The AI Nightmare Is Already Here: New Documentary Exposes The Hidden Reality Behind The Tech Boom

The AI Nightmare Is Already Here: New Documentary Exposes The Hidden Reality Behind The Tech Boom

Madge Waggy

In 2013, the world was shocked by revelations that governments had developed surveillance capabilities far beyond what most citizens imagined possible. For weeks, newspapers were filled with debates about privacy, digital monitoring, and the growing power of institutions capable of collecting information on a massive scale. Many people assumed they were witnessing a unique moment in history—a controversy that would define the limits of surveillance in the digital age.

More than a decade later, that assumption looks increasingly outdated.

The technologies that sparked global outrage during the early 2010s now appear relatively modest when compared with the capabilities emerging from today’s artificial intelligence industry. Modern AI systems can analyze text, images, audio, video, purchasing habits, behavioral patterns, and vast streams of real-time information at a scale that would have seemed almost unimaginable only a few years ago. More importantly, these systems are no longer experimental. They are becoming part of the infrastructure that powers modern society.

This is the uncomfortable backdrop against which the mini-documentary “The Horror Of AI That The Elites Are Hiding From You” attempts to tell its story. The title is undeniably dramatic, perhaps intentionally so, but beneath the sensational framing lies a question that has become increasingly difficult to dismiss in 2026: are we paying enough attention to the long-term consequences of the AI revolution currently unfolding around us?

Rather than focusing on science-fiction scenarios involving conscious machines or robot uprisings, the film concentrates on something far more plausible. Its creators argue that the greatest risks associated with artificial intelligence will not arrive through a single catastrophic event. There will be no obvious moment when society suddenly realizes that everything has changed. Instead, the transformation is likely to occur gradually, through thousands of small decisions that seem reasonable in isolation but become far more significant when viewed collectively.

History suggests that major technological revolutions often unfold in exactly this way. Few people recognized the long-term implications of social media during its earliest years. Most users simply enjoyed the ability to communicate more easily with friends and family. Only later did society begin confronting questions about misinformation, political polarization, algorithmic influence, and digital addiction. The internet itself followed a similar trajectory. What initially appeared to be a communication tool eventually reshaped commerce, journalism, entertainment, education, and politics.

Artificial intelligence may represent an even larger shift because it is not confined to a single industry. It is simultaneously influencing healthcare, finance, transportation, education, law enforcement, media, software development, scientific research, and national security. Unlike previous technologies, AI is not merely changing how people communicate or consume information. It is increasingly involved in analyzing information, making recommendations, generating content, and assisting with decisions that affect millions of lives.

What makes this transition particularly unusual is that much of it remains invisible.

Most people never see the algorithms that determine which content appears in their feeds. They do not observe the systems screening job applications before a recruiter reviews them. They rarely encounter the predictive models that influence advertising, credit assessments, fraud detection, or consumer recommendations. They experience the outcomes without seeing the machinery that produces them.

The documentary argues that this invisibility is one of the defining characteristics of the AI age. Previous centers of power were relatively easy to identify. Factories dominated industrial economies. Television networks shaped mass media. Banks influenced financial systems. Artificial intelligence, by contrast, operates quietly behind interfaces that appear simple on the surface while relying on infrastructure of extraordinary complexity beneath.

Over the past year, analysts have repeatedly revised upward their estimates for AI-related spending. Gartner now projects global IT spending to exceed $6.3 trillion in 2026, with data center systems representing one of the fastest-growing segments of the entire technology industry. Spending on data center infrastructure alone is expected to approach $788 billion this year as companies race to build the computational capacity required for increasingly advanced AI systems.

The numbers are difficult to comprehend because they extend beyond traditional software investment. What is taking place is a physical transformation of infrastructure. New facilities are being constructed around the world to house specialized processors, networking equipment, cooling systems, and energy infrastructure capable of supporting AI workloads that continue growing in size and complexity. Goldman Sachs recently estimated that spending by a handful of major technology companies could exceed $5 trillion by the end of the decade, highlighting the extraordinary scale of the race now underway.

