PUTIN RATIFIES RUSSIA-IRAN AGREEMENT TO STRENGTHEN MILITARY, DIPLOMATIC TIES.

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
7For 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.

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.

Isaiah 57:21
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

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.

Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR WAVES) the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3-7
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
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.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-4
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,(EU WORLD DICTATOR)the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

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

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

2 THESSALONIANS 2:9-12
9 Even him,(EU WORLD DICTATOR) whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,(THE FALSE RESURRECTION BY THE WORLD DICTATOR) that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

GENESIS 49:16-17-POSSIBLY A JEW FROM DAN KILLS THE DICTATOR AT MIDPOINT OF TRIB
16  Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17  Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

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

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

No one will enter the New World Order... unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation.- David Spangler Director of Planetary Initiative United Nations.

THE WORLD DICTATOR

REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(EU WORLD DICTATOR) and he that sat on him had a bow;(PEACE) and a crown was given unto him:(WORLD LEADER) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he (FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

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 (THE EU DICTATOR) 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.

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

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

No one will enter the New World Order... unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation.- David Spangler Director of Planetary Initiative United Nations.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI5_pMvLZd8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWmPqY8TE0&feature=player_embedded

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 DIVSION REGION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

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-NEW AGE MOVEMENT) 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 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; 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 JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) 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 with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) 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.

REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies,(UNITED NATIONS TROOPS) gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)

REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(EU WORLD DICTATOR) and he that sat on him had a bow;(PEACE) and a crown was given unto him:(WORLD LEADER) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he (FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

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 (THE EU DICTATOR) 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.

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

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

No one will enter the New World Order... unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation.- David Spangler Director of Planetary Initiative United Nations.

Biometrics startup gets accelerator backing for Africa, Middle East expansion-Apr 23, 2025, 4:34 pm EDT    | Chris Burt

Startup Vove ID has secured funding from The Baobab Network to support an expansion of its biometric KYC and AML services in Africa and the Middle East region. Baobab is an African startup accelerator.Vove ID was founded just over a year ago by three people, including CEO Khalid Aoussar, and is based in Morocco and the United States. It verifies a digital identity and then provides the capability to reuse it for streamlined onboarding and regulatory compliance, under the tagline, “Verify Once, Verify Everywhere.”The company provides technologies for recognizing more than 2,000 different kinds of ID documents, AML screening, KYC-compliant onboarding, selfie biometric authentication and age verification. A social media post from Baobab Network also refers to age estimation using biometric analysis.The company targets the fintech, cryptocurrency, mobility, gambling and HR management sectors.Vove ID also claims its biometric presentation attack detection (PAD) technology has passed tests for compliance to the ISO standard from iBeta at Level 1 and Level 2.The listing for the Vove ID app in Apple’s App Store promotes 3D liveness, with a screenshot inviting the user to frame their face and move closer, suggesting the PAD technology is FaceTec’s ZoOm.The new funding will be used by Vove ID to expand its market reach, add enhancements to its digital ID platform and hire more staff, BitKE reports. The amount of funding secured was not disclosed, but Crunchbase lists the funding as a seed round.Other Africa-based KYC providers in the market include Smile ID, Dojah, VerifyMe and IdentityPass.

Biometrics adoption strategies benefit when government direction is clear-Apr 20, 2025, 10:16 am EDT    | Chris Burt

Biometrics providers have major growth opportunities ahead where there is clarity about their role. What part governments play in digital identity markets is a key theme in the news reported by Biometric Update over the past week. Government is the sole supplier in some systems, like EUDI Wallets, and a market participant in others, like the UK’s DIATF. New markets are emerging from regulatory changes, and the trust frameworks enabling those markets are maturing, but too much change creates uncertainty.Jumio is among those sounding cautions about commercial viability in the UK, while VerifyMy and IDxLAB step up to serve a new regulatory requirement in France.The commercial opportunity in reusable digital ID may be less in credential issuance and storage than biometric enrollment and orchestrating identity presentation.Top biometrics news of the week-The UK’s digital identity and age assurance market remains up in arms.The government’s planned expansion of Gov.uk into digital wallets supporting private sector interactions could boost the adoption of digital identity while hampering growth among private sector digital ID providers, according to a new forecast from Juniper.A panel of insiders from Jumio, NatWest and CFIT convened at Pay360 warned that the government needs to consider commercial viability. But on the other side is the Tony Blair Institute, advising Gov.uk One Login be used for immigration control. Similarly, a group of 40 Labour MPs call for digital ID adoption to tackle illegal employment and tax evasion.Part of the problem seems to be the collision of private and public sector interests in digital ID use cases like right-to-work checks. They would fall outside the original conception of Gov.uk as a system exclusively for public sector interaction, but the business benefit they provide is strictly one of compliance.The UK government’s Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), meanwhile, brought the register of digital identity and attribute services to the public beta stage earlier this month. The register lists services certified to the digital identity and attributes trust framework to perform such compliance checks, and the recent addition of Gov.uk One Login provided the spark for the current industry conflagration.Age checks for access to online pornography in France now require a “double-blind” architecture to protect user privacy. The additional complexity still leaves clear roles, however, which VerifyMy and IDxLAB have partnered to fill. Yoti has signed up a French pay site, but at least one big international player would rather fight the age assurance rules in court.Aviation and border management is one area where the enforcement of regulations has benefited from private sector innovation. Preparation for Digital Travel Credentials is underway with Amadeus pitching its “journey pass” as a way to use biometrics at each touchpoint as part of a reimagined traveller experience. In the meantime, SITA, Collins and Daon are looking to streamline different airport processes.Eurosmart is arguing for an expert working group which could utilize industry experience to encourage adoption of the EU Digital Travel app, and the app’s integration with DTCs and the EU Digital Identity Wallet.India’s Digi Yatra provides an example of a collaborative private-public initiative, with a government ministry coordinating industry participants. CEO Suresh Khadakbhavi tells CIO about ambitious plans to expand the “travel stack of India” in an interview.Uganda is planning to launch five MOSIP modules, with the role of open-source software and government workers still leaving a clearly-delineated role in enrollment for biometrics providers and in service delivery for digital identity orchestrators.Germany’s new coalition government  is planning to lean on digital identity as part of its modernization of the state. There are also expected to be opportunities in biometrics for public security.In the U.S., a rollback of the Corporate Transparency Act shifts the responsibility for beneficial ownership reporting from businesses to their financial institutions. This means that in some situations, banks will turn to biometrics to verify beneficial ownership on their own, as part of their customer due diligence for AML compliance.A police force in Australia has deactivated a facial recognition system supplied by Cognitec which used a legacy algorithm out of concern for demographic disparities in its accuracy.Congratulations to the new CEOs of Au10tix, Veridos and Secunet.Please let us know about any videos, podcasts or other content we should share with the people in biometrics and the broader digital identity community in the comments below or through social media.

NIST updates Privacy Framework to better align with new Cybersecurity Framework-Changes reflect how privacy and security interconnect-Apr 17, 2025, 3:55 pm EDT    | Joel R. McConvey

In biometrics and digital identity discussions, privacy and security are often grouped together in theory – though less so in practice, wherein silos remain a challenge. How can data be used responsibly to improve life while truly maintaining individual digital privacy and keeping personal data secure?The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) says it has updated its Privacy Framework in an effort to bring privacy and security into closer alignment. A release from NIST says a draft of the updated Privacy Framework is “intended to address current privacy risk management needs, maintain alignment with NIST’s recently updated Cybersecurity Framework, and improve usability.”Privacy risk is closely related to, and often overlaps with, cybersecurity risk, says NIST.  “Because of this, the two frameworks have the same high-level structure to make them easy to use together.”The Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) was updated in February 2024. That update included a feature shared with the new Privacy Framework (PFW): tweaks to the “Core” – “an increasingly granular set of activities and outcomes that can help organizations discuss risk management.”New framework addresses overlap with AI, simplifies UX-The PFW 1.1 Public Draft Core includes changes to structure and content, partly in response to feedback gathered through public channels. A new section on AI and privacy risk management “briefly outlines ways that AI and privacy risks relate to one another and how PFW 1.1 can be used to manage AI privacy risks.” And changes to use guidelines make them easier to access and use.All of the updates aim to align the PFW more closely with the CSF 2.0, to help organizations manage privacy risks involved in processing personal data through complex information systems.Julie Chua, director of NIST’s Applied Cybersecurity Division, calls it a “modest but significant” update. “The PFW can be used on its own to manage privacy risks, but we have also maintained its compatibility with CSF 2.0 so that organizations can use them together to manage the full spectrum of privacy and cybersecurity risks,” Chua says.NIST is accepting public feedback on PFW 1.1 Initial Public Draft until June 13, 2025, via [email protected]. A template for submitting comments can be found at the NIST Privacy Framework website.  A final version of the revised PFW is expected later in 2025

Infineon powers demo of edge biometrics for user onboarding-Apr 23, 2025, 3:21 pm EDT    | Chris Burt

Edge AI and embedded systems developer embedUR unveiled a pair of solutions for computer vision and biometric onboarding made with Infineon’s PSoC Edge platform at the recent Embedded World 2025 event in Nuremberg.One of the applications demonstrated was a mobile facial recognition app allowing users to upload and register their face biometrics. The PSoC Edge platform could then be used to recognize users in real time, according to the announcement, with local processing for AI inference. The combined hardware and software solution provides secure, low-latency authentication suitable for consumer and industrial systems, the partners say.The other demo was of a wake word detection and real-time object identification application. The Edge AI capability was activated with a vocal command, and then scanned food items to provide a recipe suggestion, without relying on the cloud.“Our collaboration with embedUR systems showcases the power of PSOC Edge in enabling real-time, power-efficient Edge AI applications,” says Omar Cruz, senior manager at Infineon Technologies. “These demos highlight how our platform accelerates intelligent automation for smart home, consumer, and industrial use cases.”Infineon says its PSoC Edge family of chips provides a Cortex-M55 core with Helium DSP support for hardware-accelerated neural network processing and always-on AI applications.“At embedUR, we’re focused on making Edge AI real — delivering practical, production-ready solutions that run on today’s silicon,” says John Marconi, VP of Technology at embedUR systems. “The work we’ve done on Infineon platforms demonstrates how edge intelligence can be deployed quickly and securely, whether it’s voice-activated control or face-based access—all without relying on the cloud.”A library of pre-trained Edge AI models is available for developers to quickly build POCs with at ModelNova, embedUR’s AI resource hub.Infineon also released ICs to provide biometric authentication for vehicles last October.

Fintechs crucial to trust needed for financial inclusion: Rwanda Stock Exchange CEO-Apr 23, 2025, 2:32 pm EDT    | Ayang Macdonald

The growing emergence of fintechs in Africa represents major hope for the continent’s financial inclusion efforts. However, one serious problem that these startups often face is a lack of the investment support that is required for them to scale their activities in line with governments’ push towards more financially inclusive societies.How fintechs can find their way around this funding conundrum was among the issues that animated conversations at the just ended GITEX Africa 2025 event in Marrakech Morocco. One panel discussion in this regard unfolded under the theme “Vision to venture – investing in African fintech.”In an interview with Biometric Update, Pierre Celestin Rwabukumba, CEO of the Rwanda Stock Exchange and President of the East African Securities Exchanges Association, who took part in the panel, spoke elaborately on this subject, examining the funding challenges, and proposing how African fintechs can use the securities market to get funds for scale-up. He also draws the connection between fintechs and financial inclusion, noting that “without fintechs, we wouldn’t have much progress on financial inclusion efforts.”“Fintechs play a very critical role in supporting financial inclusion. They are innovative, youthful, and dynamic. They are often led by young people who understand the needs of tomorrow. Fintechs leverage technologies like artificial intelligence and other tools to address gaps in the financial system,” Rwabukumba says.He opines that because fintechs are at the forefront of innovation in the financial sector, they should be given “significant attention and funding to scale their impact because “their ability to understand and meet the needs of underserved populations makes them indispensable in the push for financial inclusion across the continent.”In line with the Central Africa region, several factors have been identified as hindering financial inclusion efforts among which are a paucity of infrastructure and a weak digital identity ecosystem.Lack of funding, a major hindrance-Rwabukumba acknowledges that indeed, African startups face serious funding problems and he believes several reasons account for this.“First, Africans often don’t trust other Africans. Second, there is a lack of understanding among Africans about their own markets and ecosystems. Additionally, many founders have great ideas but lack managerial skills. Being a founder, innovator, or content creator is not enough to run a successful business; entrepreneurs need guidance, mentorship, and support to navigate the ecosystem,” he says.“Founders must also be willing to work collaboratively within the broader ecosystem. At the same time, the ecosystem itself needs to understand and support early-stage companies. If these pieces come together, I don’t believe the legal framework will be the biggest obstacle. Investors consider many factors, including scale, risk, and fundamentals, before committing capital,” he shares.He states that already, governments are increasingly playing a supportive role by creating sandboxes where startups can test their ideas before seeking investment, which means that “if an idea is validated and the right partners are secured, success becomes more achievable.”Making the most from the stock market-The Rwanda Stock Exchange CEO says that the views he shared on the panel were not specific to Rwanda alone but to Africa in general and how stock markets on the continent can support fintech companies in raising funds.“Stock exchanges are typically seen as exit platforms rather than early-stage development hubs. However, we recognize the need for stock exchanges to adapt their legal frameworks to accommodate the realities of African fintechs and other companies seeking to raise capital or pursue an exit strategy. Stock markets can serve both purposes: facilitate fundraising or act purely as an exit mechanism,” he explains.He recognizes the fact that many fintechs and startups grow through alternative funding mechanisms but eventually seek to scale their offering. Therefore, he thinks stock exchanges can provide the platform for this growth.“While some companies choose to exit through international markets like the New York Stock Exchange or the London Stock Exchange, there is potential to create pathways for these exits to occur within African markets as well. This requires collaboration across borders and continents while also making the most of existing regional and continental collaborative frameworks.”Beyond collaboration, Rwabukumba says one other major challenge lies in adjusting regulations to accommodate startups without compromising investor protection standards.“For instance, we can introduce regulatory sandboxes or create different layers within stock exchanges to cater to startups. In Rwanda, we have what we call the Capital Market Investment Clinic, which supports companies at various stages of development, helping them become investor-ready,” he mentions.He says fintech and startups must have in mind the fact that investors are looking for solid opportunities, and must therefore ensure that they meet certain fundamental requirements to qualify for funding.“At the same time, entrepreneurs need guidance to attract investment while protecting investors. As intermediaries, stock exchanges must balance both sides. The platforms are ready, but regulatory adjustments may be needed to ensure business flows efficiently. Policymakers and regulators play a crucial role in this process.”“Some African fintechs, like Jumia, have exited through international markets. However, there is potential for African stock exchanges to collaborate and enable companies to use local or regional capital to fund their businesses. This would strengthen the ecosystem and promote intra-African investment.”In another session at the GITEX Africa event, speakers highlighted the critical role of robust connectivity in driving Africa’s digital economy.

