200+ DIE IN WORST SPANISH FLOODING.

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)

  200+ DIE IN WORST SPANISH FLOODING.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

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

THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING (BUT WILL NOT KILL EVERY BODY WITH WATER)(BUT 50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE (4 BILLION PEOPLE) FROM NUCLEAR WAR)(THE BIBLE SAYS BY FIRE OR ATOMIC BOMBS THIS TIME)
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.

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.

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.

FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.so was not yet deemed a threat to land.The storm was located about 580 miles (930 kilometers) west-southwest of the southernmost tip of the Cabo Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), the center said.The storms churned in the Atlantic as rescuers in the U.S. Southeast searched for people unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene struck last week, leaving behind a trail of death and catastrophic damage.

Spain flood death toll hits 205, rescuers yet to reach some parts of Valencia-By David Latona and Charlie Devereux-November 1, 202410:23 AM EDT

ALFAFAR, Spain, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Spanish rescuers opened a temporary morgue in a convention centre and battled to reach areas still cut off on Friday as the death toll from catastrophic floods rose to 205 people in Europe's worst weather disaster in five decades.In Valencia, the eastern region that bore the brunt of the devastation, about 500 soldiers were deployed to hunt for people who are still missing and help survivors of the storm, which triggered a fresh weather alert in Huelva in southwestern Spain.Officials said the death toll is likely to keep rising. It is already Spain's worst flood-related disaster in modern history and the deadliest to hit Europe since the 1970s.In Alfafar, a suburb outside the city of Valencia, Spain's third-largest, drone footage showed the tangled wreckage of dozens of vehicles strewn across rail tracks."It's all destroyed, shops, supermarkets, schools, cars," said local resident Patricia Villar. Close by, a boat that had been carried by the floodwaters lay on a muddy streetcorner.Emergency services working to clear cars piled up at the entrance of a flooded underpass in the suburb feared finding more trapped bodies."We're trying to remove vehicles bit by bit to see if there are victims," one rescue worker told state television. "We don't know."With about 75,000 homes still without electricity, firefighters were siphoning petrol from cars that had been abandoned in the floods to power generators to get domestic supplies back on."We're going from car to car looking for any petrol we can find," said one firefighter who had travelled to Valencia from the southern region of Andalusia to assist rescue efforts, carrying a plastic tube and empty bottles to collect the petrol from the cars' tanks.A YEAR OF RAIN-A year of rain fell in just eight hours on Tuesday night, destroying roads, railway tracks and bridges as rivers burst their banks.The flooding also submerged thousands of hectares of farmland in the region, which produces nearly two-thirds of citrus fruit in Spain - the world's top exporter of oranges."The magnitude of the catastrophe has no precedent," Transport Minister Oscar Puente told local television.While the waters have subsided in most parts of Valencia, emergency services have still not been able to reach a few areas due to blocked roads. They included Albal, a neighbourhood close to Alfafar, one resident said.Supplies of bottled drinking water were running low in some places and residents in the Valencia suburb of Paiporta were taking turns to guard shops after authorities said 50 people had been arrested for looting.Standing in a churned up street as neighbours and volunteers did what they could to clean up in Paiporta, resident Amber Gonzalez, 72, said rebuilding and recovering from the floods would take time."No matter how much help we get it is not enough," she said. "This is not going to be fixed in a month or two."As the death toll rose, a temporary morgue was set up at the Feria Valencia convention centre on the outskirts of Valencia city, emergency services said, and the first bodies started to arrive early on Friday.The number of deaths has prompted anger as well as grief in Spain, with some people accusing authorities of being poorly prepared and not having warned people soon enough about the dangers posed by the storm.Valencia resident Hector Bolivar, 65, questioned why a text message alert was only sent out at 8 p.m. when the heavy rain had begun several hours earlier.The president of Valencia's regional government, Carlos Mazon, has said all protocols for disaster management were followed and that authorities began warning people from Sunday.The death toll is the highest from floods in Europe since 1970, when 209 people died in Romania.Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe."Regarding these environmental catastrophes, we pray for the people of the Iberian Peninsula, especially the Valencian Community, swept away by the storm," Pope Francis said on Friday as he led prayers in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.Reporting by David Latona, Raul Cadenas, Eva Manez and Ana Cantero; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Helen Popper and Hugh Lawson

Trapped in cars and garages: Why Valencia floods proved so deadly-NOV 1,24Guy Hedgecoe-BBC News

As Spain reels from the flash floods which struck the south-east of the country this week, many are wondering why the death toll, which currently stands at over 200, is so high.Almost all of the deaths confirmed so far have been in the Valencia region on the Mediterranean coast.Some areas have been particularly devastated: the town of Paiporta, population 25,000, reported at least 62 deaths.Various factors, including drivers becoming trapped in their cars, poor planning by officials and extreme rainfall being exacerbated by climate change are all likely to have contributed.The civil protection agency, overseen by the regional government, issued an emergency alert to the phones of people in and around the city of Valencia after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, by which time the flood water was swiftly rising in many areas and in some cases already wreaking havoc.A large number of those killed were on the roads, in many cases returning from work, when the flash floods struck.Video footage shows how a first wave of flood water washed through Paiporta as cars were still circulating. Although rainfall was heavier in other areas, such as Utiel and Chiva, Paiporta’s geography, with a ravine running through its centre, made the impact of the flood particularly devastating.Mayor Maribel Albalat said that the town was ill-prepared in terms of planning, with many ground-floor flats. Six residents of an elderly care home died when the flood water washed into the building when they were still on the ground floor. She also suggested there was an element of complacency.“In Paiporta we don’t tend to have floods and people aren’t afraid,” she said.'It was like a tsunami': Garages were a particular death trap.“When it rains people normally go down to their garages to get their cars out in case their garage is flooded,” Ms Albalat said.That appears to have been the case in the neighbourhood of La Torre, on the outskirts of Valencia, where the bodies of seven people were recovered from the garage of a residential building.The A3 motorway connecting Valencia to Madrid was one of many roads where motorists were trapped as the water level rose, leaving them unsure whether it was safer to stay in the vehicle or not.“There are almost certainly more people who have died because the water washed people away who had got out of their cars,” one survivor told the Telecinco TV channel. Another survivor said the water had been up to his chest.An eye-witness described seeing one driver who had got out of his car who had strapped himself to a lamppost with his belt, to stop himself from being washed away. It is unknown whether he survived.The mayor of Chiva, Amparo Fort, warned on Thursday that nearby there were still “hundreds of cars turned upside down and they will surely have people inside them”.On Thursday morning, the Guardia Civil shared advice on how to escape from a car during a flood on social media. People caught in floods are advised to try and escape though their cars' windows and windscreen.Satellite imagery that shows the destruction caused south of Valencia by flooding.Other factors also appear to help explain why Valencia was so devastated by the weather event.Much of the area most heavily affected, in and surrounding the country’s third-largest city, is densely populated.A lack of rainfall throughout the rest of the year has left the ground in many areas of eastern and southern Spain unable to absorb rainwater efficiently.Pablo Aznar, a researcher at the Socio-Economic Observatory of Floods and Droughts (Obsis), warned that much of the area affected had undergone what he described as “untrammelled development”, with many areas covered in impermeable materials, which “increases the danger posed by these events”.The warming climate is also likely to have contributed to the severity of the floods.In a preliminary report, World Weather Attribution (WWA), a group of international scientists who investigate global warming’s role in extreme weather, found that the rainfall which struck Spain was 12% heavier due to climate change and that the weather event experienced is twice as likely.People warned not to leave homes as another Spain region faces rain alert following Valencia floods

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

MARK OF THE BEAST (engraved microchip in your hand or forehead)

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

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.

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.

FAMINE

EZEKIEL 5:16
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:

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 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, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

DEUTORONOMY 28:24
24  The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

LOCUSTS (DEMONIC) TORTURES SINNERS 5 MONTHS
REVELATION 9:1-6
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the smoke (DEMONIC) locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

18th Edition Connected Banking Summit – Innovation & Excellence Awards – West Africa 2024-Nov 19, 2024 - Nov 20, 2024

Accra, Ghana-November 19-20, 2024-Mark your calendars for the highly anticipated 18th Edition Connected Banking Summit – Innovation & Excellence Awards – West Africa 2024, happening on November 19th and 20th, 2024, in Accra, Ghana.This premier event is your gateway to the future of banking, bringing together esteemed global executives, industry experts, and visionary leaders to shape the next chapter of financial services.As a cornerstone of the Connected Banking Series, this summit is dedicated to driving the banking industry forward by accelerating digital transformation, enhancing customer experiences within regulatory frameworks, and maintaining the highest levels of security and privacy.

Namibia pushes for inclusive digital identity systems through legal identity governance-Nov 1, 2024, 2:04 am EDT    | Abigail Opiah

Namibia is advancing digital inclusion by working closely with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to establish legal identity systems, for all its citizens to have verifiable identities. These initiatives come as Namibia tackles identity verification challenges that leave rural and marginalized communities underserved, a gap that digital identity technologies aim to bridge.The initiative follows extensive collaboration between UNDP Namibia and local stakeholders, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, to address gaps in the country’s identity governance framework. According to a recent UNDP blog, the collaborative approach seeks to ensure that Namibia’s legal identity governance system is not only comprehensive but also accessible across socio-economic divides.For many Namibians, particularly those in remote areas, accessing essential services is hindered by the lack of verifiable identification. The partnership seeks to equip underserved communities with the legal means to access healthcare, education, and social benefits by providing them with a secure digital identity. UNDP Namibia emphasizes that this approach will align with the principles of Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, which advocates for legal identity for all by 2030.Bridging the digital divide through community-centric models-UNDP Namibia has emphasized the importance of tailoring systems to Namibia’s unique social and geographic landscapes. Part of the strategy includes exploring community-centered models that focus on inclusivity, ensuring that women, children, and rural populations are prioritized in the rollout of digital ID services. These community-centric approaches reflect UNDP’s efforts to build resilient legal identity frameworks that address local needs, promoting digital inclusion through contemplative governance.In 2021, the Accelerator Lab identified a need to support the most underserved communities, focusing on addressing the lack of legal identity documentation among residents in Groot Aub. A UN report uncovered that without recognized identification, many individuals were left on the margins of society, unable to access essential services or fully engage in socio-economic opportunities.Pilot projects have been launched to test these digital identity tools and fine-tune them for Namibia’s distinct contexts. During these pilots, various methods for documenting legal identities are being evaluated, aiming to identify the most efficient and accessible practices for wider implementation.A model for digital identity governance in Africa-With digital transformation rising across the continent, Namibia’s focus on digital inclusion and legal identity governance serves as a model for other African nations facing similar challenges.Namibia, like many countries globally, faces challenges with fragmented service delivery and limited interoperability between separate databases and systems. To address these issues, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, in collaboration with the ICT System Architect from the Office of the Prime Minister, has been actively working to overcome these barriers, according to reports from another UN blog post.By providing Namibian communities with accessible legal identities, the UNDP-led initiative aims to reduce the risks associated with identity exclusion, such as restricted access to essential services and economic opportunities.

Norway reveals plans to contract 21 biometric border control gates-Oct 29, 2024, 4:55 pm EDT    | Chris Burt

Norway is planning to tender a contract for automatic biometric border control gates for installation at the main airport in the country’s capital, Oslo.The tender notice for “Procurement of ABC e-Gates” specifies that authorities intend to procure 21 electronic gates at Oslo Airport Gardermoen OSL. It also notes a potential for an increase in the volume of gates and the number of locations.The Norwegian Police Shared Services division has allocated 50 million Norwegian kroner (approximately US$4.6 million) for the biometric gates.The contract includes the biometric gates and biometric sensors themselves, plus software development, support, and repair and maintenance services. The Police Shared Services are also expected to develop some components for the software controlling the e-gates.Oslo Airport Gardermoen has had biometric border control gates since 2012, and deployed Idemia’s MorphoFace biometrics to its gates in 2018.Authorities expect to go through the procurement process in 2025, and make a contract announcement during the first quarter.A 2023 report from Juniper Research forecasted revenues from biometric airport gates would rise by 137 percent from last year to 2027.

Report: Billions in unclaimed federal benefits could be accessed using digital IDs-Nov 1, 2024, 2:14 am EDT    | Anthony Kimery

If the U.S. government were to completely transition to a federal digital ID for at least some public welfare and other benefits, hundreds of billions in federal assistance each year could reach their intended recipients, says a new white paper from the non-profit think tank FREOPP.Indeed. A July 2023 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report stated that “every year more than $140 billion in government benefits that Congress has authorized goes unclaimed—including tax credits for working families, health insurance coverage for low-income adults and children, unemployment benefits, and disability supports … in part due to the administrative burdens associated with applying for them.”“Fully enrolling all eligible Americans in all of the main social welfare programs could move 15 million people, including five million children, out of poverty,” says the white paper, Improving Access to—and Integrity of—Federal Benefits Using Digital ID Technology.“Modernizing America’s identity infrastructure will ensure that hundreds of billions in federal benefits reach their intended recipients,” the paper says, noting that “for decades, Congress and administrations of both parties have tried to improve federal program benefit delivery and management. However, reforms have proven insufficient to date.”“But,” the paper posits, “a(n) option exists to potentially address both challenges: using digital technologies for the purpose of identity verification while providing more convenient access to federal benefits. Around the world, policymakers are establishing digital identities to facilitate citizen interactions with governments and to prevent fraud and identity theft. Several countries, most notably Estonia, have successfully addressed the problem of waste, fraud, and abuse by enacting a cryptographically secured digital identity system. Unlike Social Security numbers, which are effectively in the public domain and often subject to misuse, the modern digital approach makes it more difficult to misappropriate someone’s identity.”The paper recognizes that “the United States has already made substantial progress establishing a secure way for Americans to securely access government federal and state websites and services through Login.gov, which includes more than 80 million users,” but that in “looking forward, the White House and Congress should establish a limited digital identity technology platform for certain public benefit programs” in order “to strengthen program integrity and to reduce the administrative burden that Americans encounter accessing federal benefits, including by building upon the services offered by Login.gov.”But, the paper notes, “establishing a limited, voluntary federal digital identity platform would require carefully answering many legal, administrative, technical and acquisitions management issues.”Indeed. Biometric Update reported that the Chief Financial Officers of 24 federal agencies that use Login.gov for identity proofing services have noted challenges with technical issues. The Government Accountability Office recently reported that nine federal agencies said they have had challenges involving technical issues such as not having visibility into authentications, high failure rates, and lack of fraud controls.The General Services Administration established Login.gov in 2017 as a single-sign-on identity proofing service to access federal agencies’ websites.Earlier this month sixteen federal agencies told the GAO that Login.gov “improved their operations by decreasing the workload for agency employees, addressing existing security issues, and employing new technology.” The portal’s new identity proofing service includes selfie biometric liveness detection, and is now compliant with Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2), the federal government’s standard for high assurance identity proofing.Eleven agencies also reported that Login.gov improved customer service while seven agencies highlighted the cost savings that were achieved.In August, the General Services Administration (GSA) began using Login.gov and its secure, identity verification tools to support federal and state efforts to reduce misspending. “To modernize and strengthen these systems against fraud, Login.gov partnered with the Department of Labor Unemployment Insurance (UI) to provide identity verification services to states administering UI benefits,” GSA said, emphasizing that a handful of “states were able to modernize their UI Systems to protect their programs against identity fraud while still ensuring access to Login.gov’s systems.“This partnership should be a focus of congressional and nonpartisan oversight to identify how and whether the broader use of Login.gov to support states’ management of federal unemployment assistance reduces improper payments and achieves taxpayer spending,” the white paper said.To widen the pool of Americans who use Login.gov though, the FREOPP white paper says, “policymakers will need to navigate Americans’ longstanding concerns about privacy; how the federal government uses information; and questions about the appropriate roles of the federal and state governments in identity management.”However, “over time, a transition to a federal digital ID for certain public welfare benefits could ensure that hundreds of billions in federal benefits reach their intended beneficiaries, much in the way that TSA PreCheck – a voluntary program – speeds access and increases security at airports,” the paper states.The paper presents several “recommendations for incremental reforms to establish a limited, privacy-focused, voluntary federal digital identity for specific means-tested federal welfare programs, and to study potential broader applications.” It “also describes best practices and guidelines that policymakers should consider when designing and implementing a federal digital ID.”The recommendations include having the OMB, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program establish a voluntary digital ID that builds on the Login.gov environment; Congress directing GAO to evaluate alternatives to Login.gov for establishing a federal digital ID; and Congress directing relevant federal agencies to use Login.gov or an alternative digital ID system for securely administering means-tested federal benefits, and incorporating a default enrollment with voluntary opt-out.The FEOPP white paper goes on to say that in lieu of having a federal digital ID that the “rapid technological innovations enabled by artificial intelligence may increase the threats to benefit payment integrity.”The paper highlighted a 2024 report by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network that “identified more than $200 billion in suspicious financial transactions in 2021 involving identity-related issues,” and that identity-related fraud will likely increase.“The proliferation of data breaches compromising personally identifiable information, synthetic identities, and the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence may further enable bad actors to exploit identity processes more easily, quickly, and inexpensively to drive money laundering, fraud, and other cybercrime,” the paper says.In concluding, the paper says “a promising strategy for modernizing government benefit delivery and improving program integrity involves updating the technologies that governments and people use to access public benefits.”

Brazil partners with biometric identity verification provider in strategic step for Serpro-Oct 31, 2024, 11:53 pm EDT    | Lu-Hai Liang

Brazil is seeking to enhance fraud prevention for businesses operating in Latin America.South America’s biggest economy is entering into a strategic partnership, as Brazil’s federal government technology company Serpro teams up with REACT-OnID.A biometric identity verification company, REACT-OnID will provide Brazilian institutions with the ability to verify identities and documents more securely by integrating biometric verification against Serpro’s government databases.“Countries like Brazil, with its large and fast-growing economy, face high vulnerability to identify fraud,” said Alan Archila, CEO of REACT-OnID.“Our partnership with Serpro provides a powerful solution to help Brazilian businesses defend against fraudsters using fake IDs,” he continued.REACT-OnID and Serpro integration will mean Multi-Modal ID Verification and Advanced ISO 30107-3 compliant technology, which includes touchless fingerprint and facial biometric recognition, as well as enhanced fraud detection using both liveness and passive detection capabilities to guard against identity theft and fraud.John W. Puente, president of OnID Inc., commented: “By linking with Serpro, we enable Brazilian businesses to verify customer identities directly against official government records, whether the ID originates from Brazil or internationally.”Serpro is Brazil’s largest public sector IT provider and underpins government agencies such as the Federal Police, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the National Traffic Department, and the Federal Revenue of Brazil.Serpro provided a facial recognition system to verify delegates at a G20 meeting held in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year.

Fingerprint Cards: quarterlies, annuals, regulatory actions-Fingerprint Cards logs out of PC business-Oct 31, 2024, 11:46 pm EDT    | Chris Burt

October 31, 2024 – Financial results for Fingerprint Cards in the third quarter of 2024 reflect the company’s focus shifting to higher-margin business lines like iris biometrics and cost-cutting in other areas, like the wind-down of its PC biometrics unit.Revenue in Q3 was 102.8 million Swedish kronor (approximately US$9.6 million), down from SEK 184.8 million ($17.3 million) in the same period of fiscal 2023.  Gross margin rose from 12.8 percent to 18.3 percent, however, and adjusted EBITDA improved from negative SEK 40.4 million ($3.8 million) to negative SEK 22.8 million ($2.1 million), comparing the same period.The story was similar over the first nine months of the year.The company is aiming to bring its annualized OPEX run-rate below SEK 70 million by the end of next year’s second quarter.Tough Q2 for Fingerprint Cards with silver lining from biometric access control-Aug 15, 2024 – Fingerprint Cards reports a steep decline in revenues in the second quarter of 2024, but also reasons for optimism that its shifting focus away from mobile biometrics may be working.The company booked 112.4 million Swedish kronor (US$10.7 million) in the quarter, down from SEK 203.3 million ($19.3 million) in the same quarter of 2023. Adjusted for restructuring costs, EBITDA was negative SEK 47.6 million ($4.5 million), but that represents a significant improvement over an EBITDA loss of SEK 57.7 million ($5.5 million) a year earlier.Revenues in the rest of FPC’s business areas increased by 10.5 percent in Q2, on a year-over-year basis, highlighted by a 64 percent gain in its access control business. President and CEO Adam Philpott says the company will see meaningful cost savings from its reduced headcount in the second half of 2024. Cash flow is improved, he says, and reaching positive cash flow is a major element in Fingerprint Cards’ transformation plan.Fingerprint Cards finds bright spots in transitional first quarter-May 8, 2024 – Fingerprint Cards says its financial results are trending the right way, particularly in PC biometrics, where the company reports 80 percent year-over-year growth.The company booked revenues of 146.4 million Swedish kronor (approximately US$13.4 million) in the first quarter of 2024, compared to SEK 117 million ($10.7 million) in the first quarter of last year. EBITDA loss narrowed from SEK 60.2 million in Q1 2023 to SEK 50.5 million ($4.6 million).With its money-losing operations in mobile winding down and expectations of more revenue from its intellectual property, Fingerprint Cards says it is progressing through its transformation plans.Fingerprint Cards posts 2023 loss amid transition-Aptil 26, 2024 – Fingerprint Cards revenues declined again in the 2023 fiscal year, to 705.4 million Swedish kroner (approximately US$64.8 million), from SEK 861.8 million in fiscal 2022. Still a financial struggle for FPC in fiscal ‘23-Feb 9, 2024 – Biometric sensor maker Fingerprint Cards released fiscal 2023 and fourth quarter financial reports that show a trudge toward black ink. FPC adopts biometric platform strategy, overhauls corporate structure-Nov 21, 2023 – Fingerprint Cards has revamped its organizational structure to align its governance model with a new strategy to provide a biometrics platform. Biometric pay, access products disappoint reorganizing and fundraising FPC-July 21, 2023 – Second-quarter numbers for biometrics sensor maker Fingerprint Cards show strength in a few areas, including mobile-systems sales and cash flow.  Read more here.Fingerprint Cards appoints new CEO amid lukewarm financials and diversification push-July 3, 2023 – Fingerprint Cards AB has appointed Adam Philpott as its new President and CEO starting from September 1, 2023. Fingerprint Cards looking for growth after disappointing Q1-April 25, 2023 – It is another tough quarter in biometric identification and Fingerprint Cards executives have included growth tactics with their first-quarter results. Fingerprint Cards targets new biometrics markets with mobile capacitive bounce-back ahead-March 26, 2023 – Moving back to Sweden to take over as the CEO of Fingerprint Cards was a big change for Ted Hansson after 20 years of living in Asia. Fingerprint Cards anticipates bounce-back in smartphone biometrics revenues in 2023-Jan 26, 2023 – Depressed demand for smartphones in China during the fourth quarter of Fingerprint Cards’ fiscal 2022 weighed down the company’s sales and gross margins. Fingerprint Cards cutting costs following tough quarter for mobile biometrics-Oct 19, 2022 – Fingerprint Cards reports third quarter earnings of 143.2 million Swedish krona (US$12.8 million), well down from SEK 354.3 million ($31.6 million) in the same quarter of 2021. Read more here.

