EUROPEAN DEBATE OVER NUCLEAR WEAPONS GAINS PACE.

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)

  EUROPEAN DEBATE OVER NUCLEAR WEAPONS GAINS PACE.

FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @ 39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS) and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Zephaniah 2:1-15
1 Gather together, yes, gather,O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect[a] -before the day passes away like chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands;[b] seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows[c] for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab (JORDAN) and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever.The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria,(SYRIA) and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts;[d] even the owl and the hedgehog[e]  shall lodge in her capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.Sa'ar: No free meals; talks possible if more hostages freed Israel halts aid into Gaza, citing Hamas refusal to extend first phase of truce
Footnotes-a -Zephaniah 2:2 Hebrew gives birth, b-Zephaniah 2:3 Or who carry out his judgment, c-Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves, d-Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of every nation, e-Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain

DANIEL 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

DANIEL 7:17-26
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

THE WORLD IN 10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS LEAD BY THE EUROPEAN UNION THE WORLD LEADER, NOT AMERICA.I PREDICT.

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND REVIVED ROMAN WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17

First From Daniel Chapter 2

1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES

Now From Daniel Chapter 7

1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS
REV 17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS. THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23, REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16

REVELATION 17:10-12
10 And there are seven kings (7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY) five are fallen, (EGYPT, ASSYRIA, BABYLON,:MEDO-PERSIAN,GREECE and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS DAY-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh,(FUTURE-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE-EUROPEAN UNION TODAY) he must continue a short space.(7 YEARS OF WORLD DOMINATION-BUT 3 1/2 YEARS OF NEW WORLD ORDER OR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT)
12 And the ten horns (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS OR REGIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS-NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind,(WORLD SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950

Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man. 

DICK MORRIS-This truly creates a global economic system. From now on, don’t look to Washington for the rule making, look to Brussels.

THE CLUB OF ROME FOUNDER AURELIO PECCEI WANTS THE WORLD IN 10 REGIONAL TRADING BLOCKS.

REVELATION 16:1-2
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

I KNOW THIS MARK WILL BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE. UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION 13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE), OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX, KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125 THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM 1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE; FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 - STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick; (cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.; Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian, Plutarch, Lcian, others.) 

THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo

THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.

LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

HERES WHAT THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE (SINCE THERE WILL BE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE FUTURE)-UPDATED VERSION (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)

01 CANADA, U.S.A, MEXICO
02 EUROPEAN UNION,WESTERN EUROPE
03 JAPAN
04 AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND, S AFRICA, ISRAEL AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
05 EASTERN EUROPE
06 SOUTHERN, CENTRAL AND LATIN AMERICAS
07 NORTH AFRICA, AND MIDEAST (MOSLEMS)
08 CENTRAL AFRICA
09 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
10 CENTRAL ASIA

THE CLUB OF ROME WANTS A WORLD CHARISMATIC DICTATOR (EITHER RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL OR SCIENTIFICAL) TO HEAD THIS WORLD GOVERNMENT. REV 13:3,7-8, DAN 7:23-24

WORLD POWERS IN THE END TIME

NORTH - RUSSIA EZEK 38:1-2, 39:1-2
SOUTH - EGYPT DAN 11:42
EAST - CHINA DAN 11:44,REV 16:12
WEST - EUROPEAN UNION DAN 7:23-24 (NOT THE U.S.A)
http://israel7777777.blogspot.ca/2012/03/10-world-trade-blocs-one-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2006/09/how-eu-takes-world-control.html 
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/one-world-religion-crislam.html 

FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @ 39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS) and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

COUNCIL FOR EUROPE ON DEFENCE
https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/document/download/6d6f889c-e58d-4caa-8f3b-8b93154fe206_en?filename=SAFE%20Regulation.pdf

Merz says in talks with Macron on European nuclear deterrence.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 13, 2026 - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that he was in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron about nuclear deterrence, as worries grow about US security commitments to Europe."I have held confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence," Merz said at the opening of the Munich Security Conference.He previously said he was open to France extending its nuclear deterrent in Europe. Germany, which cannot acquire its own atomic weapons due to treaty obligations, has traditionally relied on the US nuclear umbrella via its participation in NATO.Macron said his country was engaging in dialogue with a few European leaders, including Merz, "in order to see how we can articulate our national doctrine -- which is guaranteed and controlled by the constitution -- with special cooperation, common exercises and common security interests with some key countries"."This is exactly what we are doing for the first time in history with Germany," he added.

European debate over nuclear weapons gains pace.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 14, 2026 - European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed Russia and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent.While the United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads each, in Europe only France and Britain have atomic weapons, with the combined total in the hundreds.US President Donald Trump's disdainful comments about NATO and his transactional approach to foreign relations have European allies questioning whether they can risk relying on US protection."Europeans can no longer outsource their thinking about nuclear deterrence to the United States," an expert group warned in a report published for the Munich Security Conference.It called on Europe to "urgently confront a new nuclear reality" in the face of "Russia's nuclear-backed revisionism".Speaking at the MSC, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was already holding "confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence".Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK's nuclear deterrent already protected fellow NATO members but stressed he was "enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France".Starmer said "any adversary must know that in a crisis they could be confronted by our combined strength" alongside France.- US 'ultimate guarantor' -NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that "nobody" was considering fully replacing the American nuclear umbrella, which has shielded Europe's NATO countries for decades."I think every discussion in Europe making sure that collectively the nuclear deterrence is even stronger, fine," Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, told journalists."But nobody is arguing in Europe to do this as a sort of replacement of the nuclear umbrella of the United States."Everybody realises that is the ultimate guarantor -- and all these other discussions are in addition."US Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said that Trump "has made clear the US extended nuclear deterrent continues to apply here" in Europe.He said there is US "receptivity to a greater European contribution to ... the NATO deterrent" -- but that conversations need to be "very sober" and "deliberate" because of concerns about nuclear proliferation and instability.- No good options -Discussion of nuclear armament has long been viewed as taboo in many other European countries -- but Russian aggression and worries about US commitment have forced the issue into mainstream European politics.Many European officials are convinced that Moscow's territorial ambitions will not be confined to Ukraine, and that other European countries -- including even NATO members -- could face some sort of attack.The MSC report laid out five nuclear options for Europe, while cautioning that none were good. There was "no low-cost or risk-free way out of Europe's nuclear predicament", they warned."The era in which Europe could afford strategic complacency has ended," wrote the authors, calling on European policymakers "to confront the role of nuclear weapons in the defence of the continent directly and without delay -- and to invest the resources needed to do so competently".It listed five options: Continue to rely on American deterrence; strengthen the role of British and French nuclear weapons in a European deterrent; jointly develop European nuclear weapons as a deterrent; increase the number of European countries with their own nuclear arsenals; or expand European conventional military power to present a more intimidating non-nuclear deterrent.Sticking with the status quo, and relying on America's unmatched military might, remained "the most credible and feasible option" in the short term, they argued.- 'We need action' -Very few currently believe Europeans can assume full responsibility for deterrence in the short term."If there's going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or the UK's nuclear deterrence, that's only a good thing," Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen recently told AFP.But he quickly added: "If you're talking about to compensate US nuclear deterrence, that's not realistic at this point."Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners."That's very positive, but now we need action," Heloise Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), a contributor to the MSC report, told AFP.The report noted that both France and Britain would face a range of challenges in growing their arsenals and extending nuclear protection across Europe -- from hefty costs to tricky questions about who holds final authority to launch the warheads.French President Emmanuel Macron, who has previously raised the possibility of extending France's nuclear umbrella across Europe, is scheduled to deliver a major speech on French nuclear doctrine at the end of February.Macron said in Munich he was considering a doctrine that could include "special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries".

Russia says will stick to nuclear weapons limits if US does-by AFP Staff Writers.

Moscow (AFP) Feb 11, 2026-Russia said Wednesday it would abide by limits on its nuclear weapons set out in a lapsed arms control treaty with the United States, so long as Washington did the same.The New START agreement -- the last treaty between the world's top two nuclear powers -- expired earlier this month, with Washington not responding to an offer by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a one-year extension of a cap on the size of each side's nuclear arsenal.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was in no rush to start developing and deploying more weapons -- backtracking on comments by his ministry last week that said Russia considered itself no longer bound by the treaty's terms."We proceed from the fact that this moratorium, which was announced by our president, remains in effect, but only while the United States does not exceed the outlined limits," Lavrov said in an address to Russia's parliament.Both sides have indicated they want to strike a new arms control agreement.Washington is pushing for China to be included in the talks, pointing to its growing nuclear arsenal.Moscow says if China is brought into a new deal, then so too should the United States' nuclear allies, Britain and France.The expiration of New START, which restricted the United States and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each, marks the first time in decades that there is no treaty to curtail the positioning of the planet's most destructive weapons, sparking fears of a fresh arms race.US President Donald Trump has said New START was "badly negotiated" and "is being grossly violated".Russia in 2023 rejected inspections of its nuclear sites under the treaty, as tensions rose with the United States over the conflict in Ukraine.But it said it had remained committed to the quantitative limits set down.

New START nuclear treaty 'was flawed': senior US official by AFP Staff Writers.

Geneva (AFP) Feb 6, 2026-A senior US official on Friday criticised the last nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States for failing to include Beijing, speaking at the United Nations a day after the New START deal expired."In a nutshell, New START was flawed," said Thomas G. DiNanno, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, pointing out that it had not covered all nuclear weapons, "and it didn't include China".Speaking to reporters in Geneva before addressing the Conference on Disarmament, he said US President Donald Trump "has been pretty clear that he wants a better agreement", and "clarified again last night that he wants a new treaty"."He's been crystal clear. He's been consistent on it too, since his first administration," DiNanno said."So we'll see how it plays out."Asked if China had agreed to anything, DiNanno said: "We're always willing to talk to them."China said on Thursday it would not join nuclear talks "at this stage" after the treaty's expiry that day triggered fears of a new global arms race.Campaigners have warned that the expiry, which ended decades of restrictions on how many warheads Russia and the United States deploy, could encourage China to expand its own arsenal.The New START treaty ended at the turn of the calendar on February 5, after Trump did not follow up on Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's proposal to extend warhead limits in the agreement for one year.Russia and the United States together control more than 80 percent of the world's nuclear warheads, but arms agreements have been withering away.New START, first signed in 2010, limited each side's nuclear arsenal to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads -- a reduction of nearly 30 percent from the previous limit set in 2002.It also allowed each side to conduct on-site inspections of the other's nuclear arsenal, although these were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and have not resumed since.The Conference on Disarmament negotiating forum, which is comprised of 65 member states and meets in Geneva.

UK's Starmer urges 'sleeping giant' Europe to curb dependence on US by AFP Staff Writers.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 13, 2026-British leader Keir Starmer will tell the Munich Security Conference that Europe is "a sleeping giant" and must rely less on the United States for its defence, his office said Friday.In a speech on Saturday at the summit, the UK prime minister will argue that the continent must shift from overdependence on the United States towards a more European NATO."I'm talking about a vision of European security and greater European autonomy that does not herald US withdrawal but answers the call for more burden sharing in full and remakes the ties that have served us so well," Starmer is expected to say.The gathering comes as European leaders remain concerned that a United States led by President Donald Trump can no longer be relied upon to be the guarantor of their security.Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has frequently criticised European countries for not sharing enough of the burden on common defence, and raised questions about the future of NATO.European members of the transatlantic military alliance are rushing to build up their defences in the face of an increasingly belligerent Moscow, whose war in Ukraine is set to enter its fifth year this month."As I see it -- Europe is a sleeping giant. Our economies dwarf Russia's, 10 times over," Starmer will tell allies, according to excerpts released ahead of his address."We have huge defence capabilities. Yet, too often, all of this has added up to less than the sum of its parts," he was to say, citing fragmented planning and procurement problems.Late last year, talks on Britain joining the bloc's new 150-billion-euro (�130 billion) rearmament fund broke down, reportedly because London baulked at the price for entry.Downing Street said Starmer would use his speech to call for closer UK-EU defence cooperation."There is no British security without Europe, and no European security without Britain. That is the lesson of history -- and it is today's reality too," Starmer was to say.The UK government announced on Friday that Britain will spend more than �400 million this financial year on hypersonic and long-range weapons, including through joint projects with France, Germany and Italy.Starmer, whose centre-left Labour party is being squeezed on opposite ends of the political spectrum by the anti-immigrant Reform UK group and the more leftwing Greens, was to say leaders "must level with the public" about the defence costs they face.He was due to hit out at "peddlers of easy answers on the extreme left and the extreme right", according to the excerpts."The future they offer is one of division and then capitulation. The lamps would go out across Europe once again. But we will not let that happen", Starmer was expected to say.