Unexplained USCIS requests suggest DHS using AI to flag visa applicants-Apr 23, 2025, 11:21 am EDT    | Anthony Kimery

In an unexpected and deeply concerning move, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun issuing Requests for Evidence (RFEs) in H-1B and employment-based immigrant petitions that ask the petitioner for biometric data and detailed residential histories.This sudden and unprecedented procedural shift has triggered alarms throughout the immigration law community, with attorneys warning that these new RFEs not only deviate from longstanding procedures, but that they also are indicative of a deeper transformation in the role and behavior of USCIS under the Trump administration. The move does come on the heels of an aggressive expansion of AI into high-risk areas of federal surveillance and enforcement that lacks oversight, transparency, and accountability, as Biometric Update reported this week.Traditionally, RFEs in H-1B petitions serve as a targeted, regulatory function by requesting clarification or additional documentation related to an applicant’s eligibility, such as whether the position qualifies as a specialty occupation, the beneficiary possesses the requisite educational degree, or whether there is a valid employer-employee relationship.Recent USCIS RFEs though are instead demanding personally invasive information with no clear bearing on these core adjudicatory standards. Immigration attorneys say USCIS has requested for up to five years of residential address history and documentation of physical presence such as lease agreements or utility bills. In other cases, the RFEs appear to be seeking biometric identifiers such as fingerprints and facial photos, despite no biometric appointment notices having been issued through the formal USCIS Application Support Center (ASC) process.“This is highly unusual because biometrics are not typically required for these case types,” Vic Goel of Goel & Anderson told Forbes. “The RFEs also fail to explain the nature of the adverse information, leaving employers and attorneys in the dark. It appears that [the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)] may be using AI tools to flag individuals based on undisclosed data, possibly from social media or other government databases,” Goel said.More alarming to immigration experts is that these requests often cite vague claims of “potentially adverse information” as justification for an RFE. Yet, they fail to disclose the nature of that information or how it relates to statutory eligibility criteria. For example, in one such RFE, a USCIS adjudicator wrote, “We have encountered potentially adverse information related to the beneficiary. To continue processing your application or petition, we require an updated address for the beneficiary so that we may collect biometric data.” However, nowhere in the letter is the nature of the adverse information explained.This kind of ambiguity strikes at the heart of due process. Under 8 CFR §103.2(b)(16)(i), USCIS is required to disclose derogatory information to a petitioner if it serves as the basis for an adverse decision. The agency’s failure to meet that requirement has left attorneys questioning whether USCIS is using RFEs not for adjudication, but rather for pretextual data gathering, possibly as part of enforcement priorities that go beyond the USCIS’s traditional benefits-focused scope.Kevin Miner of Fragomen similarly noted that these new RFEs “do not ask substantive questions” about the beneficiary’s qualifications or job duties but rather focus solely on vague adverse information and biometric collection. In his view, this is an unprecedented move away from the well-established practice of communicating through documentary exchange.“It’s very unusual for USCIS to use RFEs in this way, and the agency hasn’t issued any guidance about this new process,” Miner said.The backdrop for this procedural shift is the Trump administration’s expansive approach to immigration surveillance. Trump executive orders have given immigration authorities broad discretion to use digital tools, data integration systems, and AI to identify, monitor, and remove “inadmissible individuals,” including those who have lawful status.Under the administration’s new policy environment, the boundaries between USCIS’s role as a benefits adjudicator and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) enforcement mandate appear to be eroding. If USCIS is now acting as a data collection proxy for ICE, it would mark a significant and troubling shift in the agency’s function.The lack of transparency makes it difficult to gauge the full scope of the policy change, as USCIS has not issued public notices or updated its Policy Manual to reflect any change in biometric collection procedures for employment-based cases. Nor has there been any publication in the Federal Register announcing new rulemaking. This stealth rollout has prompted some immigration attorneys to file Freedom of Information Act requests to uncover whether internal USCIS memos or interagency directives are behind the sudden expansion of RFEs.While not publicly confirmed in detail, there is evidence that USCIS has explored automated tools for fraud detection and form processing – tools that could potentially influence RFE’s by flagging anomalies or inconsistencies that a human adjudicator might otherwise deem immaterial. Critics worry that overreliance on automated analysis, especially in a legal process as nuanced as immigration adjudication, could lead to rigid interpretations of eligibility criteria and reduce the flexibility that immigration officers have traditionally exercised in evaluating complex cases.The consequences of the new policy ambiguities are severe. Without knowing the source or purpose of the new data requests, petitioners and their attorneys are unable to mount meaningful responses. In some cases, attorneys have advised their clients not to comply with the RFEs until USCIS has fully explained the basis of the adverse information. Others have opted to legally challenge the requests, citing the agency’s obligation to disclose all material evidence that could affect adjudication.“USCIS is openly bragging on social media about arresting persons who came into offices for interviews or other normally routine processes, which makes it difficult to advocate that one unwittingly subject themselves to such action,” Goel said.There also is growing concern that these RFEs may be driven in part by automated flagging systems powered by AI. Goel said DHS could be using AI to detect anomalies or draw inferences from sources like social media or commercial data brokers without disclosing the methodology or affording applicants an opportunity to rebut potentially flawed or biased information. If so, this would align with a broader trend across federal agencies to incorporate AI-enhanced surveillance technology into immigration operations while bypassing traditional oversight mechanisms.Biometric Update has reported that no federal department embodies the convergence of AI, surveillance, and civil liberties violations more clearly than DHS. A recent analysis of DHS’s AI inventory revealed a vast and obscure digital arsenal that is hidden in bureaucratic shadows. The report highlights nearly 200 AI applications, many previously unknown to the public, that span visa vetting, border enforcement, deportation logistics, and biometric identification.These and the USCIS’s latest actions coincide with a broader crackdown on lawful immigrants across visa categories. The Trump administration has already drawn criticism for deporting international students based on minor administrative issues or online political activity.As of mid-April, more than 1,550 international students and recent graduates had their visa statuses altered or revoked according to reporting by Inside Higher Education. Employers and universities fear that heightened scrutiny of H-1B applicants is part of a larger effort to suppress legal immigration under the guise of national security and fraud prevention.The H-1B visa program is already constrained, with only 85,000 visas available annually and tens of thousands of applicants rejected each year. According to the National Foundation for American Policy, only 20 percent of new H-1B applications are approved annually, while some estimates suggest that “a European teenager is four times more likely to get a seasonal visa to work in an amusement park than a graduate student is to get H-1B status to work in AI.” Similarly, the per-country limit on green cards results in decades-long wait times for highly skilled professionals from countries like India and China.The new wave of biometric RFEs could exacerbate these challenges by adding new barriers to an already rigid system. The opacity and irregularity of these requests undermine predictability, which is essential for employers making hiring decisions and foreign professionals planning their futures in the U.S. If companies see the U.S. immigration process as arbitrarily punitive or functionally surveillant, they may shift investment and talent recruitment elsewhere.Meanwhile, the legal architecture governing RFEs is being tested. Under 8 CFR §103.2(b)(8), USCIS is authorized to issue an RFE when initial evidence is insufficient. However, the regulation also mandates that the RFE clearly articulate the missing eligibility requirement and the types of evidence that could satisfy it. That standard appears to be undermined by the new RFEs, which lack specificity and instead raise vague allusions to adverse information.Historically, RFEs in both the H-1B and I-140 employment-based immigrant visa processes have been used to verify claims related to job eligibility, academic qualifications, wage levels, and employer credibility. During the Trump administration’s first term, RFEs surged dramatically, with issuance rates jumping from 21.4 percent in fiscal year 2016 to nearly 60 percent in 2018.This spike was largely driven by Trump’s April 2017 “Buy American, Hire American” executive order and internal agency guidance that encouraged adjudicators to deny petitions that lacked narrowly tailored evidence. That trend was reversed under the Biden administration in January 2021 with Executive Order 14005, which sought to restore “fair and consistent” adjudications.In June 2021, USCIS updated its RFE/Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) policy to reinstate a 2013 memo encouraging immigration officers to issue RFEs or NOIDs rather than deny cases outright – a reversal of 2018 Trump-era guidance that allowed denials without RFEs in many circumstances.Today, however, it appears that those gains may be unraveling. Immigration attorneys remain in a “wait and see” posture, uncertain whether the new RFEs mark an isolated deviation or the beginning of a broader campaign to reengineer immigration vetting through invasive data collection and murky AI tools.Miner cautioned that the requests are still too recent to draw firm conclusions but agreed that the stakes are high. “We haven’t seen these progress far enough to understand the purpose of the requests,” he said, noting, however, that “the absence of transparency is deeply concerning.”

Somalia decries plan by autonomous region to create parallel ID system-Apr 23, 2025, 10:37 am EDT    | Ayang Macdonald

The Somali government has sharply criticized plans by Puntland, an autonomous region in the federal country, to create its own ID card system. Puntland is a region in Northern Somalia, which in 1998, declared itself an autonomous state under the country’s federal structure.Recently, the leader of the region through a decree unveiled plans to establish its own ID card, but this move has met with firm reprobation from Somalia’s federal government and the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA). They see it as a move that “undermines national unity and violates established law and governance structures.”“This action is not only legally invalid and irresponsible but also sows confusion and disrupts the federal system, offering no benefit to citizens,” they wrote in a recent press release.They affirmed that every “Somali citizen has the right to a legal identity, and no one may be denied or obstructed from this right,” and that “any attempt to block or duplicate the national ID system will be viewed as a violation of citizens’ legal rights.”The Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs, and Reconciliation, via the release, has called on the leadership of Puntland to show a sense of cooperation on the unified national ID project, which the government says it has invested hugely and tirelessly in over the past ten years.The ministry has urged the region’s authorities to “cooperate constructively in implementing the national ID system and to direct resources toward other essential public services rather than duplicating systems that weaken national unity.”Somalia has been trying to rebuild its national ID system in the last few years thanks to support from Pakistan’s NADRA after a 30-year disruption provoked principally by political instability.The government believes that cognizant of these facts and the country’s “economic realities and vast social needs, creating multiple ID systems is not only unsustainable but also irresponsible.”NIRA and the federal government used the statement to reaffirm the constitutional right of everyone to a national ID card, and restate their commitment to ensuring that a “unified, secure, and inclusive National Identification System” is open and accessible to all Somali citizens in every region of the country.“The Federal Government of Somalia reiterates that the National Identification System is a constitutional right of every citizen, and as such, it cannot be politicized, obstructed, or fragmented. There will be only one unified national ID system that serves the entire country,” a part for the government statement reads.“In line with Somalia’s constitutional aspirations and national development goals, the Federal Government has spent the past ten years building a reliable and secure national identification system—an essential pillar for restoring governance and safeguarding national security.”The government says the national ID card is not only important in facilitating access to public services, it can also make a key contribution to “enhancing internal mobility, fighting terrorism, and facilitating future cross-border travel, particularly within the East African Community, where Somalia is now a full member.”Above all, authorities note that the national ID system aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9 which seeks to ensure that everyone on the planet is in possession of a legal identity within the next five years.As part of efforts to encourage adoption of the national ID in Somalia, the government recently made it mandatory for access to services from public and the private sector bodies.

