Sunday 15 January 2023
Israeli forces kill Palestinian ‘after argument’ near Ramallah
Israeli soldiers keep guard at a checkpoint where Ahmed Kahla was shot and killed near Silwad on January 15, 2023 (Mohamad Torokman/Reuters)
A Palestinian man was killed on Sunday by Israeli soldiers east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian medics and the Israeli army said.
Ahmad Kahla, 45, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near the town of Silwad, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement, without mentioning more details about the incident.
Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokesman said in a statement that a Palestinian who tried to stab an Israeli soldier was killed by another soldier.
According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, witnesses said the man was shot on Sunday after he had an argument with Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the village of Silwad, north-east of Ramallah
The man, named by the health ministry as 45-year-old Ahmed Kahla, was reportedly told to get out of his car before being shot. Kahla’s son, Qusai, said that he had been in the car when it was stopped.
“Soldiers came and they sprayed pepper spray on my face and pulled me out of the car,” the 18-year-old Qusai said.
“I don’t know what happened after that,” he added. “I found out from my uncle that my dad was killed.”
The Israeli military had said that its soldiers had spotted a “suspicious” vehicle that had refused to stop for an inspection, before a clash broke out after they tried to detain one of the occupants, who attempted to lunge for a soldier’s weapon.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Kahla’s killing, and called it a “heinous execution”.
The death takes the number of Palestinians killed by Israelis this year to 13.
More than 170 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem last year, including Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed while reporting in Jenin in May.
The United Nations called it the deadliest year in the West Bank since 2006.
In March 2021, Israel stepped up raids across the occupied West Bank after a spate of attacks by Palestinians on Israelis that killed 19 people between March and May.
Near-daily raids have led to hundreds of arrests of Palestinians, home demolitions and increased tension, with a new mass Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, a possibility.
That is particularly the case in light of Israel’s new far-right government, which has taken an even harder line on the Palestinians than its predecessor, including plans to withhold tax money from the Palestinian Authority and stop Palestinians from building on 60 percent of the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian foreign ministry said that Israel’s leadership has made it “easy for soldiers to kill any Palestinian without them posing any danger to the occupation soldiers”.
Newly-formed Palestinian armed groups have emerged in the last year, operating independently of traditional groups such as Fatah or Hamas. The Israeli military has been attempting to crack down on the groups in an ongoing operation called “Break the Wave”
Palestinians see the raids as a further entrenchment of Israel’s open-ended, 55-year occupation of lands they seek for their future independent state
Info Penting - CPNS 2023 yang Akan Dibuka Segera
Pejuang ASN bisa berbangga hati karena CPNS 2023 akan segera dibuka. Informasi resmi terkait CPNS 2023 sudah dirilis Kemenpan RB. Artinya, sudah dapat dipastikan CPNS 2023 akan digelar.
Peserta yang berminat ikut pendaftaran CPNS 2023 dibuka bisa mempersiapkan persyaratan yang diminta oleh BKN. Tentunya bisa berkaca pada persyaratan CPNS di tahun sebelumnya.
Pelamar lulusan S1 akan sangat diuntungkan pada pembukaan CPNS 2023 nanti. Karena akan ada beberapa formasi untuk beberapa prodi yang bisa dipilih oleh pelamar PNS 2023.
Proses seleksi CPNS 2023 nampaknya tidak akan jauh berbeda seperti seleksi CPNS di tahun sebelumnya. Seleksi Kompetensi Dasar (SKD) dan Seleksi Kompetensi Bidang (SKB)
Untuk seleksi SKD pada rekrutmen CPNS akan diberikan soal umum terkait dengan Tes Intelegensia Umum atau TIU, Tee Wawasan Kebangsaan atau TWK dan Tes Kepribadian atau TKP.
Untuk seleksi SKD, soal tesnya akan sama untuk semua formasi, yang membedakan adalah seleksi SKB.
Bagi peserta yang dinyatakan lulus SKD maka selanjutnya akan mengikuti seleksi kompetensi SKB.
Peserta CPNS yang lolos hingga seleksi SKB, disini akan menghadapi soal seputar teknis di masing-masing formasi. Untuk itu peserta harus mempersiapkan diri sebaik mungkim untuk menghadapi SKD dan SKB.
Berbeda dari tahun sebelumnya, seleksi CPNS 2023 dan PPPK kali ini, pemerintah akan memprioritaskan beberapa formasi tertentu.
