Asia Isn’t as Rich as it Thinks it is

New ADB study reranks millions of people into the ranks of the very poor

Asia generally has made huge advances in the fight against poverty, illiteracy and ill-health. But the advances have not been as large as imagined, according to a just published report from the Asian Development Bank.

The bank concludes that the income definition of poverty needs significant upward adjustment, and must take into account factors other than income alone which are keeping hundreds of millions at a very low level of existence.

The implication from the data is the (unsurprising) fact that income inequality has worsened in a way which makes the lower-income groups more vulnerable by raising prices of food and essentials faster than incomes.

The most fundamental assertion in the paper, published as part of “Key Indicators for Asian and the Pacific 2014,” is that the conventional US$1.25 a day cutoff for defining extreme poverty is now inadequate, at least for most Asian countries. It suggests that the base should be raised to US$1.50. It notes that several countries including India had raised their own poverty levels to above US$1.25.

Applying this new income level has a dramatic impact on the numbers of poor as a percentage for Asia as a whole, from 20 percent to 35 percent, bringing another 343 million into the very poor bracket. The impact is especially marked for India, who poverty rate rises by 15 percent and Indonesia by 9.9 percent. That for China is less – 4.9 percentage points.

This tells us that the claims of success in lifting hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty would not be recognized by many who are supposed to have benefited as apparent income gains have not translated into better food or living conditions. The new calculations take account of changes in consumption patterns including the likes of mobile phones, a work necessity for many of the poorest, and relative price changes.

In particular it notes that in most countries food prices, the major ingredient in lower income household expenditure, have risen faster than overall prices.

Indeed, success in improving incomes further up the income scale sometimes has the effect of creating additional demand and raising food prices, for example as grains are used to produce animal protein. The most vulnerable are rural landless laborers and unskilled workers in the informal urban sector.

The food security issue adds another 140 million to the ADB’s calculation of numbers in extreme poverty, numbers in China and Indonesia rising by especially large amounts while in India the impact was relatively small due to government subsidies. For the future the ADB suggests pegging the extreme poverty rate more closely to food prices. If this were done now, an additional 40 million would be ranked extremely poor.

Another issue to which paper draws attention  is the particular vulnerability of the lowest income groups to natural disasters – floods, typhoons, earthquakes, etc. It says the frequency and severity of these has been increasing as east, south and southeast Asia have seven of the world’s top 10 countries for vulnerability to natural calamities. The poorest are usually the worst housed and have the least savings so the impact is greater and the recovery time longer. Those at risk add another 417 million to those considered extremely poor.

Adding all these factors together, the number of extreme poor rises from 773 million to 1.02 billion.  Of course many of these are potential rather than current sufferers from extreme poverty but the data does underline how income gains which look impressive at the macro level often hide static or worsening situations at the bottom of the income scale.

The “Key Indicators” looks too at other aspects of progress and problems in Asian development. It notes that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of 95 percent enrolment in primary education has been met by most countries but Pakistan was a notable laggard in correcting gender bias against girls. It also noted that the Philippines and Sri Lanka, once in the van of mass literacy, have shown declines in primary enrollment rates. Goals for completion of primary education were not being met in many countries, and India as well as Bangladesh and Pakistan had low levels of women in non-farm employment.

Most countries were showing marked improvement in many health indicators, such as maternal and child mortality, malaria and HIV prevention, and access to safe drinking water. However, CO2 emissions continued to rise rapidly everywhere – as too – though this in not in the report – are diseases such as diabetes arising from higher incomes.

The weaknesses in primary education and employment for urban women appear to be key problems in reducing extreme poverty, especially in south Asia where the problem is most severe.

Generally, the ADB report shows Asia overall to be continuing to make good progress both absolutely and relative to other regions. But it also pinpoints how marginal improvements have been so many. Hopefully a change in the calculation of extreme poverty will prompt policy makers to pay more attention to the 1 billion out of 3.6 billion who are at the bottom of the Asia income scale in developing Asia (excluding West Asia).


Sumber - Asia Sentinel

Pengamal media diseru seimbangkan kebebasan penyataan

Oleh Ak Fairol RMF

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 26 Ogos – Para pengamal media hari diingatkan supaya menyeimbangkan kebebasan penyataan dan tanggungjawab bagi kepentingan awam supaya objektif mulia dalam kehidupan bernegara iaitu menikmati kesejahteraan, keamanan, perpaduan, keselamatan dan keadilan bersama tercapai.

Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Wahab bin Juned (gambar) berkata, jika kita lari dari prinsip keseimbangan ini, penyalahgunaan akan mudah terjadi sehingga membawa kepada pelbagai perilaku tidak bertanggungjawab sehingga ada yang berbau kebiadaban dan pengkhianatan.

“Jika ini menjadi budaya, akan mudahlah berleluasa hasutan, perpecahan, huru-hara, fitnah, ketidakjujuran, kebiadaban, pengkhianatan dan pendustaan,” tegas beliau semasa berucap pada Majlis Ramah Mesra Perhubungan Awam dan Media 2014 di Emperor’s Court, Manggis Mall hari ini.

Sehubungan itu, beliau menyeru para pengamal media dan juga perhubungan awam supaya sama-sama menghayati kepentingan negara kita sendiri sebagai konteks utama, sosio-budaya kita yang mengutamakan kerukunan hidup mulia dan Islam sebagai ugama rasmi negara dan cara hidup yang lengkap.

Dalam konteks ini, katanya, media tidak akan terikut-ikut mempersenda pemimpin-pemimpin negara, menyebarkan sensasi, mencari titik-titik perbalahan, menimbulkan isu-isu yang boleh menjadi ‘anti-thesis’ kepada pembangunan negara dan mencemarkan konsep Negara Melayu Islam Beraja atau MIB.

Dalam ucapannya itu, Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Wahab turut menyentuh mengenai kebebasan pernyataan atau freedom of expression yang juga dikaitkan dengan media sebagai hak fundamental.

Katanya, sungguhpun kebebasan penyataan ini merupakan hak fundamental untuk kebebasan media tetapi ia bukanlah hak yang mutlak atau ‘absolute right.’

Kedudukan ini, katanya adalah disebabkan yang kehidupan manusia ini mempunyai objektif-objektif mulia yang lain.

Antaranya ialah objektif mulia dalam kehidupan bernegara untuk mencapai kesejahteraan bersama, keamanan, perpaduan, keselamatan dan keadilan.

Menurut Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Wahab, setengah pihak dalam media terlalu taksub mengenai kebebasan penyataan ini seolah-olah tidak ada pertimbangan lain selain dari kebebasan media.