Caution urged as UK supermarkets check out facial recognition-Apr 23, 2025, 10:43 am EDT    | Fraser Sampson-By Professor Fraser Sampson, former UK Biometrics & Surveillance Camera Commissioner

In the same week the UK Prime Minister said shoplifting has ‘wreaked havoc’ on neighbourhoods for years, the first UK supermarket announced a trial of facial recognition technology (FRT). With the government’s focus on prevention and shoplifting stories continuing to make the front pages, it was probably inevitable. But this is uncharted territory for the big high street retailers who will need to tick off a few essentials before heading to the checkout.First, they need to understand the territory. This is not just any data processing, this is biometric processing. Major retailers have deep and wide experience handling customer data at macro level, but biometrics are elementally different. Using a biometric recognition system in the UK means they are processing ‘special category data’ and biometric data differs even from other types of special categories. This brings a number of significant risks, obligations and restrictions, some technological, some legal, some societal. The opportunities for missteps are many and the consequences profound. An early decision for the supermarket would be whether they want to be the controller, joint controller or processor; an early mistake would be to think it doesn’t matter.Second, the supermarkets will have used transactional Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) systems before but remote biometrics systems are not like other ANI solutions such as software to transcribe their meetings or track customer spending. Facial recognition in retail is literally customer-facing. As such, it is part of the in-store experience and, unlike some back-office AI solutions, the interface will be a mission critical quality system like safety, reliability and customer service.Third, supermarkets also have extensive experience of in-store security, but facial recognition is not CCTV. While there are some legal and regulatory overlaps, it is unlikely that either their pre-AI era equipment or operating protocols will be up to the job of reliable, responsible and compliant biometric processing. Another mistake would be to assume that this is all just cameras.Fourth, facial recognition technology doesn’t come as a plug-and-play purchase (if it does, you’d better check your seller’s returns policy). You can’t just pick it off the shelf, drop it in your trolley and head for the self-service pay point. Selecting a biometric technology partner is not procurement, it’s recruitment. Installing a remote AI-powered biometric system involves both parties entering into an enduring relationship built on mutual trust and confidence. Guidance from the UK data regulator underlines how companies must only use providers who can give sufficient guarantees of the measures they will use for data protection by design; it also says that their choice of biometric recognition system can help to demonstrate compliance with the protection by design and default principle. A wise company will therefore treat this like a hiring issue, requiring candidates to meet a rigorous job specification, minimum qualification levels, relevant experience and due diligence, insisting that both partner and FRT system meet the same consistent quality standards demanded of all its people, products and services.Going first is easy, going to last is harder. Current activity seems to be about ‘testing’. Developing algorithms in a sandbox environment gives the designer control over variables and is very different from testing kit and concept on the fly. ‘Live trials’ mean that both must prove themselves concurrently within the same short time span before an unfiltered audience. AI-driven biometrics are in permanent beta state and early adopters of FRT have learned that confidence is highly perishable: you must keep it refreshed by continual review and revision after the technical trials. If supermarkets are in any doubt about how demanding and dispiriting all this can be, they should call the police.AI-enabled innovation is revolutionising many sectors. Some have already embraced and invested in the benefits, such as healthcare providers using AI-powered tools for diagnostics and treatment planning, educational organisations using learning platforms and personalised tutoring systems and general SMEs relying on new AI- tools for transactional automation, data analytics and customer service support. All of these are great examples of balancing innovation, efficiency and ROI; none of them are as complex and nuanced as AI-driven biometric comparison.Some retailers have already invested successfully in facial recognition technology and the supermarkets would do well to learn from them. Their fellow retailers will tell them how remote biometrics must balance the technological (what can be done) with the legal (what must/must not be done) and the societal (what people expect to be done). In other words, the possible, the permissible and the acceptable must all line up. They will tell them that the Information Commissioner expects full and demonstrable compliance with what he describes as the ‘deliberately stringent’ conditions governing biometric processing.Retailers already using FRT know that choosing a remote biometric system is a brand-compatibility decision. Biometric recognition systems are still in their technological, societal and even legal infancy, attracting some apprehension and strident opposition. Pioneering supermarkets will need to understand this too.Retail is a bit like the tech world, storied with trailblazers who broke the mold and transformed the game. Their quotes are among the most searched for online. One such quote comes from Gap’s Mickey Drexler who warned that in retail, consistency is everything, that ‘people want to come in and see what you are famous for’.  Venturing into facial recognition, UK supermarkets will need to be, not just consistent but also conscientious or they may find biometric fame for the wrong reasons.

Ashade marks milestone for TrustPattern in trend for pattern codes and digital identity-Apr 23, 2025, 9:42 am EDT    | Lu-Hai Liang

Ashade is marking a milestone for its registered technology TrustPattern printable smartcard technology.The Houston, Texas-based company has rolled out more than 120,000 digital ID cards embedded with TrustPattern technology. It marks the successful implementation of a digital ID system for the Malaysian Armed Forces Veteran Affairs Department (JHEV) with which Ashade has been collaborating since last year.Each digital ID features a printed TrustPattern image – like a QR code – which provides secure, offline, and controlled access to personal information, according to Ashade. The JHEV Digital ID card project has now been fully integrated as an ID issuance system.“This implementation at JHEV demonstrates TrustPattern’s real-world impact and efficiency in delivering secure identity systems at scale,” said Dr. Lalitha Kaleedhass, president of Ashade Tech Inc. “It showcases how government agencies can transform traditional processes without compromising on security or accessibility.”TrustPattern allows for information storage on any surface using pattern recognition, while it uses both covert and overt patterns for security, and the printable smartcard has dual authentication functionality. Commonly available devices can read and decode the TrustPattern and can be read online and offline. The technology is part of a trend. A similar idea, for example, is behind Tech5’s cryptographic digital ID cards, which can carry biometrics and other data without a chip.FaceTec has its UR codes, which are digitally signed biometric barcodes and which uses a standard mobile phone camera to read them. QR codes meanwhile have been around since 1994, and innovative uses of the technology continue today, such as Claim 169 developed by MOSIP and biometric QR codes. Claim 169 manages to compress data, including a facial image, into just 1005 bytes, using version 20 of the QR code spec.As for TrustPattern, its readily available APIs allowed JHEV to implement the digital ID system quickly, avoiding major infrastructure overhauls, according to Ashade CEO Dr. Karthik Kaleedhass. “The system is now being extended to empaneled medical facilities, and we are working towards a closed-loop ecosystem that supports veterans with access to essential items at discounted rates,” he said.

FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN

LUKE 21:11,25-26
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.so was not yet deemed a threat to land.
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

EARTHQUAKES

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

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

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

REV 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

JAMES 1:11
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

The Hebrew noun accurately translated “oven” refers to a “baking oven” as distinct from a kiln or smelting furnace—both of which burn much hotter. (The Hebrew nouns for “kiln” or for “smelting furnace” are more likely to appear in contexts of God's wrath or judgment.)
21 They have roused me to jealousy with a non-god, they have exasperated me with their idols. In my turn I shall rouse them to jealousy with a non-people, I shall exasperate them with a stupid nation.
22 Yes, a fire has blazed from my anger, it will burn right down to the depths of Sheol; it will devour the earth and all its produce, it will set fire to the footings of the mountains.
23 I shall hurl disasters on them, on them I shall use up all my arrows.

Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR WAVES) the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:(GODLESS)

L3Harris boosts US defense with expanded satellite facility in Indiana by Clarence Oxford.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 22, 2025-L3Harris Technologies has invested $125 million to expand its space manufacturing center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, significantly enhancing its ability to support U.S. missile defense initiatives. The upgraded facility will play a central role in developing the Department of Defense's "Golden Dome" strategy, aimed at shielding the nation from evolving missile threats.The newly expanded site now spans 95,000 square feet and will house operations for engineering, integration, testing, and program management tied to advanced defense payloads. These capabilities align with a broader national effort to strengthen homeland defense with American-made systems.Representative Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), who attended the dedication ceremony, praised the project: "The new investments and construction by L3Harris in Fort Wayne are a crucial step in making the defensive capabilities of our country 'Made in America' again. The incoming jobs to our community will boost our local economy to the tune of millions of dollars. More companies should follow L3Harris' lead in returning their operations to our shores and uplifting the communities that made them what they are today."L3Harris executives emphasized the urgency and scale of the mission. "Accelerating the nation's missile warning and defense capabilities is a priority for national security as we move forward with supporting President Trump's vision for America's Golden Dome," stated Ed Zoiss, President of Space and Airborne Systems at L3Harris. "With capacity to produce 48 payloads per year, we continue to deliver at the scale and speed our defense customers require and are successfully poised to protect against threats to our homeland."The company currently operates five satellites in orbit and is building 34 more for key Pentagon programs, including the Space Development Agency's Tracking Layer and the Missile Defense Agency's HBTSS system. Beyond defense, the expanded facility will also contribute to the production of satellites for civil weather monitoring, serving international clients as well.

Ambitious cross-continental initiative targets breakthroughs in AI space and cyber tech-by Sophie Jenkins.

London, UK (SPX) Apr 22, 2025-The University of Surrey and the University of Adelaide have launched a new phase in their international research partnership, distributing a joint seed fund to support eight pioneering projects across artificial intelligence, sustainability, space technology, and cybersecurity. These projects, co-led by researchers at each university, were selected from a pool of 19 proposals in a highly competitive process.Both institutions bring complementary expertise to the partnership. Surrey has recently established two major interdisciplinary centers: the Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI and the Institute for Sustainability. The university also continues to advance its longstanding contributions to aerospace through the Surrey Space Centre, and it hosts one of the UK's foremost cybersecurity research hubs, the Surrey Centre for Cyber Security.Adelaide's contributions are anchored in national research leadership, with key facilities including the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Resources, and the Environment Institute.Commenting on the partnership, Patrick Degg, Vice-President, Global at the University of Surrey, stated: "We now have a real chance to shape technologies like AI so they work for people and the planet, not just for profit. I look forward to seeing Surrey and Adelaide build on this strong start in the years ahead."Among the joint initiatives is a study addressing academic integrity in the era of AI-generated content, aiming to establish methods to safeguard authentic authorship. Another key project will examine the potential of terahertz frequencies in space-based telecommunications, potentially enabling faster, more efficient satellite communications.Professor Jessica Gallagher, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement at the University of Adelaide, emphasized the partnership's broader significance: "We look forward to continuing to strengthen our collaboration with the University of Surrey to deliver innovative, interdisciplinary research that leads to a better future for all."Established in 2022, the Surrey-Adelaide alliance has grown through ongoing exchanges of academic leadership, joint research forums, and collaborative program development. A recent delegation from Surrey visited Adelaide in March 2025 to formalize the next stage of their work, including the distribution of the new research fund. The visit also laid the groundwork for expanded initiatives such as international student mobility programs and the development of short courses focused on AI, cybersecurity, and space technologies, designed to meet emerging industry demands.

Space Systems Command and UK Space Command launch civilian exchange to boost allied space collaboration by Clarence Oxford.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 22, 2025-The United States Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC) and the United Kingdom's Space Command have initiated their first-ever civilian exchange initiative under the Administrative and Professional Exchange Program (APEP), marking a strategic step forward in international workforce collaboration and allied integration.Part of the broader Defense Personnel Exchange Program (DPEP), APEP is designed to enrich administrative and managerial expertise through cross-border professional assignments. By embedding participants directly into partner organizations, the program cultivates cross-cultural insights and operational knowledge critical to building interoperable defense frameworks."Our civilian and military Guardians and Airmen deserve our investment in their careers," stated Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, Commander of SSC. "By offering opportunities to strengthen and grow our workforce through programs such as APEP, we get after exactly that objective. In order to develop a world-class workforce, we must continue to partner to win."The arrangement was formally ratified through a Supplemental Annex signed by the U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs (SAF/IA) on November 18, 2024, following UK sign-off on October 28, 2024. Tara Browne, SSC/IA's Deputy Division Chief for Strategy and Plans, was appointed as the inaugural U.S. civilian representative and began her assignment in the UK in April 2025."This exchange assignment represents a significant milestone in U.S.-U.K. space collaboration and exemplifies the [Chief of Space Operations]'s 'Partner to Win' priority in action," Browne remarked. "I'm looking forward to providing hands-on, tactical level support to the U.K. in developing and integrating their Space Enterprise architecture with U.S. and Allied Space architectures. These ground-level efforts will strengthen our ability to collaborate and proliferate our architecture with one of our closest allies in space. As someone who strongly believes in the power of international partnerships, I'm excited to be the first USSF civilian selected for this unique role."This initiative stemmed from ongoing consultations among SSC, SAF/IA, and UK Space Command, which identified a shared interest in closer coordination on Space Enterprise Architecture. By adapting existing frameworks like APEP to new strategic priorities, the participating agencies demonstrated agility in addressing emerging operational needs.The civilian program builds on previous successes, notably the assignment of Air Marshal Paul Godfrey of the Royal Air Force to the U.S. Space Force as Assistant Chief of Space Operations for Future Concepts and Partnerships, the first such exchange at the 3-star military level."I know first-hand the value of our exchange programs," commented Major General Paul Tedman, Commander of UK Space Command. "They allow us to build trust, learn from each other, and enhance cooperation. Our people, on both sides of the Atlantic, remain our greatest asset, and this new civilian exchange program will ensure alignment of U.S. and U.K. space architectural design."Space Systems Command is the acquisition arm of the U.S. Space Force, managing a $15.6 billion space development budget. It delivers next-generation systems and infrastructure to secure U.S. strategic interests in space, working closely with domestic and allied partners to outpace evolving threats.UK Space Command, headquartered at RAF High Wycombe, oversees British military space activities and capabilities. Operating as a joint command, it includes personnel from all branches of the UK Armed Forces as well as civil service and international exchange members. Its mission is to safeguard national and allied space interests and ensure freedom of operation for partner forces worldwide.

