepfakes in particular, reduce sophisticated fraud more generally or build up digital ID networks, it is clear that digital identity and biometrics vendors are hoping for more collaboration in the year ahead.

Credence ID joins Identis Group to bridge physical and digital identity-Dec 23, 2025, 3:33 pm EST    | Chris Burt

Italy-based Identis Group has made a strategic investment in Credence ID to enable its expansion into high-growth digital identity markets with a larger global footprint. It also gives the company what it describes in the announcement as “a uniquely comprehensive ‘Physical-to-Digital’ identity platform.”The deal that brought together Matica Fintec and Credence ID completes Identis’ identity portfolio, the company says. The foundations of Identis also include Panini, UbiQ and NBS.“This collaboration aligns perfectly with our vision of identity as an ecosystem rather than a standalone product,” says Sandro Camilleri, CEO of Identis. “Working with Credence ID enables us to accelerate access to new technologies while delivering robust, end-to-end identity solutions that respond to local requirements and global standards.”Integrating Credence ID’s technologies for digital credentials like mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs), digital identity wallets compliant with global standards and biometric mobile identity with Identis’ trusted ID issuance infrastructure and international reach makes the new parent’s positioning unique, according to the announcement. The combination applies across the entire identity lifecycle, from secure issuance through real-time verification.“This is a watershed moment for Credence ID,” says Bruce Hanson, President and CEO of Credence ID. “For years, we have focused on building the most secure and field-proven mobile identity solutions in the market. By joining forces with Identis, we gain the financial strength and global distribution network needed to bring our ‘Verify with Credence’ platform to every corner of the globe. This isn’t just an investment: it’s a force multiplier for our mission to make digital identity secure and accessible for everyone.”

Lawmakers warn DHS against sweeping expansion of immigration biometrics-Dec 22, 2025, 3:46 pm EST    | Anthony Kimery

On Friday, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke of New York’s 9th Congressional District galvanized bipartisan concern about the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposed rule to dramatically expand biometric data collection in immigration and naturalization procedures.Clarke and 49 members of the House wrote to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow urging the agency to withdraw or substantially revise the proposal.The lawmakers outlined deep reservations about the breadth, lack of safeguards, and civil rights implications of what DHS wants to do, arguing that it risked undermining public trust and essential protections for millions of individuals affected by U.S. immigration law.“The proposed rule raises serious questions about privacy, data security, and the potential for discriminatory or unauthorized surveillance,” the lawmakers wrote, adding that “without significant changes, this proposed rule will potentially damage American citizens’ and children’s privacy and risk unauthorized disclosure of their fingerprints, eye scans, and DNA.”The rule in question, published in November as an advance notice of proposed rulemaking by DHS, seeks to overhaul longstanding limits on biometric data collection.Under current regulations, DHS collects fingerprints, photographs, and other identifying information in specific immigration contexts, primarily to verify identity and conduct security checks.The new rule would remove age restrictions and expand the collection and use of biometric identifiers for a far broader group, including individuals merely associated with immigration benefit requests, irrespective of whether they are U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents.“The rule would allow DHS to require biometric submissions from anyone associated with an immigration benefit request – including U.S. citizens, children, and lawful permanent residents serving as petitioners, sponsors, beneficiaries, or dependents – with no age limitations and broad permission to store, share, and reuse this data,” the lawmakers’ letter says.The noted that these “biometric identifiers are permanent and cannot be changed if compromised, making the risks of misuse or breach uniquely severe, irreversible, and lifelong.”Proposed biometric modalities would extend beyond fingerprints and facial imagery to include additional traits such as ocular scans, voice prints, and potentially DNA or DNA test results, with continuous vetting envisioned throughout an individual’s stay until citizenship is achieved.Public comments on the rule are open through early January, at which point DHS will review feedback before finalizing any changes.In their letter, the lawmakers raised a series of pointed concerns about how the rule as drafted failed to safeguard civil rights, privacy, and cybersecurity. They pointed to reporting highlighting DHS’s increasing reliance on facial recognition and third-party data systems that, critics say, lack sufficient transparency or oversight.Those reporting efforts, the lawmakers argued, reveal disproportionate impacts on communities of color and immigrant populations and underscore the dangers of expanding surveillance infrastructure without clear guardrails.The letter also referenced recent high-profile breaches of biometric systems – including hacks of databases tied to companies used by foreign law enforcement and unauthorized access to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data from facial recognition pilot programs – as evidence of the risks posed by broad biometric collection absent robust protections.Central to the legislators’ critique was the absence in the proposed rule of detailed mechanisms to ensure adequate protection of collected data.The letter argues that DHS’s proposal lacks meaningful information on how expansive biometric datasets would be secured against cyber threats, how long data would be retained, who could access the information, how independent auditing would function, or how transparency would be provided to individuals whose biometric information is stored and used.Without such safeguards, the lawmakers warn, public trust in immigration administration could erode, and civil rights protections which are foundational to fair and humane governance could be jeopardized.The letter framed biometric technologies not merely as technical tools but as systems with profound implications for privacy, equality, and societal trust.The lawmakers urged DHS to adopt a framework that genuinely protects individuals – both U.S. citizens and noncitizens – rather than exposing them to “unnecessary and unmitigated risk.They stressed that biometric data collection and reuse must be constrained by clear civil liberties protections, transparent oversight, and rigorous cybersecurity measures if it is to be justified in the context of immigration and naturalization.Broader debates over DHS’s use of biometric and surveillance technologies have been intensifying as federal agencies increasingly integrate digital identification and data analytics into security and immigration operations.Civil liberties advocates and some policy scholars argue that expansive biometric systems can create chilling effects on privacy and freedom of expression, especially for marginalized and immigrant communities, and that the federal government’s analysis of such proposals often underestimates the societal costs involved.Critics also contend that such systems may deter lawful immigration by imposing onerous requirements and could contribute to heightened surveillance of U.S. citizens through their associations with immigrants.These concerns resonate with the points raised by Clarke and her colleagues in their critique of the current DHS proposal.As DHS evaluates public comments on the proposed rule, the conversation among lawmakers, privacy advocates, and immigrant rights groups is likely to continue focusing on how to balance the agency’s stated objectives – identity verification, national security, and administrative efficiency – with robust protections for individual rights.

AI impersonation attacks against US officials growing more sophisticated, FBI warns-Dec 23, 2025, 10:19 am EST    | Anthony Kimery

Federal authorities are warning that a years-long impersonation campaign targeting senior U.S. officials has not only continued, but that is has also grown more sophisticated, increasingly blending AI–generated voice and text with classic social engineering techniques to deceive victims into revealing sensitive information, contacts, and in some cases money.The message from federal authorities is blunt: in an era of AI-enabled deception, authenticity can no longer be assumed, even when the voice on the other end sounds exactly right.The latest alert, issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on December 19, updates a public service announcement that was first released in May and reflects activity dating back to at least 2023 when malicious actors began posing as high-ranking government figures to exploit trust and familiarity.According to the updated alert, attackers have impersonated senior state government officials, White House and Cabinet-level leaders, and members of Congress. Targets have included not only policy professionals and business figures, but also family members and personal acquaintances of officials.The common thread across cases is an attempt to leverage the authority and credibility of well-known names to lower skepticism at the outset of a conversation.The campaign typically begins with a text message or phone call that appears to come from a current or former senior official. In many cases, the outreach is tailored, referencing issues the recipient is known to work on, such as trade, security policy, or diplomatic affairs.After a brief exchange, the attacker almost immediately urges the victim to continue the conversation on an encrypted messaging platform such as Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp.Once the conversation moves off traditional SMS or email and into a private messaging app, the interaction often becomes more elaborate and more dangerous.Within these encrypted channels, impersonators may continue discussing policy topics to maintain credibility, propose meetings with senior U.S. leaders, or suggest that the target is under consideration for a corporate board appointment or other prestigious role.In parallel, some actors escalate to direct requests.Victims have been asked to provide one-time authentication codes that would allow the attacker to synchronize a device with the victim’s contact list, supply personally identifiable information and scans of sensitive documents such as passports, wire funds overseas under fabricated justifications, or introduce the impersonator to other trusted associates.The FBI stressed that these requests are not random. Access to a victim’s contact list can allow attackers to rapidly expand the operation by mapping personal and professional networks and launching secondary impersonations that appear even more convincing because they reference real relationships.In several cases, the alerts noted, attackers were able to exploit permissions granted to messaging applications, which often request access to contact data during setup or updates.The advisory underscores that the use of AI has sharply reduced traditional warning signs. Attackers are now employing AI-generated voice messages that closely match the cadence, tone, and accent of real officials, a technique commonly referred to as voice cloning.Text messages may incorporate publicly available photographs, realistic signatures, and writing styles drawn from speeches, interviews, or prior correspondence. Visual cues are no longer reliable indicators, and even experienced professionals can struggle to distinguish authentic communications from synthetic ones.This warning builds on a string of high-profile incidents that have made clear how disruptive AI-enabled impersonation can be.This past summer, U.S. officials disclosed an operation in which attackers used AI voice and text tools to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reaching out to foreign ministers and senior domestic officials in an apparent attempt to gain access to sensitive information or accounts.Earlier in the year, an AI impersonator posed as a senior White House official and contacted governors, senators, and business leaders after exploiting access to a compromised contact list. In each case, the realism of the communications delayed detection and increased the potential damage.Federal investigators, including the FBI, have emphasized that these campaigns are not limited to financial fraud. While some victims have been pressured to transfer funds, others were targeted for intelligence gathering purposes, influence operations, or access to protected systems and networks.The blending of generative AI with traditional social engineering marks a shift toward what security officials describe as intelligence-grade deception, capable of undermining trust in official communications themselves.The FBI’s latest alert urges recipients to treat any unexpected message purporting to come from a senior official with caution, regardless of how convincing it appears. Verification should be conducted through independently obtained contact information rather than replying directly to the message.Officials also warn against clicking links, opening attachments, or downloading applications sent by unverified contacts, and stress that no legitimate government official will ask for authentication codes, sensitive documents, or emergency financial transfers through messaging apps.More broadly, the alert reflects growing concern inside the national security community that AI-driven impersonation threatens the basic assumptions underpinning diplomatic, political, and corporate communications.As voice synthesis and text generation continue to improve, attackers no longer need to breach secure networks to cause harm. Instead, they can exploit human trust, publicly available data, and the informal communication habits that have become commonplace at senior levels of government.The updated warning concludes with a call for heightened vigilance and cultural change. Two-factor authentication should be enabled and never bypassed, contact permissions tightly controlled, and verification norms reinforced even among familiar colleagues.Some officials now recommend establishing shared secret phrases within families and teams to confirm identity in sensitive situations.