Seperti dilansir dari laman resmi Kementerian Pendayagunaan Aparatur Negara dan Reformasi Birokrasi (Kemenpan RB), seleksi CPNS tahun 2023 diprioritaskan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan profesi tertentu seperti hakim, jaksa, dosen, serta tenaga teknis tertentu lainnya termasuk talenta digital serta jabatan pelaksana prioritas.
Hal ini sesuai dengan Peraturan Menteri PAN RB Nomor 45 Tahun 2022 tentang Jabatan Pelaksana Pegawai Negeri Sipil di Lingkungan Instansi Pemerintah.
Seleksi PPPK tahun 2023 akan difokuskan pada pemenuhan tenaga guru, tenaga kesehatan, dan tenaga teknis lainnya.
Perlu diketahui bahwa pengadaan seleksi CASN tahun depan memiliki empat arah kebijakan yang mendukung transformasi sumber daya manusia.
Fokus pertama arah kebijakan tersebut meliputi pelayanan dasar yaitu guru dan tenaga kesehatan.
Fokus ini juga dilakukan untuk menyelesaikan masalah tenaga non-ASN secara optimal.
Kedua, kebijakan memberi kesempatan rekrutmen talenta digital dan data scientist secara terukur.
Ketiga yaitu merekrut CPNS secara sangat selektif.
Sementara itu, kebijakan keempat yaitu mengurangi rekrutmen jabatan yang akan terdampak oleh transformasi digital, di mana saat ini pemerintah masih menganalisis jabatan mana saja yang bisa terdampak oleh perkembangan digital.
Kemenpan RB meminta instansi pemerintah mulai mendata dan mengusulkan kebutuhan ASN tahun 2023 yang prioritas untuk segera diisi di instansi masing-masing.
Berdasarkan usulan kebutuhan dari kementerian, lembaga, dan pemerintah daerah (pemda), akan ditetapkan formasi dengan memperhatikan pendapat Menteri Keuangan dan pertimbangan teknis Kepala Badan Kepegawaian Negara (BKN).
Ada beberapa jurusan yang paling banyak dicari dalam seleksi CPNS, berikut daftar jurusan atau program studi S1 bisa mengis formasi CPNS:
- Akuntansi
- Hukum
- Kesehatan
- Pendidikan
- Politik dan Pemerintahan
- Sastra Inggris
- Manajemen
- Teknik Sipil
- Psikologi
- Informatika
- Ekonomi Pembangunan
Ditegaskan bahwa rekrutmen CASN 2023 juga mempertimbangkan sejumlah variabel tertentu seperti indikator jumlah PNS yang pensiun dan pemenuhan sumber daya manusia guna mendukung program strategis nasional, termasuk letak geografis dan kemampuan anggaran.
Tak hanya itu, pemerintah juga telah menyiapkan kajian terkait penataan dan pemenuhan formasi ASN Papua dan Papua Barat, serta DOB (Daerah Otonom Baru) Papua.
Demikian informasi untuk pejuang ASN yang menantikan seleksi CPNS 2023 dengan begitu dapat mempersiapkan syarat.
Live Update - Kiev rocked by explosion
An explosion hit Kiev on Saturday afternoon, the Ukrainian publication Strana reported.
In addition, Alexey Kuleba, chief of the Kiev regional military administration, said that the air defense weapons had been used in the region.
"The Kiev region. The air defenses are working," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Air raid alerts are in effect throughout the country.
Earlier in the day, Ukraine reported explosions in the city of Dnepr as well as in the Vinnitsa, Odessa and Kharkov Regions. In particular, after the explosions, power outages were recorded in Kharkov and the city’s subway services were suspended.
The participants in the assault on Soledar managed to catch the Ukrainian troops by surprise, advancing from the north side. About how it was, RIA Novosti was told by a fighter of the Wagner group, who took part in the liberation of the city.
Later, Ukrainian media outlets reported explosions in Ivano-Frankovsk and Ternopol, as well as the operation of air defense crews in the Volyn Region.
UK to Send Up to 4 Apache Attack Helicopters to Ukraine - Reports
The United Kingdom will send up to four Apache attack helicopters to Ukraine as part of a military assistance package that also includes Challenger 2 tanks, a British newspaper reported, citing defense sources.