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The War Is Expanding Whether They Admit It or Not

The War Is Expanding Whether They Admit It or Not

Martin Armstrong

Zelensky is now warning that Russian intelligence preparations point toward a “massive new strike” against Ukraine. He urged Ukrainians to pay attention to air raid warnings and said Ukrainian intelligence services have information indicating that Russia is preparing another large-scale attack. At the same time, Moscow has warned diplomats and foreigners to leave Kyiv while threatening what it called “systematic strikes” against targets in the Ukrainian capital.

Most people continue to view these announcements as simply another chapter in a war that has dragged on since 2022. That completely misses the larger picture. This conflict stopped being about territory long ago. What we are witnessing is the gradual expansion of a regional war into a broader geopolitical confrontation involving NATO, Russia, Europe, and increasingly the global economy itself.

The Romanian incident should have received far more attention than it did. According to reports, a Russian drone struck an apartment building in Romania, injuring civilians. Romania is a NATO member. Had casualties been larger or the circumstances slightly different, the alliance could have found itself under enormous pressure to respond. The danger in wars is rarely the event everyone expects. It is the accident, miscalculation, or unintended escalation that nobody planned for.

The mainstream press still insists on analyzing every development as if it exists in isolation. Taiwan is treated as one issue. Ukraine is another. The Middle East is another. Yet all three regions are heating up simultaneously. China continues increasing military pressure around Taiwan. NATO is openly discussing vulnerabilities extending into 2028 and 2029. Europe is rearming at a pace not seen in decades. The Middle East remains unstable. These are not separate stories. They are different manifestations of the same global trend.

Our models have been warning that 2026 would be a panic-cycle year characterized by rising volatility and escalating geopolitical tensions. The events unfolding right now fit that pattern remarkably well. The risks continue building into 2027, which remains a major war-risk year in our forecasts. By 2028, the economic side of the crisis begins colliding with the geopolitical side as recessionary pressures, sovereign debt problems, and civil unrest intensify. Then comes the major ECM turning point in 2029.

What concerns me is that military officials across multiple countries are increasingly discussing the same timeframe. Latvia’s military chief recently warned of a strategic vulnerability window extending until roughly 2028. Taiwan is building military capabilities specifically with 2029 in mind. NATO is preparing for a longer confrontation. Ukraine is warning of larger Russian offensives. Independent actors are arriving at similar conclusions despite viewing the world through entirely different lenses.

Perhaps the greatest mistake investors and governments continue to make is assuming that because the worst outcome has not happened yet, it never will. History is full of periods where tensions built gradually until suddenly they accelerated. Looking back, everyone claimed the warning signs were obvious. Living through them, most people dismissed them as noise. But now the noise is becoming very loud.

‘It’s entombed’: Trump says US can retrieve Iran’s uranium without a deal, but has ‘no reason to’

‘It’s entombed’: Trump says US can retrieve Iran’s uranium without a deal, but has ‘no reason to’

ToI Staff

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that American forces could remove Iran’s enriched uranium even without Washington making a deal with the Islamic Republic, but that “there’s no reason to,” because, he said, the regime can’t access it anyway.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump revealed that he had considered sending US troops to retrieve the buried stockpile at the very start of the war, but chose not to do so because of the risks and potential complications.

“I didn’t feel like being like Jimmy Carter,” he said, alluding to the former president’s failed effort to rescue 52 US Embassy staff held hostage by Iran in 1980.

Trump again claimed that a deal with Iran would ensure the removal or disposal of the uranium, something Iran has denied accepting. “As it stands right now, we will go in, in the not too distant future [to deal with the underground stockpile by agreement],” he said.

“We could get it right now. I don’t think they could stop us if we wanted, but there’s no reason to. It’s entombed,” the president said.

“It’s very safe down there,” he added. “We have cameras; every angle of those three [underground nuclear] sites are being watched at all times. If anybody went there, we’ll see exactly what’s happening and we’ll blow it up a little bit further….”

“[It’s ] very hard to get that material, but I still nevertheless want it,” he said, but added: “I don’t want to do it if we’re in conflict. I don’t want to put men in that kind of danger.”

Trump detailed, for the first time, a plan he said he did not approve that would have sent American troops into Iran to collect what he commonly calls the “nuclear dust.”

“I didn’t want to be in a position where you had…,” he said, then paused before resuming: “It’s not like Venezuela — like, you go in, you’re there for a matter of minutes and you’re out. And everybody’s waving goodbye as you take off,” he elaborated.

