New York Earthquake: City of the Sixth Seal (Revelation 6:12)

New York earthquake: City at risk of ‚dangerous shaking from far away‘
Joshua Nevett
Published 30th April 2018
SOME of New York City’s tallest skyscrapers are at risk of being shaken by seismic waves triggered by powerful earthquakes from miles outside the city, a natural disaster expert has warned.
Researchers believe that a powerful earthquake, magnitude 5 or greater, could cause significant damage to large swathes of NYC, a densely populated area dominated by tall buildings.
A series of large fault lines that run underneath NYC’s five boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island, are capable of triggering large earthquakes.
Some experts have suggested that NYC is susceptible to at least a magnitude 5 earthquake once every 100 years.
The last major earthquake measuring over magnitude 5.0 struck NYC in 1884 – meaning another one of equal size is “overdue” by 34 years, according their prediction model.
Natural disaster researcher Simon Day, of University College London, agrees with the conclusion that NYC may be more at risk from earthquakes than is usually thought.
EARTHQUAKE RISK: New York is susceptible to seismic shaking from far-away tremors
But the idea of NYC being “overdue” for an earthquake is “invalid”, not least because the “very large number of faults” in the city have individually low rates of activity, he said.
The model that predicts strong earthquakes based on timescale and stress build-up on a given fault has been “discredited”, he said.
What scientists should be focusing on, he said, is the threat of large and potentially destructive earthquakes from “much greater distances”.
The dangerous effects of powerful earthquakes from further away should be an “important feature” of any seismic risk assessment of NYC, Dr Day said.

GETTY
THE BIG APPLE: An aerial view of Lower Manhattan at dusk in New York City

USGS
RISK: A seismic hazard map of New York produced by USGS
“New York is susceptible to seismic shaking from earthquakes at much greater distances” Dr Simon Day, natural disaster researcher
This is because the bedrock underneath parts of NYC, including Long Island and Staten Island, cannot effectively absorb the seismic waves produced by earthquakes.
“An important feature of the central and eastern United States is, because the crust there is old and cold, and contains few recent fractures that can absorb seismic waves, the rate of seismic reduction is low.
Central regions of NYC, including Manhattan, are built upon solid granite bedrock; therefore the amplification of seismic waves that can shake buildings is low.
But more peripheral areas, such as Staten Island and Long Island, are formed by weak sediments, meaning seismic hazard in these areas is “very likely to be higher”, Dr Day said.
“Thus, like other cities in the eastern US, New York is susceptible to seismic shaking from earthquakes at much greater distances than is the case for cities on plate boundaries such as Tokyo or San Francisco, where the crustal rocks are more fractured and absorb seismic waves more efficiently over long distances,” Dr Day said.
In the event of a large earthquake, dozens of skyscrapers, including Chrysler Building, the Woolworth Building and 40 Wall Street, could be at risk of shaking.
“The felt shaking in New York from the Virginia earthquake in 2011 is one example,” Dr Day said.
On that occasion, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake centered 340 miles south of New York sent thousands of people running out of swaying office buildings.

USGS
FISSURES: Fault lines in New York City have low rates of activity, Dr Day said
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city was “lucky to avoid any major harm” as a result of the quake, whose epicenter was near Louisa, Virginia, about 40 miles from Richmond.
“But an even more impressive one is the felt shaking from the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes in the central Mississippi valley, which was felt in many places across a region, including cities as far apart as Detroit, Washington DC and New Orleans, and in a few places even further afield including,” Dr Day added.
“So, if one was to attempt to do a proper seismic hazard assessment for NYC, one would have to include potential earthquake sources over a wide region, including at least the Appalachian mountains to the southwest and the St Lawrence valley to the north and east.”

Israel Launches Attacks Outside the Temple Walls: Revelation 11

Israel goes ‘on offence’ after attacks, launches W.Bank raids

AFP / Updated: Apr 10, 2022, 18:09 IST

JENIN: Israeli forces carried out fresh raids Sunday in the flashpoint West Bank region of Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian militant groups and the home of gunmen who launched two recent deadly attacks.
Heavy gun battles rocked the northern region of the occupied territory as Israeli forces launched raids for a second day running, with 10 people wounded in clashes across the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
“The State of Israel has gone on the offence,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said after a cabinet meeting, vowing to “settle accounts with everyone who was linked, either directly or indirectly, to the attacks”.
Israeli troops on Sunday detained 20 Palestinians, a military source said.