ID-Pal to support online immigration renewals for Ireland’s DoJ-Oct 31, 2024, 6:26 pm EDT    | Lu-Hai Liang

Ireland’s Department of Justice has selected Dublin’s ID-Pal to support the digitization of its online renewals system through the new Digital Contact Centre.A release says the transition “enables all Irish immigration permission renewals to be processed online through an Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) portal, eliminating the need for in-person visits to Garda Stations.”Previously, online renewals were limited to those in larger cities.The Department of Justice wants to future-proof its public services, ensuring that they are both scalable and secure. It is aiming toward a single self-service platform for applicants to engage with immigration services.Colum Lyons, CEO of ID-Pal, says the collaboration “highlights our commitment to providing cutting-edge identity verification solutions that support the digital transformation of public services.”Stops nearly a million dollars in fraud for Finset-ID-Pal’s new AI document fraud detection feature called ID-Detect, has helped British car financing platform Finset block nearly $1 million worth of fraud.ID-Detect is able to detect AI-generated documents and confirm that a real physical document is present rather than a reproduction.Finset partnered with ID-Pal to streamline the financing company’s onboarding and deliver Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) obligations. ID-Pal uses a blend of biometric, document, and database checks to streamline the aforementioned processes.Integrated into its API, Finset was able to utilize ID-Pal’s ID-Detect to avoid losing £700,000 ($908,526) to fraudulent applications. Using ID-Detect, and enabled by ID-Pal’s API integration, Finset makes use of real-time identity verification and advanced document fraud detection for all its lenders, dealers, and customers on its platform.Fake head features in live IDV demo at FinovateFall-Founder and CEO of ID-Pal Colum Lyons showed off the real-time verification his platform is capable of during a recent live demo at the FinovateFall event in New York. A benefit of ID-Pal’s platform is its flexibility, as end users can choose easily between different ID types, such as a driver’s license or passport, while it works to ward off fraud behind the scenes.During a demo at FinovateFall, Lyons amused the audience by using a fake head to show the risks posed by deepfakes and spoofing, with his colleague attempting to verify the fake head, and demonstrating how ID-Pal makes use of AI-driven liveness detection to quickly flag such a thing as fraudulent.Lyons ended by explaining how fraud has evolved, with the technology now available to would-be fraudsters – and therefore why businesses should review their identity verification processes. He invited companies to make use of ID-Pal’s free audit.

Maldives collects biometrics to tackle illegal immigration issues-Nationwide expansion of Operation Kurangi in full effect-Oct 31, 2024, 5:20 pm EDT    | Abigail Opiah

The Maldives government has expanded its national campaign, Operation Kurangi, aimed at curbing illegal immigration across the island nation. As part of Operation Kurangi, a program initiated in May by the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology to regularize undocumented expatriates, biometric data has been collected for more than 8,000 individuals, the Edition reports.In May, that figure was just over 700, according to Plus, and by October, the figure rose to over 4,000, Maldives Matters reports.This comes in response to growing concerns over unregulated migrant flows and their socio-economic impact on local communities. Under this initiative, local councils across the Maldives have been provided with the tools and training necessary to identify undocumented migrants.In line with this, the Maldives has also introduced advanced biometric technology into its national ID system. Through a partnership with Mantra Smart Identity, the Maldives secured Mantra fingerprint biometric scanners to streamline identity verification processes. The technology will bolster the efforts of Operation Kurangi by equipping local councils with the capacity to verify individuals’ identities. As a result, authorities aim to deter illegal immigration and improve regulatory oversight in remote communities where monitoring has previously been challenging.According to Corporate Maldives, Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, Ali Ihusaan emphasizes the role of local councils in identifying unauthorized migrants, and has set a three year deadline to tackle the issue. Councils have been trained in using identification methods and are supported by law enforcement in ensuring that only documented individuals can access certain services.With the recent acquisition of biometric fingerprint scanners, the Maldives joins other nations in adopting biometric technology for identity management. The addition of this technology aligns with global trends in identity verification, emphasizing data security and accuracy in both public and private sector operations.Since its inception, Operation Kurangi has led to the identification and deportation of hundreds of undocumented migrants. The ongoing expansion is expected to increase detection rates further, enabling local authorities to enforce regulations more comprehensively across all islands.

Ethiopia moves to enable Fayda digital ID for domestic flights-Oct 31, 2024, 5:33 pm EDT    | Chris Burt

Ethiopia’s national digital identity could soon be used as the travel document by people boarding domestic flights, following a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Ethiopian Airlines and the NIDP and reported by the ENA.The MoU commits the partners to working collaboratively on integrating the Fayda digital ID with airport systems.Ethiopian Airlines is also working towards the introduction of biometric passenger processing for various steps along the travel journey, from booking to boarding. The move is intended to improve passenger experiences while increasing operational efficiency.The government has been rapidly implementing Fayda across various sectors for similar reasons as part of a broader digital government strategy. Recent examples include an integration agreement with the country’s procurement authority.Abiyot Bayou senior advisor to Ethiopia’s Minister of Innovation and Technology, explained the current digital government strategy as the third step in its transformation. The earlier stages involved applications developed independently by different institutions. Bayou refers to the newer, integrated system as “GO.”“When the GO stake is in place, we will have the integration of payment system, ID card, the registration and other data exchange systems at the center,” he said.“So, the presence of Fayda Digital ID,” Bayou says, will “solve many problems.”For international travels, Ethiopia has been working with ICAO in preparation for a rollout of biometric passports.

New skin tone evaluation scale developed to improve AI fairness evaluation-Oct 31, 2024, 5:28 pm EDT    | Abigail Opiah

An innovative development in AI skin tone measurement methods, aimed at refining how artificial intelligence interprets skin tones across diverse populations, has been introduced to help address previous biases in digital applications. The research is presented in an October 2024 paper hotels on arXiv, which introduces a new Colorimetric Skin Tone (CST) for accurately measuring skin tone, and announced in a LinkedIn post by John Howard, principal scientist at The U.S. government’s Maryland Test Facility (MdTF).The growing demand for more inclusive AI-driven technologies has spurred the development of new evaluation criteria and methodologies. Historically, AI systems have struggled with accurately representing skin tones, often resulting in biases that predominantly affect people with darker skin. Howard emphasizes the importance of skin tone evaluation as a necessary step toward fostering AI inclusivity.The latest research, detailed in the arXiv paper, expands on the Fitzpatrick skin type scale, traditionally used to classify skin tones based on responses to UV exposure, to include more nuanced variations in tone. The researchers measured the relationship between the classifications from the Fitzpatrick and Monk Skin Tone (MST) scales and the readings of a calibrated colorimeter.Colorimetric measurements were used to generate the CST, which the researchers say “is more sensitive, consistent, and colorimetrically accurate” than manual classification by humans.By introducing this broader classification system, researchers aim to provide a more granular approach to skin tone representation. According to the study, existing skin tone measurement systems lack precision and inclusivity, potentially causing AI systems to misidentify or inadequately represent individuals from diverse backgrounds.The research outlines how training machine learning models on datasets compiled using the new skin tone metrics can combat these biases.Howard’s discussion and the arXiv publication both emphasize the impact of inclusive AI on societal fairness, particularly in fields reliant on accurate skin tone representation. It also builds on Google’s 2022 release of an expanded skin tone scale, a tool developed to mitigate bias in AI and computer vision.The researchers also found several complicating factors for classifying skin tone, such as different judgements by people based on the background a given subject is presented against.“Although human annotation of skin tone may never be objective,” the researchers conclude, “the process can be improved by using the CST scale.”

Georgia mDL can now be added to Samsung Wallet-Oct 31, 2024, 4:11 pm EDT    | Joel R. McConvey

Georgia has published instructions on how to add its mobile drivers license (mDL) to Samsung Wallet, marking the latest expansion for both the state and the South Korean tech giant’s digital wallet product.Officials in Georgia announced the expansion this week, calling it “a significant step forward in enhancing both security and convenience for our customers.” Samsung Wallet joins Apple Wallet and Google Wallet as compatible hosts for the Georgia digital driver’s license.A news release says the latest change is valid for only a few TSA security checkpoints, including those at the Atlanta airport. The TSA recently published a final rule in the Federal Register that will allow passengers to continue using mDLs for identity verification at TSA airport security checkpoints after REAL ID enforcement takes effect on May 7, 2025, by letting states apply for a temporary waiver of REAL ID requirements and regulations.Drivers on Georgia’s roads must still carry their physical driver’s license, as law enforcement will not accept digital ID for identity verification.Georgia launched its mobile license on May 18th, 2023, and saw 150,000 residents register for mDLs within the first month of its release. Per the state’s Department of Driver Services, the Georgia Digital License and ID is a “free and optional service provided to eligible customers.”One motivation for the mDLs was improving accessibility for those with limited hand function or other disabilities. Spencer R. Moore, Commissioner for the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS), has said that “a very important advantage of the new digital application is to empower individuals with disabilities.”

Passport-free travel is ready, expert says, legislation is the holdup-Biometrics, digital travel credentials will soon make airports much less frustrating-Oct 31, 2024, 2:09 pm EDT    | Joel R. McConvey

Travelers are beginning to express a preference for biometric options for air travel, as speed and convenience continue to be top priorities. Unsurprisingly, younger people want their travel experience to be digital, even as they look for assurances on privacy and security. Not all travel journeys are the same, and regional preferences on digital travel credentials (DTC) are emerging.These findings from the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) newly released 2024 Global Passenger Survey point to an ever-more evident truth: biometric and digital ID technology is transforming air travel. In the words of Alan Goode in a recent commentary for Biometric Update, “from remote selfie-based identity verification on your smartphone, to self-bag drop, accessing VIP lounges, getting through security, concession-shopping, and boarding your plane, train or cruise ship, biometrics is enabling the seamless travel experience.”Young people prefer digital wallets for convenience, efficiency-“Passengers want flexibility and transparency when planning and booking travel, plus speed and convenience at the airport,” says IATA Senior Vice President of Operations, Safety, and Security, Nick Careen, in a release. “More are embracing biometrics, digital wallets, and off-airport processes to make it happen.”Among people under 25, 51 percent express a preference for digital wallets as a method of payment, and 90 percent expressed interest in using a smartphone with a digital wallet, passport, and loyalty cards for booking, payment, and airport navigation. These numbers far surpass global averages. And they are likely to continue rising, as the boomer generation ages out and digital natives become the majority.“Travelers expect the same conveniences when shopping for travel that they get in any other online shopping experience,” says IATA’s Muhammad Albakri, senior vice president for financial settlement and distribution services. “The industry is stepping up to meet the demand for greater customer centricity through IATA’s Modern Airline Retailing initiative. Passengers will experience its positive impact progressively in the very near future.”Among those same under-25s, 48 percent prefer biometrics over traditional passports and boarding passes. More would be interested if assurances about data security were more transparent. Experience may also have something to do with it: of the 46 percent of travelers who went through airport processes using biometric identification, 84 percent were satisfied and 75 percent say they prefer using biometrics over traditional passports and boarding passes.Europeans most likely to be unsatisfied by biometrics-Regionally, Asia-Pacific leads in using mobile apps and digital wallets to book and pay for travel and in their likelihood of using biometric technology at airports. African nations show strong interest in digitizing travel but often face limited options. North American travelers “actively use biometric identification for airport processes and report high satisfaction with it.” And Europeans are the most cautious about using biometrics, and the least satisfied.Specific nations are also charting their own paths on digital travel credentials. Australia recently announced that ​​it is replacing its Incoming Passenger Card (IPC) with the Australia Travel Declaration (ATD), allowing travelers to share their data with airport security through a QR code on their smartphone. Pilots have begun on select Qantas Airways flights from Auckland to Brisbane, and expansion is expected in the coming weeks.Nigeria is enthusiastic on digital identity for travel, and recently announced its intention to adopt DTCs, to streamline the air travel experience and reduce bureaucratic delays. As many as 40 e-verification gates across multiple airports are presumed to be operating across the country, based on reports from early in 2024.Cautious though they may be, the EU is also forging ahead on DTCs, planning a new EU Digital Travel app and a common framework for DTC use. The hope is that digital credentials could ease some of the headaches caused by the EU’s Entry-Exit System (EES).74% say digital wallets essential for travel: PYMNTS survey-Survey results from PYMNTS go even further on the uptake of digital wallets for travel. Almost three quarters (74 percent) of travelers tell the company digital wallets are “essential” for travel, and it isn’t just the young: wealthy travelers show a strong (82 percent) preference for transactions using digital wallets.The entry of big, familiar names into the digital wallet space has normalized them to a degree, and international standards bodies that can support the travel industry in aligning on digital ID and digital credentials also help the cause.Coverage in Phocuswire quotes Darrell O’Donnell, executive director of the Global Acceptance Network (GAN), who believes digital wallets will be most useful once the sector integrates different travel systems. “It would make my life a lot easier if I could just say, ‘Hi, I’m checking in, here’s my reward number,’ and have everything seamlessly connected,” he says.That kind of standardized, frictionless experience is the dream – but there are still verification requirements on both the KYC and KYB sides of the equation.GAN plans to offer a “reliable exchange to verify user identity and the user to verify the vendor, bringing together multiple ecosystems in travel, including airlines, hotels, tour operators and loyalty programs, while ensuring privacy and security of data exchange.” It speaks of a “new digital layer to become a ‘DNS for Trust,’” similar to the Domain Name System (DNS) for the web.EUDI Wallet program will be a driver of interoperability-The EU’s digital wallet program (EUDI Wallet) and its current large-scale pilot programs will likely spur progress in digital credentials and interconnectivity, as its nationally-run wallet schemes in member states are required to be interoperable in the European Economic Area.  The pilots are testing travel use cases like hotel check-ins, ferry tickets, and boarding flights.Per Annet Steenbergen, advisor to the EU’s Digital Wallet Consortium, “We are coming to a point where you will be able to check into your hotel from your couch, share your check-in credentials digitally and have your room key pushed to your wallet before you arrive. But we are still a ways away from being able to travel without a physical passport.”Blockchain and digital identity path unclear-Some see blockchain as the prime enabler of reusable digital credentials for easier travel. But there is no consensus on its role. For Steenbergen, secure identity based on the blockchain is something of a contradiction. “Blockchain writes something in stone, and that contradicts privacy, particularly the right to be forgotten.” She doubts it will make its way into the EUDI Wallet ecosystem.How soon can we expect to travel without a passport? The biggest question in travel is when the industry can do away with physical documents altogether. The tools are available now. But legislation moves much more slowly than innovation. “Technically, we can do all of this,” says Steenbergen. “The problem is that current legislation often still says a travel document must be physically checked.”Alan Goode puts the introduction of DTC Type 3, which are digital credentials issued without the need to be linked to an electronic Machine Readable Travel Document (eMRTD), at between five and ten years. His consulting firm also says the market for government and commercial issued digital travel identities will generate more than $4.6 billion in revenue by 2029. Meanwhile, IATA, which recently published the results from two proofs-of-concept on its One ID DTCs and digital wallet scheme, claims “a seamless fully digital travel experience powered by digital identity and biometrics has moved from theory to proven realityThe engines are firing and the runway is cleared. Traveling without papers may fly sooner than we think.

EC asked to take up investigation of Maltese ID authority amid witness confusion-Oct 31, 2024, 1:08 pm EDT    | Chris Burt

An investigation into how Malta issued 18,000 fraudulent ID cards may be picked up by regional authorities as the local investigation struggles to make headway.Maltese ID-issuing authority, Identità, has been accused of taking bribes to allow ineligible individuals to acquire Maltese IDs, which in turn give them travel rights within the Schengen area. The investigation quickly yielded a conviction shortly after it launched in August, when a man pleaded guilty to document fraud, false declarations and assisting breaches of immigration laws.Identità CEO Steve Agius says the organization is in the midst of reforms intended to improve its efficiency, transparency and responsiveness, reports Malta Today.Subsequently, Maltese MEP Peter Agius has requested the European Commission undertake a technical assessment of Identità’s practices, TVM News reports. The request came during a meeting with European Commissioner Ilva Johansson two weeks ago.Malta’s Chamber of Commerce alleged when the investigation was launched in August that the scandal is part of a “compete breakdown” in the country’s government, which it accused of “gross mismanagement.”Identità employee Isaac Micallef claimed in court testimony this week that confusion is behind the testimony he gave in his first appearance on the witness stand, which conflicted with that of another agency employee, according to Malta Today.During his first appearance, the Times of Malta reports that Micallef testified twice that he had not given a particular woman’s file to another agency employee, Stefano Rodoligo, directly contradicting Rodoligo’s own assertion. The woman denies that she is married to Moustafa Ata Moussa Darwish, an Egyptian national facing charges for holding an ID issued by Identità on the basis that he is the woman’s spouse.The court ordered an investigation into the conflicting testimony, which concluded with Police Inspector Lara Butters telling the court that police “did not find anything.”The island nation’s Green Party has previously demanded the resignation of its Minister of Home Affairs over the scandal, and another opposition party, the Nationalist Party, has publicly asked if a series of police raids were carried out based on mistaken information because of false addresses registered with Identità.Identità says that it was not involved in the police raids, and claims “that all procedures and services are conducted with the highest standards of integrity,” the Malta Independent reports.

CLR launches comprehensive biometrics, digital ID testing program-Oct 31, 2024, 12:33 pm EDT    | Chris Burt

Cabinet Louis Reynaud (CLR Labs) is expanding its testing program for biometrics, cybersecurity and digital identity, with the launch of a standards-compliance certification program.The new CLR Cert program includes assessments against standards for biometric injection attack detection (IAD – CEN TS 18099), presentation attack detection (PAD – ISO/IEC 30107) and biometric performance (ISO/IEC 19795).  CLR has been performing assessments for PAD standards compliance since 2021, when it confirmed Unissey’s compliance. Testing since then by CLR Labs has confirmed Unissey’s compliance with level 2 of the PAD standard, and ME Group’s compliance to level 1 for its ID document enrollment system.CLR Labs Director Kévin Carta discussed the injection attack standard in an EAM Lunch Talk earlier this year while it was being finalized. The TS 18099 standard is currently going through the final approval process. Assessments are available for compliance to the standards for EU digital identity wallets (eIDAS 2.0), qualified trust services providers (QTSP), mobile driver’s licenses (ISO/IEC 18013) and mobile passports (ICAO 9303). Remote identity verification processes can be assessed for AML and eIDAS compliance.CLR began performing standards compliance assessments for remote identity verification in 2021, in collaboration with conformity assessment body LSTI.For cybersecurity, it includes ICT products (EN 17640), artificial intelligence (according to the future AI Act), NIS2 and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).“In a constantly changing digital world, compliance is more essential than ever. CLR Cert is meeting the growing security and trust needs of companies,” says Stéfane Mouille, managing director of the Louis Reynaud Cabinet, as machine-translated.

India launches app to facilitate civil registration-Oct 31, 2024, 12:21 pm EDT    | Ayang Macdonald

In line with its determination to streamline access to a broad spectrum of government services in India, the central government has unveiled a mobile application that is expected to transform the way civil registration happens in the country.The Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, launched the application in a ceremony on October 29, according to a government press release. It is hoped that the new tool will significantly improve civil registration figures over the next coming years as the process is vital not only for the formulation of policies but also for healthcare planning.Known as the Civil Registration System (CRS) mobile application, the tool, which is described as user-friendly, will “make registration of births and deaths seamless and hassle-free by allowing citizens to register at any time, from any place, and in their state’s official language,” Shah said in an X Post. “It will significantly reduce the time required for registration.”The Minister said the launch of the application is part of the realization of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India vision launched in 2015 which intends to simplify access to services by integrating technology with governance and leveraging tech solutions to improve life for all citizens. Its launch is also in line with the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act 2023.To use the app, a person simply needs to download it on their phone, log in using their identity credentials, and then fill out a form containing all the necessary information before submitting. Once submitted, a digital certificate can be downloaded.The CRS app was developed thanks to a collaboration between the Registrar General and the Census Commissioner of India, notes Indian Express.Comments on the Minister’s post on X have positively greeted the launch of the app, with many Indians saying it is welcome initiative. One X user calls it “a great initiative toward strengthening digital infrastructure through Digital India,” while another says it will “reduce corruption and delays.”The Digital India initiative has led to significant growth in the country’s digital public infrastructure ecosystem which is considered a model for many countries.

AffinitiQuest digital credential platform to power Canadian federal govt ID services-Digital transformation proceeding at orderly pace – which some say is stalling progress-Oct 31, 2024, 11:35 am EDT    | Joel R. McConvey

The Canadian government has selected Ottawa-based identity software company AffinitiQuest to deliver a white-label version of its Digital Credential Orchestration Platform to the Canadian Digital Service (CDS) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).A news release says the service will be available for use by all federal government departments across Canada, to issue, manage, and verify digital credentials.“This agreement represents a major milestone in the mission to transform Citizen Services using digital trust technologies,” says Ron Mac Donell, CEO of AffinitiQuest. “The federal government’s commitment to service delivery excellence and digitalization aligns perfectly with our platform’s capabilities.” The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, now in its ninth year, has a mandate to drive digital transformation across public services.AffinitiQuest has been in “strategic collaboration” with the Government of Canada since 2021 through the Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) Testing Stream and Pathway to Commercialization programs.Its platform leverages the ISO mDocs and W3C Verifiable Credentials global standards – the first to enable secure, verifiable digital documents on mobile devices; the second to provide a decentralized framework for issuing and verifying digital credentials.Canada has been politely walking its way toward new trust frameworks on digital governance. In January 2024, the Digital Governance Council (DGC) of Canada rolled out a new standardized framework and trustmark to validate data integrity and security. Meanwhile, the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) has sought public review and comment on its work in developing the authentication component of its Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF), which aims to define a baseline for interoperability of digital identity services in the private and public sectors.Digital shift hindered by stale government thinking: Androsoff-There are some, however, who don’t believe the hype. Government Insider has an interview with Ryan Androsoff, who founded the Canadian Digital Service (CDS), in which Androsoff says “the basic operating principles of how government works have not necessarily evolved at the same pace as those on the digital side who are trying to update these practices.”He laments the government’s unwillingness or inability to implement agile methodologies, which promote user research and iteration rather than turgid long-term planning. Rigidity, he says, is slowing down digital evolution. “It’s not enough to just have good digital apps or user-friendly websites if it’s going to be sustainable over time,” Androsoff says. “You have to change the way the bureaucracy works at a much deeper level.”He points to the premature demise of the Ontario Digital Service (ODS), shut down by the provincial government in April 2024, as an example of a lack of vision on digital transformation. “It is a concerning sign to see an organization like that get dissolved because we’re in a time where that mission is as important as ever.”Androsoff notes that Canada suffers the same kind of fragmentation in policy and regulation that plagues many other regions. In this case, advancements at the provincial level may not make it to the federal, making the development of digital public infrastructure cumbersome – a herd of blind moose trundling through the digital muskeg.

