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)
FIRST EVIDENCE OF AN EPIC BATTLE AT MEGIDDO OR THE BATTLE GROUND OF
THE FUTURE ARMEGGEDON WAR IN REVELATION 9:12-16, AND REV 16:12-14
FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN
LUKE 21:11,25-26
11
And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and
pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from
heaven.so was not yet deemed a threat to land.
25 And there shall be
signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON
MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth
distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the
waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for
fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and
there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers
places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be
earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles:
these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great
earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME)
and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall
there be from heaven.
REV 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and
there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon
the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green
grass was burnt up.
JAMES 1:11
11 For the sun is no sooner
risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower
thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also
shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
The Hebrew noun
accurately translated “oven” refers to a “baking oven” as distinct from a
kiln or smelting furnace—both of which burn much hotter. (The Hebrew
nouns for “kiln” or for “smelting furnace” are more likely to appear in
contexts of God's wrath or judgment.)
21 They have roused me to
jealousy with a non-god, they have exasperated me with their idols. In
my turn I shall rouse them to jealousy with a non-people, I shall
exasperate them with a stupid nation.
22 Yes, a fire has blazed from
my anger, it will burn right down to the depths of Sheol; it will devour
the earth and all its produce, it will set fire to the footings of the
mountains.
23 I shall hurl disasters on them, on them I shall use up all my arrows.
Myanmar quake death toll nears 3,000; UN warns window to find survivors closing-By Reuters-Published April 2, 2025 12:29am
Aid
groups in Myanmar on Tuesday described scenes of devastation and
desperation after an earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people,
stressing an urgent need for food, water and shelter and warning the
window to find survivors was fast closing.Myanmar's military ruler Min
Aung Hlaing said the death toll from Friday's 7.7 magnitude quake was
expected to surpass 3,000, having reached 2,719 as of Tuesday morning,
with 4,521 people injured, and 441 missing."Among the missing, most are
assumed to be dead. There is a narrow chance for them to remain alive,"
he said in a speech.The quake, which struck at lunchtime on Friday, was
the strongest to hit the Southeast Asian country in more than a century,
toppling ancient pagodas and modern buildings alike.It inflicted
significant damage on Myanmar's second city Mandalay and Naypyitaw, the
capital the previous junta purpose-built to be an impregnable
fortress.The earthquake was the latest in a succession of blows for the
impoverished country of 53 million people following a 2021 coup that
returned the military to power and devastated the economy after a decade
of development and tentative democracy.Myanmar's military has been
accused of widespread atrocities against civilians in its attempts to
maintain power and quell a multi-pronged rebellion that unfolded after
the coup, and the civil war had displaced more than 3 million people
long before the quake struck.It has dismissed the accusations as
misinformation and says it is protecting the country from terrorists.The
death toll rose to 21 in neighboring Thailand on Tuesday, where the
quake caused damage to hundreds of buildings. Rescuers pressed on
searching for life in the rubble of a collapsed skyscraper under
construction in the capital Bangkok, but acknowledged time was against
them.In Myanmar, UN agencies said hospitals were overwhelmed and rescue
efforts hindered by infrastructure damage and the civil war. Rebels have
accused the military of conducting airstrikes even after the quake and
on Tuesday a major rebel alliance declared a unilateral ceasefire to
help relief efforts.Communities flattened-Aid groups raised the alarm on
Tuesday over a lack of food, water and sanitation and the region was
hit by five more aftershocks.Julia Rees, of the UN children's agency
UNICEF, who just returned from one of the worst-affected areas near the
epicenter in central Myanmar, said entire communities had been flattened
and destruction and psychological trauma was immense."And yet, this
crisis is still unfolding. The tremors are continuing. Search and rescue
operations are ongoing. Bodies are still being pulled from the rubble,"
she said in a statement."Let me be clear: the needs are massive, and
they are rising by the hour. The window for life-saving response is
closing."In the Mandalay area, 50 children and two teachers were killed
when their preschool collapsed, the U.N. humanitarian agency said.In a
rare survival story, a 63-year-old woman who was trapped for 91 hours
was pulled from the rubble of a building in Naypyitaw on Tuesday in a
joint rescue effort by the Myanmar fire department and teams from India,
China and Russia.Myanmar's civil war has complicated efforts to reach
those injured and made homeless, including tight controls over the
internet and other communication networks.The Three Brotherhood Alliance
of three major rebel groups at war with the junta on Tuesday declared a
unilateral one-month ceasefire, to allow urgent humanitarian efforts to
"be carried out as swiftly and effectively as possible".In its nightly
news bulletin on Tuesday, state-controlled MRTV quoted Min Aung Hlaing
as saying the military had halted its offensives but unspecified ethnic
minority armies were planning to exploit the disaster."The military is
aware they are gathering, training, and preparing to attack," it quoting
the general as saying at an event to raise funds for quake victims. "We
consider it as attacking us and will respond accordingly."Skyscraper
rubble-One rebel group, the Karen National Union, on Sunday said the
junta had conducted airstrikes in the east of the country at a time when
it should be prioritizing quake relief efforts.Amnesty International
said it had received testimony corroborating reports of air strikes near
areas where quake recovery efforts were focused.“You cannot ask for aid
with one hand and bomb with the other," said Amnesty's Myanmar
researcher Joe Freeman.It is unclear if Min Aung Hlaing would make a
rare foreign trip this week to attend a regional summit in Bangkok as
planned. Thailand's on Tuesday said the general may attend by
teleconference.In Bangkok, rescuers were still scouring the ruins of an
unfinished skyscraper that collapsed for any signs of life, but aware
that as four days had passed since the quake, the odds of finding
survivors lengthened.Fourteen deaths have been confirmed at the site and
seven elsewhere in the city. The government is investigating the
collapse and initial tests showed some steel samples from the site were
substandard.There were an estimated 70 bodies under the rubble and
experts said 12 had been located using scanners, but access was blocked
by large debris."Maybe they can survive one week or two weeks, so we
have to go on," Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said. “The experts
still have hope." —
Reuters-https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/world/941314/myanmar-quake-death-toll-nears-3-000-un-warns-window-to-find-survivors-closing/story/
Myanmar
earthquake survivors without food and shelter as death toll passes
2,700-Aid groups accuse southeast Asian country’s military junta of
impeding access to rebel-held areas; in Thailand, rescuers scour rubble
from collapse of unfinished Bangkok skyscraper-By Reuters Today, 1:36
pm-MAR 31,25
BANGKOK, Thailand — Aid groups in the worst-hit
areas of Myanmar said there was an urgent need for shelter, food and
water after an earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people last week,
but said the country’s civil war could prevent help reaching those in
need.The death toll had reached 2,719 and is expected to rise to more
than 3,000, Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s military junta, said
in a televised address on Tuesday. He said 4,521 people were injured,
and 441 were missing.The 7.7 magnitude quake, which hit around lunchtime
on Friday, was the strongest to hit the Southeast Asian country in more
than a century, toppling ancient pagodas and modern buildings alike.In
neighboring Thailand, rescuers pressed on searching for life in the
rubble of a collapsed unfinished skyscraper in the capital Bangkok, but
acknowledged time was against them.In Myanmar’s Mandalay area, 50
children and two teachers were killed when their preschool collapsed,
the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
said.“In the hardest-hit areas… communities struggle to meet their basic
needs, such as access to clean water and sanitation, while emergency
teams work tirelessly to locate survivors and provide life-saving aid,”
the UN body said in a report.The International Rescue Committee (IRC)
said shelter, food, water and medical help were all needed in places
such as Mandalay, near the epicenter of the quake.“Having lived through
the terror of the earthquake, people now fear aftershocks and are
sleeping outside on roads or in open fields,” an IRC worker in Mandalay
said in a report.The civil war in Myanmar, where the junta seized power
in a coup in 2021, has complicated efforts to reach those injured and
made homeless by the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest quake in a
century.Amnesty International said the junta needed to allow aid to
reach areas of the country not under its control. Rebel groups say the
junta has conducted airstrikes after the quake.“Myanmar’s military has a
longstanding practice of denying aid to areas where groups who resist
it are active,” Amnesty’s Myanmar researcher Joe Freeman said.“It must
immediately allow unimpeded access to all humanitarian organizations and
remove administrative barriers delaying needs assessments,” said
Freeman.The junta’s tight control over communication networks and the
damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure caused by the quakes
have intensified the challenges for aid workers.Thai officials said a
meeting of regional leaders in Bangkok later this week would go ahead as
planned, although the junta’s Min Aung Hlaing may attend by
teleconference.Before the quake struck, sources said the junta chief had
been expected to make a rare foreign trip to attend the summit in
Bangkok on April 3-4.Hopes dim at collapsed building-In Bangkok,
rescuers were still scouring the ruins of an unfinished skyscraper that
collapsed for any signs of life, but aware that as four days had passed
since the quake, the odds of finding survivors lengthened.“There are
about 70 bodies underneath … and we hope by some miracle one or two are
still alive,” volunteer rescue leader Bin Bunluerit said at the building
site.Bangkok Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej said six human-shaped
figures had been detected by scanners, but there was no movement or
vital signs. Local and international experts were now working out how to
safely reach them, she said.Search and rescue efforts continued at the
site, supported by multinational teams, including personnel from the US
and Israel.Israel’s delegation, which comprises some two dozen experts
from the Defense Ministry and the National Rescue Unit of the IDF’s Home
Front Command, landed in Bangkok on Sunday, the Israeli military
said.Meanwhile, family and friends of people caught in the quake said
they feared the worst.“The rescue teams are doing their best. I can see
that,” said 19-year-old Artithap Lalod, who was waiting for news of his
brother.“However it turns out, that’s how it has to be. We just have to
accept that things will be the way they are,” he said.Thirteen deaths
have been confirmed at the building site, with 74 people still missing.
