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)
WAR WITH IRAN - DAY 25 - IS TRUMP TRYING TO WORM HIS WAY OUT OF THE IRAN WAR...HMMM.
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 (IRAN) 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)
WHEN ARE THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL IN THE SPRING TIME.(GET READY ISLAM TO BE BIRD SEED FOR THESE BIRDS)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m0bXU5Xqc5M
The 500 million migratory birds in Israel during the spring arrive from Africa and head toward Europe and Asia, with the peak migration occurring in March and April. While migration starts in late February, the most intense movements, particularly of birds of prey, storks, and pelicans, occur during the third week of March and continue into April.
Key Details on the Spring Migration
Peak Period: Mid-March through April.
Main Migration Route: The birds use the Great Rift Valley, which includes the Hula Valley and Eilat, acting as a "bottleneck" where millions of birds fly through the narrow land bridge.
Best Spots: The Hula Lake Park (Northern Israel) and the Eilat Birding Center (Southern Israel) are primary locations for observing the migration.
Key Species: Hundreds of thousands of white storks, along with black kites, raptors, and pelicans, pass through over these months.
uration: The spring migration runs from late February and continues into June, though the heaviest traffic is in March/April.
The 500 million migratory birds fly over Israel in the fall between late August and mid-December. The peak migration period for the autumn, when the highest volume of bird traffic occurs, is typically October and November.
Key Fall Migration Details
Location: The Hula Valley (Agamon Hula Park) in northern Israel is the premier spot to witness this phenomenon.
Timing: Migration starts as early as late June with some waders, but intensifies from mid-August through November.
Peak Festival: The "Annual Hula Valley Bird Festival" is usually held in November to align with the peak migration traffic.
Key Species: Many birds of prey (raptors), including honey buzzards and steppe eagles, cross during this time, along with massive flocks of storks and cranes.
While roughly 500 million birds pass through in the autumn on their way to Africa, the same number crosses again in the spring (mid-February to May) on their way back to Europe and Asia.
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)
Are Iran's power plants the next targets in the war?
Tehran, March 22 (AFP) Mar 22, 2026-More than three weeks into the Middle East war, key infrastructure across the region -- from gas and oil facilities to nuclear sites -- has come under fire.Now, the conflict could spill over to power plants.US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike those located in Iran if Tehran does not reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, vital to global oil supplies, by Monday night.Iran has more than 90 power plants, some of them on the Gulf coast at the heart of the hostilities that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.About 38 percent of its electricity comes from combined-cycle plants, followed by gas-fired stations (26 percent).Renewables make up 13 percent of output and nuclear energy only about one percent, according to the state IRNA agency, citing officials in December 2024.Iran currently has just one operational nuclear power plant at Bushehr, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts -- only a fraction of the country's needs.Russia helped build the plantIran and Russia signed a $25-billion deal in September 2025 to build four nuclear plants in southern Iran, each with a capacity of about 1,255 MW, according to IRNA.- Rationing electricity -An arid country, Iran regularly faces drought and sweltering summers, which push up electricity demand for air conditioning.Despite its vast oil and gas resources, the country suffers from energy shortages due to ageing infrastructure and international sanctions.Iran therefore sometimes has to ration electricity for lack of sufficient gas and fuel to run its plants.The country's largest power plant is in Damavand, on the outskirts of Tehran province.It covers around 193 hectares and generates roughly 2,900 megawatts of electricity, according to MAPNA, a company involved in the construction of power plants and energy infrastructure.The second largest is the Shahid Salimi Neka plant, in northern Mazandaran province, with a capacity of of 2,214 megawatts.The third, the Shahid Rajaee Combined Cycle Power Plant, is in northern Qazvin province, with a total capacity of 2,042 megawatts.
Iran strikes Israel, denies Trump talks.
Tehran, March 24 (AFP) Mar 24, 2026-Iran fired a fresh broadside of missiles at Israel Tuesday, causing damage and injuries in Tel Aviv, as uncertainty swirled over possible talks to end the three-week Middle East war.AFP images showed rubble-strewn streets and the side of a building in Israel's commercial hub in ruins, as first responders scrambled to assist at least four people lightly injured at four different locations.Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai told reporters a "direct strike" had damaged a building in the upscale neighbourhood, with AFP video showing the facade of the three-storey block torn open.According to several Israeli media outlets, police believe the damage was caused by a cluster munition missile equipped with three to four warheads, each carrying around 100 kilograms of explosives.Iranian media reported US-Israeli warplanes had struck two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after President Donald Trump stepped back from his threat to attack energy sites citing "very good" talks to end the war.Trump said his administration was speaking with an unidentified "top person", warning if talks failed in the next five days "we'll just keep bombing our little hearts out".But Tehran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, reportedly involved in talks, said "no negotiations" were underway, accusing Trump of seeking "to manipulate the financial and oil markets."Stock markets soared and oil prices saw brief respite after Trump's abrupt about-turn that came ahead of a deadline he had set to reopen the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane or see the US "obliterate" Iran's power plants.US media outlet Axios reported US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner may meet an Iranian delegation for talks in Pakistan as soon as this week, with Vice President JD Vance possibly joining.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt did not deny the reports, saying "speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House."Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Monday he spoke with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, promising Islamabad's help to bring peace to the region."Pakistan is one of the few countries with warm ties with both Tehran and Washington," said Michael Kugelman from the Atlantic Council think tank."It's been engaging heavily at the highest levels with both capitals over the last year, going back to the brief Iran conflict last summer," he noted.Traditional mediator Qatar said Tuesday it "supports all diplomatic efforts" to end the war.- 'There's nothing left' -Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken to Trump and acknowledged Washington thought a deal was possible, but vowed to continue striking Iran and Lebanon to protect Israel.Israel kept up its bombardment on Beirut's southern suburbs throughout the night, while a strike on Bshamoun, south of the capital, killed two people on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's health ministry."There's nothing left. It's all burned or destroyed... No walls, the windows are gone, the facade is gone, all my hard work has been lost," said Abbas Qassem, 55 from Bshamoun, weeping at the damage to his flat.In Beirut, AFP images showed smoke billowing from gutted buildings, as rescuers picked through the rubble and twisted metal.Strikes also targeted several service stations linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah that Israel has vowed to dismantle.Israel's attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people, according to Lebanon's health ministry, and displaced more than a million.The war has killed at least 3,230 Iranians, including 1,406 civilians, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. AFP cannot access strike sites nor independently verify tolls in Iran.The conflict has upended global energy markets, threatening a world-wide economic shock, and spiralled quickly through the region, pulling in even former safe-havens in the Gulf.Underscoring the war's broad impact, Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region accused Iran of killing six of its fighters on Tuesday in the first deadly attack on the regional security forces since the start of hostilities.