The delivery of helicopters would follow shipments of tanks to Ukraine, the newspaper stated, adding that the UK would also hope that other NATO states "will follow the suit."
British media reported that the helicopters are armed with Hellfire anti-tank missiles and could be of significant tactical importance on the battlefield. On Saturday, the UK government said that it would provide Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 tanks in the coming weeks, as part of its goal to accelerate military support to Kiev.
Ukraine has flagged fears of an alleged anticipated Russian offensive in the spring, prompting its Western allies to commit to sending heavier weapons, including modern Western-made tanks, which were never part of earlier official arms aid packages.
Russian officials have repeatedly warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces.
Video Shows Ukrainian Forces Prepping Chemical Weapons Attack, Russian Embassy Says
Russia’s Embassy to the UK said canisters seen being loaded onto drones by Ukrainian militants could contain phosgene, which is banned under the UN’s Chemical Weapons Convention.
Russian artillery crews strike the positions of the Ukrainian military in the Zaporozhye direction up to 25 times a day, said the commander of one of the artillery units of the Russian Armed Forces
Russia has condemned the Ukrainian military after a video surfaced which appears to show the Kiev regime’s forces loading drones with chemical weapons. “A video published by [the] Ukrainian military apparently shows them preparing to use chemical weapons… against [the] Russian military,” the Russian Embassy to the UK wrote Friday.
In the video, which appeared on social media earlier this week, soldiers can be seen giving a tour of what appears to be a chemical weapons facility and showing off refrigerated canisters filled with unknown substances.
The widely-shared video opens with a shot of an ammunition case bearing the letters “OB.”
According to the embassy, “(the) letters “OB” stand for toxic munition.”
The embassy speculated that the cans could contain phosgene, which it noted is prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention of the United Nations.
“This also explains why the gas cylinders need to be stored in the fridge,” they wrote.
A video published by Ukrainian military apparently shows them preparing to use #chemicalweapons, possibly #phosgene, prohibited by @UN CWC, against Russian military. Letters “OB” stand for toxic munition. This also explains why the gas cylinders need to be stored in the fridge. pic.twitter.com/eDmB43605g
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) January 13, 2023
In December, Russia announced that it had uncovered information that contractors from the US had arrived in Ukraine to help the Zelensky regime’s militant prepare “chemical provocations.”
“But the Americans dismiss all this” as “disinformation from the Russian side,” Russian Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Alexander Shulgin said.
Since Russia’s special military operation began in February, US authorities and media outlets have largely insisted that anyone referencing potential Ukrainian chemical weapons usage as a puppet of the Kremlin. But the mask has slipped on at least one occasion.
In March, Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland acknowledged the Kiev regime maintained numerous “biological research facilities” and said the US was “quite concerned” that “Russian forces may be seeking to gain control” of them.
Security forces discovered a cache with weapons and ammunition of Ukrainian terrorists in the city of Dniprorudne, Zaporozhye region, RIA Novosti was told in the regional police department
Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:
▪️The Russian Army eliminated two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the Kharkov region;
▪️Russian troops eliminated two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the DPR;
▪️Russian forces eliminated more than 30 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kupyansk direction;
▪️The Russian Army eliminated more than 30 Ukrainian servicemen in the South Donetsk direction;
▪️Russian forces eliminated more than 70 Ukrainian servicemen in the Donetsk direction;
▪️Russian air defense systems destroyed 4 Ukrainian UAVs and intercepted 7 HIMARS and Olkha rockets;
▪️Russian troops destroyed two Ukrainian ammunition depots in the DPR and Zaporozhye region;
▪️Russian forces destroyed an M777 artillery system, as well as an AN/TPQ-36 and an AN/TPQ-50 radar system in the Kharkov region.
A passenger plane with 72 people on board has crashed in Nepal, killing at least 32
Locals watch the wreckage of a passenger plane in Pokhara, Nepal, Sunday, Jan.15, 2023. A passenger plane with 72 people on board has crashed near Pokhara International Airport in Nepal, the daily newspaper Kathmandu Post reports. The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members.
Ashish Puri/AP
Ashish Puri/AP
A passenger plane of Nepalese Yeti Airlines crashed on Sunday near the country’s Pokhara city, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.
There were 68 passengers and 4 crew members on board the plane. The crash occurred on takeoff.