HRL and Boeing advance quantum satellite communications milestone by Clarence Oxford.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 22, 2025-HRL Laboratories, in collaboration with Boeing, has reached a critical achievement in the Q4S satellite mission by finalizing and validating a quantum communications payload designed for space deployment. The mission aims to perform the first-ever four-photon entanglement swapping demonstration in orbit, an essential step toward secure quantum communication and future quantum networking capabilities.This completed milestone marks the integration of a compact, 15-kilogram space-ready subassembly. HRL successfully merged optical, electronic, and thermal management systems into a single flight-capable package. The subassembly has passed comprehensive end-to-end software checks, ensuring readiness for space-based operations."HRL has delivered an optical lab's worth of capability in a compact, 15kg integrated space-capable assembly," stated Jay Lowell, Chief Scientist of Boeing's Disruptive Computing, Networks and Sensors division. He confirmed the subassembly has been space-qualified through tests conducted at Boeing's El Segundo Space Simulation Laboratory. A ground-based twin will now serve as a benchmark for the in-orbit version, which is currently under production.The payload includes two independent single-photon sources, each of which has successfully demonstrated high-quality quantum entanglement. Performance tests revealed fidelity levels between 0.8 and 0.9 and a photon pair detection rate exceeding 2,500 pairs per second. These results meet the mission's stringent requirements for quantum measurement precision."Demonstrating entanglement swapping between these two entangled photon pairs will enable us to entangle previously unconnected nodes," explained Jennifer Ellis, Principal Investigator at HRL. "This is a foundational capability for scalable, secure quantum computing and sensing architectures in space."Environmental testing has also been completed to ensure system resilience under the demanding conditions of space. These validations confirm the payload's readiness for the mission's upcoming phases."Validation and environmental testing are critical milestones on the path to a successful space mission," commented Rob Vasquez, CEO of HRL. "We're proud to partner with Boeing on this pioneering demonstration and lay the groundwork for secure communications in space."

Ambitious cross-continental initiative targets breakthroughs in AI space and cyber tech by Sophie Jenkins.

London, UK (SPX) Apr 22, 2025-The University of Surrey and the University of Adelaide have launched a new phase in their international research partnership, distributing a joint seed fund to support eight pioneering projects across artificial intelligence, sustainability, space technology, and cybersecurity. These projects, co-led by researchers at each university, were selected from a pool of 19 proposals in a highly competitive process.Both institutions bring complementary expertise to the partnership. Surrey has recently established two major interdisciplinary centers: the Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI and the Institute for Sustainability. The university also continues to advance its longstanding contributions to aerospace through the Surrey Space Centre, and it hosts one of the UK's foremost cybersecurity research hubs, the Surrey Centre for Cyber Security.Adelaide's contributions are anchored in national research leadership, with key facilities including the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Resources, and the Environment Institute.Commenting on the partnership, Patrick Degg, Vice-President, Global at the University of Surrey, stated: "We now have a real chance to shape technologies like AI so they work for people and the planet, not just for profit. I look forward to seeing Surrey and Adelaide build on this strong start in the years ahead."Among the joint initiatives is a study addressing academic integrity in the era of AI-generated content, aiming to establish methods to safeguard authentic authorship. Another key project will examine the potential of terahertz frequencies in space-based telecommunications, potentially enabling faster, more efficient satellite communications.Professor Jessica Gallagher, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement at the University of Adelaide, emphasized the partnership's broader significance: "We look forward to continuing to strengthen our collaboration with the University of Surrey to deliver innovative, interdisciplinary research that leads to a better future for all."Established in 2022, the Surrey-Adelaide alliance has grown through ongoing exchanges of academic leadership, joint research forums, and collaborative program development. A recent delegation from Surrey visited Adelaide in March 2025 to formalize the next stage of their work, including the distribution of the new research fund. The visit also laid the groundwork for expanded initiatives such as international student mobility programs and the development of short courses focused on AI, cybersecurity, and space technologies, designed to meet emerging industry demands.

Firefighters battle Beit Shemesh area blazes into night, as evacuees allowed to return-Three more firefighters, policewoman hurt in blaze; efforts ongoing to control fire west of Beit Meir; Jerusalem fire service to be reinforced by northern personnel-By Michael Horovitz and ToI Staff 24 April 2025, 1:11 am

Firefighters on Wednesday evening said they would have to work intensely through the night to put out a major brushfire in the Beit Shemesh area but that it was safe enough for residents nearby to return to their homes after they were evacuated earlier in the day.Three firefighters and a policewoman were injured while authorities worked to control multiple blazes that broke out during the day due to high winds and intense heat, the Fire and Rescue Services said in a statement. Earlier, a Fire and Rescue Authority spokesman told The Times of Israel that nine people were lightly injured as a result of the blazes, including seven firefighters and two civilians.After an assessment by the Fire and Rescue Services at 10 p.m., the evacuated residents of Eshtaol, Beit Meir, and Mesilat Zion were allowed to return home. Routes 38, 44, and 6, which were closed earlier due to the fires, were reopened later in the evening as blazes in those areas were brought under control.Route 1 was closed from 11 p.m. until midnight so that firefighters could carry out measures to prevent future blazes. Earlier footage showed a fire burning near the road.The Fire and Rescue service said earlier that firefighters were still operating inside Mesilat Zion and carrying out measures to protect neighboring Beit Meir. West of the community, firefighters were working to put gain control of a major blaze.Jerusalem Fire and Rescue Services head Shmulik Friedman issued a general call-up of firefighters earlier Wednesday. A firefighting Samson plane was set to operate throughout the area overnight, the Fire and Rescue services stated. Additionally, the Jerusalem-area service is set to be reinforced by 19 firetrucks and 30 jeeps from the northern district’s service.The fire initially broke out close to Moshav Tarum near Beit Shemesh. Strong winds whipped up the flames as teams fought the blaze on the ground with support from aircraft. Police asked the public to exercise caution and stay away from the affected areas.In addition to over one hundred firefighting squads, fire engines belonging to the Israeli Air Force and Technological and Logistics Directorate operated alongside the Fire and Rescue Service and Israel Police.An IAF aircraft also assisted with building an “aerial picture” of the fire while members of the Home Front Command were dispatched to assist with evacuating civilians from areas under threat.The Israel Meteorological Service had warned of “extreme” weather on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the potential for record-breaking temperatures.The vast majority of forest fires in Israel are caused by humans and are usually the result of negligence.Israel experiences long, hot and dry summers, with conditions ripe for wildfires. Large blazes broke out in 1989, 1995, 2010, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.Climate models show that such large-scale blazes are getting more frequent and more fast-spreading, in part due to the climate crisis, which has raised temperatures and caused even more extreme summers with drier conditions.A scathing report by the state comptroller in July 2024 found that the Fire and Rescue Authority had investigated the cause of only about 9% of the fires it handled in 2022 and 14% of those it dealt with in 2023. More than 50% of the probes it opened between 2020 and 2022 were still open after a year.The audit found that the authority operated without written and approved policy documents on how to run fire investigations, and that the existing policy was based neither on documented risk analysis nor optimal management. The report also found that 75% of files opened by police on suspicion of arson offenses in 2019 to 2022 were closed without indictments. During these years, 228 files were opened on suspicion of arson with a nationalist background, but indictments were only filed in a third of those cases.Sue Surkes, Charlie Summers, and Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather: NJ fire burns over 8,500 acres as Plains brace for more severe weather-Chris Oberholtz-Wed, April 23, 2025 at 6:21 a.m. EDT

Welcome to the Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather. It’s Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Start your day with everything you need to know about today's weather. You can also get a quick briefing of national, regional and local weather whenever you like with the FOX Weather Update podcast.Crews are continuing their relentless assault to beat back the flames of a massive wildfire that’s exploding in size near the New Jersey shore. Thousands of residents have been forced to flee for safety while thick smoke choked the region, closing a miles-long stretch of the state’s busiest highway for hours.The Jones Road Wildfire sparked on Tuesday in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area near Barnegat Township in Ocean County and quickly began to grow in size.As of Wednesday, it had consumed 8,500 acres and was only 10% contained.Continuing into Wednesday and Thursday, an active period of weather is in store for the Plains, including Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The FOX Forecast Center said a chance of severe storms or flash flooding looks very possible into the weekend.As the sun breaks through during the afternoon on Wednesday, enough heating could occur to support thunderstorm development. Storms that form here could bring brief strong wind gusts and small hail, though coverage and intensity will depend on how much sun breaks through.Isolated thunderstorms are also possible farther south, across the southern Plains and into far west Texas. These stronger storms may bring large hail and damaging winds. There is a potential for tornadoes to develop, but the overall severe weather threat will gradually decrease after sunset.When you get called away from Easter dinner to wrangle an alligator, sometimes you need to use the tools you have on site, which is what one Florida gator handler did on the holiday.Mike Dragich shared a video with FOX Weather showing the wild Sunday encounter in Jacksonville, Florida. He said a woman was letting her dog out when she noticed the scaly tail of the 7-foot alligator slide by her patio.National Park Week is underway, and this year's theme is National Park Playlist, which celebrates musical connections to national parks and the American story. Each day of National Park Week will have suggestions for things to do designated under a music genre.Zion National Park is one of five national parks that are located in Utah. It’s home to the largest sandstone cliffs in the world. Last year, FOX Weather’s Robert Ray took us on this tour.Here are a few more stories you might find interesting.Original article source: Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather: NJ fire burns over 8,500 acres as Plains brace for more severe weather

INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.

2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements (NUKES) shall melt with fervent heat,(BLAST) the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.(BUT ITS NO END OF THE WORLD HOGWASH)
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,(BY NUKES INCLUDING 3 BILLION PEOPLE) what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3 PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD IS NOT MOCKED.

ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2  I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3  I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15  So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17  So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)

REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)

REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.

MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

NAHUM 3:13
13 Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.

DR DOCTORION-ANGEL OF THE MIDEAST
"The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.

EVERYBODY MUST WATCH THIS APR 19,25 LIFE, LIBERTY LEVIN TRUTH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDWy9K5siHo

Putin ratifies Russia-Iran agreement to strengthen military, diplomatic ties-The Kremlin chief signed the agreement with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in January.By JERUSALEM POST STAFF-APRIL 21, 2025 14:54

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ratifying a strategic partnership treaty with Iran, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday.The agreement is expected to strengthen military and diplomatic ties between Moscow and Tehran.As part of the agreement, the two countries agreed not to provide military assistance to any third party with which the other is in hot conflict, according to the Kyiv Independent.The agreement established a framework for the development of long-term cooperation between the two countries. Russian state media outlet TASS reported that the agreement covers all areas of strategic partnership, including: defense, counterterrorism, energy, finance, transportation, industry, agriculture, culture, science, and technology.Russia-Iran relations -The speaker of Russia's state legislative body, Vyacheslav Volodin, noted that the agreement will coordinate Tehran and Moscow's international actions, TASS reported. Putin inked the 20-year strategic partnership pact with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, in January. Russian state media noted that Putin and Pezeshkian signed the deal after the perceived international political pressure. Since the start of the Ukraine-Russia War in 2022, Iran has given the Russian military thousands of Shahed drones, alongside short-range ballistic missiles, the Kyiv Independent reported. Because of the Islamic Republic's assistance, Russia has been able to produce its own variants of Iranian drones, such as the Geran-

Arab states' shifting views may factor into Iran's nuclear calculations - analysis-Saudi Arabia Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman flew to Iran and held talks with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Thursday, April 17.By SETH J. FRANTZMAN-APRIL 21, 2025 12:14

