ISRAEL berjaya MENGUJI peluru berpandu Arrow ruang pemintas . . .

FOTO ARKIB: Satu peluru berpandu pemintas Arrow II  (ARCHIVE PHOTO: An Arrow II missile interceptor (Reuters/Nir Elias – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

JohnnyAdam – Arrow III, satu komponen dinaik taraf perisai peluru berpandu Israel, telah berjaya diuji untuk kali yang ke-2, Kementerian Pertahanan di negara ini diumumkan. Satelit kamikaze dilancarkan oleh sistem mampu memintas peluru berpandu di angkasa.

Satu jarak jauh Arrow III pemintas dipecat dari Palmahim pangkalan udara, selatan Tel Aviv, pada pagi Jumaat. Ia meninggalkan atmosfera Bumi, yang dijalankan dalam ruang manuver dan setelah dipenuhi misinya jatuh ke Mediterranean. Ujian ini berlangsung 10 minit. Tiada peluru berpandu sebenar telah disasarkan.

“Pemintas Arrow III berjaya melancarkan dan terbang trajektori exo-atmosfera melalui angkasa,” kata Kementerian Pertahanan Israel dalam satu kenyataan, Reuters melaporkan.

Satelit kamikaze, dipecat oleh sistem Arrow III, juga telah dikenali sebagai “membunuh kenderaan.” Mereka mampu untuk mengenal pasti dan kimia jejak, kepala peledak biologi atau nuklear di atas atmosfera bumi. Yang pemintas maka ram ke dalam peluru berpandu dan memusnahkan maka pada ketinggian, di mana perpecahan itu adalah selamat.

Jenis peluru berpandu Arrow III boleh memintas digunakan oleh Iran dan Syria, dan diper-cayai yang akan diadakan oleh Hizbullah di Lubnan.

Yair Ramati, ketua Israel Peluru Berpandu Pertahanan Organisasi Kementerian Pertahanan, berkata bahawa negara ini memerlukan versi dinaik taraf bagi Arrow sebagai sebahagian daripada pertahanan peluru berpandu di sebuah rantau di mana “semua pihak bertambah baik.”

“Kami perlu berada satu langkah di hadapan,” beliau dipetik sebagai berkata oleh Jerusalem Post.

Ujian Jumaat adalah menurut Kementerian Pertahanan Israel dikunjungi oleh pegawai-pegawai Amerika Syarikat, sebagai Pentagon bersama-sama dengan Amerika Syarikat firma Boeing adalah rakan kongsi dalam projek yang dikendalikan oleh milik negara Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

Perbicaraan pertama kejayaan Arrow III telah diadakan pada bulan Februari 2013. Pemintas itu kemudiannya dihantar sehingga ketinggian 100 kilometer.

Arrow III dijangka beroperasi tidak lewat daripada 2016. Previous version sistem, Arrow II , yang telah dikerahkan untuk lebih satu dekad telah dilaporkan menjaringkan sekitar kadar kejayaan 90% peratus dalam ujian secara langsung.

Ketiga-tiga peringkat perisai peluru berpandu Israel terdiri daripada jarak jauh Panah sistem memintas, yang mid-range “David's Sling”, masih di bawah pembangunan, dan berjaya beroperasi jarak dekat “Iron Dome.”

ISRAEL Successfully tests Arrow Space 

Missile Interceptor . . .

Arrow III, an upgraded component of the Israeli missile shield, was successfully tested for the second time, the country’s Defense Ministry announced. The kamikaze satellites launched by the system are capable of intercepting missiles in space.

A long-range Arrow III interceptor was fired from Palmahim air base, south of Tel Aviv, on Friday morning. It left the Earth’s atmosphere, carried out maneuvers in space and having fulfilled its mission fell into the Mediterranean. The test lasted 10 minutes. No real missiles were targeted.

"The Arrow III interceptor successfully launched and flew an exo-atmospheric trajectory through space," Israel's Defense Ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The kamikaze satellites, fired by the Arrow III system, have been also known as "kill vehicles." They are able to identify and trail chemical, biological or nuclear warheads above the Earth's atmosphere. The interceptors then ram into the missiles and destroy then at an altitude, where the disintegration is safe.

The kind of missiles Arrow III can intercept are used by Iran and Syria, and are believed to be held by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Yair Ramati, head of the Defense Ministry's Israel Missile Defense Organization, says that the country needs the upgraded version of Arrow as part of its missile defense in a region where "all sides are improving.”

“We need to be one step ahead," he was cited as saying by The Jerusalem Post.

Friday’s test was according to Israeli Defense Ministry visited by US officials, as the Pentagon together with US firm Boeing are partners in the project run by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

The first successful trial of Arrow III was held in February 2013. The interceptor was then sent up an altitude of 100 kilometers.