Thailand’s national death toll from the quake stands at 20.Initial tests
showed that some steel samples collected from the site of the collapsed
building were substandard, Thai industry ministry officials said. The
government has launched an investigation into the cause of the
collapse.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Volcano
erupts in Iceland, forcing evacuations of nearby town and Blue Lagoon
resort-Monica Danielle-Tue, April 1, 2025 at 2:06 PM EDT
A
volcanic eruption in southwest Iceland Tuesday forced the evacuation of
the town of Grindavík and the nearby Blue Lagoon spa and resort, as lava
and smoke poured from a newly opened fissure."Warning: An eruption has
begun," the The Icelandic Meteorological Office said in a statement. The
eruption, which began at 9:45 a.m. local time, followed a series of
earthquakes near the Sundhnúkur crater row on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
The strongest tremor was a magnitude 5.2.A nearly mile-long
(1.2-kilometer) fissure opened and began spewing lava and volcanic
gases. This is the 11th eruption in the region since 2021.Meteorologists
said the underground magma corridor formed Tuesday and stretched about
6.8 miles (11 kilometers), the longest observed since November
2023.Authorities ordered residents and tourists to leave the area
immediately. "People must leave the danger zone," said Police
Commissioner Ulfar Ludviksson. However, local media reported that a
small number of people chose to stay in Grindavík, despite the
evacuation order.The eruption poses a threat to Grindavik, with experts
warning that lava could reach inhabited areas. The outbreak has
penetrated protective barriers close to the fishing town, triggering an
evacuation of those residents who had returned following previous
eruptions, although most houses have stood empty for over a year.Most of
Grindavik's 4,000 residents left in a previous evacuation in 2023 due
to ongoing volcanic activity. Roads in and out of the area have been
closed, but flights remain unaffected.Gas from the eruption is expected
to travel northeast toward Reykjavík, depending on wind conditions,
according to the Meteorological Office.Iceland, located on the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has 33 active volcanic systems. The Reykjanes
Peninsula had been dormant for 800 years before eruptions resumed in
2021, marking the start of a new period of volcanic activity.
Chinese developer under scrutiny over Bangkok tower quake collapse.
Bangkok,
April 1 (AFP) Apr 01, 2025-A Chinese construction company is facing
questions over the deadly collapse of a Bangkok skyscraper -- the only
major building in the capital to fall in a catastrophic earthquake that
has killed more than 2,000 people in Thailand and neighbouring
Myanmar.The 30-storey tower, still under construction, was to house
government offices, but the shaking reduced the structure to a pile of
rubble in seconds, killing at least 13 people and injuring nine.It was
the deadliest single incident in Thailand after Friday's 7.7-magnitude
quake, with the majority of the kingdom's 20 fatalities thought to be
workers on the building site and hopes fading for around 70 still
trapped.Sprawling Bangkok bristles with countless high-rise blocks, but
none have reported major damage, prompting many to ask why the block
under construction gave way."We have to investigate where the mistake
happened," said Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who has
ordered a probe into the materials and safety standards at the
construction site."What happened from the beginning since it was
designed? How was this design approved? This was not the first building
in the country," she told reporters on Saturday.The development near
Bangkok's popular Chatuchak market was a joint project involving China
Railway No. 10 Engineering Group (Thailand) -- an offshoot of China
Railway Group (CREC), one of the world's largest construction and
engineering contractors.- Questions raised -Testing of steel rebars --
struts used to reinforce concrete -- from the site has found that some
of the metal used was substandard, Thai safety officials said on
Monday.Industry Minister Akanat Promphan announced that a committee
would be set up to investigate, saying one supplier of the steel had
failed safety tests in December and may have its licence withdrawn. He
did not name the supplier.Professor of Civil Engineering at King
Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang Suchatwee Sunaswat said
there were questions to be answered."We have to look at the design. At
the beginning, how they calculate, how they design. And in the rescue
mission, how they collect evidence at the same time," he told reporters
on Saturday.- Safety complaints -The local partner in the project,
Italian-Thai Development (ITD) offered condolences on Monday to quake
victims but said it was "confident" the incident would not impact its
other projects.Beijing-owned building conglomerate CREC is one of the
world's largest construction and engineering contractors, with projects
in more than 90 countries and regions, according to its website.The
Bangkok construction collapse is not the first time CREC and its
subsidiaries have come under fire after deadly incidents.A tide of anger
was unleashed at authorities in Serbia following the deaths of 14
people when a roof collapsed in November last year at a train station
built by CREC subsidiaries -- largely focused on reports of alleged
shortcuts made with building projects.Roisai Wongsuban of the Migrant
Working Group advocacy organisation said there have been a large number
of complaints from migrant workers employed by Chinese companies in
Thailand about lax safety standards and poor labour rights."For Chinese
companies we can't see the human rights due diligence, to see if labour
standards are being met," she told AFP."There is always a power
imbalance between employer and employee."Bangkok's construction boom is
powered by an army of labourers, a large proportion of them migrant
workers from Myanmar, toiling on hot building sites for low pay.The
Migrant Working Group has called on Thailand's labour ministry to hold
the employers involved in the construction project criminally liable if
they have failed to meet health and safety laws.- China sensitivities
-AFP has asked China Rail No. 10 Engineering Thailand and CREC for
comment but has not had a response.An announcement celebrating the
completion of the main structure at the Chatuchak construction site
posed on China Rail No. 10's official WeChat channel was deleted soon
after Friday's quake.AFP archived the post shortly after the tremors hit
but before the page was removed.Local media said that four Chinese
nationals were apprehended on Saturday for attempting to retrieve
documents from the collapse site.But China is the largest source of
foreign direct investment in Thailand, injecting $2 billion into the
kingdom in 2024, according to Open Development Thailand, and the
government typically handles anything linked to Beijing with kid
gloves.Paetongtarn said an investigation into the collapse launched on
Monday would not be "specific to one country"."We do not want one
particular country to think we are only keeping eyes on (it)," she said
on Tuesday.At a small shelter near the site on Monday, 45-year-old
Naruemol Thonglek waited for news of her boyfriend, electrician Kyi
Than, who was missing under the enormous mound of concrete and twisted
metal being lifted by mechanical diggers."I'm devastated," she told AFP.
"I've never seen anything like this in my entire life."
European leadership in particle physics threatened by China-By Agnus PEDRERO.
Geneva
(AFP) Mar 31, 2025-Europe's CERN laboratory chief Fabiola Gianotti told
AFP in an interview on Monday that if a replacement particle collider
was not given the green light the continent could lose its leadership in
fundamental physics to China.Gianotti also downplayed fears over the
Future Circular Collider's funding and criticism from some scientists
the money would be better spent elsewhere.Q : Last year the German
government, which is the leading contributor to CERN, expressed
reservations about its estimated more than 15 million euro cost. Do you
understand those reservations?A : "A big project always raises questions
about its funding. It was the same when (Large Hadron Collider) LHC...
the current instrument, was put on the table for approval. And it's
absolutely obvious and understandable that the member states who
finance... CERN are extremely careful. They want to see a very solid
cost assessment with very small uncertainties. So we will continue in
the next year to improve the assessment of the cost.But I think there is
full support from the CERN member states to ensure a future for CERN...
And I think it's very important, especially at times of geopolitical
conflict and tension, (it's) very important to invest into good values,
into science, into technology, to give hope, also to the younger
generation."Q: Could the private sector help support the project? A:
"It's a possibility, of course, but the bulk of the funding must come
from the member states." Q: What are the risks if the project does not
come to light, given China's known ambition to acquire the world's
largest particle accelerator? A: "There is a real competition, although
we collaborate, we work together, CERN has something like 600
researchers coming from China. So there is a real competition."There is a
real risk that that Europe loses the leadership in fundamental science,
in particular in high energy particle physics and the technologies that
go with it, and I think it will be a pity."And so I think also that it
would be good if the European community could choose the project that is
best for CERN and not really depend on the choices of other regions."Q:
What would the FCC bring to people's daily lives? A: "What we do with
our colliders is to increase and improve the knowledge of humanity,
trying to answer questions that have been with us, human beings, since
we started to populate our planet Earth."Where are we coming from? Where
are we going? These are existential questions that we ask ourselves
every day. And so particle physics tries to address those
questions."Concerning also the impact on our life, the technologies that
fundamental research today developed -- because fundamental research is
a driver of innovation -- find applications in many domains of
society."The World Wide Web was invented at CERN. Accelerators to treat
cancers with light ions have been developed at CERN. The PET scanner was
developed at CERN and many, many, many others."Q: Do you understand the
criticisms scientists have made about this project, with some
suggesting the funding should go to smaller projects instead? A: "I
think that, of course, there is always a bit competition between
different domains of science, and sometimes there is a little bit of
nervousness that if too much money is invested in a field, it will go to
the detriment of money in another field."But I think what is important
for science is to inject money in all fields and not to fight between
different domains of science, because money that is injected in science
will remain in science."Money that is subtracted from science will not
go to other domains of science. It will go to somewhere else."
