TOP NEWS PICK

Category: Uncategorized

  • Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people onboard crashes in Kazakhstan leaving 32 survivors

    The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec 25, 2024. AP

    An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people onboard crashed Wednesday near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, leaving at least 32 survivors, according to officials. More than 30 people may be dead.

    The plane was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus.

    Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry said in a Telegram statement that those on board included five crew. A total of 29 survivors, including two children, have been hospitalized, the ministry told Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti.

    Another Russian news agency, Interfax quoted medical workers as saying that four bodies have been recovered and emergency workers at the scene as saying that both pilots, according to a preliminary assessment, died in the crash.

    The Embraer 190 aircraft made an emergency landing 3 km from the city, Azerbaijan Airlines said earlier.

    Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry initially said 25 people survived the crash, later revising that number to 27, 28, and then 29 as the search and rescue operation continued at the site of the crash, bringing the supposed death toll down.

    The Prosecutor General’s Office in Azerbaijan later reported that at least 32 people survived the crash, adding that the number wasn’t final. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that some of them were in critical condition.

    The number of survivors could mean that over 30 people may be dead.

    According to Kazakhstani officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhstani and three Kyrgyzstani citizens, it said.

    RIA Novosti quoted Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, as saying that preliminary information showed that the pilot had chosen to divert to Kazakhstan’s Aktau after a bird strike on the aircraft led to “an emergency situation on board”.

    Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft, lying upside in the grass. The footage corresponded to the plane’s colors and its registration number.

    Some of the videos posted on social media showed survivors dragging fellow passengers away from the wreckage of the plane.

    Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed the aircraft making what appeared to be a figure-right once nearing the airport in Aktau, its altitude moving up and down substantially over the last minutes of the flight before impacting the ground.

    FlightRadar24 separately said in an online post that the aircraft had faced “strong GPS jamming” which “ made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data”, referring to the information that allows flight-tracking websites to follow planes in flight. Russia has been blamed in the past for jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region.

    In a statement, Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep members of the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black.

    Azerbaijan’s state news agency, Azertac, said that an official delegation consisting of Azerbaijan’s emergency situations minister, the country’s deputy general prosecutor, and the vice president of Azerbaijan Airlines had been dispatched to Aktau to conduct an “on-site investigation”.

    Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who had been traveling to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan on hearing news of the crash, the president’s press service said. Aliyev was due to attend an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet countries founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St. Petersburg.

    Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement on social media. “It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” he wrote.

    He also signed a decree declaring Dec. 26 a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Aliyev on the phone and expressed his condolences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

    Speaking at the CIS meeting in St. Petersburg, Putin also said that Russia’s Emergency Ministry sent a plane with equipment and medical workers to Kazakhstan to assist with the aftermath of the crash.

    Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating the crash. Embraer told The Associated Press in a statement that the company is “ready to assist all relevant authorities.”

    AP

  • Amnesty urges war crimes probe over Israel levelling east Gaza

    PARIS — Amnesty International Thursday urged a war crimes probe into Israel razing homes and farms in eastern Gaza to expand a so-called buffer zone between it and the Palestinian territory.

    “Using bulldozers and manually laid explosives, the Israeli military has unlawfully destroyed agricultural land and civilian buildings, razing entire neighborhoods, including homes, schools and mosques,” it said.

    The London-based rights group said the levelling since the start of the war on October 7 “should be investigated as war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment.”

    Israel has in several cases said it was destroying “terror” infrastructure to protect Israeli communities living on the other side of the fence. It did not reply to a request from Amnesty for comment.

    An Amnesty investigation, which examined satellite imagery and videos posted by Israeli soldiers between October and May, showed “newly cleared land along Gaza’s eastern boundary, ranging from approximately 1 to 1.8 km (0.6 to 1.1 miles) wide,” the group said.

    The expanded buffer zone covers around 58 square kilometers (22 square miles), or about 16 percent of the Gaza Strip, it said.

    More than 90 percent of buildings within that zone appeared to have been destroyed or severely damaged, it said.

    More than half of the agricultural land in the area showed “a decline in health and intensity of crops due to the ongoing conflict,” it added.

    “Our analysis reveals a pattern along the eastern perimeter of Gaza that is consistent with the systematic destruction of the entire area,” said Amnesty’s Erika Guevara-Rosas.

    “The homes were not destroyed as the result of intense fighting. Rather, the Israeli military deliberately razed the land after they had taken control of the area,” she added.

    “Israeli measures to protect Israelis from attacks from Gaza must be carried out in conformity with its obligations under international law including the prohibition of wanton destruction and of collective punishment.”

    Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians and including hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

    Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

    Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed more than 40,800 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

    AN-AFP

  • Meta says Malaysian PM Anwar’s posts on Haniyeh assassination were removed in error

    KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab apologised on Tuesday for erroneously removing Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s social media posts in which he expressed condolences to a Hamas official about the assassination of the group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh.

    Meta was sorry for “an operational error”, adding that the content had been restored with “the correct newsworthy label,” a Meta spokesperson told Reuters.

    The U.S. social media giant designates Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that governs Gaza, as a “dangerous organisation” and bans content praising the group. It uses a mix of automated detection and human review to remove or label graphic visuals.

    Anwar posted on Facebook and Instagram on July 31 a video recording of his phone call with a Hamas official to offer condolences over Haniyeh’s death. He also posted a picture from his last meeting with Haniyeh in Qatar in May, along with a condolence message.