- 'Sudden pivots' -Iran's neighbours had breathed a sigh of relief after Trump stepped back from his threat to target the country's power infrastructure.Tehran had vowed to deploy naval mines and strike power and water infrastructure across the region in retaliation, threatening to escalate an energy crisis of already historic proportions."Trump has been a master of sudden pivots and switches. So it's sometimes hard to know if there is a strategy or if it's just always improvisation," said Garret Martin, a professor of international relations at American University in Washington.Since the war erupted, Tehran has retaliated by throttling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for one-fifth of global crude, and by hitting Gulf energy sites and US embassies as well as targets in Israel.International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned if the war is protracted, daily oil losses would pave the way for a crisis worse than the combined impact of both 1970s oil shocks and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
UN rights council will meet Wednesday on Iran's Gulf strikes.
Geneva, March 24 (AFP) Mar 24, 2026-The UN Human Rights Council said it will hold an urgent debate on Wednesday on Iran's strikes on countries across the Gulf region and their impact on civilians.The session was called following an official request submitted by Bahrain on behalf of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Jordan.Human Rights Council spokesman Pascal Sim told a press conference on Tuesday that the countries will present a draft resolution to UN's top rights body.The council will "discuss the recent military aggression launched by Iran against Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates... targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, which has resulted in the loss of innocent lives", according to the request.It will be the 11th urgent debate of the Human Rights Council since its creation in 2006.Sim said that on Monday, the Human Rights Council president received a letter from Iran's mission in Geneva on behalf of Iran, China and Cuba requesting another urgent debate.That request, entitled "protection of children and educational institutions in international armed conflicts", will be discussed by the council bureau later on Tuesday, said Sim.The Human Rights Council is holding its first session of the year, which opened on February 23 and runs until March 31.
Hezbollah fires barrage of 30 rockets at Haifa Bay area-Katz says Israel will hold ‘security zone’ in Lebanon until Hezbollah threat removed-Defense minister says Israel to maintain control up to Litani River, vows Lebanese residents won’t return until Israel’s security ensured; IDF strikes Hezbollah command centers in Beirut-By Emanuel Fabian-and AFP Today, 12:55 pm-MAR 24,26
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel will maintain control of a “security zone” in southern Lebanon, up to the Litani River, until the threat of Hezbollah is removed, as the Air Force continued to pound targets belonging to the Iran-backed terror group, which kept up its rocket barrages on northern Israel.“The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon with full force against Hezbollah. Hundreds of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated northward will not [be allowed to] return south of the Litani River until security for the residents of the north [of Israel] is ensured,” he said during an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top officers.Katz said that all bridges over the Litani River that had been used by Hezbollah to move operatives and weapons into southern Lebanon “have been blown up, and the IDF will control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani.”“The principle is clear: Where there is terror and missiles, there will be no homes and no residents, and the IDF will be inside [Lebanon],” he added.On Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich suggested Israel go further and move its border with Lebanon up to the Litani River.Israel ran a costly occupation of Lebanon’s south in 1982-2000.A November 2024 ceasefire agreement obligated the Lebanese national government to ensure there were no weapons held by non-state bodies in the area of south Lebanon between Israel and the Litani. A 2006 UN Security Council resolution had already barred Hezbollah from operating in the region, but it was consistently violated.Meanwhile, the IDF said Tuesday that troops operating on the Lebanese side of Mount Dov recently located a Hezbollah tunnel shaft, as well as demolished other structures used by the terror group.The Israeli Air Force also leveled a multistory building and struck other structures in Beirut overnight Monday-Tuesday that the military said were being used by Hezbollah as command centers.According to the IDF, the strikes in the Lebanese capital targeted Hezbollah headquarters, including one belonging to the elite Radwan Force and another of the terror group’s intelligence division.Another overnight strike in the southern Lebanon town of at-Tiri targeted a Hezbollah command center that had been embedded within a studio of the terror group’s Al-Nour radio station, according to the IDF.The military said the headquarters was struck while Hezbollah operatives were operating at the site.Last night, the IDF reiterated an evacuation warning for Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, ahead of strikes on the terror group’s sites.Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Israel’s overnight attacks had targeted seven areas.“Enemy warplanes launched seven raids overnight on the southern suburbs, targeting the areas of: Bir al-Abed, Al-Ruwais — outskirts of Al-Manshiyya, Haret Hreik, Sayyed Hadi Nasrallah Highway, Saint Therese, Burj al-Barajneh and Al-Kafaat,” NNA said on Tuesday.Separately, Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on Bshamoun, south of Beirut, killed two people on Tuesday.“The Israeli enemy raid on the town of Bshamoun in the Aley district resulted, in a preliminary toll, in the martyrdom of two citizens and the injury of five others,” the ministry said in a statement, without specifying if the casualties were civilians or combatants.Located in the mountainous, Druze-majority Aley district southeast of Beirut, Bshamoun lies outside of Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.Additionally, on Tuesday, Hezbollah fired a barrage of some 30 rockets from Lebanon at the Haifa Bay area.According to the military, most of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and there were no immediate reports of impacts in residential areas.The Magen David Adom emergency service said it has not received any reports of injuries.Sirens had sounded in Acre and the Krayot suburbs of Haifa.Since it resumed its attacks on March 2, Hezbollah has been firing an average of about 150 rockets per day, according to the IDF. Roughly two-thirds of the daily rocket fire has been directed at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon and along the border, with the remaining third aimed at Israel.The Israeli military has said that it has killed over 570 Hezbollah operatives, including 220 members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, since then.More than 2,000 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon have also been struck, including 120 command centers, 100 weapon depots, and 130 missile launchers, according to the IDF.The IDF believes Hezbollah still possesses thousands of short-range rockets, along with hundreds of longer-range projectiles. The IDF has said that Hezbollah is launching most of its attacks from deeper within southern Lebanon, and not from close to the border.