No technical obstacles to new giant particle collider in Europe: CERN.
Geneva
(AFP) Mar 31, 2025 - Europe's CERN laboratory said on Monday that a
detailed analysis revealed no technical obstacles to building the
world's biggest particle collider, even as critics took issue with the
"pharaonic" $17-billion project.The Future Circular Collider (FCC)
project is essential for ensuring that Europe maintains its global
leadership in fundamental physics, CERN chief Fabiola Gianotti told
AFP."There is real competition" from China in particular, she cautioned,
hailing that the giant FCC "project is absolutely on the good track"
and urging states to release the funding needed to move forward.After
analysing around 100 different scenarios, CERN on Monday published the
results of a years-long feasibility study for its preferred option: a
nearly 91-kilometre (56-mile) circular tunnel straddling the
French-Swiss border.With an average depth of 200 metres (660 feet), the
tunnel would accommodate a particle accelerator that would be more than
three times the length of CERN's existing Large Hadron Collider,
currently the largest of its kind.The LHC -- a 27-kilometre
proton-smashing ring running about 100 metres below ground -- has among
other things been used to prove the existence of the Higgs boson.Dubbed
the God particle, the Nobel Prize-winning discovery broadened science's
understanding of how particles acquire mass.- 'Rich in possibilities'
-With LHC expected to have fully run its course by 2041, CERN has been
analysing options to allow scientists to keep pushing the
envelope.Gianotti hailed the success of the feasibility study, stressing
that "we have found no technical showstopper so far".Others were
similarly enthusiastic about the FCC."To make major progress in its
quest to understand the origin of the universe and the role the Higgs
boson plays... the global scientific community needs a machine as
powerful and rich in possibilities as the FCC," Catherine Biscarat of
the L2IT lab at Toulouse University told AFP.But not everyone is
thrilled with the idea of the giant project, which has been estimated to
cost 15 billion Swiss francs ($16.9 billion).CERN's member states -- 23
European countries and Israel -- need to decide by 2028 whether to
release the funds needed.But Germany, CERN's largest contributor, last
year voiced reservations about the towering sums required.CERN spokesman
Arnaud Marsollier tried to allay those concerns, insisting that up to
80 percent of the FCC's cost "could be covered by the organisation's
budget".- 'Like David and Goliath' -Some locals are meanwhile up in arms
about the project and the impact it could have on their lives and
livelihoods.Thierry Perrillat, a dairy farmer in Roche-sure-Foron in
France, maintained that the planned collider would swallow "five
hectares of our farm"."It's like David and Goliath," he said
bitterly.The project has also sparked disagreement among scientists."The
financial, ecological, and operating costs are astronomical," physicist
Olivier Cepas of the Neel Institute at the University of Grenoble told
AFP."It would be better to fund smaller scientific projects," he
insisted.FCC project engineer Jean-Paul Burnet meanwhile insisted that
the FCC plans had been "improved to reduce its environmental impact", by
for instance lowering the number of wells and surface sites.But
environmental groups in the region were not convinced.In a report, the
environmental association Noe21 slammed the "excessive" FCC project,
pointing to its "astronomical electricity consumption", its climate
impact, its cost and scale.- 'Stunned' -Franco-Swiss collective
CO-CERNes, which includes the WWF and Greenpeace, has been organising
information sessions in nearby communities.At a recent such session in
Marcellaz, located near one of the eight planned FCC surface sites,
organiser Thierry Lemmel told AFP the group was providing information
about this "pharaonic project"."Progress is necessary," he said.But, he
asked, given the state of the planet today, "should we really be
mobilising so many resources, so much wealth ... for this project, with
uncertain results?".Among the around 100 people who attended the
Marcellaz meeting was Kevin Mugnier, who had only just heard of the FCC
project."I was a bit stunned," he said, worried his land might be
requisitioned.In Ferney-Voltaire, at one of the seven surface sites
planned on the French side, mayor Daniel Raphoz said he favoured the
"win-win" project, which he maintained would have positive effects on
employment and energy."CERN's overflow energy will be used to heat the
town," he said.If the FCC is not built here, progress would move
elsewhere, he warned."It will be happening in China, (marking) European
decline."
TUM spin-off rocket completes maiden launch from Western Europe-by Robert Schreiber.
Berlin,
Germany (SPX) Apr 01, 2025-Isar Aerospace, a startup emerging from the
Technical University of Munich (TUM), has successfully completed the
inaugural test flight of its launch vehicle. This marks a historic
milestone as the first orbital-class rocket launch conducted from
Western European soil. The new vehicle is engineered to deploy small and
mid-sized satellites into orbit, a capability that is growing
increasingly essential to support a wide range of next-generation
technologies. TUM provided key support to the company's three
co-founders during the venture's early development.Applications such as
autonomous mobility, digital farming, and resilient communications
infrastructure depend heavily on satellite networks. To meet the rising
demand, operators plan to deploy dense constellations of compact
satellites operating in low Earth orbit. However, conventional rockets
typically cater to large payloads, creating a gap in launch options for
smaller missions.Addressing this need, Isar Aerospace has engineered a
28-meter launch vehicle specifically for lightweight payloads. On its
maiden flight, conducted from the Andoya Spaceport in Norway, the rocket
completed a brief ascent before a controlled descent. The short flight,
consistent with early-stage test campaigns, provided engineers with
valuable data for future missions.This mission represents the first time
a carrier rocket designed to reach orbit has launched from Western
Europe. Traditionally, Europe's orbital launches have originated from
the Guiana Space Centre in South America. The successful test highlights
growing efforts to develop a self-sufficient European space
infrastructure, motivated by both economic and strategic priorities.The
company was established by Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann, and Markus
Brandl, all alumni of TUM's aerospace engineering program. Isar
Aerospace's roots trace back to the university's student research group
WARR, where the founders began experimenting with rocket propulsion.
Following the company's launch in 2018, early prototypes were built in
the MakerSpace facility operated by UnternehmerTUM, TUM's innovation and
entrepreneurship hub. The startup also received structured guidance
through the XPRENEURS incubator, with funding support from
Unternehmertum Venture Capital Partners and other investors. To date,
Isar Aerospace has raised over 400 million euros. The company maintains
operations near TUM's Department of Aerospace and Geodesy."This is a
great success for our alumni and also further proof of the strength of
our start-up ecosystem," stated TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann. "Isar
Aerospace had its beginnings at TUM, the founders were already working
on rocket engines in the student research group WARR. They were also
accompanied and supported by us during the first steps of growth. And
now the company has taken a huge step with the first flight of its space
rocket. I congratulate them on this masterpiece and am proud that we as
a university have contributed as well."TUM's deeptech ecosystem,
anchored by UnternehmerTUM, ranks among Europe's most vibrant hubs for
innovation. The network facilitates collaborations between startups,
corporate partners, specialists, and investors, offering tailored
programs at each stage of the entrepreneurial journey. TUM Venture Labs
provide access to cutting-edge infrastructure and market insights across
a dozen key technology domains. Last year alone, the university saw the
creation of over 100 startups, with more than 1,100 teams benefiting
from UnternehmerTUM and Venture Lab programs. The Financial Times has
twice recognized UnternehmerTUM as Europe's leading startup incubator.
Finland to withdraw from anti-personnel mine ban treaty.
Helsinki,
April 1 (AFP) Apr 01, 2025-Finland's prime minister said on Tuesday
that Finland plans to withdraw from the international treaty banning the
use of anti-personnel mines, citing the threat from Russia.Prime
Minister Petteri Orpo said a fundamentally changed security environment
in Europe prompted Finland's decision to pull out of the 1997 Ottawa
Treaty."Finland and Europe need to evaluate all measures to strengthen
our deterrence and defence capabilities, individually and in NATO," Orpo
said at a press conference."We also propose that Finland starts to
prepare for withdrawal from the Ottawa Agreement," he added.The
announcement comes two weeks after Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
took a first step towards also quitting the treaty, with them all
pointing to the increased security risk from Russia following its
invasion of Ukraine.The Ottawa Treaty prohibits the use, stockpiling,
production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.Finland's parliament
needs to back the government's decision, with withdrawal becoming
effective six months after that eventual approval.Orpo also said that
Finland would boost its defence spending to at least three percent of
GDP by 2029 and launch a reform of its defence forces to tackle a
deteriorating security situation."With these solutions, we will ensure
that Finland's defence is in good shape for years to come. I am very
pleased that these solutions have broad parliamentary support," he
said.More than 160 countries and territories are party to the Ottawa
Treaty, including Ukraine. Neither the United States nor Russia are
signatories.Finland abandoned the anti-personnel mines in 2012 when it
joined the treaty and subsequently destroyed more than a million
mines.Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with
Russia, dropped decades of military non-alignment and joined the NATO in
2023.
