CAIRO — The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said six staffers were killed in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, marking what it said was the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident.

REUTERS

MANILA — The Philippines is the deadliest country in Asia for environment defenders, the latest Global Witness report shows, with the country recording the most environmental killings in the region for over a decade.

At least 196 environmentalists and land activists were killed globally in 2023, according to UK advocacy group’s estimates released earlier this week.

The figure brings the total number of people killed for trying to protect their homes, community or the planet to 2,106 since 2012, when Global Witness started its monitoring.

Colombia was the deadliest country for environmentalists and land rights defenders in 2023, the Philippines was fourth.

“Colombia had record-high defender killings in 2023 with 79 deaths: the highest annual total ever recorded by Global Witness Followed by Brazil (25), Mexico (18) and Honduras (18) and the Philippines (17),” the report read.

At the same time, the Philippines was the third — preceded only by Colombia and Brazil — in the total number of such killings since the first Global Witness report, with 298 environmental and land activists killed between 2012 and 2023.

The report also highlighted “cases of enforced disappearances and abductions, pointed tactics used in both the Philippines and Mexico in particular, as well as the wider use of criminalisation as a tactic to silence activists across the world.”

Besides the Philippines, only two other Asian countries are featured in this year’s report: India, where five activists were killed, and Indonesia, where three such killings were recorded.

Jashaf Shamir Lorenzo, environmentalists and head of research at BAN Toxics Philippines, told Arab News that environmentalists were oppressed in a number of ways.

“The most extreme cases include red-tagging, abduction, and even killings … It seems that environmentalists who are most at risk are those who get in the way of big industries, big politicians. It doesn’t really differ much from what we see happening to journalists, human rights defenders, and activists,” he said.

“We need the government to really take action — environmental concerns have always been a big part of political platforms for decades, but major incidences of abuse point towards a lack of commitment to not only protect the environment, but to protect its stewards.”

He said impunity of the abusers has been aided by government inaction since the times of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who was in office from 2016 to 2022.

“Ever since Duterte, the government has been really lenient with these things,” he said.

“Unless the government really commits to protecting the environment, these abuses will only worsen.”

AN

GAZA — The Israeli occupation army committed four massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, resulting in the killing of 64 civilians and the injury of 104 others, according to medical sources.

The number of people killed since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7th, 2023, has surged to 41084, the majority of whom are children and women. Some 95029 others have been wounded.

Thousands of victims are still trapped under the rubble or scattered on the roads, as ambulance and civil defense teams are facing difficulties in reaching them due to the continued Israeli attacks, the massive amount of debris and the shortage of fuel and heavy equipment.

Casualty data in Gaza are incomplete due to the intensive Israeli aggression, the repeated and complete interruption of communication and internet services, lack of fuel and devastated infrastructure, which render it difficult to document figures.

WAFA, Sep 11, 2024, 05:22 PM

GAZA — Four Palestinians were killed and 15 others were injured on Wednesday as a result of the Israeli occupation bombing of a house in Rafah city.

Local sources reported that the occupation aircraft bombed a house owned by Abu Shalouf family in Mawasi area of ​​Rafah, which led to the killing of four citizens and the injury of 15 others.

Israeli occupation artillery shelling was renewed in the vicinity of Dawla intersection, south of the Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, in conjunction with Israeli firing of smoke and sound shells towards the southeastern areas of the neighborhood.

The occupation drones also opened fire in Sabra neighborhood, and Al-Musalaba and Hassan Al-Banna areas in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City.

Since the start of the aggression on October 7, 2023, 41,020 Palestinians have been killed, most of them children and women, and 94,925 others have been injured. Rescue teams are still facing great difficulties in reaching thousands of victims who are still under the rubble or on the streets.

WAFA

ISLAMABAD — A polio worker and a policeman were killed in firing by unknown gunmen in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, according to police officials on Wednesday.

Unknown miscreants riding on a motorcycle opened fire at a polio vaccination team in Salarzai area of Bajaur district of the province, said the police in the area.

The attackers fled the scene after carrying out the attack, and a search operation is underway to arrest the culprits, said the police, adding that polio vaccination has been halted in the area after the incident.

Earlier on Monday, a week-long polio vaccination campaign was launched in the district to administer vaccination drops to children aged up to five years.

This is the second attack on an anti-polio team in KP province this week. Earlier on Tuesday, a bomb blast hit a vehicle carrying polio workers and policemen in South Waziristan district, leaving at least six people injured, according to police officials.

According to government officials, Pakistan is one of the only two polio-endemic countries in the world along with its neighbor Afghanistan. The country has reported 17 polio cases so far this year.