The operation came after a gunman from Jenin went on a shooting rampage in a Tel Aviv nightlife area Thursday, killing three Israelis and wounding more than a dozen others — the latest of a spate of bloody attacks in Israel.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad welcomed the Tel Aviv attack, which was condemned by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
– Palestinian killed near Bethlehem – Elsewhere in the West Bank, near the southern city of Bethlehem, Israeli troops on Sunday shot dead a Palestinian woman who had approached them and failed to stop after they had fired warning shots, the military said.
The woman, named by the Palestinian news agency Wafa as Ghada Ibrahim Sabatien, a widowed mother of six in her 40s, died after suffering massive blood loss from a torn artery, the Palestinian health ministry said.
But the centre of the heightened tensions was the Jenin area, where, the Israeli military source told AFP, Palestinian militants shot from passing vehicles at Israeli soldiers — who responded with live fire.
A total of 20 “wanted individuals” suspected of involvement in “terrorist activities” were apprehended, the source said, while the Palestinian Prisoners Club announced 24 arrests across the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six Day War.
The Israeli military source said its forces had located stolen Israeli army ammunition and uniforms in the residence of one of the suspects, and an explosive device in another home.
No Israeli forces were reported injured, while the Palestinian health ministry said at least 10 Palestinians were wounded in clashes in Jenin, as well as in Jericho and Tulkarem.
Protests in support of Jenin were scheduled for later in the day in Ramallah.
– ‘No limits’ – Tensions have been heightened during Ramadan, after violence flared during the Muslim holy month last year leading to 11 days of devastating conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
In recent weeks, Israel has been stunned by a string of attacks, several of them shooting sprees targeting civilians and some carried out by assailants linked to or inspired by the Islamic State group.
A total of 14 people have been killed in four attacks in Israel since March 22, including another shooting spree on March 29 in Bnei Brak, an Orthodox Jewish city near Tel Aviv, also carried out by a Palestinian attacker from Jenin.
Over the same period, at least 11 Palestinians have been killed, including assailants, according to a count by AFP.
Following Thursday’s attack, Bennett gave security agencies “full freedom” to end the deadly violence, warning that “there are not and will not be limits for this war”.
“We will do whatever it takes, whatever is necessary, for however long and wherever needed, until both safety and the sense of security are restored,” army chief Aviv Kochavi told soldiers in a video released by the military.
On Saturday, the Israeli army and border police had also carried operations in Jenin.
Troops raided the Jenin refugee camp and, amid heavy gun battles, killed a 25-year-old Palestinian member of Islamic Jihad, the main Palestinian armed Islamist movement besides Hamas.
The Jenin refugee camp is a stronghold of armed factions, where three other Palestinians linked to an anti-Israeli attack were killed by the army last week.
The new operation comes ahead of the funerals of the three Israeli civilians killed in Tel Aviv — childhood friends Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini, and father-of-three Barak Lufan — in the central town of Kfar Saba and the northern kibbutz of Ginosar.
“This is a difficult day, the day on which the three people who were murdered in the Tel Aviv terrorist attack are brought to rest”, Bennett said.
Israeli authorities on Sunday also reported “vandalism” at the tomb of Joseph, the son of the patriarch Jacob, a Jewish pilgrimage site near the West Bank city of Nablus.

Palestinian social media incites war outside the Temple Walls: Revelation 11

Amid terror wave, incitement to violence floods Palestinian social media

PA President Abbas condemned attacks against Israeli civilians, but officials in his Fatah party express support for violence; Hamas, Islamic Jihad share posts praising terrorism

By TOI STAFFToday, 3:27 pm  

Supporters of the Hamas terrorist organization gather to express their solidarity with the Jenin refugee camp, against the Israeli operation on the West Bank city and adjacent camp, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2022 (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

As a series of deadly terror attacks rocked Israeli cities in recent weeks, Palestinian social media seethed with incitement supporting the violence and encouraging future attackers.