Will the EUDI Wallet be ready in 2026? Experts say probably not-Dec 26, 2025, 1:43 pm EST    | Masha Borak

The European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet is set to become a reality by the end of 2026 but with just 12 months remaining before the deadline, it is still unclear whether the project will be ready on time.The Netherlands has already signaled that they are unlikely to meet the deadline, while Malta believes that the product will be available but not fully functional. Other countries, like Bulgaria, have not even begun work on a state-provided digital ID wallet.Instead of ubiquitous availability, the EU could instead face a “staggered rollout” and “uneven readiness” of digital ID wallets, experts involved in the work told Biometric Update.​While some countries will meet the requirement with a basic, compliant wallet, others may still be in extended pilot or phased rollout modes, says Richard Esplin, head of product at Dock Labs.​“The 2026 deadline was always a stretch,” says Esplin “There is a growing consensus across the ecosystem that ‘availability’ will not mean the same thing everywhere.”​According to the rules, EU member states are required to provide national digital ID apps by the end of 2026, while regulated businesses, such as banks and public services, will have to accept them for strong authentication by mid-2027.​In Bulgaria, it is currently unclear whether the wallet will be available within the timeframe, according to George Dimitrov, Chairman of the Board of Directors at electronic identity scheme provider Evrotrust. While companies such as Evrotrust have already prepared to deliver functional EUDI Wallets, the government has not begun work because of a lack of specific national legislation.“Differences in readiness across Member States are expected,” says Dimitrov. “Countries are starting from very different baselines.”​While some EU countries already operate mature national eID schemes with broad adoption, others are still consolidating core identity infrastructure or attribute sources such as population, education, or business registries, he adds.​Integrating new digital ID technology with existing systems also adds complexity, notes Irene Hernandez, CEO at Gataca. The company has tested an EUDI Wallet for universities in cooperation with the Spanish Royal Mint, the national entity responsible for the EUDI Wallet.Wallet makers are facing a “major” technical and operational task of ensuring compatibility between Spain’s legacy identity systems, such as Cl@ve and the national eID, and the EUDI Wallet.But national conditions are not the only reason for delays. The EU is yet to issue all of the implementing acts, technical standards, certification and assurance requirements.“The main cause of potential delays is that standards are still evolving,” says Hernandez.​Work is still ongoing on the Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF), the basis for the reference implementation of the project, with new versions of specifications still being released. Wallet developers and governments are working against changing specifications for verifiable credentials, selective disclosure, wallet-to-verifier interactions, and cross-border trust models. This makes it difficult to finalize products, according to Dock’s Esplin.Another source of delay is certifications: Wallets must meet very high security standards, and the certification processes themselves are complex and time-consuming. National certification schemes and accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) are also not yet fully finalized, creating a structural bottleneck.“We are building against a framework that is still being completed at the EU level, which is why we see 2027 not as a single finish line, but as the point at which wallets become available and continue to evolve,” says Dimitrov.​Not every country is pessimistic about the 2026 deadline. Germany is one country that aims to do well on its promise and deliver a robust first version of the wallet in the next 12 months.The country has adopted a phased rollout, creating a solid foundation, while further functionalities are expected to be added in the future, according to the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND).“The German approach is deliberately incremental, with an initial release focused on core capabilities such as personal identification data (PID) and electronic attestations of attributes (EAA),” a SPRIND spokesperson says.According to projections from Signicat, by December 2026, there could be somewhere around 30 to 50 wallets across Europe, although they won’t be fully interoperable.​“We expect much to be revealed over the course of 2026 in terms of specific roadmaps for releases and policies on engaging in the various ecosystems, both for citizens (the end-users), relying parties and service providers,” Esther Makaay, vice president of digital identity at Signicat, told Biometric Update over email.Until then, wallet makers still have many obstacles to overcome.Interviewees all agreed that 12 months can be enough to deliver a credible, production-ready EUDI Wallet. But the wallet must be interoperable and work cross-border, requiring constant work on standards and testing.The EU has already completed four Large Scale Pilots (LSPs) for the wallets and has recently launched new ones – run by consortia APTITUDE and WE BUILD. Outside of the pilots, however, there is still no process to test their integration with real issuers and relying parties.“Large-scale pilots have been essential for uncovering issues, but turning pilot results into production-grade systems takes time,” explains Dmitrov.The wallet will also only be useful as the credentials in it and ensuring high assurance for attributes such as identity, education, or professional qualifications will require coordination across institutions. Wallet makers such as Evrotrust must work with governments to support the wallets’ launch on time, while recognizing that certain decisions and timelines ultimately sit outside their direct control, he adds.In the end, governments may decide to leverage  private wallet providers, such as Gataca, to accelerate deployment, notes Hernandez.“Full implementation of all use cases and broad service integration may continue into 2027 and beyond,” she says.

Vietnam has big digitalization and biometrics ambitions for 2026-Dec 26, 2025, 1:42 pm EST    | Lu-Hai Liang.

Vietnam’s government is pushing hard for digital transformation, seeing digital identity and governance as central to its plans and has set its sights on a unified digital economy, sensing value in the copious amounts of data digital systems produce.The country is estimated to have around 101 million people and its economy is one of the most dynamic in Southeast Asia — a region that is one of the most rapidly developing in the world. Vietnam has seen the steady buildout of ICT infrastructure and a fast‑growing mobile subscriber base. From 2022 to 2024, the digital economy gained strong momentum as broadband coverage deepened and 5G deployment advanced.Vietnam wants all citizens served on digital platforms and has made 2026 the official target. The government wants inclusive development and it’s targeting double-digit GDP growth from 2026 to 2030. There are moves to position the national digital ID app VNeID as a central gateway to a data-driven economy.The Ministry of Public Security is looking to transform VNeID from a digital ID and verification tool into a national digital super‑platform. In this vision, VNeID would become a single access point for interactions between citizen, business and state. It would serve as the central hub of Vietnam’s digital ecosystem and a foundational layer of national digital public infrastructure (DPI).It’s ambitious but not unprecedented. In China, Tencent’s WeChat is ubiquitous. The super app does messaging, file sharing, video calls, payments with WeChat Pay, travel bookings and mini programs, among much else. Alibaba’s Alipay is also common, as embedded in daily life as smartphones have become. While WeChat and Alipay are not national digital IDs per se, they have become intimately tied to Chinese people’s digital identities in a broader sense.Biometrics vendors eye the market-Next Biometrics received a substantial production order for its fingerprint sensors from a system integrator in Vietnam, Biometric Update reported a few weeks ago.The sensors will be integrated into a biometric authentication system for digital payments, the company said in the announcement. It will also be deployed for other digital Know Your Customer (eKYC) transactions.Next Biometrics’ Joshua Chiu observed the pace of change. “The Vietnamese ID market is primed for rapid growth as government policy continues to drive demand for trusted authentication and KYC processes,” the senior vice president, and head of sales for Southeast Asia, said.In November, BIO‑key announced a strategic partnership with SAVIS Group, a Vietnamese company known for its work in digital signing, identity verification, electronic authentication and cybersecurity. The agreement positions both companies to tap into Vietnam’s rapidly expanding digital transformation and cybersecurity landscape.The partnership brings together BIO‑key’s portfolio of IAM and biometric authentication solutions with SAVIS Group’s experience in digital trust infrastructure and enterprise technology deployment. The two firms will jointly deliver scalable identity management to government bodies, enterprises and institutions across Vietnam.Alex Rocha, managing director of BIO-key International, commented on the country’s appeal. “Our SAVIS Group partnership is an exciting opportunity to combine our advanced IAM and biometric technologies with strong local expertise and a trusted presence in one of the most attractive Asian markets.”In September, HID Global spoke on the country’s strategic importance for the company’s regional expansion. The market is seeing rising demand for secure, privacy-first identity solutions across sectors.“Vietnam was chosen because of its rapid growth across sectors like transportation, real estate and manufacturing where many global brands have set up operations,” Christian Marcos, HID’s regional sales manager for the Philippines and Vietnam, told Vietnam Investment Review.HID’s parent company, Assa Abloy, runs two factories in Vietnam while the country is emerging as a hub for innovation, Marcos said, pointing out VinFast’s EV taxi service and government support for IT and engineering. “This dynamic environment makes Vietnam an ideal market for HID to introduce trusted identity and secure access solutions while meeting international security standards,” he explained.At the Tech4Life 2025 exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City, HID unveiled the Amico reader, designed for multifactor authentication using face biometrics, cards, mobile credentials, QR codes or PINs.This doesn’t mean local companies are being complacent. Far from it. Cake Digital Bank became the first digital-only bank in Southeast Asia to pass iBeta’s test for detecting sophisticated face biometric presentation attacks under the ISO standard.Vietnam’s Cake Digital Bank and its Cake by VPBank Face Authen — a face biometric and anti-spoofing solution — was found to be in compliance with a Level 2 test based on the ISO 30107-3 Biometric Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) Standard. Cake is one of only five banking, financial services and insurance organizations in Vietnam with liveness detection confirmed compliant with ISO 30107-3 for face biometrics to iBeta’s Level 2.“Achieving the highest international ISO standard for facial biometrics with a solution developed entirely in-house by our Vietnamese engineering team is a remarkable milestone for Cake,” said Nguyễn Hữu Quang, CEO of Cake Digital Bank.Developed in-house by Cake’s team of engineers, Cake Face Authen uses Passive Liveness Detection. Currently, more than 15 million people in Vietnam use Cake Face Authen and the technology aligns with stringent security requirements from the State Bank of Vietnam, which since July 2024 has mandated financial institutions to implement end-to-end biometric verification for digital transactions.Biometrics shift into the everyday from transport to banking-Vietnam is rapidly integrating biometrics and digital identity into everyday life, rolling out identity‑based systems across public transport, air travel and banking.The country’s capital, the northern city of Hanoi became the first city in Vietnam to deploy a metro system that integrates biometric identity verification with digital ID credentials and open‑loop payments (interoperable payment acceptance).AI‑enabled cameras at fare gates perform biometric matching against digital ID data, allowing passengers to pass through without presenting physical documents. Hanoi Vice Chairman Truong Viet Dung said the open‑loop EMV system allows passengers to tap in using QR codes, bank cards, Apple Pay or e‑wallets. Priority groups can authenticate with their chip‑based ID cards or VNeID through the Hanoi Metro app.In the air, Vietnam has begun requiring most air travellers to complete ticketing, check‑in, security screening and boarding through biometric verification linked to VNeID. Under a regulation in Prime Ministerial Directive No. 24 (issued September 13) passengers must log into the VNeID app with a level‑2 verified account before initiating online check-in.In finance, Vietnam is making biometric verification mandatory for opening bank accounts and issuing payment cards from January 5, 2026, under a regulation issued by the State Bank of Vietnam aimed at tightening security in electronic transactions.The requirement is part of Circular 45/2025/TT-NHNN, which amends existing rules on bank card activities and introduces some of the most sweeping identity verification measures the country has implemented in its financial sector. The rules require banks to conduct face‑to‑face identity checks and verify biometric data, such as facial information, before issuing cards to individual customers. The same requirement applies to the legal representatives of corporate clients.Cards will only be activated for electronic transactions once biometric authentication has been completed. Banks may verify customers using biometric data stored in the chip‑based Citizen Identity Card, authentication via VNeID, or previously collected biometric data that matches official records.Future potential opportunities-Visit Vietnam could be the country’s transition toward a fully digital tourism ecosystem. Developed with government backing and built in partnership with VNAT, the National Data Association, Sun Group and Visa, the platform combines a unified national data infrastructure with an AI‑powered travel assistant.It gives authorities real‑time visibility into visitor flows and operational risks, while offering travelers a single interface for planning, booking and navigating their journeys. The shift reflects Vietnam’s broader digital transformation agenda and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s ambition to build a centralized, interoperable tourism database.The platform’s design emphasizes identity‑linked services, seamless transactions and real‑time movement data. As Visit Vietnam evolves the need for secure frictionless authentication across bookings, payments and mobility services is likely to grow. The government is pushing for “accurate, sufficient, clean, live, unified, and shared” data across the sector, reports the state-owned People’s Army Newspaper.Across sectors, cybersecurity, anti-fraud and biometrics will be needed, particularly as Southeast Asia is a hotspot for scams and fraud. Vietnam’s largest mobile network operators have signed up to fight online fraud and enhance identity verification and security through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.Earlier this year, at the GSMA Digital Summit Hanoi government and industry leaders warned that the country’s digital growth is being threatened by scams. “Vietnam stands at a defining moment in its digital journey,” said GSMA’s head of Asia Pacific Julian Gorman.It is relatively early days and the Vietnamese market, like those of its fellow ASEAN members like Indonesia and Thailand, is fast-moving and developing quickly. In 2026, Biometric Update will be closely following developments, taking the temperature, and reporting the latest moves across the country and region.

METEORS OR ASTEROIDS OR SATELLITES FALLING STARS HIT THE EARTH DURING THE 7 YR TRIB.

