Magnitude 5.6 quake strikes off Guatemala coast, shakes El Salvador, Nicaragua

Magnitude 5.6 quake strikes off Guatemala coast, shakes El Salvador, Nicaragua

 (Reuters) - A magnitude ​5.6 earthquake struck off ‌the coast of Guatemala on Tuesday morning, according to the United ​States Geological Survey, causing ​buildings in the capital Guatemala City ⁠to shake.

Local authorities did ​not issue any initial reports ​of major damage or casualties. USGS reported the quake struck 43 km (27 ​miles) south of the coastal ​town of Puerto San Jose, and ‌was ⁠at a depth of 35 km (22 miles).

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The Guatemala government called on citizens to remain calm ​and follow ​the ⁠authorities' recommendations.

The quake was also felt in neighboring ​El Salvador, which said ​there ⁠was no tsunami threat, as well as in Nicaragua.

Reporting by ⁠Sofia ​Menchu, Gerardo Arbaiza ​and Gabriela Selser, Writing by Iñigo Alexander, ​Editing by Daina Beth Solomon

Chinese Satellites, Russian Intelligence: Who Helped Iran Target U.S. Troops Ahead of a Possible Trump-Xi-Putin Meeting?

Chinese Satellites, Russian Intelligence: Who Helped Iran Target U.S. Troops Ahead of a Possible Trump-Xi-Putin Meeting?

Antonio Graceffo

Xi Jinping will host APEC leaders in Shenzhen on Nov. 18–19, and the Kremlin has said Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump could join Xi for a trilateral meeting there. The possible meeting follows reports linking Chinese satellite imagery to a deadly Iranian strike on U.S. troops in Jordan and describing Russian intelligence support for Iran.

On July 17, Iranian ballistic missiles hit a residential compound housing U.S. troops at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, killing three U.S. Army soldiers and wounding four. U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal that Iran obtained high-resolution satellite images of the base from Chinese sources before and after the attack. They called it the clearest evidence yet that Chinese support for Iran had lethal consequences for U.S. forces. The officials did not name the Chinese entities or accuse the Chinese government of direct involvement. When U.S. officials raised the matter, their Chinese counterparts demanded proof and refused to acknowledge that Chinese companies were involved.

Iran’s access to Chinese satellite technology predates the war. The Financial Times reported in April that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) acquired a Chinese-built satellite, the TEE-01B, in late 2024. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), a body created by Congress, maintains a running timeline of Chinese support for Iran since the war began.

In May, two months before the Jordan strike, the State Department sanctioned three firms based in China over satellite imagery the department said enabled Iranian strikes on U.S. forces. According to the department’s fact sheet, The Earth Eye provided imagery to Iran during Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign against Iran. Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. collected imagery of U.S. and allied military facilities in response to Iranian requests, and Meentropy Technology, known as MizarVision, published images detailing U.S. military activity.

The department also said Chang Guang had previously supplied imagery to help the Houthis target U.S. military assets. “The targeting of U.S. service members and partners will not go unanswered,” the department said.

On March 6, in the first week of the war, The Washington Post reported, citing three officials, that Russia was giving Iran targeting information that included the locations of U.S. warships and aircraft. One official called it “a pretty comprehensive effort.” Days earlier, War Secretary Pete Hegseth had said Russia and China were “not really a factor” in the campaign.

On March 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s military intelligence had “irrefutable” evidence that Russia was still supplying Iran with intelligence. Politico reported that month that the Kremlin proposed to stop sharing intelligence with Iran if the United States stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, an offer Washington rejected.

In April, after CNN reported that China was preparing to se

nd Iran shoulder-fired missiles, Trump said China would face a 50% tariff if it did. In July, Reuters reported that Iran had signed a deal worth $60 million to $70 million for 300 to 400 Chinese man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), including QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, through Hong Kong-based Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment. Reuters reported that the first shipment was expected within weeks. China’s Foreign Ministry denied the report.