Fourteen people have died in four deadly attacks across the country, the bloodiest wave of violence Israel has seen in years. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the two attacks committed by West Bank Palestinians in Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv.

But on Palestinian social media, many accounts have relentlessly put out clips praising the attacks. In some cases, users have set graphic footage of the violence to traditional music. Addressing Israelis, the lyrics vow that “you will see hell and its gates will open on the Day of Resurrection.”

Other Palestinian social media users shared a song — originally disseminated by the Islamic Jihad-linked Filastin al-Yawm channel — hailing Jenin’s so-called resistance: “God blessed the champions of Jenin with a Molotov cocktail and a knife.”

The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups have sought to play up the violence in their official media. Both terror groups issued statements praising the attacks in the aftermath of every incident.

In a video statement following clashes between Palestinian terrorists and Israeli soldiers in Jenin, the area from which the Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv terrorists came, a spokesperson for the Hamas military wing — the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades — hailed the “resistance” in the northern West Bank city.

“Our heroes and revolutionaries are not alone,” Hamas military spokesperson Abu Obeida said, followed by scenes of Palestinian terrorists setting up rocket launchers set to heroic music.

In other Hamas-affiliated social media accounts, commentators praising the attacks received hundreds of likes. “After the Tel Aviv operations, I say to this Ramadan month: You’ve made us happy, Ramadan,” Fayez Abu Shemala, who writes a regular column for Hamas mouthpiece Falastin, wrote gleefully on Twitter.

In other videos, the pro-Hamas Falastin sought to use children to express its support of the recent terror attacks.

“He’s a hero and he was martyred by God’s will,” said the young brother of Ra’ad Hazem, who killed three people last Thursday night in the terrorist attack on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv.

The Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party has also contributed to the tide of incitement. Although Abbas condemned both terror attacks committed by Palestinians, numerous Fatah officials have sought to hitch a ride on the attacks.

Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki spoke at an event on Sunday night commemorating Hazem and Ahmad al-Sa’adi, a Palestinian gunman killed in a clash with Israeli troops in Jenin.

“I salute the steadfast Jenin,” said Zaki, calling the city “a national stronghold.”

Jenin Governor Akram Rajoub called Hazem, who was a resident of the city, a “Fatah fighter,” telling The Times of Israel and other outlets that he did not consider him to be a terrorist.

The governor was later spotted at another mourners’ tent set up by the family of the terrorist, who was killed in a gunfight with police in Jaffa hours after the attack.

Rajoub, a longtime Palestinian Authority security official and member of the ruling Fatah party, serves as Abbas’s representative in Jenin.

In a speech at the mourners’ tent, Rajoub called Hazem “a Fatah warrior, for whom the occupation’s bullets did not distinguish between him and his comrade Ahmad al-Sa’adi.”

The identification with the terrorists has extended to social media as well as official Palestinian Authority outlets.

“Glory and eternity to our righteous martyrs,” pronounced a Fatah page purportedly affiliated with the Hebron branch of the Palestinian party over a picture of Diaa Hamarsheh, who killed five people in the terror attack in Bnei Brak on March 29.

Complaints about incitement in official Palestinian Authority media preceded the current spike in attacks. In March, tensions rose in the West Bank after Israeli forces killed three Palestinian terrorists in Nablus, with officials saying they were a “ticking bomb” on their way to commit an attack.

During a subsequent live broadcast on Palestine TV live-streaming the demolition of one of the gunmen’s homes, Fatah official Abd al-Ilah Ateerah praised Palestinian resistance “with what Allah provides us.”

“When you see a 15-year-old Palestinian child carrying a rock or another tool or a knife, know that this cause continues in the blood of our people,” said Ateerah.

Other Fatah party officials have repeatedly praised the “war with the Jews” following the recent terror attacks in Israel.

“We are taking action for our Lord… Our goal is not Fatah, Fatah is a means. Fatah is a means for the liberation of Palestine. Our war is with the Jews,” Fatah’s party secretary in Jenin, Ata Abu Rmeilah, told al-Awdah TV on March 27, after the current terror wave began.

