Here is the Sixth Seal Zone (Revelation 6:12)

Here are the hidden earthquake zones you don’t know about

April 13, 20204 Min Read

Let’s get able to (probably) rumble.

A report this week from the Los Angeles Instances took a have a look at what a devastating earthquake may do to Los Angeles — and the classes to be discovered from the calamitous 6.three magnitude quake in 2011 that every one however flattened Christchurch, New Zealand.

However whereas People are conscious of the San Andreas fault and the seismic exercise in California, which has wreaked havoc in San Francisco and Los Angeles, there are different, lesser-known fault traces in the United States that fly dangerously underneath the radar. These cracks in the crust have prompted appreciable harm in the previous — and scientists say will achieve this once more.

Virginia Seismic Zone

Richmond, VirginiaShutterstock

In 2011, New Yorkers had been jolted by a 5.eight magnitude earthquake that shook the East Coast from New Hampshire all the approach down by means of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The quake’s epicenter was in Mineral, Virginia, about 90 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., and was so highly effective that Union Station, the Pentagon and the Capitol Constructing had been all evacuated.

The quake woke lots of people in the northeast as much as the Virginia Seismic Zone (VSZ) under the Mason Dixon — and the consequential results it may have on main cities alongside the East Coast. The final time the VSZ prompted a lot chaos was in 1867 when it launched an earthquake of 5.6-magnitude — the strongest in Virginia’s historical past.

Ramapo Fault Zone

Shutterstock

It’s not simply the Virginia Seismic Zone New Yorkers have to fret about. Nearer to house is the Ramapo Fault Zone, which stretches from New York by means of New Jersey to Pennsylvania and was most energetic tens of millions of years in the past throughout the formation of the Appalachian Mountains. It’s answerable for a number of of the fault traces that run by means of New York Metropolis, together with one underneath 125th Avenue. In line with a New York Publish report in 2017, “On common, the area has witnessed a reasonable quake (about a 5.zero on the Richter scale) each hundred years. The final one was in 1884. Seismologists say we will anticipate the subsequent one any day now.” Enjoyable occasions!

The New Madrid Seismic Zone

This 150 mile-long sequence of faults stretches underneath 5 states: Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, and is answerable for 4 of the largest earthquakes in the historical past of the United States, which befell over three months from December 1811 and February 1812. The quakes had been so robust the mighty Mississippi River flowed backward for 3 days. Fortunately, the space was not as populated as it’s now, so the harm was restricted. Nonetheless, a FEMA report launched in 2008 warned {that a} quake now could be catastrophic and end in “the highest financial losses as a consequence of a pure catastrophe in the United States.”

The Northern Sangre de Cristo Fault

Downtown Trinidad, Colorado Shutterstock

In 2011, a magnitude 5.three quake hit Trinidad, Colorado, one other space that has seen little seismic exercise on such a big scale. In line with the Colorado Division of Homeland Safety and Emergency Administration, The Sangre de Cristo Fault, which lies at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains alongside the japanese fringe of the San Luis Valley, and the Sawatch Fault, which runs alongside the japanese fringe of the Sawatch Vary, are “two of the most distinguished probably energetic faults in Colorado” and that “Seismologists predict that Colorado will once more expertise a magnitude 6.5 earthquake at some unknown level in the future.”

The Cascadia Subduction Zone

One in every of the most probably harmful fault traces lies north of California, stretching between Oregon and Washington. Main cities like Portland, Seattle and Vancouver lie alongside the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which scientists say has the functionality of a 9.zero or 10 magnitude earthquake — 16 occasions extra highly effective than the 1906 quake which ravaged San Francisco. A quake of this magnitude would have devastating penalties on infrastructure and will probably set off large tsunamis. The risk is so nice, the BBC even did a nifty video on the potential MegaQuake risk.

More Iranian Nuclear Lies: Daniel 8

World should know Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful: Bolivia envoy

Bolivia’s Ambassador to Iran Romina Guadalupe Perez Ramos says the world should be informed that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful in nature.

Iran’s nuclear achievements in the areas of radiopharmaceuticals and treatment for incurable diseases like various types of cancers reveal such a truth, the ambassador told IRNA in an interview.

Speaking to IRNA’s correspondent on the sidelines of the first International Conference on Nuclear Sciences and Technology (ICNST) held in the central Iranian city of Isfahan on May 6, Ramos said it was held while the Islamic Republic is under pressure from Western states.