“Dalam media kita tidak semata-mata ditentukan oleh kepentingan komersil. Kepentingan dan kesejahteraan awam adalah salah satu objektif mulia kerajaan. Oleh itu adalah menjadi tanggungjawab kerajaan untuk memastikan media kita bertanggungjawab, profesional, beretika, pro perpaduan, mendukung ‘good governance’, adil dan peka pada setiap masa mengenai keselamatan, kesejahteraan dan keutuhan negara.

“Sungguhpun pada asasnya media itu mendahulukan prinsip-prinsip kejujuran, objektiviti, keadilan dan ketepatan maklumat, keseimbangan perlu ada dalam membuat laporan atau kenyataan supaya kepentingan awam dan negara tetap dijaga.

“Setiap hak seperti kebebasan penyataan adalah mengikut konteks negara, sosio-budaya dan kepercayaan. Sungguhpun ianya bersifat universal, tidak ada satu amalan kebebasan penyataan yang sama untuk semua. Begitulah juga peraturan yang menjaganya.

Sementara itu, Setiausaha Tetap di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Awang Haji Mohd Rozan bin Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yunos dalam ucapannya berkata, majlis hari ini bertujuan untuk mengeratkan lagi perhubungan di antara pegawai-pegawai serta pengamal-pengamal perhubungan awam kerajaan dengan media-media tempatan di negara ini.

Pada masa yang sama juga majlis ini diadakan untuk memberikan penghargaan kepada pihak media yang selama ini telah memberikan kerjasama yang baik dan padu kepada agensi-agensi kerajaan.

“Seperti yang kita ketahui, peredaran zaman terutama sekali dengan kemudahan teknologi yang membuka ruang untuk media baru ataupun ‘new media,’ pada masa ini telah membolehkan bagi maklumat lebih mudah diperolehi dan disebarkan oleh segenap pelosok masyarakat.

“Ini seharusnya dilihat sebagai salah satu cabaran kepada kita selaku pengamal perhubungan awam yang menjadi lidah kerajaan dengan kerjasama pihak media tempatan di dalam memberigakan sesuatu maklumat yang sahih, tepat dan cepat.

“Globalisasi dan perubahan teknologi telah menjadikan pemberigaan dan penyebaran maklumat dan informasi tidak lagi bersempadan.”

Penggunaan media-media baru dan penyebaran maklumat melalui media-media baru ini seperti laman-laman web, blog, aplikasi Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter dan Instagram jelas sekali menjadi cabaran yang tidak kurang hebatnya untuk diatasi oleh agensi-agensi kerajaan, swasta mahupun individu. Apatah lagi apabila maklumat yang disebarkan tersebut adalah tidak tepat dan tidak mempunyai kesahihan dan berunsurkan negatif.


Sumber - Media Permata

East and South China Sea disputes need creative diplomacy: Kemp

(Reuters) - China and the United States appear headed for a damaging confrontation over the extent of China's territorial claims in the South and East China Seas.

Now that China has become the world’s largest importer of oil, and energy more generally, the country’s need to develop more indigenous energy supplies has become urgent.

Expecting China to put the South and East China Seas off limits to exploration and production until disputes over sovereignty can be resolved through some undefined legal or diplomatic process is unrealistic.

Part of the problem is that western analysts and policymakers still fail to appreciate the strategic importance of these areas. It is common to hear maritime disputes between China and its neighbors characterized in terms of uninhabited islands, submerged reefs, historic fishing grounds and unfinished business from World War Two.

In reality, the disputes center on control over areas which are thought to contain substantial quantities of oil and gas, which could be vital to the economic development of all states in the area.

U.S. diplomats were reportedly dismayed when China started to claim the South China Sea was among the country’s “core national interests” along with Tibet and Taiwan.

But given the potential for developing substantial oil and gas fields in both the South and East China Seas it should have been obvious that they could not be treated as unimportant claims that could be deferred indefinitely.


UNFROZEN CONFLICTS

U.S. diplomats sometimes appear to want to freeze the disputes, a position which is both unhelpful and dangerous.

According to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the United States takes “no position on competing territorial claims” in both seas, but wants disputes peacefully resolved “in accordance with international law.”

At a regional security conference in Singapore in May 2014, Hagel singled out what he termed China’s “destabilizing, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea,” without apportioning blame to other countries, a one-sided approach that drew a furious protest from China.

Subsequently, General Martin Dempsey, the top US military officer, has become the first chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to visit Vietnam since 1971, fuelling China’s suspicions about encirclement and quiet U.S. backing for neighboring states over maritime disputes.

The United States has also refused to recognize China’s self-declared Air Defence Indentification Zone in the East China Sea and insisted the disputed Senkaku-Diaoyu islands are covered by its mutual defense pact with Japan, even while U.S. officials insist they do not take a view on the underlying issue of sovereignty.

This strategy (expressing no view on sovereignty while trying to freeze the status quo pending an unlikely diplomatic resolution of the disputes) is dangerous and threatens to worsen the standoff because the status quo is not remotely stable.


OIL AND GAS POTENTIAL

Western analysts and policymakers tend to downplay the potential oil and gas resources of the disputed areas, but this probably understates the amount of energy which could be recovered if the areas were thoroughly developed.

Both the South and East China Seas contain sedimentary basins with thick layers of mud, silt and organic material deposited on the floor of ancient seas and lakes. Both have already seen significant oil and gas discoveries (link.reuters.com/vug72w).

The South China Sea is ringed with known oil and gas fields off China’s Pearl River Delta, Hainan Island and the coasts of Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.

In 2010, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated the South China Sea contains about 11 billion barrels of oil and 145 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that have yet to be discovered (“Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of Southeast Asia” March 2010).

In global terms, these are relatively modest amounts. For China, however, they are much more significant.

The assessment focused exclusively on coastal areas and did not include potential resources in the deeper waters in the center of the sea around the islands and reefs which are at the heart of the dispute.

The South China Sea remains comparatively unexplored and there is the potential for substantial additional discoveries. China’s oil companies believe the area has strong hydrocarbon potential and they have published resource estimates which are an order of magnitude higher than western analysts.

The hydrocarbon potential of the East China Sea is even less well known. But there are good reasons to believe that it could hold significant quantities of recoverable oil and gas. Several oil and gas fields have already been found in sea areas claimed by both China and Japan.

The sea borders on the Songliao and Bohaiwan basins have been in production for decades and account for most of China’s current oil and gas output. There is therefore a high probability more oil and gas could be found further offshore in the East China Sea itself.