Abu Rmeilah later called Hamarsheh’s attack in Bnei Brak “heroic” in interviews with Palestinian media and praised the actions of the terrorist to a supportive crowd.

Antichrist’s new demands in name of nation, in interests of US

Analysis: Al-Sadr’s new demands In name of nation, in interests of US

April 11, 2022 – 8:23 AM News Code : 1246864 Source : Al Waght NewsLink:

Over six months after the parliamentary elections in Iraq, the country still struggles to form its new government. The Enqad Al-Watan Coalition that was formed on March 28, constituted of Sadrist Movement, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the Sunni Sovereignty bloc, insists on forming a national majority government.

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Over six months after the parliamentary elections in Iraq, the country still struggles to form its new government. The Enqad Al-Watan Coalition that was formed on March 28, constituted of Sadrist Movement, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the Sunni Sovereignty bloc, insists on forming a national majority government. On the opposite side, the Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF) along with its independent allies accuses Muqtada al-Sadr of unilateralism and demands formation of national unity government covering ll political factions.

Al-Sadr announced a 40-day deadline for the formation of a government by the SCF after failing to reach the quorum of the parliament on March 23 and 30 sessions . Meanwhile, one of the conditions set by him is that the arms of the factions present in the resistance camp be handed over to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) within a few months. To be precise, the leader of the Sadrist Movement has tied the participation of the resistance groups in the new Iraqi government conditional to the handover of arms to the voluntary anti-terror organization.  Al-Sadr’s request has now provoked a significant level of reaction. His demand as a significant issue has taken a center stage in the analyses of political observers. 

Handover of resistance groups’ arms and realities of the country?  

The demand for laying down of arms of the resistance groups in a simple translation means disarmament of these groups and handover of their arms to the government. But to what extent does al-Sadr’s demand correspond to the realities of politics and governance in Iraq? Or another question should be like this: Are the resistance groups fully under the command of the PMF and its commanders that al-Sadr asks them to hand over their arms to it? To answer this question, we should suggest that despite closeness of agenda and mindset of these groups to the PMF, they are never existentially dependent on the PMF, an voluntary organization formed in 2014 in opposition to ISIS terrorist organization in 2014 following a fatwa by grand Shiite cleric in Iraq Sayed Ali al-Sistani. The existence of these groups essentially rests on the need to fight terrorism and foreign occupiers, as well as to defend the national security and territorial sovereignty of Iraq. Therefore, the mistake of al-Sadr is that he linked the existence of them to the PMF, also called Hashd Al-shabbi.

Faleh al-Fayadh, the head of the PMF, recently stressed that the organization had previously agreed to a request by al-Sadr calling for handover of resistance groups’ arms within a few months. Essentially, these groups have no problem with weapons handover, but they insist this will happen only after the formation of a new government and the withdrawal of the US occupation troops from Iraq. Al-Fayadh also held that the resistance groups have nothing to do with the government and the Hashd and that the coordination committee of the resistance groups is a spiritual front that declared its existence and carries out specific operations independently.

From the core of statements of the PMF head it can be clearly inferred that the existence of resistance groups is basically based on opposition to the foreign occupation and there can be no interference between these groups and the central command of the PMF. In fact, there may be personal or security and judicial commonalities between members of the PMF and the resistance groups, but there is no direct connection between them. So, it can be boldly asserted that al-Sadr has made a strategic mistake in his reading of the facts. 

In the name of the nation, in the interests of the American occupation 

Al-Sadr’s arms handover precondition for incorporation of the anti-occupation and terrorism groups in the new government has majorly been made under the cover of consideration of national and public interests. But as al-Fayadh suggested, these groups’ existence depends on the continuation of existence of the American occupation. In fact, in the event of the withdrawal of the American forces from the country, the existence of them and the manner in which they continue their operation does not require al-Sadr’s controversial statements. 

Al-Sadr’s demands, thus, should be regarded in the name of the Iraqis but in the interests of the US and its domineering agenda in Iraq. In other words, al-Sadr’s demand is the same demand that American leaders have consistently made in recent years. Over the years, Washington has spared no efforts to disarm the resistance forces as the biggest obstacle to sinister US policies in Iraq. One way to advance this demand has been the Iraqi government.