RCMP dismantles largest drug superlab in Canadian history, operating in B.C.By Amy Judd Global News-Posted October 31, 2024 3:13 pm

RCMP federal investigators say they have dismantled the largest drug superlab in Canadian history.Assistant Commissioner David Teboul the RCMP’s commander of federal policing for the Pacific Region, told reporters on Thursday that several months of investigative work into a transnational organized crime group involved in the production and distribution of massive quantities of illicit drugs revealed the most sophisticated drug superlab in Canadian history.Police seized illegal firearms, synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals, he said.Over the weekend, Teboul said numerous enforcement actions and search warrants were executed related to the drug superlab in Falkland, B.C., and other locations in Surrey.“As a result, investigators seized approximately half a tonne of hard drugs, including … 55 kilograms of fentanyl, 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, 35 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of MDM, and six kilograms of cannabis,” Teboul said.Explosive devices, ammunition, firearm silencers, high-capacity magazines, body armor and $500,000 in cash were also seized.Teboul said a large amount of precursor chemicals that were seized could be used in the production of fentanyl and MDMA.“Of a particular concern, is the discovery of several tonnes of unregulated chemicals, believed to be used to produce P2P (phenyl-2-propanone), a Class-A scheduled precursor essential to the manufacturer of crystal methamphetamine,” he added.“Manufacturing methamphetamine using P2P has not been seen in Western Canada until now and the P2P manufacturing method has been the primary method used by Mexican cartels to produce methamphetamine for years.”The precursor chemical, along with the fentanyl finished product, could have amounted to 95 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, which have now been prevented from entering Canadian markets at home and abroad, Teboul said.Teboul added that the amount of potentially lethal doses of fentanyl “could have taken the lives of every Canadian at least twice over.”He said the crime group could have received more than $485 million in profits.Gaganpreet Randhawa was identified as the main suspect, and arrested by Federal Policing Group-6 investigators. Randhawa is currently in custody and has been charged with numerous drug, and firearms-related offences.Earlier this week, federal investigators revealed they dismantled a criminal operation on Vancouver Island and arrested six suspects believed to be involved in the distribution of illicit drugs, unregulated cannabis, and contraband tobacco.Thousands of counterfeit cannabis-laced edibles were seized, including chocolate bars, candies and chips with packaging resembling popular name-brand snacks.Police said the edibles contained THC and likely had been cross-contaminated with other substances.On Oct. 3, investigators executed search warrants at Green Coast Dispensary in Port Alberni and Coastal Storm Dispensary located in Lantzville, a suspended stash site in Port Alberni and a storage and production facility adjacent to Coastal Storm Dispensary.Mushrooms, contraband tobacco, a shotgun, two ATM machines and more than $400,000 in cash were also seized.

Smotrich extends deal allowing Israel-PA bank ties, but only for 1 month, angering US-Official says move allows far-right minister to keep options open depending on who wins election, use issue as leverage when Biden weighs steps to boost Palestinian statehood-By Jacob Magid-31 October 2024, 9:58 pm

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signed a one-month extension to an agreement allowing Israeli banks to correspond with Palestinian banks on Thursday, hours before the deal was slated to expire.The US and its Western allies have been pressing Israel to extend the corresponding banking deal by a year, fearing the collapse of the Palestinian economy in the West Bank.Smotrich has long spoken in favor of collapsing the Palestinian Authority. The one-month extension allows the far-right minister to keep his options open depending on who wins the presidential election next week, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.The decision also allows Israel to use a further extension of the banking agreement as leverage as the Biden administration weighs steps to advance Palestinian statehood during the lame-duck period, the official added.While the Biden administration was able to breathe a sigh of relief upon securing the extension, it quickly issued a statement blasting Smotrich’s decision to only give the deal another month.“Unfortunately, the very short-term duration of this extension creates another looming crisis by November 30, exacerbating uncertainty for international banks, Israeli companies operating in the West Bank, and most importantly for ordinary Palestinians who bear the greatest brunt of such uncertainty,” said a rare joint statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.The pair called on Israel to extend the deal by a year and also pushed for “future renewals to be transparent, predictable, and de-politicized.”Last week, Yellen and seven of her counterparts sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing their alarm over the potential collapse of the Palestinian economy in the West Bank if Smotrich failed to renew the agreement.“Actions taken by some members of your government to deny the West Bank access to financial resources endangers Israel’s security and threatens to further destabilize the entire region in an already perilous moment,” the Western treasury chiefs wrote in the letter.The letter was addressed to Netanyahu, as Western countries have maintained a de facto boycott of Smotrich since he became finance minister in December 2022.The US has considered sanctioning Smotrich over his policies, but has held off on the drastic step. US officials told The Times of Israel last month that the move would likely be reconsidered after the presidential election next month.The Palestinian economy relies heavily on the banks’ relationships with their Israeli counterparts to process transactions made in shekels, as the PA does not have its own currency. Some NIS 53 billion ($14 billion) were exchanged at Palestinian banks in 2023, according to official data.US officials have warned that failure to maintain banking relations between Israel and the Palestinians would turn the West Bank into a “cash economy,” which would benefit terrorist organizations in the territory and make it harder for the already-weakened PA to fight such groups.The West Bank economy has been in dire straits over the past year, as tens of thousands of Palestinian day laborers were denied entry into Israel during the war in Gaza, sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

WARN THE PEOPLE-WW3

EZEKIEL 33:1-6
1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3  If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

DANIEL 11:40-45 (WW3 BREAKDOWN)
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

ISAIAH 24:1
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste,(NUKES USED) and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(ARAB/MUSLIM) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man;(RIOTS-BURNING-MURDEROUUS RAGE) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM WANTS WORLD DOMINATION) and every man's hand against him;(DEFENDING THEMSELVES) and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(ARAB/MUSLIMS LIVE WITH ISRAELIS)

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

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 THEIR MOON GOD ALLAH)

ISAIAH 14:12-23
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, (SATAN) son of the morning! (HEBREW MEANS CRESCENT MOON ANGEL-ISLAM OVIOUSLY)(SATAN IS THE GOD OF 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 will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Ecclesiastes 9:10
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

EZEKIEL 31:10-17
10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
14To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.(HELL).
15Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17They also went down into hell with him unto [them that be] slain with the sword; and [they that were] his arm, [that] dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
18To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with [them that be] slain by the sword. This [is] Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

EZEKIEL 32:17-32
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, [even] her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the midst of [them that are] slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
22 Asshur [is] there and all her company: his graves [are] about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:
23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.
24 There [is] Elam (IRAN) and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves [are] round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of [them that be] slain.
26 There [is] Meshech, Tubal,(RUSSIA) (GERMANY, TURKEY) and all her multitude: her graves [are] round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27And they shall not lie with the mighty [that are] fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though [they were] the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with [them that are] slain with the sword.
29 There [is] Edom,(JORDAN) her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by [them that were] slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30 There [be] the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with [them that be] slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, [even] Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.
32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with [them that are] slain with the sword, [even] Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

EZEKIEL 38:1-23
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA-ARAB-MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13  Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDI-ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(SPAIN) with all the young lions thereof,(ENGLAND,AND ALL ITS ASSOCIATES-CANADA,AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND, USA, AND WESTERN ENGLISH SPEAKING NATIONS) shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?(OIL IS IN SPOIL-I BELIEVE THATS WHY RUSSIA,ARAB/MUSLIMS MARCH TO ISRAEL)
14  Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15  And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16  And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

EZEKIEL 39:11-22
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18  Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19  And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20  Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21  And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22  So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

REVELATION 19:17-18
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;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
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.

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)(50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE)
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.(ON EARTH)
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.(ON EARTH)
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

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 32:18-29 (NOTICE ALL THE COUNTRIES LAND PROMISED ISRAEL BY GOD ARE IN THE JORDAN VALLEY BURIED)
18 “Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those who descend to the Pit:
19 Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised! (IN HELL FIRES)
20 They will fall among those slain by the sword. The sword is appointed! Let them drag her away along with all her multitudes.
21 Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.’
22 Assyria (SYRIA) is there with her whole company; her graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
23 Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who once spread terror in the land of the living.
24 Elam (IRAN) is there with all her multitudes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who went down uncircumcised to the earth below, who once spread their terror in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit.
25 Among the slain they prepare a resting place for Elam with all her hordes, with her graves all around her. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, although their terror was once spread in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. They are placed among the slain.
26 Meshech and Tubal (RUSSIA) are there with all their multitudes, with their graves all around them. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, because they spread their terror in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie down with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads, whose shields rested on their bones, although the terror of the mighty was once in the land of the living.
28 But you too will be shattered and lie down among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.
29 Edom (JORDAN) is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.THIS IS RIGHT FROM 93:

SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] countries that have refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one another."I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the Middle East countries. I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of Georgia - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor - full of blood. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere. Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these words:"Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come." The angel said, "The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The Spirit of God shall prepare the children of God."I saw fires rising to heaven.The angel said: "This is the final judgment. My church shall be purified, protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from thirst. Water shall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry up, and men will fight for water in those countries."The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.

PSALMS 83:1-8 (GODS LAND PROMISED TO ISRAEL)
1 O God, do not remain silent;do not turn a deaf ear,do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl,  how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they (ARAB,MUSLIMS) conspire against your people;they plot against those you cherish.(ISRAELIS)
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;(TREATIES) they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom (JORDAN)  and the Ishmaelites, (EGYPTIAN ARABS SO CALLED PALESTIANS) of Moab (JORDAN) and the Hagrites,(EGYPT)
7 Byblos,(HEZBOLLOH) Ammon (JORDAN) and Amalek,(SYRIAN ARABS IN THE SINAI) Philistia,(ARABS) with the people of Tyre (LEBANON).
8 Even Assyria (SYRIA) has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.

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.

1 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
1-PROMISCUOUS SEX AMOUNG EACH OTHER.
ROMANS 1:24
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: (THE 60S FREE SEX)
2 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
2-SODOMITES - MEN LUSTING MEN, AND WOMEN LUSTING AFTER WOMEN.
ROMANS 1:26-27
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
3 OF 3 GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO
3-A DEPRAVED MIND-ANY SIN GOES.
ROMANS 1:28-31
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO THESE 3 DEPRAVED ABOMINATION SINS?
OH OH NOAHS DAY. WHAT HAPPENED IN NOAHS DAY. THE WHOLE WORLD WAS JUDGED BY WATER.
GENESIS 6:7,17
7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
GENESIS 7:4
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
GENESIS 8:16
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
WELL THE SODOMITES PICKED THE RIGHT SIGN OF A RAINBOW FOR JUDGEMENT. THE SODOMITES TRYED TO STEAL GODS SIGN THAT THE WHOLE EARTH WILL NEVER DIE FROM FLOOD WATERS AGAIN. BUT THE JUDGEMENT THIS TIME IS GOING TO BE BY FIRE.NOT WATER.
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

EZIKIEL 38:12-13
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? (AGAINST ISRAEL)
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, (RUSSIA AND HER MUSLIMS HORDES)Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

GENESIS 12:1-3
1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3  And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

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.(ALL THESE ARAB, MUSLIMS ARE OCCUPYING ISRAELS LAND. GET OFF IMMEDIATELY. BECAUSE YOUR DEATH CULT DAYS ARE NUMBERED)

ISLAMIC DEATH CULT AND FAKE MOHAMMAAD AND FAKE MOON GOD ALLAH WHICH IS SIMPLY SATAN IS THE LEADER OF ISLAM.
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart:(WARS AND DEATH) and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.(CHINA CONTROLS AMERICAS ECONOMY BY BUYING UP DEBT)

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

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 THEIR MOON GOD ALLAH)

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(ARAB/MUSLIM) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man;(RIOTS-BURNING-MURDEROUUS RAGE) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM WANTS WORLD DOMINATION) and every man's hand against him;(DEFENDING THEMSELVES) and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(ARAB/MUSLIMS LIVE WITH ISRAELIS)

The Family Tree of Ishmael
12 This is the family tree of Ishmael son of Abraham, the son that Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham.
13-16 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons in the order of their births: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah—all the sons of Ishmael. Their settlements and encampments were named after them. Twelve princes with their twelve tribes.
(ISLAM CLAIMS MOHAMMID IS A OFF SPRING OF ISHMAEL THE FIRST BASTARD CHILD OF THE ARABS WITH A SLAVE MOTHER TO THE ISRAELIS.DOES ANY ONE SEE THE NAME OF MOHAMMID IN ISHMAELS FAMILY TREE. BECAUSE I SURE DON'T. I DOUBT MOHAMMID EVEN EXISTS. AND SATAN IS THE LEADER OF ISLAM HHIMSELF. SO ISLAM IS NOT A RELIGION AT ALL. ISLAM IS NOTHING BUT A DEATH CULT THAT WORSHIPS DEATH. AND WILL BURN IN HELL FIRE, THEN THE FINAL JUDGEMENT IN FRONT OF JESUS.ONLY TO BE THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER WITH THEIR NEVER DYING BODIES.ISLAM EXPOSED AS A FRAUD SATAN LIE AND MURDER DEAT CULT.

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 8:44
44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Russia says ‘comprehensive’ treaty with Iran will include defense cooperation-FM Lavrov says pact with Tehran to be signed in ‘near future’; ties seen as major threat by US and Israel as Middle East, Ukraine wars escalate-By Reuters and ToI Staff 31 October 2024, 5:24 pm

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia and Iran intend to sign a “comprehensive” treaty, which will include closer defense cooperation.“The treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Iran that is being prepared will become a serious factor in strengthening Russian-Iranian relations,” Lavrov told state television.He said the agreement was being prepared for signing “in the near future.” Russia has said it expects Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian to visit Moscow before the end of the year.“It will confirm the parties’ desire for closer cooperation in the field of defense and interaction in the interests of peace and security at the regional and global levels,” Lavrov said. He did not specify what form the defense ties would take.Deepening ties between the two authoritarian powers is seen as a threat to Israel, which has been fighting a war against Iranian-backed terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah for over a year.Israel and Iran have also engaged in direct hostilities, including ballistic missiles fired by Tehran on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on military sites in Iran in retaliation.Closer cooperation between Iran and Russia is also seen by the West as a serious threat to progress in the war in Ukraine, which is entering its third winter of intense fighting.The United States accused Tehran in September of delivering close-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, and imposed sanctions on ships and companies it said were involved in delivering Iranian weapons.Tehran denies providing Moscow with the missiles or with thousands of drones that Kyiv and Western officials have said Russia uses against military targets and to destroy civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine’s electrical grid.The Kremlin declined to confirm its receipt of Iranian missiles but acknowledged that its cooperation with Iran included “the most sensitive areas.”Russia has also deepened its ties with Iran and North Korea, which are both strongly antagonistic toward the United States, since the start of its war with Ukraine.President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a similarly titled “comprehensive” treaty in June, including a mutual defense clause, and the US and NATO say Pyongyang has sent some 10,000 soldiers to Russia for possible deployment in the war.

Russia has not denied their presence, and says it will implement the treaty as it sees fit.

Netanyahu says Israel can fly over Iran at will-Iranian leader Khamenei said to order reprisal attack on Israeli military sites-NYT says decision made after briefing on extent of damage caused by Israel retaliatory strike; separate report claims Iraqi militias will fire drones, missiles for Tehran-By ToI Staff, Emanuel Fabian and AFP 31 October 2024, 11:37 pm

Iran’s supreme leader has ordered his military officials to prepare a reprisal attack against Israel, a report said Thursday, as senior Iranian officials warned of “harsh” and “unimaginable” responses to Israel’s strikes on Iranian military sites earlier this month.The report in The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, said Tehran’s response would not come until after US voters go to the polls on November 5, though other news outlets have quoted sources saying Iran’s response could come ahead of the vote.Iranian leaders have been threatening to carry out a reprisal action after the Israeli Air Force attacked anti-aircraft batteries and radar sites across Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a massive Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1. But Iran has so far been seen as seeking to minimize the chances for escalation or a repeat engagement.The Times, citing three officials familiar with Tehran’s war planning, said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had ordered plans drawn up by his Supreme National Security Council on Monday after being briefed on the extent of the damage from the Israeli strikes.Iran has claimed the sorties caused only minimal damage, while admitting that four soldiers were killed. Israel maintains its strikes successfully destroyed Iranian air defenses and missile production capabilities.According to the Times, Khamenei felt that the deaths and the scale of Israel’s attack necessitated a response to avoid being seen as admitting defeat.The report noted that Iranian military officials were drawing up possible lists of Israeli military targets.A separate report in US news site Axios said Israeli intelligence was girding for an attack in the coming days involving a large number of ballistic missiles and drones launched by Iran-backed groups in Iraq.Carrying out the attack through pro-Iran militias in Iraq could be an attempt by Tehran to avoid another Israeli attack against strategic targets in Iran, the report said.Both Axios and a CNN report Wednesday citing a source with knowledge of Iran’s war planning said the reprisal strike could be launched ahead of the US election on November 5.However, sources who spoke to the Times said Iran would hold off until after the election, fearing that increased tensions could boost former president Donald Trump’s chances against Democrat Kamala Harris.Speaking Thursday at the end of an IDF combat officers training course at a base near Mitzpe Ramon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted that Israel’s sorties had targeted Iran’s “soft underbelly” and left it without an air defense umbrella.“The brash words of the leaders of the regime in Iran cannot cover up the fact that Israel has greater freedom of action in Iran today than ever before,” he said. “We can reach anywhere in Iran as needed.”Iran has claimed publicly that Israel’s attack was largely thwarted and that its air defenses stood up to the threat.On Thursday, Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, a senior aide to Khamenei, praised Iran’s air defense performance in “preventing the entry of the Zionist regime fighters into the territory” and said damage from the strikes was “minimal.”“The recent action of the Zionist regime in attacking parts of our country was a desperate move and the Islamic Republic of Iran will give it a harsh and regretful response,” he said, according to the Tasnim news agency.Also speaking on Thursday, General Hossein Salami, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran’s military, warned of an “unimaginable” response to Israel.“Israel has reached the stage of collapse and these days it acts blindly and without abiding to any rules it commits every crime,” he added, according to Tasnim.Repeat reprisals-Threatening further tit-for-tat attacks should Iran hit back, the IDF on Thursday announced the establishment of new bodies in the Intelligence Directorate and Air Force that will enable “repetitive actions” in Iran.A new Iran department was established in the Intelligence Directorate’s Research Division, and a so-called “depth” department was established in the Air Force’s Intelligence Department, the army said.It noted that the air force had carried out several training exercises ahead of the long-range strikes earlier this month.More than 100 IAF aircraft participated in the strikes on Iran early on October 19, according to the military, which said it took out Iran’s “strategic” long-range air defense systems and caused a blow to Iran’s ability to manufacture ballistic missiles.The strikes on the air defenses have “opened up freedom of aerial action” against Iran, and strikes on the missile manufacturing sites “removed an immediate and future threat to the State of Israel,” the IDF said.Speaking at the officer graduation, Netanyahu said the army’s supreme goal in Iran remained stopping the country from obtaining nuclear weapons.“I have not removed, we have not removed and we will not remove our eyes from this goal. For obvious reasons, I cannot detail our plans for achieving this supreme goal,” he said.

Lebanon denies US asked it to agree to unilateral ceasefire-One wounded in Hezbollah rocket barrage; IDF strikes hit Beirut for first time in days-30 rockets fired at Galilee region in latest barrage from Lebanon; IDF hits Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold overnight as Iran-backed group in Iraq launches drones at Israel-By Emanuel Fabian-and Agencies Today, 3:18 pm-NOV 1,24

A 37-year-old man was moderately wounded in a rocket impact in the northern Arab town of Sha’ab amid a rocket barrage fired by Hezbollah at northern Israel on Friday, hours after Israeli fighter jets carried out a series of overnight strikes targeting Hezbollah sites in Beirut.The barrage of some 30 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Galilee region early Friday afternoon, triggering sirens in Sakhnin, Deir al-Asad, Karmiel, Ma’alot-Tarshiha and other nearby towns.The military said that some of the rockets had been intercepted while several impacts had been identified.In a statement, the Galilee Medical Center in Nahriya said the wounded man was suffering from shrapnel wounds, but was in a stable condition.Hebrew media reported medics had also treated one person for acute anxiety at the scene.Hours earlier, the IDF said that overnight strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs — a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh — had targeted weapon manufacturing plants, Hezbollah command centers and other Hezbollah infrastructure, the military said. The strikes were the first to hit the Lebanese capital in days.Lebanese media outlets reported at least ten strikes in the area.The early Friday airstrikes on Dahiyeh — after a four-day lull during which no airstrikes were reported in the suburb — destroyed dozens of buildings and caused fires in the area, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee had called ahead of time for residents of Dahiyeh to clear away from the buildings in 10 separate neighborhoods that would be targeted during the strikes.Meanwhile, in Nabatieh, the IDF said additional command centers and “intelligence infrastructure” were destroyed.All of the Hezbollah assets were located “in the heart of a civilian population,” the military said, accusing the terror group of using human shields.Lebanese state media also reported an Israeli strike on the eastern city of Baalbek, following heavy air raids on the area in recent days after the IDF warned the city’s residents to evacuate ahead of pending attacks against Hezbollah.Strikes in Baalbek on Thursday were said to have left six dead, while another six were reported killed in raids on Maqna.The Lebanese health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between fighters and civilians, said early Friday that an Israeli airstrike on the edge of Qamatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, killed three people and wounded five.Fighter jets also hit several Hezbollah command rooms and other infrastructure near Tyre on Thursday. The IDF said some of the command rooms belonged to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.The IDF added that it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strikes, including using precision munitions and issuing evacuation warnings in advance.The airstrikes come as the 91st and 146th divisions continue to operate on the ground against the Iranian-backed group in southern Lebanon, where the IDF said troops killed gunmen and located weapons in the past day.Meanwhile, in Israel, a barrage of some 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee. The IDF said that some of the rockets were intercepted while the rest struck open areas.Overnight between Thursday and Friday, Israeli air defenses shot down five drones launched from Iraq, the military said.One of the drones was shot down over Syria and two were shot down over Iraq and the remaining two were interpreted near the Dead Sea before they could cross into Israeli airspace. One of the drones intercepted over the Dead Sea fell in Jordan, but the Jordanian military said it did not cause any casualties.The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for six total drone attacks, posting footage of the five successful launches on social media.The sixth may have fallen short, and thus not been specifically publicized.The IDF also said Friday that Israeli fighter jets had struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher used in a deadly barrage Thursday in the Haifa area, and that the operative who launched the attack was also killed in an airstrike.Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday condemned what he said was the “expansion” of Israel’s attacks, and claimed that they signaled a refusal to engage in truce efforts.“The Israeli enemy’s renewed expansion… and its renewed targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids are all indicators that confirm the Israeli enemy’s rejection of all efforts being made to secure a ceasefire,” he said.In addition, he said, “Israeli statements and diplomatic signals received by Lebanon confirm the Israeli stubbornness in rejecting the proposed solutions and insisting on the approach of killing and destruction.”Despite Mikati’s issuance of blame, a senior Lebanese political source and a senior diplomat alleged that US envoy Amos Hochstein had asked Mikati to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel as part of an effort to help negotiations to reach a resolution for the more than year-long conflict.But the request was seen as a non-starter, the sources said, as granting it would likely be equated with a surrender.Mikati denied the claim in a statement to Reuters, and said the government’s stance was clear on seeking a ceasefire from both sides and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.On Friday, the UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon said the country’s cultural heritage was being endangered by Israeli strikes on Tyre and Baalbek, which are home to UNESCO-designated Roman ruins.“Ancient Phoenician cities steeped in history are in deep peril of being left in ruins,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a social media post, adding that “Lebanon’s cultural heritage must not become yet another casualty in this devastating conflict.”Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 39 civilians.In addition, 61 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.The IDF estimates that more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel amid the fighting, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. These numbers have not been consistently updated since Israel began a new offensive against Hezbollah in September.Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.