All the 72 people who were on board the crashed passenger plane in Nepal were killed, the News-18 TV channel reported.
Earlier it was reported about at least 40 casualties.
There were four Russians on board the crashed plane .
At least 32 people were killed on Sunday when a 72-seat passenger aircraft crashed in Pokhara, a resort town in central Nepal, an official said.
Rescuers were scouring the crash site near Pokhara International Airport and expected to find more bodies, said Tek Bahadur K. C., a senior administrative officer in the Kaski district. The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported, quoting a spokesperson for Yeti Airlines.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the plane was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara and he urged security personnel and the general public to help with the rescue efforts.
Pokhara, located 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Kathmandu, is the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular hiking trail in the Himalayas.
Images and videos shared on Twitter showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft. Nepalese soldiers were also involved in the rescue efforts at the crash site.
It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash.
Local television showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the aircraft.
Locals watch the wreckage of a passenger plane in Pokhara (Yunish Gurung/AP Photo)
“Responders have already reached there and trying to douse the fire. All agencies are now focused on first dousing the fire and rescuing the passengers,” local official Gurudutta Dhakal said.
The craft made contact with the airport from Seti Gorge at 10:50am (05:05 GMT), the aviation authority said in a statement. “Then it crashed.”
“Half of the plane is on the hillside,” said Arun Tamu, a local resident, who told Reuters he reached the site minutes after the plane went down.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Kathmandu, Ramyata Limbu said locals in Pokhara asserted weather and visibility was “good” when the plane crashed.
“So its (the crash) shocking and surprising,” said Limbu. “Eyewitnesses said the plane was having problems before it crashed into a gorge close to the airport.”
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called an emergency cabinet meeting after the plane crash, a government statement said.
“I am deeply saddened by the sad and tragic accident of Yeti Airlines ANC ATR 72 which was flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara with passengers,” he posted on Twitter.
“I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue.”
“I sincerely appeal to the security personnel, all agencies of the Nepal government and the general public to start an effective rescue.”
The crash is Nepal’s deadliest since March 2018, when a US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop flight from Dhaka crashed on landing in Kathmandu, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, according to Aviation Safety Network.
In May, a plane owned by Tara Air crashed less than 20 minutes after taking off from Pokhara.
At least 309 people have died since 2000 in plane or helicopter crashes in Nepal – home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest – where the weather can change suddenly and make for hazardous conditions.
California Continues to be Ravaged by Rain and Snow in ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Storm
“We've had less people die in the last two years of major wildfires in California than have died since New Year's Day related to this weather,” Governor Gavin Newsom said. “These conditions are serious and they're deadly.”
On Saturday, one to three inches of rain poured over the lowlands of Central and Northern California, with additional rain in the mountains. Snow pelted down in Sierra Nevada and continued to threaten the state of California with more flooding, landslides, and hail. The state, which has been experiencing its worst megadrought in 1,200 years, has been drenched by major storms since December 20. Those catastrophic storm systems have even prompted emergency evacuations in Santa Cruz County.
While the rain was moderate on Saturday, evacuations were prompted by an atmospheric river which swept inland and posed a threat for areas. An atmospheric river is like a long, narrow river that runs through the sky and acts as a transportation vessel for tropical water vapor. Once these rivers fall on land, they can threaten the area with extreme rainfall, floods, and induce mudslides. Downed trees left more than 40,000 homes in California without power on Saturday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
Atmospheric rivers have dropped about 24 trillion gallons of water onto the state since late December.
At least 19 people in California have been killed by the deadly storms, while a five-year-old boy remained missing on Saturday after being swept from his mother’s car by flood waters earlier in the week. Local authorities were forced to suspend a search for the missing child due to unsuitable weather, according to a social media post from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.
Ocean water flooding into Rio Del Mar in Santa Cruz County, from Aimee at the Rio Sands hotel pic.twitter.com/WQFysU7Og9
— Kurtis Alexander (@kurtisalexander) January 5, 2023
The 4100 block of Stage Road near Pescadero is closed due to a partial collapse of the road. #CaWx #California pic.twitter.com/ZqFahH3iyA
— CAL FIRE CZU (@CALFIRECZU) January 14, 2023
The rain has also impacted the state’s prized redwoods, whose future remains somewhat uncertain after the heavy rain and flooding. While other areas have experienced destabilized soil, sinkholes, mudslides and fallen trees, the condition of the redwoods---which are known as Earth’s tallest trees---remains unknown, with California State Parks spokesperson Adeline Yee saying that they will not have a full assessment of the damage until after the storm.