So, with his irrational demand, al-Sadr is apparently playing at the hands of the Americans, and by coalescing with the KDP, which is a staunch supporter of the American military stay in Iraq, he damages his pro-independence and nationalist rhetoric.

China Horn accelerates work on more than one HUNDRED missile silos

China accelerates work on more than one HUNDRED missile silos that could house nuclear weapons capable of reaching U.S. soil: Leaders see buildup as way to deter America from intervening in conflict over Taiwan

By BRETT BACHMAN and NATASHA ANDERSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 

PUBLISHED: 13:23 EDT, 10 April 2022 | UPDATED: 14:08 EDT, 10 April 2022

China is accelerating its construction on more than 100 missile silos that can house nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States, a move that the country’s leaders say is meant to deter American forces from intervening in a potential future conflict over Taiwan.

Although Beijing has accelerated its expansion of nuclear weaponry in recent months, the government claims its plan is to only maintain enough arsenal necessary to ensure the nation’s security interests.

Estimates by intelligence analysts and private-sector firms put China’s nuclear arsenal somewhere in the ‘hundreds’ – far less than either the U.S. or Russia, which hold more than 4,000 each. 

Pentagon officials say that if China continues developing its technology at the current pace, it will have just over 1,000 warheads by 2030.

Currently, Chinese military officials believe their nuclear weapons are too ‘outdated’ to act as an ‘effective deterrent’ against an American attack, according to the Wall Street Journal.

‘China’s inferior nuclear capability could only lead to growing U.S. pressure on China,’ a source familiar with the plans told the newspaper.

This acceleration has raised concerns among American military officials and security analysts that China may be willing to make a ‘surprise nuclear strike’ against the U.S.

Beijing insiders, however, maintain that Chinese leadership is committed to ‘not using the nuclear weapons first.’ 

China is accelerating its construction on more than 100 missile silos at a remote northern base that can house nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States. Above, a satellite image of the site from July 2021

Chinese officials say that the rapid expansion of its nuclear arsenal is meant to deter American forces from intervening in a potential future conflict over Taiwan. Above, another image of the site from June 2021

Pictures above a missile silo field in Yumen, a rural area in China’s northern Gansu province, revealed that last 45 temporary covers that were placed over each of the suspected missile silos had been removed

American intelligence analysts say the the most sensitive work on the Chinese silos has been completed, citing satellite images taken in January.

Pictures above a missile silo field in Yumen, a rural area in China’s northern Gansu province, revealed that last 45 temporary covers that were placed over each of the suspected missile silos had been removed. 

Matt Korda, a senior research associate for the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, noted that two smaller silo fields located in western China appear to be in earlier stages of development.

The silos at each of those sites are reportedly capable of housing a new long-range missile, known as the DF-41, that is capable of striking the U.S. mainland. It was put into service in 2020.

Military analysts also claim that China is putting greater emphasis on its ability to respond to nuclear attacks.

The experts allege that Beijing, with assistance from Russia, is building an early-warning system that can detect incoming missiles.

In February 2021, the nation also launched a satellite that is believed to be the beginning blueprint of a space-based sensor system for missiles. 

Additionally, China is said to be developing advanced weapons that could carry nuclear warheads, including hypersonic missiles, which experts allege the U.S. has ‘proven defenses against.’

These developments and advance weapons could also give China a better chance to retaliate if it were to be struck first in a nuclear attack.

‘All of these capabilities work together to say to the U.S.: ‘There is no world in which you can engage in a nuclear first strike against China and not expect nuclear retaliation back on your cities, even with your missile defenses, even with your great counterforce capabilities,’ Caitlin Talmadge, an associate professor of security studies at Georgetown University, told the Journal. 

During a meeting with senior military officers in March 2021, President Xi Jinping (above) urged officials to ‘accelerate the construction of advanced strategic deterrent systems’

Despite China’s recent efforts to expand its nuclear arsenal, the country continues to downplay its  pursuits to the public. Above, the Chinese military’s new DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles at a parade in 2019

Those familiar with the plans told the newspaper Chinese leadership is fearful that the U.S. may try to topple the nation’s Communist government, citing the Trump and Biden Administrations’ more aggressive policies towards China. 