LAW OF THE SEA

With advances in ultra-deepwater drilling the potential for far offshore exploration and production has never been greater and the dispute over sovereignty in the East and South China Seas is unlikely to remain frozen.

U.S. diplomats have suggested the disputes could be resolved through international law, norms and diplomacy, without outlining how that might actually be achieved.

In its maritime boundary dispute, the Philippines has filed a claim against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

UNCLOS is cited by many outside observers as a suitable legal framework for resolving disputes between China and its neighbors.

But UNCLOS is not really relevant to the dispute because the core of the disagreement concerns ownership and sovereignty over the islands and other outcrops.

Once sovereignty has been established, UNCLOS can help assign rights and responsibilities to all the parties, including control of shipping, fishing and oil and gas drilling.

But UNCLOS cannot resolve the underlying disputes about sovereignty in the first place.

China has already rejected the arbitrators’ jurisdiction, which suggests the process is headed for failure.


CREATIVE DIPLOMACY

The parties to the various disputes are all now raiding their archives for ancient books, letters and artifacts to bolster their claims to historic control over the disputed islets.

Such historical research is unlikely ever to resolve the claims persuasively (just look at Britain’s and Argentina’s unresolved dispute over the Falklands-Malvinas).

The only real solution is diplomatic. The coastal states around the South and East China Seas will have to agree to divide, share or pool their sovereignty in the interests of security and to permit the peaceful exploitation of the resources.

There are plenty of examples of such shared resource development, ranging from the Spitsbergen Archipelago in the Arctic to the Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Before the recent flare up, China and Japan had agreed jointly to develop the Chunxiao gas field, which straddles the maritime boundary.

The challenge for diplomats, especially from the United States, is to help the parties discover creative solutions that benefit all the coastal states.

Instead, U.S. diplomats have encouraged all parties to harden their positions and suggested the entire dispute can be frozen until some ill-defined legal process runs its course.

This strategy will not work and is escalating rather than defusing tensions in the area, encouraging coastal states to pursue maximal claims rather than compromise and negotiate common solutions.

It is time that western policymakers recognized that hydrocarbon exploration is both necessary and desirable in both the South and East China Seas.

Oil and gas exploration must be a stabilizing force for cooperation, rather than a source of conflict and competition.


Sumber - Reuters

Remote, gas-rich islands on Indonesia's South China Sea frontline

(Reuters) - The word "sleepy" could have been invented for Ranai, the largest town in Indonesia's remote and sparsely populated Natuna archipelago.

It has few cars and only two sets of traffic lights. The cloud-wreathed mountain looming over it resembles a slumbering volcano. Nearby beaches lie pristine and empty, waiting for tourists.

From Ranai, it takes an imaginative leap to see Natuna - a scattering of 157 mostly uninhabited islands off the northwest coast of Borneo - as a future flashpoint in the escalating dispute over ownership of the South China Sea, one of the world's busiest waterways.

But that's precisely what many people here fear.

They know Natuna is quite a prize. Its fish-rich waters are routinely plundered by foreign trawlers. Lying just inside its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone is the East Natuna gas field, one of the world's largest untapped reserves.

And any quarrel over Natuna would also upset a delicate strategic balance, undermining Indonesia's role as a self-appointed honest broker in the myriad territorial disputes between its Southeast Asian neighbors and regional giant China.

Jakarta's foreign ministry insists there is no problem with China over the status of Natuna, but the Indonesian military has in recent months struck a more assertive tone.

In April, Indonesian armed forces chief Moeldoko accused China of including parts of Natuna within its so-called "Nine-Dash Line," the vague boundary used on Chinese maps to lay claim to about 90 percent of the South China Sea.

EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

With maritime tensions rising between China and the Philippines and Vietnam, Moeldoko later vowed to send more troops to Natuna "to anticipate any instability in the South China Sea and serve as an early warning system for Indonesia".

The airforce plans to upgrade Ranai's airbase to accommodate fighter jets and attack helicopters.
Officially, China and Indonesia don't contest the sovereignty of the islands: both agree they are part of Indonesia's Riau Province. Nor is Indonesia among the five countries - Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brunei - challenging Beijing's expansive claims in the South China Sea.

This has allowed Jakarta to play a neutral role and seek to mediate in an increasingly bitter and volatile dispute.

But Natuna's bit-part in this regional drama reflects "growing concern within Indonesia about China's actions within the Nine-Dash Line," said Ian Storey, a security expert at the Institute of Southeast Asia Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore.

Rising maritime tensions with China have induced many Southeast Asian countries to seek closer strategic ties with the United States.

Since 2010 Indonesia has unsuccessfully sought clarification through the United Nations of the legal basis for the Nine-Dash Line. Indonesia's foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, told Reuters in April that Indonesia had "inferred" from China that the line did not cross Indonesian territory.

Locals remain unconvinced. "We're worried they'll take over this territory," Ilyas Sabli, Natuna's regent, or district chief, told Reuters, referring to the Chinese. "That's why it has become our first priority to protect this homeland."

DEFENDING OIL AND GAS

About 80,000 people live on 27 of Natuna's islands, mostly in Ranai and other places on the main island of Natuna Besar.

Ranai airbase was developed after Indonesia's independence in 1949, and the town grew up around it. Today, a new civilian passenger terminal is being constructed in the hope of attracting more investors and tourists.

There was no evidence of an Indonesian military build-up. Two small naval ships lay idle at the end of a nearby pier.

Plans to upgrade the airbase were "not a new thing", but part of a longer-term strategy to improve the airforce's far-flung facilities, base commander Lieutenant Colonel Andri Gandhy told Reuters.

The plans include lengthening Ranai's runway to handle larger aircraft. Work will start in 2015 or 2016, depending on the funding, said Gandhy.

Any military build-up would be hampered by budget restraints and fear of antagonizing China, said Yohanes Sulaiman, a security analyst at the Indonesian National Defense University.

"The Indonesian military really wants to defend the islands, but with what? How can they fight China?" he said.

Neighboring Malaysia has a more convincing blueprint to beef up its military presence in the South China Sea.

In October, Malaysia announced plans to build a navy base in Bintulu on Sarawak, the closest major town to the James Shoal, a submerged reef about 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of Malaysia's Sarawak claimed by Malaysia, China and Taiwan. Chinese warships conducted exercises nearby in 2013 and 2014.