EU top diplomat rejects Europe 'bashing' by US as calls grow for a US reset by AFP Staff Writers.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 15, 2026-EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas pushed back Sunday against Europe "bashing" by the United States, as she said Russia must be forced to make concessions in talks to end the Ukraine war."Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilisational erasure," Kallas said on the last day of the Munich Security Conference.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday reassured allies by saying Washington and Europe "belong together" -- but insisted the continent must defend against mass migration to protect its "civilisation"."The message that we heard is that America and Europe are intertwined, have been in the past and will be in the future. I think this is important," Kallas said."It is also clear that we don't see eye to eye in all the issues, and this will remain the case," she said.The gathering in Munich has seen European officials insist the continent must take the lead on its defence in the face of an aggressive Russia and doubts over the reliability of the United States as President Donald Trump upends ties."There is an urgent need to reclaim European agency," Kallas said.She said European defence "starts in Ukraine" and depends on how Russia's war ends as the United States pushes efforts to stop the fighting."Let's be clear-eyed about Russia. Russia is no superpower," Kallas said, insisting the country was "broken"."The greatest threat Russia presents right now is that it gains more at the negotiation table than it has achieved on the battlefield."The EU top diplomat called for the size of Russia's military to be capped, said Moscow must pay for damages caused, and be held accountable for war crimes.France's Europe minister Benjamin Haddad backed up the calls for Europe to pay less attention to what the US says and focus on bolstering its own capabilities."I think the worst lesson we could draw from this weekend is to say, well, I can cling to some love words that I heard in part of his speech and push the snooze button," Haddad said of Rubio's address."Focus on what we can control, focus on our rearmament, on the support for Ukraine and the threat that Russia poses to all of our democracies."

Europe calls for US reset at security talks.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 14, 2026 - European leaders called Friday for a reset in relations with the United States as they met at a top security conference where US President Donald Trump's potshots at traditional transatlantic ties loomed large.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged "a new transatlantic partnership" and French President Emmanuel Macron called for "a strong Europe" as more than 60 leaders gathered for the annual Munich Security Conference.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meanwhile tell the conference Saturday that Europe is "a sleeping giant" and must rely less on the United States for its defence, his office said in a preview of his remarks.This year's conference comes at a time of strained ties between Europe and the United States, after Trump threatened to take over Greenland and criticised "decaying" and "weak" European nations.Russia's war against Ukraine, set to enter its fifth year this month, is high on the agenda, alongside efforts by European NATO members to raise their defence budgets, in line with Trump's demands, out of concern that Moscow could seek to expand into their territory.European leaders at the gathering defended their security commitments and the NATO alliance, which Trump's rhetoric has rattled."Being a part of NATO is not only Europe's competitive advantage. It's also the United States' competitive advantage. So let's repair and revive transatlantic trust together," Merz said."In the era of great-power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone."- 'Greater European autonomy' -The gathering comes a year after US Vice President JD Vance used the conference's stage to attack European policies on immigration and free speech, shocking allies on the continent.Macron emphatically defended Europe in his speech, saying "everyone should take their cue from us, instead of criticising us".Starmer's office said his speech would call for "a vision of European security and greater European autonomy that does not herald US withdrawal but answers the call for more burden sharing in full and remakes the ties that have served us so well".US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived on Friday, is also due to speak at the gathering on Saturday, as is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, organisers said.A German government source said Merz and Rubio had met at the conference and discussed "Ukraine, the status of negotiations with Russia and further support for the country, particularly in terms of military aid".They also discussed Iran and NATO, and "Rubio praised Germany's steps to strengthen the alliance," the source added.Rubio also met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the conference, at a time of heightened Washington-Beijing tensions.They agreed to strengthen cooperation, and Wang told Rubio that "dialogue is better than confrontation, cooperation is better than conflict, and win-win outcomes are better than zero-sum games", according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.Rubio held a 15-minute meeting with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland about the future sovereignty of the Arctic island. Denmark's Mette Frederiksen called the talks "constructive".Ties plunged last month when Trump stepped up threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, forcing European nations to stand firm in protest.- Ukraine discussions -Merz, Macron and the leaders of the European Union, Canada and NATO met with Zelensky on Friday for talks on Ukraine.A US official said Rubio did not attend those talks due to a packed schedule, but was "engaging on Russia-Ukraine in many of his meetings" in Munich.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said he discussed ending the Russian invasion with Wang, whose country is a close partner of Moscow.Wang told Sybiga that Beijing was "willing to provide Ukraine with new humanitarian aid", according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.Macron, meanwhile, said a new framework was needed to deal with "an aggressive Russia" once the fighting in Ukraine ends."If it makes sense to talk, we are willing to talk," said Merz. "But as you can see with the American side, Russia is not yet willing to talk seriously."Zelensky, urged by Trump to "get moving" on a deal to end the war, visited a drone factory near Munich with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius before meeting with European leaders."It's good to have strong partnership with Americans... but I think that Europe... needs (an) independent defence industry, very strong," he said.NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the sidelines of the conference that Europe was "stepping up... taking more of a leadership role within NATO" and "taking more care of its own defence"."A strong Europe in a strong NATO means that the transatlantic bond will be stronger than ever," Rutte said.

China FM says Europe 'cannot be a spectator' on Ukraine by AFP Staff Writers.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-China's foreign minister said Saturday that Europe "cannot be a spectator" when it comes to Ukraine and that Beijing hopes the bloc will come up with a plan to resolve the conflict.When the United States and Russia resumed dialogue, "Europe seemed to be left by the side", Wang Yi told the Munich Security Conference, adding that "the war is taking place on European soil, Europe certainly has the right to participate in the negotiation process"."We are now seeing Europe begin to muster the courage to have dialogue with Russia, which is a good thing, and we support it," he said."At the same time, we hope that this is not just dialogue for the sake of dialogue, but rather that Europe will come up with its own approaches and proposals to resolving the problem." 

MOSIP pursues democratization of digital identity with unconference conversations-Community targets policy and tech details, practical advice as Connect 2026 wraps-Feb 13, 2026, 3:16 pm EST | Chris Burt

A democratic vision of digital identity is central to the non-profit, open-source mandate of MOSIP. As the organization and the community it is building mature, part of democratizing the conversation around digital ID is inviting different stakeholders to share their questions, insights, challenges and concerns.The final day of MOSIP Connect 2026 in Rabat, Morocco was conducted as an unconference to further that vision. Kaliya Young of Identity Woman Consulting, returning after bringing the concept of running an unconference with open space technology (OST) to MOSIP Connect 2025 in Manilla, Philippines, led the proceedings along with Juan Cabellero of the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF).On Thursday, MOSIP Chairman Prof. Debabrata Das concluded Day 2 of the event with an impassioned address on the need to continue democratizing the global conversation on digital identity to ensure the technology’s development reflects the priorities of the people it is built to serve.Attendees decided on an agenda with sessions covering the costs and economic impact of digital identity systems, business wallets, encryption key management, interoperability barriers between the EU and Indian identity systems, AI and open source, authorization concerns, authentication within the MOSIP ecosystem, sectoral concerns such as in healthcare, and many other topics. Close to 50 were arranged across a dozen rooms in four groups of sessions throughout the day.Community concerns and questions-One of the opening discussion convened by Steve Pannifer of Fime centered a framework for comparing digital identity systems, and how it can be utilized to further work on interoperability between those systems.Representatives of several digital public goods (DPGs) discussed how they can benefit from AI, and formed a working group to keep on top of the technology’s rapid developments. Non-profits learned of discounts available to them for AI tools, attendees exchanged stories of cyber attacks and specific challenges and use cases for technologies from VCs to the Inji digital wallet.A session on securing physical ID documents with visual cryptographic seals brought together stakeholders from government agencies in multiple countries, OpenCRVS and FaceTec. The conversation touched on the use of derived identity number in a bar code to avoid exposing the individual’s sensitive data, the degrees of assurance different mechanisms provide and how those mechanisms interact, and the role digital signed codes containing biometrics leave for secure printing features.The intersection of sovereignty, governance and risk was explored in an afternoon session, where Gluu Founder and CEO Mike Schwartz pointed out that governments tend to be much better at governance than operations, and Adam Cooper of Next ID proposed that they will be better able to protect themselves from adverse outcomes by focusing on risk mitigation than digital sovereignty.Many of the topics discussed delved into the specific concerns of countries currently adopting MOSIP. But several countries that have not yet signed MoUs with MOSIP had representatives at Connect 2026 as well, including Nepal, which recently secured millions in funding from the World Bank and ADB to develop a new national ID system and build up its digital public infrastructure, and Indonesia.Attendee impressions.A discussion between government representatives of two MOSIP-adopting countries sparked a conversation about interoperability that led to an unconference sessions, Next Biometrics SVP Digvijay Singh Kanwar told Biometric Update.Credence ID’s Adam Ross noted the increase in the number of both attendees and exhibiting vendors reflects that growth.BixeLab Founder Ted Dunstone told Biometric Update that for him a highlight of the event was the fireside chat held on the morning of Day 1 in which UIDAI’s Bhuvnesh Kumar discussed Aadhaar’s plans and priorities with Sanjay Jain of the Gates Foundation.Xperix Head of Sales for Europe and Africa Paul Kennedy said the greatest benefit he has taken from the event is in networking with his company’s partners, like Emptech, Laxton, BioRugged and HYF. A few government representatives have also inquired during Connect about the specific kinds of fingerprint scanning technology that they should apply to their use case.Andrew Musoke of CMU Africa told Biometric Update that he appreciated the technical focus of many sessions. He also noted that a significant number of technology vendors were showcasing products related to digital sovereignty – a topic of broad interest at the event.MOSIP CTO Ramesh Narayanan pointed to a subtle difference in this year’s edition of Connect in his closing remarks. The polite curiosity common to the first running of Connect has shifted to more high-value interactions and practical steps towards implementing and improving digital identity applications.An increase in contentious conversations comes with the territory, he suggests, and is a sign of a healthy democracy.Biometric Update’s coverage as MOSIP Connect 2026 official media partner will continue with interviews and explorations of several key themes from the event in the weeks ahead.

Liveness is king: FaceTec’s Jay Meier in conversation with Chris Burt -Tells Biometric Update Podcast UWI will reshape wallet ecosystem-Feb 13, 2026, 3:06 pm EST | Joel R. McConvey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxBZ4r_lMlk

It’s best, says Jay Meier, to think about identity management as a system of symbiotic systems. Which is to say, everything is connected – and if there’s a missing link, everyone is exposed. That’s the theory behind what he calls the PKI fallacy: “just because you have an extremely elegant and secure cryptographic credential and binding to a device, doesn’t mean you know who’s in control of the device, or the credential or the privilege associated with it.”Meier says FaceTec is betting on liveness as the key organ as the digital identity ecosystem evolves. One major point in its favor is that it “doesn’t worry about interoperability.”“But the efficacy of the technology is critically important. And there is a huge difference between the stuff that works and the stuff that doesn’t.”Meier also has thoughts on how Universal Wallet Infrastructure will change wallets, why credentials may soon be obsolete, and why testing is critical for establishing trust.

THE NEXT US-ISRAEL HIT ON IRAN SHOULD BE VERSE 37. ALL OFFENSIVE NUKE SITES MISSLES,DRONES,AND OF COURSE KHEMENI AND THE IRGC GUARDS.THEN AFTER IRANS REGIME CHANGE. MUSLIMS COME TO JESUS BY THE MILLIONS.