Arrow III is expected to become operational not later than 2016. The system’s previous version, Arrow II, which has been deployed for more than a decade has reportedly scored around a 90 percent success rate in live trials.

The three-tier Israeli missile shield consists of the long-range Arrow intercepting system, the mid-range "David's Sling" , still under development, and the successfully operating short-range "Iron Dome."

READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/5va00s

JohnnyAdam – Ujian, yang dijalankan ke atas Mediterranean, adalah penerbangan yang ke-2 sistem peluru berpandu. Tetapi ia tidak memintas apa-apa sasaran. Israel dike-rahkan versi sebelumnya, yang dinamakan PANAH 2, lebih daripada satu dekad yang lalu.

Tel Aviv berkata ia telah menjaringkan kadar kejayaan hampir 90% peratus dalam ujian langsung. Pegawai Israel meramalkan bahawa Arrow 3 boleh ditugaskan pada tahun depan. Pentagon dan firma Amerika Syarikat Boeing adalah rakan kongsi dalam projek itu. Arrow adalah sebahagian jarak jauh dalam sistem peluru berpandu 3 lapisan Israel yang termasuk Iron Dome yang dipanggil dan Sling Daud.

Tel Aviv carries out “Successful” test of Arrow III missile system . . .

The test, carried out over the Mediterranean, was the second flight of the missile system. But it did not intercept any target. Israel deployed the previous version, named Arrow Two, more than a decade ago.

Tel Aviv says it has scored an almost 90-percent success rate in live trials. Israeli officials have predicted that Arrow Three could be deployed by next year. The Pentagon and US firm Boeing are partners in the project. Arrow is the long-range part in Israel's three-layer missile systems that include the so-called Iron Dome and David's Sling.

Penunjuk perasaan Kemboja dibunuh sebagai polis melumpuhkan perhimpunan pekerja pakaian ' (PHOTOS)

Penunjuk perasaan Kemboja bertembung dengan polis tentera (tidak kelihatan) dalam pakaian pekerja membantah untuk menuntut gaji yang lebih tinggi di hadapan sebuah kilang di Phnom Penh pada 3 Januari 2014. (AFP Photo – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

JohnnyAdam – Sekurang-kurangnya 3 orang terbunuh di ibu negara Kemboja, Phnom Penh, selepas pasukan keselamatan melepaskan tembakan ke atas pekerja pakaian rali untuk gaji yang lebih tinggi, menurut saksi kejadian.

2 pekerja hak asasi manusia, yang menyaksikan peristiwa-peristiwa, dilaporkan mangsa kepada Reuters. Mereka berkata pasukan keselamatan bersenjatakan senapang serangan dan pistol ditembak di penunjuk perasaan yang membaling batu, botol dan bom petrol di bandar di luar sebuah kilang.

Selepas menembak tembakan amaran ke udara, polis mula menembak penunjuk perasaan, jurugambar AFP di tempat kejadian yang dilaporkan.

Pasukan keselamatan Kemboja telah mengakui bahawa seorang telah mati dan beberapa yang cedera akibat tindakan keras, yang menurut agensi-agensi penguatkuasaan undang-undang, telah didorong oleh penunjuk perasaan yang cedera 9 pegawai dengan batu dan lastik.

“Kami takut mengenai keselamatan, jadi kami terpaksa mengambil tindakan keras ke atas mereka,” AFP melaporkan Kheng Tito sebagai berkata. “Jika kami membenarkan mereka untuk terus menyerang, ia akan menjadi anarki.” Aktivis hak asasi manusia telah dipanggil untuk berjaga 3 hari bagi memperingati mangsa-mangsa keganasan polis.

Dianggarkan kira-kira 350,000 pekerja di lebih daripada 500 kilang-kilang pakaian kini mogok di Kemboja, menuntut gaji minimum 2 kali ganda $ 160 sebulan. Kerajaan telah hanya menawarkan kenaikan gaji 20 % daripada $ 100 sebulan, dan menegaskan ia tidak akan berkompromi mana-mana lagi.

“Tidak akan ada lagi rundingan, kerana kementerian telah memutuskan untuk mening-katkan gaji minimum untuk $ 100 sebulan,” kata jurucakap Kementerian Buruh Heng Masam berkata, Wall Street Journal melaporkan.

Pada hari Khamis, tentera Kemboja bersenjatakan cota dan senapang telah dikerahkan di Phnom Penh untuk menyuraikan tunjuk perasaan. “Askar memukul semua orang. Mereka mempunyai kayu, cota elektrik, lastik dan batu,” kata aktivis hak buruh Chhorn Sokha Komuniti Perundangan Pendidikan Pusat, kepada Reuters, yang jurugambar di antara mereka dilanda cota.