The base will host a new Marine Corps, modeled on, and possibly trained by, its U.S. counterpart. Without mentioning China, Malaysia's defense minister said the aim was to protect Malaysia's oil and gas reserves.
China has never protested against Indonesia's search for oil and gas in Natuna waters, said Storey. The state-owned Pertamina is co-developing the East Natuna gas field with Exxon Mobil Corp, Total SA and PTT Exploration and Production.

FISHING WARS

As in Vietnam and the Philippines, it is Indonesia's fishing fleet that feels China's growing maritime presence most acutely.

Natuna fish stocks plummeted with the arrival of big-net trawlers from China, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan, said Rusli Suhardi, 40, a leader of the local fishermen's cooperative.

"Before 2010, we could catch 100 kg (220 lbs) of fish a day. Now it takes three days to catch that amount," he said.

A nearby bay is littered with the disintegrating wrecks of a dozen or more boats, mostly Vietnamese trawlers confiscated by the Indonesian authorities for fishing illegally. That no Chinese trawlers rot in this marine graveyard is testament to China's growing maritime muscle.

In March 2013, armed Chinese vessels confronted a patrol boat from Indonesia's maritime and fisheries ministry and demanded the release of Chinese fishermen who had just been apprehended in Natuna waters. Fearing for his safety, the captain of the Indonesian boat complied.

Similarly, in 2010, a Chinese maritime enforcement vessel compelled an Indonesian patrol boat to release another illegal Chinese trawler.

Storey, of ISEAS, said Indonesia has downplayed such incidents, not wanting them to overshadow relations with China.

Those relations are historic. Predating Ranai's airbase is the ethnic Chinese community of Penagi, a ramshackle village built on stilts along a nearby pier. One of its oldest residents is Lim Po Eng, 78, a retired laborer, who said Penagi was founded by his grandfather and others fleeing chaos and poverty in China.

"We settled here and began to develop the place," he said. The island was already inhabited by indigenous people, added Lim, "but they lived in the bush."

Every morning, an Indonesian flag is raised over Penagi's pier. Many locals say the Indonesian government cares little about the fate of Natuna, which lies closer to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur than it does to Jakarta.

But this apparent indifference is bred partly by a desire to keep the status quo, said security analyst Sulaiman.

"The government knows there are no good options," he said. "They can't fight China, but if they don't push their claims Indonesia will become a laughing stock."


Sumber - Reuters

1962 Brunei rebellion, a British instigation

The UN does not normally intervene in the internal matters of member countries.

KUCHING: The United Nations (UN) office in Kuala Lumpur struck a cautionary note when activists from Sarawak handed it a Peoples’ Petition which was signed in Miri on Aug 9 by activists in Borneo.

This was disclosed by Lina Soo, the President of Sarawak Association of People’s Aspiration (SAPA), in a statement issued in Kuching after her return.

“We had useful discussion with an UN officer who indicated that the UN does not normally intervene in the internal matters of member countries,” said Soo.

However, she also learnt there may be exceptional situations where it may be possible for the people to raise issues directly with the UN.

Furthermore, in exceptional situations a member country may call for investigation of serious issues arising in another member country on behalf of the people who may not have “standing” to bring their case, she added.

Apparently, the Petition was presented to the UN office in KL to keep it informed.

The full Petition will be delivered to the UN headquarters in New York after it has been signed by at least 300,000 people in Sabah and Sarawak. The signature campaign has begun in both states and is expected to be completed before too long.

The Petition calls on the UN to review the arbitrary manner in which Britain had surrendered Sarawak and Sabah to the Federation of Malaya on 16 September 1963 to be absorbed in a renamed Federation called Malaysia.

The current Peoples’ Petition is an effort to revisit the original petition for self-determination submitted 52 years ago by Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo political parties to the UN and accepted for hearing in mid-December 1962 before the world body.

However, the delegation abandoned the journey to the UN after the outbreak of a rebellion in Brunei on December 8 1962.

There’s some suspicion that the Brunei rebellion followed the instigation of British secret agents for an excuse to crush all opposition to their Malaysia Plan.


Sumber - Free Malaysia Today

KDYMM: Negara berkembang dengan baik atas faktor 'keberkatan'

Titah Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam Sempena Sambutan Ulang Tahun Hari Keputeraan Baginda Yang Ke- 68 Tahun 1435H/2014M pada hari Khamis 18 Syawal 1435 bersamaan 14 Ogos 2014

Assalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
Alhamdulillah Rabbil 'Alameen, Wabihiee Nasta'eenu 'Alaa Umuuriddunya Wadden, Wassalaatu'
Wassalaamu 'Ala Asyarafil Mursaleen, Sayyidina Muhammaddin, Wa'alaa Aalihee Wasahbihee Ajma'een, Waba'du

ALHAMDULILLAH, kita bersyukur ke hadrat Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala, kerana dengan limpah kurnia-Nya jua, dapatlah kita meraikan Hari Keputeraan beta pada tahun ini, dalam suasana aman dan sejahtera.

Terlebih dahulu, beta dengan tulus ikhlas ingin merakamkan ucapan terima kasih dan penghargaan kepada tetamu-tetamu khas beta yang sudi hadir ke istiadat ini, dan juga kepada semua pihak yang telah menyembahkan perutusan ucap selamat kepada beta serta keluarga, bersempena dengan perayaan ini.

Sekali lagi pada tahun ini, istiadat perayaan diadakan selepas umat Islam di negara ini selesai menyempurnakan ibadat puasa Ramadan dan menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Alhamdulillah, dengan menyedari akan keberkatan berpegang teguh kepada ugama, maka kita telah dapat meneruskan lagi kehidupan ini dengan penuh selesa serta dengan rancak dapat membangun di bidang-bidang yang diperlukan.

Beta sangat meyakini akan faktor keberkatan itu, yang menjadikan Negara Brunei dapat berkembang dengan baik. Di bidang ekonomi, penumpuan adalah sedang diberikan kepada, mempelbagai dan menaikkan lagi kadar pertumbuhan ekonomi. Ini, termasuklah antara lain, dengan memudahkan kemasukan Pelaburan Langsung Asing dalam pelbagai sektor, memajukan sektor swasta, memperkasa Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana, meningkatkan produktiviti dan mewujudkan iklim pro-business.

Dalam usaha mempelbagaikan ekonomi, beta sangat gembira mengetahui, adanya inisiatif untuk menarik Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) yang berkualiti ke negara ini, yang sudah pun menampakkan tanda-tanda pencapaian awalnya yang positif.