Trump says former Israel envoy Friedman, 30 others
interested in UN envoy vacancy-Nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik, who
made headlines with antisemitism hearings, was pulled to preserve
Republican majority in US House-By Jacob Magid-and ToI Staff Today, 3:38
pm-APR 1,25
US President Donald Trump said Monday that his
former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has expressed interest in
becoming the next US ambassador to the United Nations, after Trump
withdrew the nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik to maintain her seat in
the House, where Republicans have a narrow majority.“We have a lot of
people that have asked about it, and would like to do it — David
Friedman, Richard Grenell and maybe 30 other people,” Trump told
reporters after signing executive orders in the Oval Office.“Everyone
loves that position. That’s a star-making position, and so we’ll see
what happens. But we have a lot of people that are interested in going
to the United Nations, as you can imagine,” Trump said.Friedman wielded
considerable influence from Jerusalem during the previous Trump
administration and was said to have vied for a top spot in the second
administration. However, Trump has held off on appointing the former
envoy, who criticized the president after he dined with antisemite Kanye
West in 2022.Friedman went on to endorse Trump’s reelection and has
been one of his most vocal advocates.Grenell said on Thursday he is a
“hard no” on the UN post.“This is not something that I want to do. I’ve
got plenty to do,” said Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany
during Trump’s first term.Grenell currently serves as Trump’s envoy for
special missions and head of the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts. In Trump’s first term, he also brokered a diplomatic
deal between Serbia and Kosovo and became America’s first openly gay
cabinet-level official as acting director of national
intelligence.Republicans, who control the House by 218 seats to 213, are
said to be concerned that their tight lead may be further eroded
following special elections being held Tuesday to fill two vacant
seats.Stefanik is a vocally pro-Israel Republican who was reelected last
year, winning 62 percent of the vote over her Democratic opponent. She
made headlines in 2023 for her tough questioning of university
presidents during a hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. The
lawmaker has quickly become a fan favorite among pro-Israel groups.She
was the last cabinet-level Trump nominee who had not been confirmed. She
was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with some
Democratic votes, on January 30 and had been expected to be easily
approved by the full Senate. At her confirmation hearing, Stefanik vowed
to use her role to combat “antisemitic rot” at the UN and said that US
tax dollars “should not be complicit in propping up entities that are
counter to American interests, antisemitic, or engaging in fraud,
corruption, or terrorism.”Stairway to the stars? The UN ambassador
position can be a stepping stone to further success. Previous US
ambassadors to the UN were elevated to senior cabinet posts, including
former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, secretary of energy Bill
Richardson and national security adviser John Bolton.Former South
Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who served as representative to the UN at
the beginning of Trump’s first term, said in her memoir that she took
the post as a way to gain direct access to Trump, but they later had a
falling out. She resigned after two years in the post and then ran
against him in the 2024 presidential election. On the campaign trail, he
slammed her as a “globalist” and said shortly after his election that
he would not invite her to join his administration.
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.
NAHUM 3:13
13
Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are
wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.
DR DOCTORION-ANGEL OF THE MIDEAST
"The
angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces
because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United
Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
Revelation 9:12-18-King James Version
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15 And
the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a
day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17 And
thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having
breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of
the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued
fire and smoke and brimstone.
18 By
these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the
smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
Revelation 16:12-18-King James Version
12 And
the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; 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, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet.
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.
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.
Saga
documented in 2 Kings and Book of Chronicles-Archaeologists find first
evidence of epic biblical battle at ‘Armageddon’Pottery excavated at
Megiddo in northern Israel suggests a military presence, possibly
confirms the battle between King Josiah and Pharaoh Necho, and hints at
Gog and Magog narrative-By Rossella Tercatin-30 March 2025, 9:10 am
For
the first time, a team of Israeli archaeologists has uncovered ancient
artifacts at northern Israel’s “Armageddon” site that might offer proof
of an epic battle documented in the books of Kings II and Chronicles
between a king of Judah and an Egyptian pharaoh.Two academic papers
published earlier this year explained how an unprecedented amount of
7th-century BCE Egyptian pottery was found in recent excavations at
Megiddo, suggesting that Egyptian soldiers were indeed in the right
biblical place at what could be the right biblical period.“Megiddo is
the only site in Israel and the neighboring countries mentioned in the
Bible and in all great records of the Ancient Near East,” said Prof.
Israel Finkelstein, head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime
Cultures at the University of Haifa and long-time director of the
Megiddo Expedition.The Book of 2 Chronicles in chapters 34-35 and 2
Kings in chapters 22-23 narrate the vicissitudes of the 16th King of
Judah, Josiah. As he rose to the throne, he was described as a
God-fearing leader who brought the people of Israel back to a righteous
path after centuries of idol-worshipping and sinful behaviors. Yet, his
efforts did not placate God’s wrath against the people. As Egyptian
Pharaoh Necho marched against the Assyrians, Josiah confronted him at
Megiddo, and Necho killed him (2 Chronicles 35:20-22; 2 Kings 23:29).
The Assyrians, one of several biblical foes of the people of Israel,
were responsible for destroying the kingdom of Israel in the northern
part of the land (where Megiddo is located) in the 8th century CE, a
century before the Josiah-Necho battle.“It is important to note that the
re-establishment of the site as an Egyptian stronghold in the late 7th
century BCE had long been suspected, mostly based on a biblical verse in
the Book of Kings, which described Josiah’s execution at Megiddo by
Pharaoh Necho,” said Dr. Assaf Kleiman of Ben Gurion University, a
senior member of the Megiddo Expedition staff who led the studies
published in Egypt and the Levant and the Scandinavian Journal of the
Old Testament.Alongside the massive amount of Egyptian pottery, the
excavation also uncovered a significant quantity of vessels from eastern
Greece that, based on typological parallels with well-dated contexts in
other archaeological sites, must have arrived at Megiddo between 630
and 610 BCE (the Josiah-Necho battle is said to have happened in 609
BCE).Finkelstein and Kleiman said these findings might hint at the
presence of Greek mercenaries, who would have fought alongside the
Egyptians against Josiah.“We know of such mercenaries in the service of
Egypt of that time from both Greek and Assyrian textual sources,” said
Finkelstein.These Greek mercenaries may also have biblical ties.“There
are several clues in the Bible to the participation of Lydians from
western Anatolia in the killing of Josiah. One of them is the story of
Gog; some scholars think that Gog refers to Gyges, the king of Lydia
who, according to the Assyrians, sent mercenaries to serve in the
Egyptian army in the 7th century BCE,” said Finkelstein.In the Hebrew
Bible, the name Gog is mentioned in two books. In Ezekiel (chapters
38-39), Gog is a chief prince in the land of Magog, an enemy of Israel
who will eventually be destroyed by God. In Chronicles 5:4, however, Gog
is a descendant of the prophet Joel. In the New Testament, Gog and
Magog are described as allies of Satan in the battle against God at the
end of times (Revelations 20:7-9).“The Book of Revelations in the New
Testament refers to an eschatological battle between the forces of God
and the forces of evil at Armageddon — a corruption in Greek of Har
Megiddo — the Mound/hill of Megiddo,” Finkelstein noted. “Perhaps the
theological idea behind it is that a savior from the lineage of David
will return in the place where the last and most righteous Davidic King
[Josiah] died.”A long history of Megiddo excavations“Megiddo has been
excavated by four expeditions, starting in the early 20th century,”
Finkelstein said. “Past excavations did not have access to modern
methods and techniques and hence many of the results have been
contested.”The long history of destructive excavations — often completed
with what are now considered primitive methods — makes the new finds
even more exciting.“Finding undisturbed remains of the Assyrian period
in Megiddo had always been a passion of mine since it was widely
believed that these remains were completely removed by the expedition
that worked at the site in the early 20th century,” said Kleiman.Prof.
