DAILY NEWS Stream – March 13, 2026

The United States condemns Iran’s March 5 drone strike on Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan region as an unprovoked attack on civilian targets and a violation of Azerbaijani sovereignty, declaring full US solidarity with Azerbaijan and warning that assaults on regional partners will be met with firm American support (US State Department)

A senior UAE [United Arab Emirates] official warns that the Gulf states’ commitment to passive defense ‘has its limits’ amid Iran’s ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, which he says target civilians rather than military sites and erode regional trust. He stressed that the UAE and its partners will protect their security but remain committed to avoiding being drawn into a wider conflict (Khaleej Times)

Thailand provides 1 million baht [~US $31,500] in compensation to each of the families of 27 Myanmar workers killed and 200,000 baht [~US$6,300] in compensation to each of the seven injured in the 2025 Bangkok [Thailand] building collapse caused by an earthquake, with officials from both countries attending a ceremony to deliver the final round of payments (Nation Thailand)

Bangladesh closes all universities early and brings forward the Eid al-Fitr holidays, which mark the end of Ramadan, to conserve electricity and fuel amid a deepening energy crisis driven by Middle East conflict-related supply disruptions, while imposing fuel-sale limits and halting fertilizer factory operations to stabilize its strained power system (Reuters)

Kosovo enters a constitutional crisis after failing to elect a new president, prompting Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani to dissolve parliament and call snap elections amid rising regional tensions and uncertainty over NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]’s long-running Kosovo Force (KFOR) peacekeeping mission (Fox News)

The Philippines faces a worsening nursing shortage as many Filipino nurses continue migrating abroad for better pay, stability, and work-life balance, seeing overseas jobs as the most realistic path to supporting their families (Channel News Asia)

Professor Victor Pérez of Xi’ an Jiaotong-Liverpool University [Suzhou, China] warns that music often hinders rather than helps productivity. While helpful for repetitive tasks, lyrics and complex sounds distract from deep analytical thinking. Experts recommend silence for problem-solving to prevent mental fatigue and restore concentration levels (Lao Động)

Bok choy provides essential magnesium for nervous system and muscle health, yet overcooking or boiling can destroy a portion of its vital nutrients. Nutritionists recommend steaming or stir-frying to preserve its cellular structure. Pairing the greens with healthy fats further boosts vitamin absorption, ensuring maximum health benefits from this mineral-rich vegetable in your daily diet (Lao Động)

Three Đà Nẵng [Âu Lạc (Vietnam)] siblings face critical botulism poisoning after consuming homemade pickled fish. One teen remains comatose while others require ventilators. Authorities warn against improper fermentation as they investigate this deadly toxin outbreak (VietnamNet)

Cambodia establishes a new water resources and meteorology data center in Phnom Penh to act as a national “digital brain” for collecting and analyzing weather data, improving early disaster warnings as the country faces intensifying climate-related floods, droughts, and extreme heat (Cambodianess)

A new study finds that global warming has accelerated significantly after 2015, with adjusted climate data showing the fastest temperature rise on record and suggesting the world could exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit before 2030 (Channel News Asia)

Kenya’s government reports the death toll from heavy rains and flooding nearly doubles to 42. Rescue operations continue nationwide as floodwaters disrupt transport amid intensifying extreme rainfall (Reuters)

Extreme heat threatens mothers and newborns globally, causing a 26% spike in preterm births during heatwaves. Midwives urgently request climate-resilient maternal care investments, like planting trees around birthing facilities, to protect vulnerable families from the escalating climate crisis (International Confederation of Midwives)

Climate change, heat, pests, and development cause a sharp decline in Minnesota [US]’s wild rice. Ojibwe and Dakota First Nations leaders race to restore waters, as the sacred grain’s loss threatens food sovereignty and ecosystem health (Yale Climate Connections)

A defect in an oil cooler on the Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha causes 200–300 liters of oil to spill into Akaroa Harbour [New Zealand], prompting containment and cleanup efforts by the crew and Environment Canterbury [Canterbury Regional Council] (RNZ)

