West is conducting all-out militarization in attempts to defeat Putin — Vucic

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic
©Aleksey Druzhinin/TASS

The Western countries are building up their military potential and pursuing a policy of total militarization in an attempt to defeat Russia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said.

"What is happening now is madness. They all thought that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would be easily defeated. Now they see that this is not so," Vucic said. "The current trend is toward total militarization and a five-fold build-up in all respects," he told the media while visiting the Belgrade Military Technical Institute and inspecting armaments on display.

The Serbian leader together with Defense Minister Milos Vucevic inspected new weapons of the Serbian Armed Forces. He noted the importance of increasing the production of UAVs and other weapons.

Earlier, Vucic stressed that under the current circumstances it should not be ruled out the West might send its soldiers to Ukraine and there was a risk of the conflict’s escalation.

France gathering alliance of countries capable to send troops to Ukraine — Politico

France is gathering an alliance of countries that may send troops to Ukraine in theory, the Politico newspaper reported, commenting on a visit of French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne to Lithuania.

"France is building an alliance of countries open to potentially sending Western troops to Ukraine — and in the process deepening its clash with a more cautious Berlin," the newspaper said.

The French foreign minister highlighted an opportunity at a press conference with his Lithuanian and Ukrainian counterparts on March 8 to send NATO troops to Ukraine that will deal with demining and will not participate in hostilities, the Politico noted.

French President Emmanuel Macon raised the possibility earlier that the NATO military may be sent to Ukraine, the newspaper reminded. The majority of European countries, including Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, rejected the idea but the Baltic countries "are much more open to the idea," the Politico added.

France Just Can't Calm Down, Itching to Start World War III, Report Shows

France is forming a coalition of nations that are willing to consider the possibility of deploying Western forces to Ukraine, Politico reports.

On Friday, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné travelled to Lithuania to hold a meeting with his Baltic and Ukrainian counterparts to promote the idea that foreign forces might assist Ukraine in tasks such as de-mining.

Séjourné repeatedly mentioned mine clearance operations as a potential area of assistance, stating it "might mean having some personnel, [but] not to fight."

"It is not for Russia to tell us how we should help Ukraine in the coming months or years," Séjourné said at a meeting chaired by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and attended by his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.

The newspaper recalled French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks about the possibility of sending servicemen from Western countries to Ukraine. Subsequently most EU members, including Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland, clarified they had no such plans. However, as Politico writes, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania appeared "much more open to the idea."

Commenting on Macron’s statements, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that NATO troops’ potential boots on the ground in Ukraine will lead to an inevitable conflict between Russia and the alliance.

Russia has repeatedly warned NATO countries that arms supplies to Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets. Moscow has accused NATO countries of "playing with fire" by arming Ukraine, emphasizing that such actions hinder the possibility of Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

France, Poland Cannot Speak for NATO - Italian Defense Minister

France and Poland have no right to speak on behalf of NATO, and the alliance's intervention in the conflict would "erase the path to diplomacy," Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, published on Sunday.

Following a Paris-hosted conference on Ukraine on February 26, Macron said Western leaders had discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine and, although no consensus had been reached in this regard, nothing could be ruled out. On Friday, Polish Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine "was not unthinkable," adding that he appreciated Macron's initiative on the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Poland needed to build a large airport for the transfer of NATO troops.

"France and Poland cannot speak on behalf of NATO, which formally and voluntarily did not intervene in the conflict from the very beginning. Sending troops to Kiev is a step toward unilateral escalation that will erase the path to diplomacy," the Italian minister said.

European countries continue to support Kiev, but it is important to intensify diplomatic efforts to help Ukraine regain its freedom, territory and security, the minister added.

Western countries have been providing military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.

In a Rafah school called ‘Hope’, Gaza IDPs seek shelter from Israel’s bombs

A group of El-Amal Society students pose for a selfie [Courtesy of El-Amal Society]

The rooms and corridors of Rafah’s El-Amal Rehabilitation Society, a two-storey building in a sunny yard filled with trees, and a children’s play area off to the side, are as lively as they have ever been.

But instead of it being just the deaf students who are usually bustling around, the classrooms are occupied by families fleeing Israel’s relentless assault on the people of Gaza.

Rafah, at the southernmost tip of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, now hosts some 1.5 million people displaced by the endless, indiscriminate Israeli bombing from other parts of the Gaza Strip into an area of about 63sq km (24sq miles).

The first arrivals poured into the fixed structures: homes of friends or family, abandoned buildings, and schools that were not in use because Israel’s war on Gaza had paralysed life.