Israel Finkelstein, head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime
Cultures at the University of Haifa and director of the Megiddo
Expedition.“In 2016, we were finally able to locate an area suitable for
investigating this fascinating period, very close to the administrative
quarter of the site,” Kleiman told The Times of Israel via email. “In
the last two years, I processed the findings in my lab at Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev.”The excavations in what archaeologists defined
as “Area X” unearthed the remains of a building from the 7th century CE
when the battle between Josiah and Necho would have occurred.The
structure featured several rooms and an open court and presented a rich
assemblage of pottery.“Pottery is the most abundant find unearthed in
archaeological excavations,” said Kleiman. “It provides us with numerous
insights into the life of ancient societies, for example, their cooking
practices, trade relations, and, in very specific cases, group
identities. In our recent excavation, we exposed what seems to be a
domestic structure dating from the late 7th century BCE with both
locally produced and imported ceramic vessels.”The local pottery
included fragments of vessels that, based on their typology, could be
identified as Assyrian, as well as a piece that belonged to a Judahic
cooking pot (based on typology and analysis of the origin of the clay
used, which came from Moza near Jerusalem).An army marches on its
stomach-In addition to the potential Assyrian remains, the researchers
also found over 100 pieces of Egyptian pottery.“Since Egyptian pottery
from the Late Iron Age was never encountered before at Megiddo, at the
beginning of our research, we were a bit puzzled by the high quantities
of crude vessels in the field,” said Kleiman. “However, due to their
distinct morphology and the use of straw in the production process of
these pots, we suspected an Egyptian origin. Our suspicion was confirmed
by petrographic analysis, a method used to locate the production place
of ancient artifacts.”According to the researchers, the exposure of such
significant quantities of Egyptian pottery, including vessels used for
serving, cooking and storage, has never previously been documented
throughout the entire Levant. In addition, the abundance of unadorned
and poorly fired vessels suggests that the artifacts did not reach the
city for sale at markets.“Due to the abundant evidence of these vessels
in the excavated structure, and as it is unlikely that the local
population suddenly decided to import crude vessels from Egypt, we
assumed that the simplest solution is that we are dealing with foreign
groups, maybe indeed part of an Egyptian garrison that took over Megiddo
following the retreat of the Assyrians from the Levant,” Kleiman said.
Ahead
of Passover, Israelis warned Hamas, Iran may target travelers and Jews
abroad-Terrorists expected to ramp up attacks amid ‘deteriorating
situation in Gaza,’ National Security Council says, as lone wolf
terrorism inspired by global jihad said on the rise-By Lazar
Berman-Today, 3:39 pm-APR 1,25
In a warning Tuesday ahead of the
Passover holiday, the National Security Council (NSC) said Israelis and
Jews traveling abroad could be targeted by Hamas, Iran and global jihadi
groups including Islamic State.Many Israelis typically fly abroad
during the weeklong holiday, which will begin on April 12.The warning
urged Israelis to exercise caution when traveling abroad and to check
NSC travel recommendations before flying.In its warning, the NSC said
Hamas was expected to ramp up efforts to attack Jewish and Israeli
targets abroad given its “deteriorating situation in Gaza and the
resumption of fighting” there last month.The NSC noted the December 2023
arrest of Hamas cells in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands on
suspicion of plotting to attack Jewish targets in Europe. The following
April, Bulgarian police uncovered an arms cache linked to four suspected
Hamas members arrested in Germany and the Netherlands.According to the
NSC, Iran is the main backer of global terrorism targeting Jews and
Israelis. The body warned that “Iranian terror operatives have continued
attempts to lure Israeli citizens — both domestically and abroad —
through deceptive business offers or impersonation, aiming to harm or
abduct them.”In October, Swedish intelligence agency Sapo said Iran,
whose leaders are sworn to Israel’s destruction, may have been involved
in recent explosions and gunfire around Israeli embassies in Sweden and
Denmark. And in May, Sapo said Iran was recruiting members of Swedish
criminal gangs to commit “acts of violence” against Israeli and other
interests in Sweden — a claim Iran denied.In its warning Tuesday, the
NSC also said there was an increased risk of lone wolf terror attacks
amid a spike in the activity of global jihadi groups Islamic State,
al-Qaeda and al-Shabab, particularly in Europe.The warning noted arson
attacks and an attempted car bombing in Australia; a rash of Molotov
cocktail and shooting attacks at Jewish institutions in Canada; a car
ramming that killed fourteen people and injured dozens in New Orleans on
New Year’s Eve; and violence against fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv
soccer team in Amsterdam in November.The NSC also warned that Egypt’s
Sinai Peninsula, a popular tourism destination for Israelis, remains a
“high-risk area,” and that Israelis should avoid visiting it.“The
climate of hate against Israelis and Jews due to the ongoing war
continues to fuel terrorist efforts, both from organized cells and
individual attackers,” according to the NSC.“The potential expansion of
war zones” — a possible reference to the growing IDF operation in Gaza —
could further increase the motivation of terrorists and others to
attack Israelis abroad, the assessment said.Israel resumed hostilities
in the Strip on March 18, ending a roughly two-month ceasefire and
hostage release deal with Hamas. The deal came 15 months after the Gaza
war was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led
terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take
251 hostages.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Israel’s Plans to Attack Iran: Expect the Unexpected-March 31, 2025
There’s
been rampant speculation about a strike on Iran’s nuclear program, but
Israel’s plans of attack may be surprising and unpredictable.Military
expert Michael Eisenstadt recently suggested that Israel likely
developed highly classified capabilities designed to target Iran’s
nuclear facilities. Some of these wee apparently utilized in covert
actions against the Iranians, he said.Eisenstadt added that predicting
Israel’s precise plans and tactics would be difficult, pointing to the
entirely unexpected operation to blow up Hezbollah’s communication
devices.While Eisenstadt did not speculate on the specifics of Israel’s
arsenal, analysts have pointed to a range of possibilities. Some suggest
the use of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons capable of disabling
electronic systems within hardened facilities without causing widespread
destruction.Other possibilities include advanced drones or missile
systems equipped with next-generation penetrator warheads, possibly
developed in collaboration with the United States. Israel’s formidable
cyber capabilities could also factor into the plans, possibly
supplementing conventional airstrikes.Israel may also deploy Special
Forces in Iranian territory, transporting them via submarines or a
large-scale airlift. [here’s a detailed report about the unique IDF unit
tasked with such missions]Meanwhile, the ambiguity surrounding Israel’s
intentions and methods has only heightened the unease in Tehran. Adding
to the tension, the IDF has reportedly been ordered to complete all
preparation for a potential assault within months. Iran’s leadership
has repeatedly vowed to retaliate against any attack on its nuclear
sites, raising the stakes in an already volatile situation. In parallel,
an Israeli source told Channel 13 News that a military clash with Iran
is inevitable.For now, observers can only speculate about the full
extent of Israel’s capabilities. But Eisenstadt’s analysis serves as a
reminder that as the moment of truth nears, Israel may hold cards that
few can anticipate.
Russia warns of ‘catastrophic’ consequences
if Trump carries out threat to bomb Iran-Deputy Russian FM says Moscow
is ‘ready to offer its good services to Washington, Tehran’ in order to
help reach a deal on nuclear program-By Reuters and ToI Staff Today,
3:43 pm-APR 1,25
Russia has warned that strikes against Iran’s
nuclear infrastructure would have “catastrophic” consequences, after US
President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran unless it came to an
agreement with Washington over its nuclear program.“Threats are indeed
being heard, ultimatums are also being heard,” Deputy Foreign Minister
Sergei Ryabkov told the Russian journal “International Affairs” in an
interview, extracts of which were published on Tuesday. “We consider
such methods inappropriate, we condemn them, we consider them a way for
[the US] to impose its own will on the Iranian side.”Russia has for the
most part refrained from sharp criticism of Trump, with whom President
Vladimir Putin has moved quickly to repair relations in a rapprochement
viewed with concern by Ukraine and its European allies.The Kremlin has
offered to mediate between the Trump administration and Iran, with which
it signed a strategic partnership treaty in January.Trump, in his first
remarks since Iran rejected direct negotiations with Washington, told
NBC News over the weekend that Tehran could face bombing and secondary
tariffs if it did not reach an agreement over its nuclear program.“If
they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” he said. “It will be
bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”During his first
term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world
powers that placed strict limits on Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities
in exchange for sanctions relief.Since then, Iran has far surpassed
that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment. Iran claims that it needs
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and denies it is seeking to build
an atomic bomb.Ryabkov said Trump’s recent comments only served to
“complicate the situation” in regards to Iran.“The consequences of this,
especially if the strikes are on nuclear infrastructure, could be
catastrophic for the entire region,” Ryabkov said.“While there is still
time and the ‘train has not left [the station],’ we need to redouble our
efforts to try to reach an agreement on a reasonable basis. Russia is
ready to offer its good services to Washington, Tehran and everyone who
is interested in this,” he said.