    It was the second run-in Meta has had with the Malaysian government, which called the takedown of the posts unjust, discriminatory and a suppression of free speech. Malaysia’s communications minister and members of the Prime Minister’s Office met Meta representatives on Monday to seek an explanation.

    In a similar incident in May, Meta restored Facebook posts by Anwar over his meeting with Haniyeh, saying they were taken down in error.

    Muslim-majority Malaysia, a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, has warned that firm action could be taken against Meta and other social media companies if they blocked pro-Palestinian content on their platforms.

  • Slain Hamas chief Haniyeh to be buried in Qatar

    Iran held funeral processions with calls for revenge after the killing in Tehran of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a strike blamed on Israel. (File/AFP)

    DOHA — Qatar on Friday is due to hold funeral ceremonies for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after his killing in Tehran, an attack blamed on Israel that has deepened fears of a regional escalation.

    Haniyeh, the Palestinian armed group’s political chief, had resided in Doha along with other members of the Hamas political office.

    He will be buried at a cemetery in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital, following funeral prayers at the Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab mosque, the gas-rich emirate’s largest.

    His killing sparked calls for revenge and is among several incidents that have inflamed regional tensions during the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas which has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

    Hamas has said that “Arab and Islamic leaders” as well as representatives of other Palestinian factions and members of the public would attend the events.

    Haniyeh and a bodyguard were killed in the pre-dawn attack on their accommodation in Tehran early on Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.

    He had traveled to Iran to attend Tuesday’s swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

    Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran and others of the attack, has not directly commented on it.

    The Hamas leader’s assassination came just hours after Israel struck a southern suburb of Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, the military commander of Hamas-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

    In Tehran on Thursday, crowds of mourners paid their respects during a public funeral ceremony for Haniyeh.

    Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the prayers, having earlier threatened “harsh punishment” for his killing.

    Days of mourning

    Turkiye and Pakistan announced a day of mourning on Friday in honor of Haniyeh, while Hamas has called for a “day of furious rage” to coincide with the burial.

    The Palestinian group encouraged “roaring anger marches… from every mosque” following Friday prayers to protest Haniyeh’s killing as well as the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its October 7 attack on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza.

    That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

    Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

    Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.

    Hamas base

    Haniyeh’s coffin arrived in Doha on Thursday afternoon, Qatar-based network Al Jazeera reported, broadcasting images of a convoy including internal security force vehicles traveling down Doha’s shore-hugging corniche road.

    Qatar has hosted Hamas’s political bureau with the blessing of the United States since 2012 following the Palestinian militant group’s closure of its office in Damascus.

    Haniyeh had played a key role in talks for a potential truce in Gaza, liaising with mediators Qatar, which has led months of behind-the-scenes negotiations alongside Egypt and the United States.

    US President Joe Biden said late on Thursday that he was “very concerned” about rising tensions in the region and added that the killing of Haniyeh had “not helped” the situation.

    The White House said Biden spoke with Netanyahu by telephone on Thursday, promising to defend Israel’s security “against all threats from Iran.”

    “We have the basis for a ceasefire. He should move on it and they should move on it now,” Biden told reporters after the call.

    Reacting to Haniyeh’s death, Qatar’s prime minister said the killing had thrown the Gaza war mediation process into doubt.

    “How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on social media site X.

    The international community called for calm and a focus on securing a ceasefire in Gaza — which Haniyeh had accused Israel of obstructing.

    Israel warned its adversaries on Thursday that they would “pay a very high price” for any “aggression.”

    “Israel is at a very high level of preparation for any scenario, both defensive and offensive,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

    “Those who attack us, we will attack in return.”

    AN – AFP

  • Pendudukan Israel melakukan empat pembunuhan beramai-ramai di Gaza dalam tempoh 24 jam lal

    GAZA — Tentera pendudukan Israel melakukan empat pembunuhan beramai-ramai terhadap keluarga di Semenanjung Gaza sejak 24 jam lalu, mengakibatkan 34 orang awam terbunuh dan 71 lagi cedera, menurut sumber perubatan.

    Jumlah orang yang terbunuh sejak permulaan pencerobohan Israel di Semenanjung Gaza pada 7 Oktober 2023, telah meningkat kepada 37,266 orang. Kira-kira 85,102 yang lain, majoritinya kanak-kanak dan wanita, cedera.

    Beribu-ribu mangsa masih terperangkap di bawah runtuhan atau berselerak di jalan-jalan, kerana ambulans dan pasukan pertahanan awam menghadapi kesukaran untuk mencapai mereka akibat serangan Israel berterusan, jumlah serpihan yang besar dan kekurangan bahan api dan peralatan berat.

    WAFA

  • Several civilians killed and injured in Israeli shelling of different areas in war-torn Gaza

    GAZA — Several civilians, mostly children and women, were killed and others sustained various injuries in the Israeli bombardment of different areas of the war-torn Gaza Strip.

    According to medical sources, several civilians were killed and others were injured in an Israeli air raid targeting a civilian house in the Gaza City neighborhood of Zeitoun.

    Several more civilians were killed and others were injured in an Israeli shelling of an apartment in a residential tower in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Strip.

    The Israeli occupation’s ground, sea and air offensive on the besieged enclave since October 7, 2023, resulted in the killing of more than 37,202 civilians, and the wounding of 84,932 others.

    Thousands of victims remain missing; either buried under the rubble or scattered on the roads, as rescue teams face tremendous difficulties in reaching them due to the continued Israeli attacks and the massive amount of debris.

    WAFA