Iran's calculations ahead of a possible new deal with the United States may factor in the shifting views of the Arab states.This is important to consider. Saudi Arabia's Defense Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, flew to Iran and held talks with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran on Thursday, April 17.Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that opposed the 2015 Iran deal. However, Riyadh has now reconciled with Iran over the last two years in a process backed by China and Iraq. Riyadh is a leader of several key countries in the region, and its stance is influential.Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the CEO of IRNA, recently gave an interview that was printed in his news organization, regarding how the Arab states may play into a new Iran deal.Ansari is not only a key figure in Iranian state media. He is also a former diplomat at the Iranian Foreign Ministry. It's worth recalling that back in 2015, Ansari, who was then a spokesman for the foreign ministry in Tehran, spoke out against the "pressure from the Zionist lobby" on the US. This is his worldview. Ansari's thoughts on the deal-What does Ansari think today about the chances for a deal? He seems slightly optimistic. One reason for this is that he assesses that the Arab states have chosen a different approach than in 2015.Looking back at the 2015 deal he said, "the result was that the Arab countries, or more precisely what I call the official Arab system, aligned themselves with Israel, directly or indirectly, acting like two blades of scissors in dealing with the JCPOA." He blames these countries, which he didn't name, for trying to use their influence, "lobbying and wealth" to prevent the deal.IRNA noted that "Hossein Jaberi Ansari explained to IRNA 24 Program how Iran and its Arab countries are dealing with Tehran-Washington indirect negotiations and a possible new deal in a way different from the 2015 Iran agreement." Now he sees the same Arab states as being more "forward-moving" in their approach.Oman positive on talks-We know that Oman has been very positive on the talks. Oman is mediating the talks and has hosted one round in Oman and one in Rome. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other countries appear more flexible as well.He contrasted the approach with 2018, when he also said that Arab countries worked to undermine the 2015 deal.The article about his comments stated that "their attempt [was] facilitated during the first term of US. President Donald Trump, who withdrew Washington from the JCPOA in 2018."Now he said that "it seems that Iran this time is more seriously engaged in elaborating on its policies and the realities as Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, his deputies and colleagues, as well as Iranian ambassadors to regional countries are making close contacts to convey developments to leaders and officials of the Arab countries in order to prevent a reserved image from being shaped for them, Jaberi Ansari said," IRNA noted, paraphrasing his comments.The report noted that "Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other countries are also learning from the experience of the past few years that if developments move toward conflict, and soft confrontations turn into hard ones, Iran and the other side to the conflict would not be the only ones to suffer, and the entire region would definitely be harmed, he added."

UN watchdog asks Iran to clarify tunnels near nuclear site.

Washington, April 23 (AFP) Apr 23, 2025-The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency called Wednesday on Iran to explain tunnels built around its Natanz nuclear site, while voicing hope over ongoing US-Iran talks.The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank, released satellite imagery on Wednesday that it said showed a new, deeply buried tunnel alongside an older one around Natanz, as well as a new security perimeter."I've been raising this issue repeatedly, and I will continue to do so," Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters on a visit to Washington.Grossi, who visited Tehran last week, said that all countries need to inform the IAEA of intentions for facilities around nuclear sites but that Iran has a stance "unique in the world" that it does not need to inform the agency ahead of time."We're asking them, what is this for? They are telling us, it's none of your business," Grossi said.Grossi said it "cannot be excluded" that the tunnels would store undeclared material but said he did not want to speculate on intentions."Iran does not have nuclear weapons. This is very clear. We cannot confuse people. Iran has conducted in the past certain activities that were relevant -- could be relevant -- in the process of developing nuclear weapons," he said.Grossi said he has heard optimism about a deal between the United States and Iran on the nuclear program after the arch-enemies held two rounds of talks, with technical talks expected this weekend."I think there's a general expectation that this goes well and that the agreement is verified by the IAEA," Grossi said.He said that was "more or less the sense of what I'm getting when I'm talking to leaders," mentioning specifically Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as hopeful for a US-Iran deal.President Donald Trump in 2018 ripped up an earlier nuclear agreement negotiated under Barack Obama.But he has voiced hope in his second term for a new accord that would resolve the issue diplomatically and has discouraged Israel from a military strike on Iran.Asked about a military option, Grossi said: "I should simply remind that attacks on nuclear facilities is something that could have potentially very, very serious consequences."

Spain to go ahead with contested Israeli arms deal.

Madrid, April 23 (AFP) Apr 23, 2025-Spain's interior ministry on Wednesday said a politically embarrassing multi-million-dollar arms purchase from an Israeli company would go ahead after state legal services advised against its attempt to scrap the contract.Spain's Socialist-led minority government halted weapons transactions with Israel after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and which has devastated the Palestinian territory.In October last year, the interior ministry said it had launched the process to terminate a deal with an Israeli firm that would have supplied bullets for the Civil Guard.Ministry sources told AFP on Wednesday that the move had been abandoned following a recommendation by the state legal services "that advised against the cancellation due to the advanced stage of the processing of the contract"."The cancellation would have meant paying the company without receiving the equipment," the sources added.According to details of the tender made public, Israeli firm IMI Systems Ltd, represented by Guardian Homeland Security, secured the deal worth 6.8 million euros ($7.8 million).The far-left Sumar party, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, said the reversal was "a blatant violation" of the government's pledge not to trade weapons with Israel.The party demanded in a statement the contract's "immediate cancellation" and an explanation from Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, saying the Spanish government's commitment to the Palestinian people "must be absolute"."Both companies clearly share and promote on their social networks their participation in the committing of war crimes, genocide, and ethnic cleansing," Sumar MP Enrique Santiago told reporters.The unprecedented attack Hamas launched against Israel from Gaza in 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages in their attack and 58 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel's military response in Gaza has unleashed a humanitarian crisis and killed at least 51,305 people, mainly civilians, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Iran top diplomat in China to discuss nuclear talks.

Beijing, April 23 (AFP) Apr 23, 2025-Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was visiting China on Wednesday for consultations ahead of a new round of nuclear talks with the United States.Iran and the United States are set to meet in Oman on Saturday for a third set of talks on the Iranian nuclear issue, with Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff leading the negotiations.A technical meeting between nuclear experts from the two countries will also be held on Saturday in the Omani capital, Muscat."It is necessary for us to keep our friends in China informed of developments and to consult with them," Araghchi told Iranian state television.China was a party to the 2015 nuclear agreement that reined in Tehran's nuclear programme, which was abandoned after US President Donald Trump withdrew from it three years later."China has played an important and constructive role on the nuclear issue in the past, and the same role is certainly necessary in the future," the Iranian minister added.The 2015 agreement provided for the lifting of international sanctions against Iran in exchange for oversight of its nuclear program by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).According to the IAEA, Iran was complying with its commitments until the US withdrawal, which triggered the reimposition of US sanctions.The 2015 accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was also negotiated by four other permanent UN Security Council members -- Britain, France, Russia, and the United States -- along with Germany and the European Union.China is Iran's largest commercial partner and the main buyer of its oil, with Tehran still under crushing US sanctions.Around 92 percent of Iranian oil heads towards China, according to Iranian media, and is often sold at a considerable discount.In 2021, Tehran and Beijing signed a comprehensive 25-year strategic agreement covering energy, security, infrastructure and communications among other areas.

UK, French troops drill for urban combat using Ukraine insights.

Sissonne, France, April 23 (AFP) Apr 23, 2025-Members of the French Foreign Legion and British soldiers have started a joint military exercise in northeastern France, applying urban warfare lessons from the conflict in Ukraine, an AFP reporter said.A French officer, perched on a British armoured vehicle camouflaged with branches in the small town of Jeoffrecourt, translated commands for armoured infantry troops from Britain.The FFL and the Royal Welsh First Battalion were part of a team trying to capture this town of 5,000 residents Tuesday during a two-week training exercise.The exercises come as French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are spearheading European efforts to send what they call a "reassurance force" to Ukraine after any end to the war sparked by Russia's 2022 invasion."We look at what is happening in theatres of operation and new modes of action to integrate them," said Lieutenant Colonel Romain, an FFL training officer who gave only his first name under French military policy.A member of his 13th Demi-Brigade toggled a joystick from a basement where a video feed showed footage from the drone he controlled as it flew above the streets.With just four radios, four laptops and a white sheet serving as a makeshift projection screen, the setup was spartan but for good reason, said the brigade's commanding officer, Colonel Benjamin Brunet."We drill to change position every six hours," Brunet said, a lesson gleaned from Ukraine, where adversaries quickly spot the electromagnetic radiation emitted from command posts to destroy them.For Captain Ed, a British intelligence officer who also could give only his first name, France and Britain have a proven track record of working together because they "share a similar mindset and values"."Since 2018, the French and British have been together in Estonia" as part of a mission set up by NATO on its eastern flank, the captain said."We are training and we are ready to go anywhere in the world," he said.

             India vows 'loud and clear' response to Kashmir attack.

Pahalgam, April 23 (AFP) Apr 23, 2025-India's defence minister vowed on Wednesday a swift response to those who carried out and planned the Kashmir region's worst attack on civilians in years."Those responsible and behind such an act will very soon hear our response, loud and clear," Rajnath Singh said in a speech in New Delhi, a day after gunmen killed 26 men at a tourist hotspot in the contested Himalayan region."We won't just reach those people who carried out the attack. We will also reach out to those who planned this from behind the scenes on our land."Singh did not identify those he believes are responsible for the killings, but said that "India's government will take every step that may be necessary and appropriate".No group has claimed responsibility for the attack in the Muslim-majority region where rebels have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.- 'Serious risk' -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged that those responsible for the "heinous act" will "be brought to justice".Modi is set to hold an emergency cabinet meeting with top security chiefs later on Wednesday."Their evil agenda will never succeed," Modi said in a statement shortly after the attack. "Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger."Nuclear-armed arch-rivals India and Pakistan have long accused each other of backing forces to destabilise the other, and New Delhi says Islamabad backs the gunmen behind the insurgency.Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir's struggle for self-determination.Pakistan's foreign ministry on Wednesday offered its "condolences to the near ones of the deceased".Analyst Michael Kugelman said the attack posed a "very serious risk of a new crisis between India and Pakistan, and probably the most serious risk of a crisis since the brief military conflict that happened in 2019".- Blood stains -Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the attack had been "much larger than anything we've seen directed at civilians" in recent years.A hospital list verified by police recorded 26 men who were killed on Tuesday afternoon when gunmen burst out of forests at a popular tourist spot in Pahalgam and raked crowds of visitors with automatic weapons.All those killed were listed as residents of India except one man from Nepal.In a separate incident in Kashmir at Baramulla on Wednesday, the army killed two people after a "heavy exchange of fire", saying the gunmen were part of an "infiltration bid" crossing the contested frontier from Pakistan.AFP journalists near the site of the Pahalgam attack reported a heavy deployment of security forces. Pahalgam is popular with tourists in summer and is about 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the city of Srinagar.Smears of blood could still be seen on the grass where the killings took place as forensic investigators searched for evidence.A tour guide told AFP he had carried some of the wounded away on horseback.Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were "clearly sparing women".The killings came a day after Modi met US Vice President JD Vance in New Delhi.The deadliest previous attack on civilians was in March 2000 when 36 Indians were killed on the eve of a visit by then-US president Bill Clinton.- 'Heinous' -US President Donald Trump called Modi to offer "full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack".China, which neighbours the troubled region, offered its "sincere sympathies" to the families of those killed.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory but fighting has eased since Modi's government revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy in 2019.Authorities in recent years have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing in winter and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, mostly domestic visitors.The worst attack in recent years was in Pulwama in February 2019 when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy, killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.

Putin discussed Iran nuclear deal with Sultan of Oman: Russian state media.

Moscow, April 22 (AFP) Apr 22, 2025-Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Iran nuclear talks with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in Moscow on Tuesday, the Kremlin said."This topic was touched on... in the context of mediation efforts by Oman," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, during a briefing at the Kremlin.Russia has welcomed the surprise talks between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear programme, which is being mediated by Oman."Russia is ready to do everything that depends on it to contribute to a fruitful and active conclusion of these talks," Peskov said, repeating Russia's oft-stated position.Donald Trump pushed Iran to open negotiations on limiting its nuclear weapons development programme, after he pulled out of the landmark US-Iran nuclear deal during his first presidency.

Second Fukushima debris removal trial complete.

