Wednesday, January 03, 2024

TNA Arabic journalist Diaa al-Kahlout 'tortured in Israeli prison'

The New Arab Staff
03 January, 2024

The Gaza bureau chief for Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, TNA's sister site, was arrested at gunpoint, beaten, and stripped by Israeli forces almost a month ago.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed journalist Diaa al-Kahlout is believed to be at a prison in Beersheba, southern Israel [Al-Araby Al-Jadeed]

A journalist in Gaza for The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site is being tortured in Israeli detention, a recently released Palestinian detainee has said.

Diaa Al-Kahlout, Gaza bureau chief for Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, was arrested at gunpoint, beaten, and stripped by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia on 7 December.

A recently released young detainee told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that he had seen Kahlout being brutally tortured in Israeli detention, including being forced to kneel for hours at a time or made to sit shackled to a chair for prolonged periods.

Kahlout and a group of other civilians were seen stripped to their underwear on a northern Gaza street in humiliating conditions by Israeli forces.

Like other Palestinian detainees, Kahlout is being brutally interrogated, the freed detainee said, in his case for his media work.

Almost a month after Kahlout was detained, Israel has not commented on the journalist's welfare or whereabouts. Detainees released by Israel have said Kahlout is being held at an Israeli prison in Beersheba, and his health is deteriorating.

Press freedom groups - including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) - have urged Israel to immediately release Kahlout, while the UN said it was "very concerned" about his condition.

Journalists in Gaza have urged international organisations to continue to press for Kahlout's release.

TNA Arabic demands Israel release Gaza chief Diaa al-Kahlout

"Diaa insisted on staying in the north to continue his work. He is currently detained and facing torture in prison, and we do not know his fate," Hisham Zaqout, an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza said.

"He must be released immediately, and the nature of his detention must be revealed, while we call on international institutions to protect Palestinian journalists in Gaza in particular."

Israel appears to be deliberately targeting journalists in Gaza, press freedom groups have said. More than 100 journalists have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, with little to no response from Israel's allies.

Basel Khalaf, Al-Araby TV's correspondent in Gaza, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the number of Palestinians killed and detained would continue to rise due to Israel's impunity with detaining journalists such as Diaa and killing other media wore - the ears and eyes for Palestinians.

Israa Al-Buhaisi, Gaza correspondent for the Al-Alam television channel told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: "Our colleague Diaa was doing his job: conveying the truth.

"Diaa’s work, and the work of all journalists, is guaranteed and protected by all international conventions. So Diaa and everything done to him in detention is the entire world's responsibility."

After Kahlout's arrest, Israeli forces also burned down his home and the houses of his two brothers.

The house that the family later took refuge in was then bombed, killing Kahlout's father-in-law, as well as injuring his wife and son.

NAKBA 2
Israel 'plans to expel Gaza population' to Democratic Republic of Congo

The New Arab Staff
03 January, 2024

Israeli officials have made many indications that they intend to expel Gaza's population, with new reports of secret talks with Congo in this regard

Gaza's 1.9 million displaced people have been pushed further and further south into an increasingly small area of land by Israel [Getty]

Israeli officials are reported to be holding secret talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo and other nations regarding the expulsion of Palestinians displaced by Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Zman Yisrael on Wednesday.

The newspaper, which is the Hebrew-language sister outlet of the Times of Israel, said the Gaza "migration" policy is rapidly becoming the leading policy of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet regarding Gaza's population.

Netanyahu has reportedly given the go-ahead for the expulsion policy and high-level cabinet members are following suit, which has initiated the talks with Congo as a possible destination.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million population have been displaced by Israel's indiscriminate and brutal war, which has so far killed at least 22,313 people, most of them women and children, and injured 57,296.

At the beginning of the war, Israel ordered residents of the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes, and many Israeli officials made statements supporting the forced expulsion of Gaza's residents

“Congo will be willing to take in migrants, and we are negotiating with others,” said a senior source in the Israeli war cabinet quoted by the Times of Israel.

Last Monday, at a meeting of the Likud Party, Netanyahu fully endorsed the idea, saying: “Our problem is finding countries willing to accept them [Gazans], and we are working on it.”

On Tuesday, the US criticised far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for advocating the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.

However, the support and implementation by Netanyahu, leading to the clandestine talks between the Israeli government and the Democratic Republic of Congo, appears to be a dangerous escalation in the implementation of an expulsion plan that has often been characterised as ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The Israeli government is calling the policy “voluntary migration”, but quotes from senior cabinet ministers suggest that the entire policy hinges upon Israel making Gaza uninhabitable for the civilian population, essentially forcing Palestinians to leave.