Saudi Arabia and UAE ‘inching toward’ joining fighting against Iran — report-‘Only a matter of time’ before Saudis join attacks on Iran, source says; Gulf countries said to be angry over their lack of influence in US war decisions despite security ties By ToI Staff Today, 10:17 am-MAR 24,26
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly moving closer toward actively joining the fight against Iran, as the war in the Middle East threatens their economies.According to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, the Gulf states are “inching toward” a more active role, after Riyadh allowed US forces to use an air base within its borders.A source familiar with the decision cited by the news outlet said it is “only a matter of time” before Saudi Arabia enters the war, after its foreign minister said last week that its patience for Iranian attacks “is not unlimited.”Ahead of the war, Riyadh initially attempted to stay out of the impending conflict by refusing to allow its airspace to be used by US forces, though Iran launched missiles at the kingdom anyway.After Israel and the United States launched the war with an attack on Iran on February 28, Iran responded not only against its attackers but also against all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The repeated strikes have killed several people and disrupted oil and gas production as well as tourism, both of which are important economic lifelines for the region.Iran has also imposed a de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas normally flows, sending crude oil prices soaring.Now, despite initial opposition to the use of force, Gulf countries are pressing the US to continue striking the regime to ensure that Iran comes out of this war with its military power sufficiently degraded to cease posing a threat to them, four senior officials representing different Gulf capitals told The Times of Israel last week on condition of anonymity.The countries have not yet carried out any attacks themselves, as Gulf leaders remain deeply fearful of triggering a broader, uncontrollable conflagration.While the Gulf countries share a common anger at Iran, they are also irate that they are unable to influence the Trump administration’s policies despite their substantial investments in their relationships with Washington, Arab officials told the Journal on Tuesday.The countries had mistakenly believed that they were successful in convincing the US to prevent attacks on Iranian energy sites, after an Israeli strike on fuel depots in Tehran, the Journal reported.However, Israel last week carried out another strike on the South Pars gas field, and the Gulf countries faced attacks on their key energy facilities in retaliation.US President Donald Trump insisted that he knew nothing in advance about the Israeli attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field, while Israeli officials said the strike had been coordinated with the US. Netanyahu, for his part, said Israel “acted alone.”Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran — its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for terror proxy groups in the region — and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.Jacob Magid and Reuters contributed to this report.
Cameras to crosshairsHow surveillance systems are targeted by wartime adversaries-Iran built a vast camera network to control dissent. Israel turned it into a targeting tool-Cybersurveillance emerges as key weapon of war after Israel used Tehran’s street cameras to assassinate Khamenei, though regime’s leaders were long aware of potential threat-By Dake Kang and SAM MEDNICK Today, 9:33 am-MAR 24,26
AP — The role of Israel’s hijacking of Iran’s street cameras in the killing of the country’s supreme leader underscores how surveillance systems are increasingly being targeted by adversaries in wartime.Hundreds of millions of cameras have been installed above shops, in homes and on street corners across the world, many connected to the internet and poorly secured. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have enabled militaries and intelligence agencies to sift through vast amounts of surveillance footage and identify targets.On February 28, Israel vividly demonstrated the potential of such systems to be hacked and used against adversaries when it tracked down Iranian leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei with the help of Tehran’s own street cameras — despite repeated warnings that Iran’s surveillance systems had been compromised, according to interviews and an Associated Press review of leaked data, public statements and news reports.The use of hacked surveillance cameras among other intelligence in the operation to kill Khamenei was described to the AP by an intelligence official with knowledge of the operation and another person who was briefed on the operation. Neither was authorized to speak with the media and both shared information on condition of anonymity.Iran has installed tens of thousands of cameras in its capital in response to waves of protests, most recently in January, when massive nationwide demonstrations ended in a bloody crackdown that killed many thousands of Iranians.That Tehran’s cameras were compromised was no secret: the city’s cameras were repeatedly hacked starting in 2021, and last year, a senior Iranian politician warned publicly that cameras had been compromised by Israel, posing a national security threat.Conor Healy, director of research at surveillance research publication IPVM, said Khamenei’s killing illustrates a pressing security dilemma for governments seeking to quash dissent.“The irony is that the infrastructure authoritarian states build to make their rule unassailable may be what makes their leaders most visible to the people trying to kill them,” Healy said. “Do you trust who is watching?”Warning signs-For years, cybersecurity experts have warned that cameras could be hacked for war.In 2019, security engineer Paul Marrapese discovered he could easily hack millions of cameras from the comfort of his home office in California.Despite speaking up repeatedly since, the number of unprotected cameras only continues to grow. A scan of unprotected camera feeds this year turned up nearly three million hits, in almost every country in the world, Marrapese told AP.“There are millions and millions and millions of these throughout the world,” Marrapese said. Many, he added, are trivially easy to hack: “They’re just dumb little things… It’s fish in a barrel.”Companies have advertised cameras hooked up online, accessible with cellphones, with feeds easily diverted by hackers. Many are installed with minimal security by unsophisticated users who fail to set up passwords or install security patches. Securing cameras takes constant vigilance, but hacking them takes identifying just one exposed vulnerability, such as an outdated system or a generic password like “1234.”Even surveillance systems set up by governments on networks sealed off from the internet are vulnerable: It takes just one insider turncoat to compromise such systems.