AMOS 5:7,18-20-6:1
7  (WOE 1) Ye who turn judgment to wormwood,(POISON) and leave (CAST) off righteousness in the earth,(GROUND)
18 (Woe 2) unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
AMOS 6:1
1 (Woe 3) to them that are at ease in Zion,(JERUSALEM) and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!(WOE 3 IS THIRD WAVE OF WW3 WHEN ALL NATIONS MARCH TO JERUSALEM FOR BATTLE)

JOB 9:6-9 (COMPARE TO REV 6:12-17)
6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place,(QUAKE) and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not;(THE SUN BLACKEND) and sealeth up the stars.(WHICH NOW FALL FROM HEAVEN)
8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.(THESE SAME MEORITES MIGHT POISON ALL THE EARTHS WATERS ALSO)
9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.(AND IT IS INTERESTING GOD THRONE IS IN THE NORTH.AND FROM THE SOUTH THESE METEORITES WILL BE FALLING ON EARTH)

COULD THE FALLING STARS-PLANETS BE PLEIADES AND ORION-JUST MY THOUGHT
Historically, the Pleiades were seen as a group of seven stars – its brightest stars: Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta and Pleione are visible to the keen naked eye. However modern observations show that this most famous of open clusters is comprised of several hundred stars wreathed in intricately structured nebulosity.As the Pleiades cluster is close to the ecliptic (within 4°) in the constellation of Taurus it is a spring and autumnal 'seasonal' object in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Being close to the ecliptic, there are frequent occultations of the cluster with the Moon and planets. To our superstitious ancestors these were, no doubt, portentious events. Likewise, the apparent annual motion of the cluster would have been highly significant. The heliacal (near dawn) rising of the Pleiades in spring in the northern hemisphere has from ancient times augured the opening of the seafaring and farming season: while its dawn autumnal setting marked the season's end.And also Spring and fall are Bird migration seasons in Israel.It would not surprise me if Israeli wars are not fought around the time of the Pleiades-Orion happenings.The Bible contains three direct references to the Pleiades in Job 9:9 and 38:31, and Amos 5:8, and a single indirect reference in the New Testament. This latter passage (Revelation 1:16) describes a vision of the coming of the Messiah – who holds, in his right hand, seven stars.Well since the meteors do hit the earth in the last 6 months of the 7 year tribulation period.I believe.Jesus' return will be only 6 months or so from happening.So this Pieades (meteorites) earth hit would be warning the world that Jesus is about to return to earth literally.
AMOS 5:8 (FORGET ABOUT PLANET X-NIBURU)(HERES THE FALLING STARS HERE)
8 Seek him (GOD) that maketh the seven stars (plieades) and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death (darkness) into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

JOB 38:31-33
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? (BIND AND LOOSE THESE STARS)(GOD GIVES US A HINT-THESE ARE THE ONES THAT FALL TO EARTH)
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? (GOD TELLS US-I CAN THROW THESE STARS TO EARTH-I AM IN CONTROL OF ALL THINGS)

MATTHEW 24:29-31
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days (NEAR THE END OF THE TRIB)(IS THE ASTEROID HIT) shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,(AS A RESULT OF THE METEORITES OR ASTEROID HITTING THE GROUND-IT SHORTENS THE DAYLIGHT HOURS BECAUSE THE EARTHS GROUND STIRS UP DUST TO THE HEAVENS AND DARKENS THE SUN AND MOON.I BELIEVE WHEN THIS ASTEROID OR METEOR HITS THE EARTH-WE WILL ONLY HAVE 8 HOURS OF SUNLIGHT A DAY-SINCE THE BIBLE SAYS 1/3 OF THE SUN AND MOON WILL BE DARKENED) and the stars (METEORITES) shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.(JESUS AND THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS COME BACK TO EARTH AT THE END OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD)(AND SINCE ITS RIGHT NEAR THE END OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD-THE ASTEROID HITS.-THEN JESUS RETURNS TO EARTH)(SO WE KNOW NOW FOR SURE THAT THE ASTEROID HITS THE EARTH IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD)(JUST BEFORE JESUS RETURNS TO EARTH)
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.(HERES THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS FROM 7 YEARS EARLIAR-BEING GATHERED TOGETHER TO RETURN BACK TO EARTH WITH JESUS)(FOR US TO LIVE ON EARTH FOREVER WITH JESUS)

REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars (METORITES) of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come;(LAST HALF OF THE 7 YR TRIB) and who shall be able to stand?

REVELATION 8:8-13
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star (ASTEROID) from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star (ASTEROID) is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars;(LITERAL STARS) so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.(HERES WERE THE ASTEROID HIT BLOCKS THE SUN AND MOON-SHORTENING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS TO 8 HOURS A DAY ONLY)
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe,(1) woe,(2) woe,(3) to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!

MATTHEW 24:29 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO-http://biblehub.com/text/matthew/24-29.htm
REVELATION 6:13 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO.-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/6-13.htm
REVELATION 8:10 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO.-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/8-10.htm
REVELATION 8:11 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/8-11.htm
REVELATION 8:12 STARS MEAN LITERAL STARS NOT ASTEROIDS-http://biblehub.com/greek/792.htm
JOB 9:7 STAR MEANS - LITERAL STARS NOT ASTEROIDS.-http://biblehub.com/text/job/9-7.htm - http://biblehub.com/hebrew/strongs_3556.htm
AMOS 5:8 STAR MEANS - LITERAL STARS NOT ASTEROIDS-http://biblehub.com/text/amos/5-8.htm

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

EZEKIEL 32:6-9
6  I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9  I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator and baby murderers by abortion) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION-HEAVENLY OBJECTS) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

3 dead in catastrophic Christmas flooding in California; East Coast braces for heavy snow-An atmospheric river that dumped rain on California most of the week was easing Friday as New York City and other parts of the Northeast could get nearly a foot of snow.California community comes together after widespread damage from flooding and mudslides-Dec. 26, 2025, 8:56 AM EST / Updated Dec. 27, 2025, 12:13 AM EST-By Rebecca Cohen, Kathryn Prociv, Kate Reilly and Phil Helsel

Three people were dead in California by Friday after major storms swept through the state, causing days of rain and flooding over the Christmas holiday — while in New York City, a storm was forecast to dump around a half-foot of snow.While the atmospheric river that sent flooding rain over California was winding down Friday, parts of the Northeast got around 7 inches of snow by that evening and more was possible.The three weather-related deaths in California occurred Sunday through Wednesday, officials said.Sacramento County sheriff's deputy James Caravallo died in a single-vehicle crash on his way to work on at a correctional center on Christmas Eve, the sheriff's office said. NBC affiliate KCRA of Sacramento reported roads were wet and officials believe the crash was weather-related.In San Diego, Roberto Ruiz, died Wednesday after a large tree branch fell on him, causing him to go into cardiac arrest, NBC San Diego reported, citing San Diego Fire-Rescue.The storms in California were brought on by an "atmospheric river," which was winding down Friday, the National Weather Service said. Flood watches remained for the Los Angeles region through Saturday because of runoff fears, it said.Wrightwood, California, a community in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles, got nearly a foot of rain. One resident who lives in the area said he was shocked to wake up to a “river running through our property.” The floods reached homes and buried cars in mud.Air and boat crews spent the holiday rescuing California residents trapped in high floodwaters, pulling some off of roofs.In San Bernardino County, fire crews “saw some very dire situations,” including, in some cases, those who were trapped in their homes by up to 5 feet of mud and water, county fire department spokesman Christopher Prater said.There may have been a weak tornado on Christmas Day in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, the National Weather Service said. The agency said Friday that it was sending a storm survey team to verify.A section of the Northeast including most of Pennsylvania and New York, as well as Connecticut and Massachusetts were under winter weather advisories or winter storm warnings Friday evening.The winter weather in the Northeast and the West Coast on Friday contributed to more than 6,000 delayed flights and 1,600 cancellations into or out of the U.S., according to flight tracking website FlightAware. New York City area airports led in cancellations.Heavy snowfall-The Northeast just missed a white Christmas, but the snow forecast beginning Friday could be a doozy.New York City was expected to get up 11 inches of snow by 1 p.m. Saturday, the city’s emergency management agency said.The highest amounts were likely along the northern part of the New York City and New Jersey metro areas, the National Weather Service said."Do not travel unless you absolutely have to," NYC Emergency Management warned Friday evening.By around 10 p.m. Friday, 7 inches of snow had fallen in New Fairfield, Connecticut. New York City’s famed Central Park had a dusting of 0.3 inches, according to spotter reports to the National Weather Service.Parts of Suffolk County on Long Island had between 4 and 5 inches of snow, it said.The heaviest snow was expected to occur between 6 p.m. on Friday and 1 a.m. on Saturday, with snowfall rates reaching 1 to 2 inches per hour.The Lower Hudson Valley, southern Connecticut and parts of northeast New Jersey will see 7 to 11 inches of snow, with higher local amounts possible.New York City, Long Island and much of northeast New Jersey are forecast to get 5 to 9 inches, with local areas getting up to 11 inches.The storm will create difficult travel conditions, including snow-covered roads and reduced visibility. Isolated fallen tree branches and power outages are also possible, according to the weather service.Upstate New York will get some of the heaviest snowfall, with more than 10 inches forecast in isolated locations.New York City could get 4 to 8 inches on Friday night, with snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. Travel conditions could be dangerous in the New York metro area, with the highest snowfall rates expected between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.Central Park is forecast receive its first snowfall of greater than 4 inches since January 2022.Significant icing and a wintry mix is also expected across northern Virginia and Pennsylvania.Saturday morning will bring lighter snow showers and icy roads, but the storm should stop by the end of the day.Rebecca Cohen-Rebecca Cohen is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.Kathryn Prociv is a senior meteorologist and producer for NBC News. Kate Reilly is a news associate with NBC News.Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.Dana Griffin and Shaquille Brewster contributed.

California rain may ease, but more mudslides, flooding possible, forecasters say-Updated on: December 26, 2025 / 7:57 PM EST / CBS/AP

A strong storm system that brought relentless winds, rain and snowfall to California this week was expected to ease Friday, but there was still a risk of high surf along the coast, flash flooding near Los Angeles and avalanches in the Sierra Nevada.Waves near the San Francisco Bay Area could reach up to 25 feet Friday, parts of Southern California were at risk of flooding, and avalanches could hit the Lake Tahoe area, officials warned. Residents were told to be ready to evacuate the mountain town of Wrightwood, about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, because of mudslides."It's not going to take a whole lot to create some hazards on the highways," Mike Wofford, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Los Angeles, told The Associated Press. "Still not quite out of the woods, but for the most part, the worst is over." Atmospheric rivers carried massive plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. The storms were blamed for at least two deaths earlier in the week. Some 70,000 homes and businesses had no power overnight, according to Find Energy.Firefighters rescued over 100 people Thursday in L.A. County, with one helicopter pulling 21 people from stranded cars, officials said. The LAPD also responded to more than 350 traffic collisions, the L.A. mayor's office said.The system brought the wettest Christmas season to downtown L.A. in 54 years, the weather service said. The area recorded 3 inches of rain in three days, while the mountain areas saw up to 12 inches, Wofford said.In Wrightwood, a 5,000-resident mountain town, the roads turned into rivers when relentless rains came down Wednesday, residents said. On Friday, cars were still buried up to their windows in rocks, debris and thick mud.With more rain on the way, more than 150 firefighters were stationed in the area, said San Bernardino County Fire spokesman Shawn Millerick."We're ready," he said. "It's all hands on deck at this point."In Northern California, two Mammoth Mountain ski patrollers were caught in an avalanche while doing avalanche mitigation work Friday morning, before the resort opened. One of the patrollers sustained serious injuries, and the other ski patroller was being evaluated for possible broken bones, according to resort officials. A falling tree killed a San Diego man Wednesday, fire officials confirmed to the CBS affiliate there, KFMB-TV. Farther north, a Sacramento sheriff's deputy died in what appeared to be a weather-related crash.Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under a flood watch until Friday afternoon, and wind and flood advisories were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches, with even more in the mountains, Wofford said.Gov. Gavin Newsom declared emergencies in six counties to allow state assistance.The state deployed resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.