These include recent attempts to ban Chinese apps from lucrative U.S. markets, deploying aircraft carriers to disputed waters in the South China Sea, selling arms to Taiwan and even accusing Chinese diplomats of espionage – which culminated in the forced closure of at least one of the country’s American consulates, in Houston. 

However, despite the leadership’s apparently accelerated timeline, China continues to downplay its nuclear pursuits to the public. 

‘On the assertions made by U.S. officials that China is expanding dramatically its nuclear capabilities, first, let me say that this is untrue,’ Fu Cong, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s arms control department, told the nation earlier this year. 

He instead argued the nation was only looking to have the minimum level of nuclear deterrents necessary to ensure national security and defense.

He said that China is working to ensure its nuclear deterrent meets the minimum level necessary for national defense.

However, during a meeting with senior military officers in March 2021, President Xi Jinping urged officials to ‘accelerate the construction of advanced strategic deterrent systems.’

China has reportedly declined to answers questions about the alleged missile silo fields and their contents. 

Leaders of the communist nation have also cited the conflict in Ukraine as a prime example of why its mission to develop increased ‘nuclear deterrence’ is paramount. Above, search and rescue teams seek survivors in the rubble of a Ukrainian building

Chinese officials say Ukraine’s decision to turn over its nuclear weapons in 1994 as a part of an agreement with western powers is a real-world example of what may happen to China if its arsenal is not upgraded properly. Above, Ukrainian forces fire GRAD rockets toward Russian positions in Donbas

Tensions between China and the nominally self-ruled island of Taiwan, which sits roughly 100 miles off China’s southeastern coast, have also ratcheted up in recent months. 

China sees the island as part of its territory and has said several times it would resort to violent intervention to keep it that way – something that has thrust Washington into a conundrum ever since President Donald Trump made a point of tightening ties with Taiwan. 

President Joe Biden has continued down this path, sending weapons, military training units and even delegations of American officials to the island to signal American support. 

Beijing has taken these developments as a threat – and some see the recent expansion of its military capabilities as a direct result of America’s involvement in Taiwan.

‘Large-scale conventional military involvement over Taiwan could quickly lead one side or the other to talk themselves into thinking nuclear use may improve the situation for their side,’ said Christopher Twomey, an associate professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.  

Leaders of the communist nation have also cited the conflict in Ukraine as a prime example of why its mission to develop increased ‘nuclear deterrence’ is paramount – arguing that Ukraine’s decision to turn over its nuclear weapons in 1994 as a part of an agreement with western powers is a real-world example of what may happen to China if its arsenal is not upgraded properly.

‘Ukraine lost its nuclear deterrence in the past and that’s why it got into a situation like this,’ a retired Chinese military official with knowledge of the nuclear program told the Wall Street Journal.

‘No matter how the situation develops in the future, the world will be more confrontational,’ the official said. ‘Under such circumstances, China definitely needs to maintain nuclear deterrence.’    

Iran’s president vows to Nuke Up: Daniel 8

Ebrahim Raisi, President of IranImage Credit: AP

Iran’s president vows to continue nuclear activities

‘Our knowledge and technology in the nuclear field is not reversible’

Published:  April 10, 2022 14:47AP

Tehran: President Ebrahim Raisi said Saturday that Iran will continue nuclear development activities as talks to revive Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers remain stalled, state media reported.

Speaking in a ceremony marking Iran’s national day of nuclear technology, the hard-line president said his administration will support an acceleration in research of peaceful nuclear technology.

“Our knowledge and technology in the nuclear field is not reversible. Iran’s (continuation of) research in peaceful nuclear fields will not depend on others’ demands or viewpoints,” said Raisi, who came to power in August.

Raisi’s comments came as talks between Iran and world powers in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled. There is concern that Iran could be closer to being able to construct an atomic weapon if it chose to pursue one.

The nuclear deal collapsed four years ago when former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States and imposed crushing sanctions on Iran. In the meantime, Iran has vastly expanded its nuclear work.

Iran has long insisted that its nuclear programme has had peaceful purposes like generating electric power and medical isotopes.