JEREMEIAH 49:32-39 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITES AND ALL OFENSIVE WEAPONS DESTROYED IN IRAN)
Jeremiah 49:32-39    
32 Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Yahweh.
33 Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.(Location & Size: It was strategically located along the Via Maris (Way of the Sea), a major trade route connecting Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia.)
34 The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam,(IRAN) in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) the chief of their might.(MISSLES AND NUKE SITES)
36 On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(SINCE 1979 IRANIANS HAVE GOTTIN OUT OF IRAN BECAUSE OF KHEMENI AND HIS APOCOPOLIPTIC DEATH CULT BELIEF-BLACK HATER 12ERS)
37 I will cause Elam (IRAN) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life;(ISRAEL THE LITTLE SATAN AND THE U.S THE BIG SATAN) and I will bring evil on them, (MISSLES) even my fierce anger,(FIRE) says Yahweh; and I will send the sword after them,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) until I have consumed them; (DESTROYED THEM ALL NUKE SITES,MISSLES ETC)
38 and I will set my throne in Elam,(IRAN WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN NATION) and will destroy from there king (KHEMENI, ISLAM) and princes, says Yahweh.(IRANIAN ARMY GUARDS)
39 But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,(IRAN) says Yahweh.(WERE IN THE LATTER DAYS NOW)

JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23  Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24  Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25  How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27  And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)

Trump told Netanyahu he’d back Israeli strikes on Iran if talks fail – report-Discussion of potential attack is ongoing, CBS reports; as 2nd round of US-Iran talks set to start, PM demands Iran remove enriched uranium, dismantle facilities, limit missiles-By Agencies and ToI Staff 15 February 2026, 11:13 pm

US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Netanyahu in December that he would support Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program if the US and Iran could not reach a deal, CBS News reported on Sunday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.The US outlet reported that discussions about such an attack, roughly eight months after the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, are ongoing. During last year’s war, the US joined the Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. This time, the American role in an Israeli attack would involve helping jets refuel in midair or aiding Israel in receiving permission to fly over neighboring countries, CBS reported.Several countries have said they would not let their airspace be used for an attack on Iran.The report came as Iran’s foreign minister departed for Geneva on Sunday ahead of a second round of talks with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program, and as Netanyahu voiced skepticism that the negotiations would succeed.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also acknowledged that the talks could fail, while emphasizing that Trump remains committed to seeing them through. Iran, meanwhile, signaled flexibility on its nuclear program and urged Washington to pursue a deal with mutual economic benefits.The talks, which began earlier this month in Oman, came after Trump threatened to strike Iran over its crackdown on mass anti-regime protests in January, which rights groups say killed thousands. Tehran has threatened to respond to any American attack with strikes on Israel and US targets in the region.Since making the threats, Trump has pursued the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, saying after his White House meeting with Netanyahu last week that he “insisted” diplomacy be given a chance.At the same time, however, he has built up US military force in the Middle East and warned Tehran of dire consequences if the talks fail. He said last week, regarding regime change in Iran, that it “seems like that would be the best thing that could happen.”Netanyahu has consistently accused Iran of duplicity, a claim he repeated in a speech on Sunday. Speaking in Jerusalem, he told US Jewish leaders that Trump was “determined to exhaust the possibilities of achieving a deal, which he believes can be achieved now” with Iran, before resorting to force.“I will not hide from you that I express my skepticism of any deal with Iran,” he told a delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, “because, frankly, Iran is reliable on one thing — that they lie and they cheat.”Netanyahu laid out four Israeli demands regarding any deal with Iran, including the removal of the country’s entire stock of enriched uranium and the dismantling of its nuclear facilities.“The first is that all enriched material has to leave Iran,” he said. “The second is that there should be no enrichment capability… dismantle the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place.”He also demanded that the talks limit Iran’s ballistic missile program and address its support for proxy terror groups — issues that Iran has said should not be part of the current negotiations.US Secretary of State Rubio, also speaking on Sunday, said Trump would prefer a negotiated settlement but likewise expressed skepticism.“No one’s ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran, but we’re going to try,” he said at a news conference in Bratislava.An unnamed source told Reuters last week that a US delegation, including envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, would meet Iranian officials in Geneva on Tuesday, a meeting confirmed to Reuters by a senior Iranian official on Sunday.“Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be traveling, I think they are traveling right now, to have important meetings, and we’ll see how that turns out,” Rubio said, without providing further details.During his visit to Geneva, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to hold talks with his Swiss and Omani counterparts as well as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, and other international officials, the Iranian foreign ministry statement said.Considerable uncertainty surrounds the fate of Iran’s stockpile of more than 400 kilograms of 60-percent enriched uranium that was last seen by nuclear watchdog inspectors in June.Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signaled Iran’s readiness to compromise on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, telling the BBC earlier on Sunday that the ball was “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal.”The senior official referred to the Iranian atomic chief’s statement the week prior that the country could agree to dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for the lifting of sanctions as an example of Iran’s flexibility.However, he reiterated that Tehran would not accept zero uranium enrichment, a key sticking point in past negotiations, with Washington viewing enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons.Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.Another Iranian official touted potential energy, mining, and aircraft deals that are on the table in the talks with the US.“For the sake of an agreement’s durability, it is essential that the US also benefits in areas with high and quick economic returns,” foreign ministry deputy director for economic diplomacy Hamid Ghanbari said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. “Common interests in the oil and gas fields, joint fields, mining investments, and even aircraft purchases are included in the negotiations.”The talks are the second attempt at negotiations between Iran and the US since Trump returned to office early last year. Previous talks between the two countries fell apart shortly before the Israel-Iran war in June 2025.In 2018, Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Barack Obama-era Iran deal, which reduced sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs to its nuclear program. Washington claimed Iranian non-compliance at the time of the withdrawal and began reimposing tough economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.While talks leading to the 2015 nuclear pact were multilateral, the current negotiations are confined to Iran and the United States, with Muscat acting as mediator.

Iran FM in Geneva for second round of US talks.

Geneva, Feb 16 (AFP) Feb 16, 2026-Iran's foreign minister has arrived in Geneva ahead of a second round of negotiations with the United States, Iranian state television said Monday, as Washington keeps up pressure on the Islamic republic.According to Tehran, "indirect" Iran-US nuclear talks mediated by Oman will be held on Tuesday, although Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed including Iran's ballistic missiles and support for regional proxies.Tehran and Washington restarted negotiations this month after previous talks collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June.Considerable uncertainty surrounds the fate of Iran's stockpile of more than 400 kilogrammes of 60-percent enriched uranium that was last seen by nuclear watchdog inspectors in June."The foreign minister has arrived in Geneva at the head of a diplomatic and expert delegation to take part in the second round of nuclear negotiation," Iran's state-run IRIB wrote on its Telegram channel.The top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, later wrote on X that he would meet in Geneva with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, "for deep technical discussion".He is also set to hold talks with his Swiss and Omani counterparts as well as other international officials, Iran's foreign ministry said."I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal. What is not on the table: submission before threats," Araghchi added on X.- Protest crackdown -Washington has dispatched Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House confirmed on Sunday.The latest talks follow repeated threats from Trump of military action against Tehran, first over Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, and then more recently over the country's nuclear programme.The West fears the programme is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.On Friday, Trump said a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to ratchet up military pressure.His remarks came as demonstrations outside Iran against its clerical authorities swept a number of cities including in the US over the weekend.Iranians inside the country have also defied the deadly crackdown on protests last month and have continued to shout slogans against the authorities out of their windows.Iran's deputy foreign minister told the BBC that Tehran would consider compromises on its uranium stockpile if Washington lifts sanctions that have crippled the Islamic republic's economy."If we see the sincerity on their (American) part, I am sure we will be on a road to have an agreement," said Majid Takht-Ravanchi.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that any deal must involve the removal of all enriched uranium from Iran as well as Tehran's ability to enrich more."There should be no enrichment capability... dismantle the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place," he said during a speech in Jerusalem.- 'Viable' deal -On February 6, Araghchi led the Iranian delegation in indirect talks with Witkoff and Kushner in Muscat.Switzerland has played a key role in Tehran-Washington diplomacy, representing US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations after the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.Iranian deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy Hamid Ghanbari said Tehran was seeking a deal with the United States that would generate economic benefits for both countries, particularly in sectors such as aviation, mining and oil and gas, the Fars news agency reported."For the agreement to be viable, it is essential that the United States also be able to benefit from it in areas with strong and rapid economic return potential," he was quoted as saying.

Witkoff, Kushner to represent US in Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.

Washington, United States, Feb 16 (AFP) Feb 16, 2026-US President Donald Trump's top envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will head to Geneva this week for talks with Iranian negotiators over Tehran's nuclear program, the White House confirmed on Sunday.A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AFP that the two men, who have been Trump's lead Iran negotiators, would represent Washington for the talks.Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will represent Tehran in the negotiations, his ministry reported earlier. He will also meet with his Swiss and Omani counterparts and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.Tehran and Washington restarted negotiations in Muscat on February 6, months after previous talks collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June that started a 12-day war.The United States joined that war, carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.Iran said the Geneva talks would be "indirect," as the previous round in Oman had been.The latest talks came with Washington having threatened Tehran with military action and deploying an aircraft carrier group to the region following Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests last month.After the Iran talks, Witkoff and Kushner are expected to participate in US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine in Geneva. 

Netanyahu says all enriched uranium 'has to leave Iran'.

Jerusalem, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2026-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that any deal between the United States and Iran must involve the removal of all enriched uranium from Iran as well as Tehran's ability to enrich more.His comments came as Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi headed to Switzerland on Sunday for the second round of renewed nuclear talks with the United States later this week.At a speech in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said any agreement must include several elements."The first is that all enriched material has to leave Iran," he said."The second is that there should be no enrichment capability... dismantle the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place".The third, he said, was resolving the issue of ballistic missiles.Considerable uncertainty surrounds the fate of Iran's stockpile of more than 400 kilogrammes of 60-percent enriched uranium that was last seen by nuclear watchdog inspectors in June, before Israeli and US strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.Addressing a conference of presidents of major American Jewish organisations, Netanyahu said he had insisted on these conditions even during his talk with US President Donald Trump earlier this month.On Sunday, he also called for sustained inspections of Tehran's nuclear programme."There has to be real inspection, substantive inspections, no lead-time inspections, but effective inspections for all of the above," he said."These are the elements that we believe are important for the achievement of the deal."Tehran and Washington restarted nuclear negotiations in Muscat on February 6, months after previous talks collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June that started a 12-day war.The latest talks came with Washington having threatened Tehran with military action and deployed an aircraft carrier group to the region following Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests last month.

US forces board ship in Indian Ocean that fled Caribbean blockade: Pentagon.

Washington, United States, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2026-US forces boarded an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that violated President Donald Trump's blockade of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean and fled the region, the Pentagon said Sunday.The Panamanian-flagged Veronica III "tried to defy President Trump's quarantine -- hoping to slip away. We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down," the Pentagon said on X.The post included a video of US forces boarding a helicopter and then boarding the tanker ship.The Pentagon intercepted the Aquila II in similar fashion about a week ago.In December, Trump ordered a "blockade" of sanctioned oil vessels heading to and from Venezuela. At least nine ships have been seized thus far.But those ships seized in recent months make up only a tiny fraction of the total number of sanctioned "shadow fleet" vessels operating worldwide to evade sanctions, which a senior US Coast Guard officer said number up to 800.The Veronica III left Venezuela on January 3 -- the same day that US special forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid -- carrying around 1.9 million barrels of oil, TankersTrackers.com said.The ship is listed under US sanctions relating to Iran, according to the website of the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control."The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of movement in the maritime domain," the Pentagon said on X.

Iran says ready for nuclear compromise if US lifts sanctions by AFP Staff Writers.

Tehran (AFP) Feb 15, 2026-Iran is ready to compromise on its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in exchange for US sanctions being lifted, its deputy foreign minister said in a BBC interview published Sunday.Majid Takht-Ravanchi's remarks followed a resumption of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States in Oman on February 6.Switzerland on Saturday announced that a new round of talks would take place in Geneva next week, but without specifying which day.Iran has not yet officially confirmed the new round of talks, but Takht-Ravanchi, who was in Iran's Oman delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said they would be on Tuesday, the BBC reported.Western countries, led by the United States as well as by Israel, Iran's arch-enemy and considered by experts to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, accuse the Islamic republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.Tehran denies having such military ambitions, but insists on its right to this technology for civilian purposes.Iran is ready to compromise to reach an agreement with the United States including diluting its highly enriched uranium, but Washington must lift its sanctions which are crippling Iran's economy, Takht-Ravanchi said, according to the BBC."If we see the sincerity on their (American) part, I am sure we will be on a road to have an agreement," he said, speaking in English.The BBC said he was also questioned about the possibility of Tehran agreeing to ship its stockpile of more than 400 kilos of highly enriched uranium out of the country and did not rule out a compromise, staying "it is too early to say" what will happen at the talks.Several countries, including Russia, have offered to take responsibility for the stockpile, an offer Iran has so far refused.Considerable uncertainty surrounds the fate of Iran's stockpile of more than 400 kilos of 60-percent enriched uranium that was last seen by nuclear watchdog inspectors last June 10, before Israeli and US strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent, well above the 3.67 percent limit allowed by the now-defunct 2015 nuclear agreement and close to 90 percent needed to make a bomb, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for zero enrichment in Iran."The issue of zero enrichment is not an issue any more and as far as Iran is concerned, it is not on the table any more," Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC.The Fars news agency, citing a foreign ministry official, reported on Sunday that the talks would also cover potential American investments in Iran's energy sector.