China deploys a specialized robot that successfully repairs a live 10 kilovolt medium-voltage power line in Hubei [China] for the first time, marking a major safety breakthrough by removing humans from one of the most dangerous tasks in electrical maintenance (Báo Tin tức)

As governments worldwide adopt stricter online-safety laws, rapidly improving AI [artificial intelligence]-driven age-assurance technology becomes central to enforcing new age limits on social media, chatbots, and adult sites, even as early results from Australia’s teen ban show mixed compliance and ongoing industry resistance (Reuters)

The Louis Dreyfus Company is readying to launch operations of a new pea protein isolate facility in Saskatchewan [Canada] to meet global plant protein demand. The plant scales production for dairy alternatives and animal-people meat substitutes, and is expected to create 60 jobs (FoodBev Media)

Korean cosmetics firm LG Household & Health Care launches vegan beauty brand Freshian at Japan’s Cosme Kitchen, targeting the clean beauty market. Sustainable packaging and high-performing products, like the top-ranked cream blush, drive early success (Pulse)

Veganic gardening blends vegan and organic principles to build wildlife-friendly ecosystems without animal-people products like manure. Using plant-based compost and biodiversity, gardeners naturally enrich soil and manage pests to reduce environmental impact (VegNews)

After a German Shepherd-person’s keen sense of smell detects a woman’s early-stage lung cancer, researchers develop an artificial intelligence-powered “electronic nose.” This innovative sensor mimics canine-people’s abilities to identify life-saving disease markers in clinical samples (Good News Network)

Indian firm Evolute Bioscience partners with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA] India to replace animal-people testing for its pharmacology education classes with Simcology virtual simulation software for student use. This ethical shift saves dozens of mice- and zebrafish-individuals annually, transitioning pharmacology study and research to computer-assisted learning (PETA India)

Lincolnshire Wildlife Park [UK] welcomes a white tiger- and lynx-person rescued from war-torn Ukraine (Ureign). After a 2,600-kilometer journey, these abandoned animal friends, who cannot survive in the wild, transition to lifelong sanctuary care in purpose-built enclosures (Ajot)

Enlightening quote of the day: “The greatest among men were those who recognized the Divine qualities in their fellow-beings and were always ready to respect even the lowliest among them.” – The Venerated Enlightened Master of Tibetan Buddhism Guru Domo Geshe Rinpoche Ngawang Kalsang (vegetarian) (Dorjeshugden.com)

In part 1 of 2 of Kyle Hubbard’s near-death experience, American pastor Kyle shares how he died during alcohol withdrawal and descended through levels of hell before crying out to Lord Jesus Christ (vegetarian), who saved him. Kyle, 23, had spent years in active alcohol addiction, drinking from morning till evening. By December 2012, his addiction had landed him in Baylor Scott and White Hospital in Lakeway, Texas, just outside Austin, for a medical detox. Alcohol withdrawal can cause the nervous system to go haywire, making people susceptible to heart attacks, strokes, and seizures— and many people with alcohol addiction die during withdrawal. Kyle was in the middle of this life-and-death struggle, hooked up to anti-anxiety medication to stabilize his system.

The second night in the hospital, December 15, 2012, Kyle experienced something that would change his life forever.

It was the middle of the night, like 2 or 3 or 4 a.m. I don’t know the exact time. But I felt my heart racing the fastest I’ve ever felt it race before. I’m an athletic guy. I was an athletic guy before the alcohol, athletic guy now. And so, I know what it’s like to have a heart that’s racing after a sprint, but this was like double, if I could put beats per minute. I don’t know what it was. But it was super fast. And so, I realized that my heart was kind of giving its last hurrah. That was my understanding. And then the next thing that I realized is that my heart was now beating the slowest it’s ever beat before. So, time completely slowed down, and it was kind of measured with even my heartbeat. And so, I’m waiting for the beats of my heart, and it’s like my heart was beating like once every 10 seconds, and I realized, OK, my heart is now giving up. It’s given its last hurrah, now it’s giving up, and I’m waiting for the next beat of my heart, and all of a sudden, my vision goes black. And I am I’m waiting for the next beat of my heart, and I don’t feel it. I’m just waiting and waiting, and so instantly the reality of my plight comes true to me that I have died.