Tokyo, April 23 (AFP) Apr 23, 2025-A tricky operation to remove a second sample of radioactive debris from inside Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed, the site operator said Wednesday.Dangerously high radiation levels mean that removing melted fuel and other debris from the plant hit by a huge tsunami in 2011 is seen as the most daunting challenge in the decades-long decommissioning project.Around 880 tonnes of hazardous material are inside the power station -- the site of one of history's worst nuclear accidents after the tsunami, which was triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake.Plant operator TEPCO said its second trial debris removal operation, which began just over a week ago, "has been completed" as of Wednesday morning.The debris was "removed from a different location from the previous sampling location" to better understand the material's "characteristics and distribution", government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.TEPCO completed its first trial removal, using a specially developed extendible device, in November.That first sample weighing just under 0.7 grams (0.02 ounces) -- roughly equivalent to one raisin -- was delivered to a research lab near Tokyo for analysis."Detailed analysis of the debris collected in the first sampling" will inform future decommissioning work as TEPCO studies how to conduct a "full-scale removal", Hayashi said.US nuclear expert Lake Barrett, a special advisor to Japan on the Fukushima clean-up, told AFP that removing more debris would be challenging but not impossible."We're going to find all of these complexities of almost a witch's brew down underneath there" in the reactors, Barrett said."They've got to develop robots we've never done before. But the fundamentals are there for the technology to do it."Three of Fukushima's six reactors went into meltdown in 2011 after the huge tsunami swamped the facility.In 2023, Japan began releasing into the Pacific Ocean some of the 540 Olympic swimming pools' worth of treated wastewater that had been collected at the plant.The move was endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency but China banned Japanese seafood imports as a result, and Russia later followed suit.This month China said it had found no abnormalities in seawater and marine life samples that it independently collected near the Fukushima plant in February.But Beijing indicated more tests would be needed before it lifts the ban.nf/kaf/mtp

Spain to hike defence spending to 2% of GDP in 2025: PM by AFP Staff Writers.

Madrid (AFP) April 22, 2025-Spain will invest more than 10 billion euros to increase its defence spending -- proportionally NATO's lowest -- to two percent of annual economic output this year, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.The announcement accelerates a previous timeline that set 2029 as the target year to reach the benchmark agreed by NATO allies but deemed too low by US President Donald Trump.Russia's three-year-old invasion of Ukraine and Trump's questioning of decades-long US security guarantees have seen Europe scramble to design new defence strategies with bigger budgets in the quest for greater autonomy."It is essential that we meet the investment targets our partners demand," Sanchez told a news conference as he announced plans to spend 10.47 billion euros ($12 billion).The aim is to "consolidate Spain as a central and trustworthy member of the European Union and the Atlantic alliance in a world dominated by uncertainty", the Socialist premier added.Spain dedicated 1.28 percent of its annual economic output to defence last year, a lower proportion than any other member, according to NATO figures.Sanchez's minority government relies on small far-left groups and separatist parties traditionally hostile to NATO and alignment with US foreign policy, complicating his efforts to hike defence spending.Spanish media reported that the Socialists' far-left junior coalition partner Sumar fiercely opposed the move during Tuesday's cabinet meeting.Attempting to assuage such concerns, Sanchez said the new cash would come "without raising taxes, without touching a cent of investment in the welfare state and without incurring a larger public deficit".Less than one-fifth of the new investment will go towards "the purchase of armaments in the most traditional sense of the term", while almost one third will be ploughed into "acquiring new telecommunications and cybersecurity capabilities each year", he added.A further 17 percent of the plan will "strengthen the dual capacities" of the army to help manage emergencies and natural disasters, he announced.It was unclear whether NATO would accept counting that money as part of annual defence spending.Sanchez confirmed the spending plan would not be submitted to a vote in parliament, infuriating the main conservative opposition Popular Party, which called it "not serious or democratic".

Any and all assistance': Huckabee offers aid as Jerusalem fires continue-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also instructed the IDF and Fire and Rescue Brigades to prepare reserves from Greece and other countries abroad.By SHIR PERETS-APRIL 23, 2025 21:10

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee offered assistance and sent a prayer of safety to the first responders and citizens who were evacuated due to the fires that raged across the outskirts of Jerusalem on Wednesday.“Terrible to see the images of big brush fires on the outskirts of Jerusalem,” Huckabee wrote on X/Twitter. “The embassy has offered any and all assistance we can provide to Israeli authorities.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situational assessment at the fire management command center with personnel from firefighting, border police, KKL-JNF, and IDF, where he instructed to prepare reserves from Greece and other countries abroad.“Nighttime is the weak point because at night the embers go back to burning and the winds take the fire. We have already been tested by this in the past,” he stated.“If you have the possibility of using the Samson planes, so much the better. Do so carefully, of course, but it is important.”Listen to security forces“Sending encouragement and best wishes for success to the firefighters, firefighters, and rescue workers who are currently working in the field, with dedication and courage, in the face of the severe fires in the harsh weather conditions,” President Isaac Herzog wrote.“Take care of yourself and return home safely. I appeal to the residents of the evacuated communities: listen to the instructions of the security forces and avoid unnecessary risks.”Opposition leader and Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid expressed his appreciation to the firefighters who worked hours to extinguish the fires.“Wishing a speedy recovery to the firefighters who were injured in the fires and hoping that all the families who were evacuated will quickly return to their homes without damage,” he wrote.

WATCH: Israel commemorates 80 years since the Holocaust-Herzog said that he would lead survivors, bereaved families, and former hostages, in the March of the Living in Auschwitz on Thursday.By MICHAEL STARR-APRIL 23, 2025 20:11

Israel marked 80 years since the World War II genocide of the Jewish people on Wednesday night, with the beginning of Holocaust Remembrance Day.A siren marking the six million victims of the Holocaust is set to sound on Thursday morning, at which point Israelis will cease all action and hold a moment of silence until the siren’s end.The flag was lowered to half-mast on Wednesday night at an official ceremony held at Yad Vashem, with the year’s theme being Out of the Depth: The Anguish of Liberation.The ceremony saw remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, who noted the difficult commemoration as the country continues to fight a war and hostages are still held in Hamas captivity.Released hostages sat in attendance at the ceremony as Herzog prayed for the return of those still captive and for the soldiers and their families who sacrificed in the fight on their behalf.“This day, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is not only a day for looking backward. I speak here not only 80 years after the Holocaust but also a year and a half after the greatest massacre our people have endured since the Holocaust – when we are still wounded and bleeding, reeling and anxious,” said Herzog.“I wish to lift up the sanctity of this day, even as our nation looks forward – internalizing what I believe is the most crucial lesson and imperative: Just as we overcame 80 years ago – so shall we prevail again.”Herzog said he would lead survivors, bereaved families, and former hostages in the March of the Living in Auschwitz on Thursday. He also said that he represented Holocaust survivors in a call for unity, hoping in the historic moment of “national responsibility” to “mend our hearts.”“We are living through days of fierce and painful division. And the overwhelming majority of our people cry out with all their might: Enough! Enough with the polarization. Enough with the hatred. History will not forgive those who act irresponsibly and tear us apart from within.“History will not forgive those who weaken the foundations of our wonderful country – beloved, unique, Jewish, and democratic – born from the ashes of the terrible Holocaust,” said Herzog.“Our shared rebuilding, after this great fracture, is a tremendous and historic mission–not upon one person, or one community, or one camp – but upon all of us: as a nation, as a society, as individuals.”Netanyahu arrived late to the ceremony – reportedly due to security issues, but top security officials were already present at the site.The prime minister mourned the loss of the Holocaust victims, who “bore the scars of the terrible devastation” but, according to him, also the legacy of the Jewish nation.He said he had been moved to tears when meeting Holocaust survivors this week and also during a diplomatic mission in Hungary, when visiting the bank of the Danube River, where a memorial of bronze shoes commemorating the murder of Hungarian Jews highlighted the destruction and resurrection of the Jewish people.Netanyahu drew a comparison between the shoes and the memorials of yellow ribbons and stickers of fallen soldiers, praising the heroism of those that rose up to fight in the ghettos, saying that their spirit sparked the rebirth of the nation.“I thought to myself about the tremendous changes that we’ve achieved over the last 80 years. After the Holocaust, we were like dust carried away by the wind,” said Netanyahu. “Now we have a country, we have an army, we have a security force, [and] we have soldiers with a fierce spirit.”Netanyahu noted the successes of the military since the October 7 massacre, crippling Hezbollah and Hamas, and noting the fall of the Assad regime. He threatened Iran with a similar fate if they continued down the path of nuclear weapons.“No one will prevent us from defending ourselves,” said Netanyahu, recalling the previous year’s commemoration when Israel was threatened with arms embargoes. “If we need to stand alone, we shall stand alone. If we need to fight with our fingernails, we shall fight with our fingernails, but we will not relent.”Holocaust Remembrance Day was a milestone in the path to destroying those that seek to eliminate us, said Netanyahu, comparing Hamas and their actions to those of the Nazis and the Holocaust.“They are exactly like the Nazis. Like Hitler. Like Haman. They wish to kill and destroy all of the Jews,” said Netanyahu. “It’s not going to happen. We are going to annihilate these Hamas monsters.”Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber is set to recite a chapter from Psalms, and Chief Rabbi David Yosef the mourners’ kaddish. Holocaust survivor Yehuda Hauptman is set to recite a prayer for the souls of the martyrs, and six other Holocaust survivors will light six torches, each representing a million souls extinguished by the Nazis and their collaborators.On Thursday, the public is welcome to light candles in the Warsaw Ghetto Square in memory of those who fell victim to the Nazi persecution and genocide.

Post' reveals: Why and how Israel missed its chance to strike Iran's nuclear sites - exclusive-JPost reveals for the first time the full extent of the debates between Israel's political and security echelons over striking in Tehran.By YONAH JEREMY BOB-APRIL 23, 2025 17:16

On April 13-14, 2024, Iran changed the Middle East forever, ending a decades-long covert shadow war with Israel by openly and directly attacking Israel with 180 ballistic missiles, 170 drones, and dozens of cruise missiles.Israel responded on April 19, 2024, by attacking one S-300 anti-aircraft defense system, which was protecting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facility in Isfahan.The Jewish state never seriously considered attacking Iran’s nuclear sites in April 2024 like it did in October 2024, but that first direct round between the sides set the stage for the more dramatic follow-up.Although that end result is well-known, The Jerusalem Post now reveals for the first time the full extent of the debates between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then defense minister Yoav Gallant, and then IDF chief Herzi Halevi, then war cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, and Mossad Director David Barnea.Similar but evolved debates came into play in October 2024 after Tehran attacked Israel directly a second time, this time with over 200 ballistic missiles on October 1, 2024.This time a similar cast of characters debated the issues, but Gantz and Eisenkot were already out of the picture having exited the government on June 9, 2024.And then there was a third round of the least reported debates after October 26, 2024, but before Donald Trump entered office, replacing Joe Biden as US president.Here, Gallant was also mostly out of the picture, given that he was fired by Netanyahu on November 5, 2024, leaving Netanyahu along with defense chiefs Halevi, Barnea, and some of their top advisers.What was radically different in the post-October 26 debates was that suddenly Israel knew it could pulverize Iran’s nuclear facilities almost at will, whereas until then there had been concerns about whether the Israeli air force could sufficiently outplay Iran’s S-300 anti aircraft defense systems for long enough to hit enough Iranian nuclear targets enough times to do the job.And yet Israel held back.A limited counterstrike-Although many of the above key decision-makers evolved in their views during the debate about how harshly to respond, roughly speaking, in April 2024, Eisenkot and Gantz were the most concerned about keeping Israel’s counterstrike limited so as to avoid an escalating series of strikes and counterstrikes.Netanyahu was concerned about overreacting as well, but was sounding some greater readiness to take risks in counterstriking Iran than Eisenkot and Gantz. This was a shift with Netanyahu being more confident about using dramatic military force, given that Gantz had been more ready to invade Gaza faster and harder in October 2023 and Khan Yunis in December 2023 than Netanyahu.Eisenkot had been ready to use strong military force in October 2023, but already wanted to continue hostage exchanges in November-December 2023 without rushing into Khan Yunis.Barnea, who is often the lead on Iran issues in the defense establishment, was in favor of a strong counterstrike, but it was difficult to pin down exactly as he wanted US support for Israel’s retaliation choice and for continued broader war goals.Gallant and Halevi were the most outspokenly aggressive about striking back.At some point, Netanyahu joined Gallant and Halevi for striking Iran’s S-300 anti-aircraft missile system protecting its Isfahan nuclear facility, and eventually, even Gantz supported this strike, though Eisenkot remained opposed.After Iran’s October 1 attack, positions had already shifted somewhat.Gallant and Halevi still wanted to be relatively aggressive, but were much more closely aligned with the US and ready to avoid attacking Iran’s nuclear program in order to keep Washington on board.In contrast, Netanyahu was becoming more aggressive in his approach to the war across the board and also more ready to defy the Biden administration, given that election day was only a month off and Trump was favored in the polls.Still, Netanyahu wanted the US and its allies to help Israel defend itself from any potential additional rounds of Iranian ballistic missile attacks, and part of that was also expressing gratitude to America for helping protect the Jewish state from Iran on October 1.US authorization-Also, Israel wanted US authorization for flying over certain Middle Eastern countries on the way to striking Iran.Barnea continued to support a somewhat aggressive approach to the Islamic Republic, but always emphasized the need for US buy-in as a restraining factor.This is how Israel arrived at the decision to strike the four remaining S-300 missile defense systems in Tehran, as well as more than a dozen other air defense and ballistic missile production targets, as well as one nuclear-related target at Parchin on October 26.The impact of Israel’s attack was to reduce Iran’s ballistic missile production capacity from manufacturing 14 new missiles per week to one per week, with a one to two-year recovery time.In terms of the impact on Iran’s radar, tracking, and air defense capabilities, Israel’s attack left Iran’s nuclear program completely vulnerable compared to the air force’s capabilities.Why then didn’t Israel immediately rush out the fateful strike on Iran’s nuclear program on October 27, or in the limbo transition period between October 26 and inauguration day of January 20?Especially after election day, Biden was a lame duck who could only have penalized Israel so much for defying his will.The answer actually lies not with Iran, but on two other fronts: Hezbollah and Hamas.Even if Israel had taken out Iran’s best chance of competing in a heavy exchange of fire between the countries, the Jewish state was still under heavy fire on October 27 and after US election day.In the North, around one-third of the country was being rocketed by Hezbollah hundreds of times per day, with some rockets also getting to central Israel. True, Israel was overwhelmingly “winning” the exchange, but the country could not indefinitely sustain the level of rocket fire that Hezbollah could keep up.In the South, Hamas no longer had such capabilities, but still presented a threat, which made it hard to convince southern residents to return to their homes closer to Gaza, and the terror group still held around 100 hostages, half of whom were still alive.Also, at the time, Israel was facing nearly daily ballistic missiles from Yemen’s Houthis, which each time sent millions of Israelis in the Tel Aviv and central Israel corridors into their bomb shelters.Removing other threats-In order to be ready for a potentially broad military campaign with Iran, which could involve multiple rounds of exchanges of many hundreds of ballistic missiles more than before, top Israeli officials wanted to remove other threats from the board.It took until November 27 to get a ceasefire with Hezbollah, and even then, significant Israeli attention was focused on keeping US support for framing the post-war order in Lebanon. This was key to ensure that the Lebanese army would block Hezbollah from returning to southern Lebanon and that the IDF would be free to strike the terror group each time it violated the ceasefire deal.A deal with Hamas for returning some hostages and a ceasefire did not occur until January 19, the day before Trump’s inauguration.And there was enormous pressure for another such hostage deal after the last deal had occurred way back in November 2023.Once again, Israel needed both Biden and Trump’s support to seal the deal, and this might not have happened if Jerusalem had gone head-to-head with Tehran.There are also some who believe Netanyahu only wanted the Hamas deal to happen once Trump was taking office, so that he could frame the post-ceasefire situation in terms of dismantling Hamas - and not a Palestinian Authority-led Gaza with Hamas still intact in the background.In any event, the Hamas deal also took off pressure from the Houthis, and before Israel went back to war with Hamas on March 18-19, America was already striking the Houthis far more seriously to keep them busy on the defensive and less on the offensive.Most top Israeli officials believe progress on these issues could not have happened, and also the 33 hostages who Hamas returned to Israel over January-March could have been endangered, if Israel had launched a larger war with Iran during the Biden-Trump transition.Also, top IDF and Mossad officials believed that Trump would be open to a full attack on Iran’s nuclear sites at some midpoint in 2025, such that there was not necessarily a rush.Generally speaking, Israeli officials have felt blindsided by Trump’s turn from calling on Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear program in October 2024, to waving off their attack plans in 2025, and seemingly barreling forward toward a new, highly flawed nuclear deal.Had Israeli officials realized that such a scenario was just as likely as green-lighting an Israeli attack or coercing Iran into a much tighter nuclear deal, some might have favored launching an attack during the Biden-Trump transition.Yet, some, even looking back, would say that the strategic importance of obtaining ceasefires with Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis was worth the price of temporarily missing the window to attack Iran.According to these sources, Israel has prevented Iran from getting a nuclear weapon using covert means for decades, and it can again. Further, if Iran really does try to take advantage of a new weak deal to break out to a nuclear weapon, the air force could still step in in time to strike.Finally, though no Israeli officials are saying this out loud yet, even a mediocre nuclear deal could buy Israel time by setting Iran’s nuclear progress back for the first time since 2019, when it threw off the JCPOA restrictions.This is far from the ideal scenario of using Iran’s relative defenselessness post October 26 to smash its nuclear program with a giant military strike, but it may still be a better result than any deal the Biden team could have gotten before Israel put Iran directly in its crosshairs.

