Important Takeaways:
- Taiwan shuttered offices, schools and tourist sites across the island on Wednesday ahead of a powerful typhoon that already worsened seasonal rains in the Philippines, killed at least 13 people and displaced 600,000.
- Typhoon Gaemi’s outer skirt was bringing heavy rain to much of Taiwan, where a direct landfall was expected Wednesday evening in the northern county of Ylan. Fishing boats were recalled to port amid turbulent seas, while air travelers were rushing to board overseas flights before the storm arrives, amid numerous cancellations.
- On Wednesday morning, the typhoon was east of Taiwan moving at 18 kilometers (11 miles) per hour with maximum sustained wind speeds of 183 kilometers (113 miles) per hour, the Central Weather Administration said. In the capital Taipei, heavy rain was falling, but high winds had not yet arrived.
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Important Takeaways:
- Thanks to Biden, China Could Start World War III Here
- China is swarming the waters of the Philippines, hoping to intimidate Manila into surrendering territory. US President Joe Biden and the State Department keep on issuing warnings, but Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to ignore them, suggesting deterrence is failing….
- [R]ecently, China took Scarborough Shoal …. Washington then brokered an agreement for both sides to withdraw their craft, but only Manila complied. Beijing has been in firm control of Scarborough ever since.
- When Chinese leaders, generals and admirals saw Washington’s failure to act, they began moving against Second Thomas Shoal and other Philippine reefs and islets in the South China Sea, went after Japan’s islets in the East China Sea, and began reclaiming and militarizing features in the Spratly chain. Biden as vice president legitimized the worst elements in the Chinese political system by showing everyone that aggression works.
- Beijing has been waging proxy wars on three continents: Europe in Ukraine, Africa across its northern rim, and Asia in Israel and surrounding areas.
- Xi apparently now believes he is boss of the world. “Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years,” the Chinese leader told Russian President Vladimir Putin after their 40th in-person chat, in Moscow on March 22 last year. “And we are driving this change together.”
- Biden is now trying to reestablish deterrence. Britain and France desperately attempted to do that in late summer 1939 when they warned Germany that they would declare war if it invaded Poland. Then, German leaders did not believe the British and the French would in fact fight because for three years they had failed to make good on previous warnings.
- The United States, therefore, is left with only risky options to deter China in the South China Sea. “Once a country loses credibility and prestige, it must fall back on military force to achieve its aims,” Gregory Copley, the president of the International Strategic Studies Association and editor-in-chief of Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy, told this author. “The U.S. has lost both around the world.”
- Thanks to Biden, America is now the Britain and France of our decade, and the world is again on the brink of global conflict. Some 55 craft in Philippine waters tells us that China thinks it has a free hand.
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Important Takeaways:
- 7.6 magnitude earthquake off Philippines prompts evacuations more than 1,000 miles away
- The earthquake near the southern Philippines island of Mindanao was strong enough and close to land to shake nearby communities, the U.S. Geologic Survey said in a post on X, formally known as Twitter. It occurred just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday local time
- The Tsunami Warning Center initially said that based on the magnitude and location, it expected tsunami waves to hit the southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia, Palau and Malaysia. But the center later dropped its tsunami warning.
- In Japan, authorities issued evacuation orders in various parts of Okinawa Prefecture affecting thousands of people. Okinawa is more than 1,200 miles from Mindanao.
- More than three hours after the quake hit, there was no report of a tsunami hitting the coast, Teresito Bacolcol, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told The Associated Press. Based on the quake’s magnitude, Bacolcol said a 3.2-foot tsunami could hit, but the wave could be higher in enclosed coves, bays and straits.
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Important Takeaways:
- Powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake tears through Philippines with residents told to be prepared for aftershocks
- A huge magnitude 7.2 earthquake has rattled the southern Mindanao region of the Philippines today, sparking fears of devastation in the region.
- The quake struck off the shore of the Mindanao region, at a depth of 6.2 miles, German Research Center for Geosciences said. Shallow earthquakes are more likely to cause damage on the Earth’s surface.
- The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no tsunami was expected.
- There were no immediate reports of casualties but the quake was felt across a wide area of the mountainous island. Mindanao is the second largest island in the Philippines and is home to around 26 million people.
- Philippines’ seismology agency said the quake lasted several seconds and advised residents to be on alert for aftershocks and damage.
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Important Takeaways:
- US renews warning it will defend Philippines after incidents with Chinese vessels in South China Sea
- The United States renewed a warning Monday that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack under a 1951 treaty, after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels off a contested shoal in the South China Sea.
- Philippine diplomats summoned a Chinese Embassy official in Manila on Monday for a strongly worded protest following Sunday’s collisions off Second Thomas Shoal. No injuries were reported but the encounters damaged a Philippine coast guard ship and a wooden-hulled supply boat operated by navy personnel, officials said.
- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called an emergency meeting with the defense secretary and other top military and security officials to discuss the latest hostilities in the disputed waters. The Philippines and other neighbors of China have resisted Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims over virtually the entire South China Sea, and some, like Manila, have sought U.S. military support as incidents multiply.
- After the meeting, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro blasted China in a news conference for resorting to “brute force” that he said endangered Filipino crew members and for twisting the facts to conceal its aggression.
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Matthew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Important Takeaways:
- Philippines’ Mayon Volcano Spews Lava Down Its Slopes in Gentle Eruption Putting Thousands on Alert
- The Philippines’ most active volcano was gently spewing lava down its slopes Monday, alerting tens of thousands of people they may have to quickly flee a violent and life-threatening explosion.
- More than 12,600 people have left the mostly poor farming communities within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of Mayon Volcano’s crater in mandatory evacuations since volcanic activity increased last week. But thousands more remain within the permanent danger zone below Mayon, an area long declared off-limits to people but where generations have lived and farmed because they have nowhere else to go.
- “What we are seeing now is an effusive eruption,” Bacolcol told The Associated Press. “We are looking at this on a day-to-day basis.”
- Albay was placed under a state of emergency Friday to allow for quicker distribution of any disaster relief funds in the event of a major eruption.
- The volcano had been raised to alert level three on a five-step system
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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:
- US-Philippines military exercise to be the largest ever amid rising tensions with China
- Roughly 12,000 U.S. troops, 5,400 Philippine personnel and over 100 Australian military members are set to participate in the annual Balikatan Exercise between the countries, far surpassing the 9,000 that participated in the event last year, according to reporting from the Navy Times Wednesday.
- The 17-day exercise, which is set to kick off on April 11, comes amid rising tensions with China in Asia, most recently after an announced deal struck between the Philippines and U.S. that gives the U.S. military access to four additional military installations in the country, a few of which will face the South China Sea.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said of the event, which was announced last month. “This is part of our effort to modernize our alliance, and these efforts are especially important as the People’s Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea.”
- The announced plans also come after China vowed “strong and resolute measures” in response to a meeting between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California.
- We will take resolute measures to punish the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and their actions, and resolutely safeguard our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement Thursday morning.
- McCarthy and a group of bipartisan lawmakers met with Tsai Wednesday, with McCarthy vowing “unwavering” support for Taiwan.
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Revelations 18:9-11 “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ 11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore
Important Takeaways:
- ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Banks Consider Dropping US Dollar, Euro and Yen, Indonesia Calls for Phasing Out Visa and Mastercard
- The meeting discussed efforts to reduce dependence on major currencies through the Local Currency Transaction (LCT) scheme. This is an extension of the previous Local Currency Settlement (LCS) scheme that has already begun to be implemented between ASEAN members.
- This means that an ASEAN cross-border digital payment system would be expanded further and allow ASEAN states to use local currencies for trade. An agreement on such cooperation was reached between Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand in November 2022. This follows from Indonesia’s banking regulator, stating on March 27 that the Bank of Indonesia is preparing to introduce its own domestic payment system.
- Indonesian President Joko Widodo has urged regional administrations to start using credit cards issued by local banks and gradually stop using foreign payment systems. He argued that Indonesia needed to shield itself from geopolitical disruptions, citing the sanctions targeting Russia’s financial sector from the US, EU, and their allies over the conflict in Ukraine.
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Luke 21:25-26 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Important Takeaways:
- Death toll rises to 51 in Philippines after Christmas weekend flooding
- Emergencies were declared for 22 cities in the Philippines as intense rains during holiday battered many areas of the country’s southern regions as well as some parts of Mindanao.
- The death toll from extensive flooding during the Christmas holiday weekend in the Philippines has risen to 51, the government reported Monday.
- Nineteen others remain missing in the wake of the shear line-induced torrential rains and flooding 11 days ago, the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in an update.
- Some 13 of the 51 reported deaths have been officially verified so far, the agency said.
- The holiday deluge affected nearly 150,000 families or 600,000 people in 10 regions across the country, officials said.
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Revelation 6:12 “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake.”
Important Takeaways:
- Powerful earthquake hits northern Philippines; at least four dead, over 60 injured
- Strong tremor damages hospital, buildings and triggers landslides in north, rattles Manila
- A hospital in Abra province was evacuated after the building partially collapsed following the quake, but there were no casualties reported, said officials.
- The Philippine seismology agency said landslides had been reported in some part of Abra, particularly Manabo town, following the earthquake.
- The Philippines is prone to natural disasters and is located on the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a band of volcanoes and fault lines that arcs round the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
- “We don’t have power supply because that’s automatically cut off due to danger,” Villamor told DZRH radio.
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