“Humans are kind of the weakest link,” Marrapese said. “There’s really only so much you can do.”Eyal Hulata, Israel’s former national security adviser and a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said Israel is under constant cyberattacks from Iran, but has so far been able to defend against it.“There is high alert on all cyber fronts,” he said.For years, hacking cameras for war remained theoretical. But in 2023, Hamas hacked surveillance cameras in southern Israel ahead of its October 7, 2023 attack, allowing the terror group to monitor IDF patrols and assisting the attack, according to Israeli media.That same year, a Ukrainian official told reporters that Russia attempted to hijack cameras near missile targets, a trend that continued in 2024 when Russians hacked cameras in Kyiv and last year, when they hacked cameras at border crossings.Experts say advances in AI have allowed militaries to overcome a critical hurdle in weaponizing hacked footage: sifting through huge amounts of video to identify people, vehicles, and other targets, a task that once took teams of analysts weeks or months but can now be done in real time. With a simple keyword search, AI can scan feeds and return results almost immediately.“It used to be that you could hack the cameras, but humans had to do the real work of figuring out where the person was,” said cryptographer and security expert Bruce Schneier. “With AI systems… you can do a lot more automatically.”The despot’s dilemma-Iran’s cameras have been repeatedly hacked over the past few years.In 2021, an Iranian exile group leaked footage of abuses at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. In 2022, another group claimed it hacked over 5,000 cameras around Tehran, dumping gigabytes of surveillance footage and internal data on a Telegram channel.Then, during the June war with Iran, Israel used Tehran’s cameras to track and bomb the location of a meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, injuring Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Iranian lawmakers and an Israeli documentary.“All the cameras at our intersections are in the hands of Israel,” Mahmoud Nabavian, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, told Iranian media in September. “Everything on the internet is in their hands… if we move, they will find out.”The vulnerabilities have come amid Iran’s stepped-up use of surveillance cameras after a series of protests roiled the country. Subway cameras, for example, are used to detect when women don’t don the country’s mandatory hijab, or headscarf, using facial recognition to identify violators.But data collected to consolidate control creates a ripe target for hackers, said researcher Michael Caster, who investigated China’s sales of surveillance technology to Iran.“Malicious parties can more easily gain access,” Caster said.Iran in particular, long sanctioned by the West, faces difficulties in getting up-to-date hardware and software, often relying on Chinese-manufactured electronics or older systems. Pirated versions of Windows and other software are common. That makes it easier for potential hackers to target the country.The Financial Times earlier reported on the use of cameras in Khamenei’s killing.The person briefed on the operation who spoke to the AP said that for years almost all the traffic cameras in Tehran had been hacked and the information transferred to servers in Israel. At least one camera was at an angle that allowed Israel to track daily movements of people, such as where they parked their cars near Iran’s leadership compound, the two people said.Algorithms helped provide information including people’s addresses, routes they took to work and who protected them, according to the person briefed on the operation. That same person said the attack had been planned for months, but the operation was expedited once it was determined that Khamenei and his top officials would be in the leadership compound that morning.Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office didn’t respond to request for comment.Col. Amit Assa, a former official with Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service, said that such operations are powered by many sources of intelligence, such as undercover agents and bugged conversations.However, Assa says cameras play a key role because they allow intelligence officers to identify people, providing key confirmation in deciding on whether to strike.When you see a person’s face on a screen in the command center, it helps in making the decision to put your “finger on the yellow button, as we say,” he said.More cameras, more coverage-Check Point Research, a cyber threat intelligence group, says Iranian hacking attacks on cameras have spiked since the beginning of the war, with surges of activity in Israel and Gulf countries such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.Such hacks could help Iran monitor targets and assess damage after missile strikes, according to Gil Messing, Check Point Research’s chief of staff.“The more people are installing cameras… the more area is being covered by these cameras,” Messing said. “It is very easy to use in order to get extra eyes into different places.”Analysts estimate there are more than one billion security cameras installed worldwide, triple the number a decade ago. Hundreds of millions more are installed every year.Muhanad Seloom, assistant professor in security studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said that oil-rich Gulf countries like Qatar have long known their petroleum facilities could be targeted in a war and had their systems tightly secured. But only recently have officials in the region realized that street cameras, too, could be weaponized.“I don’t think anyone anticipated that these traffic cameras would become targeting tools… there is alarm all over,” Seloom said. “How come Iran’s whole leadership has been decapitated on the first day?… It is a topic that is being talked about.”Across the region, governments are on high alert.Gulf monarchies have barred residents from filming or livestreaming footage of Iranian strikes, with the UAE arresting dozens of people for sharing video of the conflict online.Though aimed in part to protect the country’s reputation, the bans are also motivated by concerns that such footage could be exploited by the Iranian military, Seloom said.Earlier this month, Israel’s National Cyber Directorate said that it had warned hundreds of camera owners targeted by Iran and urged the public to change passwords and update software to starve off attacks.Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said though hacking has long been a concern in the Middle East, its increasing use since the war began was “a wake-up call.”Still, he said there’s only so much that can be done to patch up vulnerabilities.“It’s a whack-a-mole,” Vaez said.
