Important Takeaways:
- 25 Americans Dead Among Hamas Victims from 36 Countries: ‘My Mom Died on Top of Me’
- S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Thursday at least 25 Americans were killed by Hamas terrorists in the barbaric attacks that targeted unarmed civilians inside Israel on Saturday.
- Blinken, who is in Israel, vowed American support to Israel as its military continued airstrikes in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in preparation for a likely ground operation in Gaza.
- “You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to,” Blinken said after meeting with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. “We will always be there by your side.”
- The Israeli military said it is currently targeting Hamas’ senior military and political leaders, whom it blames for the weekend attack. Its missiles are aimed at Hamas infrastructure embedded among the civilian population of Gaza.
- Meanwhile, the death toll in Israel continues to climb. More than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians, have been murdered by Hamas, and Gaza officials say at least 1,200 people have died in the airstrikes. The terror group attempts to hide among Palestinian civilians as it continues to fire rockets into southern Israel.
- Citizens from 36 nations are missing, have been murdered, or are among the hostages who have been abducted by Hamas.
- “By the way, many of the hostages are dual nationals — Americans, Brits, Germans, French, Italians, Brazilians, and many other nationalities. Some are not even Israelis. There are Thai workers that were taken, and abducted for, I don’t know what reason,” Conricus added.
- France has said that 11 French citizens are confirmed dead in the fighting and 20 are unaccounted for, including several believed held hostage.
- The British government has said 10 or more U.K. citizens are dead or missing after the attacks on southern Israel.
- The Colombian government reported the first death of one of its citizens in Israel
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Important Takeaways:
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered reassurances of ongoing U.S. support to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, heading into a meeting in Tel Aviv, in the wake of bloody attacks perpetrated by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel over the weekend.
- Separately, Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh said on X that Blinken will convene with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority on Friday.
- The U.S. has firmly denounced the Hamas attacks and previously proposed a humanitarian corridor for civilians in the Gaza Strip.
- The death toll meanwhile continues to mount in Israel and Gaza, as sirens blare and war wages.
- Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Israel Katz said Thursday that the Gaza siege will not be lifted until the country’s hostages, taken by Hamas, are returned home.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- North Korea criticizes Blinken’s China visit as ‘begging trip’
- At one of the most significant U.S.-China exchanges since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, Blinken and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Monday and agreed to stabilize their intense rivalry so it did not veer into conflict.
- Blinken said after the meeting on Monday that he urged China to encourage North Korea to stop launching missiles as Beijing holds a “unique position” to press Pyongyang to engage in dialogue.
- In a commentary carried by the North’s KCNA news agency, Jong Yong Hak, whom it described as an international affairs analyst, said the rare visit was aimed at begging for the relaxation of tensions as the “attempt to press and restrain China may become a boomerang striking a fatal blow to the U.S. economy.”
- “In a word, the U.S. state secretary’s recent junket can never be judged otherwise than a disgraceful begging trip of the provoker admitting the failure of the policy of putting pressure on China,” the commentary said.
- The commentary said the United States was responsible for escalating regional tensions with “anti-China complexes,” such as the QUAD grouping with Japan, India and Australia and the AUKUS pact with Britain and Australia.
- “It is the height of the double-dealing and impudence peculiar to the U.S. to provoke first and then talk about the so-called ‘responsible control over divergence of opinion,'” the commentary said.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Blinken ruffles feathers by stating US ‘does not support Taiwan independence’ after meeting China’s Xi
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised eyebrows Monday, telling reporters the US “does not support Taiwan independence” after meeting in Beijing with officials including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said on Twitter. “Why won’t this administration stand up to bullies and stand for freedom?”
- The Taiwan issue is among the most contentious in the US-China relationship, with Xi making it his No. 1 priority to “reunite” Taiwan with China — though the island about 100 miles off the country’s southeastern coast has never actually been part of it.
- Ben Cline (R-Va.) tweeted that Blinken’s statement was a “dangerous display of weakness towards our adversaries on the world stage.”
- “The Biden admin is giving China a green light to increase its intimidation of our ally, Taiwan,” he said.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Blinken Meets Xi as China Warns U.S. Must Choose Between ‘Cooperation or Conflict’
- News of the diplomatic head-to-head came after China told the U.S. earlier in the day it must choose between “cooperation or conflict” with Beijing as both countries seek to navigate a diplomatic way forward amid fraught relations between the world’s two largest economies.
- The pair spoke for three hours on Monday at the ornate state guesthouse in the ancient Diaoyutai gardens, according to a State Department official cited by AFP.
- “The Secretary of State’s trip to Beijing this time comes at a critical juncture in China-U.S. relations,” Wang told Blinken, according to a readout from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
- He also issued a warning on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed and continually threatened by Beijing, while reasserting the Communist dictatorship’s longstanding claim to vast swathes of the South China Sea.
- “On this issue, China has no room to compromise or concede,” Wang told Blinken, according to CCTV.
- “The United States must truly adhere to the One China principle confirmed in the three joint U.S.-China communiques, respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and clearly oppose ‘Taiwan independence’.”
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- ‘A serious problem’: Secretary of State Antony Blinken says China pondering supplying weapons to Russia. Live Ukraine updates
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken said from the Munich Security Conference that the Chinese – who a year ago declared their friendship with Russia has “no limits” – are pondering expanding their backing of Moscow, which so far has not included weapons.
- “The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they’re considering providing lethal support,” Blinken told CBS’s “Face the Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday, “and we’ve made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship.”
- Boosting the Kremlin’s diminishing arsenal could not only stack the odds against Western-backed Ukraine but raise the specter of escalating the conflict into a world war. Russia is already getting assistance from Iran, which has supplied it explosive drones mostly used to damage Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
- Latest Developments:
- The Netherlands is expelling several Russian diplomats it accuses of serving as spies “under diplomatic cover,” Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra said.
- Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is requesting supporting countries that they provide fighter jet training to its pilots while debating whether to supply the aircraft.
- Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the West should not restore normal relations with Russia until the Kremlin pays for its actions in Ukraine. “I don’t think there can be any relations as usual with a pariah state that hasn’t really given up the imperialistic goals,” Kallas said.
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Mathew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Important Takeaways:
- Blinken pledges long-term aid for Turkey after devastating earthquakes
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Turkey on Monday the United States would help “for as long as it takes” after deadly earthquakes two weeks ago, as Turkish authorities carried out wide-scale demolition of damaged buildings.
- Washington has sent a search and rescue team to Turkey, along with medical supplies, concrete-breaking machinery and additional funding in humanitarian aid that also covers Syria.
- Blinken on Sunday toured an area devastated by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks that killed more than 47,000 people in southern Turkey and northwest Syria.
- Total U.S. humanitarian assistance to support the earthquake response in the two countries has reached $185 million, the U.S. State Department has said.
- [Death Toll] was expected to climb further, with some 385,000 apartments in the country known to have been destroyed or seriously damaged and many people still missing.
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Matthew 24:6 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”
Important Takeaways:
- Russia warns of a ‘finely tuned and painful response’ to Biden’s sanctions as Ukraine is hit with a massive cyberattack, declares nationwide state of emergency and Putin boasts of ‘advanced’ hypersonic weapons
- Ukraine has declared a state of emergency – government websites and bank websites have been hit by cyber attack
- Comes as Joe Biden hit Russian banks and several top figures in Putin’s inner circle as well as sanctioning Russia’s sovereign debt to stop country raise money from the West
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled his meeting with Sergei Lavrov as diplomacy failed to end crisis
- Western allies say full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine including attack on Kiev is ‘highly likely’ – with U.S. sources spotting blood supplies being moved to the frontlines
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