Some of the schools were run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) but the agency is no longer able to fully operate them as shelters as it did several times before during previous Israeli assaults on Gaza.

Rafah is estimated to have about 15 buildings that can be used as shelters, each of which can house about 3,000 people. This makes for a total of 45,000 displaced people that the city can cope with. Today, each school building is home to up to 25,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The Society’s building and grounds are straining to accommodate displaced people[Courtesy El-Amal Society]

The unprecedented influx of people prompted the independent El-Amal Society management to open its doors to IDPs, seeing the dire need as families came to Rafah on foot, carrying, pushing, or pulling those who could not walk, holding on to whatever meagre possessions they could save.

Families like that of journalist Abdul Rahman Mahani, 24, who all live in a single room. He was displaced along with his parents, brother and two sisters, but this was not their first displacement.

They had fled the vicious bombing on their neighbourhood of Remal in the west of Gaza City to the doomed al-Shifa Hospital and finally down to Rafah.

“In the dark of night, we heard the frantic voices of neighbours yelling: ‘Evacuate! Evacuate!’” Mahani told Al Jazeera of a night when he and his family fled. “Amid the Israeli raids, we all rushed to seek refuge at al-Shifa Hospital.”

From al-Shifa they soon had to relocate, to the Nassr neighbourhood this time, and Mahani remembers making the trek with a 25kg (about 50 pounds) bag of flour on his back, a most precious commodity in Gaza.

There was no safety to be found anywhere, and after several days of moving back and forth between Nassr, al-Shifa and the area around it, the family made its way south to Khan Younis.

Abdul Rahman Mahani came to El-Amal after several displacements [Courtesy Abdulrahman Mehanne]

“That was the first time I saw Israeli occupation tanks, from a distance. We were walking in lines … young Palestinians were being arrested right before our eyes … it was terrifying.”

A month later, another move, then another which finally brought them to El-Amal Society, although there is no guarantee that this would be the last time they have to pick up their lives and go.

El-Amal, ‘hope’

The deaf children and youth who attend El-Amal Society’s school are all from Rafah, so some were able to stay in their homes, if the homes were in one piece.

Some children had to move into the building with their families after their home was destroyed by Israeli attacks. They have hit the ground running though, acting as guides for incoming families, showing them where markets, shops, pharmacies and healthcare facilities are.

The team at El-Amal, comprising five people including project manager Bahaa Abu Batnin, are happy to have this extra help. “The deaf students are so cheerful and they love to give

“They found ways to communicate with the displaced, making the displaced feel like they’re at home despite the Israeli bombing and the difficulties and hardships,” Abu Batnin said.

Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies, in Rafah on March 5, 2024 [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]

They have also drafted some displaced people to volunteer to clean or cook for the others and run recreational activities for the children.

There are now more than 600 people living at El-Amal, some rooms crammed with more than 20 people, and the team works hard every day to try to help as many of them as possible.

Funding is an issue as they have to rely on financial or in-kind donations to support everybody, but they have resorted to solutions like bringing items in from their own homes, especially when they were scrambling for enough mattresses and blankets for all the IDPs in Gaza’s cold winter weather.

Struggling for the basics

Once those had been secured, they had to turn to other priorities, with which they also struggled.

With regards to food, the team is only able to provide enough to give each displaced person just one small meal a day.

In addition to that, the Gaza-wide potable water crisis means they can only secure the equivalent of five cups of water a week per person.

Another priority the team works hard to provide is the “dignity bags” of sanitary pads, painkillers and other supplies that they offer to all the displaced women and girls.

Baha al-Batnin [Courtesy of Baha al-Batnin]

To a certain extent, helping displaced people has become a personal mission for Abu Batnin and the team, and they do not want to give up on any aspect.

“We primarily care for displaced children and women, so our priorities were decided accordingly,” Abu Batnin said.

Hala, a mother of three, is grateful that the dignity bags made it onto the priority list.

“They’re so necessary, we can’t find these things in the markets at all right now,” she told Al Jazeera.

Hala, her husband and their two sons and daughter were displaced from Tal al-Hawa, west of Gaza City, on October 13. Initially, they sought refuge in their second home in az-Zahra for about five days but the Israeli bombs got there too.

They managed to get one room in El-Amal, which is better than nothing, despite the discomfort of being crammed in a tiny room and having to share one bathroom with five other families.

But, she says: “I don’t feel safe. The constant sounds of Israeli bombings just increase the sense of danger.”