Despite Iran’s faithfulness to the 2015 nuclear deal, the United States did unilaterally exit the agreement three years later and imposed unfair and broad sanctions on the Islamic Republic, she added.  

She underlined that those sanctions had the opposite effect as they failed to stop the Islamic Republic’s progress.

About the La Paz-Tehran ties, she said the two countries have put cooperation in the peaceful nuclear issue and nanotechnology on the agenda.

Bolivia respects the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and believes that Iran has the right to represent modern achievements.

Panels of experts started their meetings in Isfahan ahead of the 30th edition of the National Nuclear Conference and the First International Conference on Nuclear Sciences and Technology (ICNST) on May 6 for three days. Around 100 people, half of them from other countries, gave lectures in person and online on the latest scientific achievements.

A day after the opening ceremony of the nuclear conferences, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi attended the event, met with Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami, and answered reporters’ questions by participating in a briefing.IRNA

Seismic Activity before the Sixth Seal: Revelation 6

Reported seismic-like event (likely no quake): 3.7 mi east of Brentwood, Suffolk County, New York, United States, Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 12:17 am (GMT -4) – 16 hours ago

11 May 04:29 UTC: First to report: VolcanoDiscovery after 12 minutes.

Earthquake details

Date & timeMay 11, 2024 04:17:44 UTC – 16 hours agoLocal timeSaturday, May 11, 2024, at 12:17 am(GMT -4)StatusdisregardedMagnitudeunknown (3?)Depth10 kmEpicenter40.7889°N / 73.1772°WNew York, United StatesSeismic antipode40.7889°S / 106.8229°EShakingIII Weak shaking near epicenterFelt1 reportPrimary data sourceVolcanoDiscovery (User-reported shaking)Weather at epicenterBroken Clouds  8.4°C (47 F), humidity: 85%, wind: 2 m/s (3 kts) from ENE

Nearby places

The closest larger town where the quake might have been felt is Brentwood, a town with 61,000 inhabitants in the United States, in 5.9 km (3.7 mi) distance west of the epicenter. People likely experienced weak shaking there. Several smaller towns and villages are located closer to the epicenter and might have experienced stronger shaking. In the capital of the United States, Washington, 391 km (243 mi) away from the epicenter, the earthquake could not be felt.
The following table shows some of the places that might have been affected (or not) by the shaking

UN Recognizes the Outer Court: Revelation 11

FILE – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2022, at the U.N. headquarters. The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote Friday, May 10, 2024, on a resolution that would grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and…   (Associated Press)

UN assembly approves resolution granting Palestine new rights and reviving its UN membership bid | Newser

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and called on the Security Council to reconsider Palestine’s request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The world body approved the Arab and Palestinian-sponsored resolution by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions. The United States voted against it, along with Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Papua New Guinea.

The vote reflected the wide global support for full membership of Palestine in the United Nations, with many countries expressing outrage at the escalating death toll in Gaza and fears of a major Israeli offensive in Rafah, a southern city where about 1.3 million Palestinians have sought refuge. 

It also demonstrated growing support for the Palestinians. A General Assembly resolution on Oct. 27 calling for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza was approved 120-14 with 45 abstentions. That was just weeks after Israel launched its military offensive in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people.

While Friday’s resolution gives Palestine some new rights and privileges, it reaffirms that it remains a non-member observer state without full U.N. membership and the right to vote in the General Assembly or at any of its conferences. And the United States has made clear that it will block Palestinian membership and statehood until direct negotiations with Israel resolve key issues, including security, boundaries and the future of Jerusalem, and lead to a two-state solution.

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood said Friday that for the U.S. to support Palestinian statehood, direct negotiations must guarantee Israel’s security and future as a democratic Jewish state and that Palestinians can live in peace in a state of their own.

The U.S. also vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine.

Under the U.N. Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be “peace-loving” and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a U.N. non-member observer state in 2012.

The United States considers Friday’s resolution an attempt to get around the Charter’s provisions, Wood reiterated Thursday.

Unlike resolutions in the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly. Friday’s resolution required a two-thirds majority of members voting and got significantly more than the 118 vote minimum.

U.S. allies supported the resolution, including France, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Australia, Estonia and Norway. But European countries were very divided.