In September, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Iranian customs data, that Chinese suppliers sent about 1,300 shipments of dual-use components to Iran’s defense ministry in the first half of 2026. The components included GPS devices, electric motors and aircraft engine parts.

A Reuters investigation published Oct. 29 found that more than 5,000 agencies tied to Iran’s Ministry of Defense imported at least $2 billion in hardware, explosives and heavy-duty trucks between January 2025 and June 2026. Reuters reported that the procurement network found ways around Western sanctions and the U.S. naval blockade. The goods arrived by cargo ship across the Caspian Sea from Russia, by truck from Central Asia, and by freight plane from China. Asked about the findings, China’s Foreign Ministry said it was “unaware of the situation you describe.”

China is also the main buyer of Iranian oil. The USCC found that China buys about 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports. JNS reported that the commission’s fact sheet put Iran’s revenue from those sales at $31.2 billion in 2025, nearly half of Iran’s government budget. On April 24, the Treasury Department sanctioned Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co., which it called China’s second-largest independent “teapot” refinery and “one of Tehran’s most valued customers.” Hengli’s parent company said the sanctions lack factual basis and legal grounds.

On Oct. 12, Trump wrote on Truth Social that if China and Russia were helping Iran, “it’s at a very low level, but I don’t believe they are at all.” A White House official told Fox News that nothing any outside actor was doing to help Iran was “in any way increasing their ability to target Americans.”

Matthew Kroenig, a former Pentagon and intelligence official, called the reports “highly plausible” and said Trump may be warning Moscow and Beijing privately. Kroenig said advanced air defenses would require approval from the Chinese government and that Russian satellite intelligence would come from state-controlled capabilities. “There are no mom-and-pop shops in St. Petersburg selling this data,” Kroenig said.

Amid talk of Iran action, Eisenkot implores Netanyahu to hold off on security moves during transitional period

Amid talk of Iran action, Eisenkot implores Netanyahu to hold off on security moves during transitional period

Ariela Karmel

Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot urges caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to deploy security forces without an immediate threat, warning that doing so during the current transitional period could have “devastating consequences” for Israeli democracy.

His letter does not mention Iran, but comes amid reports that Netanyahu is seeking military action there despite security chiefs’ objections.

“In recent weeks, deeply concerning reports have been published about extraneous considerations being introduced into the holiest of holies, Israel’s security,” a statement says Eisenkot has written in a letter to the prime minister. “In this complex and sensitive political situation — perhaps the most sensitive our country has ever known — you have a duty to exercise extra caution and responsibility in making security and national decisions.”

“Deploying the security forces without a direct and immediate threat that cannot wait could have devastating consequences for Israeli democracy and public trust in the institutions of government,” he warns. “I demand that you act with national responsibility during this sensitive period. Show restraint and caution, and refrain from dangerous moves that can wait until a new government with the Knesset’s confidence is sworn in. Do not undermine the public’s trust in government institutions and the decision-making process.”

Eisenkot also warns against placing security chiefs in “a grave constitutional conflict” or leaving them uncertain “about what is required of them and what the right course of action is,” urging Netanyahu to let them “uphold, without doubt, the sacred duty entrusted to them.”

Netanyahu’s bloc lost its parliamentary majority in last month’s election, and President Isaac Herzog tasked Eisenkot with forming a government on Sunday after he received the most recommendations from lawmakers. Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister, however, with control over the government and security forces until a new government is formed. Eisenkot notes in the letter that “only 46 MKs still support your continued tenure as prime minister.”

Channel 12 reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources, that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir had again opposed unspecified military action Netanyahu wanted against Iran, after reportedly resisting a similar move before the October 27 election, when defense officials feared it could trigger an escalation and derail the vote.

Trump claims US has already won the Iran war, now wants ‘total victory’

Jacob Magid

US President Donald Trump claims Washington has already won the war against Iran but doesn’t want to pull out until there has been a knockout.