During Saturday’s ceremony, Iran displayed its new civil nuclear achievements, including several medical isotopes, agricultural pesticides, detoxification equipment and nuclear fuel material. The report did not elaborate.

The head of Iran’s civilian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, said Iran will soon pursue construction of a new nuclear power plant with 360-megawatt capacity. It is to be located near the town of Darkhovin in oil-rich Khuzestan province in the country’s southwest.

The plant was supposed to be built before the 1979 Islamic Revolution with help from France but the project was halted in its initial phase. The site became a major battlefield in the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq that began in 1980.

Iran’s sole nuclear power plant, with 1,000-megawatt capacity, went online in 2011 with help from Russia in the southern port city of Bushehr.

Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium continues to grow and it is currently enriching it at up to 60 per cent purity. That’s the highest level ever by Iran and is a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. It is far greater than the nuclear deal’s 3.67 per cent cap.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Iran imposed symbolic sanctions on more US officials over their roles in harming Iran, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The 16-person list included George William Casey, former commander of American forces in Iraq CENTCOM, former commander Joseph Votel, former commander of American forces in Afghanistan Austin Scott Miller, US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea and other US officials from the former Trump administration.

From time to time, Iran adds to a long list of sanctioned Americans. In January, Iran sanctioned more than 50 Americans for their alleged roles in killing a top Iranian general in Iraq in 2020. In 2021 Iran imposed sanctions on Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and eight others.

The sanctions ban the targeted persons from travel to Iran and possible confiscation of their assets in Iran. They are seen as symbolic as the Americans don’t have any assets in Iran.

“Instead of importing from China or Turkey, we can make it ourselves. We are self-reliant.”

Pakistani Horn Launches Another Nuclear-capable Ballistic Missile: Daniel 7

Pakistan President Confirms Test Launch Of Nuclear-capable Ballistic Missile Shaheen-III

The test launch of Pakistan’s nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen-III was conducted successfully on Saturday, President Arif Alvi said.

Image: AP

The test launch of Pakistan’s surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen-III was conducted successfully on Saturday, Dawn reported, citing the military’s media affairs department. This information has also been confirmed by the President of the nation, who said that the successful launch of “the nuclear-capable ballistic missile Shaheen III” has boosted their defensive capabilities. Taking to Twitter, President Arif Alvi said, “Pakistan is safe because our scientists have ensured peaceful nuclear deterrence and delivery. Brilliant.” 

Along with the President, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan stated in a tweet, “The test flight was aimed at re-validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system”. 

Furthermore, the ISPR noted in a statement that the Pakistan Army had successfully tested an ‘enhanced-range’ variant of the indigenously built Babur Cruise Missile 1B last year, The Express Tribune reported. 

According to the military’s media department, Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj, Director General of Strategic Plans Division (SPD), complimented the scientists as well as engineers for attaining perfection in the area of cruise missile technology. He also reaffirmed his complete trust in the recent test’s ability to bolster Pakistan’s strategic deterrent. 

In addition to this, the Shaheen-III is a 2,750-kilometer-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of reaching the furthest point in India’s northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dawn reported. It runs on solid fuel and has a PSAC (Post-Separation Altitude Correction) mechanism. The PSAC feature allows it to adjust the warhead flight path for greater accuracy and evasion of anti-ballistic missile defence systems. While solid fuel is adapted for rapid response functionality. In March of 2015, the missile was launched for the first time. 

Imran Khan leaves Prime Minister’s official house minutes before losing no-trust vote

This announcement came at the time when Opposition parties deposed the nation’s beleaguered Prime Minister, Imran Khan. The governing Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration lost with 174 votes in favour of the no-confidence resolution against Khan. 

In the early hours of Sunday, Imran Khan left the Prime Minister’s official house. Khan reportedly left his home just minutes before losing the key no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. A senior member of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party verified his departure from the Prime Minister’s residence before his removal from office following the passage of a no-confidence resolution during a midnight session. According to media reports, the vote on the no-confidence motion was ready to go forward after Speaker Asad Qaiser turned over the reins to Pakistan Muslim League-Ayaz Nawaz’s Sadiq for the National Assembly.