The resolution “determines” that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership — dropping the original language that in the General Assembly’s judgment it is “a peace-loving state.” It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request “favorably.”

The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the U.N. comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at center stage. At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

Before the vote, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the assembly in an emotional speech that “No words can capture what such loss and trauma signifies for Palestinians, their families, communities and for our nation as a whole.”

He said Palestinians in Gaza “have been pushed to the very edge of the strip, to the very brink of life” with Israel besieging Rafah.

Mansour accused Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of preparing “to kill thousands to ensure his political survival” and aiming to destroy the Palestinian people. 

He welcomed the resolution’s strong support and told AP that 144 countries have now recognized the state of Palestine, including four countries since Oct. 7, all from the Caribbean.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan vehemently opposed the resolution, accusing U.N. member nations of not mentioning Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and seeking “to reward modern-day Nazis with rights and privileges.”

He said if an election were held today, Hamas would win, and warned U.N. members that they were “about to grant privileges and rights to the future terror state of Hamas.” He held up a photo of Yehya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Hamas attack on Israel, saying a terrorist “whose stated goal is Jewish genocide” would be a future Palestinian leader.

Erdan also accused the assembly of trampling on the U.N. Charter, putting two pages that said “U.N. Charter” in a small shredder he held up. .

The original draft of the resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the U.S. but also by Russia and China, three Western diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private.

The first draft would have conferred on Palestine “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in the assembly’s sessions and U.N. conferences “on equal footing with member states.” It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly.

According to the diplomats, Russia and China, which are strong supporters of Palestine’s U.N. membership, were concerned that granting the rights and privileges listed in an annex could set a precedent for other would-be U.N. members — with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

Under longstanding legislation by the U.S. Congress, the United States is required to cut off funding to U.N. agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state, which could mean a cutoff in dues and voluntary contributions to the U.N. from its largest contributor.

The final draft that was voted on dropped the language that would put Palestine “on equal footing with member states.” And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it decided “on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent” to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

It also added a provision in the annex clarifying that it does not give Palestine the right to vote in the General Assembly or put forward candidates for U.N. agencies.

What the resolution does give Palestine are the rights to speak on all issues not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, to propose agenda items and reply in debates, and to serve on the assembly’s main committees. It also allows Palestinians to participate in U.N. and international conferences convened by the United Nations, but without the right to vote.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authority’s application for U.N. membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians didn’t get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Council’s 15 members.

They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a U.N. observer to a non-member observer state. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join U.N. and other international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full U.N. membership. The vote was 12 in favor, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining, and the United States voting no and vetoing the resolution. 

___

Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Russian Horn is Not Bluffing to Nuke Europe: Revelation 16

Diplomacy Watch: Putin ups the ante with nuclear threats

NATO and Russia are inching closer to direct confrontation as hopes for talks remain dismal

CONNOR ECHOLS

MAY 10, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons against Western states during a commemoration of Russia’s World War II victory in Moscow Thursday.

“Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash,” Putin said. “But at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us.”

“Our strategic forces are always in a state of combat readiness,” the Russian leader added, referencing his country’s most powerful nuclear weapons. The comments came just days after Russia announced it would conduct military exercises to prepare for the use of “tactical” nuclear weapons, which are designed for attacks on soldiers rather than population centers.

The announcement set off alarm bells in Washington, which has sought to carefully avoid any escalation to a direct NATO-Russia war. The State Department called the move “reckless” but soothed some nerves by saying the U.S. did not anticipate any short-term use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Putin’s latest moves are nonetheless part of a notable increase in Russian belligerence toward the West this past week, which Moscow claims is a response to Western efforts to rush weapons to Ukraine.

The situation increasingly resembles an escalation spiral, an international relations term for when two sides inch closer to direct war through gradual moves aimed at deterring the other party. As the war has dragged on, hawkish elements in the West and Russia have each succeeded in pressing their leaders to take steps that were once viewed as likely to result in further escalation.

Fearing a potential Ukrainian defeat, western Europe and the U.S. have increasingly signaled that the proverbial gloves are off. Britain recently declared that it had no issue with Ukraine using British weapons to strike Russian territory. “Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can quite understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it’s defending itself,” British Foreign Minister David Cameron said last week.

And Cameron is right in a narrow, moral sense. But the practical wisdom of that greenlight is unclear given Russia’s predictable response, which was to threaten retaliation against U.K. military targets if any British weapons did indeed strike Russian territory.