Aktivis itu berkata sekurang-kurangnya 10 penunjuk perasaan ditahan. Terdapat juga laporan sami-sami Buddha yang dipukul.

Cambodian protesters killed as police crack down on garment workers' rally . . .

At least three people have been killed in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, after security forces opened fire on garment workers rallying for higher wages, according to eyewitnesses.

Two human rights workers, who witnessed the events, reported the casualties to Reuters. They said security forces armed with assault rifles and pistols shot at demonstrators who hurled rocks, bottles and petrol bombs outside a factory in the city.

After firing warning shots in the air, police began firing at the protesters, AFP’s photographer at the scene reported.

The Cambodian security forces have acknowledged that one person has died and several are wounded as a result of the crackdown, which, according to law enforcement agencies, was provoked by the demonstrators who injured nine officers with stones and slingshots.

"We were afraid about security, so we had to crack down on them," AFP reported Kheng Tito as saying. "If we allow them to continue the strike, it will become anarchy." Human rights activists have called for a three-day vigil in memory of the victims of the police violence. 

It’s estimated that around 350,000 workers of more than 500 garment factories are currently on strike in Cambodia, demanding the minimum wage be doubled to $160 a month. The government has only offered a 20% pay rise of $100 a month, and has insisted it will not compromise any further.

"There will be no more negotiation, as the ministry has already decided to increase minimum wages to $100 a month," Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said, The Wall Street Journal reported.

On Thursday, Cambodian troops armed with batons and rifles were deployed in Phnom Penh to break up the protest.  "Soldiers beat up everyone. They had sticks, electric batons, slingshots and stones," labor rights activist Chhorn Sokha, of the Community Legal Education Center, told Reuters, whose photographer was among those hit by batons.

The activist said at least 10 protesters were detained. There were also reports of Buddhist monks being beaten up.

Para pekerja membaling batu selepas pertempuran tercetus ketika protes di Phnom Penh 3 Jan 2014. (A worker throws a stone after clashes broke out during a protest in Phnom Penh January 3, 2014. (Reuters/Samrang Pring – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

Penyebaran ganas pekerja pakaian dengan bantuan tentera telah dikutuk oleh aktivis hak asasi. “Penggunaan [tentera] Unit Perintah Khas 911 untuk menyekat demonstrasi ber-hampiran kilang Yak Jin di daerah Pursenchey Phnom Penh pernah berlaku sebelum ini dan isyarat taktik baru membimbangkan oleh pihak berkuasa untuk membatalkan apa yang telah protes sebahagian aman,” kumpulan hak asasi manusia tempatan LICADHO adalah dipetik sebagai berkata oleh AP. “Sebahagian daripada mereka yang ditahan diper-cayai telah dipukul dengan teruk kerana mereka telah ditangkap.”

Pakaian dan kasut industri pengeluaran adalah perniagaan eksport terbesar Kemboja, setiap tahun pendapatan negara ini kira-kira $ 5 bilion. Amerika Syarikat dan Eropah peruncit telah tertarik kepada rantau ini dengan kos upah yang rendah, punca utama rasa tidak puas hati pekerja yang semakin meningkat. Tahun lepas menyaksikan 131 serangan berasingan di antara Januari dan November, meningkat daripada 121 untuk semua tahun 2012, menurut perangkaan persatuan pengeluar pakaian ini.

The violent dispersal of garment workers with the help of the army was condemned by rights activists. “The use of [military] Special Command Unit 911 to suppress demonstrations near Yak Jin factory in Phnom Penh's Pursenchey district is unprecedented and signals a disturbing new tactic by authorities to quash what have been largely peaceful protests,'' local human rights group LICADHO was cited as saying by AP. “Some of those held are believed to have been severely beaten as they were arrested.''

The garment and footwear production industry is Cambodia's biggest export business, annually earning the country around $5 billion. US and European retailers have been attracted to the region by the low wage costs, the major cause of the workers’ growing discontent. Last year saw 131 separate strikes in between January and November, up from 121 for all of 2012, according to the garment manufacturers' association’s figures.

Seorang pekerja membawa batang logam bertindak balas selepas pertempuran tercetus ketika protes di Phnom Penh 3 Januari 2014. (Reuters/Samrang Pring – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

Seorang pekerja pakaian cedera dibantu oleh rakan-rakannya selepas pertempuran tercetus ketika protes di Phnom Penh 3 Jan 2014. (Reuters/Samrang Pring – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/k498zc

Disahkan: 2013 dahsyat bagi IRAQ sejak tahun 2008, anggaran PBB . . .