UN nuclear watchdog chief says Iran inspection accord 'terribly difficult'by AFP Staff Writers.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 13, 2026-The head of the UN nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi said Friday that reaching an accord with Iran on inspections of its processing facilities was possible but "terribly difficult".The International Atomic Energy Agency director general told the Munich Security Conference that inspectors had returned to Iran after attacks by Israeli and US forces last year but had not been able to visit any of the sites targeted.The United States has positioned one aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East, and US media say a second group could arrive within two weeks amid reports that US President Donald Trump is considering new military action.Grossi said the dialogue with Iran since the inspectors' return last year had been "imperfect and complicated and extremely difficult, but it's there".He said an accord with Iran on returning to the damaged sites was "absolutely possible" but would be "terribly difficult"."The big question of the moment is how to define these steps for the future. And we know perfectly well what needs to be checked and how to check it."The US has had contact with Iranians officials in recent weeks. But Iran has refused access to the key nuclear sites that came under attack when Israel launched a 12-day war last June, followed by the US attacks. It insisted in November that visits had to be part of a new accord.Washington has said it wants to pursue talks with Iranian officials after a first meeting in Oman on February 6.

Swiss say Oman to host US-Iran talks in Geneva next week by AFP Staff Writers.

Geneva (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-Switzerland said Saturday that Oman would host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva next week, with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme."Switzerland stands ready at all times to offer its good offices to facilitate dialogue between the United States and Iran," a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.On February 6, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks in Oman with US envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's influential son-in-law Jared Kushner.The talks were indirect, with the Omanis acting as mediators.Trump has recently focused his military threats on Tehran's nuclear programme, which US forces struck last June during Israel's unprecedented 12-day war with Iran.Trump said Friday that a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, ratcheting up military pressure on the Islamic republic.- Go-between -Switzerland has played a key role in diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States for decades.Renowned for its neutrality, Switzerland has been representing US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations with Tehran after the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.In its role as the so-called protecting power, Switzerland has for decades allowed the two feuding nations to maintain a minimum of diplomatic and consular relations.The Swiss embassy in Tehran handles all consular affairs between the United States and Iran, including passport requests, altering civil status and consular protection for US citizens in Iran.Under the protecting power mandate, "Switzerland can either offer to act as a go-between on its own initiative or can fulfil this function at the request of the parties concerned, provided that all those involved agree," the foreign ministry says on its website.The United States will be holding separate talks, also in Geneva next week, between Russia and Ukraine.Moscow and Kyiv will hold US-brokered talks on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Swiss city, both countries have said, announcing the next leg in fraught negotiations seeking to end the four-year war.Trump is pushing to halt the conflict, but two previous rounds of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi have not yielded signs of a breakthrough.

Netanyahu says Trump thinks he is creating conditions for 'good deal' with Iran by AFP Staff Writers.

Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 12, 2026-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that US President Donald Trump believed he was creating the conditions for a "good deal" with Iran, though the Israeli leader remained skeptical about the quality of any such agreement.Netanyahu had travelled to Washington for his seventh meeting with Trump since the US president returned to power, and had sought to push for a harder line in nuclear talks with Iran."The president believes that the Iranians have already learned who they are dealing with," Netanyahu said in Washington before departing for Israel, according to a video statement from his office."He believes that the conditions he is creating, combined with the fact that they surely understand they made a mistake last time when they didn't reach an agreement, may create the conditions for achieving a good deal," he added."I will not hide from you that I expressed general skepticism regarding the quality of any agreement with Iran."Any deal "must include the elements that are very important from our perspective", Netanyahu continued, listing Iran's ballistic missile programme and its support for militant groups such as the Palestinian movement Hamas, Yemen's Houthi rebels and Hezbollah in Lebanon."It's not just the nuclear issue," he said.On Wednesday, Trump had told Netanyahu at the White House that talks with Iran must continue, rebuffing the Israeli leader's push for a tougher stance.Trump said his preference was that a deal be reached, but added: "If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be."The US president has repeatedly hinted at potential US military action against Iran following its deadly crackdown on protests last month, even as Washington and Tehran restarted talks last week with a meeting in Oman.The last round of talks between the two foes was cut short by Israel's 12-day war with Iran in June, which the US briefly joined with strikes on nuclear facilities.So far, Iran has rejected expanding the new talks beyond the issue of its nuclear programme, though Washington also wants Tehran's ballistic missile programme and its support for regional militant groups on the table.

What is going on with Iran-US talks?

Paris, France (AFP) Feb 12, 2026 - Iran and the United States have yet to set a date for a new round of talks after an initial encounter last week on the contested Iranian nuclear programme but, for now, US President Donald Trump is not rushing to launch military action against the Islamic republic.AFP looks at a critical juncture in the modern history of Iran in the wake of the crackdown on the biggest protests in years in January that according to rights groups has left thousands dead.- Where is diplomacy? -Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on February 6 held talks in Oman with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's influential son-in-law Jared Kushner.The talks were indirect, with the Omanis acting as mediator, although Tehran did later confirm that there was a handshake.Iran's supreme national security council head Ali Larijani, a mainstay of the establishment for the last decades, this week followed this up with visits to Oman and then US ally Qatar.There was speculation about the contents of a piece of paper he brandished during the visit to Oman, but so far no new date for talks has been set."We didn't have a letter for the Americans, but our Omani friends had some communications," Larijani told Iranian state television."There were some remarks the Omani side told us on behalf of the Americans," he added, without offering further clues.Trump had hailed the Oman talks as "very good" and said there would be another meeting "early" this week, something that has not materialised.- Is there room for compromise? -In an upbeat interview with the Financial Times, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan indicated that compromise was possible on the key sticking point of uranium enrichment.The West believes Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb, a charge Tehran denies, and wants a halt to uranium enrichment, a key step in weaponising an atomic programme."It is positive that the Americans appear willing to tolerate Iranian enrichment within clearly set boundaries," said Fidan, who has held talks with Iranian and American counterparts.In a statement after meeting Trump on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the American president thinks he is creating conditions that could achieve "a good deal".But Netanyahu expressed "general scepticism" and demanded that any deal also consider Iran's ballistic missiles and support for regional proxies and not just the nuclear programme.However, Iran's number one, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who for years has pushed a line of confrontation with Washington, has yet to give any public blessing to the diplomacy."The enemies who sought to subjugate the Iranian nation through their statements and plans have been thwarted," he said in a message broadcast by state television hailing the turnout Wednesday at rallies commemorating the 1979 Islamic revolution.- Is Trump still threatening Iran? -Trump has never ruled out military action on Iran after its crackdown on protests, although he is now focusing on a deal over the nuclear drive.More than 7,000 people were killed, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency NGO, the vast majority of them -- 6,506 -- protesters.An American naval group led by aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and dubbed an "armada" by Trump remains in Middle Eastern waters in a clear warning to Iran.But the talks in Washington on Wednesday between Trump and Netanyahu, who has long urged a tougher US line on Iran, ended with Trump saying he had insisted "negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated".Trump added on Thursday: "We have to make a deal, otherwise it's going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don't want that to happen, but we have to make a deal."The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington was readying the deployment of a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region, even if no final decision had been taken and plans could change.The deployment could take place within a timescale of two weeks and the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush could be ready to "expedite" exercises it was currently involved in, it said.Israel in June waged a 12-day war with Iran backed by the US that was widely seen as degrading -- but not destroying -- Iranian nuclear and ballistic capabilities.- What happens next? -Ross Harrison, senior fellow with the US-based Middle East Institute and author of "Decoding Iran's Foreign Policy", argued that the talks represented more of a US "ultimatum" towards Iran rather than "true negotiations".By participating, Iran was trying to "buy some time, so they can rebuild their missile programme and so forth -- not necessarily the nuclear programme -- but the missile programme", he said, adding that the target audience of Tehran's diplomatic efforts was not necessarily Washington."Israel is pushing Trump towards more aggression, but Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) are trying to push Trump towards an authentic diplomatic track," he said."What the Iranians are doing is showing some good faith by attending these talks, but the real target is not the United States. I think it's our Gulf Arab allies that can possibly forestall a military attack," he added.

New anti-government chants reported across Iran after major rallies abroad-Footage appears to show Iranians yelling slogans from apartment buildings in several cities; Iranian protesters filmed bloodiest night of January protests for Israeli TV By AFP and Lazar Berman-Today, 3:13 am-FEB 16,26

Some residents of Tehran on Sunday chanted slogans against the clerical leadership from balconies and windows, footage reportedly showed, a day after Iranians abroad staged giant opposition rallies in Europe and North America.The Islamic Republic under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was shaken by a protest movement that peaked on January 8-9, during which rights groups accused the government of killing thousands of people, though those figures cannot be confirmed.While the street protests have petered out in the face of the brutal crackdown, last week, residents of Tehran and other cities began shouting slogans against the leadership from the relative safety of their own homes inside vast apartment blocks.In a new night of chants, residents of the eastern Tehran district of Ekbatan on Sunday shouted “death to Khamenei,” “death to the Islamic Republic” and “long live the shah,” according to the Shahrak Ekbatan social media account, which monitors the area.Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the Islamic Revolution, had urged people inside the country to stage such actions in parallel with protests abroad over the weekend.Police in the southern German city of Munich said 250,000 people attended a rally there Saturday, which, in an unusual move, was personally addressed by Pahlavi.Other major pro-monarchy rallies were held in diaspora strongholds, including Los Angeles and Toronto.Pahlavi’s office said on X that over a million people had attended such rallies worldwide, but it was not immediately possible to confirm the figure.Speaking in Munich, Pahlavi hailed the rally as the biggest of its kind in years and said he was ready to lead a transition in Iran.Monarchist supporters were also gladdened by an extremely rare public appearance at the rally by his sole surviving full sibling, his sister, the former princess Farahnaz.Persian-language TV channel Iran International, which is based outside Iran, reported similar actions taking place in other parts of Tehran on Sunday, broadcasting images of people chanting “this is the final battle, Pahlavi is coming back” and “death to the Guards,” in reference to the authorities’ ideological army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.Slogans hostile to the authorities were also chanted in other cities, including Shiraz in the south and Arak in the center of the country, it added.wp rocks the party that rocks the body!— crystal (@crystal) August 25, 2006-It was not immediately possible for AFP to verify the videos.Residents in Shiraz chanted anti-government slogans, including “Death to Khamenei,” on Sunday evening, following a call by Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi.pic.twitter.com/gg6sDD03uG — Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 15, 2026-The new actions come two days ahead of talks on Tuesday between the US and Iran focused on the Iranian nuclear program in Geneva, which are seen as crucial to determining if Washington goes ahead with military action against Tehran.Iranian protesters filmed bloodiest night of Tehran protests for Israeli outlet-Meanwhile, Channel 12 news on Sunday evening aired footage filmed for the Israeli channel by an Iranian in Tehran during protests on the bloody night of January 8.The footage showed crowds chanting in the heart of the capital for the downfall of the regime, while mosques, bridges, and buildings burn.The footage also showed a phalanx of security forces on motorcycles moving down a street and firing.According to the Iranian who filmed for the Israeli outlet, many protesters were upset with US President Donald Trump for failing to come to their aid after saying he would do so.Some of the footage showed rows of bodies lined up as protesters looked for loved ones.The man filmed inside Iran for Channel 12 in 2022 as well. He was not hurt during the 2026 protests.According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 7,005 people were killed in the crackdown, mostly protesters, though rights groups say the toll is likely far higher. More than 53,000 people have been arrested, the group said.The opposition-affiliated Iranian news site Iran International alleged regime forces killed at least 36,000 people on January 8-9.Iran’s government offered its only death toll on January 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran’s theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.