Even if Britain had no intention of being dragged into the war, Russia’s threat took British views out of the picture entirely. It is now up to Ukraine — a country facing long odds in a desperate, defensive war — to decide whether it can stomach the risk of further escalation.

The U.S. is more attuned to the risks inherent to Britain’s approach. While Washington did quietly give Kyiv long-range missiles, the Biden administration also made clear that the weapons could only be used against targets inside of Ukrainian territory, a restriction aimed at threading the needle between Russia’s red lines and Ukraine’s needs.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been less careful. Macron responded to Ukraine’s battlefield struggles by suggesting that France could send its own troops into the fight, raising the specter of direct war between two nuclear-armed states.

In this case, Russia shot back at Macron by promising to attack any French troops that show up at the frontline. “If the French appear in the conflict zone, they will inevitably become targets for the Russian armed forces,” said a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Wednesday.

From Russia’s perspective, all of these recent moves are likely about restoring deterrence. But that doesn’t make them any less terrifying to us in the West. And Russia feels the same when we respond to that fear with our own efforts to restore deterrence.

This should all serve as a reminder that the potential of a broader Russia-NATO war never went away. We’ve simply gotten used to living in a time of great danger. In practice, the chance of a cataclysmic mistake is growing more and more likely by the day.

In other diplomatic news:

— Following a meeting with Macron Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an international truce during the Olympic Games this summer, according to Politico. Macron thanked Xi for signing onto his idea of an Olympic truce and hinted that the pause could provide an opening to push for peace talks in Ukraine. “Maybe this could be an opportunity to work toward a sustainable resolution [of conflicts] in the full respect of international law,” the French leader said. Xi will have a chance to pitch the idea to Putin directly later this month when the Russian leader is scheduled to visit China.

— The only way to end the Ukraine war is through a temporary truce followed by peace talks, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Monday, according to Reuters. Crosetto brushed off the idea that Putin hasn’t actually shown a desire to negotiate, saying “that is a good reason for us to try harder.” “We mustn’t give up any possible path of diplomacy, however narrow,” he argued, adding that Western sanctions and weapons had failed to deliver a decisive battlefield victory.

— Britain moved to expel Russia’s defense attache in London over allegations that the officer was using his military post for spying, according to AP News. The announcement came alongside new restrictions on diplomatic visas for future Russian envoys. Russia promised to respond “in kind.”

— Russian authorities arrested an American soldier in Vladivostok on charges of theft in early May, according to the New York Times. While U.S. officials have not formally designated the soldier as wrongfully detained, the arrest led to speculation that Russia is seeking further bargaining chips for prisoner swaps with the United States.

U.S. State Department news:

In a Wednesday press conference, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller strongly discouraged Americans from traveling to Russia given the risk of wrongful arrest. “Russia has detained Americans for not legitimate law enforcement reasons but because it wants to hold them essentially as hostage,” Miller said. “Americans should not, for any reason, travel to Russia.

Connor Echols

Pakistan Threatens to Nuke India: Revelation 8

Congress’s Mani Shankar Aiyar says ‘Respect Pak or they’ll drop atom bomb’

Mani Shankar Aiyar stated that the government can talk tough to Pakistan if it wants to, but if it doesn’t respect the neighbouring country, it may have to pay a heavy price.

Senior Congress leader Congress Mani Shankar Aiyar warns India of Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities

New Delhi,UPDATED: May 10, 2024 14:57 IST

Written By: Devika Bhattacharya

In Short

• Mani Shankar Aiyar advocates dialogue with Pakistan
• Warns of Pakistan’s nuclear retaliation if India flexes military muscles
• Accuses PM Modi of not working to resolve issues

Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar courted controversy after saying that India should engage in dialogue with Pakistan and not flex its military muscles as it may irk Islamabad into deploying nuclear weapons against New Delhi.

He was the second leader in recent days to warn about Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities. Earlier this week, National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah remarked sharply that Pakistan could resort to using atom bombs if provoked.

Aiyar, a former diplomat and vocal advocate of normalising India-Pakistan relations, stated that the government can talk tough to Islamabad if it wants to, but if it doesn’t respect the neighbouring country, it may have to pay a heavy price.