California’s governor warned his constituents that the next few days would remain challenging and he cautioned Californians to prepare for the state’s ninth atmospheric river which will roll in once Saturday’s storm ends.
In #MontereyCounty: One-way traffic control on #Hwy68 at Scenic Dr., just north of Community Hospital. Crews on site for slide removal. Please use caution driving in the area. pic.twitter.com/oNHTR3cKfp
— Caltrans District 5 (@CaltransD5) January 14, 2023
“The challenges may present themselves over the course of the next few days rather acutely. Particularly because everything’s saturated, particularly because the grounds are overwhelmed,” Newsom said. “What may appear less significant in terms of the rainfall may actually be more significant on the ground in terms of the impacts on the ground and the flooding and the debris flow.”
The storm is predicted to ease on Sunday before another major blow that Sunday night at about 10 PM which could last until Monday or Tuesday. The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab also reported on Saturday morning that they received 21.3 inches of snow in just 24 hours---that snowpack will increase by 10 feet by Monday.
Scientists warn that while some storms during the winter are normal, climate change has worsened the effects of extreme weather, creating a “weather whiplash” in the Golden State. The enormous amounts of rain also won’t end California’s megadrought.
"I know how fatigued you all are," Newsom said Friday, urging caution ahead of incoming storms. "Just maintain a little more vigilance over the course of the next weekend."
Sacramento and the surrounding area saw extensive flooding.
Networks of small rivers and creeks overflowed. Local levees breached. Stretches of one of the city’s main highways were submerged and farmlands flooded. The deluge engulfed cars, and some homes were filled to their second floors with water.
Winds with gusts topping 60 mph sent trees crashing onto rooftops and brought down power lines. Officials said more than 1,000 trees have fallen in Sacramento since the beginning of the month. Two people experiencing homelessness were killed when trees fell onto their tents, authorities said.
Many trees were already diseased and weakened by the ongoing drought, making them vulnerable to toppling. But the rains turned the ground into mush, enabling the winds to pull otherwise healthy trees from the soil, roots and all.
The surge carried parts of piers out to sea and dumped huge amounts of driftwood and other debris across the sand. In the nearby town of Capitola, the waters split a wharf in half.
In the Central Valley, overflow from a small creek caused outsize damage in Merced, a city of 89,000 people known as the “Gateway to Yosemite” for its proximity to the national park.
Bear Creek, which flows across the north side of town, swelled over its banks, prompting evacuations and road closures. The waters turned entire neighborhoods into lakes, covering yards, rising into the first floors of homes and causing cars to float away.
Mandatory evacuations were also in effect this week for all 4,000 residents in Planada, which was similarly devastated by the overflow of a small river.
Drought conditions proceeding the recent onslaught of storms have so far helped stave off catastrophic flooding in many of the state’s major rivers. But the flooding of minor waterways could foreshadow more severe problems elsewhere if the rains continue, said Pinter, of UC Davis.
“What we’ve been seeing is a progressive escalation of flood issues,” Pinter said. “The big question now is whether you’re going to see the large-scale flood impacts.”
Mudslides also blanketed patches of road in Santa Cruz and Montecito, the ultrawealthy seaside town that’s home to numerous celebrities, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Nearby, in Santa Barbara, mudslide hazards prompted authorities to issue evacuation orders on the five-year anniversary of a deadly mudslide in the area.
Wildfires throughout the state create ideal conditions for mudslides. When the flames char the undergrowth on hills and mountains, the soil can’t hold water as easily. Downpours can send mud, debris and rocks tumbling downward.
“You add one drop of water and it all slides down the hill,” said Jan Null, a meteorologist in the Bay Area. “As gravity takes it downhill, you have an avalanche that can wipe out houses and cars and people.”
The storms’ effects were also pronounced in California’s urban centers. In Los Angeles, flooding and mudslides shuttered streets, and waters poured into the tunnels in the city’s historic Union Station
Emergency crews have set to work digging out mud, clearing debris and patching roadway, while residents wring out their homes and belongings, hoping the next storms will spare them.
“We’re not out of the woods,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference this week. “These conditions are serious and they are deadly.”
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