4 people lightly hurt, buildings mangled as Iranian missile attack hits Tel Aviv-Wounded did not require hospital; IDF says it struck Islamic Guards HQ in Tehran; UN Security Council negotiating draft resolution demanding Iran halt Hormuz attacks By Emanuel Fabian,Charlie Summers-and Agencies Today, 7:37 amUpdated at 10:08 am-MAR 24,26
An Iranian missile attack lightly injured four people and badly damaged property in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning after Israeli airstrikes struck multiple Islamic Republic regime sites overnight.The attack on Tel Aviv was one of several salvos fired from Iran at Israel overnight Monday and into Tuesday morning targeting north, south and central Israel, sending millions repeatedly scrambling for bomb shelters. One person was also lightly wounded in a Haifa suburb.In Tel Aviv, medics said they treated the four people at the site of the Iranian ballistic missile impact, but none required hospitalization.Images showed widespread destruction with a warhead, that police said contained 100 kilograms of explosives, leaving a large crater alongside mangled buildings and vehicles at the scene of the attack.“As soon as we received reports of the impact, we responded with large forces and arrived at the scene within minutes. We saw destruction, smoke, and chaos. We immediately began conducting searches. Four casualties were walking around in mild condition and did not require further medical treatment,” said Magen David Adom medic Yoel Moshe.Home Front Command official Col. Miki David said the warhead caused significant damage to three nearby buildings, but resulted in no serious injuries.“I’m happy to say that in this incident you’re seeing behind me, which appears visually dramatic, there are only three light injuries,” he told reporters at the scene, adding that most residents took cover in a nearby bomb shelter.David further assessed the considerable damage caused by the projectile, indicating that it did not split off from a cluster munition, but noted it still appears to have been smaller than the conventional, non-cluster, warheads previously launched by Iran.Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai told reporters at the scene that “many homes were damaged, and I assume others will be found when the examination is over.”He said the main building hit was old and will be demolished if there is no way to repair it.Doron, a resident of the damaged neighborhood, told the Maariv news outlet he couldn’t stop shaking after the impact.“It was a crazy boom. I went to the stairwell with my partner, and suddenly I heard a huge boom. I embraced her, and we were both scared. I told her it was right above us, right here above us,” he said. “Thank God we are okay.”The destructive impact came after Iran fired several missile salvos overnight Monday and into Tuesday morning after an 11-hour lull.A man who stepped on a missile fragment following an attack on northern Israel was lightly wounded and being treated for his wounds, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said past midnight. Damage was also caused to a home in the Haifa suburb of Nesher by a cluster munition from the attack.Several other strikes throughout the night and into the morning set off sirens in parts of southern, northern, and central Israel, without any injuries reported.In recent days, Iran’s strikes on Israel have slowed to roughly 10 missiles a day from 90 on the first day of the war, and the IDF said Monday that it had destroyed or disabled about 330 of Iran’s estimated 470 ballistic missile launchers.More than half of the launchers were destroyed in strikes, while the others are considered to be inoperable after the air force struck entrances to subterranean facilities that house them, according to the military, which vowed to keep hunting down the roughly 150 remaining launchers.Iran also kept up attacks on the Gulf.In Kuwait, power lines were hit from air defense shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages in several hours. Missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 19 Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.The attacks came as US President Donald Trump announced his administration was engaged in talks to end the war that the US and Israel launched on the Islamic Republic on February 28 in a bid to destabilize its regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.Soon after Trump’s announcement, the IDF said it launched a new wave of strikes targeting Iranian regime infrastructure sites in Tehran.The military later said the Israeli Air Force struck the IRGC’s “main security headquarters.” According to the IDF, the site was embedded within “civilian infrastructure” and was used to “synchronize regional units responsible for enforcing regime order and internal security,” including the Basij paramilitary force. Steps were taken to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, the military said.Overnight into Monday, dozens of Air Force jets dropped over 100 bombs on Iranian military bases and weapons production sites during a wave of airstrikes in Tehran, the IDF said.According to the IDF, the sites included: A base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force that oversaw “operational and intelligence activity”; an IRGC air defense headquarters; an IRGC ground forces headquarters; an intelligence headquarters of the IRGC Quds Force; a naval cruise missile production site belonging to the Iranian defense ministry; and several more facilities involved in the production and research of weapons, including in the fields of electronics, ballistic missiles, and warheads.In an additional update on the strikes, the IDF said Tuesday morning that the air force struck ballistic missile storage facilities and various Iranian regime headquarters.The military said, in Tehran on Monday, it struck two intelligence headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and a headquarters of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.Also in the capital, IAF aircraft hit weapon storage sites and air defense systems, the military said.Overnight, the IDF said, it struck in northern and central Iran more than 50 targets, including sites used to store and launch ballistic missiles.Draft Security Council resolution calls to open Hormuz by ‘all necessary means’The UN Security Council is negotiating on a draft resolution introduced by Bahrain to authorize states to use “all necessary means” to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, diplomatic sources said Monday.The draft text, seen by AFP, also demands that Iran “immediately cease all attacks against merchant and commercial vessels and any attempt to impede lawful transit passage or freedom of navigation” in and around the Strait.Just a trickle of cargo ships and tankers, most of them Iranian, have made it through the Strait since Iran effectively blocked it in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign. Normally, about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas pass through the