Rakyat Iraq berkumpul di sekitar kereta yang terbakar di tempat kejadian letupan di daerah Islam Al-Amin Syiah Baghdad pada 8 Disember 2013. (AFP Photo – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

JohnnyAdam – Seramai 8,868 orang termasuk 7818 orang awam, telah terbunuh dalam serangan ganas di seluruh Iraq pada tahun 2013, Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu melaporkan - angka kematian tahunan tertinggi di negara yang dilanda perang dalam lima tahun.

Pada bulan Disember sahaja, sekurang-kurangnya 759 rakyat Iraq terbunuh dan 1,345 lagi cedera dalam serangan pengganas dan keganasan, laporan Misi PBB Bantuan untuk Iraq (UNIRAQ), yang memantau kesan keganasan bersenjata dan keganasan ke atas orang awam Iraq.

Mei adalah bulan yang paling ganas tahun 2013 , menurut statistik misi, dengan sejumlah 3,154 korban awam (termasuk polis awam), yang mana 963 orang terbunuh dan 2,191 cedera. Sejak April 2013, bilangan bulanan orang awam terbunuh dan cedera kekal di atas 1,700.

Menurut UNIRAQ, Baghdad merupakan kawasan yang paling teruk terjejas di Iraq pada tahun lepas untuk korban awam, dengan 809 (termasuk 254 dibunuh), diikuti oleh Nineva (331 mangsa), Salahadin (262 mangsa) dan Diyala (260 mangsa).

“Ini adalah satu rekod sedih dan dahsyat yang mengesahkan sekali lagi keperluan mendesak untuk pihak berkuasa Iraq bagi menangani akar keganasan untuk membendung bulatan neraka ini,” kata Wakil Khas Setiausaha Agung PBB untuk Iraq (SRSG), Nikolay Mladenov .

Beliau dikutuk “tahap keganasan berleluasa di Iraq” dan menggesa pemimpin Iraq “untuk mengambil langkah-langkah yang perlu untuk menghalang kumpulan pengganas untuk menjana ketegangan sektarian yang menyumbang kepada kelemahan struktur sosial masyarakat.”

Ketua misi juga baru-baru ini menyuarakan kebimbangan beliau mengenai keadaan di wilayah Anbar, di mana militan Islam menyerbu balai polis pada hari Rabu, merampas cache senjata dan membebaskan lebih 100 tahanan.

Serangan itu disebabkan oleh mendalam umbi ketegangan sektarian antara kumpulan Sunni Iraq dan kerajaan Syiah yang diterajui Perdana Menteri Nuri al-Maliki.

Maliki mengarahkan bala bantuan ke wilayah itu, tetapi menyatakan kesediaan kerajaan untuk mendengar penduduk Anbar untuk memenuhi keperluan mereka dalam ucapan mingguan di televisyen beliau. Beliau juga menyeru semua puak-puak Sunni “untuk datang bersama-sama” dan bekerjasama dengan pasukan keselamatan untuk memerangi militan “demi Anbar.”

Confirmed: 2013 deadliest for Iraq since 2008, 

UN estimates . . .

A total of 8,868 people, including 7,818 civilians, have been killed in violent attacks across Iraq in 2013, the United Nations reports – the highest annual death toll in the war-torn country in five years.

In December alone, at least 759 Iraqis were killed and another 1,345 wounded in terrorist attacks and violence, reports the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNIRAQ), which monitors the impact of armed violence and terrorism on Iraqi civilians.

May was the most violent month of 2013, according to the mission’s statistics, with a total of 3,154 civilian casualties (including civilian police), of whom 963 people were killed and 2,191 wounded. Since April 2013, the monthly number of civilians killed and injured remained above 1,700.

According to UNIRAQ, Baghdad was the worst affected area in Iraq last year for civilian casualties, with 809 (including 254 killed), followed by Nineva (331 casualties), Salahadin (262 casualties) and Diyala (260 casualties).

“This is a sad and terrible record which confirms once again the urgent need for the Iraqi authorities to address the roots of violence to curb this infernal circle,” said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Nikolay Mladenov.

He condemned “the level of indiscriminate violence in Iraq” and called on Iraqi leaders “to take the necessary steps to prevent terrorist groups to fuel the sectarian tensions which contribute to the weakening of the social fabric of society.”

The mission chief also recently expressed his concerns about the situation in Anbar province, where Islamist militants stormed police stations on Wednesday, seizing weapon caches and freeing over 100 prisoners.