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.

Four takeaways from the Munich Security Conference.

Munich, Germany, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2026-Team Trump sends a soothing message as Europeans vow to boost defences, the Ukraine war grinds on and China makes some bold pledges.At the Munich Security Conference, which wound up on Sunday, AFP spoke to Rachel Ellehuus, director general of British defence think-tank the Royal United Services Institute, about her key takeaways.- Trump sends calmer 'grown-ups' -A year after US Vice President JD Vance stunned the MSC by attacking Europeans on democracy and civil rights, Donald Trump sent more moderate members -- Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby."There was a deliberate attempt this year to send so-called grown-ups," Ellehuus said.Both "signalled that they see Europe as a partner, that the US believes that NATO is good for the US and they want to make this partnership work", she said.She said Colby delivered a "very direct" message: "The United States has many responsibilities, the Europeans are quite wealthy, and it is time for Europe to take the lead in conventional defence operations within NATO."Nevertheless, trust has been lost and Nordic leaders worry about Trump's designs on Denmark's autonomous territory of Greenland and fear "there could be other surprises".She also expressed worry about Colby's use of the term "flexible realism" and whether this means Washington will differentiate between "good NATO members" who have stepped up defence spending, like Germany and Norway, and those who have done less."I do worry that they're going to distinguish between allies and decide that some are more worth defending than others. And of course that undermines the entire principle of NATO.""Another cause for concern," she said, was that Rubio "talked a lot about Christian values and the civilisational ties". She said this points to the "alignment among the far right" on both sides of the Atlantic.- European NATO allies vow to arm up -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in his opening speech, delivered "a very strong push for a more European NATO".British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meanwhile expressed "a desire for a closer relationship with continental Europe and the European Union", she said, adding this "was quite bold because politically that's a bit risky for him in the in the UK".And French President Emmanuel Macron talked about a European defence beyond the EU which would be "much more inclusive of countries like Norway, Turkey and the United Kingdom"."I thought all of those were good steps for the big European countries, becoming more aligned in terms of how they would step up in creating a more robust European defence."Ellehuus nonetheless stressed that Europe faces many obstacles, from fiscal problems in France and the UK to delays and hurdles in European defence cooperation.- Slim hope for Ukraine peace -Most European leaders at the MSC do not believe a ceasefire will come any time soon in the Ukraine war started by Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion."The overarching sense was that Russia is not serious about ending the war, and the current negotiations are just an attempt by Russia to buy time to keep fighting," Ellehuus said about US-led talks.At the MSC, "there were a lot of people in there who tried to undermine this narrative that the Russians are winning," she said.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "called on the world to exert maximum pressure on Russia, for example more targeted sanctions to decrease the price of oil".She pointed to large Russian losses for minimal territorial gains and said: "When you look at the economic indicators, some of the pressures on their society, they're not exactly winning."- China seeks seat 'being vacated by US' -As Trump vows to place "America first", China is "more than happy to move into the seat that is being vacated by the United States," she said.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke of strengthening ties with Germany and rebooting relations with Canada. Despite being a close ally of Moscow, he said Beijing was willing to send "new humanitarian aid" to war-torn Ukraine.Ellehuus said China "did a very nice job of presenting themselves as the guardians of multilateralism, as the protector of small and medium sized countries, as the guardians of the rules-based order".She added that "nobody believes that, but they presented a very kind and gentle face, that could be tempting to some countries if they're upset with the United States".Ellehuus said Europeans "are aware of the risk, but they are tempted by the economic benefits that could come from a closer economic and trade relationship with China, and they probably think that they can manage the downside".

Nigerian Muslims look to Ramadan for peace after US strikes.

Nigeria, Feb 16 (AFP) Feb 16, 2026-The northern Nigerian state where the United States staged Christmas Day air strikes targeting Islamist militants is preparing for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and trying to banish thoughts of the violence that has plagued the region.Sokoto state is home to Sultan Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar, the spiritual head of Muslims in Nigeria, who typically announces the start of Ramadan in the west African country, during which Muslims fast for 29 to 30 days.Largely spared insurgency and banditry, unlike other states, Muslim-majority Sokoto was the site of surprise US air strikes on December 25, which Nigerian authorities said targeted "two major Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist enclaves" in the state's Tangaza district.The Abu Hurairah central mosque in the state capital was packed on Friday when AFP visited. Hundreds of people, including children, defied the sweltering heat to attend prayers.With Ramadan so close, the imam emphasised brotherhood, charity and togetherness.Several worshippers told AFP they were shocked by the US strikes, just 75 kilometres (about 47 miles) away. But they are clutching to cautious optimism that the holy month would mark the beginning of enduring peace."It is a new thing in this part of the country, having air strikes or bomb explosions. It only happened once, when (fellow Islamist militant group) Boko Haram was at its peak," Ahmad Mustapha, a 37-year-old doctor, told AFP after Friday prayers."People are praying vehemently that the insurgency comes to an end."For Umaru Riskuwa, 59, the custodian of the mosque, Ramadan offers "those who take insurgency as their business" an opportunity to make "people feel peace in their heart".- Busy streets, bustling markets -The city's main market bustled on Friday afternoon as shoppers jostled through heavy traffic.The streets remained busy at 8:00 pm, with many shops and businesses still open.Elsewhere in the city, religious leaders gathered at a government-hosted one-day "capacity-building" workshop ahead of the fasting.Some researchers have linked some members of the armed group known as Lakurawa -- the main jihadist group located in Sokoto state -- to Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), but other analysts have disputed the links."Hopefully, people are going to do Ramadan in a peaceful way," said Aminu Muhammad, a 43-year-old trader at the Sokoto Central Market. "Things are going normal. We don't expect any evil thing to happen."State governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto said last week the government had distributed bags of maize and cash support to 1,000 people ahead of Ramadan. He vowed "continuous food and cash support" for "families affected by banditry" -- the word commonly used for the violence racking the region.With more than nine in 10 people in the region living below the poverty line in 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the effort may be only a drop in the bucket.

Japan protests China comments on reviving 'militarism'.

Tokyo, Feb 16 (AFP) Feb 16, 2026-Tokyo said it had lodged a "stern demarche" to China through diplomatic channels after Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi accused "far-right forces" in Japan of seeking to revive militarism.Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Wang weighed in on Beijing's current relationship with Tokyo, which has been under heavy strain since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments about Taiwan in November.Wang said that "Japanese people should no longer allow themselves to be manipulated or deceived by those far-right forces, or by those who seek to revive militarism"."All peace-loving countries should send a clear warning to Japan: if it chooses to walk back on this path, it will only be heading toward self-destruction."Japan's ministry of foreign affairs dismissed the claims in a post on X Sunday as "factually incorrect and ungrounded"."Japan's efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities are in response to an increasingly severe security environment and are not directed against any specific third country," the statement said.It said there were "countries in the international community that have been rapidly increasing their military capabilities in a non-transparent manner" but added that "Japan opposes such moves and distances itself from them".Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made his stance clear at another session of the conference, followed by a stern demarche against the Chinese side through diplomatic channels, the statement said.Just weeks into her term, Takaichi said Japan would intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.Beijing claims the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.Takaichi was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan's first woman prime minister in October.She said last week that under her leadership Japan -- which hosts some 60,000 US military personnel -- would bolster its defences and "steadfastly protect" its territory.

Kim unveils homes for kin of N. Korean troops killed aiding Russia: KCNA.

Seoul, Feb 16 (AFP) Feb 16, 2026-North Korean leader Kim Jong Un touted a newly built street of flats for families of soldiers killed supporting Russia's war against Ukraine, state media reported Monday, with photos showing him accompanied by his daughter.North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to fight for Russia, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, and Seoul has estimated that around 2,000 have been killed.Analysts say North Korea is receiving financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies from Russia in return."The new street has been built thanks to the ardent desire of our motherland that wishes that... its excellent sons, who defended the most sacred things by sacrificing their most valuable things, will live forever," Kim said in a speech released by the official Korean Central News Agency.The report on Monday did not mention Russia, but Kim last week pledged to "unconditionally support" all of Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies and decisions."Before their death, the heroic martyrs must have pictured in their mind's eye their dear families living in the ever-prospering country," he added.Photos released by KCNA show Kim touring the new homes built for the families on Saeppyol Street, alongside his teenage daughter Ju Ae, widely viewed as his heir apparent.Seoul's spy agency said last week she had now been clearly "designated as a successor", citing her participation in high-profile events with her father.One photo shows Kim speaking with what appeared to be the family members of a fallen soldier on a sofa, his daughter standing behind them.Other photos show families checking the utilities in their new flats.The rollout comes ahead of Pyongyang's biggest political event on the calendar -- the party congress -- scheduled to take place later this month, although the exact date has not been announced.Attention is on which foreign and domestic policy directions Kim will declare to set the country's course, as well as whether Ju Ae will be given any official party titles.The timing of the street inauguration is a "highly calculated political move to justify its soldier deployment" ahead of the party congress, Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP."It visualises the state providing concrete compensation to the families of fallen soldiers... as a symbolic showcase," he said.

China confirms visa-free access for Canada, UK visitors from Feb 17.

Beijing, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2026-China confirmed that Canadian and British citizens will be able to visit the country visa-free from Tuesday, after the two countries' leaders had announced such agreements following official trips to Beijing.British and Canadian prime ministers Keir Starmer and Mark Carney both visited Beijing in January, seeking to bolster relations with China and pivot from the increasingly mercurial United States.Both leaders had hailed progress following meetings with top Chinese leaders such as President Xi Jinping, including on issues like visa-free access for their citizens to China.Beijing's foreign ministry confirmed these agreements on Sunday, saying Canadian and British citizens will be able to travel to China visa-free from Tuesday, with the policy in effect until December 31."Holders of ordinary passports from these countries can enter China without a visa for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, exchanges, or transit for a period not exceeding 30 days," it said in a statement.This was to "further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries", it added. 

China wants 'new level' in Germany ties, Beijing's FM tells Merz.

Munich, Germany, Feb 15 (AFP) Feb 15, 2026-China's top diplomat Wang Yi told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that Beijing hoped to bring bilateral ties to a "new level", as they met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.Wang has been trying to present Beijing as a more reliable and stable partner of the European Union, as the bloc seeks to reduce its dependence on both China and an unpredictable United States.He told Merz that China hoped to work with Germany to bring the "all-round strategic partnership to a new level", according to a readout from Beijing's foreign ministry.With Berlin's support, Beijing also wanted to "prepare for the next stage of high-level exchanges", Wang added.Deep economic ties between the two countries have frayed in recent years over issues ranging from claims of unfair trade practices to protectionism.Merz is reportedly preparing to make his inaugural visit to China this month, with a pressing issue being how to navigate evolving commercial ties.Wang on Saturday affirmed support for Germany to play a greater role in retaining its "strategic autonomy and self-reliance" and to be a "driving force" for cooperation between China and Europe."China also expects Germany to become a... stabilising anchor for strategic relations," he told Merz.Germany's foreign minister Johann Wadephul visited Beijing in December, pressing Chinese officials including Wang to use their influence to help end Russia's war in Ukraine.An earlier visit to China by Wadephul had been cancelled at the last minute, with Germany saying that meetings with key officials could not be arranged.

China warns US 'plotting' on Taiwan could lead to 'confrontation'by AFP Staff Writers.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi warned the United States on Saturday against "plotting" on Taiwan, saying it could lead to a "confrontation" with China.Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Foreign Minister Wang said that in the future, the United States could adopt a China policy that involves "instigating and plotting to split China through Taiwan, crossing China's red line"."This could very likely lead to a confrontation between China and the United States," he said.He added that he hoped Washington would pursue a "positive and pragmatic" approach, "but we are also prepared to deal with various risks".China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control.The United States has long been the democratic island's most important backer and biggest arms provider, and Taiwan would be heavily reliant on US support in a potential conflict with China.During his Saturday comments, Wang also weighed in on Beijing's current relationship with Tokyo, which has been under heavy strain since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office in October."The Japanese people should no longer allow themselves to be manipulated or deceived by those far-right forces, or by those who seek to revive militarism," Wang said."All peace-loving countries should send a clear warning to Japan: if it chooses to walk back on this path, it will only be heading toward self-destruction."