Di sektor hiliran minyak dan gas pula, Pulau Muara Besar kini telah pun mula dimajukan bagi penyediaan tapak projek pembinaan kilang penapisan minyak bersepadu atau integrated oil refinery dan industri-industri berkaitan yang menjanjikan banyak peluang pekerjaan.

Sementara itu, sebuah kilang pembuatan ubat atau pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, yang bertaraf dunia telah pun siap dibina dan kini sudah mula beroperasi.

Selain itu, sebuah syarikat terkemuka antarabangsa di bidang simulation training juga, telah membina Multi-Purpose Training Centrenya di Brunei Darussalam, sebagai pusat latihan utamanya di rantau ini. Ia juga sudah mula beroperasi.

Bio Innovation Corridor (BIC), seluas 500 hektar untuk menarik pelaburan dalam Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan, R&D, pembuatan dan komersial, adalah merupakan satu lagi sektor berpotensi untuk memantapkan lagi ekonomi serta mampu bagi membuka peluang-peluang pekerjaan secara lebih meluas.

Dalam ekonomi, objektif negara ialah untuk menjadi sebuah 'kuasa ekonomi' yang dinamik, yang mampu untuk menduduki tempat ke sepuluh teratas di dunia dari segi pendapatan per kapita.

Ini bererti, kita adalah dikehendaki untuk meningkatkan pendapatan negara ke tahap BND80 bilion menjelang tahun 2035, berbanding hanya BND20 bilion sahaja ketika ini. Ini juga turut merujuk kepada ekonomi negara supaya ia dapat tumbuh sekitar 5 ke 6 peratus setahun.

Oleh yang demikian, beta berharap supaya semua pihak, sama ada kerajaan mahupun swasta, akan dapat melipatgandakan usaha masing-masing untuk mencapai sasaran ini.

Khusus mengenai peluang pekerjaan pula, mengikut Banci Awal Majikan dan Pekerja 2013, dari seramai 140,000 tenaga kerja di dalam kira-kira 10,000 buah syarikat yang aktif, kira-kira 65 peratus adalah terdiri daripada pekerja asing. Maka sehubungan ini, dengan mengambil kira kadar pengangguran yang ada, kita adalah wajar untuk mempunyai satu dasar pengisian pekerjaan yang seimbang.

Alhamdulillah, sejauh ini kita sudah dapat memenuhi sebahagian dari sasaran untuk mengurangkan pengangguran. Di sektor minyak dan gas sahaja misalnya, sasaran sehingga 2014 untuk memberikan 3,000 peluang pekerjaan kepada anak-anak tempatan telah pun hampir tercapai.

Namun begitu, kita juga tidak boleh lepas pandang terhadap peluang-peluang pekerjaan di sektor bukan minyak dan gas. Ke arah ini, kerajaan beta telah memperkenalkan satu dasar baru untuk dilaksanakan secara berperingkat. Dasar itu pada asasnya adalah bertujuan untuk menyeimbangkan di antara pengambilan pekerja tempatan dan pekerja asing, melalui kaedah-kaedah pengawalan tertentu.

Di bidang pendidikan, kerajaan beta sangatlah prihatin terhadap semua sektor pendidikan bagi memenuhi keperluan sosioekonomi dan kesejahteraan di negara ini.

Di antara langkah yang telah dibuat ialah menyediakan satu skim, yang dipanggil Skim Perkhidmatan Tenaga Akademik Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam, bagi tujuan untuk menarik minat sumber tenaga manusia dari kalangan tenaga akademik yang berkualiti dan bertaraf dunia.

Beta juga telah memperkenankan satu Perintah Penubuhan Institut Pendidikan Teknikal Brunei selaku peneraju kepada kemajuan pendidikan teknikal dan vokasional.

Ini penting, bagi melahirkan golongan berpendidikan mahir lagi marketable sebagai persiapan kita menghadapi cabaran-cabaran ekonomi yang bersifat global yang berteraskan knowledge-based.

Satu langkah untuk memberikan peluang kepada pelajar-pelajar yang tidak mampu memenuhi syarat menerima biasiswa, supaya mereka itu dapat melanjutkan pengajian di institusi-institusi pengajian tinggi tempatan dan luar negara, maka beta juga telah memperkenankan satu Skim Kemudahan Pinjaman Pendidikan. Skim ini akan memberikan kemudahan pinjaman kewangan yang affordable kepada pelajar-pelajar berkenaan bagi menampung kos pengajian dan sara hidup mereka.

Untuk mengatasi kelemahan-kelemahan tertentu, khasnya bagi mata-mata pelajaran Bahasa Inggeris dan Matematik, beta jugatelah memperkenankan satu peruntukan tambahan berjumlah BND220 juta untuk tempoh selama tiga tahun, bagi menampung kos mendatangkan tenaga pengajar daripada luar negara bagi mengajar mata-mata pelajaran berkenaan.

Di bidang infrastruktur perhubungan pula, Pelan Induk Pengangkutan Darat telah pun siap disediakan. Selain menyediakan jaringan perkhidmatan jalan raya yang efisien, pelan ini juga mengandungi blueprint kemajuan ekonomi di bawah sektor ini.

Projek meningkatkan infrastruktur pelabuhan dan memodenisasikan lapangan terbang yang sedang berjalan pada masa ini, akan membuka luas pengkomersialan perkhidmatan-perkhidmatan di bawahnya, bagi menjana lebih banyak lagi peluang perniagaan dan pekerjaan.

Di bidang kesejahteraan, perhatian adalah terus diberikan untuk menangani jenayah. Dalam hal ini, beta ingin mengingatkan mengenai ancaman siber yang berbahaya terutama kepada kanak-kanak.

Kementerian Perhubungan adalah sedang giat merangka kerja-kerja untuk 'Child Online Protection' bagi melindungi kanak-kanak yang menggunakan internet, daripada terdedah kepada pengaruh-pengaruh negatif dan ancaman cybercrime.

Mengenai Program Khidmat Bakti Negara (PKBN), insyaaAllah, tidak lama lagi ia akan mempunyai fasiliti khemahnya sendiri di Daerah Temburong. Satu struktur organisasi baru untuknya telah pun beta perkenankan bagi memperkasakan lagi program ini.

Untuk memantapkan segala agenda pembangunan, beta telah memperkenankan penubuhan Majlis Wawasan 2035 yang akan bekerjasama rapat dengan Jawatankuasa Tertinggi Rancangan Kemajuan Negara dan Unit Penggerak di Jabatan Perdana Menteri. Peranan utama majlis ini ialah untuk membantu secara insentif dan sistematik pelaksanaan usaha-usaha agensi-agensi kerajaan beta dalam merealisasikan hasil pencapaian objektif-objektif Wawasan 2035.