The attacks were caused by deeply-rooted sectarian tensions between Iraqi Sunni groups and the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Maliki ordered reinforcements to the province, but expressed the government's readiness to listen to Anbar residents to address their needs in his weekly televised speech. He also called on all Sunni tribes “to come together” and to team up with security forces to fight the militants “for the sake of Anbar.”

Baghdad: Rakyat Iraq membawa keranda seorang saudara mereka, yang terbunuh hari sebelum dalam letupan bom yang disasarkan pasaran Shurt al-Raba, semasa pengebumian beliau di Baghdad (AFP Photo – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

UNIRAQ bukan satu-satunya organisasi yang dikira mangsa di negara ini. Iraq Badan Count projek (IBC), satu usaha yang berasaskan web untuk merekodkan kematian orang awam di Iraq, baru-baru ini telah mengeluarkan laporan sendiri. Menurut IBC, hampir 9,500 orang awam terbunuh dalam keganasan di Iraq pada tahun 2013.

“Al-Qaeda di Iraq telah mendapat tempat yang mekar dan telah menyerang kerajaan Iraq . . . dengan membunuh anggota tenteranya, pasukan polis itu, ahli-ahli politik dan wartawan, dan juga penduduk Syiah itu. Malah, 6 bulan lepas telah melihat pembunuhan beramai-ramai seluruh keluarga, kerana mereka tidur, atau pergi ke tempat yang suci, kadang-kadang 5, kadang-kadang 12 orang ahli keluarga pada satu masa . . . Kesusahan kini seluas dan sedalam parit,” yang IBC laporan .

Digelar oleh RT “tahun pembunuhan beramai-ramai”, Iraq memang melihat masa dahsyat sejak 2008. Selepas tempoh yang paling berdarah 2006-07, ketegangan seolah-olah meringankan sedikit hasil daripada “lonjakan” strategi tentera Amerika Syarikat. Walau bagaimanapun, selepas tentera Amerika Syarikat meninggalkan Iraq pada tahun 2011 dibiarkan untuk datang kepada terma dengan hampir satu dekad perang. Ia menjadi jelas bahawa rekahan antara etnik yang dalam yang hampir mengoyakkan negara ini selain telah semata-mata berbalut, tetapi tidak diperbaiki.

Hampir hari berlalu di Iraq tanpa puluhan terbunuh atau cedera dalam banyak letupan di luar sekolah, masjid atau pasar sesak, sebagai pengganas dan kumpulan mazhab mem-bunuh sewenang-wenangnya, termasuk wanita dan kanak-kanak, orang kurang upaya - dan juga jemaah yang datang untuk menyembah Allah. Hampir setiap hari, orang yang ber-kabung berdiri berhampiran keranda terbungkus dalam selubung semasa pengebumian mangsa terbunuh dalam keganasan semua ini - terlalu biasa jadinya.

UNIRAQ is not the only organization that counts casualties in the country. The Iraq Body Count (IBC) project, a web-based effort to record civilian deaths in Iraq, has recently released its own report. According to IBC, nearly 9,500 civilians died in violence in Iraq in 2013.

“Al-Qaeda in Iraq has found fertile ground and has attacked the Iraqi government … by killing members of its army, its police force, its politicians and journalists, as well as its Shia population. Indeed, the last six months have seen the massacres of entire families, as they sleep, or travel to a holy place, sometimes 5, sometimes 12 family members at a time… The faults are now as wide and as deep as trenches,” the IBC reports.

Dubbed by RT “the year of carnage”, Iraq indeed saw its deadliest time since 2008. After the bloodiest period of 2006-07, the tensions seemed to ease a little a result of the US military’s “surge” strategy. However, after US troops left in 2011 Iraqis were left to come to terms with nearly a decade of war. It soon became clear that the deep inter-ethnic fissures that almost tore the country apart were merely bandaged, but not remedied.

Hardly a day goes by in Iraq without dozens killed or injured in numerous blasts outside schools, mosques or crowded markets, as the terrorists and sectarian gangs kill indiscriminately, including women and children, the disabled – and even pilgrims who come to worship Allah. Almost every day, mourners stand near coffins draped in shrouds during the funerals of victims killed in this all-too regular violence.

READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/qma6d7

Kapal pengangkut pesawat pertama China MELENGKAPKAN Manoevres di Laut China Selatan . . .

JohnnyAdam – Kapal pengangkut pesawat pertama China, 66,000 tan Liaoning, berjaya menamatkan siri ujian di Laut China Selatan kawasan yang dipertikaikan, lapor media. Latih tubi telah dijalankan di luar pantai Pulau Hainan dan menandakan kali pertama negara telah menghantar pembawa ke Laut China Selatan, dan kali pertama seseorang telah maneuvered dengan sekumpulan serangan kapal2 pengiring.