“This is different. You have to be there for two weeks. You’d need massive equipment. You’d have to airlift the equipment.”

“There was a time at the very beginning when we thought about doing that, because they would have not been watching, but they would have found out,” he added.

Previously, Trump has insisted on the need to remove or destroy Iran’s stockpile of some 440 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium — a short step from weapons-grade.

Nuclear experts have also urged the US to require the removal of all uranium enriched by Iran to lower levels, to better block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapons arsenal.

Trump’s apparently shifting stance regarding the uranium stockpile followed his recent backing away from his previous demand for an end to all Iranian enrichment, saying on May 15 that he would accept a 20-year suspension of uranium enrichment.

Iran, which regularly vows to destroy Israel, denies it has ever sought nuclear weapons, but its enrichment has gone far beyond the levels required for a civilian program, and it has obstructed inspectors from accessing its facilities.

Trump also said Thursday that he was not looking to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, but said that he’d “be honored” to do so.

Trump said if Washington and Tehran reached a deal, it was possible that the two would meet and added, “If it happened… I’d be respectful.”

“In some circles, he has a very good reputation actually,” he said of Khamenei.

Substituting The Government For The Family: In First Set Back To Homeschooling In Decades, Connecticut Declares War

Substituting The Government For The Family: In First Set Back To Homeschooling In Decades, Connecticut Declares War

Alex Newman

Connecticut officials just adopted the first major new restriction on homeschooling in America in decades, forcing parents to seek permission from “child welfare” authorities while imposing a slew of new regulations on families who exit government schools. Advocates for home education blasted the move. And they vowed to fight on. 

The legislation, known as House Bill 5468 and signed into law as Public Act 26-37 or “An Act Concerning the Provision of Parent-Managed Learning,” treats all homeschool families as guilty until proven innocent, critics said. Before starting to homeschool, parents must report to the government and receive approval from the Department of Children and Families to proceed.

The unprecedented measure also purports to force parents to provide government-approved “education.” Language ordering homeschoolers to have “equivalent instruction” to government’s was removed. But the final bill signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont last week still decrees that parents must follow the studies taught in government schools.

The bill was so controversial that all Republicans and even some Democrats voted against it. But even with no GOP support, the legislation was approved by the House in a 96 to 53 vote and 22 to 14 by the Senate. Thousands of concerned citizens spoke out and testified against the bill, while just a handful expressed support.

“The state has a responsibility to protect children,” argued State Senate Pro Tem Martin Looney, a Democrat, before voting to support the controversial bill. “In other words, it’s not only the parents who have a responsibility for those children.” He did not mention the epidemic of sexual abuse, drugs, crime, illiteracy, and suicide in public education. 

But Republicans pointed out that the state’s child-welfare bureaucracy was in shambles. “That agency is a train wreck,” explained Senator Eric Berthel, a Republican from Watertown). “It’s off the rails. It needs to go through substantial reform and be fixed before they should be allowed to interact with another family and another child.”

“The bill subjects every homeschooling family to a background check just to exercise a basic parental right,” fumed Berthel, one of many Republican lawmakers who spoke out against what they described as government overreach and an assault on parental rights. “It creates a system where an allegation can carry the same weight as a conviction.” 

“In today’s economy, many families have multiple generations living in the same household,” he continued. “Under this bill, if anyone in that household is on a registry, the request is denied. That’s not targeted policy. That’s a blanket restriction that punishes entire families.”

Critics at the state and national level also slammed the measure. “They are taking something away from the homeschoolers that they have always had in Connecticut,” argued Family Institute of Connecticut Executive Director Peter Wolfgang, a homeschooling father of seven. “We have always had strong freedom to homeschool here.”

He also blasted the state’s effort to scapegoat home-educating families for failures of DCF, noting that the children who died were already known to the agency. “They were DCF’s responsibility, and DCF dropped the ball,” he said. “So what does our state government do? The opposite of what makes sense.”

He also blasted the state’s assumption that children were safer in a government school than with their own families. “What this law says is that the state government believes that children are safer in a public school … than they are with their own family,” he said. “It’s substituting the government for the family, and it’s saying that children belong to the state instead of to their own family.”