Sons of dogs, release the hostages,' Mahmoud Abbas tells Hamas-He also stressed that "Hamas must end its control of the Gaza Strip and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority."By JERUSALEM POST STAFF-APRIL 23, 2025 13:05

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on "sons of dogs" Hamas to "hand over the hostages" in a televised speech at the PA's Central Council on Wednesday.Abbas added that the "war must end," citing that hundreds are dying every day because "[Hamas] doesn't want to hand over the American hostages. Sons of dogs - hand over the hostages and end the matter."Abbas said the goals are "Returning the hostages; lifting the Israeli blockade of Gaza; stopping the displacement of our people in coordination with Arab countries; defending the 'Palestinian cause.'"He also stressed that "Hamas must end its control of the Gaza Strip and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority." Abbas also called on Hamas to turn itself into a political party, saying "talk to us instead of the Americans."'New Nakba'He also condemned Israel's actions during the war, saying, "The coup carried out by Hamas in 2007 gave Israel a pretext to destroy the Gaza Strip. 2,165 families were completely wiped out, and 6,664 were partially wiped out. More than two-thirds of the homes were destroyed in the war.""We are facing serious dangers that could lead to a 'new Nakba,'" he added."Our vision for achieving peace in the Middle East is based on ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state."

Israeli delegation departing for more hostage negotiations, sources tell 'Post'-Sources informed on the matter told the Post that there has been no change in Hamas's position regarding the deal.By AMICHAI STEIN-APRIL 23, 2025 19:31

An Israeli delegation is expected to depart in the coming days for talks aimed at advancing a hostage deal, a source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday.Sources informed on the matter told the Post that there has been no change in Hamas's position regarding the deal.Hamas has made it clear to mediators from Egypt and Qatar that "we will not agree to a deal that includes a temporary ceasefire."Israel says it will only agree to a deal in which 10-11 hostages will be released for 45 days of ceasefire. Prime Minister Netanyahu has said Israel will not agree to cease the war, as Hamas demands.How hopeful is Israeli leadership? Nevertheless, the stance of the political echelon, including the prime minister, is that efforts to secure a deal should be exhausted while maintaining the current combat strategy and advancing to the next phase. This position contrasts with that of some ministers in the Political-Security Cabinet, who demand a shift toward dismantling Hamas.On Tuesday, Qatar's Prime Minister met in Washington with US President Donald Trump, Special Envoy Witkoff, and several senior administration officials. US administration officials claim a deal could be reached soon.Trump stated last night, "We’ll see what happens with Gaza," but added, "Hamas will have no role in governing Gaza."

China asks Korea not to export products using rare earths to US defense firms-The letters said Korean companies could face sanctions if they violate the export restrictions, the report said.By REUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF-APRIL 22, 2025 13:53

Beijing recently asked South Korean companies not to export products containing China's rare earth minerals to US defense firms, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Tuesday, citing government and company sources.The report said China's commerce ministry delivered the message in letters to Korean companies which make power transformers, batteries, displays, electric vehicles, aerospace, and medical equipment, all of which use critical metals.At least two transformer manufacturers received official notices from China’s Ministry of Commerce, two sources in the Korean transformer industry told KED.The letters said Korean companies could face sanctions if they violate the export restrictions, the report said.Attempts to thwart exports to US-This move could heavily impact Korea's economy, which is reliant on exports, the report continued. The companies allegedly fear Beijing could block sales of the metals altogether.This also signifies the first formal attempt by China to control other countries' exports to the US. It comes just a few weeks after China's commerce ministry slapped restrictions on more than a dozen US defense firms after President Donald Trump made good on his threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.South Korea's Industry Ministry was not immediately available for comments outside business hours.

A FALSE PROPHET COMES FROM THE VATICAN ALSO AT THIS TIME.

ISAIAH 23:15-17
15  And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16  Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17  And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE 70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.

REVELATION 13:11-18
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, 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 17:1-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:(VATICAN)
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.(THATS PEDOPHELIA-FORNICATION IS SINGLES HAVING SEX OUT SIDE OF MARRIAGE)(AND SINCE PREISTS CAN NOT MARRY IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS FALSE CHURCH GOES AGAINST THE BIBLE.THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BECOMES A HOMOSEXUAL HAVEN OF PEDOPHILIAS FACTORY).  
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:(THE VATICAN GOES AGAINST A PRIEST MARRING A WOMAN-LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS-AND WHATS AN ABOMINATION AGAINST GOD-HOMOSEXUALITY AND PEDOPHILIA JUST LIKE THIS SCRIPTURE SAYS-FORNICATION IS THE SINGLE HOMOSEXUAL PRIESTS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAVING UNMARRIED FORNICATION OR SEX WITH SINGLES-IN THIS CASE ITS SEX WITH CHILDREN OR PEDOPHILIA)
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.(GOD HIMSELF GIVES THE OK TO NUKE THE VATICAN)
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.(VATICAN)

Israel to snub Pope’s funeral as Jerusalem-Vatican relations hit a low amid Gaza war-Israel to send ambassador to the service as other countries send presidents and royalty, Netanyahu has not yet expressed a message of condolence to Catholics-By Reuters and ToI Staff Today, 10:29 pm

VATICAN CITY — Most major nations will be sending heads of state or government, or royalty, to Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, but Israel will be represented only by its ambassador to the Vatican.The decision to keep the representation at the lowest level possible is a sign of how far Israel’s relations with the Vatican have deteriorated since the start of the war in Gaza in 2023, diplomats said.It also follows an Israeli government decision to delete a social media post that had offered condolences for the pope’s death.Shortly after Francis’ death was announced on Monday, the verified @Israel account used by the government on X published a message that read: “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing”. It also showed an image of the pope visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.The post was later deleted without explanation. Officials at the Foreign Ministry said its publication was an “error.”Israel sent both then-president Moshe Katsav and then-foreign minister Silvan Shalom to the last funeral of a pope who died in office, that of Pope John Paul II in 2005.The coffin of the late Pope John Paul II passes in front of then-world leaders after his funeral mass on April 8, 2005, at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square. Among the leaders at the time who can be seen in the picture are King Abdullah II and Queen Raina of Jordan, left, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, center, Queen Margarethe and Prince Consort Henrik, right, US President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush, second row, right, former US President George H.W. Bush, second row center, and French President Jacques Chirac. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)According to the Israeli embassy to the Vatican, it will be represented at Francis’s funeral by Yaron Sideman, who has been its ambassador since September.“It’s a low point in a spiral,” said one diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I hope both sides will be able to overcome the differences and climb out of this together.”The Israeli embassy to the Vatican has limited its social media reaction to the pope’s death by reposting a message of condolence to Christians in the Holy Land and around the world by President Isaac Herzog, who described Francis as “a man of deep faith and boundless compassion.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not commented on the pope’s death as of Wednesday afternoon, nor had the foreign ministry issued a statement.Opposition MK Gilad Kariv attended a mass held in Jerusalem on Wednesday for Francis, saying he was doing so to apologize for the government.“I’m here to express my condolences on behalf of the vast majority of Israeli citizens to both Christian believers who live in Israel and to the hundreds of millions of Catholic Christians around the world,” he told The Times of Israel.Kariv harshly criticized the government for not doing the same.“I’m ashamed by the fact that the Israeli government and the Knesset did not release an official message of condolences,” he said.Relations between Israel in the Vatican have soured amid the Gaza war, which was sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.Pope Francis, who visited Israel in 2014, called repeatedly for the hostages’ release and met often with their family, but became increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct as the war dragged on.In a letter to Middle East Catholics on the first anniversary of the Hamas onslaught, Francis did not mention the Palestinian terror group by name or explicitly reference its atrocities.At the end of November, he went a step further and denounced “the invader’s arrogance” in both “Ukraine” and “Palestine,” breaking with the Holy See’s modern tradition of neutrality. And in a book excerpt published that month, he said some international experts had posited that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”In December, Francis twice slammed Israel’s “cruelty” in Gaza, and provoked further outrage in Jerusalem by inaugurating a nativity scene at the Vatican that featured the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, the traditional scarf used by Palestinians as a national symbol-Israel has sparred with other Vatican officials besides Francis during the war.Last year, after Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Israel’s response to the Hamas attack had been “disproportionate,” Israel’s embassy issued a statement calling his comments “deplorable.” The embassy later toned down its criticism, citing a translation error, but relations remained tense.Last June, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, appeared to rebuke Israel’s then-ambassador Raphael Schutz at an event they both attended.“The Holy See does not close its doors to anyone and strives to understand everyone’s motivations and perspectives,” Gallagher said. “In this regard, it is very much appreciated when the positions of one’s own authorities are timely presented through the appropriate diplomatic forum and channels.”Schutz had lobbied the Vatican’s Secretariat of State repeatedly in late 2023 and throughout 2024 for the pope to be more forceful in his condemnation of the Hamas onslaught.“There is a simple distinction, one side is murdering, raping, and does not care about those on their own side. The other side is engaged in a war of self-defense,” Schutz said in 2023.Lazar Berman and Rossella Tercatin contributed to this report.