Televisyen negara China mendedahkan bahawa Liaoning yang diapit oleh 2 kapal pemusnah, dua kapal frigat, kapal terbang dan kapal selam semasa latihan. Ini ujian awam terbaru datang sebagai China terus menggunakan kekerasan tentera laut yang semakin meningkat untuk menyokong tuntutan mereka di kawasan yang kaya dengan gas dan minyak di Laut China Selatan.

Berkembang belanjawan ketenteraan di negara ini juga telah menimbulkan kebimbangan pertempuran dengan negara-negara lain di rantau ini, termasuk Filipina dan Vietnam. Tentera Laut Amerika Syarikat telah berkata bahawa USS Cowpens sempit dielakkan berlanggar dengan sebuah kapal perang Cina mengiringi Liaoning semasa beroperasi di perairan antarabangsa pada 5 Disember. China telah mendakwa bahawa Cowpens telah “memberi AMARAN" operasi dan “sengaja” meletakkan pesawat di bawah pengawasan.

China's first aircraft carrier completes manoevres 

in South China Sea . . .

China's first aircraft carrier, the 66,000 tonne Liaoning, successfully completed a series of tests in the disputed South China Sea region, state media reported. The drills were carried out off the coast of Hainan Island and marked the first time the country has sent a carrier into the South China Sea, and the first time one has manoeuvred with a strike group of escort ships.

China state television revealed that the Liaoning was flanked by two destroyers, two frigates, aircraft and submarines during the drills. This latest public test comes as China continues to use its growing naval force to back their claim of rich areas of gas and oil in the South China Sea.

Growing military budgets in the country have also raised fears of clashes with other countries in the region, including the Philippines and Vietnam. The US Navy has said that the USS Cowpens narrowly avoided colliding with a Chinese warship escorting the Liaoning while operating in international waters on December 5.

China has claimed that the Cowpens was "warned" of the operations and is "intentionally" putting the aircraft carrier under surveillance. Report by Laurie Blake.

Beberapa terbunuh dalam serangan bom kereta di Beirut (Laporan)

JohnnyAdam – Bom kereta yang kuat meletup menggegarkan bahagian selatan ibu kota Lebanon, membunuh beberapa orang dan mencederakan berpuluh-puluh lagi. Menteri kesihatan Lubnan berkata serangan itu hanya disasarkan pada rakyat biasa.

Several killed in car bomb attack in Beirut (Report)

A powerful car bomb explosion has rocked the southern part of the Lebanese capital city, killing several people and injuring dozens more. Lebanon's health minister said the attack only targeted ordinary citizens, and not any officials.

Sekurang-kurangnya 5 yang terbunuh sebagaimana LETUPAN BESAR-besaran mengoncang selatan BEIRUT . . .

Api dan asap dilihat di tapak letupan di Beirut selatan pinggir bandar 2 Januari 2014 . (Fire and smoke is seen at the site of an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs January 2, 2014. (Reuters/Jamal Sahili – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

JohnnyAdam – Sekurang-kurangnya 5 orang terbunuh dan berpuluh-puluh cedera dalam satu letupan yang kuat, yang menggegarkan pinggir bandar yang di selatan Beirut yang menempatkan kubu kuat kumpulan Syiah Hizbullah. Menurut Menteri Kesihatan Lubnan Ali Hassan Khalil, 5 orang terbunuh dan 66 cedera dalam letupan semalam.

Letupan besar telah disebabkan oleh bom kereta, sumber keselamatan kepada Reuters. Futej dari tempat letupan itu menunjukkan mayat dipintal dan dibakar beberapa kereta, dengan anggota bomba dousing mereka dengan hos. Beberapa blok yang berhampiran rumah pangsa juga mempunyai bahagian-bahagian facades tercabut oleh letupan itu.

Letupan yang disasarkan daerah komersial sibuk Beirut, menyebabkan ramai orang untuk melarikan diri kawasan dalam keadaan panik kerana takut letupan selanjutnya. Daerah ini juga dikenali untuk menempatkan pejabat-pejabat Hizbullah dan studio televisyen, Al - Manar, yang hanya 200 meter dari letupan itu.

At least 5 killed as massive explosion shakes 

southern Beirut . . .

At least five people were killed and dozens injured in a powerful explosion, which shook a suburb in south Beirut housing a stronghold of the Shiite group Hezbollah. According to Lebanese Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, five people were killed and 66 were wounded in Thursday’s blast.

The large explosion was caused by a car bomb, a security source told Reuters. Footage from the scene of the explosion showed twisted and burnt remains of several cars, with firemen dousing them with hoses. Some of the nearby blocks of flats also had parts of the facades torn off by the blast.