Di arena antarabangsa, negara kita akan terus mengekalkan dasar berbaik-baik dan saling hormat-menghormati dengan negara-negara sahabat, di samping mengukuhkan kerjasama di pelbagai bidang dan peringkat, bagi keamanan dan kesejahteraan bersama.

Menyebut perkara keamanan dan kesejahteraan ini, Negara Brunei Darussalam adalah sangat bersimpati terhadap rakyat dan negara Palestin yang sedang diragut keamanan dan kesejahteraan mereka oleh musuh yang tidak berperikemanusiaan. Musuh ini begitu tergamak membunuh kanak-kanak, kaum perempuan, orang tua dan lain-lain warga awam yang tidak berdosa. Mereka juga memusnahkan bangunan, tempat kediaman dan tidak terkecuali rumah ibadat dan sekolah, tanpa mengambil kira, jenayah ini dilakukan dalam bulan suci Ramadan, di mana orang-orang Islam sedang melaksanakan ibadat puasa.

Akhirnya, beta dengan tulus ikhlas merakamkan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan dan ucapan terima kasih kepada seluruh lapisan rakyat dan penduduk, warga Perkhidmatan Awam, pasukan-pasukan keselamatan serta mereka yang berkhidmat di sektor swasta, termasuk mereka yang bertugas di luar negara, di atas sumbangan dan sokongan mereka kepada kerajaan beta.

Penghargaan yang setinggi-tingginya juga disampaikan kepada seluruh Ahli Jawatankuasa Perayaan di kedua peringkat kebangsaan dan daerah, atas segala khidmat usaha untuk menjayakan perayaan ini.

Beta berdoa semoga kita semua serta Negara Brunei Darussalam akan sentiasa kekal aman dan makmur, dikurniakan dengan limpah rahmat dan perlindungan oleh Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala. Amin.

Sekian, Wabillahit Taufeq Walhidayah, Wassalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

‘At Least 2,000 Uyghurs Killed’ in Yarkand Violence: Exile Leader

An exile Uyghur leader has claimed that at least 2,000 ethnic minority Uyghurs may have been killed by Chinese security forces following riots last week in a restive county in China’s western Xinjiang region, far more than reported by the state media.

Citing “evidence” from the ground, Rebiya Kadeer, president of the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), accused the Chinese authorities of a cover up of what she called a “massacre” of Uyghurs in Yarkand (in Chinese, Shache) county in Xinjiang’s Kashgar prefecture on July 28.

Chinese state media had at first said “dozens” of people were killed but revised upwards the death toll to 96 this week, saying the riots erupted after a “gang” of Uyghurs attacked a police station and government offices in Yarkand’s Elishku township and that the authorities reacted with “a resolute crackdown to eradicate terrorists.”

But Kadeer told RFA’s Uyghur Service that information the WUC received from the area was “absolutely different than the accounts provided by Chinese official narrative.”

“We have evidence in hand that at least 2,000 Uyghurs in the neighborhood of Elishku township have been killed by Chinese security forces on the first day [of the incident] and they ‘cleaned up’ the dead bodies on the second and third day during a curfew that was imposed,” she said.

“We have recorded voice messages from the people in the neighborhood and written testimonies on exactly what had taken place in Elishku township of Yarkand county during this massacre,” she said, adding that the victims were mainly from villages No. 14, 15 and 16 in the township.

“We can share these facts without releasing the source of the information as their security and safety is at risk,” said Kadeer, who has been in exile in Washington since being released from a Chinese prison in 2005.

Highest death toll in Xinjiang

Kadeer said the death toll in Yarkand was the highest reported in Xinjiang violence, surpassing the 200 killed in rioting in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009 involving the mostly Muslim Uyghurs and members of China's Han majority.

“It is clearly state terrorism and a crime against humanity by any standard committed by Chinese security forces against the unarmed Uyghur population,” she charged.

Kadeer’s claim could not be independently verified but interviews with Uyghur and Han residents in Yarkand and the Silk Road city of Kashgar by RFA’s Uyghur and Mandarin Services indicated that the death toll was much higher than that reported by the state media, with one Han Chinese resident saying it could be “more than 1,000.”

Kadeer said that the riots were triggered by a march by a group of Uyghurs to the police station and government offices to seek justice “for the killing of innocent villagers,” including the shooting death of a family of five by police over a dispute about wearing traditional headscarves.

She claimed the police gunned down nearly all the protesters and went on to kill others in a house-to-house search.

“As usual Chinese security forces have regarded this mass gathering of Uyghurs as a crime and that they should be silenced, and started to shoot at them without even listening to their concerns,” Kadeer said.

Uyghurs attacked with sticks

She said that some Uyghurs, armed with sticks, attacked government vehicles and government employees in protest against the violence by the security forces.

“Chinese military forces immediately called for [reinforcements] and started to shoot and kill all the participants of the march and other villagers during house-to-house searches.”

The authorities had sealed off the affected area, which has been surrounded by heavily armed security forces, she said, adding that the July 28 bloody incident had been overshadowed by the Israeli military offensive in Gaza which had grabbed headlines in recent weeks.

“At least 2,000 innocent Uyghurs in three villages of Yarkand county have been brutally killed by Chinese security forces without even condemnation from the outside world,” Kadeer said.

In the violence-hit Elishku township, a Uyghur shop owner told RFA that “some streets have been almost deserted because many people have died,” citing accounts by his customers who had heard “continuous gunfire and cries for help.”

Ambulance sirens

A resident of one of the three villages gripped by the violence in Elishku township said she heard ambulance sirens sounding throughout the day on Aug. 2, five days after the riots.

When asked about casualties, a doctor at Yarkand People’s Hospital, Mihrigul Awut, said, “Sorry, I cannot answer any questions about the injuries from the incident.”

However, local Han Chinese residents of Yarkand county and the Silk Road city of Kashgar said the ruling Chinese Communist Party was trying to "cover up" the extent of the violence, and had greatly underreported the number of deaths.

A Han Chinese businesswoman from Kashgar, which administers Yarkand, said that more than 1,000 people, including Hans and Uyghurs, could have died from the violence which she charged was caused by armed Uyghurs.

"If you add up our own [Han casualties] with the gangsters, including those of us who died for no reason, it's more than 1,000," she told RFA’s Mandarin Service.