Analysis-Netanyahu likely prefers Trump in historically close race, but he’s hedging his bets-Israel’s recent restraint against Iran shows that the long-term health of US-Israel ties may be the PM’s main priority regardless of who wins the Nov. 5 election-By Ron Kampeas Today, 1:37 pm-NOV 1,24

WASHINGTON (JTA) — When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was contemplating how and when to retaliate for a missile barrage from Iran, his government was, unsurprisingly, in constant consultation with the leadership of its closest ally — the Biden administration.At the same time, the prime minister was talking to, and getting a different message from, another American politician who currently holds no office but may occupy one soon: Donald Trump.Biden officials counseled Netanyahu to bomb only military targets. Trump said, “Do what you have to do.”In the end, the prime minister took the White House’s counsel — bombing only military facilities — a sign that he’s trying to proceed cautiously in the final stage of the race between Trump and Kamala Harris.“He played this one straight and that’s a good look,” said David Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank that conducts briefings with top officials of the US and Israeli governments.But no matter how much Netanyahu may be hedging his bets, Makovsky also said that he thinks the prime minister’s preference on Election Day is clear: “I’m sure he wants Trump to win,” he said.Israelis favor Trump over Harris by a wide margin, according to polling, despite a brief post-October 7, 2023, bump in public sentiment for Democrat Joe Biden. Among supporters of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, 93% prefer Trump.Netanyahu had a famously close relationship with Trump and his administration, which fulfilled a checklist of Israeli government wishes. In 2019, Netanyahu featured Trump prominently in his own reelection campaign. The prime minister likewise has had a series of high-profile clashes with Democratic presidents, from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama and, recently, Biden — whose administration Netanyahu has accused of holding up weapons shipments. When Netanyahu addressed Congress earlier this year, Harris was away on the campaign trail.But with US voters narrowly divided and seemingly equal chances ahead of a Harris or Trump White House, Netanyahu appears to be trying to thread the needle and set himself up for governance after Election Day.“One of the main influences on his behavior is the US election,” said Shira Efron, the senior director of policy research for the Israel Policy Forum, a group that advocates for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. “What is Netanyahu best at? Playing for time.”Still, she added, “He clearly has a preference, and he never hid it — his preference is Trump.”Historically, Trump has been seen as a Netanyahu ally. As president, he made more changes in US policy that were aligned with Netanyahu’s Likud Party than did any of his predecessors: moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and unveiling a peace plan that would have extended Israeli sovereignty to large parts of the West Bank. He also brokered normalization deals between Israel and several of its neighbors.“Trump has carved out for himself an exalted place in Israel’s history,” wrote David Friedman, Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, in an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post this week. “Harris, in contrast, boycotted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent speech to a Joint Session of Congress, has never visited Israel as vice-president and is a frequent critic of the Jewish state.”The perception that Netanyahu favors Trump has also made it into campaign efforts in Michigan, considered a must-win swing state for both candidates. Israeli journalist Tal Schneider tweeted photos of an anti-Trump mailer sent by Emgage, a Muslim-focused PAC, reading “Will you support a candidate supported by Netanyahu?”But there are also signs that Trump may not be as reliable a friend as Netanyahu might hope. Trump paints himself as war-averse, and The Times of Israel this week reported that he has told Netanyahu that if he wins, he wants Israel’s war wrapped up by the time he enters the White House, on January 20. That is the same timeline as what Biden said he hoped for back in July.Trump has also been making overtures to Muslim voters and Lebanese communities in the United States — despite widespread anti-Israel sentiment and even though Israel has recently escalated its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.“I want to see the Middle East return to real peace, a lasting peace, and we will get it done properly so it doesn’t repeat itself every 5 or 10 years!” Trump said in a tweet Wednesday. “I look forward to working with the Lebanese community living in the United States of America to ensure the safety and security of the great people of Lebanon. Vote Trump for Peace!”The Times of Israel has reported that Israeli officials are privately concerned that Netanyahu could clash with Trump over Trump’s demand for an immediate end to the war.Netanyahu is personally aware of the risks of Trump’s tendency to punish those who do not do what he wants. After Netanyahu congratulated Biden on winning the 2020 US election, a norm in diplomacy, Trump lashed out against him using profanity. In April, Trump told Time magazine, “Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on October 7.” The pair did not speak again until this summer, when Netanyahu traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.Neither Trump nor Harris has identified as a “Zionist,” as Biden has, but Harris has said she intends to preserve the US relationship with Israel and has no intention of reconsidering aid to the country or its military.And Netanyahu has seen that no matter how critical the rhetoric coming from the White House has been, the United States has not stopped supporting Israel’s war effort, much to the chagrin of pro-Palestinian protesters whom Harris has kept at arm’s length during the campaign.“Netanyahu has managed clashes with Democratic presidents without paying a heavy price,” an unnamed Israeli official told The Times of Israel earlier this month. “In fact, he campaigns on his ability to stand up to them.”Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, has also raised alarm for some pro-Israel voices due to his isolationist bent and opposition to funding Ukraine’s war effort. The vice presidential nominee said in a recent podcast interview that Israel and the United States sometimes have “distinct interests” and that a war with Iran would be “massively expensive to our country.”The comments were alarming to some who believe that the United States and Israel have entwined fortunes.“For those pro Trump members of the U.S. Jewish community, trusting Trump-Vance with Israel’s security is a fool’s errand and highly dangerous,” Sharon Nazarian, a philanthropist who backs Harris, said in a tweet, referring to Vance’s comments.But political scientist Yonatan Freeman said Netanyahu isn’t primarily concerned with Harris or Trump. His top priority, Freeman said, is preserving the US-Israel relationship — and that means not alienating either of the candidates.“That’s the number-one goal of foreign relations of Israel,” Freeman said. “No matter if there’s elections or not, the fact that Israel wants to maintain a strong relationship with America is a goal that continues to exist, even as this war is being fought.”Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, the liberal Israel lobby that has often been trenchantly critical of Netanyahu, said he saw savvy strategy in signaling from Israeli officials that the war would end in January, when the next US president is inaugurated.“There were statements back in the spring already about how the war would take at least until January,” said Ben-Ami, whose group has endorsed Harris for president. “What a surprising date to pick, you know, months and months and months ahead. Is it going to be the case that Netanyahu waits for Tuesday, sees a decision here to his liking, and then announces Wednesday, ‘Thanks to the newly elected administration, we’re going to have a ceasefire’?”Other analysts said Netanyahu is almost certainly more concerned with politics closer to home. Michael Koplow, the chief policy officer at the Israel Policy Forum, said the prime minister is too cautious to obviously tip the scales to one US presidential nominee or the other. His considerations first and foremost, Koplow said, are the demands of his right-wing coalition, some of whose members have said they will exit if Netanyahu seeks to end the Gaza war with Hamas still in power.“He’s resistant to do anything that will dislodge his coalition,” Koplow said about the election. “He’s far more sensitive to his own domestic politics and his coalition than he is to the makeup of the US government, or whoever the president is.”

Iran said threatening ‘definitive, painful’ response to Israel, likely before US election-White House reiterates that Tehran should not strike Jewish state; US State Department says, regarding Israeli reprisal on Saturday, ‘this should be the end of it’By ToI Staff 31 October 2024, 11:30 am

Iran will deliver a “definitive and painful” response to Israel’s recent attack on its territory, likely before the US presidential election on November 5, CNN reported Wednesday, citing an anonymous senior source.The source, apparently an Iranian with knowledge of deliberations in Tehran, told the network: “The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Zionist regime’s aggression will be definitive and painful.”The series of Israeli strikes early Saturday morning were themselves a response to a massive ballistic missile attack launched by Tehran at Israel on October 1. In an hours-long operation, dozens of Israeli aircraft targeted strategic military sites across Iran — specifically drone and ballistic missile manufacturing and launch sites, as well as air defense batteries — with explosions reported in the areas of Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan and Shiraz.White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the US position Wednesday that Iran should not respond to Israel’s strikes.“If they do, we will support Israel in defending itself, but they should not,” she said at a news briefing.At his own press briefing, US State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller said he would not offer an assessment “as to what [Iran] may or may not do, but we believe that they should not respond.”Miller said the Israeli strikes were “an appropriate response by the government of Israel to an unprecedented attack by Iran, but this should be the end of it.”While declining to comment on any communication there may have been between Washington and Tehran, Miller said the US has “made clear publicly — and I can tell you that Iran knows this message quite clearly — they should not in any way continue to escalate this conflict.”The US, which helped Israel defend itself against the Iranian rocket barrage and a similar assault from Iran in April, has deployed an advanced air defense system to Israel as a precaution against further Iranian assaults.Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Iranian military facilities came weeks after Iran launched 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, sending most of the population rushing to bomb shelters and safe rooms, while causing relatively minor damage to military bases and some residential areas, and killing a Palestinian man in the West Bank.The Israeli strikes were the country’s largest-ever direct assault on the Islamic Republic, following the Iranian attacks on Israel which were themselves unprecedented. Israel has been expecting a potential Iranian response to the strike, but has warned Tehran that any further attacks on its territory will be met with resolute action.Israel is widely reported to have crippled Iran’s air defenses during the assault, and has indicated that this could serve as preparation for more damaging strikes should Iran not halt its attacks.US President Joe Biden’s senior Mideast adviser Amos Hochstein has been cited as saying on an internal call that “Iran is essentially naked” and vulnerable to potential future aerial attacks.On Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that if Iran “makes the mistake of launching another barrage of missiles at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran.”Israel’s response to such an attack would “hit extremely hard — both the capabilities and the places that we spared this time,” he said.Iran has attempted to downplay the damage caused by the attacks, and on Sunday, the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that it “should neither be exaggerated nor minimized.”But recent days have seen officials use increasingly belligerent rhetoric and vowing revenge for Israel’s actions.Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Hossein Salami claimed that Israel had “failed to achieve its ominous goals” but nevertheless said that the “bitter consequences will be unimaginable” for Israel.Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghei warned that Tehran would use “all available tools” to respond.

IDF says 3 gunmen killed in airstrike, clashes during day-long West Bank raid-UNRWA accuses IDF of damaging its office in Nur Shams during operation, military denies responsibility, says terrorists had planted explosives nearby-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 12:06 pm-NOV 1,24

The Israel Defense Forces said it had wrapped up a day-long raid in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem on Friday, during which three gunmen were killed in an airstrike and clashes with troops.The operation was carried out by the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance unit alongside Border Police and Shin Bet forces.Amid the raid, Israeli forces carried out a drone strike against two gunmen who were firing at the troops, the IDF said. It published footage of the incident.Also amid the operation, Haruv soldiers killed another operative who “posed a threat,” the IDF said, adding that the unit also wounded several other gunmen.The operation also saw Border Police officers neutralize several explosive devices planted under and along roads in Nur Shams.The IDF also published drone footage of gunmen operating at the entrance to a hospital in Tulkarem. In the video, one gunman can be seen handing over an assault rifle to another at the medical center compound.Amid the raid on Thursday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini claimed that IDF bulldozers had severely damaged the UN aid agency’s office in Nur Shams, rendering it unusable.The IDF, however, issued a statement denying responsibility for any damage sustained to the building.“The claim that the UNRWA offices in Nur Shams were destroyed by IDF soldiers is false,” the statement read. “Terrorists planted explosives in the proximity of the UNRWA offices that were then detonated in an attempt to harm IDF soldiers. The explosives likely caused damage to the structure.”The raid in Nur Shams was launched shortly after troops operating in the West Bank city of Tulkarem killed prominent Hamas member Hussam al-Malah.In a joint statement, the IDF, Israel Police and the Shin Bet said that al-Malah was involved in planning imminent terror attacks with Islam Odeh and Zahi Oufi, two Hamas operatives killed by Israel in separate incidents in recent weeks.The three, along with other members of a Hamas network in Tulkarem, were allegedly planning a major terror attack on the October 7 anniversary.The military said that after Odeh and Oufi were killed, al-Malah continued to lead the Hamas network and worked to plan imminent attacks in recent days. Since October 7, troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.The IDF has carried out more than 70 airstrikes in the West Bank since October 7, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.Agencies contributed to this report.

Chicago school board president resigns amid backlash over his antisemitic posts-After Oct. 7, Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson turned his back on positive ties with Jewish community, called Hamas massacre ‘resistance against oppression,’ compared Zionism to Nazism-By Andrew Lapin Today, 10:11 am-NOV 1,24

JTA — The president of Chicago’s public school board resigned Thursday after only a week on the job following two days of backlash over his history of antisemitic social media posts.Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson had defied calls to resign just a day before, even as a growing share of the city council and Illinois’s Jewish Democratic governor J.B. Pritzker called for him to do so. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (no relation) had initially expressed support for Johnson before announcing Thursday that the president had left at his own request.The mayor called Johnson’s posts “not only hurtful but deeply disturbing.”Jewish Insider first reported Tuesday on Johnson’s posts, which included referring to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel as “resistance against oppression.” The attack saw terrorists infiltrate Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.He also wrote, “The Nazi Germans’ ideology has been adopted by the Zionist Jews,” and accused pro-Israel Jews of joining “with the alt-right community.”“I want to be clear: antisemitic, misogynistic, and conspiratorial statements are unacceptable,” Mayor Johnson said in his statement, adding that the board president “would hinder the important work we need to accomplish for our schools” if he remained in his role.Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, who was picked to help replace the board after all of its members resigned earlier this month over anger with the mayor, previously had a track record of collaboration with Jewish community groups. He spoke out against antisemitism after the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and has attended events held by Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. As recently as 2020, he had continued to post positive comments about Jews. But his trajectory appeared to have shifted after October 7.Johnson apologized to “the Jewish community” for his posts, calling them “clearly reactive and insensitive.” He added that in the last few months, “I have asked for and received feedback from my Jewish friends and colleagues who helped me be more thoughtful as I addressed these sensitive matters.”Groups celebrating Johnson’s resignation included the American Jewish Committee; the Jewish United Fund, Chicago’s local federation; and the regional office of the Anti-Defamation League.“The right thing happened in our city today,” the Jewish United Fund wrote on Instagram. “An antisemitic, misogynistic, conspiracy-theorist will NOT head the Board of Education for Chicago Public Schools.”The brouhaha came as the city was reeling from the shooting of an Orthodox Jewish man on his way to synagogue on the city’s north side. Local Jewish leaders had also accused Mayor Johnson of downplaying the victim’s Jewish identity in his public comments condemning the shooting.The Jewish leaders had also expressed frustration that charges filed against the alleged shooter did not include hate crimes charges. On Thursday, the charges against the alleged assailant, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, were expanded to include terrorism and hate crimes charges. Chicago Police Department Chief Larry Snelling said in a press conference that detectives found evidence on Abdallahi’s phone suggesting that he was targeting Jews.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.


As Iran said preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory-Iraq trying to reel in Iran-backed groups to prevent confrontation with Israel-Tehran said to have denied Baghdad’s requests to have pro-Iran militias in Iraq discontinue strikes on Israel and US forces in region-By Reuters and ToI Staff Today, 9:52 am-NOV 1,24

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Nervously watching Israel’s wars with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iraq is working to avoid being drawn into the growing regional conflict as Iran-backed groups launch attacks on Israel from Iraqi soil, sources familiar with the matter say.Two decades after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq is experiencing relative stability with high revenue from oil sales funding a service-based agenda that has turned much of the country into a construction site.Iraq does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government is wary of regional conflicts that could affect its delicate balancing act between Washington and Tehran, both states it is allied with.Iran says it is committed to the destruction of Israel and supports terrorist groups throughout the Middle East in pursuit of that goal.Axios reported late on Thursday that Israeli intelligence suggests Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days, possibly before the US presidential election on November 5, citing two unidentified Israeli sources.There was no immediate Iraqi comment.Spillover from regional conflict has already resulted in months of tit-for-tat attacks between Iran-backed armed groups and US forces stationed in Iraq and the region that only subsided after Iran intervened in February.Sudani’s government has not been successful in a push to convince the Islamic Resistance in Iraq — a coalition of Iran-backed militias and terror groups — to stop firing rockets and drones at Israel, according to four sources from Iran-backed groups and two government advisers.Two visits to Iran by Iraq’s top security officials in the past two months, seeking Tehran’s help to rein in its allied Iraqi factions, failed, the sources said.“The Iraqi delegation received a cold reception in Tehran … The answer was: those groups have their own decision and it is their call to decide how to support their brothers in Lebanon and Gaza,” a senior Iraqi security official briefed on the visits said.Baghdad turned to Washington, asking US officials to intervene with Israel to prevent retaliation for the attacks, including one that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded more than 20 on October 4, the sources said, the first time such an attack has been reported to cause fatalities.“Washington was understanding of the repercussions of possible Israeli strikes in Iraq and pledged to help,” an Iraqi foreign ministry official said.A spokesperson for the US embassy in Baghdad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Four sources from armed groups said the Kataeb Hezbollah and Nujaba groups, which are leading the attacks on Israel, have warned the prime minister against pressuring them to halt their actions and vowed to continue their attacks as long as Israel continues its operations against Hamas and Hezbollah.The issue has divided parties in Iraq’s ruling coalition, all of whom are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and view Israel as an enemy, though some differ over how involved Iraq should be in the regional confrontation, which erupted with the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel.Shiite leaders discussed the risk of repercussions from attacks on Israel and possible Israeli retaliation during two meetings in October, said Ahmed Kenani, a Shiite lawmaker from the ruling alliance.Key players in the Shiite coalition view direct confrontation with Israel as counterproductive and potentially damaging to Iraq, according to four Shiite lawmakers.“Those groups who have the rockets and drones should go to Gaza and Lebanon to fight Israel rather than pushing Iraq toward destruction,” Iraqi PM adviser Abdul Ameer Thuaiban said.Kataeb Hezbollah, the most powerful of the armed factions, said Israel and the US would have to pay a price for Israel’s strikes on Iran last week.Senior Iraqi security sources told Reuters ahead of that attack that any strike by Israel against Iran, outside what the sources called “the established rules of engagement,” could prompt pro-Iran armed groups to significantly expand their attacks on Israel and US assets in the region.Mohammed Shummary, chairman of Baghdad-based think tank the Sumeria Foundation, said growing regional conflict risked pulling Iraq’s Shiite Muslim parties, many of them heavily armed, into a confrontation that few initially had an appetite for.“They are torn between maintaining their decision to keep Iraq out of the confrontation and their ideological and political commitments toward the Shia of Lebanon and the broader resistance axis, amid Israeli aggression that has crossed all permissible red lines,” he told Reuters.“If the confrontation escalates… this may not only mean the continuation of attacks on Israeli targets but also the potential involvement of additional factions in larger, more complex operations,” he said.

Chicago cops add terror and hate crimes charges to counts facing man who shot Jew-Following criticism from Jewish community, police chief Larry Snelling stresses these charges were not immediately filed because evidence needed to be gathered-By ToI Staff Today, 8:36 am-NOV 1,24

The Chicago Police Department will add felony terrorism and hate crimes charges to the counts that a man is facing for shooting an Orthodox Jew walking to a synagogue in the Illinois city last week, the local superintendent announced Thursday following criticism from local Jews over the omission of the latter charges.During the incident last Saturday, police say Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, shot a 39-year-old Orthodox Jew, whose identity has not been released, while the latter was walking to Congregation KINS in Chicago’s heavily Jewish neighborhood of West Rogers Park, striking him in the shoulder.Abdallahi was then shot in a subsequent firefight with police and taken to a hospital in critical condition. The victim was released from the hospital on Saturday afternoon.According to local Chicago reports, Abdallahi is a Mauritanian national.“We will never tolerate violence that’s rooted in hate and bigotry,” police chief Larry Snelling said during a press conference.Pushing back on criticism that the force did not initially charge Abdallahi with terrorism and hate crimes, Snelling said police wanted to ensure there was sufficient evidence to back up the hate crimes charges against Abdallahi, which he stressed “takes time.”HAPPENING NOW: CPD Press Conference https://t.co/bYy9B4wroK— Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) October 31, 2024-According to Snelling, officers found evidence on Abdallahi’s phone that he “planned the shooting and specifically targeted people of Jewish faith. This evidence allowed us to secure the terrorism and hate crime charges.”The response to the incident by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also garnered criticism from the Jewish community after Johnson’s condemnation statement did not mention the fact the victim was Jewish.“On behalf of the City of Chicago, our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his loved ones from this weekend’s shooting incident that took place in Rogers Park,” Johnson wrote in a Tuesday statement on X, adding that the “tragic event should have never happened.”The criticism marked the latest chapter in Johnson’s rocky relationship with local Jewish leaders. In January, Johnson cast the tie-breaking vote to pass a resolution in the city council calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, making Chicago the largest US city to do so. The resolution drew rebukes from local Jewish groups, including Chicago’s federation and the local branch of the Anti-Defamation League.Ahead of this summer’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Johnson called the war in Gaza “genocidal,” a charge that Israel has strongly denied.Nevertheless, Johnson stood behind Snelling during the superintendent’s Friday press conference in which he announced the new charges.The incident came at a time of high alert for Jewish communities nationwide. The shooting unfolded hours after the conclusion of Simhat Torah, which marks the end of the Jewish High Holiday season and is also the Hebrew calendar anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The ensuing multi-front war has been accompanied by a spike in reported antisemitic incidents globally and in the US.The shooting also came a day before the sixth anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, when 11 worshippers were killed in the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history.