More rain still expected for Southern California after brunt of winter storm passes through By Updated on: December 25, 2025 / 8:02 AM PST / CBS LA

Even though the brunt of the winter storm has passed through Southern California, more rain is still in the forecast for Thursday and Friday.The National Weather Service said two more impulses will move through the area with the potential for flooding in the burn scar areas.The first wave of rain is expected to move through Los Angeles County through the afternoon on Thursday and is forecasted to bring about an inch to 1.5 inches of rain to coastal communities and the valleys and 2 to 4 inches to the mountains. The NWS said Los Angeles County will likely only receive half of those values as the storm will weaken as it moves through Ventura County.The second wave will move through the region by about noon on Friday and will have a greater impact on LA County. The area can expect to receive about an inch to and 1.5 inches along the coast and valleys.Weather officials remained concerned with the possibility of flooding due to the saturation caused by Wednesday's rainfall. An NWS flood warning will remain in effect until 10 a.m. for most of Southern California and a flood watch will remain through Friday afternoon. "The flooding threat will be exacerbated today and Friday due to the super saturation of all of the area," the NWS said. "Any rainfall that occurs will immediately turn to run off."Evacuation orders and warnings-Several evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted throughout Southern California.Evacuation warnings remain in place for the Palisades, Eaton, Franklin, Kenneth, Agua, Owen, and Agua fire areas until 11 p.m. on Thursday.There is also a mandatory evacuation order for residents in the Riverwood neighborhood due to the partial release of the Tujunga Dam by L.A. County Public Works personnel."If you decide to stay in your home in an evacuated area ... it could be difficult to leave once the storm begins," said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna during a news conference Tuesday.storm, Pineapple Express, weather, rain, climate, Santa Monica-Storm impacts-On Wednesday, the storm slammed parts of Southern California, causing significant flooding and dangerous conditions.Streets and highways in Wrightwood were completely flooded. Several drivers got stuck trying to pass through the high waters.The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department had to issue an evacuation warning. Officials asked residents to avoid the area and to stay vigilant of mudslides and rushing waters.A Care and Reception Center was established for evacuees at Serrano High School, 9292 Sheep Creek Rd., Phelan.Mayor Karen Bass' office said the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) deployed teams to three river rescue incidents, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to more than 100 traffic accidents, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) crews had to work to restore power to more than 7,700 customers.On Wednesday morning, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park and the LA Zoo announced they would be closed on Christmas Eve due to the weather. Heavy rainfall in Altadena-Officials declare state of emergency-On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for several Southern California counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino, in response to the late winter storm. The emergency proclamation will allow for the rapid mobilization of state resources to support local governments under the California Disaster Assistance Act and the deployment of the California National Guard, if needed. The proclamation also allows Caltrans to seek federal assistance to repair damaged roads and highways.Bass also issued her own Declaration of Local Emergency. She urged all residents to stay home, remain vigilant and avoid unnecessary travel during the storm. "Throughout the duration of this holiday storm, firefighters, police officers, public works crews, traffic engineers, recreation and parks staff, and the entire City family have worked to address impacts to keep Angelenos safe – from swift water rescues to removing downed trees and coordinating safe evacuations," Bass said. "We are making every resource and tool available to help facilitate this continued response effort, including a declaration of a local emergency that I signed to ensure that City teams have the required resources in the days ahead."

Thousands without power, trees down across southwestern Ontario, after freezing rain event-Hydro crews responded to power outages across the region Boxing Day-Angela McInnes · CBC News · Posted: Dec 26, 2025 3:26 PM EST | Last Updated: December 26

A freezing rain event that's left roads and trees across southwestern Ontario coated in ice has also seen emergency crews overwhelmed with calls for help from people without power and snapped trees.The rain pelted roads and walkways starting Friday morning from Kitchener to Windsor, with police warning drivers to avoid all unnecessary travel.By the evening, hydro crews were responding to thousands of outages across the region, including in London where trees had fallen onto people's homes and were blocking roads.At one point London Hydro said more than 70 outages were active, with that number fluctuating, and the utility company turning to the fire department for help."We're incredibly swamped with lots of trees down on electrical wires, on homes, crushing roofs and so on, mixed in with other calls," said London Fire Department Platoon Chief Gary Mosburger. "But we're managing right now."Emergency crews had also been called to help with vehicles stranded in the ditch due to icy road conditions, and rollover accidents near Highway 401. Police had not reported any serious accidents, but urged people to only travel if absolutely necessary.Meantime, the City of London said it had received approximately 140 service requests related to tree damage, but it's likely that figure didn't fully reflect the extent of the damage."While safety concerns continue to be addressed, timelines for full clean-up remain difficult to determine," a city spokesperson wrote in a statement."Significant work is still underway, and further assessments are required in parks and natural areas, where damage is also extensive. Complete restoration efforts, including debris removal, are expected to take several weeks to complete."Outages continue into the evening-According to hydro outage maps, work crews were working across the region Friday night, with London especially hard hit from the city's eastern edge to Lambeth in the west."It's the wind and the ice," said Kathryn Arnot, spokesperson for London Hydro. "We've had some trees wind up on power lines."She was not able to say when power would be restored, but it helped that the freezing rain had ended."That does make it easier for our crews to get a good handle on where the problem areas are without any other additional ones coming up," she said.Environment Canada was forecasting that temperatures across southwestern Ontario would remain below freezing until Sunday. 

Snow, ice pellets and fog — oh my. Large swaths of Canada feel winter's icy wrath-Yukon's been in deep freeze for some time. Now, other parts of the country getting hit with winter weather-CBC News · Posted: Dec 26, 2025 1:38 PM EST | 

For the most part, the weather hasn't been, well, so frightful in much of Canada.But things changed drastically post-Christmas as people in large swaths of the country woke up on Boxing Day Friday to some treacherous weather: heavy snowfall, ice pellets, fog and pretty much everything else Mother Nature could throw in.Central Yukon is still in a deep freeze, but it's recovering somewhat after facing possible rolling blackouts due to an Arctic ridge of high pressure. Environment Canada says light winds combined with bitterly cold temperatures will produce extreme wind chill values ranging from –50 to –55 C, but temperature and wind chill values were expected to improve through Friday.Then there's Newfoundland and Labrador. If you're thinking of heading out to capitalize on Boxing Day finds, you may want to rethink that. Areas facing winter storm warnings run from Cartwright to Lodge Bay, with heavy snow combined with strong winds resulting in blizzard-like conditions, according to Environment Canada.It's so cold in the Yukon, some places have been –50 C. Here's what's causing the extreme cold snap-Total snowfall was estimated at 30 to 50 centimetres, with the highest amounts inland, and maximum northerly wind gusts of 110 to 120 km/h were expected to end later Friday afternoon."Avoid non-essential travel and outdoor activities," the national weather agency warned. "Protect yourself from wind, cold and disorientation by staying sheltered, indoors or with your vehicle."Click on this interactive map on the red, orange and yellow areas to get more information on the weather alerts across Canada:Ontario hasn't been left out of the wild winter weather.Heavy fog set in throughout various parts of the province, with southern and southwestern Ontario, as well as Niagara Region, experiencing some messy — and potentially dangerous — elements.In eastern Ontario, the Picton and Napanee areas could be hit with up to 10 centimetres of snow on Boxing Day afternoon, Environment Canada said, with wind gusts as high as 50 km/h. Another two to four centimetres could fall on Friday evening before tapering off after midnight.Environment Canada's special weather statement said Waterloo Region was expected to get five to eight centimetres of snowfall, with five to 10 centimetres anticipated for Guelph. Ice pellets mixed in with snow and freezing rain were also on the weather menu.People in Windsor, London and the Hamilton area were also warned to watch out for weather that could create slippery road conditions.In the Greater Toronto Area, significant snowfall made for some Hallmark movie-like scenery but sometimes ugly conditions for outings.Environment Canada urged allowing extra time for travel for those heading out, citing "challenging" travel and reduced visibility "at times." Snowfall was expected to continue into Friday evening, with accumulations of eight to 12 centimetres.Despite the snowfall warning, it didn't stop some people from going about their regular business, like driving or taking Fido on that dog walk.A streetcar makes its way down a snow-covered road.Streetcars make their way through a Boxing Day snowstorm in Toronto on Friday. Environment Canada is urging those heading out to allow extra time for travel. Snowfall is expected to continue into Friday evening, with accumulations of eight to 12 centimetres. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)-With files from CBC regions.

Purple haze in the sky over Delta, B.C., sets off awe, curiosity and questions-Puzzling light show in the sky is due to LED lights used by greenhouses, according to local grower-Nono Shen · The Canadian Press · Posted: Dec 24, 2025 1:23 PM EST | 

On the darkest nights of winter when the cloud cover is just right, there's a purple haze above parts of Metro Vancouver and it has nothing to do with Christmas or Jimi Hendrix.Cathy Latremouille said she looked outside her Crescent Beach home in Surrey on Friday night to see what looked like a "great big candy floss sky.""I've never seen anything like it before," said Latremouille. "It's a good thing I don't face south, I would have thought the United States was going up in flames."The magenta glow was a puzzle."I don't think the aliens were landing, or anything," chuckled Latremouille, a retired broadcaster.She asked the question as she posted a photo on Facebook and most agreed that the glow was coming from the greenhouses across Boundary Bay, located south of her home.Greenhouse produce grower Windset Farms said in a statement that there are a number of greenhouses in the Lower Mainland that use the colourful LED lights, but their greenhouses are equipped with light abatement screens to keep the light inside when its dark."This is something we implemented, but it is not mandatory in the area," the statement says.Delta Mayor George Harvie has had a long history with the greenhouse lights in his community.As the city manager more than two decades ago, Harvie said he reached out to the provincial government about the beacon of light the greenhouses throw out at night but was rebuffed.Harvie said some people may not be happy with the lights but they are legal, and the COVID pandemic has taught them that local food production is extremely critical."Be honest with you, we don't get many complaints," said Harvie.Ian Paton, the B.C. Conservative member of the legislature for Delta-South, said in an interview that he is starting to get complaints from some residents in the area.Paton's family has a farm next to the Boundary Bay Airport in Delta, B.C., and said one of the greenhouses that emits the purple light is just a few kilometres away."We see it every night," he said.Other greenhouses in the area are also lighting up the sky, but those lights are more natural, he said in an interview."You know, they could put some kind of shade on top of their windows so that the light stays inside the greenhouse instead of going outside," Paton said.The Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says on its website that the full spectrum LED can combine red, blue and amber lighting to encourage plants to make their own nutrients.The department says the LEDs not only increase plant yield, but can significantly improve nutritional quality.The colourful lights didn't bother Latremouille."We've got all the houses lit up with beautiful lights around here, too. I thought, oh, that's just one more," she said.She admits to some worry about the strange lights, adding it was good to get an explanation on social media."Anything's possible nowadays. I just kind of, you know, you get to be my age. It's all weird," she said. 