Ultimately, politicians “want to put all homeschoolers under the thumb now of DCF, the same group that failed to protect these children that were already their responsibility,” Wolfgang continued. Indeed, he noted that lawmakers and supporters of the bill consistently referred to the children as “’our kids’, as if the kids belong to the state.” 

The Home School Legal Defense Association, which rallied families in the state and beyond, vowed to continue the fight against Connecticut’s new restrictions. Attorney Kevin Boden, HSLDA director of legal and legislative advocacy, sent an email to families warning about the significance of the danger—and noting that this assault could spread. 

“This profound shift transforms Connecticut from a state where parents had significant freedom to the only state that imposes mandatory background checks on fit parents before they can teach their own children in their own home,” he said. “By requiring every parent to be pre-screened before they can begin homeschooling, it ceases to acknowledge parents as trusted actors and instead casts them as risks to be managed.”

“For homeschooling families, the signing of H.B. 5468 marks the first regression of homeschool freedom in the modern homeschool movement,” continued Boden. “While we are more than disappointed by this legislation, the battle is not over. We have been working hand-in-hand with our allies in Connecticut to oppose this bill since it was introduced and will continue to pursue appropriate legal action now that it has been signed into law.”

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Taiwan looks to Israel as it prepares society, economy and home front for China threat

Taiwan looks to Israel as it prepares society, economy and home front for China threat

Ofra Pasder, Taipei

Taiwan, the democratic island of about 23 million people, is an isolated technological powerhouse living under the shadow of its giant neighbor. China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and openly declares its intention to bring it under Beijing’s control, by force if necessary. In Taipei, officials understand that time may be running out, and the island has shifted into a mode of preparation: civilian, military and economic.

That complex diplomatic reality is felt daily inside Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry. Deputy foreign ministers Chen Ming-chi and François Chih-chung Wu describe a troubling picture of quiet warfare, one aimed at isolating Taiwan and weakening it from within.

“Beijing uses every possible tool to isolate Taiwan. We are their number one target,” Chen said. “In the past year alone, we identified 45,000 official Chinese accounts that spread some three million false posts against Taiwan.”

According to the officials, the campaign is not being waged only from afar. China, they said, exploits Taiwan’s internal political divisions to recruit messengers inside the island. “They have proxies, companies and private individuals who receive funding from Beijing and spread narratives such as, ‘Our democracy is flawed,’ ‘We cannot win,’ or ‘It is better to surrender,’” they said.

One reason the world is so closely watching the confrontation is Taiwan’s role in the most sensitive industry of the 21st century. The island produces about 80% of the world’s semiconductor industry, making any crisis in the Taiwan Strait a global economic and strategic emergency.

The lessons of the war in Ukraine have resonated strongly in Taipei. Ukraine showed that inexpensive drones and unmanned naval vessels can play a decisive role in slowing or stopping an invasion by a much larger army. Taiwan is studying that model closely.

In the city of Taichung, Thunder Tiger, once known for manufacturing toy cars and boats, has transformed itself into a producer of unmanned systems for military use. One of the company’s key developments is a drone guided by a fiber-optic cable. “Since it is physically connected by a wire, it cannot be jammed electronically,” said Allan Chi of Thunder Tiger.

The struggle is also being fought on the civilian front. Taiwan’s national resilience effort is led in part by Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that has already trained more than 100,000 citizens for a possible invasion scenario.

“About 90% of Taiwan’s population does not serve actively in the military,” said Kuma Academy CEO Fuming Chu. “Our role is to prepare them for emergencies without making them paranoid. We teach first aid, rescue, logistics and, critically, how to identify disinformation.”

Graduates of the academy are meant to form part of the backbone of Taiwan’s home front. In a crisis, they are expected to help prevent social collapse, maintain routine and counter the panic that China seeks to generate through psychological warfare. In Taiwan, where the law prohibits carrying personal firearms, civilian resilience has become a central weapon against Chinese propaganda.

Throughout the visit to the island, held at the invitation of Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, Israel came up repeatedly as a point of deep identification and a source of operational lessons. Taiwanese officials and analysts see Israel as another small democracy surrounded by threats.