“They have atom bombs. We have them too, but if a ‘madman’ decides to drop a bomb on Lahore, it won’t take 8 seconds for the radiation to reach Amritsar,” he warned.

“If we respect them, they will remain peaceful. But if we snub them, what happens if a ‘madman’ comes up and decides to launch bombs [at India]?” Aiyar asked.

In a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Aiyar said, “In order to become the vishwaguru, no matter how serious our issues with Pakistan are, we have to show that we are working hard to resolve them. But in the last 10 years, there has been no hard work [to this end].”

The Congress was quick to distance itself from Aiyar’s remarks, stating that they did not reflect the party’s stance. It also accused the BJP of deliberately raking up an old interview of Aiyar’s to score political points.

“Indian National Congress dissociates itself completely from and disagrees totally with some remarks made by Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar few months back which have been revived today by the BJP in its attempt to deflect attention from Prime Minister Modi’s daily goof ups. Mr Aiyar does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever,” Congress leader Pawan Khera tweeted.

Mani Shankar Aiyar’s remarks came amid a diplomatic spat between India and Pakistan after PM Narendra Modi’s famous ghar me ghus kar warning where he said Indian forces would enter Pakistan to kill any terrorist who escapes over the border. Islamabad had denounced the “provocative remarks”.

In the wake of the Prime Minister’s salvo, other senior BJP leaders have also dialled up the anti-Pakistan rhetoric. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asserted that Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) “was, is, and will remain ours”, but India won’t have to capture it with force because its people, on their own, would want to be part of India.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah reminded Rajnath Singh that Pakistan is a nuclear power. “Remember, they (Pakistan) are also not wearing bangles. It has atom bombs, and unfortunately, that atom bomb will fall on us,” he warned.

Devastation in the Outer Court: Revelation 11

2024 Israel-Hamas war

By Kathleen Magramo, Leinz Valez, Sophie Tanno, Rob Picheta and Elise Hammond, CNN

Updated 10:32 PM ET, Fri May 10, 2024

What we covered here

• The Biden administration said Friday it is “reasonable to assess” that US weapons have been used by Israeli forces in Gaza in ways that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law – but the highly anticipated report stopped short of officially saying Israel violated the law.
• Also on Friday, the White House said a CNN report on alleged systematic abuse at an Israeli prison was “deeply concerning” and that the US is reaching out to Israeli officials for answers. CNN spoke to three Israeli whistleblowers who revealed how prisoners are blindfolded, handcuffed and forced to wear diapers. 
• Elsewhere, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on the Security Council to reconsider Palestinian membership in the UN, a significant but ultimately symbolic move that the US is expected to veto.
• Hamas on Friday said Israel’s rejection of a ceasefire plan submitted by mediators at negotiations in Cairo sent hostage release talks back to “square one.” 

Iraqi Horn Strikes at Israel: Revelation 11

Iraqi resistance strikes airbase housing Israel’s ‘aggressor squadron’

Thursday, 09 May 2024 11:35 PM  [ Last Update: Thursday, 09 May 2024 11:35 PM ]

File photo of a warplane belonging to the Israeli air force’s “aggressor squadron”

Iraq’s Islamic Resistance has announced striking the airbase housing the Israeli air force’s “aggressor squadron,” which acts as the opposing force in wargames partaken by the occupying regime.

The resistance, which is an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, made the announcement on Thursday after conducting the strike, which it said it had carried out “using drones.”

It specified the target as the regime’s Ovda Airbase, which lies in the southern part of the occupied territories, around 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of the port of Eilat.

The operation, the group said, came “in support of our people in Gaza, and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against Palestinian civilians, including children, women, and the elderly.”

The coalition was referring to the Israeli regime’s October-present war against the Gaza Strip.

At least 34.904 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed so far during the war, which began following al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by the coastal sliver’s resistance groups.

The Iraqi resistance vowed to continue “striking the enemy’s strongholds.”

The group has conducted numerous such strikes against the occupied territories since the beginning of the war.

Most recently, it said it had conducted a pro-Palestinian drone attack agianst a “vital” target in Eilat on Tuesday evening.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it has conducted a new retaliatory attack on an Israeli position in the occupied lands.

Staging its most daring attack since the onset of the Israeli military onslaught on Gaza, the coalition carried out a series of strikes, including against the regime’s spy agency of Mossad’s “Glilot” intelligence center in Tel Aviv on Friday, using advanced “al-Aqrab” cruise missiles.