“At the end of the war Hamas rule will collapse, there are no municipal authorities, the civilian population will be entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. There will be no work, and 60% of Gaza’s agricultural land will become security buffer zones,” Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel said to the Knesset on Tuesday.

How Israel's war is deliberately making Gaza uninhabitable
In-depth
Hebh Jamal

Gamliel, who is allegedly one of the main authors of the plan according to Zman Yisrael, presented the Israeli cabinet with a map showing a postwar Gaza, with the remaining Palestinian civilians being "closed off from all directions", and with Israel “expanding its security borders unrecognisably, controlling the Philadelphi Corridor, and imposing a permanent naval blockade”.

This, the Israeli government is arguing, necessitates the migration of the civilian population. Gamliel also claimed that no Palestinian body was fit to take power in Gaza as the civilian population will be exposed to “constant hatred of Israel” and it will lead to more attacks like that of October 7.

The newspaper also reported that Saudi Arabia was discussed by the war cabinet as a potential destination for Palestinians in Gaza, with Israeli ministers citing the large amounts of South Asian workers used by the Riyadh as it continues its construction boom.

Israeli lawmaker says its becoming clear that 'all Gazans must be destroyed'

The New Arab Staff
03 January, 2024

Israeli MK Moshe Saada said calls for Gaza and its population to be destroyed had seeped across the political spectrum.

Several Israeli ministers and lawmakers have called for Gaza to be ethnically cleansed of Palestinians [AFP via Getty]

An Israeli lawmaker from Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has said that it was becoming increasingly clear to Israelis that "all Gazans must be destroyed", Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Moshe Saada claimed that such calls had seeped across the political spectrum, with more supposedly moderate elements of Israeli society calling for Gaza in its current state to be destroyed entirely.

"My friends at the prosecutor's office, who fought with me on political matters, in debates, tell me, 'Moshe, it is clear that all the Gazans need to be destroyed,' and these are statements I have never heard," Saade told Channel 14.

Such statements proved that 'the right' was right on the issue, Saada said.

The remarks from Saada come as Israeli politicians make increasingly genocidal statements about Palestinians in Gaza, amid a brutal air and ground assault that has killed more than 22,000 people. Almost all of Gaza's population have been displaced from their homes since the assault began on 7 October.

While Israel has often claimed that its operation aims to eradicate Hamas, several politicians and lawmakers have called for Gaza as a whole to be destroyed.

In November, far-right minister Amichai Eliyahu said that dropping a nuclear weapon on the Gaza Strip is "an option", and has maintained that "there are no non-combatants in Gaza."

'Erase Gaza': How genocidal rhetoric is normalised in Israel
In-depth
Jessica Buxbaum

Both Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have in recent days reiterated their calls for Gazans to be pushed out of the territory.

Calls for Gaza to be ethnically cleansed have been slammed even by Israel's staunchest ally, the US.

Israel is reportedly looking into a plan to expel the Palestinian population to third countries including Congo.

US slams ‘irresponsible’ calls by Smotrich and Ben Gvir for emigration of Gazans

State Dept issues rare, unprompted critique of ministers by name, days after Biden pressed PM to rein in far-right partners; Ben Gvir unfazed: ‘We are not another star in the US flag’

By JACOB MAGID 3 January 2024,

Religious Zionist party leader MK Bezalel Smotrich (right) with Otzma Yehudit party leader MK Itamar Ben Gvir in the Knesset plenum, December 28, 2022.

(Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The US State Department on Tuesday called out far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir for advocating the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.

“This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a relatively rare, unprompted statement calling out a pair of Israeli ministers by name.

The statement underscored growing frustration in Washington with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which the Biden administration has continued to support diplomatically and militarily in the war against Hamas but has increasingly sparred with regarding planning for Gaza once the fighting ends.

For months, Netanyahu has bucked US requests to begin planning for who will govern the Gaza Strip after the war, ostensibly recognizing that his far-right coalition partners would reject proposals that do not include Israel’s re-occupation and re-settlement of Gaza — which the security establishment, Washington and even the premier himself oppose.

After weeks of silence on the issue, Netanyahu began what two US officials last month characterized to The Times of Israel as a “political campaign,” in which he has repeatedly vowed not to allow the Palestinian Authority to again rule Gaza.

While rejecting the PA’s return, Netanyahu has offered few details on what political entity he wants to rule Gaza. His aides have spoken to reporters on condition of anonymity about the idea of “local Palestinian clan leaders” governing the Strip.

Palestinians flee the Israeli ground operation in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

Other right-wing members of the coalition, though, have been more forthcoming about their visions for Gaza after the war, expressing support for encouraging Palestinians to emigrate from Gaza and reestablishing settlements there.