It's so cold in the Yukon, some places have been –50 C. Here's what's causing the extreme cold snap-The temperatures are the result of a high-pressure system, meteorologist says-Shaki Sutharsan · CBC News · Posted: Dec 24, 2025 10:46 PM EST |

The Yukon has been grappling with an extreme cold weather system that's pushing the power grid to the brink because it can't keep up with demand.Communities like Faro, about 360 kilometres northeast of Whitehorse, and Carmacks, around 180 kilometres north of the territory's capital, have been experiencing lows of –50 C since Monday.Temperatures started to dip below –30 C earlier this month, and there's been no relief since. Here's what's causing this inclement weather to stick around in the Yukon.What’s behind these extreme temperatures?"What we’re seeing in Yukon is an Arctic ridge of high pressure," Environment Canada meteorologist Tanmay Rane told CBC News. "What happens is, once a cold front passes, all the cold air behind it follows the cold front.”Since cold air tends to sink because it’s heavier than warm air, it sinks down to the surface, pushing the air surrounding it out of the way. "When it does that, when [cold air] clears the air underneath it, air from aloft comes down to fill that pocket," Rane said. Air that’s aloft, or higher above the surface, is colder than the air that’s at the surface, so as it fills the pocket left behind, it creates cooler conditions, Rane said.Alongside that sinking effect, skies have remained clear. Without clouds in the sky to absorb heat radiated from the Earth’s surface and send it back down, Rane said the heat escapes to space overnight, preventing temperatures from rising."So night after night, Yukon is getting colder and colder because of the clear skies, and a high-pressure system like that is pretty stagnant."How low have temperatures gotten? Environment Canada issued yellow weather alerts to 11 Yukon communities, including Whitehorse. Here’s how low temperatures have gotten within the past 24 hours:Whitehorse: –44 C-Pelly Ranch (Fort Selkirk): –48 C-Faro: –50 C-Dawson: –45 C-Carmacks: –49 C--Environment Canada's weather alert issued for Whitehorse has advised that extreme wind chill values can make temperatures feel as low as –50 C, but some moderation of temperatures are expected going into Christmas Day.What effect does wind chill have on the cold? Windier conditions tend to make you feel colder, according to Environment Canada. Wind chill values are different from recorded temperatures, because they can’t be measured by a thermometer. Rather, they’re measured by how cold your skin would feel in the wind. Wind chill values can tell you how cold you’ll feel outside, which can be different from the recorded temperature. It’s included in weather forecasting when wind speed is expected to be 5 km/h or more and when recorded temperatures are zero or below. Being exposed wind chill values between –48 C to –54 C comes with a severe risk of frostbite. According to Environment Canada, any exposed skin could freeze in less than five minutes and sometimes faster if winds stay consistently above 50 km/h.How long could it last? Although the cold isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, Rane said temperatures could gradually start to rise by next week."I don't think it would get any colder," Rane said. "This Arctic high that's sitting over Yukon right now will slowly sink down into northern BC and then make its way out." Once that happens, Rane said he expects that clouds will start coming in, leading to a slow increase in temperature.Why could there be blackouts?Yukon’s power grid is nearing capacity as electricity usage surged due to the cold. Demand reached a peak on Monday with 123 megawatts of power being pulled from a system that can accommodate 140 megawatts.People sitting behind desks in a legislative assembly.Ted Laking, the minister responsible for Yukon Energy, said Tuesday that rolling blackouts may be enacted to alleviate the demand, though he added that Whitehorse hasn’t reached that stage yet. If rolling blackouts were to occur, they would happen by neighbourhood. To prepare, Laking has urged Yukon residents to compile emergency kits that would last 72 hours with supplies like flashlights, emergency blankets and food.

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.

US MONEY WILL FLOW INTO VENEZUALA OIL AFTER MADURO IS ASSASSINATED BY NOT AMERICA BUT BY SOME DRUG CARTEL. TRUMP FROM HIJACKING THESE OIL SHIPS LATELY WILL BRING VENEZUALA AND CUBA TO ITS KNEES. OIL WISE.AND ALSO A SMALL METERITE WILL HIT A BUILDING IN SOME EUROPEAN CITY. AND JOE BIDEN WILL DIE SHORTLY INTO 2026-CRAIG HAMILTON PARKER-UK DEMON PREDICTOR. 

Organisms redesign themselves as temperatures rise-Israeli scientists say tiny organisms can revamp their own RNA to survive extreme heat-Using a novel method, Weizmann Institute researchers map 16 types of simultaneous changes in dozens of samples; findings can lead to improved RNA-based medical technologies-By Diana Bletter-26 December 2025, 9:58 pm

Israeli scientists have made a new breakthrough in the study of tiny, resilient organisms called hyperthermophiles — which have learned to survive in some of the earth’s hottest places, such as volcanic craters and underwater hot springs — by developing the first comprehensive, large-scale method to examine the organisms.Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science show in a new peer-reviewed study that, contrary to popular scientific belief, the hyperthermophiles — whose name derives from the Latin for “lovers of extreme heat” — can modify their own RNA molecules at the core of their ribosomes, where cells manufacture protein, to adapt to extreme heat and survive.“The hyperthermophile completely changes its chemical composition depending on different environments,” said Prof. Schraga Schwartz of Weizmann’s Molecular Genetics Department, speaking to The Times of Israel.The research, led by Dr. Miguel A. Garcia-Campos, “goes a bit against the notion that fundamental processes inside the ribosome are fixed,” Schwartz said.Participating in the study, which recently appeared in the prestigious journal Cell, were researchers from the National Cancer Institute, Jagiellonian University in Poland, and Tokyo Metropolitan University.The findings may enable further development of RNA-based medical and industrial technologies.A document of molecular biology-The ribosome is one of the earliest and most basic biological structures. It is transcribed into RNA, Schwartz explained.“It’s the basic document of molecular biology,” he said. “Plants, humans, butterflies, bacteria — every single one of us has a full code for the RNA to build the proteins needed to allow them to maintain themselves and to design and proliferate.”In the 1950s, scientists discovered that ribosomal RNA, or rRNA, undergoes “chemical editing,” meaning small modifications are added after the RNA is made. These changes, however, were hard to measure, so researchers could not gauge how much they varied between species or whether they changed when the environment changed.“For many years, it was widely assumed, mainly based on research in yeast and humans, that RNA modification in the ribosome was uniform among all members of a given species and did not change with the environment,” Schwartz said.But further evidence hinted that in some organisms, modification might be dynamic — shifting as needed to help the ribosome adapt. Schwartz said that proving this was difficult and time-consuming because there are many types of modifications, and older methods could examine only one type at a time.Focusing on organisms that live in harsh environments-Schwartz’s team focused on extremophiles, organisms that love extreme environments.They were interested in hyperthermophiles, tiny organisms that grow best in temperatures from about 60°C (140°F) to 100°C (212°F).Schwartz’s team developed a breakthrough method that can detect 16 types of RNA modifications across dozens of samples at once.The technique allowed the scientists to map RNA modification patterns in 10 single-celled organisms and compare them to four studies the researchers had done in the past.The researchers tested whether these organisms could change their rRNA during their own lifetimes by growing the species at different temperatures.They saw that as temperatures rose, the hyperthermophiles changed and adapted.“We found hundreds of changes in hyperthermophilic species,” Schwartz said. In fact, the hotter the organism’s natural environment, the more modifications it performs, he said. This suggested that these organisms use extensive chemical editing to protect their ribosomes from heat damage.Prof. Shulamit Michaeli, the VP for research and director of the Dangoor Center for Personalized Medicine at Bar-Ilan University, who was not involved with the study, told The Times of Israel that rRNA’s chemical modification “enables protein synthesis in an extremely hot environment, promoting thermophilic growth.”She said the study “nicely demonstrates” the major impact of rRNA modification on the ability of cells to adapt to environmental stress.This means that lessons can be learned from “the RNA-editing process that has undergone billions of years of refinement,” Schwartz said.“There are many RNA-based technologies on the market or in development — from vaccines against pandemics and cancer diagnostics and therapies to gene-editing tools used in biotechnology and medicine,” he noted.For example, since hyperthermophiles do well at high temperatures, they are used in many industrial processes, such as laundry detergents to clean clothes in hot water, or in molecular biology for DNA testing.“Uncovering RNA’s secrets could pave the way for more reliable and efficient RNA-based technologies,” Schwartz said.Asked about whether the June Iranian ballistic missile attack damaged his lab, Schwartz said, “Luckily, we didn’t get a direct hit.”However, he said, “I can see the building that was directly hit from the window of my office. Somehow, the way we’re positioned, we got away with relatively mild damage.”People around the world “have always been extremely supportive of us,” he added.“Life is so diverse,” he said, returning to his research subject. “And yet, you have a single language, which is basically the RNA, and that’s what drew me to science in the first place. It was the realization that there’s this common, universal language among all species.”

China sanctions 20 US firms over Taiwan arms sales.

Beijing, Dec 27 (AFP) Dec 27, 2025-China has announced fresh sanctions on 20 US defence firms, including a Boeing branch, over Washington's latest arms sales to Taiwan, the island Beijing claims.The United States has long been Taiwan's biggest arms supplier despite China viewing the democratic island as part of its territory and refusing to rule out using force to bring it under control.Taipei said this month that Washington had approved $11 billion in defence sales in what would be one of the largest weapons packages for the island.China criticised the deal and announced new sanctions on Friday against Boeing's defence manufacturing outpost in St. Louis, aerospace giant Northrop Grumman and others.The companies appear to have little or no business in China and some have been previously sanctioned by Beijing.Chinese entities will be banned from working with the firms, and their assets in the country will be frozen.The arms sales "violate the one-China principle... seriously damaging China's sovereignty and territorial integrity", Beijing's foreign ministry said.Boeing and Northrop Grumman did not respond to AFP's requests for comment.China also sanctioned 10 industry executives, banning them from entering the country, including Hong Kong and Maca

China debuts Long March 12A reusable rocket in Jiuquan test flight.by Riko Seibo.

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 26, 2025-China conducted the debut flight of the Long March 12A carrier rocket on Tuesday, with the launch mission succeeding while the recovery attempt ended in failure.A 70.4-meter-high Long March 12A, the tallest space vehicle China has ever built, blasted off at 10 am from a newly constructed service tower at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.After a short flight, the rocket's second-stage booster reached its preset orbital position, but the first-stage booster did not land on a designated recovery site in the neighboring Gansu province.According to the China National Space Administration, engineers have started to investigate the failed recovery attempt.It said that during the flight, engineers obtained critical technical data, laying a solid foundation for launching and recovering reusable rockets in the future.The Long March 12A model is designed and built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a subsidiary of the State-owned conglomerate China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, becoming the first reusable launch vehicle from the conglomerate to undertake a flight mission.The rocket's main body is 3.8 meters wide while the fairing - the top structure on a rocket that contains satellites or other payloads - has a diameter of 4.2 meters.With a liftoff weight of 437 metric tons, it is able to transport at least 6 tons of payload to a low-Earth orbit.China has been striving to develop a fleet of reusable rockets that can tremendously reduce launch costs and improve the efficiency and frequency of space missions.Earlier this month, Chinese commercial space company LandSpace launched its ZQ 3 reusable rocket from the Jiuquan spaceport. The rocket managed to reach orbit, but the attempt to recover its first-stage booster failed.Globally, the best-known reusable rocket is SpaceX's Falcon 9, which has made many launches with reused boosters.Blue Origin, another commercial space firm in the United States, also completed its first successful landing of the first stage of its New Glenn rocket in a recent mission.Both SpaceX and Blue Origin have had many failures in their recovery attempts before achieving the feat.

CORRECTED: N. Korea's Kim stresses shared bloodshed in New Year message to Putin.

Seoul, Dec 27 (AFP) Dec 27, 2025-North Korean leader Kim Jong Un highlighted on Saturday how his nation and Russia had shared "blood, life and death" in the Ukraine war, as he sent President Vladimir Putin new year's greetings.Pyongyang has dispatched thousands of troops to fight for Moscow, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, as Russia presses ahead with its nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine.In the message, published by the state-run KCNA news agency, Kim said 2025 was a "really meaningful year" for the bilateral alliance that was consolidated by "sharing blood, life and death in the same trench".North Korea only confirmed in April that it had deployed troops to support Russia's military campaign against Ukraine and that its soldiers had been killed in combat.Earlier this month, Pyongyang acknowledged that it had sent troops to clear mines in Russia's Kursk region in August 2025.At least nine troops from an engineering regiment were killed during the 120-day deployment, Kim said in a speech on December 12 marking the unit's homecoming.Kim sent Putin his new year's greetings a day after the North Korean leader ordered officials to step up missile production.Pyongyang has increased missile testing in recent years -- aimed, analysts say, at improving precision strike capabilities, challenging the United States as well as South Korea, and testing weapons before exporting them to Russia.In addition to sending troops to fight for Russia, Pyongyang has sent artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.In return, Russia is sending North Korea financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies, analysts have said.

Nigeria signals more strikes likely in 'joint' US operations.