Lawmakers behind UNRWA ban dismiss international criticism as ‘misplaced’There’s ‘plenty of transition time’ for other groups to replace the UN agency for Palestinians, says Likud MK Illouz, adding that ‘our goal is not to stop the humanitarian aid’By Sam Sokol-Today, 3:46 am-NOV 1,24

The Knesset’s overwhelming approval earlier this week of twin laws barring UNRWA from operating in Israel and reducing its ability to work in the West Bank and Gaza sparked a firestorm of criticism, with Israel’s closest allies warning that curtailing the United Nations agency’s activities risks “catastrophe” for millions of Palestinians. But for the lawmakers behind the legislation, the outrage seems to have been met with a collective shrug.During the opening plenum session of the Knesset’s winter legislative session on Monday, MKs voted 92 to 10 to approve a law prohibiting the UN agency from operating in Israeli territory, and 87-9 in favor of another measure banning state authorities from having any contact with the agency.“There are internationally recognized organizations that deal with humanitarian aid in all conflict zones. UNRWA was an anomaly. It doesn’t exist in any other conflict zone that there’s a specific organization just for one group,” Likud MK Dan Illouz, a co-sponsor of the second bill, told The Times of Israel when asked about the pushback his law engendered.“We’ve seen that what happens when such an organization gets built is that it ends up being an organization that has the perspective of one group, the Palestinian perspective. It gets embedded with groups like Hamas and extremist groups from that society and becomes a problem,” he said.“Our goal is not to stop the humanitarian aid. Our goal is for it to go through channels that are not pro-terror, pro-Hamas, but rather through channels like World Food Program.”UNRWA — short for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.Israel alleges that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions, and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.“Implementing the legislation risks catastrophe for the more than 3 million Palestinians who rely on UNRWA for essential services, including health care, and primary and secondary education,” the State Department said following the passage of the bills, urging Israel to “further consider implementation of this legislation.”US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has gone so far as to caution that critical US military support for Israel is conditional on Israel facilitating, and not hindering, the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza.On Monday, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called on Israel to “act consistently with its obligations under the Charter of the UN and international law,” arguing that “national legislation cannot alter those obligations.”In response, Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, one of the main drivers behind the bill to ban contact with UNRWA, argued that the only obligation Israel had to allow the agency to operate was an exchange of letters from 1967, “which includes a clause allowing Israel to terminate this arrangement—and that’s exactly what we did.”“The story of UNRWA here in the State of Israel is over,” she wrote.Hello, UN Secretary-General. These are your colleagues from UNRWA who abducted the body of Yonatan Samerano on October 7th. Oh, and they did it using a UN vehicle. Yesterday, we brought a small measure of justice to Yonatan’s parents by severing all ties between the aid agency… https://t.co/5W6ilrIZsW pic.twitter.com/LTlXSI6yGt— Yulia Malinovsky יוליה מלינובסקי (@YuliaMalinovsky) October 29, 2024-In a seeming response to the international criticism, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said Israel is prepared to work with international partners, both in the 90 days before the legislation takes effect and afterward, to ensure that humanitarian aid would still reach Gazan civilians.“UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Since avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also essential, sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement issued in English.Asked if three months is enough to allow for other groups to take over, MK Illouz argued that it constitutes “plenty of transition time.”“Three months is a long time. Sometimes when we understand that there’s a need for a buffer, we put it in the legislation,” he said.While Israel has worked to gradually limit UNRWA’s role in the delivery of humanitarian aid, in favor of the World Food Program, UNICEF and other agencies, UNRWA is still heavily involved in the Strip’s humanitarian operation, running shelters, clinics and warehouses.And despite pledges by Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry to make sure that the flow of aid remains uninterrupted, representatives of the International Organization for Migration and UNICEF have both stated that they would be unable to fill the gap left behind when UNRWA has to cut back or halt operations in Gaza.Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, the sponsor of the bill banning UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory, was also dismissive of international criticism, stating that the bill would not have passed if it hadn’t become clear that Israel could step into the breach in East Jerusalem.“In Israel, I can guarantee that there will not be a vacuum,” he said. “This isn’t a banana republic.”Asked about Gaza, he replied that the international community’s concern was “misplaced.” Israel is not interested in conquering or settling Gaza but rather in “building something that will contribute to stability and security and then can even speak about peace,” Bismuth said, arguing that the international community would come through in filling the void.“The important international actors are aware of the fact that you need to work urgently to find a replacement for UNRWA. It’s not ‘much ado about nothing,'” he said. “There is a concern.” But it can be handled, he asserted, calling on Israel’s allies and neighbors in the United States, Europe and the Middle East to pitch in on replacing UNRWA.“Our interest is that as soon as possible there will be a prosperous Gaza ruled by a non-corrupt and especially non-terror government,” Bismuth added, arguing that allowing Hamas to hijack UNRWA aid doesn’t advance that goal.Jacob Magid contributed to this report.

Analysis-How will Israel’s new anti-UNRWA laws impact the controversial agency’s operations? New laws don’t explicitly bar UNRWA from working in Gaza and West Bank but likely make its operations impossible, with potentially severe consequences for Palestinians and Israel-By Jeremy Sharon-Today, 3:01 am-NOV 1,24

The Knesset passed legislation on Monday to severely limit the operations of the UNRWA Palestinian aid agency in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.But the new laws enacting this policy are somewhat vague and lack detail, and their legal implications for the agencies operations are therefore not entirely clear.There is also another critical impact the laws may have: their effect on Israel’s ability to abide by its obligations under international law, and its commitments to the US, to ensure that Palestinian civilians in Gaza do not starve.The Knesset passed the laws due to allegations by Israel that UNRWA has become infiltrated by Hamas; the evidence that some of its employees took part directly in the October 7 atrocities and helped facilitate it; accusations that large numbers of its Gazan staff are members of terrorist groups; and claims that the agency has allowed Hamas to divert aid to its combatants and use the organization as cover for its terrorist activity.UNRWA itself conceded in August that nine of its employees “may have been involved” in the October 7 attacks and has fired them. The agency also confirmed just last week that Muhammad Abu Attawi, a commander in Hamas’s Nukhba force killed by the IDF in Gaza, who is documented as having murdered civilians in the notorious bomb shelter attack near Re’im on October 7, was one of its staffers.UNRWA denies the allegations that large numbers of its staff are members of terrorist groups.The provisions of the laws-The legislation, approved in Knesset with extremely large majorities, was passed in two parts.The first law bans UNRWA from operating in sovereign Israeli territory, which according to Israeli law includes East Jerusalem.This mainly impacts UNRWA’s operations in the so-called refugee camp of Shuafat in East Jerusalem, where the agency collects rubbish, provides some sanitation services, runs three schools and a health care clinic, and provides some social services.All of this will come to an end when the law takes effect in three months time. The law makes no provision for who will take over those services.UNRWA’s offices in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Maalot Dafna were already in the process of being confiscated even before the latest legislation.The second law is what has created greater legal uncertainty concerning its effects on UNRWA’s operations.Its first provision, which came into effect immediately, annuls the exchange of letters between Israel and UNRWA in which Israel gave the agency permission to operate in Gaza and the West Bank in 1967, after it captured them from Egypt and Jordan respectively during the Six-Day War.The second clause bans any Israeli state agency from having any contact at all with UNRWA and the organization’s staff.In Israel’s letter to UNRWA, Jerusalem said it would “permit the free movement of UNRWA vehicles into, within and out of Israel and the areas in question,” ensure the protection of UNRWA personnel, installations, and property, provide UNRWA staff with the necessary documentation to allow them to operate, and permit the agency’s staff to move about within those territories.Cancelling these arrangements would ostensibly create severe problems for UNRWA’s ongoing operations the West Bank, and possibly to a lesser extent in Gaza.The difference between the two territories lies in the fact that Israel argues that it is not in a legal occupation of Gaza. This was the case before October 7, and the state has continued to assert in proceedings in the High Court of Justice that this remains so amid the current conflict.In the West Bank, Israel does agree that its control of the territory is what is legally known as a belligerent occupation whereby the military commander — in this case the head of the IDF’s Central Command — is the de facto ruler, and has charge of civilian affairs.While the new laws passed this week do not explicitly ban UNRWA from operating in Gaza and the West Bank, they simply withdraw Israel’s commitment to facilitate the agency’s work.But the legislation does mean that the organization’s local staff will essentially become like any other Palestinian, something which will severely hamper their ability to function. Its foreign staff will likely face severe difficulties obtaining the relevant visas and documentation to enable them to work.The issue of providing aid to Gaza will also be greatly complicated by the new legislation.Israeli officials, ostensibly including the IDF and the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Civilian Affairs in the Territories (COGAT) unit which is responsible for, among other tasks, coordinating the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, will be banned by law from having any contact with UNRWA officials.UNRWA however is one of the most important agencies supplying humanitarian aid to the Gazan population during the current conflict, taking delivery of consignments from the Gaza border crossings and helping distribute it to the Palestinian population inside the territory.Coordination of the collection of aid from the border crossings between UNRWA and COGAT would therefore appear to be impossible, as would coordinating the delivery of the aid inside Gaza between the UNRWA and the IDF.Additionally, if UNRWA cannot coordinate its movements, its staff would be at grave risk of being targeted by the IDF as they move about Gaza, rendering such operations too hazardous to carry out.On a technical level, UNRWA and especially its local staff would in theory be able to conduct the other services it provides in Gaza such as health care and education since Israel has not prohibited such activity.Similar to the West Bank though, it would appear that foreign nationals working for UNRWA will not be able to obtain the necessary visas and other documentation necessary to enter Gaza.UNRWA’s ability to at least import aid into Gaza and get its foreign personnel into the territory would be easier under these circumstances if the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza was open, but Egypt closed the crossing after Israel took control of Rafah in an operation beginning in May.International legal obligationsThe legal implications of Israel’s new laws against UNRWA might not be confined to its ability to operate, and could also extend to its responsibilities under international law to ensure that Palestinians in Gaza do not starve.The Fourth Geneva Convention to which Israel is a signatory, and its additional protocols, which Israel has not signed, are generally seen to require that the provision of humanitarian relief be facilitated to a civilian population in times of war, although there are exceptions.Additionally, international law forbids the use of starvation as a weapon of war, while the Genocide Convention which Israel has also signed prohibits a country from deliberately creating conditions designed to destroy a group of people.Prof. Yuval Shany of Hebrew University’s Faculty of Law said that UNRWA remains at the heard of the effort to provide humanitarian relief to Gaza’s civilian population which has faced severe deprivation and hardship throughout the current conflict.“If you have an obligation to provide for the needs of the local population, and the one organization which is carrying most of that burden you refuse to deal with then you are setting yourself on a course to violate those obligations,” said Shany.He also pointed out that the government has not put forward a plan to find an alternative to UNRWA — an organization he added he was “not a fan of” —  and said doing so within 90 days when fighting is still raging “does not look like a very realistic plan.”Shany’s comments have been echoed by senior UN officials, including the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Secretary General, and the head of UNRWA.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described UNRWA “an irreplaceable lifeline to the Palestinian people,” and said that the legislation “barring UNRWA from its life-saving and health-protecting work” would have “devastating consequences.”Said the WHO director “It contravenes Israel’s obligations and responsibilities, and threatens the lives and health of all those who depend on UNRWA.”And the Adalah organization which provides legal aid to Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians under Israeli control talked more broadly of possibly Israeli culpability if the restrictions on UNRWA have catastrophic humanitarian consequences for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.The legislation, Adalah said in a statement to the press, “violates a range of Israel’s international legal obligations, including those under the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” alluding to criminal responsibility for such actions.

Egypt denies claims it took in explosives shipment for Israeli defense firm-Military, state-run TV push back following court appeal from European Legal Support Center alleging ship with materiel for Elbit Systems docked at Alexandria-By Reuters 31 October 2024, 11:45 pm

CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt’s army on Thursday denied it assisted Israeli military operations after media reports that an Egyptian port received a shipment of explosives bound for an Israeli defense contractor.“The Egyptian Armed Forces categorically deny what has been circulated on social media and suspicious accounts and what is being promoted about assisting Israel in its military operations in general and in detail,” the army said in a statement.Human rights lawyers on Wednesday filed a court appeal in Berlin seeking to block a 150-metric-ton shipment of military-grade explosives aboard German cargo ship MV Kathrin which they said was for Elbit Systems, Israel’s biggest defense contractor.LSEG data and vessel-tracking website Marine Traffic showed the MV Kathrin docked in Egypt’s port at Alexandria on Monday.Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV, citing a high-level source, said earlier there was no truth to reports by some media outlets that the MV Kathrin delivered military supplies for Israel to Alexandria.The European Legal Support Center’s case argued the explosives could be used in munitions for Israel’s war in Gaza, potentially contributing to alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.Because of the explosives bound for Israel, the MV Kathrin was denied entry at several African and Mediterranean ports, including in Angola, Slovenia, Montenegro and Malta, according to the ELSC. It said Portuguese authorities recently required the ship to switch from a Portuguese flag to a German flag before it could continue.Germany said the cargo was neither loaded nor dispatched from its territory thus did not require an export license.

IDF says it hit terrorists hiding in Gaza hospital, claims Hamas crumbling in Jabalia-Military publishes video of former UNRWA employee telling interrogator Hamas looted refugee aid agency; COGAT figures said to show drop in aid entering Strip for October-By ToI Staff, Emanuel Fabian-and Agencies 31 October 2024, 9:28 pm

Israeli forces struck a Gaza hospital where it said “dozens of terrorists” had been found hiding out Thursday, as the military pushed an offensive in the north of the Strip, claiming regrouped terror cells in the city of Jabalia were falling apart.There were no reports of any casualties at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya after an IDF strike hit the third floor of the building, though Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza reported that at least 30 Palestinians were killed in other attacks throughout the Strip, without clarifying how many were combatants.The Israel Defense Forces said it was continuing to strike targets in Jabalia and elsewhere, releasing what it said was testimony from a United Nations worker testifying that Hamas members had raided aid supplies and used UN vehicles to move around.Northern Gaza, where Israel said in January it had dismantled the terror group’s command structure, is currently the main focus of the IDF’s operations in the Palestinian enclave. Earlier this month, it sent tanks into Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya to flush out terror operatives it said had regrouped in the area.Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan, told Reuters some staff had suffered minor burns from the strike on the hospital.The IDF said in a statement following Thursday’s strike that “during the operation, it was found that dozens of terrorists were hiding in the hospital, with some even posing as hospital staff.”Israeli forces who raided the hospital last week captured around 100 suspected Hamas operatives, the IDF said at the time.Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Thursday that one of its doctors at the hospital, Mohammed Obeid, had been detained last Saturday by Israeli forces. It called for the protection of him and all medical staff who “are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care.”Israel maintains that its military campaign takes pains to avoid casualties among civilians and aid workers, blaming the Hamas terror group for using innocent Gazans and international aid organizations as cover, putting them in the line of fire.In a video published by the army’s public affairs arm Thursday, a Jabalia man described as a former security guard for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, tells an Israeli interrogator that following the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023, Hamas members came into an UNRWA facility and “took everything” by force.The man said that Hamas members brazenly looted trucks loaded with “supplies,” and then commandeered the UNRWA vehicles as well, using them as a shield.“It’s a form of defense for them, so they can move around easily, transport and get things et cetera,” the man said, according to a translation provided by the military.When we say Hamas is embedded in @UNRWA this is what we mean.WATCH a testimony of an UNRWA employee in northern Gaza, in which he explains how Hamas exploits UNRWA facilities and vehicles: pic.twitter.com/9K7u6hJlfn— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 31, 2024-The army said Thursday that its raids in Jabalia had netted arrests of hundreds of suspected terrorists, including some accused of taking part in the October 7 massacre.It added that dozens of civilians evacuating south out of Jabalia had testified that they had been pressured and even threatened by Hamas to stay in the area, which the army claimed harbors a “high concentration of terrorists from Hamas and other terror organizations.”“The surrender of terrorists and their attempts to move south as a result of military pressure testifies to the breaking of the terror stronghold of Jabalia,” the IDF said.The army announced Thursday that a soldier with the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion was seriously wounded during operations in northern Gaza. He was taken to a hospital in Israel for treatment.In central Gaza, meanwhile, the military said on Thursday that troops destroyed a site used for the production of munitions.Aid reported down-US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday that since the US sent a letter to Israel on October 13 warning that continued security assistance was at risk if it didn’t take significant steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza within 30 days, the measures Jerusalem has taken have been minor and insufficient.While there has been some improvement in the number of delivery routes to aid, the uptick has been minor and the humanitarian “situation still remains at a level that we don’t find acceptable,” Miller said.He said there continue to be breakdowns in communications between the IDF and aid agencies and issues in which approvals aren’t granted by the IDF for aid workers to operate throughout Gaza, or issues where authorizations are given but they aren’t transmitted to officers on the ground. There are also still Palestinian armed gangs that have been looting some of the aid coming into Gaza, Miller said.Citing figures from COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for facilitating the delivery of aid into Gaza, Haaretz revealed Thursday that the amount of aid in tons that entered the Strip during the month of October was the least this year.On Tuesday, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed her horror over reports from humanitarian agencies that no food assistance has reached the northern Gaza cities of Jabalia and Beit Lahiya in nearly a month.“The United States has made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that one year into this conflict, Israel must address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza; that the United States rejects any Israeli efforts to starve Palestinians in Jabalia, or anywhere else,” she said in her remarks to UN Security Council session on the war in Gaza.The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.Vowing to destroy Hamas and free the hostages, the IDF launched a wide-scale campaign in the Strip, which the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says has left more than 42,000 people dead or presumed dead.This toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it had killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.Jacob Magid contributed to this report.

Interview-Poland’s new envoy rejects Gaza genocide claims, says democracies must back Israel-In first interview with Israeli outlet, former spy chief Maciej Hunia says allied nations’ fights over Holocaust history are in the past By Lazar Berman-31 October 2024, 3:44 pm

Poland’s new envoy to Israel says he agrees with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel is fighting the free world’s battle in its campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.“The entire democratic world should — must — support Israel in its fight against terrorists,” Maciej Hunia told The Times of Israel on Wednesday, in his first interview with an Israeli publication.Hunia also rejects accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.“Genocide is a crime committed with willingness to commit it,” said Hunia, a 63-year-old former top intelligence official who arrived in Israel the day before Yom Kippur three weeks ago to represent one of the most pro-Israel countries in Europe, filling a post that had been empty for three years.“War is a brutal thing always,” said Hunia. “Not very nice. And there are also collateral damages when you struggle. So I’m absolutely sure that the Israeli army is not planning out operations which are going to kill innocent people.”In his July confirmation hearing in Poland’s lower house of parliament, Hunia expressed a similar position: “Genocide – I would be far from using this word. Unfortunately, military operations come together with casualties among uninvolved civilians. This also applied to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.”“If you use airplanes against terrorists in urban areas, there must be collateral damage,” he told The Times of Israel.On Monday, South Africa filed with the International Court of Justice its full submission alleging that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza during its ongoing military operation against terror group Hamas, claiming that Israel has failed to abide by numerous clauses of the genocide convention and its international obligationsIsrael utterly rejects allegations of genocide in the war that began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating cross-border assault, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.For his part, Hunia said: “I know that you want to protect your soldiers. It’s an absolute priority for everyone. But we should think also about the civilians who are on the other side of the conflict.”Hunia served as head of Poland’s military intelligence, then directed its Foreign Intelligence Agency. He said he had been to Israel “many times” in his intelligence roles, but would not expand on the visits. “This issue cannot be discussed.”The diplomat is not officially serving as ambassador, as he has not yet submitted his letter of credence to President Isaac Herzog: An extended political fight between Polish President Andrzej Duda and the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has kept dozens of heads of missions unable to assume the title of ambassador.“It is our internal problem,” he explained. “We have, currently, Poland’s president from one political camp and prime minister from another political camp. That’s all I can say on this issue.”While Hunia believes Israel is representing the free world, he argued that the same logic should apply to Jerusalem’s stance on Ukraine: “Ukraine is also fighting for democracy. And all democratic countries should be united and work together against threats coming from terrorist organizations, coming from Russia. The position should be absolutely the same.”Jerusalem has been castigated over its decision to continue to engage with Moscow after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, and its refusal to provide military aid to Kyiv. Israel has long maintained that it needs to keep up contact with Moscow in order to coordinate activity in Syria, and has sent repeated waves of medical and other civil assistance to Ukraine since the war began in 2022.At the same time, Israel’s relations with Russia have deteriorated amid even the limited support it has provided Ukraine, and as Moscow has grown increasingly close to Iran during the war.Hunia explained that his military and intelligence background is a key reason for his appointment to Israel.“I started serving here in Israel in a specific time because there is a conflict in Gaza, Hezbollah, Iran,” he said. “We are involved in Ukraine, and Israel is mainly focused on security issues. Our government is also involved and focused on what’s going on in Ukraine.”Though relations between the two Eastern European countries have been turbulent, Poland has been one of Ukraine’s most ardent backers against Russia. Leaders in Warsaw see the Russian threat as existential.Poland has been using Israeli Spike anti-tank missiles for years, and now produces them domestically. The advanced weapons are sure to be a central element of Warsaw’s ability to combat Russian armored attacks in any potential war.Poland and Israel also cooperate closely on counterterrorism. Hunia noted that components of the bomb used in a deadly 2012 terrorist attack on Israelis in the Bulgarian resort town of Burgas were found to have originated in Poland.Bright chapters, dark times-Despite the sympathy and cooperation on security issues, bilateral ties under the previous Polish government had become strained in recent years by fights over Poles’ treatment of Jewish citizens during the Holocaust.At the same time, many of those disagreements were solved under the right-wing government, which was replaced in December of last year.Poland was the first country invaded and occupied by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s regime and never had a collaborationist government. Members of Poland’s resistance and government-in-exile struggled to warn the world about the mass killing of Jews, and thousands of Poles risked their lives to help Jews.However, Holocaust researchers have also collected ample evidence of Polish people who murdered Jews who were fleeing the Nazis, and Polish blackmailers who preyed on helpless Jews for financial gain.“What we know from the research that’s been going on since the beginning of the 21st century is that for Jews, especially, who tried to flee into the countryside and for more provincial areas, that the Nazis engaged in hunting out the Jews,” said Robert Rozett, senior historian at the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem.“And in hunting out the Jews, they often employed Poles, either people from the villages, or they would approach Polish village elders to ask them to round up Jews. And some of this was done under duress, and some of this was done willingly, and everything in between.”Six million Jews, including nearly all of Poland’s roughly 3 million Jews, were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust, and major Nazi death camps were located in Poland.“There were Poles who betrayed Jews,” Hunia acknowledged. “There were Poles who saved Jews, and I’m very proud of Poles who saved Jews. I’m ashamed of Poles who betrayed Jews.”Hunia stressed that there were also Polish underground leaders betrayed by other Poles, including the leader of the resistance Home Army Stefan Rowecki.“No society is built just of angels,” Hunia said.Bilateral relations with Israel deteriorated in 2018, after Poland passed legislation that outlawed blaming the Polish nation for the Holocaust, amid what critics said was a wider effort to paper over Polish complicity with Nazi crimes. Then-foreign minister Yair Lapid called the law antisemitic, touching off a diplomatic row.No society is built just of angels.Poland’s previous right-wing government was also widely accused of cracking down on academic voices that deviated from the government’s stance on the Polish experience in World War II.Polish nationalists don’t deny that some Poles preyed on their Jewish compatriots, but say these cases shouldn’t lead to generalizations about society at large. They fear scholarship on Poles who betrayed Jews is distorting a history of heroism by Poles who resisted the Germans. And they argue it risks unfairly shifting the responsibility of the German crimes onto Poles.“I’m a historian,” Hunia told The Times of Israel. “My approach is that every historian has a right to interpretation of the facts, if he is using fact as a beginning of discussion. Interpretation is a different issue.“Every family has its own experiences, has its own story. I think it was, it is, and it will be discussed among historians. There will be different opinions, but I don’t think that it should be a political issue.“Polish history is so rich,” he continued. “We have very bright chapters in our history, but we also have dark times in our history. But absolutely, we can cope with it.”The two erstwhile allies also saw a diplomatic spat sparked over Holocaust restitution in 2021, when Poland’s legislature passed a law effectively cutting off any future restitution to the heirs of property seized by the Nazis during the Holocaust.Israel recalled its envoy to Warsaw for consultations the following month.  Lapid advised Poland’s ambassador to Israel to remain on vacation in his homeland, and instructed Israel’s new ambassador to Poland, Ya’acov Livne, to remain in Israel.Since then, the two sides slowly de-escalated the tensions, though Poland never rescinded the law. Livne took up his post in Warsaw in February 2022 to coordinate Israeli efforts to extract citizens from Ukraine and to provide aid to KyivDespite promises that year from Duda to return Poland’s envoy to Israel, he did not do so until Hunia arrived this month.The countries were also locked in conflict over educational Holocaust trips for Israeli teens for several years. The Foreign Ministry previously said the Polish government was trying to control the Holocaust studies curriculum taught to the students.The two countries signed an agreement resolving the issues around the Holocaust trips in early 2023.Other tensions have shaken the relationship more recently. Poland’s public prosecutor is still investigating the death of Polish World Central Kitchen aid worker Damian Sobol, killed in an IDF strike in Gaza in April.After the attack, Livne caused outrage in Poland after he wrote on social media platform X that the “extreme right and left” in Poland were accusing Israel of intentional murder, adding that “antisemites will always remain antisemites.”The disagreements of recent years “are totally behind us,” Hunia insisted in the interview.He said Poland would now try to promote “reasonable” positions in the European Union, “with the provision that Israel has a right to do everything in order to secure its own existence, to deliver security for Israeli citizens in Israel and abroad.”