XINHUA

KUALA LUMPUR — Rakyat Malaysia yang ingin melancong ke Ha Long dan Sa Pa dinasihatkan menangguhkan rancangan perjalanan buat masa ini berikutan kesan Taufan Yagi di Vietnam Utara, menurut Kedutaan Besar Malaysia di Hanoi, Vietnam.

Menurut amaran cuaca yang dimuat naik di laman Facebook kedutaan pada Selasa, rakyat Malaysia yang tinggal, bekerja atau terpaksa melakukan perjalanan ke kawasan yang terjejas dinasihatkan untuk memantau berita tempatan dengan teliti dalam beberapa hari akan datang.

“Lakukan e-daftar dengan Misi kami di https://ekonsular.kln.gov.my/login dan ambil semua langkah berjaga-jaga yang diperlukan, ikuti nasihat dan patuhi cadangan/arahan daripada pihak berkuasa tempatan yang berkenaan,” menurut kenyataan itu.

Rakyat Malaysia yang memerlukan bantuan konsular segera, boleh menghubungi Pegawai Bertugas di +849-0418 5610 atau e-mel di mwhanoi@kln.gov.my.

Menurut kedutaan, hujan lebat akibat Taufan Yagi menyebabkan banjir dan tanah runtuh teruk di Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Thai Nguyen dan Cao Bang.

Pihak berkuasa tempatan mengeluarkan amaran dengan hujan yang masih berterusan dan paras air yang semakin meningkat, terdapat kemungkinan berlakunya banjir meluas di kawasan utara, termasuk kawasan sekitar Hanoi.

Amaran banjir di Hanoi akibat paras air Sungai Merah yang meningkat ke sekurang-kurangnya Tahap Amaran 1 dikeluarkan untuk kawasan berikut: pantai Phuc Tan (Ward Phuc Tan, Daerah Hoan Kiem, Hanoi), pantai Phuc Xa (Ward Phuc Xa, Daerah Ba Dinh, Hanoi), Tu Lien, Quang Ba, Phu Thuong (Daerah Tay Ho), menurut kedutaan.

Menurut laporan Agensi Berita Vietnam (VNA) pada Selasa, Perdana Menteri Pham Minh Chinh mengarahkan kementerian, agensi dan pihak berkuasa tempatan untuk bekerja sepanjang masa dalam menghadapi situasi kecemasan susulan banjir yang kompleks di bandar dan wilayah utara berikutan Taufan Yagi.

Dalam ucapan sebelum mesyuarat anggota kabinet tetap mengenai pembinaan undang-undang, perdana menteri menyatakan banjir dan tanah runtuh pasca taufan menyebabkan 296 orang maut dan hilang setakat 3 petang pada hari itu, serta menekankan bahawa kesihatan dan nyawa rakyat mesti diutamakan, menurut VNA.

Pemimpin kerajaan mengarahkan pembabitan seluruh sistem politik dan pelaksanaan semua langkah untuk mengatasi banjir dan tanah runtuh, menurut laporan itu.

BH ONLINE-BERNAMA

MOSCOW — Russia said on Wednesday that its partnership with China was not aimed against third countries but the two powers could “combine potential” if faced with a threat from the United States.

“I would like to remind you that Moscow and Beijing will respond to ‘double containment’ by the United States with ‘double counteraction’,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said when asked about a possible deployment of U.S. missiles in Japan.

The Japan Times reported on Sept. 7 that the United States had expressed an interest in deploying a Typhon mid-range missile system to Japan for joint military exercises.

“It is clear that both Russia and China will react to the emergence of additional and very significant missile threats, and their reaction will be far from being political, which has also been repeatedly confirmed by the two countries,” Zakharova told reporters at her weekly briefing.

She said Russia and China had a strategic partnership that was not aggressive in its intent.

“Our relations are not directed against third countries… and double counteraction does not contradict this. This is a defensive position, this is not an initiative to target other countries,” Zakharova said in answer to a question from Reuters.

“But if an aggressive policy of attack is being implemented against us from one centre, why don’t we combine our potential and give an appropriate rebuff?”

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping signed a “no limits” partnership deal in 2022, less than three weeks before Putin sent his troops into Ukraine. In May this year they agreed to deepen what they called their “comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” for a new era.

The two countries have not declared a formal military alliance, although Putin last week described them as “allies in every sense of the word”.

Russia and China have staged military exercises together, including naval drills that started on Tuesday. Putin, overseeing the launch of the manoeuvres, warned the United States against attempts to outgun Russia by building up its military power in the Asia-Pacific region.

REUTERS