US lawmakers urge 'significant' defense spending hike in Taiwan; Taiwan opposition party agrees to consider defence bill by AFP Staff Writers.

Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 13, 2026-Dozens of lawmakers from the United States on Thursday urged Taiwan's political parties to support "significant" defense spending increases, warning that the threat from China "has never been greater."Taiwan has spent many billions of dollars upgrading its military in the past decade, but faces growing US pressure to do more to protect itself against China, which claims the island is part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to annex it.Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has proposed $40 billion in extra defense spending over eight years, but the plan has been blocked by the opposition-controlled parliament 10 times since early December.A letter dated February 12 and signed by 37 Republican and Democrat members of the Senate and House said the United States and Taiwan "must do more to deter PRC aggression," referring to the People's Republic of China.China's President "Xi Jinping is focusing every element of the PRC's national power to control Taiwan," the lawmakers said."Xi hopes to achieve this through illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions that undermine Taiwan's will to resist," they said, adding: "Xi remains willing to use military force to achieve his goal."While the United States "must address the massive backlog in weapons deliveries to Taiwan," Taiwan also needed to "step up with us," it said.The letter was addressed to the leaders of Taiwan's opposition parties, Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP), as well as the KMT's parliamentary speaker and Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) caucus whip.The lawmakers praised Taiwan's "important progress" in strengthening its defenses, but said "we fear that without significant increases in Taiwan's defense spending at levels reflected in President Lai's proposed special budget, this progress will be insufficient," it said.The United States has long been Taiwan's most important backer and biggest arms provider, and the democratic island would be heavily reliant on US support in a potential conflict with China.Xi has warned Washington against selling weapons to Taiwan.Asked about the letter, KMT spokesman Niu Hsu-ting said the party would "respond appropriately" but insisted "we will absolutely not compromise on oversight of the budget."TPP chairman Huang Kuo-chang told reporters that his party "must also fulfil our responsibility to safeguard the public interest and provide oversight to ensure that the money is spent where it matters most."Lai told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that he was confident the defense budget would be passed."In a democratic society, every political party is ultimately accountable to the people," said Lai, who belongs to the DPP.The TPP caucus did a sudden U-turn earlier this week, agreeing to send the government's version of the special defense spending bill to committee for joint review.But KMT chairperson Cheng Li-wun has vowed that her party "will not relent."As well as the government's version, lawmakers will also consider the TPP's stripped-down version of the defense bill that allocates $12.6 billion for military purchases.

Taiwan opposition party agrees to consider defence bill.

Taipei (AFP) Feb 11, 2026 - Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's $40 billion defence spending plan will be reviewed in parliament after an opposition party on Wednesday did a U-turn and agreed to send the contentious bill to committee.Lai's proposal was stalled for two months as lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP), which together control parliament, refused to consider it without concessions from the government.The TPP caucus has agreed to send the government's version of the special legislation to committee for joint review, the party said in a statement.KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun, however, vowed Wednesday that her party "will not relent".Parliament is currently in recess and will resume on February 24.As well as the government's version, lawmakers will also consider the TPP's stripped-down version of the defence bill that allocates $12.6 billion for military purchases.TPP's announcement came after Lai on Wednesday warned that Taiwan could be a "rupture in Indo-Pacific peace and stability" if the special defence budget was not passed."We hope that, given the increasingly complex regional situation, with China's threat growing more serious, Taiwan's defence budget must pass smoothly," Lai said.Taiwan has spent billions of dollars upgrading its military in the past decade, but is under intense US pressure to do more to protect itself against the growing threat from China, which claims the island is part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to annex it.A US senator has warned that the KMT "is playing with fire" as it blocked the special defence budget.Lai, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its parliamentary majority in elections that swept him to power in 2024, has vowed to increase defence spending to more than three percent of GDP this year.DPP caucus chief Chung Chia-pin said with TPP's support, the special defence budget could finally move forward for a committee review in the next parliamentary session."Strengthening national defence is a shared expectation across party lines. We are pleased that the TPP is willing to join us in conducting a joint review of the bill," he told AFP."We will make it a priority bill in the next session."The KMT caucus warned in a statement that the cabinet's version of the special defence budget "will never be passed"."Whether the Executive Yuan's version is referred to a committee is irrelevant... The version that will be ultimately passed by the Legislature will not be its version, as the opposition parties are unlikely to accept it entirely," it said.

Australia unveils initial US$2.8 billion for new nuclear subs facility by AFP Staff Writers.

Sydney (AFP) Feb 15, 2026-Australia unveiled AU$3.9 billion (US$2.8 billion) in spending on Sunday as a "down payment" on a new facility to build nuclear submarines under the tripartite AUKUS security pact with Britain and the United States.The AUKUS pact aims to arm Australia with a fleet of cutting-edge submarines from the United States and would provide for cooperation in developing an array of warfare technologies.The submarines, the sale of which will begin in 2032, lie at the heart of Australia's strategy of improving its long-range strike capabilities in the Pacific, particularly against China.The deal could cost Canberra up to US$235 billion over the next 30 years, and also includes the technology to build its own vessels in the future.Defence minister Richard Marles said the facility in Osborne, near the southern city of Adelaide, would be at the heart of that.In the long term, an estimated AU$30 billion is expected to be spent on the facility."The transformation underway at Osborne shows Australia is on track to deliver the sovereign capability to build our nuclear-powered submarines for decades to come," he said.The investment in the Submarine Construction Yard "is critical to delivering Australia's conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines", Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement."We are accelerating AUKUS opportunities to secure Australia's future defence capability and create lasting prosperity and jobs for the state," he added.In September, Canberra also revealed a US$8 billion investment to be spent over a decade to transform a shipbuilding and maintenance precinct in Perth, Western Australia, into facilities for a future fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.Australia had a major bust-up with France in 2021 when it cancelled a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines from Paris and went with the AUKUS programme instead.The pact was thrown into doubt last June when Washington said it was launching a review into whether it aligned with President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda.In December, the Pentagon said it had cleared that hurdle and that Trump had ordered it "full steam ahead".

Board of Peace to gather in DC on Thursday for first time-Indonesia says 8,000 troops ready to deploy to Gaza by June as Trump touts progress-US president says members of Board of Peace, meant to oversee the postwar Strip, pledging over $5 billion toward reconstruction and ‘thousands of personnel’ to oversee securityBy AP, Jacob Magid-and ToI Staff 15 February 2026, 7:02 pm

Indonesia’s military said on Sunday that up to 8,000 troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment in a humanitarian and peace mission to Gaza, as US President Donald Trump said countries had committed “thousands of personnel” to a postwar force for the Strip.Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza envisions an International Stabilization Force overseeing the territory’s security as the Israel Defense Forces gradually withdraws. But Trump has struggled to get countries to commit soldiers to the mission, amid uncertainty over whether Hamas will agree to disarm and conflict will again escalate in the territory.On Sunday, however, he broadcast optimism over the force coming together. The Board of Peace, chaired by Trump and meant to oversee postwar Gaza, will hold its first meeting on Thursday in Washington, DC.Trump wrote on Truth Social that over $5 billion in pledges toward the reconstruction of Gaza will be announced at Thursday’s Washington summit.Trump said in his Sunday Truth Social post that the Thursday meeting will also see countries announce plans to contribute “thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force (ISF) and local police to maintain security and peace for Gazans.”“Very importantly, Hamas must uphold its commitment to full and immediate demilitarization,” Trump said.Hamas officials have denied ever making such a commitment and have pledged to hold on to their weapons.The Indonesian commitment, first announced last week, marks a step forward for the peacekeeping force. Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Donny Pramono said the Indonesian National Armed Forces, known as TNI, has finalized its proposed troop structure and a timeline for their movement to Gaza, though the government has yet to decide when the deployment will take place.“In principle, we are ready to be assigned anywhere,” Pramono told the AP. “Our troops are fully prepared and can be dispatched at short notice once the government gives formal approval.”Pramono said the Indonesian military prepared a composite brigade of 8,000 personnel, based on decisions made during a February 12 meeting about the mission.Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said any Indonesian role in Gaza will be strictly humanitarian. Indonesia’s contribution would focus on civilian protection, medical services and reconstruction.Indonesian troops would not take part in any combat operations or actions that could lead to direct confrontation with armed groups, making it unlikely that the country would play a meaningful role in the effort to get Hamas to disarm.Under the Indonesian military’s schedule, troops will undergo health checks and paperwork throughout February, followed by a force readiness review at the end of the month, Pramono said. He also revealed that about 1,000 personnel are expected to be ready to deploy as an advance team by April, with the rest following by June.Pramono said that being ready does not mean the troops will depart. The deployment still requires a political decision and depends on international mechanisms, he said. Last week, the Indonesian ministry denied reports in Israeli media that the deployment of Indonesian troops would be in southern Gaza’s Rafah and Khan Younis.Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel and has long been a strong supporter of a two-state solution, which would see a Palestinian state established alongside Israel. It has been deeply involved in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, including funding a hospital.Indonesian officials have justified joining the Board of Peace by saying it was necessary to defend Palestinian interests from within, since Israel is included on the board but there is no Palestinian representation.Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is due to attend the meeting of the board this week. His spokesman Prasetyo Hadi said last week that there would be negotiations before Indonesia paid the $1 billion being asked for permanent membership on the Board of Peace. He did not clarify whom the negotiations would be with.The Southeast Asian country has experience in peacekeeping operations as one of the top 10 contributors to United Nations missions, including in Lebanon.Addressing the UN General Assembly in September, Subianto said the world must respect Israel’s right to live in security, and ended his speech saying, “Shalom.”Nava Freiberg and Reuters contributed to this story. 

Syria FM says talks with Israel exclude broader Golan Heights issue by AFP Staff Writers.

Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday that negotiations on a security deal with Israel were focused on areas Israel has recently occupied and excluded the broader issue of the Golan Heights.Since the December 8, 2024 overthrow of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.Israel captured most of the plateau from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, in a move not recognised by most of the international community.Israel and Syria's new authorities have held several rounds of direct talks in recent months, and after negotiations in January -- and under US pressure -- they agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism as they edged towards a security agreement.When asked at the Munich Security Conference about the scope of the talks with Israel, Shaibani said discussions were on "the withdrawal of Israel" from Syrian territory occupied after Assad's ousting, "not from the Golan Heights, and this is another issue".To reach a security deal, Israel should "respect the security of Syria and withdraw from these territories" recently occupied, he added."These negotiations will certainly not lead to forcing an acceptance of the fait accompli imposed by Israel in southern Syria," he said."The end of these negotiations will be the withdrawal of Israel from the areas where it advanced" since December 2024, and with Israel refraining from "interfering in Syria's internal affairs" and sovereignty, Shaibani added.Israel, which has demanded a demilitarised zone in southern Syria, has also launched hundreds of strikes on its neighbour and has carried out regular incursions.Shaibani on Friday met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich and discussed a recent agreement between Damascus and the Kurds.Mazloum Abdi, chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was also in attendance.Syria's government and the Kurds last month signed an agreement to gradually integrate Kurdish forces and institutions into the state, after the SDF ceded territory to advancing government troops.Shaibani told the Munich conference that the Rubio meeting involving Abdi "confirms the new mindset Syria is adopting today"."We do not view our national partners as enemies," he said, adding that the country's national identity is "completed by Syria's diversity".The US military said on Friday it had completed the transfer of thousands of Islamic State group suspects, including many Syrians, to Iraq, after they were held in Kurdish-run prisons in northeast Syria for years.Shaibani said Damascus was "prepared in future to take back" Syrian detainees "to ease the burden on Iraq".