“The military and diplomatic support you receive from the United States and the Western world is far beyond what Taiwan receives,” said a representative of the Straits Exchange Foundation, the body responsible for economic relations with China. “Israel does excellent work in gathering intelligence and fighting the infiltration of spies. That is something we must improve. But beyond that, we see the determination of your people. We need to learn from you how to put disagreements aside.”

Taipei’s daily routine still projects business as usual. Streets remain crowded, nightlife continues and markets draw large numbers of visitors. But beneath that surface, a vast engine of preparation is running.

Taiwan is not seeking confrontation, but it is no longer willing to see itself as a victim. Faced with Beijing’s growing pressure, the island understands that the future of democracy in East Asia may depend on its willingness and its ability to defend itself.

Trojan Horses Coming

Under The Guise Of Progressive Inclusivity, California Accepts In Another Trojan Horse

John Rodrigues 

On May 26, 2026, the California State Assembly overwhelmingly passed Assembly Bill 2017 (AB 2017) by a 64–1 vote. The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), is now heading to the State Senate, positioning California to legally institutionalize theological framework under the guise of progressive inclusivity. What that theological framework is, is alarming.

AB 2017 seeks to officially designate the two major Islamic holidays—Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha—as state-recognized holidays. If passed, public K-12 schools would be legally mandated to grant student absences for these days as “justifiable personal absences,” ensuring zero academic or truancy penalties. The bill also opens the door for local school boards and community colleges to shut down campuses entirely. Additionally, it extends workplace protections to state employees, granting them the explicit right to use accrued vacation or personal leave to observe these holidays without professional or financial repercussions.

For the progressive lawmakers backing the bill, the payoff is clear: it secures political capital, virtue-signals adherence to the tenets of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and appeases well-funded religious advocacy groups. But beneath the surface lies a calculated subversion of Western principles and a fundamental blindness to the spiritual warfare at play. Do not be misled, this is not being done out of the goodness of anyone’s heart.

By elevating specific religious holidays into state law, this flirts with violating the Establishment Clause by showing blatant favoritism and opens Pandora’s box to competing demands from countless other religious sects (and in CA that could become interesting) seeking the same state-sanctioned privileges.

Additionally, the passage of Assembly Bill 2017 exposes a profound contradiction by granting explicit, state-mandated protections to one faith while at the same time scrubbing traditional Western religious expressions —Judeo Christian—from the culture, as if they never existed; doing so, under the guise of the separation of church and state. If you live in California, this is what we’ve come to expect. 

While Christian and Jewish symbols have been aggressively privatized—such as public schools stripping Christmas and Easter of their names in favor of “Winter” and “Spring” breaks—this legislation weaponizes state statute to rewrite school and workplace calendars with a non-Western faith, creating a blatant double standard. From a biblical perspective, this attempt to equalize fundamentally conflicting truth claims within the civic fabric is a dangerous form of syncretism that defies the warning of 2 Corinthians 6:15-16, where we are challenged, “Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” 

By framing a theological observance through the lens of a “marginalized identity,” these advocates effectively disarm liberal opposition. Progressive lawmakers—who usually advocate fierce separation of church and state—are being manipulated into institutionalizing religious holidays into secular law. The vocabulary of social justice is being weaponized to codify religious privilege, creating a bizarre double standard where the secular left willingly accommodates a deeply conservative theological framework it would fight tooth and nail if it bore a Christian or Jewish label. 

Besides everything already stated, AB 2017 carries profound theological implications for the discerning believer. Scripture repeatedly warns that the true battlefield is not found in legislative chambers, but in the spiritual realm (Eph 6:12), and we keep forgetting this. By codifying holidays dedicated to an ideology that explicitly denies the deity, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, secular authorities are blindly inviting spiritual deception into the foundational institutions of our society. In 2 Corinthians 6:14, the mandate is clear: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

By systematically integrating non-Christian religious frameworks into state law, lawmakers are legally forcing public institutions—and by extension, the citizenry—into a spiritual partnership with a system completely incompatible with biblical truth. This is not benign multiculturalism; it is a total lack of spiritual discernment; and it is stage setting. The culture is succumbing to a spirit of delusion, exchanging absolute truth for a counterfeit gospel of humanistic tolerance (2 Tim 4:3). This will not adversely affect only Christians, but all. So much more could be said…

We do not have to guess where this trajectory is aimed – ultimately, we look to the Word and see the world succumbing to a one world religion, the Antichrist, etc. Secondly, we only have to look across the Atlantic to see the immediate effects, Western Europe -specifically the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden, stands as catastrophic proof that making legal concessions under the banner of multiculturalism never ends there. It is a progressive myth that these accommodations lead to harmonious integration.