7 people killed in Hezbollah rocket attacks, marking deadliest day in months for north-Israeli and four Thai nationals killed in Metula orchard; pair, reportedly mother and son, killed in olive grove near Haifa; IDF hits Hezbollah sites in Syria, warns Baalbek By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff 31 October 2024, 3:05 pm

Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel killed seven people in agricultural fields near Metula and Haifa Thursday, marking what appeared to be the deadliest day in months for civilians inside Israel.The deaths, which raised the number of civilians killed in the last year of cross-border attacks on northern Israel to 39, were likely to loom large in meetings between Israeli officials and US mediators hoping to end over a month of fighting, as the military continued to expand its strikes on Hezbollah sites deep inside Lebanon.Authorities said five people working in an apple orchard near the border town of Metula were killed when a rocket fired from Lebanon struck them late Thursday morning.Another person was seriously wounded in the attack.The victims were all agricultural laborers who had been working in the orchard at the time of the strike. One was an Israeli citizen, while the others were foreign nationals.The Israeli was named by Kibbutz Dafna as Omer Weinstein, a member of the community.Gitsis_ pic.twitter.com/YaXBcpoP7U— גלצ (@GLZRadio) October 31, 2024-Early Friday, Thailand’s foreign minister said the foreign nationals killed in the attack were Thai citizens. They were later identified as Akkaphon Wannasai, Prayad Pilasram, Thana Tichantuk and Kaweesak Papanang.The Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a short statement that two rockets had been fired from Lebanon at the Metula area, and said the details of the incident were being examined.Hours later, two more people were killed while in an olive grove outside the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Ata as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at the area, authorities said.The two, described as a woman in her 60s and a man in his 30s, were killed by falling shrapnel, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.Hebrew media reports described the two as a mother and son who had been harvesting olives when the rocket hit. They were named in reports as Mina Hasson, 60, and Karmi Hasson, 21, from the Arab-majority city of Shfaram.Rescuers found the pair in a field near Gilam junction, along with a man in his 70s, who was hospitalized with light injuries.Buses and cars at the busy intersection were strafed by shrapnel, but no other major injuries were reported.According to the IDF, Hezbollah fired some 25 rockets at the Haifa region and other parts of the north in the attack. “Some were shot down and some fell in the area,” the IDF said.The death toll for a single day of cross-border fire was among the highest since Hezbollah began lobbing rockets and drones into northern Israel on October 8, 2023.It appeared to mark the deadliest day for northern Israel since fighting intensified last month and since a July 27 Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 children at a park in the Druze town of Majdal Shams.Following the attack on Metula, local council head David Azoulay lambasted the country’s leaders for “normalizing the situation” in the north.It wasn’t long before rocket warning sirens blared once more, this time in Karmiel and other communities across the Galilee region, as Hezbollah launched a barrage of some 30 rockets toward northern Israel. No casualties were reported in that attack.Meanwhile in Lebanon, the IDF issued warnings for a second day running to residents of northeast Lebanon’s Baalbek and surrounding suburbs to evacuate immediately ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah sites.“You are in a combat zone where the IDF intends to attack and target Hezbollah infrastructure, assets, installations and weapons, and does not intend to harm you,” Col. Avichay Adraee said on X, attaching a map of the areas that will be targeted.Dozens of cars could be seen speeding out of the area after Thursday’s warning, with wafts of black smoke still visible emanating from the town of Douris, where an Israeli strike the previous day destroyed Hezbollah fuel stocks, according to the Israeli military and a Lebanese security source.Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported a strike on a motorcycle rider in the Beqaa Valley, where Baalbek is located.A Lebanese security source told AFP that one person was killed by an Israeli drone strike on the Araya-Kahhale road, which links the capital Beirut to the eastern Beqaa Valley.The drone strike targeted a car, killing the driver, the source said, without identifying the victim.Thousands fleeing the violence in Baalbek have sought shelter in the nearby Christian-majority town of Deir al-Ahmar, where local official Jean Fakhry said authorities were struggling to cover even a fraction of their needs and some people had to spend the night in their cars.“We cannot continue this way,” Fakhry said.The killing of six Lebanese health workers and wounding of four others in three separate strikes across south Lebanon on Thursday brought the total toll of health workers killed and wounded in over a year of Israeli strikes to 178 and 279 respectively, the Lebanese health ministry said.The army also announced strikes on sites belonged to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and the terror group’s armament unit in Syria’s al-Qusayr region, near Lebanon’s northern border.The armament unit is responsible for storing weapons in Lebanon, and according to the IDF, it recently expanded its activities to Syria, where it stored weapons in al-Qusayr.Elsewhere in Lebanon, an Israeli drone strike hit a motorbike near the coastal town of Naqoura, NNA reported.The IDF said on Thursday that the commander of a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile unit had been killed in a recent airstrike.According to the IDF, a strike carried out by fighter jets this week in the southern Lebanon village of Burj Qallawiyah killed Muhammad Khalil Alian.Alian was the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank array in the Hajjar regional unit, which is responsible for attacks on northern Israel’s Ramim Ridge region.Meanwhile, the IDF said a Wednesday drone strike in Mazraat al-Yahoudiyeh, just north of Tyre, killed a cell of Hezbollah members who launched a missile at an Israeli Air Force unmanned aerial vehicle, adding that the UAV was not harmed in the incident.The IAF released footage of the drone strike.The strikes were carried out in tandem with the ongoing ground campaign in southern Lebanon, where the IDF’s 91st and 146th divisions are continuing to operate against Hezbollah.The continued exchange of fire between Israel and the terror group in Lebanon came as senior US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk were in Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials to discuss a possible deal to end the fighting in Lebanon and secure Israel’s northern borders, allowing tens of thousands of displaced residents to return home.Netanyahu’s office said he told the pair that the most important element of an agreement to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was not the piece of paper it’s written on, but “Israel’s determination and ability to enforce the agreement and to foil any threat to its security from Lebanon, in a manner that will return residents to their homes safely.”Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer also met with McGurk and Hochstein to discuss “security arrangements” for the north and efforts to secure the release of hostages in Gaza, the Defense Ministry said.Reports have indicated that israel is seeking a ceasefire agreement that would bolster UN Security Council Resolution 1701, but allow it to take action against Hezbollah if it is threatened.The Kan public broadcaster on Wednesday published the details of what it said was the draft agreement drawn up by the US for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the implementation of Resolution 1701, which forbids Hezbollah from maintaining a presence south of the Litani River.If accurate, the draft agreement would allow Israel the freedom to operate against Hezbollah should it violate the agreement. Oversight in Lebanon would also be increased, with the establishment of a new International Monitoring and Enforcement Mechanism chaired by the US.Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war against the Hamas terror group there.Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught in southern Israel, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 39 civilians. In addition, 61 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.Two soldiers have been killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and there have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.The IDF estimates that more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel amid the fighting, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. These numbers have not been consistently updated since Israel began a new offensive against Hezbollah in September.Agencies contributed to this report.

Japan, EU to announce new defence pact.By Hiroshi HIYAMA.

Tokyo (AFP) Nov 1, 2024-Japan and the European Union were set Friday to announce a new security partnership which local media said would include more joint military drills, senior-level dialogue and defence industry cooperation.EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will meet his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya, who told reporters this week that the pact comes "as Japan and the EU face an increasingly challenging security environment".He did not mention China, but Japan has previously called its neighbour its greatest security challenge as Beijing builds up military capacity in the region.After the Tokyo talks, Borrell will head to South Korea, where concerns about North Korea will top the agenda.The United States has said thousands of North Korean troops are in Russia readying to fight in Ukraine.Pyongyang also test-fired one of its newest and most powerful missiles on Thursday, demonstrating its threat to the US mainland days ahead of elections."My visit to two of our closest partners in the Indo-Pacific is a key milestone in our efforts over the past five years to strengthen the EU's active engagement," Borrell said in a statement Thursday."We have secured alignment on geopolitical issues and advanced the values we share," he said, promising "a new chapter in our ever-closer relations".The Japan-EU Security and Defense Partnership, expected to be announced on Friday, "aims to further develop, deepen and strengthen cooperation and dialogue in all areas of security and defense," Iwaya said on Tuesday."Specifically, we envision cooperation in the areas of maritime security, space, cybersecurity, and hybrid threats, including foreign disinformation and interference," he said.The security of the Asia-Pacific region is "inseparable from that of Europe and the Atlantic", Iwaya added.Japan is ramping up defence spending to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP by 2027, partly to counter China, which is increasing military pressure on Taiwan.Beijing claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who could head a minority government after a disastrous general election last week, has said that "today's Ukraine could be tomorrow's East Asia".Ishiba has also called for the creation of a NATO-like regional alliance with its tenet of collective security, although he has conceded this will "not happen overnight".The same warning was issued by Ishiba's predecessor Fumio Kishida, who was hosted by US President Joe Biden for a state visit in April at which the allies announced plans to boost their defence partnership.Japan, which for decades has relied on the United States for military hardware, is also developing a new fighter jet with EU member Italy and Britain set to be airborne by 2035.

Iran moves to triple military budget amid Israel tensions.By Sebastien Ricci and Ahmad Parhizi.

Tehran (AFP) Oct 29, 2024-Iran's government has proposed tripling its military spending, an official said Tuesday, as tensions with arch-rival Israel rise following recent tit-for-tat missile strikes.Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani outlined the move that would see "a significant increase of more than 200 percent in the country's military budget" at a news conference in Tehran, without elaborating.Tehran has not disclosed any exact figures, but according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank, Iran's military spending in 2023 was about $10.3 billion.The proposed budget will be debated, with lawmakers expected to finalise it in March."All efforts have been made to meet the country's defence needs and special attention has been paid to this issue," said Mohajerani.The plan came days after Israel carried out air strikes on military sites in Iran in response to Tehran's October 1 attack, itself retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.At least four soldiers were killed in the Israeli strikes, according to Iran's military, and Iranian media reported Monday that a civilian was also killed in the attack.Afterwards, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country's strikes had shifted the balance of power between the sworn enemies."The enemy has been weakened -- both in its ability to produce missiles and in its ability to defend itself. This changes the balance of power," Gallant said in a statement.- Shadow war -Iran's attack on October 1, when it said it fired 200 projectiles at Israel, was its second-ever direct attack on its arch-enemy.Israel said most of the missiles were intercepted but one person was killed.The Islamic republic conducted its first direct attack on Israel in mid-April, in response to a suspected Israeli strike on Iran's consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus that killed seven Revolutionary Guards, including two generals.The tit-for-tat moves unfold amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas, which has expanded in recent weeks to include Lebanon's Hezbollah.The Gaza war broke out in October 2023 following the Palestinian Hamas militant group's unprecedented attack on Israel.On Monday, Iran and Israel accused each other of endangering Middle East peace in a heated exchange at a UN meeting.SIPRI says Israel's military spending grew by 24 percent, reaching $27.5 billion in 2023 alone, coming second in the region after Saudi Arabia.Current figures on Israel's 2024 military spending are unavailable, though the country has benefited from substantial military aid provided by the United States since the outbreak of the war.Israel has for the decades been the largest recipient of US assistance.According to Iran's official IRNA news agency, the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps receive the highest portion of the country's military budget.The regular army and other branches of the armed forces receive a smaller allocation, the agency said based on figures of the current fiscal year which ends in March 2025.Iran does not recognise Israel, and the two countries have fought a shadow war for years.The Islamic republic accuses Israel of having carried out a wave of sabotage attacks and assassinations targeting its nuclear programme.

N.Korea has sent Russia more than 1,000 missiles: S.Korea defense chief by AFP Staff Writers.

Washington (AFP) Oct 31, 2024."More than 1,000 missiles have been provided," Kim told a news conference in Washington, saying North Korea had also sent millions of munitions pieces.US says N.Korea troops ready for Ukraine combat as missile raises tensionsWashington (AFP) Oct 31, 2024 - The United States said Thursday that up to 8,000 North Korean troops have reached Russia's border region with Ukraine trained and ready for combat, as Pyongyang's firing of a long-range missile ramped up tensions days before the US election.Seeking advantage in his grinding invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has brought in troops and military hardware from North Korea, the first time Russia has invited foreign forces on its soil in more than a century.Citing US intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that some 8,000 of the 10,000 North Korean troops believed to be in Russia have made their way to the Kursk border region."We've not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days," Blinken told a news conference after four-way talks with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and the South Korean foreign and defense ministers.Russia has been training North Korean troops to handle artillery and drones and to clear trenches, "indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in frontline operations," Blinken said.Austin said the deployment of North Korean troops, who he said were being put in Russian uniforms, "just underscores how badly Putin's war has gone.""This 10,000 won't come close to replacing the numbers that the Russians have lost," Austin said.He warned: "Make no mistake, if these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would make themselves legitimate military targets."North Korea, badly in need of cash, is also estimated to have sent more than 1,000 missiles to Russia as well as millions of munition pieces, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said.- Advance on missile technology -South Korea, which previously said that the North was preparing a missile or even nuclear test ahead of Tuesday's US election, said Pyongyang appeared to have fired a solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile that flew 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).Developing advanced solid-fuel missiles -- which are quicker to launch and harder to detect and destroy in advance -- has long been a goal for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.Kim called the sanctions-defying launch "an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals... of our counteraction will," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.Japan said that the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flew longer than any previously tested by the North, staying airborne for about 86 minutes and hitting altitudes of 7,000 kilometers.The missile could in theory strike the mainland United States, although Washington said there was no risk from the test-firing.Blinken and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts discussed the launch in a joint telephone call, issuing a statement afterwards urging North Korea to end its "provocative and destabilizing actions."China, historically North Korea's closest ally, said it was "concerned about developments" and urged a "political resolution" to the issue.Blinken said that the United States recently had a "robust" conversation with China on US concerns about North Korea.- Ukraine outrage -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to South Korean media, denounced what he called inaction by his allies on North Korean troops and said he was surprised by the "silence" of China."I think that the reaction to this is nothing; it has been zero," Zelensky said.Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, on a visit to Canada, called the North Korean troops a "true escalation of this war" and urged Western partners in response to "lift all the restrictions" on firing long-range missiles into Russia.Austin later said that the United States would soon announce new military support to Ukraine. South Korea for its part has been evaluating whether to send weapons directly to Ukraine, breaking its longstanding policy against sending arms into active conflicts.North Korea's missile launch "seems to have been carried out to divert attention from international criticism of its troop deployment," said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.Austin said there was no evidence that Russia had provided technology for the ICBM.Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, said the test was also a bid to get "the world's attention ahead of the US presidential election."US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday charged that Kim and Putin "are rooting" for her rival Donald Trump as he is "easy to manipulate with flattery and favor."Trump met three times with the long-isolated Kim, an unusually personal style of diplomacy that reduced tensions but did not yield a lasting agreement.North Korea has denied sending troops to Russia, but in the first comment in state media last week, its vice foreign minister said that if such a deployment were to happen, it would be in line with international law.

Blinken, Austin: No evidence Russia is helping North Korea develop ICBMs by Mike Heuer.

Washington DC (UPI) Oct 31, 2024-U.S. leaders say there's no sign Russia has helped North Korea develop ICBMs and denuclearization remains U.S. policy regarding Pyongyang a day after it test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.Russia is losing 1,200 soldiers every day in its war on Ukraine and it remains to be seen how Russia might repay North Korea for sending 10,000 troops into Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters during a press conference Thursday afternoon at the State Department.Also attending and commenting were South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun."You would guess technology would be at the top of the list," regarding what North Korea might receive from Russia for sending troops to help fight Ukraine, Austin said."It will potentially embolden them to do the kinds of things we have seen them do recently, including the launch of the ICBM," Austin said.Austin said he met with Kim and agreed to three things.One is to enhance cooperation between South Korea and the United States and strengthen deterrence, including in space and cyberspace.A second is using South Korean shipyards to maintain and overhaul U.S. naval vessels to maintain a resilient alliance and deter potential foes.The third is to continue advancing defense ties and include Japan to share information, assess threats and craft thoughtful responses.Austin said they also agreed to strengthen maritime security and build up the capacity of partner nations.'Ironclad commitment' to South KoreaBlinken affirmed denuclearization in North Korea remains U.S. policy instead of shifting to a deterrence-based policy if North Korea were to become a nuclear power."The United States has an ironclad commitment to [South Korean] security," Blinken commented. "That's especially important given the ongoing provocation by North Korea."He said North Korea's test launch of an ICBM on Wednesday is a "flagrant violation" of U.N Security Council resolutions and North Korea should cease its "destabilizing actions."Blinken said he also spoke with his counterpart in Japan after the North Korean ICBM splashed down near Japanese territory."The [Republic of Korea], U.S. and Japan ... will continue to work closely towards the goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the U.S. State Department Thursday afternoon in a joint statement with the governments of Japan and South Korea.The joint statement says North Korea's launch of the ICBM Wednesday "is in flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions."We strongly urge [North Korea] to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilizing actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond," the joint statement says.Foreign troops on Russian soilDuring the press conference Thursday, Blinken and Austin said North Korea has sent 10,000 troops to Russia, where they are being trained in artillery, UAV and basic infantry operations, including trench-clearing.Russian President Vladimir Putin is "pouring more troops into a meat grinder," Blinken said.He said it's the first time in 100 years that Russia has invited foreign troops into its country and shows how badly the war in Ukraine is going for Russia and how desperate Putin has become after invading Ukraine in February 2022."Russia intends to use these troops against Ukraine," Austin said. "That would make them legitimate military targets."About 8,000 of those troops are deployed in the Kursk-Oblast area of Russia, where Ukraine recently captured territory and continues to hold it."Ukraine's military continues to perform admirably on the battlefield," Austin said. "Tin cupping North Korea for manpower is another sign of Putin's weakness" and how badly the war has gone for Russia.He said the addition of 10,000 North Korean troops shouldn't have a significant impact when Russia is losing 1,200 troops every day.Blinken said China should do more to stop North Korea and Russia from engaging in aggression against Ukraine and maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.Peace through alliance-South Korea is an "increasingly consequential leader" in the world, Blinken said, and the alliance between South Korea and the United States is helping to maintain peace in the Indo-Pacific region."Our alliance is continuing to do what it does best," Blinken said. "Today is another reflection of the work we are doing together to build a better, more secure and prosperous future."Kim told the media South Korean defense ministers are discussing the situation and "complex challenges" in North Korea and its alliance with Russia.He said South Korean leaders view the alliance with the United States as a "core pillar" for maintaining peace and security and "denounce" North Korea's deployment of troops in Russia."We urge immediate withdrawal" of North Korean troops from Russia and "complete denuclearization of North Korea," Kim said.He also said it's important for the United States and South Korea to expand their alliance to include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Pacific Island nations to develop a "global strategic alliance.""We go together," Kim said.South Korean Foreign Minister Cho said China has been "reticent about making its position known" regarding North Korean troops in Russia and the ICBM missile launch.He said South Korean and Chinese officials have engaged in "high-level talks," but China needs to assess the level of involvement of North Korean forces in Russia and how Russia might repay North Korea for the military assistance."If the situation worsens, there will be a point where the interest of China will be violated," Kim added."At that point is where China will become involved," he said.