Cabinet OKs new West Bank land registration process, critics decry ‘de-facto annexation’An initial NIS 244 million is allocated for land registration for years 2026-2030, process could take 30 years. Levin, Smotrich laud ‘deepening grip’ on West Bank By Jeremy Sharon-15 February 2026, 9:31 pm

The cabinet authorized on Sunday the opening of a land registration process in the West Bank for the first time since 1967, with the ministers who initiated the measure saying it would enable the registration of broad swaths of land as state land available for Israeli development.The resolution authorized an initial budget of NIS 244 million ($79 million) for the land registration process in the years 2026 to 2030 in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel has full military and civilian control, and the establishment of 35 positions in various ministries and state agencies to conduct the registration work.The explanatory text of the resolution noted, however, that the registration process will be lengthy and take at least a year and a half for every plot of land, if not more, and that registering all non-registered land in Area C could take up to 30 years.The process of establishing the registration mechanisms could itself take a year and a half, the resolution stated, but nevertheless set a goal of registering 15 percent of the unregistered land within five years.The Palestinian presidency condemned the step, saying it constitutes “a de facto annexation of occupied Palestinian territory and a declaration of the commencement of annexation plans aimed at entrenching the occupation through illegal settlement activity.”Jordan’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, called on the international community to “assume its legal and moral responsibilities, and to compel Israel, the occupying power, to stop its dangerous escalation.”Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin lauded the decision, saying it will create legal certainty in the territory and protect the national interest.The cabinet decision follows a controversial decision by the security cabinet last week that expanded Israeli oversight and enforcement activities into areas A and B of the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority has military or civilian control, and enabled private Israeli citizens to buy land in the territory, something not previously possible.Up until 1967, only about one-third of all land in the West Bank was formally registered in land registration processes conducted during the period of the British Mandate and then under Jordanian control from 1949 to 1967.Israel halted that process in 1968, a year after it captured the West Bank, and it has never resumed until now.The new registration process will only take place in Area C, which constitutes some 60% of the entire territory and where, like the rest of the West Bank, some two-thirds of the land is not formally registered.The Oslo Accords Israel and the PA signed in the 1990s placed Area C under Israeli security and administrative control, but they stated that the territory should be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction.While stopping short of formally annexing the entire territory amid opposition from US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has passed a slew of measures aimed at cementing Israel’s control over Area C — along with other parts of the West Bank.The terms of the cabinet resolution initiated by the defense, finance, and justice ministers instructed the commander of the IDF’s Central Command — the de facto military governor of the West Bank — to authorize the Land Registry department in the Justice Ministry to carry out the land registration process.
The Land Registry will establish a land settlement directorate to conduct the work.Along with the initial budget of NIS 244 million for the next four years, 35 new positions will be created in the Justice Ministry, the Survey of Israel mapping agency, the Defense Ministry, and its Civil Administration department to carry out the work.“This matter is consistent with the needs of the area, particularly in light of the passage of time and the uncertainty that has arisen with respect to some locations, while respecting local law to the extent possible,” the resolution stated.It also said that the process came to counter a similar land registration process being conducted by the Palestinian Authority, including in Area C, which it said the PA was barred from carrying out under the terms of agreements signed with Israel.The Peace Now and Yesh Din organizations, which campaign against the settlement movement, denounced the decision, saying it was another step in Israel’s de facto annexation of the West Bank, with the former appealing directly to US President Donald Trump to halt the move.A source in Peace Now said that although in theory there could be a fair and objective land registration process for all parties in the West Bank, it would be very hard under current conditions and regulations for Palestinians to prove and assert their ownership claims.The source said this shift would likely lead to the declaration of hundreds of thousands of dunams of land in the territory as state land, meaning it will be available to Israel for the development of settlements, infrastructure, and transportation.While state land is supposed to be managed for the benefit of all civilians, Israel makes it available almost exclusively for settlers.“The government has approved a massive land grab in the West Bank on the way to de facto annexation, in complete contradiction to the will of the people and the Israeli interest,” Peace Now said, in response to the decision.“We are warning President Trump — Netanyahu is deceiving you. You said you would not allow annexation, but he is annexing right under your nose.”Trump has said on several occasions, including last week, that he opposes the annexation of the West Bank by Israel, but organizations opposed to Israeli control of the territory have said that his position ignores measures taken by the current government that are de facto tightening Israeli control over the West Bank.The cabinet ministers who initiated the new land registry process extolled the cabinet decision.“The resolution constitutes a real revolution in Judea and Samaria,” said Justice Minister Levin, using the biblical term for the West Bank. “The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. The Israeli government is committed to deepening its grip on all parts [of the land], and this decision is an expression of that commitment.”Smotrich, the finance minister, said the measure was “continuing the revolution of settlement and the grip on all parts of our country,” and claimed the new land registration process would “prevent conflict, create legal certainty… and enable legal and responsible development” in the West Bank.Agencies contributed to this report.

Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed the toll in a statement.Majdal Anjar is located in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley, on a road leading from Damascus to Beirut, some 40 kilometers (nearly 25 miles) north of Israel’s border.

No further details on the strike were immediately provided by the IDF.While Israel regularly launches strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure, attacks on the allied Gaza Strip-based Islamic Jihad are rarer.Islamic Jihad — which has a significant presence in both Lebanon and Syria — carried out the October 7, 2023, terror onslaught alongside Hamas from the Gaza Strip, and was involved in numerous attacks on Israel from Lebanon alongside Hezbollah.According to IDF assessments, some 2,400 members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force and another 500 Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists — trained by Radwan — had been waiting in southern Lebanon villages to attack Israel in the days after Hamas carried out its October 7, 2023, mass invasion from Gaza.Israel has consistently targeted what it says are Hezbollah attempts to rebuild its force following a November 2024 ceasefire that ended a year of conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group. This appeared to be the first strike Israel has claimed in Lebanon against Islamic Jihad since the truce’s onset.Late Saturday night, the IDF said a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon targeted Hezbollah weapon depots and rocket launchers.The IDF, in a statement, said that Hezbollah has continued to attempt to rebuild its infrastructure in southern Lebanon, and that the presence of the arms caches and rocket launchers was a violation of the ceasefire.The US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah came after two months of open conflict in Lebanon, including an IDF ground operation in the country’s south in a bid to enable the safe return of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by the terror group’s near-daily attacks. The attacks began on October 8, 2023 — a day after Hamas, also backed by Iran, invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.The ceasefire required both Israel and Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese armed forces. Israel has withdrawn from all but five strategic posts along the borderSince the ceasefire, the IDF said it has killed over 400 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups in strikes, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.Weakened by the war and still facing regular Israeli strikes, Hezbollah is under internal and international pressure to hand over its weapons, with the Lebanese army having drawn up a plan to disarm it. The Lebanese army said last month that it had completed the disarmament mission south of the Litani River, in the area closest to Israel.As part of the Lebanese government’s disarmament push, some Palestinian factions in Lebanon handed over weapons in several refugee camps last year to the Lebanese authorities.Hamas and Islamic Jihad have not announced plans to disarm in Lebanon.AFP and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

12 said killed in IDF Gaza strikes, including senior Islamic Jihad commander-Military says it targeted terror operatives after ‘blatant’ ceasefire violation; Nasser Hospital warns MSF of consequences if it doesn’t retract claim of gunmen in hospital By Emanuel Fabian,Noam Lehmann and Agencies 15 February 2026, 3:45 pm

The Israel Defense Forces launched a wave of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip overnight and on Sunday morning, saying it targeted terror operatives in response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire a night prior.At least 12 people were killed in the strikes, Hamas authorities said, with media reports saying that the dead included a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander.The IDF, in a statement, said it had targeted terror operatives in northern Gaza, Gaza City, and Khan Younis, after five Palestinian gunmen emerged from a tunnel and approached troops on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line on Saturday night.The targeted terror operatives “had recently been working to restore the capabilities of the terror organizations in the Strip and were advancing terror attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the military said.Among those killed in the strikes was a Hamas terrorist — named as Ahmad Bayouk — who infiltrated the Re’im military base during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, according to the IDF.“The IDF views any violation of the ceasefire agreement with utmost severity and will continue to operate against any attempt by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to carry out attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the military added.According to Palestinian media reports, an Israeli airstrike on western Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa killed a senior commander in the al-Quds Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s wing, and wounded several other people.Media outlets, including the PIJ-affiliated Palestine Today channel, identified the commander as Sami al-Dahdouh, 56.Dahdouh’s three brothers, including former Quds Brigades commander Khaled Dahdouh, were reportedly assassinated by Israel in separate attacks in Gaza some two decades ago. Other than Dahdouh, the identities of people reported killed were not immediately published in major Palestinian outlets.The Gaza civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authorities, said one strike hit a tent of displaced people in northern Gaza and another targeted an area in the south.Five people were killed and several injured when a separate airstrike targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in Jabalia in the north, the agency said in a statement.“Israel doesn’t understand ceasefires or truces,” said Osama Abu Askar, who said his nephew was killed in the Jabalia strike. He said the people killed there were hit as they slept.“We’ve been living under a truce for months, and they’ve still targeted us. Israel operates on this principle — saying one thing and doing another,” Abu Askar told AFP.Five more people were killed and several injured in a separate early-morning strike in the southern city of Khan Younis, the city’s Nasser Hospital announced. According to the hospital, all five were men in their 20s.Rami Shaqra told the Associated Press that his son, al-Baraa, was among a group of gunmen who were “securing the area” when they were killed by an airstrike. AP footage from the morgue showed at least two of the men had headbands denoting membership in Hamas’s military wing.The civil defense agency also said that one person was killed by Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. The reports did not differentiate between civilians and terror operatives.Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, accused Israel of committing a new “massacre” against displaced Palestinians. A military official called Sunday’s strikes “precise” and in line with international law.In a separate incident on Sunday, the military said several Palestinians who were carrying out “suspicious activity on the ground” and approaching troops in the northern Gaza Strip were targeted in an airstrike.According to the IDF, troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade identified the terror operatives on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line. The army said that in addition to “carrying out suspicious activity on the ground,” the operatives approached the soldiers “in a manner that posed an immediate threat.”After they were identified, the Israeli Air Force struck and “eliminated two of the terrorists to remove the threat,” the IDF said. It did not specify what happened to the others.Meanwhile, the IDF also announced that a strike on Monday, in response to an attack by gunmen on troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah a day prior, killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander.Azem Abu Huli, who headed Islamic Jihad’s elite forces in the Strip’s center, was responsible for supplying weapons to other terror operatives, as well as advancing attacks against troops, the army said.Abu Huli also commanded Islamic Jihad terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, and throughout the war, also trained operatives “to practice scenarios involving the abduction of IDF soldiers,” the IDF added.Nasser Hospital warns MSF over suspending work due to ‘armed men’Meanwhile, after Doctors Without Borders announced it was suspending nonessential activities at Nasser Hospital due to the presence of gunmen, the hospital on Sunday accused the aid group, known by its French acronym MSF, of “aiding in manufacturing consent” for potential attacks on the southern Gaza medical center.The Khan Younis hospital said there will be “foreseeable and grave consequences” if MSF does not retract the statement.In the English-language press release via the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, the hospital claimed the presence of armed men “is aimed at securing safety for the staff and patients.”According to the hospital, the armed men seen on site are not military personnel but rather police carrying out “protective, civilian and lawful” action against “uncontrolled individuals and groups” that have attacked the hospital.“Despite full transparency and repeated clarification, MSF issued statements that misrepresent facts and mirror narratives historically used to justify attacks on hospitals,” Nasser Hospital said. “MSF is aiding in manufacturing consent for attacks against the hospital.”The hospital issued a “formal notice” to MSF to “immediately retract” its allegations.“Failure to do so risks material contribution to the endangerment of a protected medical facility, with foreseeable and grave consequences,” said the hospital.Last week, MSF said it was suspending its work at the facility due to “a recent situation of suspicion of movement of weapons.” The aid group also said that armed men had been arresting patients.Israel has long offered evidence of medical facilities’ regular use by Palestinian terror groups as bases of operations due to their protected status. Hostages have also said they were held at Nasser Hospital.Last year a doctor who also serves as a spokesperson for Nasser Hospital hinted that he had been threatened by Palestinian Islamic Jihad due to his refusal to let the terror group’s operatives enter and use the hospital.Israel announced earlier this month that it was terminating all the organization’s  activities in Gaza and the West Bank after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff. MSF slammed the move, which takes effect on March 1, as a “pretext” to obstruct aid. Israel has accused MSF of having at least two employees who held membership in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror groups.MSF has been a key provider of medical and humanitarian aid in Gaza, particularly since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel triggered a two-year war in the enclave.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Airlines told to cut Paris flights amid snow warnings.

Paris, France, Feb 14 (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-The French civil aviation authority has told airlines to restrict flights in and out of Paris airports on Sunday because of predicted snow and ice.The DGAC said Saturday it had called for a 30-percent cut in peak hour flights at Charles de Gaulle airport and a 20-percent reduction at Orly.The department advised travellers to check with airlines before going to either of the airports on Sunday.Much of northern France is expected to be affected by snowy weather Sunday, which forecasters say could impact roads and other travel.