Instead, history shows that what begins as a simple holiday accommodation inevitably serves as a foothold for what we are witnessing each day. In Europe, these initial concessions escalated into demands for parallel legal systems, such as Sharia arbitration councils, which directly fractures the host nation’s sovereign laws. The end result is not a cohesive, inclusive melting pot, but rather the takeover of a nation by the steady erasure of Western foundational values that built them.

California’s AB 2017 is not an innocent gesture of goodwill. It is a dangerous step toward allowing an aggressive theological framework to permanently overwrite the dominant Western culture that made us, as Americans, what we are. If the State Senate fails to halt this bill, California will find out the hard way that when you invite the Trojan Horse of religious law into secular institutions, the host culture is always the one that gets erased.

With support from Turkey and Egypt, Hamas seeks new ceasefire deal without surrendering weapons

With support from Turkey and Egypt, Hamas seeks new ceasefire deal without surrendering weapons

All Israel News Staff

Hamas is attempting to formulate a new ceasefire outline, with help from Turkey and Egypt, which is intended to revive mediation efforts between the terror group and Israel, Saudi news organization Asharq Al-Awsat reported. 

The talks have been suspended for months, with both sides accusing the other of ceasefire violations. The IDF has continued to target Hamas leaders, and has taken additional territory inside the Gaza Strip, beyond the 53% it was allowed to keep as a temporary security buffer in the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. 

Hamas, for its part, accuses Israel of a failure to withdraw its troops from Gaza, failing to respect the ceasefire through its repeated strikes, and of not allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into the Strip. 

Israel, meanwhile, points to several attempts by armed Palestinians to cross the Yellow Line into Israeli-controlled territory, along with Hamas’ refusal to disarm, as proof that the terror organization is failing to uphold its obligations under the agreement. 

The IDF's Office for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) denies claims of insufficient aid, saying the amount of food aid entering Gaza daily is more than enough to support the population. 

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is stable, supported by a continuous and consistent flow of aid.

Working alongside the CMCC, the UN, and authorized international partners, we ensure a steady supply of food, water, sanitation, and medical services. pic.twitter.com/dCriwjiibt

— COGAT (@cogatonline) June 2, 2026

The Asharq Al-Awsat report cited two “Hamas sources” who said the group is expected to send a delegation to Cairo this weekend to discuss preliminary proposals to resolve the existing disagreements, following discussions with Turkish officials in Ankara earlier this week. 

The Hamas sources did not indicate what the proposals entail, however, a statement released after the meeting with Turkish intelligence head Ibrahim Kalin, blamed Israel for failing to honor the Sharm al-Sheikh agreement, for escalating strikes in Gaza and for a “failure to complete the implementation of the first phase of the agreement.” 

Hamas has repeatedly insisted that Israel fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip at the conclusion of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, while Israel maintains that any withdrawal is contingent on Hamas beginning to disarm. The terror organization has consistently rejected disarmament proposals that involve surrendering its weapons to an external party.

Hamas has also expressed sharp criticism of UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov, who has insisted that the deal agreed to by Hamas includes disarmament as part of the process of installing the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). 

A report in Asharq Al-Awsat earlier this year stated that “several prominent political and military leaders” from Hamas could leave the Gaza Strip as part of the transition to the second phase of the peace deal. However, in recent weeks, Israel has eliminated most of Hamas’ senior military leaders.

With Hamas increasingly appearing intent on remaining in Gaza, and even incorporating itself into the incoming Palestinian governance of the Strip, and its continued refusal to disarm, Israel has returned to the idea of resuming military operations to destroy the last elements of the terror organization.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to seize as much as 70% of the Gaza Strip in an apparent bid to pressure Hamas to return to the negotiating table. 