Lagos, Dec 26 (AFP) Dec 26, 2025-Nigeria on Friday signalled that more strikes against jihadist groups were expected after a Christmas Day bombardment by US forces against militants in the north of the country, which it said was a joint operation with its military.The west African country faces multiple interlinked security crises, with jihadists waging an insurgency in the northeast since 2009 and armed "bandit" gangs raiding villages and staging kidnappings in the northwest.The strikes came after Abuja and Washington were locked in a diplomatic dispute over what US President Donald Trump has characterised as the mass killing of Christians amid Nigeria's myriad armed conflicts.A Pentagon official told AFP that "the Department of War worked with the government of Nigeria to carry out these strikes" and that they "were approved by the government of Nigeria", without saying whether Nigeria's military had been involved.US defence officials later posted a video of what appeared to be a nighttime missile launch from the deck of a battleship flying the US flag.Meanwhile, Nigeria's military said in a statement that its forces, "in conjunction with the United States", had conducted "precision strike operations".Both countries said the strikes targeted militants linked to the Islamic State group, without providing details.Washington's framing of the violence in Nigeria as amounting to Christian "persecution" is rejected by the Nigerian government and independent analysts, but has nonetheless resulted in increased security coordination."It's Nigeria that provided the intelligence," the country's foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, told broadcaster Channels TV, saying he was on the phone with US State Secretary Marco Rubio ahead of the bombardment.Asked if there would be more strikes, Tuggar said: "It is an ongoing thing, and we are working with the US. We are working with other countries as well."- Targets unclear -The Department of Defense's US Africa Command said "multiple ISIS terrorists" were killed in an attack in the northwestern state of Sokoto.Residents in the far-flung villages of that state told AFP they were shocked by the blasts. The strikes hit multiple locations, including a town that residents said was not a militant stronghold.Which of Nigeria's myriad, and well-documented, armed groups were targeted remains unclear.Nigeria's jihadist groups are mostly concentrated in the northeast, but have made inroads into the northwest.Researchers have recently linked some members of an armed group known as Lakurawa -- the main jihadist group located in Sokoto State -- to Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), which is mostly active in neighbouring Niger and Mali.Other analysts have disputed those links, and research on Lakurawa is complicated as the term has been used to describe various armed fighters in the northwest."We initially thought it was (an) attack by Lakurawa," said Haruna Kallah, a resident of Jabo town.That the explosions were in fact the result of a US strike "surprised us because this area has never been a Lakurawa enclave, and we have never had any attacks in the last two years."Tukur Shehu, a resident of Tangaza, a neighbouring district, said two strikes targeted Warriya and Alkassim villages -- known to house Lakurawa camps, from where they launch attacks and keep hostages.- Public opinion divided -Public opinion on the surprise strikes was split."America has made its way by force in our country, to kill our people," said Sulaiman Ibrahim, an imam in Lagos.Emmanuel Udoh, a member of the clergy at Living Faith Church, told AFP: "We are grateful with what the US has done. We are grateful with what the Nigerian government is trying to do."While the Nigerian government has welcomed the strikes, "I think Trump would not have accepted a 'No,'" said Malik Samuel, an Abuja-based researcher for Good Governance Africa, an NGO.Nigerian authorities are keen to be seen as cooperating with the US, Samuel told AFP, even though "both the perpetrators and the victims in the northwest are overwhelmingly Muslim".Security analyst Brant Philip called the timing, on Christmas Day, "a symbolic start to official US operations in Nigeria", adding: "The operational results of the strikes are not significant, but much is expected soon."Tuggar said that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu "gave the go-ahead" for the strikes.The foreign minister added: "It must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and it is not targeting any religion nor simply in the name of one religion or the other."tba-sn-nro-str-abu/jh

Palestinian kills two in stabbing and ramming, Israeli police say.

Jerusalem, Dec 26 (AFP) Dec 26, 2025-A Palestinian killed a man and a woman in a stabbing and car-ramming attack in northern Israel on Friday, triggering a threat from the defence minister to crack down on the assailant's village in the occupied West Bank.The attack came a day after an Israeli military reservist dressed in civilian clothes rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man in the West Bank, where violence has surged since the war in Gaza began in October 2023."Preliminary investigation indicates this was a rolling terror attack that began in the city of Beit Shean, where a pedestrian was run over," Israeli police said in a statement, adding that the victim was a 68-year-old man."Later, a young woman was stabbed near Road 71, and the suspect was ultimately engaged with gunfire near Maonot Junction in Afula following intervention by a civilian bystander," it said, adding that the attacker was taken to a hospital.Both the victims succumbed to the injuries, Israel's emergency service provider Magen David Adom said in a statement.MDA also reported that a 16-year-old teenager was slightly injured when "hit by a vehicle".The Israeli military said the attacker had "infiltrated into Israeli territory several days ago".Following the attack, Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to launch an operation in the village of Qabatiya in the West Bank after it emerged that the attacker came from there."Defence Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to act forcefully and immediately against the village of Qabatiya, from which the murderous terrorist emerged, in order to locate and thwart every terrorist and strike the village's terror infrastructure," Katz's office said in a statement."Anyone who aids terrorism or sponsors and backs it will pay the full price," it added.The military said in a separate statement that it was preparing to begin an operation in Qabatiya.- 'Horrific killing' -President Isaac Herzog condemned the attack."I wish to express my deep shock at the horrific killing spree and the combined terrorist attack in northern Israel carried out by a despicable terrorist," he said in a statement."Israel is committed to reinforcing and strengthening this challenging border and, of course, to bolstering the security response in the area for the full safety of the residents," Herzog added.On Thursday, an Israeli military reservist dressed in civilian clothes had rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man in the West Bank.In videos on social media purporting to show that incident, the victim is seen praying on the side of a road when the soldier rams him with his vehicle.Since the start of the war in Gaza following Hamas' attack on Israel, at least 38 people, including two foreigners, have been killed inside Israel in attacks by Palestinians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.During the same period, violence has also surged in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, including many militants as well as dozens of civilians, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.According to official Israeli figures, at least 44 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the same period in the West Bank.

Italy arrests 7 for allegedly sending Hamas $8 million in donations for Palestinians-Over 71 percent of three implicated charities’ income was forwarded to associations affiliated with the terror group in Israel and the Palestinian territories, authorities say-By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 3:27 pm-DEC 27,25

Italian police said Saturday that they have arrested seven people suspected of raising millions of euros for the Palestinian terror group Hamas.Police also issued international arrests for two others outside the country.The arrests come amid massive anti-Israel protests in Italy in recent months that have served as a rallying point for the opposition and drawn hundreds of thousands of people across the country, according to organizers.Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are implicated in the investigation, said a police statement.The nine individuals are accused of having financed approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas.”While the official objective of the three associations was to collect donations “for humanitarian purposes for the Palestinian people,” more than 71 percent was earmarked for the direct financing ofHamas” or entities affiliated with the terror group, according to police.Some of the money went to “family members implicated in terrorist attacks,” the statement said.Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to media reports.Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi posted on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.”There was no immediate comment from the suspects or the associations.In January, the European Council decided to extend existing restrictive measures against 12 individuals and three entities that support the financing of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Massive Russian attack on Kyiv kills one ahead of Zelensky meeting with Trump-Zelensky says missile-and-drone strike shows Moscow doesn’t want to end the war, strikes leave hundreds of thousands without power-By AFP Today, 1:03 pm-DEC 27,25

KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian drone and missile barrage on Kyiv and its suburbs Saturday killed one person, wounded two dozen and cut off heating and electricity for hundreds of thousands of people left in freezing temperatures.An air alert lasted several hours after loud overnight explosions, some accompanied by bright flashes that turned the sky orange, according to AFP reporters in Kyiv.The attack killed a 47-year-old woman, Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.“There are already 19 persons affected in the capital. Eleven persons have been hospitalized,” said Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. He added that 2,600 residential buildings and hundreds of kindergartens, schools and community buildings had lost heat.“As of this morning, part of the left bank of the region remains without electricity. Currently, more than 320,000 consumers are without power,” Kalashnyk added.Ukraine’s air force announced a countrywide air alert early Saturday and said that drones and missiles were moving over several Ukrainian regions.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that the Russian attack on Kyiv showed that Moscow does “not want to end the war.”“The Russians seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering and increase their pressure on others around the world,” said Zelensky, ahead of his departure for talks with US President Donald Trump.Trump and Zelensky will meet in Florida on Sunday to discuss Trump’s proposed plan to end the fighting that has killed tens of thousands since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.The latest plan is a 20-point proposal that would freeze the war on its current front line but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarized buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelensky this week.Russia accused Zelensky and his EU backers on Friday of seeking to “torpedo” the US-brokered plan.

Country's leader said to have made secret Israel trip-Israel becomes first country to recognize breakaway Somaliland as independent state-President says his country wants to join Abraham Accords; move sparks anger among regional powers who say it undermines sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia-By Lazar Berman,ToI Staff and Agencies 26 December 2025, 6:54 pm

Israel on Friday became the first country to recognize the Republic of Somaliland as an independent state, more than three decades after the African region broke away from Somalia, with the Muslim nation saying it aspired to join the Abraham Accords.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar signed the declaration for Israel, while Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi signed for his country, which sits in a key strategic region in the Horn of Africa.While no other countries have formally recognized it, several states — including the UK, Ethiopia, Turkey, the UAE, Denmark, Kenya and Taiwan — maintained liaison offices, and the Trump administration has signaled in recent months that it could change its stance on the breakaway region. However, the Friday announcement sparked anger among several regional powers who accused Israel of undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia.Speaking to Abdullahi by phone, Netanyahu said the friendship between the countries was “seminal and historic.”“We intend to work together with you on economic fields, on agriculture, in the fields of social development,” Netanyahu said.Netanyahu invited Abdullahi for an official visit to Israel. Abdullahi said he will come “as soon as possible,” according to the Israel statement.”Netanyahu’s office also released a video showing him speaking to Abdullahi by telephone.“I want you to know that I am signing now as we speak Israel’s official recognition of the Somaliland,” Netanyahu tells Abdullahi, adding that the new relationship would offer economic opportunities.“I am very, very happy and I am very proud of this day and I want to wish you and the people of Somaliland the very, very best,” he said.Netanyahu said the declaration “is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, signed at the initiative of [US] President [Donald] Trump.”The 2020 accords were brokered by Trump’s first administration and included Israel formalizing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with other countries, including Morocco, joining later.The agreement with Morocco was followed by Israel recognizing Rabat’s sovereignty over the contested Western Sahara region.Netanyahu, Sa’ar and Somaliland’s president signed a joint declaration of mutual recognition, the Israeli statement said.Abdullahi said in a separate statement that Somaliland would join the Abraham Accords, calling it a step toward regional and global peace. He said Somaliland was committed to building partnerships, boosting mutual prosperity and promoting stability across the Middle East and Africa.Somaliland, a Sunni Muslim country, enjoyed five days of independence in 1960, during which time it was recognized by Israel and 34 other countries before uniting with Somalia. Somaliland formally broke away in 1991 as Somalia disintegrated into anarchy.Somaliland is located along most of Somalia’s Red Sea coastline and has effectively acted as an independent country during Somalia’s decades-long and ongoing civil war, and is in many respects a more stable and functioning state than Somalia itself, with a history of peaceful, democratic transitions of power.For decades, Somaliland pushed for international recognition, and it was the key priority for Abdullahi since he took office last year.Its lack of international recognition has hampered access to foreign loans, aid and investment, and the region remains deeply impoverished.Channel 12 reported that Abdullahi made a secret visit to Israel in October, meeting with Netanyahu, Mossad chief David Barnea and Defense Minister Israel Katz.The network said that ties between the two governments emerged as Israel searched for countries willing to take in Gazans it was looking to move out of the Strip during the war — an effort that seems to have failed due to overwhelming international backlash against the idea of displacing Gazans.Beyond a potential home for Gazans, a central Israeli motivation for deepening ties with Somaliland’s is the latter region’s proximity to Yemen. Access to Somaliland’s territory and airspace would make it easier for Israel to conduct strikes and surveil the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.In Netanyahu’s statement announcing the move, he thanked Sa’ar, Mossad Director David Barnea and the Mossad for their contribution in advancing recognition between the two countries, and “wishes the people of Somaliland success, prosperity and freedom,” said his office.Sa’ar wrote on X that embassies will be opened in both countries and ambassadors appointed.Israel, which has become increasingly isolated internationally during the Gaza war, has made it a priority to expand its ties in Africa. In August, Israel reopened its embassy in Zambia after more than 50 years.While the unusual diplomatic step promises benefits for Israel, some local officials were also critical.“All the countries of the world except for Israel see Somaliland as an integral part of Somalia. The decision to recognize Somaliland as an independent country completely undermines Israel’s argument against recognizing an independent Palestinian state,” a senior Israeli official told Channel 12 news.The move also sparked anger among several regional powers, who said it undermined the territorial integrity of Somalia.The foreign ministers of Somalia, Egypt, Turkey and Djibouti condemned Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, Egypt said on Friday.“The ministers affirmed their total rejection and condemnation of Israel’s recognition of the Somaliland region, stressing their full support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia,” Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement following a phone call between Egypt’s foreign minister and his Somali, Turkish, and Djiboutian counterparts.In an additional, separate statement, Somalia’s foreign ministry denounced Israel’s “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty by recognizing the breakaway state, warning that this would “undermine regional peace.”“Illegitimate actions of this nature seriously undermine regional peace and stability, exacerbate political and security tensions,” the ministry said in a statement.Later, Turkey — a key ally of Somalia — issued its own statement condemning Israel.“This initiative by Israel, which aligns with its expansionist policy and its efforts to do everything to prevent the recognition of a Palestinian state, constitutes overt interference in Somalia’s domestic affairs,” said a Turkish foreign ministry statement.Saudi Arabia also expressed strong opposition to the declaration. Its Foreign Ministry reaffirmed the Kingdom’s “full support for the sovereignty of the sisterly Federal Republic of Somalia and the unity and territorial integrity of its land.”It rejected the mutual recognition between Israeli authorities and Somaliland, describing it as a “unilateral separatist” move that violates international law.In a statement issued by African Union head Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the AU called for African borders to be respected and said: “Any attempt to undermine the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Somalia… risks setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent.”The chief of the pan-African body, which counts Somalia as a member, said he “firmly rejects any initiative or action aimed at recognizing Somaliland as an independent entity” and stated that Somaliland “remains an integral part of the Federal Republic of Somalia.”