The 42 month Holy War Rages On: Revelation 11

William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director and the lead American negotiator, departed Cairo on Thursday.Credit…Kent Nishimura for The New York Times

Cease-Fire Talks Stall as Anger Flares Over Israel’s Incursion Into Rafah

Published May 9, 2024Updated May 10, 2024, 5:23 p.m. ET

1. Displaced Palestinian families evacuate Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, amid the threat of an Israeli ground invasion.Reuters
2. Palestinians heeding Israel’s warning to evacuate Rafah, southern Gaza.Mohammed Salem/Reuters
3. Israeli protesters blocked a road near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, and scattered rocks to prevent aid trucks from entering the Gaza Strip.Tzav 9/Reuters
4. Trucks lining up on a road in southern Israel after a protest to prevent humanitarian aid from arriving in Gaza. Shimon Bokshtein/Reuters
5. Palestinians looking through the rubble of what remained of a house after an Israeli strike in Rafah.Reuters
6. A Palestinian woman mourning her son killed in a strike in Rafah.Hatem Khaled/Reuters
7. Israeli tanks and other military vehicles in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. Ahmad Gharabli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
8. Palestinians preparing to move in Rafah. Hatem Khaled/Reuters
9. The site of a strike on a house in Rafah.Hatem Khaled/Reuters
10. A displaced Palestinian preparing dough to make bread at a shelter in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Follow live news updates on the crisis in the Middle East.

Here’s what we know:

Israeli and Hamas delegations left the negotiations in Cairo, along with the C.I.A. director, dealing a blow to hopes a deal could be reached soon.

The halt in talks is a setback amid hopes for an agreement to free hostages.

High-level hostage negotiations in Cairo were put on hold Thursday, according to officials briefed on the negotiations and Egyptian state media, with one official saying that anger had flared among participants over Israel’s incursion into the southern Gazan city Rafah.

The pause is a setback given that some people watching the negotiations closely had seen signs that an agreement might be in reach this week. Still, one official briefed on the talks said that negotiators did not believe Hamas or Israel were leaving the negotiations permanently and were interpreting the suspension as a temporary pause rather than a derailment.

William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director and top American negotiator, and other senior officials departed Cairo, according to multiple officials. The officials all spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic negotiations.

Mr. Burns, who has been involved in daylong negotiating sessions, had extended his trip, moving between Egypt and Israel on Wednesday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in an effort to persuade Israel not to dismiss Hamas’s most recent cease-fire counterproposal and to continue negotiating over it.

While midlevel Egyptian, Qatari and American officials remain in Cairo for discussions, both Hamas and Israeli delegations left on Thursday, Hamas and Israeli officials said. A senior Egyptian official told state-owned television that mediation efforts were still underway to bridge the difference between the most recent proposals by Israel and Hamas.

American officials said they believed that the differences between Hamas and Israel still could be resolved, at least enough to begin the first phase of hostage negotiations. One proposal called for Hamas to free hostages in return for a 42-day cease-fire and the release of a much larger number of Palestinian prisoners. That would be the first of three phases of reciprocal actions from each side.

On Thursday, Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said that work was continuing to finalize the text of an agreement, but that it was “incredibly difficult.”

Egyptian and Hamas negotiators have been enraged by Israel’s military operations in Rafah. And the United States has argued that the military operation is threatening the hostage talks. The Biden administration announced it would withhold 3,500 bombs from Israel until it ended military operations in Rafah.

The Israeli ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog, said on Thursday that Mr. Biden’s decision to withhold some weapons from Israel “sends the wrong message to Hamas and to our enemies in the region.” He added, “It puts us in a corner.”

Speaking in a public conversation hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Mr. Herzog said, “It will be impossible to establish a postwar government in Gaza unless Hamas is completely vanquished. He added, “Nobody presented to me or to us a strategy of defeating Hamas without dealing with Rafah.”

On Monday, Israeli tanks and troops seized the border crossing in the Gazan city, shutting off the flow of aid from Egypt. American officials had hoped the incursion was not the start of a larger ground invasion in Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians are crammed into tent cities and temporary shelters in the city.

The United States believes that such an operation would weaken Israel’s position in cease-fire negotiations and diminish its international standing, Mr. Miller said on Thursday. The United States also believes that the operation, “in addition to all the harm it would cause to the Palestinian people, actually weakens Israel’s security,” he added.