“We fought back… and we won. [It’s] just a question of when we want to end it,” Trump says in a Veterans Day address at Arlington National Cemetery.

“We want to make sure we have a total victory — not a 93% victory. It’s going to be total,” he adds.

Trump again claims that the war will end shortly — something he has been asserting for months.

“We lost 18 beautiful souls, but when this conflict is over — and it will be soon — the entire world will be a much safer… more peaceful place,” Trump declares.

On Jordan border, Zamir says IDF must prepare for ‘rapid changes and surprise’ on all fronts

Emanuel Fabian

During a visit to the Jordan border today, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the military must be prepared for “rapid changes and surprise” on all fronts.

Zamir tours a sector under the responsibility of the new 96th “Gilad” Regional Division, alongside other senior officers.

“Alongside the need for intelligence warnings, the baseline posture of IDF troops must be one of readiness for rapid changes and surprise. In every sector, we must maintain a high level of alertness, stay ahead of threats, and ensure the defense of our borders and civilians,” Zamir says, according to remarks published by the military.

The IDF chief says the Jordan Valley “holds historical, Zionist and security importance,” calling the area “Israel’s eastern defensive wall” and “an essential component of our national security and strategic depth.”

Zamir adds that the 96th Division — tasked with the Jordan border from the Israel-Jordan-Syria tri-border area to an area south of the Dead Sea, including the section in the West Bank — “serves as a practical example of implementing the lessons of October 7.”

Eisenkot seeks AG intervention over Netanyahu staff’s alleged failure to arrange security briefings

Netanyahu dismisses Eisenkot’s demand as ‘transparent attempt’ to politicize national security

4.5-magnitude quake rattles Eilat area; flights briefly suspended at Ramon Airport

4.5-magnitude quake rattles Eilat area; flights briefly suspended at Ramon Airport

Emanuel Fabian

A moderate earthquake struck southern Israel’s Eilat region on Wednesday morning, setting off warning sirens and sparking a temporary closure of the nearby Ramon Airport.

The quake measured 4.5 on the Richter scale, and was assessed to have had an epicenter in the Taba area in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, some 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) south of Eilat, according to the Geological Survey of Israel. The hypocenter, or the quake’s underground origin point, was measured at a depth of eight kilometers.

There were no reports of injuries as a result of the earthquake, but minor property damage was reported at Ramon Airport where the tremors shattered several windows.

The Home Front Command had instructed people in Eilat and surrounding towns in the Arava region to distance themselves from structures.

After the quake, the Israel Airports Authority briefly closed Ramon Airport, saying it had to perform “inspections and infrastructure checks” to ensure safety.

“Following the completion of the scans and infrastructure checks, Ramon Airport has resumed full operations,” the IAA said in a statement shortly afterward.

The IDF Home Front Command noted Wednesday that 2027 had already been designated as a “year of earthquake preparedness.”

The Home Front Command said it was advancing a “broad national plan to strengthen the home front’s preparedness to deal with a major earthquake.”

“The year 2027 has been designated the year of earthquake preparedness, during which the command will lead a series of training sessions and exercises, culminating in a major national drill,” it said.

The preparations are focusing on three main areas, according to the military: strengthening the preparedness of local authorities with training and drills; force build-up in the command and improving search-and-rescue capabilities; and strengthening the IDF’s preparedness to deal with the consequences of a major earthquake.

Last year, officials told the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee that Israel remains woefully unprepared for a major earthquake, despite more than 20 years of warnings and repeated state audits highlighting systemic gaps.

5 Feats Jesus Will Accomplish During the 75-Day Interlude

5 Feats Jesus Will Accomplish During the 75-Day Interlude

Dr. Nathan E. Jones

The seven-year Tribulation ends with the glorious return of the King of Kings to fulfill His mission to destroy the Gentile kingdoms and establish His Millennial reign. But first, the King has a few housekeeping duties to perform. Daniel (see 12:11-12) prophesied that the Lord reserved 75 days after His Second Coming to accomplish the following five feats.