The blast targeted Beirut’s busy commercial district, causing many people to flee the area in panic for fear of further explosions. The district is also known for housing the offices of Hezbollah and its television studios, Al-Manar, which are just 200 meters away from the blast.

Reuters/Hasan Shaaban (think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

Satu kenyataan yang diedarkan oleh Hezbollah berkata tiada ahli politik Syiah atau Ahli Parlimen cedera dalam letupan itu. Televisyen Al-Manar Hizbullah disiarkan rakaman selepas letupan itu, yang disifatkan sebagaimana “letupan pengganas” tetapi mengatakan bahawa biro politik kumpulan itu tidak dianggap sasaran.

Letupan, yang disebabkan oleh bom kereta, pergi di jalan yang sesak, kata Adnan Ghalmoush, seorang wartawan Al Arabiya di Beirut. Pasukan keselamatan melepaskan tembakan ke udara untuk menjaga orang-orang dari tempat kejadian letupan itu, katanya. Bom itu diletakkan di dalam kenderaan memandu pacuan 4 roda, menurut Al-Manar stesen TV satelit.

A statement distributed by Hezbollah said no Shiite politicians or MPs were injured in the blast. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television aired footage of the aftermath of the blast, calling it a “terrorist explosion” but saying that the group’s political bureau was not thought to have been the target.

The explosion, caused by a car bomb, went off in a crowded street, said Adnan Ghalmoush, an Al Arabiya correspondent in Beirut. Security forces opened fire into the air to keep people away from the scene of the blast, he said. The bomb was placed in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, according to Al-Manar satellite TV station.

Reuters/Hasan Shaaban (think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

Pasukan keselamatan di Beirut baru-baru ini dimatikan beberapa bom kereta di kawasan itu tetapi tidak membuat ini kepada orang ramai supaya tidak menyebarkan ketakutan di kalangan penduduk, kata Ghalmoush.

Lubnan agensi berita Nasional melaporkan bahawa Pihak Berkuasa Kebangsaan Pengu-rusan Bencana telah memanggil mesyuarat tergempar di Beirut Grand Serail, Pejabat Perdana Menteri, akibat pengeboman.

Security forces in Beirut have recently defused several car bombs in the area but did not make this known to the public so as not to spread fear among residents, Ghalmoush said.

The Lebanon National news agency is reporting that the National Authority for Disaster Management has called an emergency meeting in Beirut’s Grand Serail, the prime minister’s office, as a result of the bombing.

Omar Kurdi @OmarKurdi20 Photo from bomb site now #Dahiyeh #Lebanon #Reuters “@ASE: Photo of bomb blast in #HaretHreik #Beirut pic.twitter.com/hM1ZOLgIsS” (think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

Ibu kota Lubnan telah dilanda satu siri bom di bulan kebelakangan ini. Letupan Khamis datang hanya beberapa hari selepas letupan yang mengorbankan Mohammed Shattah, seorang menteri kerajaan dan seorang pengkritik Hezbollah, bersama-sama dengan 6 orang lain.

Sumber memberitahu berita laman web berasaskan Lebanon SEKARANG, kediaman Timbalan Ketua Hizbullah Naim Qassem adalah berhampiran tapak letupan.

The Lebanese capital has been hit by a series of bombs in recent months. Thursday’s blast comes just days after an explosion that killed Mohammed Shattah, a government minister and a vocal critic of Hezbollah, along with six others.

Sources have told the NOW Lebanon-based news website that, Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem’s residence was near the site of the explosion.

Ahli bomba A memadamkan kebakaran pada kereta di tapak letupan di selatan pinggir bandar Beirut 2 Januari 2014 (A firefighter extinguishes a fire on a car at the site of an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs January 2, 2014. (Reuters/Hasan Shaaban  – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

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85yhn lelaki Palestin mati selepas ‘Gas pemedih mata kanister ISRAEL mendarat di RUMAHnya' . . .

Penyokong Palestin dengan pemimpin Palestin Fatah memgibar bendera parti Mahmud Abbas 'semasa perhim-punan menandakan ulang tahun ke-49 pergerakan itu pada 2 Januari 2014 di bandar Nablus, Tebing Barat. (AFP Photo/Jaafar Ashtiyeh – think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)

JohnnyAdam – Seorang lelaki Palestin berusia 85 tahun mati selepas terhidu gas pemedih mata yang digunakan oleh tentera Israel semasa pertempuran mereka dengan belia Palestin, yang menyambut ulang tahun Fatah, saksi kepada Reuters. Saeed Jaser Ali mati pada hari Khamis di hospital, di mana beliau telah diambil selepas bejana gas Israel mendarat sehari lebih awal di rumahnya di Kampung Kufur Qaddoum berhampiran Nablus di utara Tebing Barat.