Poll: Republicans voters
overwhelmingly support Trump’s approach to Gaza war-Two-thirds of
respondents say US should press for ceasefires in Ukraine and Gaza; many
call for US to reduce its role in global affairs-By Marc Levy and
Linley Sanders Today, 4:34 pm-APR 1,25
WASHINGTON (AP) — While
most Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the conflict is not weighing as heavily on
his public perception as it did on President Joe Biden, a new poll has
found.That’s because of Trump’s solid support from his base on this
issue. The survey of US adults from The Associated Press-NORC Center for
Public Affairs Research found that about 8 in 10 Republicans approve of
Trump’s handling of the conflict. Only about 4 in 10 Democrats approved
of Biden’s handling of the conflict last June, shortly before Biden
dropped out of the presidential race.“During Trump’s first
administration, we did not actively start any wars. And there’s a stark
difference between his history and his first term versus the Biden
presidency. And I think Trump is just trying to fix things that Biden
let get out of hand,” said Patrick Vigil, a 60-year-old Republican from
New Mexico who voted for Trump in November’s election.The poll suggests
Republicans are growing more satisfied with the country’s foreign policy
actions as Trump pulls back US support for Ukraine and puts new
pressure on allies — notably with his talk of annexing Canada, Greenland
and the Panama Canal.Trump has warned Hamas that there would be “hell
to pay” if Israeli hostages weren’t returned immediately and urged
Israel to wrap up their offensive and “get it over with.”He has
supported ceasefire talks in both conflicts and said he’d end the war
between Ukraine and Russia within “24 hours” — or even before taking
office. Since becoming president again, Trump has publicly torn into
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky but also tried to pressure
Russia’s Vladimir Putin to accept a peace deal.Broadly, Republicans are
more content with the US on solving global issues now that President
Trump is in office. About half of Republicans say the US’s current role
in world affairs is about right, up from about 2 in 10 last February
when Biden was president.There’s a greater consensus that the US should
be focused on ceasefire negotiations in Israel and Ukraine than there
was last year too. About 6 in 10 US adults say it’s “extremely” or
“very” important for the US to negotiate a permanent ceasefire between
Russia and Ukraine, up from about half in an AP-NORC poll conducted in
February 2024, with a similar uptick on the conflict between Israel and
the Palestinians.Republicans have grown more committed to both foreign
policy goals since Trump took office, according to the poll. For
instance, about 6 in 10 Republicans now think it’s highly important for
the US to negotiate a permanent ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, up
from about 4 in 10 last year.“I think we really need to step back and
figure out a way just to bring everybody to the table so that they can
use their own resources and figure out what they need to do to
compromise,” said Lisa Major, 61, a registered Republican from Kentucky
who voted for Trump in November.Keith Willey, a Republican-leaning
registered independent from Florida who voted for a third-party
candidate for president, said peace deals in Ukraine and Gaza have
become more important to him over time amid mounting death and
destruction.But Willey said he doesn’t support a deal that allows Hamas
to stay in control in Gaza and he doesn’t support a ceasefire in Ukraine
that divides it up with Russia or hinges on the US taking control of
Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.He still supports strong American
intervention on Ukraine’s behalf against Russia, supports strong US
backing of Israel and doesn’t like Trump’s friendly relationship with
Russia or Russian President Vladimir Putin.“I’m not tired of giving
weapons to Ukraine. I think we should support where we can to have them
fight for their own country. But, generally speaking, I would like to
see a ceasefire,” Willey, 63, said.Many Republicans don’t want more
investment in Ukraine, though — only about 2 in 10 think providing aid
to Ukraine’s military to fight Russia is “extremely” or “very” important
— and not all of Trump’s voters are satisfied with Trump’s ceasefire
efforts.Michael Johnson, a 36-year-old registered independent from North
Carolina who voted for Trump, isn’t happy with Trump’s handling of
Israel’s war in Gaza or the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Johnson said
Trump had held himself out as a president who could bring the wars to an
end quickly but hasn’t.“I don’t think he went through with what he said
he would do,” Johnson said. “He said he would stop it, but it’s still
going on. There’s a lot of people losing their lives out there, young
kids and stuff.”And many Republicans want Trump to continue shrinking
American involvement abroad. About 4 in 10 Republicans now say the US
should take a less active role in world affairs.That includes Major, who
supports Trump, likes how he’s handling foreign conflicts and sees him
trying to reduce the role the US plays in the world, as she wants him to
do.“For one, it takes our attention off of the citizens of America, but
also it may be sending a really negative message where we keep
involving ourselves in other people’s issues when we can’t figure out
our own issues,” Major said.The AP-NORC poll of 1,229 adults was
conducted March 20-24, using a sample drawn from NORC’s
probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be
representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for
adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Touring
West Bank, Katz and Smotrich vow crackdown on illegal Palestinian
construction-Defense minister says Palestinian Authority will be denied
using construction as ‘strategic threat’ to settlements; finance
minister boasts record demolitions in past year-By Stav Levaton-and ToI
Staff Today, 5:02 pm-APR 1,25
Defense Minister Israel Katz and
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday toured the West Bank, where
they reaffirmed their commitment to Jewish settlements and cracking
down on illegal Palestinian construction, according to a statement from
Katz’s office.“We will not abandon the security of settlers or allow
[Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas and the Palestinian
Authority to use illegal construction as a tool to create a strategic
threat against the settlements,” Katz said in the statement.Accompanied
by senior officials from the Israel Defense Forces, the Civil
Administration and the Defense Ministry, Katz and Smotrich visited newly
recognized communities like Kerem Reim and Sde Ephraim, according to
the statement.“The West Bank is the heart of Israel, and we will protect
it with every means necessary,” Katz declared.“Since 1967, there has
not been such a transformation in the West Bank,” Smotrich said, adding
that “the government has recognized 28 new communities and is enforcing
regulations in areas that were previously ignored.”He also boasted that
over the past year, “a record was broken for illegal Arab construction
demolitions” in the West Bank.“With that, we recognize that to win this
campaign requires using additional strategic tools that will bring about
the desired turnaround,” he continued, without elaborating.“Settlers
are not second-class citizens,” Smotrich affirmed. “They deserve the
same security as all Israelis. Judea and Samaria are our ancestral
homeland, and we are here to stay,” he said, referring to the West Bank
by its biblical names.Last month, the security cabinet approved a
decision to split off 13 so-called “neighborhoods” of existing West Bank
settlements from their “mother settlements,” thereby turning them into
13 independent settlements. At the time, Smotrich described the move as
an important step on the path of “de facto [Israeli] sovereignty” over
the West Bank.The same month the left-wing Peace Now organization
reported that a record number of illegal settlement outposts were
established in 2024, and the year saw an all-time high for land
appropriation.According to a March report from the United Nations Human
Rights Commissioner, during the period from November 1, 2023, to October
31, 2024, a total of 1,779 Palestinian structures were demolished in
the West Bank, without specifying what type of structures. The figure,
it said, was nearly 200 percent higher than during the previous
reporting period.The demolitions were carried out due to “lack of
building permits,” it said, and noted that such permits “are almost
impossible to obtain for Palestinians.”Agencies contributed to this
report.
Amsterdam stabbing suspect acted with ‘terrorist intent,’
Dutch authorities say-30-year-old Ukrainian accused of attempted murder
for allegedly stabbing five people at random with multiple knives in a
busy square last week-By AFP Today, 6:40 pm-APR 1,25
A man
injured five people, two seriously, in a stabbing attack in the heart of
Amsterdam last week, and Dutch public prosecutors said Tuesday that
they believe the suspect acted with “terrorist intent.”Thursday’s knife
rampage sparked panic in the streets of the Dutch capital with a police
trauma helicopter landing on the city’s iconic Dam Square to treat the
victims.The 30-year-old suspect is from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, and
will remain in custody for at least two more weeks. He is suspected of
“five counts of attempted murder or manslaughter with a terrorist
intent,” prosecutors said in a statement.Carrying multiple knives, the
man attacked people seemingly at random in the streets around Dam Square
before being overpowered by a British man, who has been hailed as a
hero.The victims were a 67-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man, both
from the United States, a 26-year-old man from Poland, a 73-year-old
Belgian woman and a 19-year-old woman from Amsterdam.Four of the victims
remain hospitalized but their condition is stable, the prosecutors
said.The attacker was himself wounded in the leg and transferred to the
medical wing of a detention unit in The Hague, where he is now being
held in solitary confinement.He has not told authorities anything about
his motives for the attack, although local media reported that he has
confessed to the stabbings.Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema thanked the
British tourist, who has remained anonymous, for his “heroic act” that
likely prevented more people being attacked.
Iran will have 'no choice' but to acquire nukes if attacked: Khamenei adviser.