1. The Binding of Satan

Christ’s first post-Tribulation feat will be to bind Satan. He will order one of His mighty angels to accomplish this herculean task (Revelation 20:1-3). The angel will unlock the Bottomless Pit—the chasm that divides Hades into the realms of Paradise and Torments. The angel will overpower the Devil, bind him in chains, and seal his prison for a thousand years. While the Devil and his demons remain off-planet, the world will be gloriously free of the Devil’s incessant temptations and hateful persecutions.

2. The Judging of the Sheep and the Goats

The second feat Jesus will perform during the 75-day interlude is to judge those who, against all odds, somehow survived the perils of the Tribulation. It is time to separate the sheep from the goats.

While the Antichrist may have assembled the largest army ever, not everyone marched to their deaths at Armageddon. Those Jews protected in the wilderness, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, and those Christ rescued from the Antichrist’s attack on Jerusalem would have been absent from the battle. Other Tribulation survivors, from persecuted Gentile believers hiding amid the ruins to the unredeemed marked by the Antichrist but sidelined in the fight, remain scattered worldwide.

From those pitiable remains of humanity, Christ will command His mighty angels to “gather together His elect from the four winds” (Mark 13:27). Not only will the faithful survivors in Christ be gathered, but also all survivors bearing the Mark of the Beast. As Christ stated in His Parable of the Tares, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 13:36-43). The angels will perform a rapture of sorts, snatching up every person on the planet and then depositing them in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, “the place where Jehovah judges,” located in some yet-to-be-revealed region just outside of Jerusalem (Joel 3:2, 12). All the tattered remains of humanity will fit within that lone valley.

Once the angels complete their gathering, Jesus will fulfill His prophecy regarding the Sheep-Goat Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46). The prophecy states that once the throne of David is reestablished in Jerusalem, the victorious King will ascend to sit upon it. All the nations will then be brought before Him, and He will separate the Tribulation survivors, like a shepherd separating his sheep from the goats.

To those the King deems as sheep, namely those saved out of the Tribulation, Christ will gently gather them to His right hand. Then the King will say, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). These faithful survivors will live on in their earthly bodies as inheritors of Christ’s kingdom.

To those the King deems as goats, namely those who swore loyalty to the Antichrist and took his mark, Christ will forcibly shove them over to His left hand. Then the King will cry, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels!” (Matthew 25:41). Christ will command His executioner angels to “Come forth!” and cast the evil followers of Satan down into Torments in Hades to await final judgment and their inevitable death sentence in Hell. “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).

3. The Resurrecting of the Redeemed

Christ’s third feat during the post-Tribulation interlude will involve a great resurrection of the remaining righteous dead. “Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4). The Tribulation martyrs will live again, no longer in their intermediate bodies in Heaven, but with flesh and spirit merging into their glorified, eternal bodies.

The Bible outlines three stages of the First Resurrection. Christ’s resurrection served as the “firstfruit” stage. In the second stage, the Church Age Saints were resurrected in the Rapture just before the Tribulation. In the third stage, at the end of the Tribulation, the martyred Tribulation Saints (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23) and Old Testament Saints (Daniel 12:1-2) are resurrected. The apostle John rejoiced in this, saying, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power…” To those resurrected came Heaven’s promise that they “…shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6).

As for the resurrection of the unredeemed, namely those who throughout human history died faithless and in rebellion against God, they do not get to participate in the First Resurrection. They will remain in Torments, awaiting the Great White Throne Judgment, which occurs after the Millennial Kingdom, because “the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 20:5).

4. The Restoring of the Earth

Christ’s fourth feat during the 75-day post-Tribulation interlude will be to restore the planet Earth to its pristine former state. The wrath of God, coupled with mankind’s destructive nature, had devastated the earth during the Tribulation, leaving it a desolate, nearly uninhabitable wasteland. If Jesus had not returned when He did, the planet, its people, and all the creatures that inhabited it would have been a breath away from extinction (Matthew 24:22). It will be time for the Lord Jesus to transform an almost dead husk back into a beautiful blue orb.