Netanyahu has not personally addressed the uproar over such calls, which in recent days received a major boost from Smotrich and Ben Gvir, but his office has issued statements insisting they do not represent government policy.

“We want to encourage willful emigration, and we need to find countries willing to take them in,” Smotrich told Channel 12 on Saturday

“We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing,” Ben Gvir said in a faction meeting on Monday.

The war presents an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza,” Ben Gvir told reporters and members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party, calling such a policy “a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”

US President Joe Biden is greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, in Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Responding to these comments following the long holiday weekend in the US, the State Department’s spokesman said Tuesday, “We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the prime minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately.”

Miller’s statement came days after US President Joe Biden reportedly took Netanyahu to task on a phone call for failing to stand up to the hardliners in his coalition, which he said he’s done with the far-left flank of the Democratic party that is urging a ceasefire in Gaza. Biden was taking particular issue with Israel’s decision to withhold tens of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues from the PA. Smotrich reiterated his refusal as finance minister to transfer a single shekel to the PA.

Biden called out Ben Gvir publicly last month, lamenting that “Ben Gvir and company and the new folks don’t want anything remotely approaching a two-state solution.”
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As for the US position on Israeli settlements in Gaza, Miller reiterated, “We have been clear, consistent and unequivocal that Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terror groups able to threaten Israel.”

That stance appeared to put the US at odds with mainstream Israeli leaders such as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who have called for the IDF to establish a security buffer zone in Gaza after the war.

“That is the future we seek in the interests of Israelis and Palestinians, the surrounding region and the world,” Miller added.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, in Jerusalem on June 27, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

While Smotrich did not immediately respond to the US statement, Ben Gvir quickly issued a retort brushing off the criticism.

“I really admire the United States of America but with all due respect, we are not another star in the American flag,” Ben Gvir tweeted, repeating the same phrase he has previously used to respond to criticism from Washington.

“The United States is our best friend, but before everything else, we will do what is good for the State of Israel: The emigration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow residents [of the border area] to return home and live in security and protect IDF soldiers,” the far-right minister added.

The State Department’s criticism was echoed by US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who tweeted, “There should be no mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and we reject the recent inflammatory statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir.”

Also calling out Smotrich was Rabbi Rick Jacobs, who heads the the Reform movement, the largest US Jewish denomination.

“We condemn Israeli Minister Smotrich’s call for ethnic cleansing,” Jacobs wrote on X. “Along with most major American Jewish leaders, we have refused to meet with him to sanction his politics and beliefs.”

Iran: 103 killed in blasts near grave of IRGC commander General Qassem Soleimani

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
03 January, 2024

At least 103 people were killed in Iran, as two blasts struck a crowd marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of General Qassem Soleimani

At least 20 people killed in blasts at ceremony that was honoring slain Iranian general in Iran's Kerman province

Two explosions caused by a "terrorist attack" killed at least 103 people and wounded dozens near a cemetery in Iran on Wednesday where a ceremony was being held to mark the 2020 death of the country's top commander Qassem Soleimani.

Iranian state television reported a first and then a second explosion during the ceremony in the southeastern city of Kerman, saying at least 103 people had been killed.

"The incident is a terrorist attack," Rahman Jalali, the deputy governor of the Kerman province told state media.

Iran executes four accused of sabotage, links to Israel's Mossad

The blasts stuck near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, Soleimani's southern hometown where he is buried, as supporters gathered to mark the fourth anniversary of his death in a US drone strike just outside Baghdad airport.

The semi-official Nournews had said earlier that "several gas canisters exploded on the road leading to the cemetery".

State TV showed Red Crescent rescuers attending to wounded people at the ceremony, where hundreds of Iranians had gathered to mark the anniversary of Soleimani's death.

"Our rapid response teams are evacuating the injured... But there are waves of crowds blocking roads," Reza Fallah, head of the Kerman province Red Crescent told state TV.

At least 141 people were also wounded in the bombings, state media said, adding that some were in "critical condition".

Among those killed were three paramedics who were dispatched to the area following the first explosion, according to Iran's Red Crescent.

Iran's Tasnim news agency, quoting informed sources, said "two bags carrying bombs went off" at the site.

"The perpetrators ... of this incident apparently detonated the bombs by remote control," Tasnim added.

The ISNA news agency quoted Kerman mayor Saeed Tabrizi as saying the bombs exploded 10 minutes apart.

Online footage showed crowds scrambling to flee as security personnel cordoned off the area.

Images on state television showed several ambulances and rescue personnel in the area.

Soleimani was head of the IRGC's Quds Force when he was assassinated in a US drone attack in Baghdad in 2020 on the orders of former President Donald Trump.