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Pilot Smart Air ditemukan selamat

Pencarian pesawat Smart Air yang hilang kontak membuahkan hasil. Puing-puing pesawat Smart Air berhasil ditemukan dan pilot dikabarkan selamat.

Kabid Humas Polda Kaltara, Kombes Pol Budi Rachmat, menyebut saat ini proses evakuasi pesawat Smart Air yang jatuh di Tarakan masih berlangsung. Ia menyebut, berdasarkan informasi saat ini, pilot Capt. M Yusuf (29), salah satu korban pesawat Pilatus PC-6 Porter PK-SNE ditemukan selamat.

"Sudah ditemukan, infonya pilot selamat. Tim SAR dari Satbrimob Polda Kaltara saat ini tengah mengevakuasi korban," kata Budi kepada wartawan.

Saat ini, kata Budi, tim SAR dari Satbrimob Polda Kaltara sudah diterjunkan dan sedang mengevakuasi para korban. Dalam video yang diberikan oleh Budi, terlihat tim SAR turun dari helikopter dan mencoba meraih area pesawat jatuh yang ada di tengah hutan.

Berdasarkan informasi yang dihimpun, pesawat ini diawaki oleh Pilot Capt M Yusuf dan satu orang Engineer on Board (EOB), Deni S. Belum diketahui bagaimana kondisi Deni S.

Berdasar video penyelamatan yang diterima Kantor Berita Politik RMOL, tampak tim SAR turun dari helikopter dan mencoba meraih area pesawat jatuh yang ada di tengah hutan.

Pesawat itu mengangkut Sembako, lepas landas dari Bandara Internasional Juwata Tarakan, pukul 08.25 Wita, dan seharusnya tiba di Binuang, Krayan, Nunukan, pukul 09.25 Wita.

Pesawat diawaki Pilot Capt M Yusuf dan satu orang Engineer on Board (EOB), Deni S.

Sejauh ini belum diketahui pasti kondisi Deni S.

"Baru ini yang kami terima, detail menyusul ya," pungkasnya

Kronologis ditemukan pesawat

Tim Pencari pesawat Pilatus Smart Air PK-SNE sempat melihat ada tiga orang melambaikan tangan ke helikopter pada salah satu titik koordinat yang menjadi fokus pencarian, pada, pada hari Sabtu sore, 09/03/2024.

Humas SAR Tarakan, Burhadi, menyebut puing pesawat ditemukan daerah Binuang, Kalimantan Utara. Kondisi pesawat belum diketahui pasti.

"(Lokasi ditemukan) 03.43'.27.60" 115. 56'. 32.40". Daerah Binuang," katanya.

Dia menambahkan dari pantauan udara terlihat puing-puing pesawat. "Sementara yang terpantau puing-puing," katanya.

Ternyata lokasi penemuan puing Pesawat Smart Air di tengah hutan. Dalam video pantauan udara, Sabtu, 09/03/2024, terlihat ada asap yang membumbung.

Di foto lainnya juga memperlihatkan adanya benda berwarna putih yang terdapat di tengah hutan. Benda itu diduga puing-puing dari pesawat kargo Smart Air.

Petugas menemukan adanya api unggun di dekat lokasi puing pesawat. Api unggun itu diduga dibuat korban.

"Ditemukan pada koordinat 3°43'45.80"N115°56'54.45"E. Diduga api tersebut dibuat oleh korban yang masih hidup untuk memberikan tanda," kata Komandan Lanud Anang Busra Kota Tarakan, Kolonel Pnb Bambang Sudewo dalam keterangannya seperti dilansir dari Antara, hari Sabtu, 09/03/2024.

Posko Gabungan Tarakan dan Posko Gabungan Malinau terus melakukan koordinasi terkait temuan puing pesawat. Petugas juga mengirimkan perbekalan dan makanan untuk korban dengan menggunakan helikopter BELL 412 EPI REG HA 5224.

Namun, helikopter tak dapat melaksanakan penerjunan bantuan perbekalan karena kabut dan hujan. Diketahui, dua korban pesawat Smart Air yakni Capt M Yusuf dan Deni S (35).

Microsoft says it hasn’t been able to shake Russian state hackers

Microsoft said Friday it’s still trying to evict the elite Russian government hackers who broke into the email accounts of senior company executives in November and who it said have been trying to breach customer networks with stolen access data.

The hackers from Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service used data obtained in the intrusion, which it disclosed in mid-January, to compromise some source-code repositories and internal systems, the software giant said in a blog and a regulatory filing.

A company spokesman would not characterize what source code was accessed and what capability the hackers gained to further compromise customer and Microsoft systems.