Strait. The virtual stoppage has sent prices soaring.The UN Security Council draft resolution proposes allowing member states “to use all necessary means” — including within the territorial waters of littoral states within or bordering the Strait — “to secure transit passage and to repress, neutralize and deter attempts to close, obstruct or otherwise interfere with international navigation” there.The draft also threatens targeted sanctions against those who “undermine navigational rights and freedoms” in the Strait.The resolution text could be modified during the negotiations among member states in the 15-member council, the UN’s highest decision-making body.Its chances of approval by the council, where the five permanent members have veto power, remain unclear.Bahrain, acting on behalf of the Gulf states, was behind a resolution adopted by the council in mid-March that demanded the “immediate cessation” of Iranian attacks against the Gulf states and Jordan.Meanwhile, two tankers bound for India sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.The two India-flagged tankers were carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used mostly for cooking in India. They loaded at anchorages in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, LSEG ship-tracking data showed.The Pine Gas, which loaded in UAE waters, sailed through the strait followed by the Jag Vasant carrying LPG from Kuwait, ship-tracking data on the MarineTraffic platform showed.India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, confirmed that the two tankers, carrying more than 92,000 tons of LPG, had sailed through Hormuz and were expected to reach ports in India between March 26-28.Hundreds of vessels have dropped anchor in and outside of the Gulf, cutting off food and other vital imports and energy exports, mostly to Asia and Europe, and some 20,000 seafarers remain stranded inside the Gulf, according to the UN’s shipping agency.
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.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.(CAN YOU SAY TORNADOES,HURRICANES,VOLCANOES,EARTH QUAKES,LANDSLIDES,FLASH FLOODING,EXPLOSIONS,SNOW STORMS,THEN FINALLY NUKESAND ANY OTHER JUDGEMENTS THE EARTH CAN VOMIT THE SINNERS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH WITH.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE.
Joel 3:2-King James Version (YOU DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - YOUR POKING GOD IN THE EYE - GOD SAYS AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH- YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION 4 BILLION DIE ON EARTH.
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
N. Korea's Kim vows 'irreversible' nuclear status, warns Seoul of 'merciless' response.
Seoul, March 24 (AFP) Mar 24, 2026-North Korea will never give up nuclear weapons, leader Kim Jong Un said, indicating that it will soon designate South Korea the "most hostile state", according to a state media report on Tuesday.Kim also told the country's rubber-stamp legislature in a policy address on Monday that the United States was committing "state terrorism", in an apparent reference to its military attacks on Iran."We will continue to firmly consolidate our status as a nuclear-armed state as an irreversible course, while aggressively stepping up our struggle against hostile forces," Kim told the Supreme People's Assembly."We will, in line with the mission entrusted by the Constitution of the Republic... further expand and advance our self-defensive nuclear deterrent," Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.While the United States and Israel have said that their attacks on Iran are to stop the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons -- an aim Tehran denies -- Pyongyang is thought to be light years ahead by comparison.Despite years of sanctions and diplomatic isolation, the Chinese ally is estimated to have dozens of nuclear warheads and the fissile material for many more.It has also unveiled increasingly sophisticated delivery systems, including new solid?fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles that can launch with little warning.Kim, a day after his reappointment as head of the authoritarian nation's highest policymaking body, the State Affairs Commission, also did not mince words about his southern neighbour."We will designate South Korea as the most hostile state and deal with it by thoroughly rejecting and disregarding it," Kim said.The announcement came despite repeated overtures by President Lee Jae Myung, a doveish leader who took office in June, for dialogue without preconditions. Pyongyang has ignored these gestures.Pyongyang will "make it pay mercilessly -- without the slightest consideration or hesitation -- for any act that infringes upon our Republic," Kim added.- Nuclear guarantee -Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said that Kim's comments on consolidating its nuclear status showed Pyongyang sees US actions in Iran and Venezuela with "deep concern and seriousness"."It indicates that Kim and the leadership... interpret these developments as reinforcing their decision to pursue the further advancement of North Korea's nuclear capabilities," Hong told AFP.Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, said that: "Iran's experience once again confirmed what the North Koreans have always known, (that) in the modern world, the only security guarantee is, well, nuclear weapons."Donald Trump met Kim in his first term and there has been speculation of a re-run when the US president makes his delayed visit to China next month.Kim, who was greeted with cheering crowds and received a standing ovation in the assembly, said Monday that the US is "carrying out acts of state terrorism and aggression across the world."Washington and its allies "are constantly bringing nuclear strategic assets into the areas surrounding our country, shaking the foundations of regional security," Kim said.This refers to systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons, even if the United States does not actually deploy them with nuclear payloads, explained Lim Eul-chul, an expert on North Korea at Kyungnam University.Pyongyang also thinks it is possible that nuclear-powered submarines that South Korea wants to make could be armed with nuclear weapons -- "a potential that is not entirely unfounded," Lim told AFP.On the economy, Kim outlined a goal of increasing industrial output by 1.5 times.Progress made "shattered... false claims of hostile forces that there can be no prosperity without nuclear abandonment", he said.Kim said 15.8 percent of the total spending for 2026 will be on defence, compared to 15.7 percent in 2025.He also proposed creating a formal "police system," signalling a shift from the traditional reliance on broader public security forces.He said this would strengthen legal frameworks and elevate public order, calling it "essential" for national security and social stability, and "advantageous" to "realise cooperation with police organisations in other countries."