Kyle had been completely atheist, totally away from God, and didn’t believe in life after death. His understanding was that death was the end— nothing happened after. But he found himself still conscious. So, I’m thinking to myself, why am I still conscious? Why am I still thinking if I’ve died? And in that moment, the reality of Heaven, the reality of hell, the reality of an afterlife, the reality of God, the devil, the Bible, everything became instantly tangibly real to me. God was real. The devil was real. Heaven was real. Hell was real. But I knew, with how I lived my life, that there was no way a perfect, holy, righteous God would accept me. So, I knew I was going to hell, and I was going to a real place of torment.

After his vision went black, Kyle says he entered a stage of darkness before descending deeper into what he describes as levels of hell. The next level that I experienced was really scary. And it was after the level of darkness of vision that my vision went out, and it was this dark, dingy kind of yellow old-style hospital room. And there were people running around trying to inject themselves with a drug, trying to get a drink, whatever gave them peace on the Earth. They were looking for that, but they couldn’t find it. They were opening drawers. There was nothing in there to give them relief. And so peace was completely gone in this stage. And people were scrambling for anything just to give them some relief. And I was right there with them looking for a drink, looking for something, but there was nothing to be had. There was no relief in that stage.

Then the scene shifted again, and Kyle says he plunged into a third level. There was this grandmother figure who was sitting in front of me. Half of her face was in the light, and it was the most beautiful, beautiful thing I’d ever seen. The most peaceful thing I’ve ever seen. The other half of her face was in the dark, and that was the most grotesque, evil, like flesh-eaten scene I’ve ever seen. And so, I realized when she turned that she was actually not good. I thought she was good. I thought she was there to help me at first, but when she turned, I realized that she was actually there to hurt me. And in another room, there were sounds of basically evil people that were asking if they could kill me. They said, “Can we kill him now? Can we kill him now? Can we kill him now?” And she kept saying, “Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.” And I’m in my physical body too in this stage. It was completely me in front of this evil grandmother figure. The senses were heightened. There were even these animal figures that were kind of at the control of this grandmother figure, and they were the most brilliant, fluorescent beautiful colors, but I realized I was like, “Oh, they’re beautiful.” But then they when they’d look at you, you realize like these are out to actually torment me, and so they’re not good. And so what seemed to be good in this third level was not good at all.

Then the descent continued, and Kyle says the next level brought a surprising moment of comfort. And then, all of a sudden, I go to a fourth level, I descend down, and this is where it gets just interesting, where it was kind of a reprieve. It was almost a chance, even in that hellish experience. It was almost a chance to repent at that stage. And in this fourth level, there were three African American ladies with the most beautiful, joyous countenances, the most beautiful, joyous faces, and they were comforting me. They’re saying, “You’re going to make it. You’re going to make it. You’re going to be OK.” And they started singing gospel music, like all about Jesus. They started singing over me and basically saying, “You’re going to be OK. You’re going to be OK.” But again, my heart was condemning me so much. I was like, “Why am I even deserving this reprieve, this peace?” My dad’s been a pastor for over 40 years. I knew the songs. I knew the language, but my heart was so far from God. I was a premed major. It was all about rational thinking, science, what you can see, what you can feel, and what you can touch. But I’m in this place where I’m seeing, feeling, and touching supernatural things. And I have no grid for it.

But Kyle says the experience was not over yet. And so, now I go down to the last level, where I’m descending down and into deeper and deeper darkness, deeper and deeper torment, deeper and deeper just total fear. Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of 2 of Kyle Hubbard’s near-death experience. (Imagine Heaven Podcast with John Burke)