Microsoft said Friday that the hackers stole “secrets” from email communications between the company and unspecified customers — cryptographic secrets such as passwords, certificates and authentication keys — and that it was reaching out to them “to assist in taking mitigating measures.”

Cloud-computing company Hewlett Packard Enterprise disclosed on Jan. 24 that it, too, was an SVR hacking victim and that it had been informed of the breach — by whom it would not say — two weeks earlier, coinciding with Microsoft’s discovery it had been hacked.

“The threat actor’s ongoing attack is characterized by a sustained, significant commitment of the threat actor’s resources, coordination, and focus,” Microsoft said Friday, adding that it could be using obtained data “to accumulate a picture of areas to attack and enhance its ability to do so.” Cybersecurity experts said Microsoft’s admission that the SVR hack had not been contained exposes the perils of the heavy reliance by government and business on the Redmond, Washington, company’s software monoculture — and the fact that so many of its customers are linked through its global cloud network.

“This has tremendous national security implications,” said Tom Kellermann of the cybersecurity firm Contrast Security. “The Russians can now leverage supply chain attacks against Microsoft’s customers.”

Amit Yoran, the CEO of Tenable, also issued a statement, expressing both alarm and dismay. He is among security professionals who find Microsoft overly secretive about its vulnerabilities and how it handles hacks.

“We should all be furious that this keeps happening,” Yoran said. “These breaches aren’t isolated from each other and Microsoft’s shady security practices and misleading statements purposely obfuscate the whole truth.”

Microsoft said it had not yet determined whether the incident is likely to materially impact its finances. It also said the intrusion’s stubbornness “reflects what has become more broadly an unprecedented global threat landscape, especially in terms of sophisticated nation-state attacks.”

The hackers, known as Cozy Bear, are the same hacking team behind the SolarWinds breach.

When it initially announced the hack, Microsoft said the SVR unit broke into its corporate email system and accessed the accounts of some senior executives as well as employees on its cybersecurity and legal teams. It would not say how many accounts were compromised.

At the time, Microsoft said it was able to remove the hackers’ access from the compromised accounts on or about Jan. 13. But by then, they clearly had a foothold. It said they got in by compromising credentials on a “legacy” test account but never elaborated.

Microsoft’s latest disclosure comes three months after a new US Securities and Exchange Commission rule took effect that compels publicly traded companies to disclose breaches that could negatively impact their business.

Russia - 11 Maret adalah awal bulan suci Ramadhan bagi umat Islam

Foto: RIA Novosti/Sputnik/Murad Orujov

Di beberapa negara Muslim, hari pertama Ramadhan ditentukan dengan perhitungan astronomi, dan di negara lain - dengan pengamatan langsung terhadap Bulan (hilal) atau kesaksian para teolog terkemuka. Dalam Islam, kedua pilihan tersebut diperbolehkan, dan oleh karena itu tanggal mulai bulan suci mungkin berbeda di setiap negara.

Di Rusia pada tahun 2024, Ramadhan akan dimulai pada 10 Maret saat matahari terbenam. Hari pertama puasa umat Islam akan jatuh pada tanggal 11 Maret, dan hari terakhir akan berlangsung hingga malam tanggal 8 April.

Sang mufti menceritakan berapa banyak umat Islam di Rusia yang berpuasa selama Ramadhan.

Lebih dari 40% Muslim di Rusia, atau sekitar 20 juta orang, menurut data awal, menjalankan puasa dengan ketat selama bulan suci Ramadhan, Mufti Muhammad Tadzhuddinov, kepala administrasi Pusat Administrasi Spiritual Muslim (TSDUM) Rusia , kepada RIA Novosti, Rabu.

Buka puasa di bulan Ramadhan bagi orang beriman - "buka puasa" - terjadi setelah matahari terbenam. “Menyelesaikan sahurnya dua jam sebelum matahari terbit, yaitu pukul 02.45, berbuka hampir pukul 22.00,” imbuh mufti.

©AP Photo/Karim Kadim

Dia mengklarifikasi bahwa selama Ramadhan, “tidak semua orang yang shalat pergi ke masjid,” dan ada kategori yang tidak wajib mengunjungi masjid: wanita, anak-anak, orang sakit, orang lemah.

Di republik Kaukasus Utara, Chechnya para kepala republik secara resmi mengucapkan selamat kepada umat Islam di awal dan akhir Ramadhan. Selama Ramadhan, acara amal diadakan di republik-republik untuk membantu keluarga miskin, janda, anak yatim piatu, orang yang sakit parah, dan orang tua. Beberapa bank memberikan hadiah Ramadhan kepada nasabahnya. Pengusaha mengalokasikan dana amal untuk proyek-proyek kemanusiaan dan mendistribusikan jatah makanan kepada masyarakat miskin dan keluarga besar.