Ukraine calls for ending restrictions on using long-range missiles against Russia.by AFP Staff Writers.

Montreal (AFP) Oct 31, 2024-Ukraine's foreign minister on Thursday called on Western nations to lift restrictions on the use of long range missiles against Russia, after North Korean troops deployed to Russia's border region with Ukraine, trained and ready for combat.Speaking at a peace conference in Montreal, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the North Korean troop deployment marked a "true escalation of this war" and that Kyiv should be allowed to use missiles to strike Russian territory."We need a strong reaction," he said. "We need (a) strong decision of our allies to lift all the restrictions, to lift all the restrictions to use long-range missiles on the territory of Russia.""That's our right of self defense and we are speaking about military targets on Russian territory," he added.Citing US intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that some 8,000 of the 10,000 North Korean troops believed to be in Russia have made their way to the Kursk border region.North Korea has denied sending troops to Russia, but in state media last week, its vice foreign minister said that if such a deployment were to happen, it would be in line with international law.In Montreal, Sybiha was backed by Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Eide who said: "I just wanted to add my voice to those saying that we should not put any other restrictions on Ukraine's use of weapons.""They want to use these weapons against military targets, military targets that are relevant for Russia in their attacks on Ukraine. And that should be the only restriction," he said, adding that Canada and a number of European countries also supported this view.

North Korea fires ICBM as US, Seoul slam Russia deployment By Claire Lee and Cat Barton.

Seoul (AFP) Oct 31, 2024-North Korea said Thursday it had test-fired one of its newest and most powerful missiles to boost its nuclear deterrent, Kim Jong Un's first weapons test since being accused of sending soldiers to Russia.Seoul had warned a day earlier that the nuclear-armed North was preparing to test-fire another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or even conduct a nuclear test ahead of next week's US elections.The launch came just hours after US and South Korean defence chiefs called on Pyongyang to withdraw its troops from Russia, warning that North Korean soldiers in Russian uniforms were being deployed for possible action against Ukraine."The initial judgment so far is that (Pyongyang) may have test-fired a new solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile," Seoul's military said, adding the missile had flown around 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) after being fired on a lofted trajectory -- meaning up, not out.Developing advanced solid-fuel missiles -- which are quicker to launch and harder to detect and destroy in advance -- has long been a goal for Kim.North Korea defended the sanctions-busting launch, calling it "an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals... of our counteraction will," the official Korean Central News Agency reported Kim as saying.The test "updated the recent records of the strategic missile capability," of North Korea, it said, with Kim vowing his country "will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces".Tokyo said that the "ICBM-class" missile had flown for longer than any other previously tested by the North, being airborne for about 86 minutes and hitting altitudes of 7,000 kilometres."We estimate that its flying altitude was the highest we have seen," Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani told reporters.Washington slammed the launch as "a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions", National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement.Beijing's foreign ministry said Thursday that it was "concerned about developments on the (Korean) peninsula," and urged a "political resolution" to the issue.Seoul, Washington and Tokyo -- key regional security allies -- will respond with joint military drills involving US strategic assets, Seoul said.South Korean President Yook Suk Yeol also said the country would "designate new independent sanctions" on the North and work with partners and the UN to penalise Pyongyang's "habitual violations of Security Council resolutions."- Diverting attention? -North Korea's missile launch "seems to have been carried out to divert attention from international criticism of its troop deployment," Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.Seoul has long accused the nuclear-armed North of sending weapons to help Moscow fight Kyiv and alleged that Pyongyang has moved to deploy soldiers en mass in the wake of Kim Jong Un's signing of a mutual defence deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.The troop deployment poses a "significant security threat", Seoul has said, with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday calling on the North to pull their troops out.South Korea's military had warned lawmakers the day before that preparations were "nearly complete for an ICBM-class long-range missile" and that a launch could be aimed at testing the North's atmospheric reentry technology.Seoul has warned that Russia may be providing new technology or expertise to Pyongyang in return for weapons and troops to help them fight Ukraine.It is possible "Russia actually provided new technology for re-entering the atmosphere," Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP.But it is more likely that Thursday's test was a bid to distract from the troop deployment and get "the world's attention ahead of the US presidential election" Ahn added.Seoul, a major weapons exporter, has said it is reviewing whether to send weapons directly to Ukraine in response, something it has previously resisted due to longstanding domestic policy that prevents it from sending weaponry into active conflicts.North Korea has denied sending troops to Russia, but in the first comment in state media last week, its vice foreign minister said that if such a deployment were to happen, it would be in line with international law.

Pyongyang is banned from tests using ballistic technology by multiple rounds of UN sanctions, but leader Kim has ramped up launches this year, with experts warning he could be testing weaponry before providing it to Russia.Solid-fuel ICBM?

What we know about Kim Jong Un's arsenal-Seoul (AFP) Oct 31, 2024 - North Korea said Thursday it had test-fired one of its newest and most powerful weapons to boost its nuclear deterrent, with Seoul warning it could be a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.AFP takes a look at what we know:What is a solid-fuel missile?Solid-fuel missiles are powered by a chemical mixture which is cast into the missile's airframe when it is built -- like a firecracker rocket, ready to go.In contrast, liquid-fuelled missiles typically require that the fuel and an oxidiser be inserted before they can be fired -- a slower and more cumbersome process.For leader Kim Jong Un's purposes, this creates "a time period for South Korea to detect and target preemptively before the launch," said Han Kwon-hee of the Korea Association of Defence Industry Studies.This is the whole premise of South Korea's so-called "Kill Chain" defence system, Han said.That is why Kim wants solid fuel missiles."It allows for rapid launches with minimal preparation," Han said, adding that they can be deployed "almost instantly".Why is Kim testing it now? Analysts have speculated North Korea timed the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test as a response to accusations by the United States and South Korea that it is sending thousands of soldiers to Russia to help fight Ukraine.Seoul had warned that a North Korean missile launch or even a nuclear test was imminent ahead of next week's US election.The ICBM launch is part of North Korea's effort to "reframe its troop deployment to Russia as a legitimate response to the threat posed by the United States," Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.Seoul says that in addition to dispatching troops to Russia, Pyongyang has sent 13,000 shipping containers full of artillery shells, anti-tank rockets and missiles.So what's the message?North Korea claims the launch on Thursday was a "very crucial" test of an ICBM.Such missiles have a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres (3,400 miles) and are primarily designed to deliver nuclear warheads -- which allows Kim to threaten the US.The launch "demonstrates that Russia and North Korea, as nuclear-armed states, possess the capability to operate strategic nuclear weapons against the United States," Hong said.Kim may be signalling to Washington that "the North Korea-Russia alliance is, in essence, a nuclear alliance."Do Kim's ICBMs work? North Korea claimed to have successfully tested its first ICBM in 2017 -- the Hwasong-14, a missile capable of reaching Alaska -- and has rolled out bigger and more powerful weapons since.North Korea fired what has become known as the "monster missile" in November 2022, and tested a solid-fuel ICBM last year.The record-breaking ICBM launch on Thursday "reached an altitude of 7,000 km and flew for 1 hour and 26 minutes," South Korean lawmaker Yu Yong-weon, who sits on the defence committee in parliament, wrote on Facebook."This makes Thursday's launch the longest ever by North Korea, and possibly by any country," Seoul-based specialist site NK News reported.The duration and altitude indicate the North "tried to evaluate whether a heavy multiple-warhead ICBM can indeed reach the US mainland," Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.All of North Korea's ICBMs -- including Thursday's launch -- have been test-fired on a lofted trajectory -- meaning up not out.Experts question whether they could survive reentry into the atmosphere and prove accurate over greater ranges.What else has Kim got? His arsenal is substantial: cruise missiles, intermediate-range ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, and even a submarine-launched ballistic missile -- although experts say Pyongyang's exact sea-based launch capabilities remain unclear.North Korea has also conducted six previous nuclear tests, with South Korea's military telling lawmakers this week that the North could again attempt "to highlight nuclear issues before the US presidential election."Kim toured a uranium enrichment facility in September -- with state media releasing images of it for the first time -- and Seoul has said "preparations at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in Kilju County are nearly complete," for a seventh test.By flexing its military muscles, Kim is sending a clear message to Washington, experts said.By successfully test-firing a solid-fuel mission "it could enable surprise ICBM attacks on US territories without prior warning," Kim Ki-ho, a North Korean studies expert who teaches at Seoul Christian University, told AFP."This effort is aimed at enhancing their negotiating power, regardless of who wins the upcoming US presidential election."

Faster communication with Earth possible through record-sensitive receiver by Robert Schreiber.

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Oct 31, 2024-In a significant advance for space communication, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a new system featuring a silent amplifier and a record-sensitive receiver, enabling the faster and clearer transmission of images, videos, and data from space probes to Earth using light. This development holds potential for enhancing long-distance optical links that face power loss and interference during the journey to Earth.Optical communication using laser beams is increasingly favored over radio waves for space applications, as it suffers from less signal loss over vast distances. However, even light-based signals diminish in strength over the journey, requiring highly sensitive receivers on Earth to detect these weakened signals. The new system by Chalmers researchers seeks to meet this need by providing a pathway for higher-speed, error-free transmissions over distances such as those from the Moon or Mars to Earth."We can demonstrate a new system for optical communication with a receiver that is more sensitive than has been demonstrated previously at high data rates. This means that you can get a faster and more error-free transfer of information over very long distances, for example when you want to send high-resolution images or videos from the Moon or Mars to Earth," said Peter Andrekson, Professor of Photonics at Chalmers and one of the lead authors of the study, which was recently published in the scientific journal 'Optica'.Silent Amplifier and Simplified Transmitter-At the heart of the system is an optical amplifier designed to enhance the signal with minimal noise, making data transmission more reliable. As light spreads and weakens with distance - similar to a flashlight beam - signals sent from space are often too faint upon reaching Earth to overcome the electronic noise in receivers. The Chalmers team previously developed a noise-free optical amplifier, but its practical implementation had been hindered by the demanding requirements it placed on both transmitter and receiver.The current design simplifies these demands, with the receiver on Earth generating two of the three light frequencies necessary for noise-free amplification, allowing the transmitter to produce only a single frequency. This adjustment means the noise-free amplifier can now be utilized with a standard laser transmitter, potentially allowing existing optical transmitters on space probes to function seamlessly with the new system on Earth."This phase-sensitive optical amplifier does not, in principle, generate any extra noise, which contributes to a more sensitive receiver and that error-free data transmission is achieved even when the power of the signal is lower. By generating two extra waves of different frequencies in the receiver, rather than as previously done in the transmitter, a conventional laser transmitter with one wave can now be used to implement the amplifier. Our simplification of the transmitter means that already existing optical transmitters on board satellites and probes could be used together with the noise-free amplifier in a receiver on Earth," explained Rasmus Larsson, Postdoctoral Researcher in Photonics at Chalmers and a lead author of the study.Addressing Communication Bottlenecks-This progress brings Chalmers' silent amplifier closer to practical use in space-Earth communication links, which could alleviate a bottleneck currently facing space agencies, referred to as "the science return bottleneck." This bottleneck arises from the challenges in rapidly transmitting scientific data from space back to Earth.NASA has highlighted this bottleneck as a critical issue in the data transmission chain. "We believe that our system is an important step forward towards a practical solution that can resolve this bottleneck," said Andrekson.The Chalmers team plans to advance this technology by testing the optical communication system in field conditions on Earth, followed by trials in satellite-to-Earth communication links.

Niger inks deal with Russia for three satellites.

Niamey, Niger, Nov 1 (AFP) Nov 01, 2024-Niger signed a deal Friday with Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, to buy three satellites to boost security in the Sahel nation and its neighbours, all battling jihadist attacks.Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, all under military rule following a string of coups since 2020, joined together in September 2023 under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), after severing ties with former colonial ruler France and pivoting towards Russia.The neighbours are all battling jihadist violence that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.The deal covers a communications satellite, another for remote sensing and a third for radar, Nigerien Communications Minister Sidi Mohamed Raliou said at the signing ceremony in the capital Niamey.Their manufacture in Russia will take four years, he said.State radio in the West African nation reported that in the meantime Glavkosmos had agreed to loan similar equipment."This very important project falls within the framework of the sovereignty of our countries," the minister said."At the end of this project, the three countries will be able to pilot their communication satellites themselves and manage them as they wish," the ANP Nigerien press agency quoted the minister as saying.

Czech body rejects EDF, Westinghouse nuke deal complaints.

Prague, Oct 31 (AFP) Oct 31, 2024-The Czech antitrust watchdog said Thursday it had rejected complaints from France's EDF and the US's Westinghouse concerning a multi-billion-dollar tender to build two nuclear units in the Czech Republic.The two companies have appealed a decision by the Czech government to hand the contract to South Korea's KHNP.The competition office (UOHS) temporarily blocked the Czech Republic from signing the deal on Wednesday, before passing its verdict a day later."The proceedings on the proposals by the two companies have largely been halted, while in other parts the proposals have been rejected," the UOHS said in a statement.It added EDF and Westinghouse could now file an appeal with the UOHS chairman, and that the Czech state-run power group CEZ cannot sign the deal with KHNP until a final decision is made in the case.KHNP beat EDF to win the tender in July, after Westinghouse's bid was ruled out over flaws in January, with both groups appealing the result the following month.Westinghouse has accused KHNP of using its technology without authorisation, while EDF said it wanted to make sure the selection process was fair and transparent.CEZ runs two nuclear plants -- Temelin and Dukovany, both in the south of the country -- which produce around 30 percent of total Czech electricity output.With the two new units and small modular reactors due to be built by 2050, nuclear energy is expected to account for 50 percent of the Czech energy mix as the EU member of 10.9 million people shifts from burning fossil fuels to greener technologies.KHNP has offered to build the two new units for around 200 billion Czech koruna ($8.5 billion) each.Prague expects to finalise the deal with KHNP by March 2025, with construction to begin in 2029 and the first new reactor launched in trial operation in 2036.frj/mmp/rl-TOSHIBA-CEZ

Israeli strikes hurt Iran, further escalation possible: analysts.

Paris, Nov 1 (AFP) Nov 01, 2024-While heeding US calls to steer clear of nuclear or oil infrastructure, Israel in its strikes on Iran inflicted severe damage on Iranian air defences and missile capacities and could yet launch more widescale action against the Islamic republic, analysts say.Following Iran's October 1 salvo of missiles against Israel last month -- intended as a reprisal to Israeli strikes that killed senior figures in Iran-backed groups Hezbollah and Hamas -- there were fears Israel would respond with attacks on Iran of a magnitude that could spark a global conflict.The United States, mindful of the risk of the conflict spreading, swiftly pressured its ally to avoid the most escalatory options of strikes against Iranian nuclear infrastructure or oil and gas production facilities.In the end, according to media reports and analysts, Israel opted for strikes on October 26 against Iranian air defence systems including several guarding oil refineries, as well as three key missile production facilities.While Iranian officials have in public minimised the importance of the strikes, which killed four servicemen, it is now becoming clear the attacks inflicted significant damage as well as containing an implicit warning from Israel that more could be in store."Israel's target set clearly suggests it intended to erode Iran's critical missile production capacity and facilitate further military action if the conflict escalates," said an analysis from the Washington-based Hudson Institute.It said Israel used around 100 combat aircraft and possibly drones in its attack, targeting Iranian "missile manufacturing capabilities and strategic air defence architecture"."Israel likely handicapped Iran's ability to produce the high-end, solid-fuel, medium-range ballistic missiles that Tehran used in its October 1 salvos," it added.The action against missile production is all the more pertinent at a time when Iran is accused by the West of supplying Russia with attack drones and missiles for its war against Ukraine.- 'Effect over spectacle' -Fabian Hinz, research fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said Israel had hit three Iranian facilities in Shahroud, Parchin and Khojir that make the solid propellant for missiles."There are indications that they very deliberately targeted bottlenecks within the production process that would have pretty large implications for Iran's missile production," he said."These strikes might not have produced the most spectacular videos, they were designed very smartly to produce substantial effect even with a limited number of targets. They privileged the effect over the spectacle."Satellite pictures provided by Planet Labs of the Parchin facility showed the apparent effects of the strike in an October 27 image, contrasted with the undamaged facility on September 9.The targeting of air defences was also hugely significant, Hinz added."They are sending the message that if Israel wants to strike again, that would be easier and could be more comprehensive next time."The Israeli strikes appear to have damaged Russian S-300 air defence systems delivered to Iran by Moscow, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) which said Russia's need for such systems in the war against Ukraine would constrain its ability to supply Iran.Indeed, information from Israel on the strikes even suggests that "Iran does not have any functional S-300 batteries right now", the ISW said.Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said Israel "tried to damage both our defensive and offensive systems", but insisted "there has been no interruption in the process of producing offensive systems such as missiles".- 'Stronger invitation' -But the most dangerous standoff between the two foes is far from over, with both sides warning it could escalate further.Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, a senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and hugely influential official who speaks rarely in public, on Thursday warned of a "harsh and regretful" response by Iran.The New York Times on Friday cited three Iranian officials as saying Khamenei had instructed the Supreme National Security Council on Monday to prepare for a further strike on Israel as the "scope of Israel's attack (was)... too large to ignore".Israel could then retaliate again, with all eyes on whether it could decide to strike a nuclear site, although doubts remain over whether it could carry out such a bunker-busting attack without US assistance.Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi warned Israel would hit back "very very hard" if Iran retaliates against Israel.Hinz said Israel's strategy towards Iran had changed in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks against Israel by Iran-backed Hamas, and the Israeli leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in no mood to back down against the Islamic republic."If the Iranians launch another strike, then Israel might basically respond to that with another strike of their own. If they don't do that, they might see it as even a stronger invitation to follow-on strikes," he said.dla-sjw/tgb/srm-THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY

China says growing Russia-North Korea ties 'their own matter'

Beijing, Nov 1 (AFP) Nov 01, 2024-China on Friday insisted that growing ties between Pyongyang and Moscow were not its concern, after the United States warned up to 8,000 North Korean troops have reached Russia's border region trained and ready for combat with Ukraine."North Korea and Russia are two independent sovereign states. How they develop bilateral relations is their own matter," Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.Seeking advantage in his grinding invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has brought in troops and military hardware from North Korea, the first time Russia has invited foreign forces on its soil in more than a century.Citing US intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that about 8,000 of the 10,000 North Korean troops believed to be in Russia have made their way to the Kursk border region.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denounced what he called inaction by his allies on North Korean troops and said he was surprised by the "silence" of China.In response, Beijing said Friday it "does not know the specific situation of bilateral exchange and cooperation between North Korea and Russia"."China's position of hoping various parties will promote an easing of the situation and work for a political solution to the Ukraine crisis has not changed," Lin said.

China says 'concerned' over Korean Peninsula tensions after North fires ICBM.

Beijing, Oct 31 (AFP) Oct 31, 2024-China on Thursday said it was "concerned" over the situation on the Korean Peninsula, after Pyongyang said it had test-fired one of its most powerful missiles to boost its nuclear deterrent.The launch was North Korea's first weapons test since being accused of sending soldiers to Russia.South Korea's military said its "initial judgement" was that the projectile may have been a "new solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile".Beijing's foreign ministry said Thursday that it was "concerned about developments on the (Korean) peninsula.""China... has consistently maintained that preserving peace and stability on the peninsula and promoting the process of political resolution to the peninsula issue aligns with the common interests of all parties," ministry spokesman Lin Jian said."We hope all parties will make efforts toward this goal," he told a regular press briefing in Beijing.The launch came hours after US and South Korean defence chiefs called on Pyongyang to withdraw its troops from Russia, warning that North Korean soldiers in Russian uniforms were being deployed for possible action against Ukraine.China is a longtime socialist ally of North Korea, which relies heavily on Beijing for diplomatic and economic support.Beijing and Seoul are also major trade partners.

Significant' fire at UK nuclear submarine shipyard.

London, Oct 30 (AFP) Oct 30, 2024-Firefighters in northwest England on Wednesday fought a "significant fire" at a weapons firm's nuclear submarine shipyard, which led to two people being taken to hospital.Officials insisted there was "no nuclear risk" from the blaze, which broke out at BAE Systems' site at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria in the early hours.The Royal Navy's nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered submarines are built at the shipyard."Emergency services remain in attendance at BAE at a significant fire at the site," the Cumbria Local Resilience Forum said in a statement released by police."There is no nuclear risk," it added.An earlier statement noted that the two people had been taken to hospital for suspected smoke inhalation.People living near the shipyard were told to keep doors with windows closed and avoid the area while emergency services remain there."Cumbria Fire and Rescue are likely to have appliances on site for much of the day today," the statement added.jj/tw-BAE Systems

Russian defence ministry says held fresh nuclear drills.

Moscow, Oct 29 (AFP) Oct 29, 2024-Russia said Tuesday its army held fresh nuclear drills under the supervision of President Vladimir Putin, who recently called for changes to rules on the use of Moscow's nuclear deterrent.Putin has raised the prospect of using nuclear weapons during Moscow's offensive in Ukraine several times and last month suggested Russia broaden its rules on using nuclear weaponry.Russia's defence ministry said a "training exercise was conducted with the forces and means of the land, maritime and aviation components of the strategic deterrent force" and that an "intercontinental ballistic missile was launched."The ministry said the missile was launched at a test site in the far-eastern Kamchatka peninsula.Other missiles were launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea in the Arctic and from the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East.The ministry said the drills were conducted successful and that the missiles had "reached their targets."The TASS news industry published footage of a missile being launched in the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Russian Far-North.In September, Putin suggested that Moscow change its nuclear doctrine to allow it to unleash a nuclear response in the event of a "massive" air attack.Under the proposed rules, Russia would also consider any attack by a non-nuclear country supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack by both, in a seeming reference to Ukraine.The plans came as Ukraine is seeking authorisation to use long-range missiles against Russia, which has so far been met by US reluctance.

North Korea says test-fire 'perfected' new solid-fuel ICBM by AFP Staff Writers.