"It’s because a lot of the East Turkestanis … attacked people with great, big chopping knives," she said, referring to the Uyghurs. “It's a bit like Iraq over here.”

"Some of them were local Uyghurs from around here, while some were from overseas," the businesswoman said, adding, "We have five border crossings to Pakistan around here."

Many Uyghurs refer to Xinjiang as East Turkestan, as the region had come under Chinese control following two short-lived East Turkestan republics in the 1930s and 1940s.

'Premeditated' attack

The official Xinhua news agency had said that of the official death toll of 96, 35 of the dead civilians were Han Chinese, while two were Uyghurs and others were “terrorists.”

The news agency cited the government as saying investigations showed the attack was "organized and premeditated,” and "in connection with the terrorist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).”

Chinese authorities have blamed ETIM and “separatists” from Xinjiang for a series of attacks which have expanded in scale and sophistication over the last year, including a May 22 bombing in Urumqi, which killed 39 people and injured 90, and which prompted the launch of an anti-terror campaign across the region.


Sumber - Radio Free Asia

Health Ministry advisory on Ebola outbreak

BRUNEI is at a “very low risk” of catching the Ebola virus, the Ministry of Health (MoH) stated following an assessment of outbreaks reported in several African countries.

In a statement released yesterday, the ministry advised the public “not to panic or be concerned” about the epidemic occurring in Brunei.

Ebola is a serious disease with a high mortality rate, infecting humans and animals such as bats, monkeys, chimpanzees and gorillas. There is no anti-infection vaccine or specific treatment for the disease.

Until August 1, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 1,603 Ebola cases with 887 deaths. All these cases have been reported in West Africa countries, namely Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.

The outbreak is believed to result from handling infected or dead animals found in the woods, while infection from human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with an infected patient.

Infection through direct contact occurs with the bodily fluids of an infected patient, such as blood, saliva and faeces.

Signs of Ebola infection include fever, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, lack of energy and feeling very weak.

The patient will experience vomiting, diaorrhea, rashes, kidney failure and liver failure. Some patients were also found to be bleeding. A patient will typically infect others when showing initial signs of illness.

So far, the WHO has not issued any travel restrictions to the affected places. However, MoH advised people to avoid visiting the areas as precautionary and preventative measures.

Those travelling to the affected places were told to take preventative and control measures such as practising good hygiene with frequent hand washing using soap and water or hand sanitiser.

Travellers were also told not to approach or visit Ebola patients; those who treat them; the patient’s home, clinic or hospital where the disease is treated.

The ministry further advised people to avoid exposure to or handling wild animals that are sick or dead, including exposure to raw meat or eating meat that has not been well-cooked.

Another precautionary and preventative measure was to avoid attending or conducting funerals for Ebola patients who have passed away.

In the statement, the MoH urged travellers to seek immediate medical attention if they experience symptoms of the disease.

People returning from affected areas within 21 days of travel were also advised to inform their doctor or health officials about their travel history.

The MoH said they will continue to monitor Ebola outbreak as well as seek advice and updates from the WHO. The ministry will also inform the public about developments of the ebola epidemic, if necessary. - Rabiatul Kamit


Sumber - The Brunei Times

Editorial: Israel loses war on all fronts

“WE MUST defeat Hamas – next time”, the headline in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz is the most serious indictment of the Zionist misadventure in Gaza. In fact, this has been Israel’s most self-defeating war. Backed by world’s most monstrous war machine, it has failed militarily, politically, strategically and on the diplomatic front it has been a disaster.

The main objective of the massive military operations was to reduce the resistance capability of Hamas and make it politically irrelevant. Exactly opposite of this has happened.

After relentless and indiscriminate military operation for more than three weeks, Hamas is very much there. In fact, it has emerged more powerful – both politically and militarily.

One of the most significant aspects of this Israeli misadventure is the heavy loss the Zionist army has suffered. So far Israeli death toll from 25 days of attacks at 66, Hamas says the number at more than 150.

Apart from inflicting heavy damage, Hamas has been able to wear down the Israeli army. Tired and humiliated, the Israeli army has already started withdrawing from the Gaza without diminishing the Hamas capability to hit Israeli cities. The Israeli narrative of “right to self-defence” has been completely rejected by the international community.

The biggest setback came when international airlines began cancelling their flights to Tel Aviv. Although the flight ban was for a short period, this had very telling effect on the Israeli psyche as for the first time they could sense international isolation and the fear that if the conflict spreads, they have no escape route.

On the other hand, Hamas has emerged the hero of resistance against Israel’s illegal war. Instead of weakening Hamas’ sovereignty over Gaza, the Israeli assault has consolidated Hamas’ political grip. In the end, it’s Israel which is the real loser, both on the war and diplomatic fronts.


Sumber - The Brunei Times

3 Asean states back PH plan on sea row

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines on Monday said it had won support from Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei for a plan to ease tensions in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), which it intended to present at a regional meeting this week.

China and several of its Southeast Asian neighbors are embroiled in increasingly bitter territorial disputes over the strategic sea that Beijing claims almost in its entirety.

Manila’s plan calls for an immediate moratorium on activities that escalate tensions and implementation of a code of conduct in the sea, which is home to vital shipping routes and is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.

The plan, to be presented at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Burma (Myanmar) this week, was raised during Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario’s recent visits to Brunei, Vietnam and Indonesia, said Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, the spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

“He has taken trips (to these countries) precisely to raise the triple-action plan and so far, all of these countries have expressed support for the initiative,” Jose told reporters.

He said Del Rosario and other Filipino delegates would try to raise the initiative at the various Asean discussions.

The Asean includes the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam along with nonmembers China and Taiwan, have conflicting claims to parts or all of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea.

Tensions have risen in recent years as China has become more aggressive in enforcing its claims.

Beijing’s deployment of an oil rig in contested waters in May triggered anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam and sent relations plummeting.

The discovery that China is reclaiming land on at least five reefs in the West Philippine Sea has drawn protests from the Philippines and criticism from Manila’s ally the United States, whose top diplomat in the region, Daniel Russel, has suggested a moratorium on activities in the sea that raise tensions, inspiring the Philippine triple-action plan.

The artificial island that China is building on Mabini Reef (Johnson South Reef) in the West Philippine Sea is said to be suitable for an airstrip or an offshore military outpost.

Manila’s plan includes a call for implementation of a 2002 Asean-China Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and will also seek a settlement mechanism anchored on international law to resolve the disputes.

The Philippines has already embarked on the third action, bringing its territorial dispute with China to the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which has ordered Beijing to comment on Manila’s petition by Dec. 15.