Iran says it fired warning missiles, drones at US warships in Gulf of Oman

Iran says it fired warning missiles, drones at US warships in Gulf of Oman

Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday

Iran’s navy says it fired warning missiles and drones at US warships in the Gulf of Oman, accusing the US Navy of harassing maritime traffic and seizing commercial vessels and oil tankers, Iranian state media reports.

Earlier, the US Indo-Pacific Command said US forces intercepted the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T DAVINA in the Indian Ocean overnight.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions over maritime security around Iran, as Washington enforces sanctions on Iranian oil shipments and Tehran has repeatedly threatened shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Lebanese president: Iran using Lebanon as ‘bargaining chip’ in negotiations with US

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun tells CNN that Iran is using Lebanon as a “bargaining chip” in its negotiations with the United States.

Aoun says in a message to the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that “it’s not your country, it’s our country.”

Aoun has repeatedly sought to distance Lebanon from regional conflicts and has said decisions concerning the country’s sovereignty and security must be made by the Lebanese state alone.

“Our house is being destroyed. [Iran is] using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiations with the United States. It is unacceptable,” he says.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem asks Trump to guarantee access to holy sites across region

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, one of the top figures in a communion of over 200 million adherents, asked US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office yesterday to ensure access to holy sites in the region, says the Patriarchate.

“Christian communities in the Middle East have in recent years faced a difficult reality of instability, growing threats and increasing pressure,” said Theopholis III.

“We are seeing ancient communities asking for something very basic: to continue living in safety, to preserve their faith and to maintain freedom of worship.”

In March, at the height of war with Iran, Israel was the target of global anger after police officers kept two top Catholic clergymen from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass.

There has also been a series of incidents in recent years involving harassment of and attacks on Christians, especially in Jerusalem.

“Mr President, as a close friend and as someone who understands the importance of protecting Christian communities and the holy places, preserving freedom of religion and open access to the holy places is not only a religious matter – it is a condition for stability, coexistence and peace across the entire region,” said Theophilos, according to the Patriarchate.

US forces boarded sanctioned vessel in Indian Ocean overnight, Pentagon says

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Flesh-Eating Screwworm Confirmed in Texas Calf, First U.S. Livestock Case in 60 Years Triggers Emergency Quarantine

Flesh-Eating Screwworm Confirmed in Texas Calf, First U.S. Livestock Case in 60 Years Triggers Emergency Quarantine

Cassandra MacDonald

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed the first case of New World screwworm (NWS) in American livestock in nearly six decades, sparking an immediate nationwide emergency response to protect the multibillion-dollar cattle industry.

The screwworms were found in a 3-week-old calf on a ranch in La Pryor, Zavala County, Texas, roughly 50 miles north of the Mexican border.

Larvae were found infesting the animal’s umbilical area.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the case on Wednesday after samples were tested at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins described the situation as one the Trump Administration is treating with “the utmost seriousness.”

Rollins said, “We are treating the confirmed case of New World Screwworm on a Texas cattle ranch with the utmost seriousness and are responding aggressively alongside our state partners, TAHC (Texas Animal Health Commission). USDA’s proactive actions bought us nearly a year to prepare, as models had projected New World Screwworm would reach the United States by the summer of 2025. That preparation allowed us to move immediately when this case was detected.”

New World screwworm is the larval stage of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly.

Unlike ordinary blowflies that feed only on dead tissue, female screwworm flies lay hundreds of eggs in any open wound, cut, or mucous membrane of warm-blooded animals, including cattle, horses, deer, goats, pets, wildlife, and, in rare cases, humans or birds.

Once the eggs hatch, the larvae use hook-like mouthparts to burrow deep into living flesh, feeding aggressively and causing massive tissue destruction, secondary infections, and extreme pain.

Left untreated, a single infestation can kill a cow in as little as a few weeks.

The parasite does not infest meat, fruits, vegetables, or processed food products, so the nation’s commercial food supply remains safe under USDA inspection protocols.

The USDA has activated its pre-prepared New World Screwworm Response Playbook.

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) has established an infested zone covering parts of Zavala and Uvalde counties. All warm-blooded animals in the zone are under quarantine and cannot move without prior authorization from TAHC.

Additionally, millions of sterilized male flies that mate with wild females, producing non-viable eggs and crashing the population, are being released in the area.

No additional cases have been detected as of Thursday.