Moldova disconnected from key power line with Europe after Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Chisinau, March 24 (AFP) Mar 24, 2026-Moldova announced on Tuesday that its key power line with Europe was disconnected following overnight Russian strikes in Ukraine, urging citizens to use energy wisely during peak hours.The ex-Soviet country imports electricity from neighbour EU member Romania mostly through a power line which passes through southern Ukraine."Overnight strikes disconnected Moldova's key power link with Europe. Alternative routes are in place, but the situation remains fragile. Russia alone bears responsibility," President Maia Sandu wrote on X.Among the alternative routes used are four other interconnection lines between Romania and Moldova, the government said on Telegram."We urge the public to use energy wisely during peak hours to avoid overloading the electricity transmission and distribution networks," it added.The foreign ministry condemned the Russian attacks."These actions undermine regional energy security and endanger critical civilian infrastructure," it wrote on Telegram.The Issacea-Vulcanesti power line was also affected at the end of January, when disruptions in Ukraine's power grid led to outages both in Moldova and Ukraine.In Moldova, the capital and other towns were left without power for several hours. Traffic and border crossings were managed manually.Moldova produces its own electricity, but also uses imports, mostly from neighbour Romania.Russia has frequently targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure after the 2022 invasion, with Kyiv saying this winter has been the toughest yet.
Amazon's cloud arm says Bahrain service disrupted after drone attacks.
Dubai, March 24 (AFP) Mar 24, 2026-Amazon's cloud arm told AFP on Tuesday that its service in Bahrain had been disrupted, confirming an earlier report from Reuters, after drone attacks hit the region.An Amazon Web Services (AWS) spokesperson said the disruption was ongoing, without specifying the exact location affected or any potential damage done."The AWS Bahrain Region has been disrupted as a result of the ongoing conflict," the spokesperson said, adding that the company was helping affected customers migrate to AWS servers elsewhere in the world."We are working closely with local authorities and prioritising the safety of our personnel."Since the Middle East war erupted in late February, Bahrain and other Gulf countries have been regularly targeted by Iranian missile and drone strikes in retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign.Iran threatened earlier this month to target US and Israeli economic targets in the Gulf, including banks and other companies.The Tasnim news agency at the time published a list of potential targets on Telegram that included the offices of tech giants such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia in Gulf countries.AWS said in early March that drone strikes damaged two of its data centres in the United Arab Emirates and a facility in Bahrain.AWS is the world's leading cloud computing provider, competing with rivals including Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud to offer infrastructure that underpins popular apps and websites, as well as powering generative AI.mdh/sar/apz/amj/ser
Gas shortages push India's poor back to wood and coal.
New Delhi, March 24 (AFP) Mar 24, 2026-Soaring black-market prices of cooking gas in India's capital are pushing poorer families back to wood and coal, raising health risks and worsening air quality in the highly polluted megacity.India is the world's second-largest buyer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is used for cooking and predominantly sourced from the Middle East -- and supplies have been strangled by the ongoing war.India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged states to curb black marketing and avoid panic, stressing that India's energy supplies remain stable.In the low-income Madanpur Khadar neighbourhood, 36-year-old domestic helper Sheela Kumari says she has been forced to abandon LPG cooking gas cylinders for cooking after prices more than doubled."We used to buy cylinders for 1,800-2,000 rupees ($19-$21), but now on the black market it has gone up to 5,000 ($53)," she told AFP, nearly as much as she entire monthly salary of 6,000 rupees."It is unimaginable for us," she said. "The next best option for us was going back to wood and coal."Kumari said a 14 kilogramme cylinder lasts only 15-20 days for her family of six, even when they stretch its use out.But she says a 10 kilogramme bundle of firewood, lasting several days, costs 30 rupees ($0.30)."There are health repercussions, and my children cough," she said. "But tell me a way out?"- 'Too expensive' - Her neighbour, 45-year-old Munni Bai, who has asthma, had switched to using an electric cooker as well as biogas from cow dung, to help her breathing.But now she said she was being forced to resume use of alternative fuels."Gas is too expensive," she said. "We cannot depend on it -- we moved from coal and wood, due to my health issue, but now it is difficult to sustain."But activists say the problem is more about access.Many migrant workers lack documentation needed for subsidised LPG and rely on informal markets, where hoarding has pushed up prices."There is no major shortage yet, but hoarding has increased," said Deepak, who uses only one name, from the Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR)."Many migrants depend on black-market cylinders, and prices have gone up two to three times".New Delhi, and its wider sprawling metropolitan region of 30 million residents, is regularly ranked among the world's most polluted capitals, due to a deadly mix of emissions from power plants, heavy traffic, as well as the burning of rubbish and crops.For the past decades, India's government has pushed its "Ujjwala" or "light" clean-energy scheme, to provide over 100 million LPG connections to poor households.Burning wood, coal and biomass indoors exposes families to high levels of smoke and toxic particles, increasing the risk of respiratory illnesses.Women and children, who spend more time near cooking areas, are especially vulnerable.
Spain PM Sanchez to visit China April 13-15.