Two bodies recovered from Kenya church in case with echoes of starvation cult-Police retrieved the two bodies from the premises of St. Joseph Missions of Africa Church in Migori County on Monday, according to a police report seen by Reuters.By REUTERS-APRIL 22, 2025 17:45

Kenyan police have recovered two bodies and rescued 57 people at a church in the country's west, according to an internal report, in a case with echoes of the starvation of hundreds of people in a doomsday cult in Kenya two years ago.Police retrieved the two bodies from the premises of St. Joseph Missions of Africa Church in Migori County on Monday, according to a police report seen by Reuters.One of them, the body of a man, was found "lying on the floor of a prayer room within the church compound" while "fully covered in a white robe and wrapped in a grey sheet," the report said.The 57 people who were rescued looked weak and frail and were taken to a nearby hospital but refused to be attended to by medical personnel and instead "began to make noises and (sing) religious songs," it added.A police spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.Exhumation of bodies-More than 400 bodies were exhumed from the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya, nearly half of them children, after the discovery in 2023 of bodies in one of the world's worst cult-related disasters in recent history.Prosecutors charged Paul Mackenzie, the leader of the Good News International Church, and his associates with murder, terrorism-related crimes, manslaughter and torture for allegedly ordering his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so that they could go to heaven before the world ended.Mackenzie has denied the charges, and the cases are ongoing

Media hails 'groundbreaking' Pope Francis-by AFP Staff Writers.

Paris (AFP) April 22, 2025-Pope Francis's death was front-page news around the world on Tuesday, with many outlets highlighting the Argentine pontiff's down-to-earth manner and notable policy changes.Here is a selection of what Europe's press wrote.- Britain -The Guardian called Francis a "groundbreaking head of Catholic Church" who urged his fellow clergy leaders to show "humility"."It would be a mistake... to view Francis's papacy as a liberal one, but in significant areas it exerted a major progressive influence beyond the church, especially in relation to the climate emergency and the treatment of people migrating between countries."For The Times, Francis was "a born fighter resented by old guard but loved by the masses," with international trips that "reinforced the image of his papacy as a breath of fresh air".The Daily Telegraph tabloid called him "courageous, sincere, egalitarian," adding that his "humour and insight had sublime effect."- Spain -El Pais lamented "The end of a social and reformist papacy" while El Mundo, another national daily, hailed "The pope who shook up the Church and wanted to give voice to the excluded".- Germany -"Jorge Mario Bergoglio was an unusual pontiff, one who liked people. And people liked him," news magazine Der Speigel wrote, using Francis's birth name."But was that enough to save his hard-hit church? In Germany and other Western societies, countless believers were hoping for real reforms from their pope," it added, such as allowing women to be ordained priests.The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung agreed, saying that "compared to his predecessors, Francis almost seemed like a revolutionary. From the perspective of many Catholics in this country, however, he has changed too little."- Poland -In Poland, Rzeczpospolita lamented the pope's death as "one more factor that increases the instability in our world," citing in particular the war in Ukraine and Donald Trump's re-election as US president.The Gazeta Wyborcza noted that, with his varied statements on Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, "he alienated himself from both Ukrainians and Russians, and the Vatican has no influence at all on how this conflict will end".- Portugal -Publico titled its front page with "Francis, the favourite pope of the people and of atheists," saying his 2013 election generated "a tsunami of unprecedented enthusiasm... in both the Catholic and non-Catholic worlds".For the Jornal de Noticias, the pope was "the seed of revolution" for the Church and the "mentor of a spiritual transformation".

Francis, a pope for the internet age-By Marine DO-VALE.

Paris (AFP) April 21, 2025-As an at-times unwitting star on social media, Pope Francis knew how to exploit the internet to preach the gospel, broadening the Church's appeal while modernising its communications.Yet the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, who died on Monday, likewise regularly warned against the scourge of disinformation, and in recent years took aim at the possible perils of artificial intelligence.It was his predecessor Benedict XVI who created the papal X presence @pontifex in 2012, at a time when the now-Elon Musk owned site was known as Twitter, in a bid at reaching younger people.Within months of its creation Benedict stepped down and Francis took over, immediately striking social media gold.The handle boasts a total of 50 million followers across its accounts in nine languages, among them English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Polish, German and Arabic.Even its account in long-dead Latin boasts one million followers.Then, in March 2016, three years to the day after he became pope, the Argentine went even further by creating an Instagram account.Today @Franciscus has nearly 10 million followers on the Meta-owned platform.As on X, the Vatican posts daily photos and videos, mostly of a religious nature, as well as excerpts from the speeches, texts and public addresses of the religious leader.His last video on Instagram, which consisted of an extract of his speech for the Easter Sunday mass, was liked by nearly 400,000 people.- 'Disinformation and polarisation' -That popularity however has not prevented him from criticising the negative effects of social media.While they serve "better to connect us", they can "also reinforce our self-isolation", he notably said in 2019, adding that "they also lend themselves to the manipulation of personal data".When Musk's X was accused of spreading false information and manipulating political debate and Europe in January 2024, Francis condemned "disinformation and polarisation, where a few centres of power control an unprecedented mass of data and information".Just a few days earlier, he had already condemned an era of "fake news" and warned against the abuse of AI to "manipulate people's minds".Francis himself has been the subject of AI-generated images that have gone viral on the web, showing the pontiff partying in a nightclub or getting married.In March 2023, images of Pope Francis dressed in a white puffer jacket from luxury label Balenciaga and a bling crucifix in the fashion of American rappers became an internet sensation within a few hours.That is not to say that the Catholic Church has eschewed evangelising via AI entirely.Today, worshippers wishing to learn more about Catholic faith, dogma and theology can do so on platforms such as CateGPT -- a play on the name of AI market leader ChatGPT -- and HelloBible.

Iraq's top Shiite cleric says Pope Francis sought peace.

Baghdad (AFP) April 21, 2025 - Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shiite Islam's highest authority in Iraq, offered his condolences on Monday for the death of Pope Francis, praising his work promoting "peace and tolerance".Sistani, 94, who met the late pontiff in 2021 in the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, said in a statement issued by his office that it was an "important milestone" in supporting interfaith dialogue and "rejecting violence and hatred".Francis had a "special role in serving the causes of peace and tolerance, and solidarity with the oppressed and persecuted around the world", Sistani said.After his historic trip to Iraq, Francis said his meeting with Sistani -- who is extremely reclusive and rarely grants audiences -- had been "good for my soul".The meeting marked a landmark moment in modern religious history and for Francis's efforts to deepen interfaith dialogue. Sistani told the pope that Iraq's Christians should live in "peace".Despite the high risks to his personal safety, Francis visited the largely-ruined city of Mosul that was ravaged by the Islamic State group until the jihadists' defeat in 2017.By the time of Francis's visit, Iraq's Christian population had shrunk during years of violence in the country to fewer than 400,000, from around 1.5 million before the US-led invasion of 2003.Francis prayed for the victims of war outside the ruined centuries-old Al-Tahera (Immaculate Conception) Church, where he pleaded for Christians in Iraq and the Middle East to stay in their homelands.On Monday, Benedictus Younan Hanno, the Archbishop of the Syriac Catholic Church of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, home to one of the world's oldest Christian communities, called on churches to ring their bells for the deceased pope.Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani mourned a pope who had "a life devoted to serving humanity.""We recall with reverence his historic visit to Iraq... an event that laid a meaningful foundation for interfaith dialogue and promoted fraternity and compassion among people of all faiths," he said.

Bells toll for Francis in jihadist-scarred Iraq.

Qaraqosh, Iraq (AFP) April 21, 2025 - Church bells tolled in Mosul and nearby towns Monday to mark the death of Pope Francis, the first pope to visit Iraq which suffered greatly at the hands of jihadists.In the historic Al-Tahera church in the nearby town of Qaraqosh, where the Pope prayed in 2021, dozens of worshippers gathered for an Easter mass which also became an occasion to pay tribute to their beloved Francis.Near the altar stood an empty wooden chair on which the pope had sat when he declared in a mass that he had entrusted the town's "rebirth" to the Virgin Mary.His death "is a significant setback for Christians, especially in the Middle East", said Kadun Yuhana as he mourned a pope who had kept "a watchful eye on the region, much like a father to his children".Yuhana, in his sixties, recalled with "profound love" the pope's historic visit to Qaraqosh, where the jihadists had ransacked and burned churches and smashed crosses."We were very happy that he visited his children in this small village, whose population has dwindled due to the emigration of thousands because of the injustice."In 2014, the Islamic State group swept through Iraq's Nineveh plains, home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.Within days, nearly all of Qaraqosh's 55,000 Christian residents had fled.Boutros Mazen, a medical assistant, praised the "fraternity and love" fostered by Pope Francis during his visit to Iraq."He left something good to the Iraqi people: their cohesion and unity," he said.By the time of Francis's visit, Iraq's Christian population had shrunk during years of violence in the country to fewer than 400,000 -- from around 1.5 million before the US-led invasion of 2003.During his visit, the late pope met Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shiite Islam's highest authority in Iraq.It was a landmark moment in modern religious history, and for Francis's efforts to deepen interfaith dialogue.In Mosul, he prayed for the victims of war and pleaded for Christians in Iraq and the Middle East to stay in their homelands.Sanaa Abdul Karim, who had fled the jihadists' rule in Mosul to the northern city of Dohuk, described the pope's death as a "tragedy", praising his "humility" when he visited her hometown.It is an "extraordinary loss... we are deeply moved by it, particularly because he supported the return of Christians to Iraq," she said.burs-cbg/rh/srm

'The voice of god': Filipinos wrestle with death of Pope Francis.

Manila (AFP) April 21, 2025 - Church bells rang out across the Philippines early Monday evening as Asia's bastion of Catholicism mourned the death of Pope Francis.Residents in the capital were still processing the news. Some rushed to cathedrals to pray while others who spoke to AFP were not yet aware of his passing.Outside the Baclaran Church in metro Manila, 23-year-old Jeslie Generan said the reality of the pope's death was only just sinking in."I was shocked because I had already read that he was OK, he was no longer sick, that his condition improved," she told AFP."When I opened Twitter and read it... I thought it was fake news."Inside the soaring cathedral, a framed portrait of the pope affectionally known as "Lolo Kiko", or "grandfather Francis", sat next to a statue of Jesus, a candle to either side.A handful of parishioners filed down after the sermon, kneeling and praying for Pope Francis in front of his picture."We feel the loss because he is the face of the church," parishioner Marlon Delgado told AFP."I heard the news of his death on the television," said the 40-year-old, who attends mass every week."I was at first shocked and then a feeling of sadness overwhelmed me."During an earlier visit to the capital's Manila Cathedral, AFP reporters found the pews in the dimly lit sanctuary largely empty and the altar's candles unlit shortly after news of the pontiff's death emerged.But outside the massive structure, Jhayson Banquiles, 19, said the country's 85 million Catholics had lost the "voice of God"."The pope's death is a big loss for Filipino Catholics. He is basically the voice of God here. Through him, we hear the word of God."Vincent Abrena, 38, said he had learned of the death at his office."That's why after work I rushed to the cathedral ... to pray for him."Pope Francis, who appointed four of the 10 Filipino cardinals in Church history, visited the archipelago nation only once, when he led a mass for survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan.He came just over a year after the most powerful storm in Philippine history devastated fishing and farming towns and left more than 6,000 people dead in November 2013.Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for his arrival, chanting "long live the pope" as he disembarked only to be pelted with rains and heavy winds."When I saw in Rome that catastrophe (the typhoon), I felt I had to be here. And on those very days, I decided to come here. I'm here to be with you," he said as many in the crowd clutched crucifixes and wept.On Monday, a video about his visit had garnered more than five million views within two hours of its posting by a local news outlet.

China expresses condolences after pope death.

Beijing (AFP) April 22, 2025 - China's foreign ministry expressed condolences on Tuesday following the death of Pope Francis.The Vatican on Monday announced the death of the 88-year-old pontiff, who inspired devotion but riled traditionalists during 12 years leading the Catholic Church."In recent years, China and the Vatican have maintained constructive contact and carried out friendly exchanges," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said."China is willing to make joint efforts with the Vatican to promote the continued improvement of China-Vatican relations," Guo added.In 1951, newly communist China severed ties with the Holy See, forcing Catholics to choose between membership in the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association or non-sanctioned churches loyal to the pope.But under Francis, Beijing and the Vatican inked a 2018 agreement allowing both Beijing and the Holy See a say in appointing bishops in an attempt to close the schism in China's 12-million-strong Catholic community.But the Vatican expressed its "regrets" in 2022 and 2023 after the unilateral appointment of two bishops by Beijing -- including one in Shanghai, the largest Catholic diocese in the country -- indirectly accusing it of having violated the 2018 agreement.They agreed to extend the deal again in 2024.Pope Francis had expressed a desire to visit China, which he called a "great country"."I believe that China is a promise and a hope for the church," Francis said.