Seoul (AFP) Nov 1, 2024-North Korea's latest weapons test "perfected" its newest and most advanced solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, state media said Friday, as global criticism mounts over Pyongyang's purported deployment of troops to Russia.Leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of the Hwasong-19 missile, which flew higher and further than any previous missile, according to the North and to Seoul and Tokyo's militaries, which tracked it in real time.The official Korean Central News Agency hailed it as "the world's strongest strategic missile" and leader Kim "expressed great satisfaction" at the successful launch.Developing advanced solid-fuel missiles -- which are quicker to launch and harder to detect and destroy -- has long been a goal for Kim.The test proved that North Korea's "development and manufacture of nuclear delivery means... is absolutely irreversible", according to KCNA.The missile is now a "perfected weapon system", the agency said, with Kim describing the launch as an "appropriate military action" to send a message to the country's rivals.North Korea "would never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces," it said.State media released pictures of the ICBM and Kim observing the test in his signature black leather jacket, accompanied by his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, who Seoul's spy agency recently said was being groomed as Kim's heir.The launch came just hours after US and South Korean defence chiefs called on Pyongyang to withdraw its troops from Russia, warning that North Korean soldiers in Russian uniforms were being deployed for possible action against Ukraine.Experts said the missile test seemed to have been carried out to divert attention from mounting international criticism over the purported troop deployment to Russia.The North has denied the move, but the United States said Thursday that up to 8,000 North Korean troops had reached Russia's border region with Ukraine, trained and ready for combat.South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun also said on Thursday that in addition to troops, North Korea has sent more than 1,000 missiles to Russia as well as millions of munitions.Seoul has long accused the nuclear-armed North of sending weapons to help Moscow fight Kyiv and alleged that Pyongyang has moved to deploy soldiers en mass in the wake of Kim Jong Un's signing of a mutual defence deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.

WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

The King of Jerusalem[1] was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Crusader state founded by Christian princes in 1099 when the First Crusade took the city.Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, himself refused the title of king, and instead chose the title "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre". Thus, the title of king was only introduced for his successor, King Baldwin I in 1100. The city of Jerusalem was lost in 1187, but the Kingdom of Jerusalem survived (also known as the "Second Kingdom of Jerusalem"), moving its capital to Acre in 1191. The city of Jerusalem was re-captured in the Sixth Crusade, during 1229–39 and 1241–44. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was finally dissolved with the fall of Acre and the end of the Crusades in the Holy Land in 1291.After the Crusader States ceased to exist, the title of King of Jerusalem was claimed by a number of European noble houses descended from the kings of Cyprus or the kings of Naples. The (purely ceremonial) title of King of Jerusalem is currently used by Felipe VI of Spain. It was claimed by Otto von Habsburg as Habsburg pretender, and by the kings of Italy until 1946.

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

 1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
 
ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20  And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21  And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22  And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went
toenquire of the LORD.
23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

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, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
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)

MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)(50% OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE)
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.

DR SAMUEL DOCTORIANS VISION - SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] countries that have refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one another."I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the Middle East countries. I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of Georgia - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor - full of blood. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere. Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these words:"Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come." The angel said, "The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The Spirit of God shall prepare the children of God."I saw fires rising to heaven.The angel said: "This is the final judgment. My church shall be purified, protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from thirst. Water shall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry up, and men will fight for water in those countries."The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.

DANIEL CHAPTER 9:24-27 EXPLAINED.
24 Seventy weeks (70X7=490 YEARS) are determined upon thy people (ISRAEL) and upon thy holy city,(JERUSALEM) to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.(JESUS ANNOINTED WITH HOLY OIL AS KING OF JERUSALEM FOREVER).
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, (7X7=49 YEARS) and threescore and two weeks:(62X7=434 YEARS) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.(490-49-434=7 YR PERIOD WERE GOD DEALS WITH ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM (NOT THE CHURCH-THE TRUE CHURCH IS IS IN HEAVEN WITH JESUS FOR THAT LAST 7 YEAR PERIOD.)(DANIEL 9:26-27 IS IN THE FUTURE WHEN GOD DEALS ON EARTH WITH ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM FOR THAT FINAL 7 TEAR PERIOD. WHEN ALL OF ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED BY MESSIAH JESUS.)(AT THE END OF IT)
26 And after threescore and two weeks (69X7=483 YEARS)(ONE 7 YEAR PERIOD UNTIL PROPHECY IS FULFILLED) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince (ROMANS) that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(2ND TEMPLE AND JERUSALEM) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(NOW THE FINAL ISRAEL-JERUSALEM COUNTDOWN FOR MESSIAH JESUS RETURN THE LAST 7 YEARS)
27 And he (HE WHO? HE HERE IS THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE LEADER THAT MAKES THE FINAL 7 YR CONTRACT WITH ISRAEL AND MANY MUSLIM COUNTRIES FOR A 7 YR PERIOD, AND THE EU WILL GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY FOR THIS LAST PERIOD) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: (7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week (3 1/2 YEARS IN) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, (THIS FALSE MESSIAH OR ROMAN LEADER STOPS THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN THE 3RD TEMPLE AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE 7 YR DEAL. A JEW MURDERS HIM WITH A SWORD WOUND AND HE HAS A FALSE RESSURECTION-SATAN INCARNATES IN HIS BODY. AND BRINGS HIM BACK TO LIFE.AND HE THEN SITS IN THE 3RD TEMPLE CALLING HIMSELF GOD AS THE WORLD SAYS HES JESUS REINCARNATED. AND BY THIS FALSE RESURRECTION GOD SENDS THIS STRONG DELUTION ON THE EARTH THAT ALL THE LOST WILL WORSHIP THIS ROMAN LEADER AS GOD AND ACCEPT HIS NAME, NUMBER OR NUMBER OF HIS NAME IN THEIR MICROCHIP IMPLANT. THAT THEY MIGHT BE DOOMED, DAMNED TO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER. WHO WORSHIPS THIS ROMAN LEADER AS GOD.) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(WARS NON STOP DURING THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR PERIOD. HAMAS DEATH CULT HOSTAGE RELEASE.

Hamas rejects any hostage deal that doesn’t end war, despite mediators’ efforts-As Qatari interlocutors reportedly try to coax terror group back to negotiating table with various short-term ceasefire offers, senior official says demands haven’t changed-By ToI Staff and Agencies 31 October 2024, 4:05 pm

Hamas on Thursday rejected any proposal for a temporary halt to more than a year of fighting in Gaza and reiterated its insistence on a lasting ceasefire, as American, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators tried to coax the Palestinian terror group back to the negotiating table.“The idea of a temporary pause in the war, only to resume aggression later, is something we have already expressed our position on. Hamas supports a permanent end to the war, not a temporary one,” senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP.Mediators seeking to broker a Gaza ceasefire were expected to present Hamas with a proposal for a truce of less than a month, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP on Wednesday.The proposal was discussed during meetings in Doha between Mossad head David Barnea, CIA Director Bill Burns, and Qatar’s prime minister, which concluded on Monday, the source said on condition of anonymity because of the talks’ sensitivity.The source echoed reports in Hebrew media that the latest proposal involves exchanging several hostages kidnapped during Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, massacre for Palestinian security prisoners and increasing aid to Gaza.According to the reports in Hebrew media, the Mossad chief presented Qatari interlocutors with a proposal for the release of 11-14 hostages from Gaza in exchange for around 100 Palestinian security prisoners from Israel, along with a monthlong pause in fighting in the Strip.All of the remaining women and children held by the terror group would reportedly be among the hostages that would be released in the deal.“US officials believe that if a short-term deal can be reached, it could lead to a more permanent agreement,” the source said.Nunu said Hamas had not received any proposal so far, adding that if the terror group were to receive such a plan, it would respond.However, he reiterated the demands the group has been insisting on for months — “a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal [of Israeli forces] from Gaza, the return of displaced people, sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza and a serious prisoner exchange deal.”According to the earlier reports, the proposal does not demand a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip nor a complete end to the fighting — both of which have been sticking points in previous rounds of failed negotiations, as Hamas has insisted it will agree to nothing less.Qatar was also reportedly set to present Hamas with two other short-term truce proposals — an offer put forward by Egyptian mediators for a two-day ceasefire to exchange four Israeli hostages for some Palestinian prisoners, and another drawn up by Moscow for the release of two hostages with Russian citizenship.The Hamas official’s comments come as Qatari mediators were reportedly meeting with Hamas leaders in Doha to discuss whether or not the terror group is willing to return to the negotiating table.It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

Israel said seeking US commitment for freedom of action if Hezbollah breaches truce-Israeli TV reports progress in Israel-US talks; WSJ says Hezbollah and Lebanon unlikely to agree to Israel’s demand for ‘active enforcement’ of ceasefire; Blinken: More work to do-By ToI Staff and Agencies Today, 1:27 am-NOV 1,24

Top Israeli officials and senior Biden aides made significant progress in their meetings aimed at securing a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to a Channel 12 report on Thursday that said Israel is seeking a side letter from the US in which Washington will commit to allowing Israel freedom of action to respond to any violation of the ceasefire deal by Hezbollah.A US official told The Times of Israel that US special envoy Amos Hochstein and White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk’s meetings with top Israeli officials in Jerusalem on Thursday were “substantive and constructive and focused on a number of issues in depth, including Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and securing the release of hostages.”Hochstein and McGurk met over the course of the day with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Shin Bet director Ronan Bar, Mossad director David Barnea and other senior Israeli officials.“There was a particular focus on efforts to secure a ceasefire deal in Lebanon that allows people on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes as well as new initiatives to secure the release of hostages, which Hamas must do without delay,” the US official said, adding that Washington “will not negotiate either issue in public.”Netanyahu’s office said “the main issue” that the premier discussed with Hochstein and McGurk were “Israel’s ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon.”US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon were moving toward understandings on what is required for implementing UN Resolution 1701 that would result in a sustainable end to the conflict.“It’s important to make sure we have clarity, both from Lebanon and from Israel, about what would be required under 1701 to get its effective implementation,” Blinken told a press conference. “I can tell you that based on my recent trip to the region, the work that’s ongoing right now, we have made good progress on those understandings.”While good progress had been made, there was still more work to do, Blinken said.The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1701 in 2006 with the aim of keeping peace on the border between Lebanon and Israel, but provisions on Hezbollah’s disarmament and the prevention of their presence near the Israeli border were quickly ignored.Lebanon’s prime minister expressed hope on Wednesday that a ceasefire deal with Israel would be announced within days as Israel’s public broadcaster published what it said was a draft agreement providing for an initial 60-day truce.According to the US news site Axios, Israel’s main demand is to be able to conduct “active enforcement” of Resolution 1701, which requires that the Lebanese Armed Forces be the only force with arms in southern Lebanon.A report in The Wall Street Journal said that demand is likely to face steep resistance from both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government over concerns it violates the country’s sovereignty.The report said Hezbollah told mediators the 60-day ceasefire leaves the door open to “Israeli aggression in Lebanon,” and that the terror group is staunchly against any modification of resolution 1701.The Wall Street Journal also reported that there seemed to be progress in convincing Hezbollah to drop its insistence that there be no halt to the fighting in Lebanon until there’s a ceasefire in Gaza.Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it’s doing so to support Gaza following the Hamas attack a day earlier that sparked the ongoing war there.Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught in southern Israel, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and increasing rocket fire by the terror group.The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have resulted in the deaths of 39 civilians.The conflict in Lebanon has dramatically escalated over the past five weeks, with IDF troops launching a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon on September 30, several days after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Beirut.According to the IDF, 61 soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.According to the Lebanese health ministry, over 2,800 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past year, with most of the deaths coming since the conflict escalated last month. The IDF estimates that more than 2,000 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict.

'IDF op in north Gaza can only be described as form of genocide'Saudi FM: Some deals with US not tied to Israel normalization can still move forward-Bilateral agreements on trade, AI could advance ‘quickly,’ Faisal bin Farhan says, reiterating that deal with Israel ‘off the table until we have a resolution to Palestinian statehood’ By Agencies 31 October 2024, 7:03 pm

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Thursday that Riyadh could potentially move “quite quickly” on some bilateral agreements with Washington even if a mega-deal involving normalization with Israel remains out of reach.Since last year, Saudi Arabia has been bargaining hard for a defense pact with the United States as well as assistance with a civilian nuclear program.As part of that deal, the Gulf kingdom, home to the holiest shrines in Islam, would recognize Israel for the first time.De facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month ruled out recognizing Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state, upping the price for the deal after Riyadh had indicated for months that it would be prepared to settle for steps that fall short of that far-reaching goal.Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan reiterated on Thursday that normalization was “off the table until we have a resolution to Palestinian statehood” — a framework that Israel flatly rejects.But during a session at the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, he also said deals in other areas could advance soon.“The bilateral agreements we are working on with the US are actually multiple agreements,” Prince Faisal said.“Some of them we can progress probably quite quickly, and some of them we are working on — especially those related to trade, AI, et cetera — which are not tied to any other third parties.”Officials in US President Joe Biden’s administration have described the ongoing bilateral talks as building toward the proposed mega-deal, dismissing the possibility of separating the different components.Prince Faisal seemed to acknowledge on Thursday that the defense-related elements were bound up with normalization.“Some of the more significant defense cooperation agreements are much more complicated,” he said.“We would certainly welcome an opportunity to finish them before the current administration’s term, but that’s reliant on other factors outside of our control.”Prince Faisal also said Riyadh had no preference on the winner of next week’s presidential election in the US.“Obviously, we’ve worked with President [Donald] Trump before, so we know him, and we can find a way to work with him very well,” he said.“But we also know, obviously, the team that is currently working with the Biden administration. Vice President [Kamala] Harris is part of that team, and we’ve been able to build a very strong working relationship. So we absolutely have no preference.”He added: “They will certainly be different, whether one or the other would be better, this is not up to me to say.”Turning to the IDF’s ongoing military operation in northern Gaza, Prince Faisal said Israeli actions there could only be described as a form of “genocide” that was feeding a cycle of violence.“We look at just what’s happening now in north [Gaza] where we have a complete blockade of any access for humanitarian goods coupled with a continued military assault without any real pathway for civilians to find shelter, to find safe zones, that can only be described as a form of genocide,” he said.“It is certainly against humanitarian law, international humanitarian law, and is feeding a continuing cycle of violence.”In Jerusalem, there was no immediate response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to a request for comment.Israel says it has continued food deliveries into Gaza and blames the United Nations for failing to feed Gazans. The IDF says it is operating in certain northern Gaza cities in order to quash a resurgence of Hamas activity there.Fears of the Middle East conflict further widening peaked earlier this month after Tehran’s missile attack on Israel on October 1Israel responded by striking military sites in Iran on Saturday but stopped short of attacking nuclear or oil facilities.Gulf states had sought urgent de-escalation, fearing they could be caught in the crosshairs of a widening conflict.Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has had a political rapprochement with Tehran in recent years, which has helped ease regional tensions, but relations remain difficult.“I think our relations [with Iran] are moving in the right direction, but of course, they are complicated by the issues of regional dynamics,” Prince Faisal said.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

IDF announces formation of new division to defend Israel’s border with Jordan-Move comes weeks after gunmen breached border in an area south of the Dead Sea; IDF chief Halevi says new division will ease burden on reservists By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff 31 October 2024, 11:30 am

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Wednesday the formation of a new division that will be tasked with defending the country’s eastern border.In a statement, the IDF said the decision to launch the new eastern regional division was made following an examination of the military’s “operational needs and defense capabilities in the area, in accordance with the planning of the IDF’s force build-up, in the light of the lessons of war and the situational assessment.”The move was approved by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.“The mission of the division is to strengthen defenses in the border area, Route 90 and the communities, and to respond to terrorist incidents and weapons smuggling while maintaining a peaceful border and strengthening cooperation with the Jordanian army,” the IDF said.The division will be subordinate to IDF Central Command.At present, the Jordan Valley Regional Brigade, under Central Command, is tasked with defending some 150 kilometers of the eastern frontier, from the northern part of the Dead Sea in the West Bank to the Hamat Gader hot springs in the Golan Heights.The Yoav Regional Brigade, under IDF Southern Command, is responsible for the sparsely populated southern section, from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea resort city of Eilat.The announcement follows an incident earlier in October during which two gunmen breached the border from Jordan and infiltrated into Israel in an area south of the Dead Sea, close to the border community of Neot HaKikar.The Jordanian border in the area consists of coils of barbed wire piled on each other.The gunmen, members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, opened fire at IDF troops, lightly injuring an active-duty soldier and moderately injuring a reservist from the Home Front Command before they were shot dead, having managed to cross no more than a few meters into Israeli territory.A month prior, on September 8, a gunman from Jordan killed three Israeli civilians at the Allenby Bridge border crossing in the West Bank before security forces shot him dead.Anti-Israeli sentiment runs high in Jordan. But the Allenby Bridge attack was the first of its kind along that border since the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and have close security ties but cool diplomatic relations.IDF chief Halevi noted in a separate statement on Wednesday that “strengthening border defenses in general, and the eastern border in particular, was marked as a goal before the war, and it was reinforced in the shadow of October 7 and recent events.”He also tied the decision to the IDF’s manpower shortage and the “urgent need” to find a solution to the burden that the shortage has placed on reservists, many of whom have served multiple stints in Gaza, on the northern border and now in southern Lebanon amid the ongoing ground operation there.“In light of this, we decided to establish a division to strengthen the defense on the eastern border,” he said.Halevi also addressed the manpower shortages in a conversation with officers on the northern border on Wednesday, when he acknowledged a letter that had been penned by reservists criticizing the continued failure to draft members of the ultra-Orthodox community, a move they said would have helped limit the many days of reserve duty they have been called to perform since the start of the war in Gaza over a year ago.“I understand the costs — family, employment — and the burden,” Halevi said. “Now we need solutions. First, we will maintain support. For those who come [to reserve duty], we need to be there, we need to provide solutions, recognition and compensation, for a student or someone whose business has been heavily impacted.”“The IDF needs to be larger, both in the standing army and reserves, which is why we’re building up more forces,” he continued.Halevi said that while visiting injured soldiers on Monday, he “met a soldier from the Givati Brigade who was injured in Rafah. He took a bullet to the upper part of his thigh, not a pleasant injury but he’ll be ok.”“He’s Haredi, from Bnei Brak,” the IDF chief said. “He wanted to enlist, even though his family didn’t support him initially, but once he started, they embraced him with open arms.“They were with him even before he was injured and, of course, after he was injured. And I’m telling you, our question is how we can make many more like him,” Halevi said. “This is what’s right socially, and I think that when we manage to grow from this… from realizing the need for a larger IDF, it could also bring a very positive social change.”Lazar Berman contributed to this report.

Global LGBTQ group suspends Israeli organization, angering queer Jews and allies-After pressure from Israel critics, ILGA World says it both rejected Tel Aviv as potential site for upcoming event and froze Israeli umbrella group’s membership By Andrew Lapin 31 October 2024, 11:45 am

JTA — An influential global advocacy group for LGBTQ rights has suspended an Israeli member organization as part of a larger move to boycott Israel, angering queer Jews and their allies around the world.The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, known as ILGA World, announced on Wednesday that it was no longer considering Tel Aviv as a potential site for an upcoming conference in 2026 or 2027. The 46-year-old organization, which has a presence in more than 150 countries, added that it was suspending membership for The Aguda, the umbrella organization for Israel’s LGBTQ community, which had proposed the site.In a statement, the group cited “compliance with our Constitution” and said The Aguda had violated the rules by putting forward Tel Aviv. ILGA World also apologized to its remaining members for the Tel Aviv proposal, saying, “We know that seeing the Tel Aviv bid taken into consideration caused anger and harm to our communities.”It indicated it did so after facing a deluge of criticism from anti-Israeli activists.“Over recent days we have heard and understood the significant and legitimate disconcert regarding a member organization bidding to host the World Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel,” it said.The move highlighted how LGBTQ Israelis and Jewish LGBTQ people and allies are caught in the nexus of two fraught identities in the aftermath of Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, massacre in southern on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.Some figures in Israel’s hard-right government have targeted LGBTQ people with more vehemence and anti-LGBTQ violence in the country has spiked in recent years. At the same time, the global LGBTQ community has more broadly identified with the Palestinian cause and against Israel, particularly since October 7.Many LGBTQ Jews who do not oppose Israel have reported feeling alienated from or unwelcome in their queer communities. Some Jews reported being excluded from public Pride events this summer.A driving force behind elevating LGBTQ human rights on the world stage, ILGA carries outsized importance for the queer community in international diplomacy. The group has fought anti-LGBTQ government policies and monitored shifting global attitudes about LGBTQ people. (It has also courted controversy in the past, as when it included the pro-pedophilia organization North American Man-Boy Love Association as a member; ILGA expelled the group in 1994 after pushback from the United Nations.)A Wider Bridge, a pro-Israel LGBTQ group that spotlights Israeli equality efforts and spearheaded a “Queers Against Antisemitism” effort earlier this year, denounced what it called “ILGA’s anti-Israel actions” regarding The Aguda and said they were “outrageous and unacceptable.”“ILGA is free to take issue with the policies of the Israeli government or any other, but it should address those concerns to that government, not by shunning and excommunicating that country’s queer community,” the group wrote in a statement.In a Hebrew statement, The Aguda said it was “deeply disappointed that ILGA has chosen to boycott those who work for LGBTQ+ rights and strive toward a more just society.”The Aguda added a defense of its work in Israel and said the group, founded in 1975, also works with Arab citizens and Palestinian refugee populations. The group has vocally criticized the Israeli government and institutions, going after TV channels for airing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and decrying a general rise in attacks on the community in Israel.“As a community, we should not bear responsibility for government policy, and we expect the international community to support liberal voices rather than boycott them,” the statement continued. “We are proud to be LGBTQ+ and Israeli, and we will continue to fight for a more equal and safer society.”The Aguda’s advocacy has included celebrating gay soldiers who have defended the country and pressing for equal treatment for those who have fallen in the line of duty.Rabbi Jill Jacobs, director of the global human rights group T’ruah and a prominent American Jewish critic of the Israeli government, decried ILGA’s move on the social network X.“This action does nothing to stop the war or protect the rights of LGBTQ people, including Palestinians,” she wrote. “It only punishes people fighting for safety & equality. ILGA has affiliates in other countries carrying out massive human rights violations. Israel should be no different.”Some non-Jewish American politicians also criticized the move. “Suspending an LGBTQ organization in Israel from participating in a global organization to advance LGBTQ rights does not advance peace or justice or the Palestinian cause,” tweeted Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat. “If anything, it further marginalizes progressive voices within Israel.”ILGA World made its announcement ahead of its upcoming conference in South Africa, where, the group said in its statement, “We recognize the historical experience with apartheid and colonialism in South Africa: Even the possibility of voting on such a bid in their home country would have been at odds with the unequivocal solidarity for the Palestinian people.”South Africa has been one of the most vociferous critics of Israel on the world stage, filing a genocide charge against Israel in the International Court of Justice — which Jerusalem rejects — and threatening to prosecute South Africans who serve in the Israel Defense Forces, a relatively common pathway for the country’s Jewish young adults. The government also welcomed a Hamas leader for an official visit after October 7.