Tehran,
March 31 (AFP) Mar 31, 2025-Iran would have to acquire a nuclear weapon
if attacked by the United States or its allies, an adviser to the
country's supreme leader warned on Monday, following a threat by US
President Donald Trump.The comments came after Iran's supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised to hit back if Trump carried out a
threat to bomb the Islamic republic if it did not make a deal to curb
its nuclear programme."We are not moving towards (nuclear) weapons, but
if you do something wrong in the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force
Iran to move towards that because it has to defend itself," Khamenei's
adviser Ali Larijani told state TV."Iran does not want to do this, but
... (it) will have no choice," he added."If at some point you (the US)
move towards bombing by yourself or through Israel, you will force Iran
to make a different decision."Trump said on Saturday "there will be
bombing" if Iran did not agree a nuclear deal, according to NBC News,
which said he also threatened to punish Tehran with what he called
"secondary tariffs".Despite the sharpening of Trump's comments, it was
not clear if he was threatening a US bombing or an operation coordinated
with another country, possibly Iran's nemesis Israel."They threaten to
do mischief," Khamenei said of the remarks during a speech for the
holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan."If it is
carried out, they will definitely receive a strong counterattack."The
message was sent to the UN Security Council in a letter by Iran's UN
ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani which condemned what he called
"warmongering provocations".Iran "will respond swiftly and decisively to
any act of aggression or attack by the United States or its proxy, the
Israeli regime," the envoy added.- 'Glass room' -Iran's foreign ministry
summoned the charge d'affaires of the Swiss embassy, which represents
US interests in Iran, "following the threats by the US president", a
ministry statement said."The Americans have at least 10 bases in the
region around Iran, and they have 50,000 troops," warned General Amirali
Hajizadeh, a senior commander in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps."Someone who is in a glass room shouldn't throw stones at anyone,"
the man in charge of Iran's ballistic missile programme threatened on
state television Monday.Since taking office in January, Trump has
reinstated his "maximum pressure" policy, which in his first term saw
the United States withdraw from a landmark agreement on Iran's nuclear
programme and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.Western countries including
the United States have long accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon,
which Tehran has denied, insisting its enrichment activities were solely
for peaceful purposes.The 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world
powers required Iran to limit its nuclear processing in exchange for
sanctions relief.- 'Indirect' channel -On March 7, Trump said he had
written to Khamenei to call for nuclear negotiations and warn of
possible military action if Tehran refused.The letter was delivered to
Tehran on March 12 by a United Arab Emirates envoy, Iran's Fars news
agency reported at the time.On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas
Araghchi said a response had been sent through Oman, without detailing
its content.Araghchi said Iran would not engage in direct talks "under
maximum pressure and the threat of military action".In his remarks,
however, the minister left open the door for "indirect
negotiations".According to NBC, Trump said US and Iranian officials were
"talking," but he did not give details.President Masoud Pezeshkian on
Sunday said Khamenei, who as supreme leader has the final say in major
state policies, had permitted indirect talks.Oman has served as an
intermediary in the past, in the absence of US-Iranian diplomatic
relations severed after the 1979 Islamic revolution.On Monday, Araghchi
said the United States had received Iran's letter."We have been informed
by our friends in Oman that the letter has reached its destination and
has been read."Beyond its nuclear programme, the West also accuses Iran
of using proxy forces to expand its influence in the region, a charge
Tehran rejects."There is only one proxy force in this region, and that
is the corrupt usurper Zionist regime," Khamenei said, calling for
Israel to be "eradicated".pdm/smw/tw
Khamenei warns of 'strong' response if Iran attacked.
Tehran,
March 31 (AFP) Mar 31, 2025-Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei warned Monday of a forceful retaliation if the United States or
its allies bomb the Islamic republic, following a threat by President
Donald Trump."They threaten to do mischief," Khamenei said of Trump's
latest threat, during a speech on Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the
end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan."If it is carried out, they
will definitely receive a strong counterattack."In an interview on
Saturday, Trump said "there will be bombing" if Iran does not agree to a
deal to curb its nuclear programme."If they don't make a deal, there
will be bombing," he said, according to NBC News, which said he also
threatened to punish Iran with what he called "secondary
tariffs".Trump's language represented a sharpening of his earlier
comment that if Tehran refused to negotiate a new nuclear agreement,
"bad, bad things are going to happen to Iran."It was not clear whether
Trump was threatening bombing by US planes alone or perhaps in an
operation coordinated with another country, possibly Iran's nemesis
Israel.Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, in a post on
X, said that "an open threat of bombing by a head of state against Iran
is a shocking affront to the very essence of international peace and
security."Baqaei warned of unspecified "consequences" should the United
State choose a path of "violence".- 'Glass room' -A statement on Monday
also said the foreign ministry summoned the charge d'affaires of the
Swiss embassy, which represents US interests in Iran, "following the
threats by the US president"."The Americans have at least 10 bases in
the region around Iran, and they have 50,000 troops," warned General
Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the aerospace force of Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps."Someone who is in a glass room shouldn't
throw stones at anyone," the man in charge of Iran's ballistic missile
programme threatened on state television Monday.Since taking office in
January, Trump has reinstated his "maximum pressure" policy, which in
his first term saw the United States withdraw from a landmark agreement
on Iran's nuclear programme and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.Western
countries including the United States have long accused Iran of pursuing
a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has denied, insisting its enrichment
activities were solely for peaceful purposes.The 2015 nuclear deal
between Tehran and world powers required Iran to limit its nuclear
ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.- 'Indirect' channel -On
March 7, Trump said he had written to Khamenei to call for nuclear
negotiations and warn of possible military action if Tehran refused.The
letter was delivered to Tehran on March 12 by UAE presidential adviser
Anwar Gargash, Iranian news agency Fars reported at the time.On
Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country had
delivered a response via intermediary Oman, without detailing its
content.Araghchi said Iran would not engage in direct talks "under
maximum pressure and the threat of military action".In his remarks,
however, the minister left open the door for "indirect
negotiations".According to NBC, Trump also said US and Iranian officials
were "talking," but he did not give details.President Masoud Pezeshkian
on Sunday said Khamenei, who as supreme leader has the final say in
major state policies, had permitted indirect talks.Oman has served as an
intermediary in the past, in the absence of US-Iranian diplomatic
relations severed after the 1979 Islamic revolution.On Monday, Araghchi
said the United States had received Iran's letter."We have been informed
by our friends in Oman that the letter has reached its destination and
has been read."Beyond its nuclear programme, the West also accuses Iran
of using proxy forces to expand its influence in the region, a charge
Tehran rejects."There is only one proxy force in this region, and that
is the corrupt usurper Zionist regime," Khamenei said, calling for
Israel to be "eradicated".
Taiwan says China deploys Shandong aircraft carrier group near island-by AFP Staff Writers.
Taipei
(AFP) April 1, 2025-China has deployed its Shandong aircraft carrier
group and other vessels around Taiwan, the island's defence ministry
said Tuesday after Beijing announced military exercises to surround the
self-ruled island.Taiwan has dispatched its own aircraft and ships, and
deployed land-based missile systems, in response to the drills, the
ministry said.The ministry has been "closely monitoring the movements of
the Chinese Shandong aircraft carrier group and other aircraft and
vessels that entered Taiwan's response zone yesterday", it said in a
statement.Taiwan detected 19 Chinese warships around the island in the
24 hours to 6:00 am (2200 GMT Monday), the ministry said in a separate
statement.China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has refused
to rule out the use of force to bring the island under its control.There
have been several rounds of drills staged by China since Taiwanese
President Lai Ching-te took office in May 2024.Chinese leaders loathe
Lai, who they have branded a "separatist". Lai last month called China a
"foreign hostile force".
China's shows of force against Taiwan.
Beijing
(AFP) April 1, 2025 - China has sent jets and ships around Taiwan in
what it said was practice for a blockade of the self-ruled island.AFP
takes a look at China's increasing efforts at military intimidation
around Taiwan in recent years:- Regular incursions -Relations between
the governments of China and Taiwan have ebbed and flowed over the
decades.Tensions exploded in 1995 when China began test-firing missiles
in the waters around Taiwan to protest against a visit by Taiwan's then
president Lee Teng-hui to his alma mater in the United States.But China
has notably ramped up military manoeuvres since the 2016 election of
president Tsai Ing-wen, who considers the island "already independent",
including with warplane flights into Taiwan's so-called Air Defence
Identification Zone.Taipei said in 2023 it had detected the long-range
TB-001 Chinese combat drone and 37 other Chinese aircraft circling
Taiwan.That was the first time Taiwan's defence ministry had reported a
Chinese military aircraft circling the island from one end of the Taiwan
Strait's median line, which China does not recognise, to the other,
local media said.Beijing now deploys planes and naval vessels around
Taiwan on a near-daily basis.China has also increasingly conducted major
exercises around the island -- usually in response to alleged
"provocations" by Taipei.Former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to
the island in August 2022 triggered Beijing's largest-ever war
games.The drills ran for at least five days and involved what Beijing
called a "conventional missile firepower assault" in waters to the east
of Taiwan.They were followed by more drills that month after another
delegation of US lawmakers visited Taipei.China went on to deploy 71
warplanes in military exercises around Christmas that year, which the
Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) said were a "strike drill"
responding to unspecified "provocations" and "collusion" between the
United States and Taiwan.- Simulated strikes -Cross-strait tensions
spiked again in April 2023, when China held three days of military
drills after a meeting between Tsai and Pelosi's successor Kevin
McCarthy.The war games saw Beijing simulate targeted strikes on Taiwan
and encirclement of the island, including "sealing" it off.Chinese state
media reported dozens of planes had practised an "aerial blockade".One
of China's three aircraft carriers, the Shandong, also participated in
the exercises.That August, a stopover in the United States by then vice
president Lai Ching-te drew Beijing's ire, with the PLA holding new war
games intended to serve as a "stern warning to the collusion of 'Taiwan
independence separatists' with foreign elements".Lai was then elected
president in January last year in a contest overshadowed by fears of
military threats from Beijing.Following his inauguration in May, China
announced two days of drills as a "strong punishment for the separatist
acts of 'Taiwan independence' forces".And in October it was a National
Day speech by Lai in which he vowed to "resist annexation" that angered
Beijing, which sent fighter jets and warships around the island in
another round of its "Joint Sword 2024" exercises.- 'Parasite' -Beijing
has continued its campaign of military intimidation this year, launching
live-fire drills in February which Taipei condemned as dangerous and a
violation of "international norms".Last month, China's military vowed to
tighten its "noose" around Taiwan should alleged "separatist"
activities on the island continue.And this time around it is President
Lai's description of China as a "foreign hostile force" that has raised
Beijing's ire.The country's military released a crude cartoon describing
Lai as a "parasite", warning he was "courting ultimate
destruction".Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) warned that
independence "means war" -- and blamed Lai for the escalation of
tensions.Drills this week feature army, navy, air and rocket forces, as
well as an aircraft carrier, Beijing and Taipei have said.They are aimed
at, among other things, practising a "blockade on key areas and sea
lanes", China's military has said -- a feat analysts say will be
essential to victory in the event of an actual war.Senior Colonel Zhang
Chi, a professor at the military-linked National Defense University,
told Beijing's CCTV state broadcaster that such drills were now
"routine"."For the People's Liberation Army and the Eastern Theatre
Command it's like a regular everyday meal," he said."The reason for
conducting these regular exercises is to make the (Taiwan)
authorities... feel on a regular basis the PLA's firm will and strong
ability to defend national sovereignty and oppose separatist forces!"