Israeli officials have reacted with defiance, saying the invasion is necessary to dismantle Hamas as a fighting force in Rafah.

Anushka Patil and Michael Crowley contributed reporting.

— Julian E. Barnes, Vivian Yee, Aaron Boxerman and Adam Rasgon

The China Horn Continues to Grow: Daniel 7

China’s Nuclear Inventory Continues to Surge in 2024

China is expanding and diversifying its nuclear capabilities in both civilian and military sectors, boosting its global dominance in nuclear energy and weapons.

on May 8, 2024

By Dr Monika Chansoria 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China April 9, 2024. (Inside image ©Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

In the realm of civilian nuclear activity, China began construction of four new nuclear reactors in 2024. The Standing Committee of China’s State Council, its chief administrative authority, approved the construction of two Hualong One reactors at the Taipingling and the Jinqimen sites. Chinese Premier Li Qiang chairs China’s Standing Committee.

China General Nuclear runs the Taipingling nuclear power plant in the coastal southeast province of Guangdong. This is where Units 3 and 4 will be built. Units 1 and 2 will be constructed at the China National Nuclear Corporation-operated Jinqimen nuclear power plant in Zhejiang. The eastern coastal province is located along the East China Sea. 

Unit 1 is scheduled to commence production in 2025. The plant will eventually host six nuclear reactors. The Jinqimen plant is still in the pre-construction stage and will eventually host six units.

Building up an outsized presence in nuclear power, China and Russia account for almost 70% of new nuclear plants in the planning/construction stage globally. According to the Japan Electric Power Information Center, in January 2023, there were 110 third-generation nuclear reactors. China accounted for the most number of reactors (46), followed by Russia (30). 

Considering these numbers as a critical indicator, China and Russia seem set to boost their dominance in the global nuclear power sector. After all, it is the most vital key to future energy security. This concurrently will usurp their influence multifariously in global geopolitics.

Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in China. (©EDF Group )

Global Nuclear Dominance

In the realm of military nuclear activity, China’s official line regarding its nuclear capability is “maintaining nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required to safeguard national security.” But such a claim stands completely exposed. 

As per the latest United States Pentagon annual report “Military and Security Developments Involving China,” the rapid expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal is extremely worrisome. Estimated to be 500 warheads, the number is set to double by 2030. 

This confirms an earlier account by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The steep rise in China’s nuclear arsenal was a key SIPRI observation per its June 2023 annual assessment of the world’s nuclear forces. Most of the new nuclear warheads to have entered the arsenals of any major military power from 2022 to 2023 were those of China.

SIPRI’s estimate of the size of China’s nuclear arsenal has increased from 350 warheads in January 2022 to 410 in January 2023. And it is expected to keep growing. These warheads are assigned to its operational land- and sea-based ballistic missiles and to nuclear-configured aircraft. 

Over the coming decade, the number of Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) is likely to reach or perhaps even exceed the numbers held by either Russia or the US. China’s air-delivered, land-based, and sea-based nuclear weapons constitute the three legs of its nascent nuclear triad. The total number of Chinese ICBM launchers exceeds 450. These include training launchers, new launchers under construction, and operational launchers. Approximately 142 of these are thought to be operational.

President Xi Jinping (right) and Premier Li Qiang attend the closing ceremony of the National People’s Congress in China. March 11, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (©Kyodo)

Multiple-Warhead ICBMs

It remains unclear how China ultimately plans to operate its new silos. Whether they will all be filled, how many warheads each missile would carry, and whether a portion of them could potentially have conventional strike roles. China has four basic types of ICBMs. Namely, they are the DF-4, the DF-5, the DF-31, and the DF-41, with variants of each type. Most have a single warhead. However, a smaller but growing number of its ICBMs are capable of delivering multiple warheads.

An earlier version (2022) of the Pentagon’s report to the US Congress on Chinese military and security developments projected that China might field a stockpile of roughly 1,500 warheads by 2035. This projection relied on several assumptions about China’s future force posture and plutonium production.

This decade is set to witness how China aims to expand, modernize, and diversify its nuclear capabilities, in the military and civilian sectors. Compared to the past decade, China’s nuclear modernization has grown multifold, both in scale and complexity. This has caused much anxiety to its Asian neighbors.