Para saksi berkata adalah salah satu daripada berpuluh-puluh knister gas pemedih mata ditembak oleh tentera Israel, selepas sambutan ulang tahun ke-49 daripada Fatah, parti Presiden Palestin Mahmoud Abbas, menyebabkan pertembungan dengan pihak polis. Per-tembungan itu disahkan oleh seorang jurucakap tentera Israel. “Malam tadi, satu rusuhan ganas berlaku di Kampung Qaddoum di mana penduduk Palestin membaling batu pada pasukan keselamatan, yang bertindak balas dengan cara rusuhan penyebaran,” katanya kepada Reuters.

Lelaki berusia 85 tahun itu,  Saeed Jaser Ali, dengan itu telah menjadi mangsa pertama dalam konflik dengan Israel pada 2014. Tahun lepas menyaksikan peningkatan dramatik dalam mangsa Palestin di Tebing Barat, menurut kumpulan hak asasi manusia Israel, B'tselem.

“3 kali lebih banyak orang terbunuh di Tebing Barat pada tahun 2013 sebagai tahun 2012,” membaca laporan kumpulan itu yang dikeluarkan 30 Disember 2013. “Menurut data bagi tahun yang lalu, pasukan keselamatan Israel membunuh 27 rakyat Palestin di Tebing Barat dalam 21 insiden berasingan dan sembilan rakyat Palestin di Semenanjung Gaza dalam 7 kejadian.”

Menurut B'tselem, rakyat Palestin dibunuh 3 orang awam Israel dan 3 anggota tentera Israel pada tahun 2013. Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat John Kerry tiba di rantau itu hari ini untuk lawatan 4 hari, di mana beliau akan cuba memajukan keamanan US- ditaja bercakap Israel dan Palestin disambung semula pada bulan Julai, berikut terhenti selama 3 tahun.

Lawatan itu adalah 2 hari selepas Israel membebaskan ketiga daripada 4 kumpulan 104 tahanan Palestin yang telah lama menjalankan hukuman ditetapkan untuk siaran di bawah perjanjian melanda pada musim panas lalu. Bagaimanapun adalah dijangka bahawa langkah itu akan kemudian diikuti dengan pengumuman penempatan baru yang didirikan yang diduduki Tebing Barat.

Pihak berkuasa Palestin telah memberi amaran kepada mereka akan bertindak balas terhadap pengumuman oleh mencari keahlian dalam pelbagai organisasi antarabangsa, termasuk Mahkamah Jenayah Antarabangsa, di mana mereka akan memanggil pendak-waan Israel kerana jenayah perang dan pelanggaran undang-undang antarabangsa.

85yo Palestinian man dies after ‘Israeli teargas canister landed in his home’ . . .

An 85-year-old Palestinian man died after inhaling teargas used by Israeli forces during their clashes with Palestinian youths, who were celebrating the anniversary of Fatah, eyewitnesses told Reuters. Saeed Jaser Ali died on Thursday in hospital, where he was taken after an Israeli gas canister landed a day earlier in his house in the village of Kufr Qaddoum near Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Eyewitnesses said that was one of dozens of teargas canisters fired by Israeli soldiers, after a celebration of the 49th anniversary of Fatah, the party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, resulted in a clash with police. The clash was confirmed by an Israeli military spokeswoman. "Last night, a violent riot took place in the village of Qaddoum in which Palestinian residents hurled rocks at security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means," she told Reuters.

The 85-year-old man, Saeed Jaser Ali, thus became the first casualty in the conflict with Israel in 2014. Last year saw a dramatic increase in Palestinian casualties in the West Bank, according to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

“Three times as many people were killed in the West Bank in 2013 as in 2012,” reads the group’s report issued December 30, 2013. “According to the data for the past year, Israeli security forces killed 27 Palestinians in the West Bank in 21 separate incidents and nine Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in seven incidents.”

According to B’Tselem, Palestinians killed three Israeli civilians and three Israeli soldiers in 2013. US Secretary of State John Kerry is arriving in the region Thursday for a four-day visit, during which he will try and advance the US-brokered peace talks the Israelis and the Palestinians resumed in July, following a three-year hiatus.

The visit comes two days after Israel freed the third of four groups of 104 long-serving Palestinian prisoners set for release under agreement struck last summer. It is however expected that the move will later be followed by the announcement of new settlements being constructed in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian authorities have already warned they would react to the announcement by seeking membership in various international organizations, including the International Criminal Court, where they would call for Israel’s prosecution for war crimes and violations of international law.

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