Floods wreak havoc in Morocco farmlands after severe drought.

Kenitra, Morocco, Feb 13 (AFP) Feb 13, 2026-In the Moroccan village of Ouled Salama, 63-year-old farmer Mohamed Reouani waded through his crops, now submerged by floodwaters after days of heavy downpours.Farmers in the North African kingdom have for the past few years endured severe drought.But floods have now swamped more than 100,000 hectares of land, wiping out key crops and forcing farmers in the country's northwest to flee with their livestock."I have about four or five hectares" of crops, Reouani said. "All of it is gone now.""Still, praise be to God for this blessing," he added while looking around at the water.Morocco, where agriculture employs about a third of the working-age population, has seen seven consecutive years of drought.As of December, its dams were only around 30 percent full on average, and farmers have largely relied on rainwater for irrigation.Now their average filling rate stands at nearly 70 percent after they received about 8.8 billion cubic metres of water in the last month -- compared to just 9 billion over the previous two years combined.- 'Took everything' -Many like Reouani had at first rejoiced at the downpours.But the rain eventually swelled into a heavy storm that displaced over 180,000 people as of Wednesday and killed four so far.In his village, the water level climbed nearly two metres, Reouani said. Some homes still stand isolated by floodwater.Elsewhere, residents were seen stranded on rooftops before being rescued in small boats.Others were taken away by helicopter as roads were cut off by flooding.Authorities have set up camps of small tents, including near the city of Kenitra, to shelter evacuees and their livestock."We have no grain left" to feed the animals, one evacuee, Ibrahim Bernous, 32, told AFP at a camp. "The water took everything."Bernous, like many, now depends on animal feed distributed by the authorities, according to Mustapha Ait Bella, an official at the agriculture ministry.At the camps, displaced families make do with little while waiting to return home."The problem is what happens after we return," said Chergui al-Alja, 42. "We have no grain left to feed our livestock, and they are our main source of income."- Five percent growth -On Thursday, the government announced a relief plan of some $330 million to provide aid to the hardest-hit regions.A tenth of that sum was earmarked for farmers and livestock breeders.Rachid Benali, head of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development, told AFP farming was "among the sectors most affected by the floods".But he said "a more accurate damage assessment was pending once waters recede".Benali added that sugar beet, citrus and vegetable farms had also been devastated by flooding.Agriculture accounts for about 12 percent of Morocco's overall economy.The International Monetary Fund anticipates that the massive rainfall will help the economy grow by nearly five percent.Authorities are betting on expanded irrigation and seawater desalination to help the sector withstand increasingly volatile climate swingWhile Morocco is no stranger to extreme weather events, scientists say climate change driven by human activity has made phenomena like droughts and floods more frequent and intense.Last December, flash floods killed 37 people in Safi, in Morocco's deadliest weather-related disaster in the past decade.Neighbouring Algeria and Tunisia have also experienced severe weather and deadly flooding in recent weeks.Further north, Portugal and Spain have faced fresh storms and torrential rain.

Cyclone Gezani kills four in Mozambique: officials.

Maputo, Feb 14 (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-Cyclone Gezani has killed at least four people in Mozambique, authorities in the southern African country said Saturday, days after it left a trail of death and destruction across Madagascar.The cyclone, which killed 41 people in Madagascar according to the latest toll, did not reach the Mozambican coast, remaining 50 kilometres (30 miles) from shore.But it lashed the southern city of Inhambane and the surrounding region, packing winds of up to 215 kilometres per hour, according to meteorologists.The storm left more than 130,000 people without power, the national electric company said.Images on social media showed trees and an electric pole felled by the storm in Inhambane, a city of 100,000 people.A hotel, the Monte Carlo, which sheltered residents from poor neighbourhoods on the city's south side, shared pictures with AFP of metal roofs ripped from buildings.In Madagascar, the government declared a national emergency and said the storm had caused an estimated $142 million in damage.The eye of the cyclone passed Tuesday over Madagascar's second-largest city, Toamasina, population 400,000, leaving it devastated.The Indian Ocean island's leader, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, said around 75 percent of the city had been destroyed.strs-clv/jhb/tw

Madagascar cyclone death toll rises to 40, water, power still out.

Antananarivo, Madagascar, Feb 13 (AFP) Feb 13, 2026-The death toll from Cyclone Gezani rose to 40 on Friday, three days after its passage across Madagascar, as officials struggled to restore widespread cuts to power and water supplies.In its latest update Friday, the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNRGC) said 40 people had been killed and 427 people injured, as one aid worker spoke of "apocalyptic" scenes on the Indian Ocean island.Six people were still missing and the cyclone had affected 273,417 people -- or 74,393 households, the BNRGC added.After visiting the island's second-largest city of Toamasina, which bore the brunt of Gezani's 250-kilometre-per-hour (155-mile-per-hour) winds, the World Food Programme's Madagascar director Tania Goosens told journalists that "the scale of destruction is overwhelming"."The authorities have reported that 80 percent of the city has been damaged," she added."The city is running on roughly five percent of electricity and there is no water," she said, adding that the WFP's office and one warehouse "were also completely destroyed".AFP photos showed the scale of the destruction, with trees and sheets of metal scattered across the streets, hampering recovery efforts."A lot of zones are still inaccessible to rescue workers," one aid worker told AFP. "Bridges are down, roads are destroyed. It's really terrible."The situation was even worse beyond Toamasina, he added. "In the outlying towns, in rural areas, it's apocalyptic."China has offered 100 million yuan (about $14.5 million) in aid, Madagascar's presidency announced.On Thursday, France said it was sending food and rescue teams from the French island of La Reunion after Madagascar's new leader, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, called for "international solidarity".Fears that the full force of Cyclone Gezani would be unleashed on southern Mozambique -- already hit by devastating floods this year -- faded after meteorologists at the CMRS on the French island of La Reunion downplayed that prospect.It would instead brush the coast of Mozambique to the west, they said, bringing heavy rainfall and strong winds to the Mozambican coastal city of Inhambane and the tourist resort of Tofo.Officials in Inhambane called on those of the city's 100,000 residents living in makeshift housing to evacuate to a safer place.

Strong earthquake off Vanuatu coast, no damage reported.

Wellington, Feb 14 (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-A magnitude-6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu on Saturday, with a local resident describing it as "very big" despite no initial reports of damage.The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was about 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of the village of Port Olry, on the island of Espiritu Santo.There was no risk of a tsunami from the quake, which shook the island nation just before 1:30 pm (0230 GMT), the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.Antelic Frank, a staff member at a beachfront resort in Port Olry, said the quake was "very big" and seemed to last for about a minute.There was no apparent damage in her immediate area, she told AFP."The plates and the cutlery rattled for quite a long time but nothing fell to the ground," she said."Some people here were worried but it seems everything is going to be OK."Earthquakes are common in Vanuatu, a low-lying archipelago of 320,000 people that straddles the seismic Ring of Fire, an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

French flood alert system says working at record pace.

Paris, France, Feb 14 (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-The flood alert system in France has been working at a record pace as relentless rain over the past month has saturated soils, the head of the agency told AFP on Saturday."For 30 days we have been in continuous orange or red alert somewhere on the national territory," Lucie Chadourne-Facon, director of Vigicrues, told AFP, referring to the two highest alert levels."That is 81 departments in alert simultaneously for 154 rivers, so we have exceeded all our records," she said.Chadourne-Facon said soil moisture had also reached a record since data collection began in 1959."We are facing a generalised flood situation across the entire country because all the soils are saturated everywhere" and have "lost their infiltration capacity," she said."As a result, today rivers are extremely sensitive to the slightest precipitation, the slightest rainfall that hits the country, and they react very quickly," she added.

Italy's Calabria again under water, seeks state of emergency.

Rome, Feb 14 (AFP) Feb 14, 2026-Italy's southern Calabria region has asked that a new national state of emergency be called after days of heavy rains pounding the area caused flooding and mudslides, authorities said Saturday.Italy had already declared a state of emergency last month for Calabria, at the foot of Italy's boot, and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia after Storm Harry wreaked havoc on seaside roads and homes.In the past 48 hours, Calabria has faced a new spate of weather-related problems, including "violent gusts, cloudbursts, storm surges and a wave of bad weather that has caused landslides, flooding, swollen rivers and collapsed embankments in various areas of our region," Calabria's president, Roberto Occhiuto, said in a statement.The region's agriculture, livestock and fishing industries "have been brought to their knees by the exceptionally intense wave that devastated the countryside, crops and rural infrastructure", he added.There were no victims or missing recorded, he said.In the eastern town of Cassano all'Ionio in the province of Cosenza, the Crati river overflowed its banks and caused flooding in the Laghi di Sibari area, as well as the nearby archaeological park of Sibari, the town said in a statement.On Friday, Mayor Gianpaolo Iacobini encouraged residents near the river to leave their homes for higher ground. Media reports said around 500 people were later evacuated.National broadcaster Rai showed video images of entire streets and agricultural land submerged in brown water Saturday, and people on balconies waiting for the floods to subside.Firefighters said they had performed approximately 2,000 interventions in the past 72 hours in Calabria, Sardinia and Sicily due to the weather.

Sophie Adenot, the second French woman to fly to space.

Paris, France, Feb 13 (AFP) Feb 13, 2026-When she was growing up, Sophie Adenot plastered her childhood bedroom with posters of rockets launching from Cape Canaveral.On Friday, she blasted off from that very launchpad, fulfilling her childhood dream and becoming just the second French woman to fly to space.Adenot is one of four astronauts now heading towards the International Space Station to replace a crew that was evacuated last month because of an unidentified medical issue.For the next eight months, the 43-year-old helicopter test pilot will conduct scientific experiments on the football field-sized station 400 kilometres (250 miles) above Earth.Adenot has been dreaming of this moment since 1996, when she watched on television as France's first woman astronaut Claudie Haignere blasted off towards the Mir space station."I was 14 years old and it was a revelation," Adenot recently told a press conference."At that moment, I told myself: one day, that will be me."Haignere told AFP that Adenot is both her "heir" and a "pioneer" in her own right."Sophie is a born astronaut," Haignere added.After two days of delays, Adenot, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway as well as Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Friday.They are scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Saturday, where they will relieve a skeleton crew of three astronauts.- Afghanistan rescue missions -As a teenager growing up in central France, Adenot cut space photos out of magazines and stuck them above her desk.They were a source of motivation when she was studying maths, "which seemed so far removed from the space adventure I dreamt of", Adenot recently told a podcast.She would go on to study at prestigious universities including MIT, and work at European aerospace giant Airbus as a helicopter cockpit designer.Adenot credits her grandfather, a mechanic in France's air force, for giving her a love of "taking things apart and fixing them".As a helicopter pilot, she completed two tours in Afghanistan, specialising in search and rescue missions.Adenot then became France's first woman helicopter test pilot in 2018."I love adventure, the unknown, facing improbable situations and seeing how we overcome them -- whether as a team or alone," she said.But while logging 3,000 flight hours and 120 combat missions, Adenot never stopped dreaming of space.She first applied to be a European Space Agency astronaut in 2008 when she was just 25 -- but was rejected.However in 2022 she was selected out of 22,000 candidates, and embarked on three years of intense training to get ready for Friday's launch.It has been a "tsunami" that has completely changed her life, the mother of a teenager has said.Another member of the ESA's 2022 astronaut class, Belgium's Raphael Liegeois, told AFP he felt "raw emotion" watching Adenot lift off.Given her military background, Adenot "keeps her cool in all circumstances", Liegeois said.But she also has an artistic side, he added, pointing to a "beautiful" poem Adenot posted on Instagram this week."I hope she can use this sensitivity to share her experience of the flight," he said.- Michelin-starred cuisine -Adenot will be busy on board the orbiting scientific lab, participating in more than 200 experiments.Research will include microgravity's effect on the human body, including measuring how her time in orbit impacts her memory.She will also test a system that uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to allow astronauts to carry out their own medical ultrasounds.But it will not be all work.French chef Anne-Sophie Pic, who has 10 Michelin stars, has prepared a menu for Adenot that includes lobster bisque and foie gras.Adenot will also enjoy some of this vacuum-packed haute-cuisine on her 44th birthday on July 5.She has also recorded the sounds of birds singing, footsteps crunching on snow and flowing streams to remind her of life back on that blue planet she can see out of the window.ber-dl/ach/cc