The Burma meetings will also involve talks between the Asean foreign ministers and counterparts from the bloc’s main regional trading partners—China, Japan and South Korea.

There will also be a regional security dialogue involving 27 countries, including the Asean members, China, Japan, South Korea, United States, Russia and Australia.


Sumber - Inquirer Global Nation

Ucapan Selamat Hari Raya Edulfitri daripada seluruh Warga NDP

Japan names 5 disputed islets in East China Sea

TOKYO — Japan on Friday gave names to five uninhabited islets in an island group at the center of a territorial dispute with China as part of efforts to reinforce its claim, sparking quick condemnation from Beijing.

The five islands, named after directions of the compass, are part of the group in the East China Sea known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Five bigger islands in the group already have names. Chinese and Japanese coast guard ships have regularly confronted each other in surrounding waters.

The five were among 158 islands that were named Friday, with the list published on a website of the Japanese maritime policy department. The other islands are in non-disputed Japanese waters.

The government said that naming the islands was meant to raise public awareness that they belong to Japan.

“It’s not just about the Senkaku issue. We are conducting a broader review of all remote islands,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters. “China has its own approach, and Japan has our own fundamental position on the Senkaku islands. We only respond appropriately.”

China immediately rejected the Japanese move, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang calling it “illegal and invalid.”

“China resolutely opposes Japan’s actions harming China’s territory and sovereignty. No unilateral action undertaken by Japan can change the fact that Diaoyu and its surrounding islands belong to China,” Qin said.

Assigning names to disputed islands does not change their legal status. Japan insists the islands lie within its territorial waters; China says they were stolen by Japan in 1895 and should have been returned at the end of World War II.

Taiwan, which calls them Diaoyutai, also claims the islands but has worked out an arrangement with Japan guaranteeing its fishermen access to the area, and it rejects any notion of joining with Beijing on the matter.

China and Japan also are at odds over exploitation of East China Sea gas deposits in the area.

The disputed waters are surrounded by rich fishing grounds. Chinese coast guard and fishing boats have recently approached the area more frequently, sometimes violating Japanese waters, particularly since Japan’s previous government nationalized the main Senkaku islands in 2012.

Ties between Japan and China have worsened in recent years over the island dispute, a contested gas field in the East China Sea and lingering animosity over Japan’s World War II-era actions in China.


Sumber - Inquirer Global Nation

Death Toll Hits 1382 as Israel’s Offensive on Gaza Continues for 24th Day

GAZA, July 31, 2014 (WAFA) – At least 1382 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom are women and children, while more than 7800 others have been injured since the beginning of the Israeli ongoing aggression on Gaza on July 8, according to medical statistics.

As Thursday marks the 24th day since the aggression began, a least 19 Palestinians, including children, a disabled female and two journalist, were killed in a series of Israeli air and artillery attacks across the Gaza Strip, while many others were injured, said WAFA correspondent.

The recent attacks follow a bloody day in which at least 129 Palestinians were massacred and 350 were injured in a series of Israeli artillery and air attacks across the Gaza Strip.

Four Palestinians, including a child, were killed in an Israeli shelling; an Israeli warplane targeted a civilian car, claiming the lives of three Palestinians and injuring several others. A child was also killed and two others were injured in an Israeli shelling on al-Tofah neighborhood to the east of Gaza.

Meanwhile, 33 Palestinians were killed during a series of airstrikes targeting several areas across the strip.

Earlier on Thursday, two civilian Palestinians were killed and another was seriously injured, after an Israeli warplane targeted their car while driving in Tuffah district in Gaza City, reported WAFA correspondent.

Meanwhile, Journalist Mohammad Thahir died of his wounds he sustained in a strike that targeted the marketplace of Shujaeya district, east of Gaza City, on Wednesday.

Journalist Sameh al-Aryan, of al-Aqsa TV, also died Thursday of his wound which he also sustained in the Israeli bombing of the marketplace of Shujaeya on Wednesday.

The Israeli massacre in Shujaeya claimed the lives of almost 18 innocent Palestinians, including journalists, medics and other staff affiliated with the International Red Cross and others with the Palestinian Red Crescent, in addition to children, women and elderly.

Earlier, five Palestinians were Thursday killed in an Israeli artillery attack that targeted, with several missiles, a group of people in the town of Abasan, southeast of Khan Younes. They were identified as Naji Abu-Mustafa, Hani Abu-Mustafa, Ashraf Au-Tuaima, disabled Falastenie Abu-Tuaima, and Mohamad Foad Khamis an-Najjar.

Medical sources said also Adham Seyam, a child, died of his wounds, which he had sustained in an Israeli bombing on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, a few days ago.

Meanwhile on Thursday morning, 58-year-old Aref Barakah was killed as an Israeli artillery shell that hit his house located in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza.

A twenty three year old mother, identified as Maha Abu-Helal, was also killed, whereas her husband and her two children were injured, when an Israeli bombardment targeted her house in al-Jeneneh district in Rafah City in the morning hours.

Earlier at dawn, Baraa Ibrahim, 19, die of his wounds, sustained in an Israeli air attack on Nusseirat refugee camp on Wednesday, reported medical sources.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Ahmad Loah died of his wounds, which he sustained in an earlier Israeli shelling, while being treated at a hospital.

In the meantime, an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft targeted a motorbike in Khan Younes, claiming the life of Mohammad Fesifis, 32.

Meanwhile on Thursday, an Israeli F16 jet fighter bombed and destroyed a two-storey building in ad-Daraj neighborhood, in Gaza City, turning it into heaps of rubble, yet no casualties were reported.

Israeli artillery also fired 10 missiles targeting an open agricultural area, east of al-Maghazi refugee camp, setting fire to the area where civil defense teams have been unable to reach due to mass shortage of the necessary equipment.

Israeli artillery also bombed the surrounding of al-Awda Mosque in Deir el-Balah with 10 missiles, causing severe damages to nearby homes.

Warplanes further hit a location in Beit Lahiya, to the north of Gaza, yet no injuries were reported.

Medical sources said also a number of Palestinians were injured in an Israeli airstrike that hit a house belonging to al-Helew family in Jabaliya, with no injuries reported.

In the meantime Israeli warplanes hit a house, belonging to Hammouda family, in Beit Lahiya, whereas the house of Abu Hwishil in Bureij refugee camp was also bombed.

WAFA correspondent said warplanes continued to shell several areas in Gaza City on Thursday, leaving many people injured. They were transferred to hospital for medical treatment.


Sumber - WAFA