"Saya percaya bahwa adalah tepat di bulan Ramadhan untuk mendamaikan pihak-pihak yang bertikai. Hal ini diperlukan untuk kepentingan orang-orang yang pada waktu yang berbeda dan dalam keadaan yang berbeda bisa saja meninggal, menjadi yatim piatu anak-anak mereka. Kami melakukan amal amal,” situs web cabang tersebut mengutip pernyataan Ramzan Kadyrov dan pemerintah Republik Chechnya.

Selama Ramadhan di Chechnya, Ingushetia, dan Dagestan, seluruh ritme kehidupan berubah. Hal ini terutama terlihat di Grozny dan Makhachkala, pada siang hari jalanan ibu kota sepi, kafe dan restoran tutup.

Selama Ramadhan, buka puasa bersama diadakan setiap malam di masjid katedral Kaukasus Utara.

Pada tahun 2016, Ramadhan dirayakan di Dagestan pada hari yang berbeda dibandingkan di wilayah Rusia lainnya, karena menurut para alim republik, bulan sabit muda, yang menandai awal bulan suci, dapat dilihat di Dagestan setelahnya. di wilayah lain di Distrik Federal Kaukasia Utara.

Administrasi Spiritual Muslim Chechnya telah berulang kali menerima penundaan tanggal mulai Ramadhan (tahun 2010-2011 dan 2013-2014). Pada tahun 2016, tanggal bulan Ramadhan ditetapkan oleh para teolog dengan mempertimbangkan terjadinya hari tersebut di negara-negara Islam. Jadi, tahun 2024 jatuh pada tanggal 11 Maret.

Banjir di Jember Ratusan Rumah Terendam 1 Orang Terluka - BPBD

Ratusan rumah di dua kecamatan di Kabupaten Jember, Jawa Timur (Jatim), terendam banjir akibat hujan deras yang mengguyur wilayah tersebut sejak hari Jumat sore hingga malam, 08/03/2024. Banjir juga menyebabkan satu orang mengalami luka-luka.

“Banjir meluap ke permukiman warga dan jalan nasional dengan ketinggian air 60-100 cm dan masuk ke rumah warga dengan ketinggian air 20-50 cm,” kata Kepala BPBD Jember, Widodo Julianto, pada hari Sabtu, 09/03/2024.

Dia menjelaskan hujan deras selama satu jam di daerah itu mengakibatkan luapan Sungai Banjarsari di Dusun Paguan, Desa Petung, Kecamatan Bangsalsari hingga merendam permukiman warga.

“Banjir itu juga diakibatkan juga dari luberan persawahan dan pemukiman warga dan drainase yang tidak mampu menampung debit air hujan,” katanya.

Ia menjelaskan banjir merendam beberapa desa di Kecamatan Bangsalsari, yakni Desa Petung, Tisnogambar, Sukorejo, dan Langkap dengan total korban terdampak mencapai 392 kepala keluarga (KK).

Di Kecamatan Balung, banjir melanda beberapa dusun di Desa Curahlele dengan jumlah korban terdampak 282 KK.

Total jumlah mereka yang terdampak banjir mencapai 674 KK dengan satu orang mengalami luka-luka atas nama Hadi Wicaksono, 45, akibat terkena tembok rumah yang roboh akibat bencana itu.

Petugas gabungan juga mengevakuasi anak-anak dan lansia yang rumahnya terendam banjir cukup tinggi karena debit air sungai di kawasan setempat cukup deras sehingga dikhawatirkan luapan banjir semakin tinggi.

Banjir yang menggenangi jalan nasional di Desa Petung, Kecamatan Bangsalsari itu, menyebabkan kemacetan lalu lintas hingga tujuh kilometer, baik dari arah Jember menuju Surabaya maupun sebaliknya. Sebagian pengendara memilih memutar balik kendaraan untuk mencari jalan alternatif.

“Saat ini jalan nasional yang tergenang air sudah surut dan jalur lalu lintas sudah normal kembali. Begitu juga dengan kondisi banjir di Desa Petung, Kecamatan Bangsalsari juga sudah surut,” ujarnya.

Banjir di Desa Langkap, Sukorejo, Tisnogambar di Kecamatan Bangsalsari dan Desa Curah Lele, Kecamatan Balung masih menggenangi rumah warga.