US urges sides to show restraint, continue diplomacy-UAE-backed separatists accuse Saudis of striking forces in southern Yemen-Strikes come after Riyadh called on Southern Transitional Council to withdraw from areas it recently took over; Yemeni official: 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters massing near border-By AP and ToI Staff Today, 5:20 am-DEC 27,25

ADEN, Yemen — Separatists in southern Yemen accused Saudi Arabia on Friday of targeting their forces with airstrikes, something not formally acknowledged by the kingdom after it warned the forces to withdraw from governorates they recently took over.The Southern Transitional Council, backed by the United Arab Emirates, said the strikes happened in Yemen’s Hadramout governorate. It wasn’t immediately clear if there were any casualties from the strikes that further raise tensions in the war-torn nation and put at risk a fragile Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the country’s north for a decade.Amr Al Bidh, a foreign affairs special representative for the Council, said in a statement to The Associated Press that its fighters had been operating in eastern Hadramout on Friday after facing “multiple ambushes” from gunmen. Those attacks killed two fighters with the Council and wounded 12 others, Al Bidh said.The Saudi airstrikes happened after that, he added.The Council later described their operations in the area as seeking a wanted man and trying to cut off smuggling through the area.Faez bin Omar, a leading member in a coalition of tribes in Hadramout, told the AP that he believed the strikes served as a warning to the Council to withdraw its fighters from the area. An eyewitness to the strikes, Ahmed al-Khed, said he saw destroyed military vehicles afterward, believed to belong to forces allied to the Council.The Council’s satellite channel AIC aired what appeared to be mobile phone footage it described as showing the strikes. In one video, a man speaking could be heard blaming the strike on Saudi aircraft.Officials in Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment from the AP. However, the Saudi-owned, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, quoting “informed sources,” reported late Friday that the kingdom carried out the strikes “to send a message” to the Council.“Any further escalation would be met with stricter measures,” the paper said.On Thursday, the kingdom called on the Emirati-backed separatists in southern Yemen to withdraw.The strikes came as a Yemeni government official in Riyadh told AFP that Saudi Arabia may be considering military action against the separatists if talks fail.A Yemeni military official said around 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters were amassed near the Saudi border but were not given orders to advance on separatist-held territory.The areas where they were deployed are located at the edges of territory seized in recent weeks by the UAE-backed STC.“We have not received military instructions to move towards the two provinces,” the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.The Council moved earlier this month into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra. That had pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another group in the coalition fighting the Houthis.Those aligned with the Council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990. Demonstrators rallied on Thursday in the southern port city of Aden to support political forces calling for South Yemen to secede again from Yemen.Saudis, Emiratis back different Yemen forces-Following the capture of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north by the Houthis in 2014, Aden has been the seat of power for the internationally recognized government and forces aligned against the rebels.The actions by the separatists have put pressure on the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which maintain close relations and are members of the OPEC oil cartel, but also have competed for influence and international business in recent years.The UAE said in a statement Friday that it “welcomed the efforts undertaken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support security and stability” in Yemen.“The UAE reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to supporting all endeavors aimed at strengthening stability and development in Yemen, contributing positively to regional security and prosperity,” it added.There has also been an escalation of violence in Sudan, another nation on the Red Sea, where the kingdom and the Emirates support opposing forces in that country’s ongoing war.The war in Yemen-The Iranian-backed Houthis seized Sanaa in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. Iran denies arming the rebels, although Iranian-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in sea shipments heading to Yemen despite a UN arms embargo.A Saudi-led coalition armed with US weaponry and intelligence entered the war on the side of Yemen’s exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting have pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine.The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the globe’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — also began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre, which sparked the Gaza war.They targeted Israel with over 130 ballistic missiles and dozens of cruise missiles and drones, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July 2024, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen. Dozens of people have been injured in other Houthi attacks.Israel has attacked the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, located some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) away, 19 times.Since a ceasefire in the Gaza war began on October 10, no attacks have been claimed by the rebel group. The last Houthi missile attack on Israel was apparently on October 5, and the last drone attack on October 7.Further chaos in Yemen could again draw in the United States.Washington launched an intense bombing campaign targeting the rebels earlier this year that US President Donald Trump halted just before his trip to the Middle East in October. The Biden administration also conducted strikes against the Houthis, including using B-2 bombers to target what it described as underground bunkers used by the Houthis.In a statement early Saturday, the US State Department said it was “grateful for the diplomatic leadership of our partners, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” in the crisis in Yemen.“The United States is concerned by recent events in southeastern Yemen,” it said. “We urge restraint and continued diplomacy, with a view to reaching a lasting solution.”AFP contributed to this report.

Interview'There is still much we can learn from the Bible'Despite academic battle royal, a new book returns David’s kingdom to its place in history-In ‘The Bible’s First Kings,’ scholars piece together archaeology and biblical studies to show that a United Monarchy indeed emerged in the region’s highlands 3,000 years ago-By Rossella Tercatin-Today, 3:46 am-DEC 27,25