Madrid, March 23 (AFP) Mar 23, 2026-Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will travel to China from April 13 to 15 for an official visit, his office said on Monday, without giving further details of his schedule.The visit, Sanchez's fourth trip to China in as many years, comes in the wake of the Spanish leader's fervent criticism of US President Donald Trump over the war against Iran, an economic partner of Beijing's.The Socialist premier has doubled down on his refrain of "no to the war" and refused Washington's requests to use Madrid's military bases against Iran, despite Trump's threat to sever trade with Spain as a result.On the foreign policy front, Sanchez has sought to help Spanish companies break into new markets and find new investors for the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.The upcoming trip comes at a time when oil prices have soared due to Iran's de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic choke point for global crude and natural gas supplies, in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes.China has been bracing for the economic fallout from the Middle East, as more than half of Beijing's seaborne crude imports come from the region, most of which pass through the strait, according to the Kpler analysis firm.On his last visit to Beijing in April 2025, the Socialist leader told a press conference following his meeting with China's President Xi Jinping that tensions over trade should not impede cooperation between the European Union and China.For his part, Xi urged Sanchez and the European Union to join hands to resist "unilateral bullying", referring to Trump's imposition of swingeing trade tariffs.rbj/sbk/db
Australia, EU agree sweeping new trade pact eight years in the works.
Canberra, March 24 (AFP) Mar 24, 2026-The European Union and Australia struck a long-awaited free-trade deal on Tuesday, while also agreeing to boost defence cooperation and access to crucial rare-earth minerals in the face of global uncertainty over trade.EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's visit to Australia comes as the 27-nation bloc and the import-reliant nation navigate renewed energy vulnerability sparked by the war in the Middle East.The accord is the latest agreed by Brussels in a push to diversify trade as Europe faces challenges from the United States and China.Key sticking points on Australian use of European geographical names as well as how much beef can be exported to the continent were overcome to reach the deal after eight years of negotiations.Another compromise will see Australian winemakers allowed to use the term "prosecco" domestically, but they must stop using it for exports after 10 years.Australia will also be allowed to keep using some geographical names, such as feta and gruyere, in cases where producers have used the name for at least five years.And European carmakers will benefit from Australia raising the threshold for a luxury car tax on electric vehicles -- three-quarters will now be exempt.The two sides also agreed to step up defence cooperation as well as critical raw materials.Addressing the Australian parliament on Tuesday, von der Leyen described a world that was "brutal, harsh and unforgiving".In that context, she said the EU and Australia were bound by common values and must work together to mitigate over-reliance on countries such as China for rare-earth minerals."We cannot be over dependent on any supplier for such crucial ingredients, and that is precisely why we need each other," she said."Our security is your security, and with our new security and defence partnership, we have each other's back."Beijing's foreign ministry urged the EU on Tuesday to abandon its "zero-sum thinking"."We hope the European side will... refrain from adopting protectionist measures, and view China's development in a rational and objective light," spokesman Lin Jian said when asked at a regular news briefing about von der Leyen's comments.- A 'fair deal' -Von der Leyen told Australian lawmakers that Tuesday's agreement on trade was a "fair deal, and one that delivers for your businesses and one that delivers for our businesses".Under the deal, the EU said it expected exports to Australia to grow by a third over a decade.The quota of Australian beef allowed into the bloc will increase more than 10 times the current level over the next decade, although that falls short of what Australian farmers had been seeking.Australia's National Farmers' Federation said it was "extremely disappointed" by the outcome of the deal."What the Australian government has accepted today appears to offer no material change for key agricultural commodities as what the government rightly rejected in October 2023," president Hamish McIntyre said.EU firms exported 37 billion euros (US$42.9 billion) of goods to Australia last year, and 31 billion euros of services in 2024.And Australia said the deal could add AU$7.8 billion (US$5.4 billion) to its gross domestic product by 2030.Australia's largest export market is China, and the United States is its largest source of investment.However, Canberra has redoubled efforts to diversify export markets for farmers since a 2020 dispute with Beijing saw agriculture shipments blocked for several years, and the global imposition of US tariffs last year.Likewise, the EU is on a drive to strike new partnerships in the face of US levies and Chinese export controls.Von der Leyen's visit was overshadowed by the war in the Middle East, which has sent oil prices soaring.The EU chief said this month the conflict had served as a "stark reminder" of Europe's vulnerabilities.And on Tuesday she called for an immediate end to hostilities in the face of a "critical" situation for energy supply chains globally.Australia -- which is heavily reliant on fuel from abroad -- has also felt the pressure from the global energy squeeze.
Russia, Vietnam advance plans for first nuclear power plant.
Moscow, March 23 (AFP) Mar 23, 2026-Russia and Vietnam on Monday signed a cooperation agreement on the construction of Vietnam's first nuclear power plant, Russia's Rosatom nuclear agency said on Monday.Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was visiting energy-rich Russia as Vietnam seeks to shore up its fuel reserves at a time of disruption to energy supplies caused by the war in the Middle East, sparking fears of fuel shortages around the world.Since the US-Israeli war against Iran began in late February, the cost of 95-octane petrol and diesel in Vietnam, a manufacturing hub, has soared by 50 percent and 70 percent respectively.The agreement lays out the legal framework for the construction of two reactors with a total output of 2400 MW at Vietnam's proposed Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant, Rostam said.Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev said the agreement would be the "foundation for a long-term industrial partnership, which will strengthen Vietnam's energy independence and open up new opportunities for economic growth".No timeline was given for when construction would start or when the plant might come online.Moscow and Hanoi had initially agreed to build the Ninh Thuan 1 atomic power station back in 2010, but later decided to suspend construction.Another agreement between Russia's top liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Novatek and a Vietnamese buyer was also signed recently, Novatek's CEO Leonid Mikhelson said on Monday."We have been in negotiations with potential buyers for over five years, and have very recently signed a preliminary supply agreement with one of them. We are ready to commence deliveries at the earliest opportunity," he told state broadcaster Rossiya 24, without naming the customer.Russia and Vietnam have also signed a deal on oil and gas production in both countries, the TASS state news agency reported, citing Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, without giving details.