Pentagon chief says US will ensure 'deterrence' across Taiwan Strait-By Kyoko HASEGAWA, Simon STURDEE.
Tokyo
(AFP) Mar 30, 2025-The United States will ensure "robust, ready and
credible deterrence" across the Taiwan Strait, US Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth said Sunday, calling China "aggressive and coercive".Hegseth
also stopped short of publicly calling on Tokyo to hike military
spending, saying in Japan he trusted the close US ally to "make the
correct determination of what capabilities are needed"."America is
committed to sustaining robust, ready and credible deterrence in the
Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait," Hegseth said, using
Washington's term for the Asia-Pacific region.Beijing has stepped up
military pressure in recent years around Taiwan, including near-daily
air incursions, and has not ruled out using force to bring the
self-ruled island under its control.US President Donald Trump's "America
First" approach could mean weakening the US commitment for security in
the region, analysts have warned.But Hegseth said the previous US
administration had "created this vacuum, a perception that America was
not strong, and wasn't prepared to deter conflicts from starting"."Our
job now at this moment, here with our allies, is to say: We are
re-establishing deterrence. Peace through strength, with America in the
lead, is back," the Pentagon chief told reporters.He said Washington
would "build an alliance so robust that both the reality and the
perception of deterrence is real and ongoing, so that the Communist
Chinese don't take the aggressive actions that some have contemplated
they will".- 'Who makes these deals?' -Hegseth, 44, a former infantryman
and Fox News personality, hailed the "extraordinary strength of
America's alliance with Japan"."President Trump has also made it very
clear, and we reiterate, we are going to put America first. But America
first does not mean America alone," he said."America and Japan stand
firmly together in the face of aggressive and coercive actions by the
Communist Chinese."There have also been expectations that, as he has
done in Europe, Trump would press its allies in Asia to increase
military spending and to do more to ensure their own defence."We have a
great relationship with Japan. But we have an interesting deal with
Japan that we have to protect them, but they don't have to protect us,"
Trump said this month."I actually ask, who makes these deals?"Japan's
government has also been reeling from Trump's decision to impose a 25
percent tariff on auto imports from April 3.The United States has 54,000
US military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly in Okinawa, east of
Taiwan.Hegseth said he "did not talk specific numbers" about defence
spending in his talks with Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani on
Sunday."We're confident that Japan will make the correct determination
of what capabilities are needed inside our alliance to make sure we are
standing shoulder to shoulder," he said."They have been a model ally and
we have no doubt that will continue. But we also both recognise
everybody needs to do more."Nakatani said he told Hegseth that spending
should be "implemented based on Japan's own judgement and
responsibility"."I also explained Japan has continuously been working on
a drastic strengthening of our defence capability... on which we
received understanding from the US side," he said.- Counterstrike -Japan
has been shedding its strict pacifist stance, moving to obtain
"counterstrike" capabilities and doubling military spending to the NATO
standard of two percent of GDP.Former US President Joe Biden and Fumio
Kishida, Japan's prime minister at the time, announced a "new era" in
cooperation at a summit at the White House last year.This includes the
creation of a new Japan-based US headquarters to take over operational
oversight of US forces in Japan from US Indo-Pacific Command in
Hawaii.It will serve as a counterpart to Japan's new Joint Operations
Command for all its armed forces, making the two militaries more nimble
in the case of a crisis over Taiwan or the Korean peninsula."We will
accelerate our efforts to improve inter-operability and conduct
effective bilaterally joint activities across the spectrum from
peacetime to contingency," Nakatani said on Sunday."Expansion of the
Japan-US presence in (Japan's) south.
Sweden investing $10 mn to modernise civil defence bunkers.
Stockholm,
April 1 (AFP) Apr 01, 2025-Sweden, where authorities have warned that
the country should prepare for the risk of war, has announced a
100-million krona ($10-million) investment to check and renovate its
civil defence shelters.Sweden and other European nations have announced
plans to step up defence spending in the wake of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine and, more recently, over doubts about US President Donald
Trump's commitment to NATO.The Nordic country has 64,000 defence bunkers
-- more than nearly any other nation in the world -- with space overall
for around seven million people.Since Sweden joined NATO in March 2024,
its Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) has stepped up inspections of the
shelters, some of which are large enough to accommodate thousands of
people at a time.According to the MSB, civil defence shelters provide
protection against shock waves and bomb fragments, the blast and
heatwaves from a nuclear weapon, radioactive fallout, gas from chemical
weapons and biological weapons.The government is also investing in
improving the emergency services' capacity to operate during conflicts,
strengthening cybersecurity and replenishing medicine stocks.The MSB
said Monday that it had begun a huge project to modernise the nuclear
shelters, a task it expected to take "two to three years".So far, work
has started on 25 of the 80 especially large shelters, it said.In 2025,
the agency plans to replace filters that help protect people in the
shelters from chemical and radiological weapons.Prime Minister Ulf
Kristersson said in January that Sweden was "not at war but there is not
peace either", citing hybrid attacks, suspected sabotage in the Baltic
Sea and a proxy conflict fought on its soil.Last week he announced plans
to increase defence spending by $30 billion over the next
decade.Stockholm slashed military spending after the end of the Cold War
but began increasing it again when Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea
in 2014.The authorities reactivated Sweden's "total defence" strategy --
combining both military and civil defence activities -- in 2015, and
began strengthening it further after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in
2022.Among other things, the government has created the post of minister
for civil defence to work alongside the armed forces minister, so
civilians can be mobilised as well as the military.Scandinavian
neighbour Denmark announced separately on Monday that it would buy an
undisclosed number of Mistral air-defence missiles made by French firm
MBDA.It also said it would buy 130 armoured vehicles from Finnish firm
Patria for $275 million.
Military chief says Philippines 'inevitably' involved if Taiwan invaded.
Manila,
April 1 (AFP) Apr 01, 2025-The Philippines' military chief said Tuesday
his country would "inevitably" be involved if neighbouring Taiwan was
invaded while warning China was working to infiltrate the Filipino
military and other institutions.General Romeo Brawner made the comments
as Beijing's military surrounded Taiwan in large-scale exercises it said
was practice for a blockade of the self-ruled island which China has
vowed to one day bring under its control."Start planning for actions in
case there is an invasion of Taiwan," he told troops in northern Luzon
island."Because if something happens to Taiwan, inevitably we will be
involved," Brawner said without naming the potential invader."As members
of the armed forces of the Philippines, we should have that mentality
that we are already at war."Part of his soldiers' job would be "to
rescue" a quarter million Filipinos working in Taiwan, Brawner said
without detailing how the military would execute that mission.The
northern Philippines will play host to large-scale joint exercises with
ally the United States scheduled to begin April 21, Brawner told troops
at Northern Luzon Command headquarters."These are the areas where we
perceive the possibility of an attack. I do not want to sound alarmist,
but we have to prepare," he added.Manila, which has a mutual defence
pact with Washington, has been engaged in months of confrontations with
Beijing over disputed areas of the South China Sea.Beijing claims almost
the entirety of the crucial waterway, despite an international ruling
that its assertion has no merit.US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth
visited Manila last week and said that "friends need to stand shoulder
to shoulder to deter conflict to ensure that there's free navigation" in
the South China Sea.At this month's Balikatan exercises, US and
Philippine troops will conduct a "full battle test" of "all of the
plans, all of the doctrines, all of the procedures that we have
developed in the past years", Brawner said."It's very important that we
prepare for any eventuality," he added.Brawner alleged that "communist
China is already conducting united front works in our country"."They are
already infiltrating our institutions, our schools, our businesses, our
churches, even our ranks in the military," he said without giving
details.He said the Philippines was also experiencing "cyber warfare,
information warfare, cognitive warfare, political warfare".The Chinese
embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The
Philippines has in recent weeks made a series of arrests of Chinese
suspects accused of conducting surveillance on military camps and
Filipino naval and coast