Approximately 3,000 years ago, a new type of building emerged in the land of Israel as a standard structure in sites across the region. Pottery too took on a remarkable level of uniformity at around the same time.And pagan cultic sites that had stood for hundreds of years — even millennia in some cases — were destroyed and abandoned.Any of these phenomena could be explained by a number of different scenarios, according to archaeologist Avraham Faust and biblical scholar Zev Farber. But the two say there is only one explanation that accounts for all of them together: the creation of a unified society under the strong hand of a single ruler.In other words, a united monarchy of the type that the Bible says was adopted by the people of Israel and Judaea in the early Iron Age, led by Kings Saul, David, and Solomon.“The Bible says that Israel decided to change their strategy and go for a king in the 10th century,” Farber, a senior editor at the Academic Torah Institute, told The Times of Israel. “Now, did they decide to appoint someone? Did somebody muscle their way in? That’s already a level of resolution we can’t answer.”“The specifics are less relevant,” he added. “It does not have to be three [kings], maybe there were two, maybe five. However, the scaffolding that the Bible provides about the 10th century appears to align with the physical data from the 10th century.”In “The Bible’s First Kings – Uncovering the Story of Saul, David, and Solomon,” published this year by Cambridge University Press, Farber, and Faust, a member of the Department of General History at Bar-Ilan University, describe the emergence of a thriving kingdom in the highlands of the southern Levant during the 10th century BCE.The book brings together archaeology, anthropology, and biblical scholarship to support the thesis that the kingdom did exist and that findings from the ground offer evidence for it — although not necessarily for the specific monarchs who led it. It processes “an enormous amount of data,” according to Faust.With no direct first-hand evidence of the existence of a King David, his predecessor Saul, or inheritor Solomon, nor of the biblical account of their monarchic rule over an expanding kingdom from the Judaean hill country to Samaria and the Galilee, scholars have long questioned whether the biblically attested polity referred to today as the United Monarchy was ever a historical reality.In the 1990s, researchers reinterpreted monumental remains that had been traditionally dated to the relevant period as having come later, leading scholars to conclude that the powerful United Monarchy and its legendary sovereigns were likely foundational myths forged during the rule of later Israelite kings rather than rooted in historical fact.Citing new discoveries and radiocarbon dating since then, Faust and Farber seek to put the idea of the monarchy back on its throne. The debate is far from settled, with academics continuing to argue over both the accuracy of dates and how to interpret various pieces of evidence.One example is Khirbet Qeiyafa, a 3,000-year-old settlement some 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) southwest of Jerusalem that is considered by many one of the new discoveries that corroborates the existence of a kingdom in the area.However, some archaeologists have questioned whether its 10th-century dating is indeed accurate (as radiocarbon can easily leave margins of error of decades) or if it was even an ancient Israelite site.Noting that the scholarly debate has transcended the bounds of academia and drawn wide popular interest, Faust and Farber said they sought to make their book accessible and appealing to the general public, even if it is targeted to fellow academics.“I hope readers will see that history is interesting, with new data and ideas continually emerging to shape our understanding of the past,” Faust said, sitting alongside Farber during a video interview. “More specifically, I believe the book demonstrates that the highland polity existed, and there is still much we can learn from the Bible.”The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.Times of Israel: What was your goal in writing this book? Avraham Faust: Since the 1990s, the historicity of what is usually referred to as the United Monarchy, or the kingdom of David and Solomon, has been the subject of an ongoing heated debate. This book aims to integrate a vast amount of data and paint a broader picture of how we view the history behind the biblical story, drawing on archaeology, anthropology, and a critical reading of the biblical text. This bigger picture is composed of many smaller patterns or questions, and while sometimes there can be different answers to any single question, one of the strengths of our scenario is that all the answers to the specific questions fit into the broader picture, which is the emergence of a kingdom in the highlands [of the Land of Israel] and the expansion of this kingdom.Zev Farber: What I love about the book is that it is not just about the question of whether there was a United Monarchy, and we show that the answer is yes. I believe the book uncovers what created Israel as a country. In the biblical text, we get a mythic story of Israel already as a fully formed people marching out of Egypt, doing miracles, and coming into [the land]. [In this narrative,] there is nothing so new about Saul, David, and Solomon. What we show, though, is that it was what happened in the highlands that really pushed the development of a national identity for self-protection. This period is not just a golden era in Israel’s history, but the formative period of a distinct type of identity.From your perspective, what is the debate about the historicity of the United Monarchy?Farber: If you look at the average biblical history book in the 1950s and 1960s, the general view was that the biblical story from Abraham was, to some degree, historical. In the 1970s, scholars began to argue that the patriarchs’ stories lacked a historical basis and to regard them as myths. Shortly after, the same happened to the Exodus, pointing to the lack of evidence of slavery in Egypt, and then it was [Joshua’s] conquest of Israel, even though the conquest had already been questioned in the past. The next big thing was the monarchy of Saul, David, and Solomon. Because once past that, there are archaeological anchors and sources that discuss the Israelites.Faust: Until the 1990s, the vast majority of scholars assumed the existence of the United Monarchy in the 10th century BCE as a given. Then a small group of biblical scholars, known as “the revisionists,” started to question it. Many archaeologists initially dismissed this argument as not serious, but it sparked considerable debate. Later, the debate intensified as the concept of a new chronology, known as the “Low Chronology,” was introduced in archaeology.Essentially, in the 1990s, some archaeologists suggested that major findings previously dated to the 10th century BCE should be redated to the 9th century. This included a destruction layer visible in many cities from around 1000 BCE, which had been associated with David, as well as fortified cities and palaces associated with Solomon. As a result, the proponents of the Low Chronology stated that there was no archaeological evidence consistent with the United Monarchy. Today’s discussions are largely a product of the Low Chronology debate.At the same time, radiocarbon dating has at least partially offered some new answers to the question of dating, compared to previous methods such as pottery typology, which rely on interpretation.Faust: The beginning of the Low Chronology was not focused on the United Monarchy but rather on the Philistines, as scholars noted that Philistine pottery commonly dated to the first half of the 12th century was missing from sites, like Lachish, which were believed to have been destroyed in the middle of the 12th century, or even in its second half. Their solution was to say that the Philistines only appeared at the end of the 12th century, and they started pushing the rest of the chronology down. Most scholars have not accepted the Low Chronology.Since then, hundreds of radiocarbon samples have been dated, and most scholars think that the bottom line is a somewhat updated version of the original chronology. For example, the destruction traditionally associated with David did not occur in 1000 BCE, but in 980 or 970 BCE, which is still compatible with the United Monarchy, whereas the original Low Chronology was not. Some of the first proponents of the Low Chronology have partially walked it back.How did Low Chronology influence biblical scholarship? Farber: The Low Chronology has had a significant influence on many people, as most of us are not archaeologists, which leads to a fear of appearing naive. So, if the impression is that archaeology suggests there is no such thing as a Davidic or Solomonic kingdom, then we must accept that and work within the confines of that claim. For example, the book of Samuel, starting from [the narratives about] Saul, was considered a book that had a lot of reliable core information, in terms of the basic historical structure, and it was considered to have been [written] very early. Afterwards, scholars started to date it later, thinking that they could not argue with archaeologists. I think there is an inclination to err on the side of sounding skeptical.Do you feel ideology or political and religious considerations influence the debate? Faust: The humanities and social sciences are not exact sciences. In this sense, there are always biases. Some of them can be ideological or religious. Many of them are personal, which also exist in the hard sciences. The connection between archaeology and ideologies such as nationalism or imperialism has been known for many years. We all have biases. We should do everything possible to keep them at bay. As long as you’re very explicit about the data and the method of interpretation, you can overcome those differences or at least delineate the lines of disagreement. Most scholars will let the data dictate their interpretation. They might favor one interpretation over the other, but they wouldn’t intentionally ignore data.Farber: I think you do have a sliver of scholars who have a kind of fundamentalist view, always working to prove the Bible, or always trying to burn everything down, whether driven by extreme skepticism, political views, or anti-Israel sentiment. However, I think those are a fringe group with little influence, even if they sometimes get headlines because they say bold things.You have mentioned that the book includes a massive amount of data. Can you elaborate? Faust: We look at the transition between the Iron Age I [traditionally dated to ca. 1200-1000 BCE], the time before the monarchy, and the 10th century, and we point out many changes.For example, there is a form of house that is very well known [in the Iron Age], the four-room house [a long house composed of four main spaces]. What we point out in the book is that in the Iron Age I, the classical form of the house is not yet established. A prototype of it appeared in limited regions, but in the 10th century, the classical, standardized form of the structure emerged, and it suddenly became widespread throughout the country. We believe this form [of house] was adopted by the highland polity. At Tel ‘Eton, a site I excavated and for which we have radiocarbon dates, in the early 10th century, someone leveled the top of the mound and built a 230-square-meter [2,475-square-foot] house, using high-quality building materials. We find the exact type of house in several sites in the Negev Highlands, as well as in Feynan [in modern Jordan], one of the copper production centers, and elsewhere.Another change that we observe is the end of long-standing traditions in cultic areas, as the Israelite cultic traditions differed. For example, in Megiddo, on one part of the mound, a series of temples stood for millennia. The site was destroyed in the early 10th century, and when it was rebuilt, it was done for the first time without a temple. We see something similar in Tell Qasile [near the Yarkon River in central Israel], probably in Beth Shean, and more. As far as we know, during the Iron Age II, you have very few temples in Israel and Judah. When [the United Monarchy] expanded, it destroyed existing temples and did not rebuild them.In addition, during the Iron Age I, there were a lot of local pottery traditions [across the land], in parallel to some types of pottery common everywhere in the region, like cooking pots. But all these local traditions disappeared in the 10th century. Something happened, and the bottom line is that you find a more unified type of pottery assemblage.We consider [these changes] as the fingerprint of the expansion of the United monarchy.Farber: When we talk about the Bible and history, obviously, there are certain things that can’t be studied. We cannot know whether Abraham had a conversation with a specific person, but the Bible offers a historical scaffolding that is subject to study. What we have begun to show is that even if we didn’t have the biblical story that said a kingdom was founded in the 10th century, thrived, and then was divided, the archaeological data is best explained by the idea that in the 10th century, a polity began. The scaffolding that the Bible provides regarding the 10th century appears to align with the physical data from that century.Are there specific archaeological sites or areas that you looked at? Faust: We look at many sites in the book.One of them is Khirbet Qeiyafa [in the Elah Valley]. The site has been the subject of intense debate over the last 15 years. It is not strategically located because it is situated on a small hill, while nearby there are much higher hills, commanding larger areas, including the coastal plain. We think that the choice was intentional, as the Philistines were still strong at the time and [the Israelites] did not want to annoy them and force them to retaliate. But as we worked on it, we actually came to think that this was not the whole story.According to the Bible, David, who posed a political threat to Saul, was moving around the Elah Valley area, even travelling from Adullam and Keilah in its upper part to Philistine Gath in its lower part. Therefore, by building a fortress there, Saul could actually not only encroach into the Shefelah [the Judean foothills in central Israel], which was officially controlled by the Philistines, his enemies, but also block groups like David’s from contacting the Philistines. When you look at Khirbet Qeiyafa in terms of the details of the story, the actual position makes lots of sense.Farber: This helps solve a major problem for critical Bible scholars. If you don’t take the biblical narrative as historical, one of the things that people always wonder about is why, after Saul’s family is killed in a battle with the Philistines, David would not sell himself as Saul’s son-in-law, or [Saul’s son] Jonathan’s best friend, and instead the Bible preserves so many stories about Saul trying to kill him. From David’s PR perspective, the best thing for him was to highlight the connection with Saul. But [looking at Khirbet Qeiyafa], you realize that Saul wanting to kill David is actually the historical core of the story. The site is actually a physical example of Saul attempting to go south, as he chased David around, [consistent with] all the stories about it [in the Bible].Is there another site that is significant to explain what happened in the 10th century?Faust: The Sharon, or the central coastal line of Israel, is today the most densely populated part of the country; however, in antiquity, it was a marginal region due to its swamps and numerous environmental challenges. At certain periods, there were hardly any settlements, while at other times, there were more. In the Iron Age I, there were some settlements, and in the 10th century, they peaked, while later, during most of Iron Age II, they were almost non-existent. And the question is, why? This area is remote, and the only reason someone would invest in it would be for trade. In the 10th century, settlements flourished especially along the Yarkon River’s basin, at the southern edge of the Sharon.The only place that the Yarkon could serve as the contact point to the sea was a limited area that included Jerusalem, because for areas further south, there were Ashkelon and Gaza, and further north, there was Dor. In the 10th century, Jerusalem was the only serious candidate that could have benefited from this access to the coast. Later, after the kingdom was divided into Israel in the north and Judah in the south, the Yarkon remained under the control of the northern kingdom, which did not need it to access the sea, while Judah [and its capital Jerusalem] couldn’t use it, so the sites declined.Interestingly, the Sharon is mentioned in the Bible only in a few lists, and all of them, even though they were probably written later, refer to the time of David and Solomon, therefore, the 10th century, when the region flourished.Is the book your final word on the United Monarchy, or is there more research to do on the topic?Faust: In archaeology, we have new data all the time, and anytime something new is excavated, we always try to see whether and how it fits in. If the book had been written today, it would have included additional elements, for example, new and interesting studies in the Negev, whose results are very relevant for our analysis. The work does not end here.

Top Trump aides have run out of patience with Netanyahu over Gaza ceasefire — report-Upcoming meet at Mar-a-Lago to test if Trump feels same way about Israeli prime minister as his vexed staff, with White House hoping to announce new steps in peace plan-By ToI Staff Today, 3:02 am-DEC 27,25

US President Donald Trump’s top aides believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sabotaging the ceasefire deal and peace process, according to a report on Friday, with an upcoming meeting a key test as to whether the American leader shares their view.Trump is planning several major announcements on Gaza in early January, but the direction of the peace process hinges on his meeting Monday at Mar-a-Lago with Netanyahu, Axios reported, citing White House and Israeli officials.According to the report, Trump’s team believes Netanyahu is delaying the Gaza ceasefire framework and could ultimately resume the war against Hamas, even as the Israeli leader seeks to persuade Trump himself to adopt a more hawkish approach.“Bibi is trying to convince a one-man audience,” a senior Israeli official told Axios, referring to Trump, clarifying that members of Trump’s administration, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, no longer favor Netanyahu. “He has lost them.”The report compared it to the “bickering” between the US and Israel under the Biden administration, with officials from the two countries now arguing over tactical issues such as the long-delayed opening of the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza.The ceasefire plan’s first phase, which Israel and Hamas agreed to in the October deal, consists of the initial ceasefire, a limited pullback by the Israel Defense Forces, a hostage-prisoner swap, and a surge in humanitarian aid.Both sides accuse the other of violating the terms of the first phase: Hamas has yet to return the body of one hostage, Sgt. Ran Gvili, while Israel has refused to open the Rafah Crossing in both directions, agreeing only to allow movement out of the Strip.Israel and Hamas have not formally signed on to the second phase of the deal. It is supposed to see the establishment of a Palestinian technocratic government for the Strip, overseen by a Trump-led Board of Peace, as well as the deployment of an International Stabilization Force as the IDF’s presence in the Strip is phased out.It also advances the decommissioning of Hamas’s weapons and the demilitarization of Gaza, though Hamas has vocally refused to lay down its arms.Axios said the White House wants to move quickly to unveil the new technocratic government for Gaza, backed by the ISF Force, and is even considering convening the Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos later in January.US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have been coordinating closely with Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey to advance phase two of the deal, which would involve Hamas handing over weapons and Israeli forces pulling back. Netanyahu, however, has expressed skepticism — particularly regarding the demilitarization of Gaza — and has clashed with Witkoff and Kushner over the plan, Axios reported.“It is not clear whether Trump is in the same place Witkoff and Kushner are,” the senior Israeli official said.According to the report, White House officials also voiced growing frustration over Israeli actions they see as undermining the ceasefire, including IDF operations that Washington believes violate its terms.“Sometimes we feel the IDF commanders on the ground are just trigger-happy,” one White House official said.Witkoff and Kushner met in Miami last week with the prime minister of Qatar, the head of Egyptian intelligence, and the Turkish foreign minister — guarantors of the Gaza deal. According to Axios, they mapped out issues to be raised with Netanyahu ahead of the Florida meeting, including calls for Israel to adhere to the ceasefire and avoid civilian casualties.Trump is also expected to raise concerns over the West Bank, including fears of a Palestinian Authority collapse, settler violence, and withheld Palestinian tax revenues.The Trump plan calls for the PA to complete a “reform program,” and says that governance of Gaza could eventually be handed over to it, if and when the program has been completed. Israel, however, has consistently opposed any role in postwar Gaza for the PA, and has accused the body of backing terrorism.In Miami, the guarantors agreed to advance the establishment of the Palestinian technocratic government to take over day-to-day administration from Hamas, with the goal of convincing the terror group — and others in the Strip — that it is the sole government in the territory, Axios reported.Demilitarization of Gaza will progress in stages, beginning with missiles and rockets, and then lighter arms, a White House official told Axios. The planned International Stabilization Force could be invited by the technocratic government to help in the process.The mandate for the ISF has yet to be cemented, but by all accounts, it will not include direct combat with Hamas if the terror group refuses to disarm.“We don’t see the results of the meeting in Miami as positive,” an Israeli official told Axios.While the White House believes Israel has significant opportunities in the region, it is also concerned about the damage to the country’s international standing after two years of war, the report said.“We need to help them normalize with the UK before we help them normalize with Saudi Arabia,” a White House official told Axios.