The time Jesus will take to restore a broken planet must be brief, for how could a kingdom be considered perfect if its sovereign reigns over a dead wasteland? The God who built a universe in six days can certainly terraform a single world in almost no time. By a word from God, the planet will teem with life once more, with conditions nearly as perfect as the Garden of Eden, because of the partial lifting of the curse.

During the restoration process, tremendous agricultural bounty will result, fulfilling: “Behold, the days are coming… when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed” (Amos 9:13). The animals will also be abundant and become peaceable: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6-9). Even the Dead Sea will spring to life, as its refreshed waters begin to teem with fish and fishermen (Ezekiel 47:8-9).

At that time, the Lord will also restore long life to those in their earthly bodies. Before the Flood, people lived to be hundreds of years old, and so they will again, “for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people” (Isaiah 65:20-23). The curse won’t be entirely lifted, for those born to the surviving Tribulation Saints will still be able to choose to behave immorally, but at an awful price, as “the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed”(Isaiah 65:20-23).

How long has mankind tried to end war? During the interlude, Jesus will establish an era of true peace, ending all war in perpetuity. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4). No soldiers. No weapons. No hatred toward our fellow man. All these will be gone. Instead, the citizens of the kingdom will find themselves living idyllic lives defined by peace, righteousness, justice, and great joy. The Lord Jesus will achieve the utopian setting mankind has long been incapable of creating, and all within 75 days.

5. The Establishing of the Kingdom

With Satan’s rule over the earth through human government eradicated, Christ’s fifth and final feat during the 75-day post-Tribulation interlude will be to establish His kingdom for “the Lord shall be King over all the earth” (Zechariah 14:9). The Bible provides considerable detail about the wondrous majesty and sheer beauty of the Millennial Kingdom—the coming golden age.

What nation has ever endured the test of time? Yet when Jesus’ earthly kingdom is established during the interlude, it shall endure forevermore, for “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people… and it shall stand forever”(Daniel 2:44).

Jesus will then receive a mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2). Governmental corruption of the bygone era will be wondrously replaced by a society founded on perfect justice.

Upon His Second Coming, Jesus entered Jerusalem in victory. He will establish His seat of authority there, declaring the city the world’s capital. The mountains on which Jerusalem stands will have been raised, leading to the belief that Jerusalem becomes the highest elevation on the planet. The new nations will begin streaming to the earth’s capital to hang on Jesus’ every word (Micah 4:1-3). Humanity will begin to live in perfect harmony with their King, “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14).

The pagan Third Temple, desecrated by the Antichrist, will be no more. A fourth Temple, more massive than any previously built, will be constructed (Ezekiel 40–48). Jesus the carpenter will build the Millennial Temple Himself and, from there, rule as king and priest. The Shekinah Glory of God—the Holy Spirit Himself—will descend and dwell over the Temple as “a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night” (Isaiah 4:5).

At His Temple, the King will establish a royal priesthood by fulfilling His promises to the Jewish people. God will heal the Jewish remnant of their backsliding and bless them. In turn, the Jews will become a blessing to the Gentile world. They will become a priestly people, for “in those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you'” (Zechariah 8:23). This favored priestly position brings the Jews esteem throughout the world, and they will be honored for their service to the King. As the Lord declared, “I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth”(Zephaniah 3:17-20).

As He sets up His Millennial Kingdom, Christ’s promises to the resurrected saints will also be fulfilled. “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever” (Daniel 7:18). Who are these saints? The Church! The glorified Christ-followers will return with Jesus Christ at the Second Coming, receive their assignments, and go on to serve the King of Kings as regents, administrators, teachers, and guides for the new generations to be born. Along with the Old Testament and Tribulation Saints, they will rule over the “sheep,” who, in their earthly bodies, will replenish humanity and begin forming new nations.

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