His fighters helped prop up Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad and defeat the Islamic State group in Iraq.

Editor note: This story has been edited to reflect updated death toll

WHO chief deplores 'unconscionable' strikes on Red Crescent in Gaza

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
03 January, 2024

WHO chief deplores 'unconscionable' strikes on Red Crescent in Gaza, as locals are facing a "dire humanitarian catastrophe".

Tedros reports that 14,000 people were sheltering at the hospital targeted by Israel. [Getty]

The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said he deplored the strikes on the Palestine Red Crescent Society headquarters in Gaza, describing them as "unconscionable".

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health must never be a target during conflicts, adding that Gazans were facing a "dire humanitarian catastrophe".

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that Israel twice struck its headquarters in the southern city of Khan Yunis, resulting in "five casualties and three injuries" among displaced people who had sought refuge there and at a nearby hospital.

"I deplore today's strikes on the PRCS-run Al-Amal hospital," Tedros said on X, formerly Twitter.

He said WHO staff and colleagues from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA undertook a mission to the facilities on Tuesday, "where they witnessed extensive damage and displacement of civilians".

Tedros reports that 14,000 people were sheltering at the hospital.

"Many of them have now left, and those remaining are extremely fearful for their safety and planning to leave a place they had turned to for refuge and protection," the UN health agency's chief said.

"Hospitals, ambulances, health workers, and people seeking care must be protected, at all times, under international humanitarian law," he said.

Gaza war: WHO chief expresses concern on infectious diseases

"Today's bombardments are unconscionable. Gaza's health system is already on its knees, with health and aid workers continuously stymied in their efforts to save lives due to the hostilities."

He reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire, alongside urgent action to get food, medical supplies and water to Gazan civilians "forced to live in unspeakable conditions of hunger, disease spread, and lack of hygiene and sanitation".

Tedros added that only a "fraction" of Gazans needing medical evacuation were being taken out of the Palestinian territory.

"This is unacceptable in light of the dire humanitarian catastrophe which has unfolded over three months," the Ethiopian former health minister said.

On 7 October, Israel began a relentless bombardment and ground offensive on Gaza that has killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Australia launches inquiry into why Cabinet documents relating to Iraq war remain secret

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gestures as he speaks to the media during a press conference at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Albanese has ordered an inquiry into why 20-year-old Cabinet documents relating to Australia joining the 2003 Iraq Invasion remain secret, saying Australians have a right to know why their country went to war.

(Flavio Brancaleone/AAP Image via AP)

BY ROD MCGUIRK
January 2, 2024

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ordered an inquiry into why 20-year-old Cabinet documents relating to Australia joining the United States-led Iraq invasion remain secret, saying Wednesday that Australians have a right to know why their country went to war in 2003.

On Monday, the National Archives of Australia released 2003 Cabinet records in keeping with an annual Jan. 1 practice following the expiration of a 20-year secrecy provision.

But 78 documents relating to the Iraq war were withheld because they were prepared for the National Security Committee, a subset of Cabinet ministers who make decisions relating to national security and foreign policy.

Committing Australia to war was the committee’s decision.

Iran says at least 95 were killed in blasts at a ceremony honoring slain general

Albanese blamed the former conservative government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison for failing to follow the usual practice of handing over all documents to the archive three years before their due release date.

Retired public servant Dennis Richardson had been appointed to investigate over two weeks whether the documents had been withheld as part of a political cover up, Albanese said.

A former conservative government’s decision to send Australian combat troops to back U.S. and British forces in the Iraq invasion was opposed by Albanese’s center-left Labor Party, then in opposition, and triggered Australia’s biggest street protests since the Vietnam War.

Albanese said the archive should release the documents once they have been examined for any national security issues that could exempt them from rules mandating they be made public after 20 years.

“Let me make it very clear of what my government’s position is: Australians have a right to know the basis upon which Australia went to war in Iraq,” Albanese told reporters.

“If this doesn’t occur, we’ll look at whether the government needs to take further action to ensure that there’s transparency here,” Albanese added.

The government department responsible for passing the documents to the archive blamed “administrative oversights” likely caused by pandemic disruption for them not reaching the archive in 2020.

The department said in a statement the archive now had the documents and would consult with security agencies before deciding whether they could be released.

The archive said in a statement it would decide within 90 business days” whether the documents would be made public. The archive had received the documents on New Year’s Eve and was giving priority to examining them, the statement said.

Singapore's Clandestine Cats Can Soon Legally Call City-State Home

January 02, 2024
Reuters

Sunny gives treats to her Ragdoll cat, Mooncake, in her Housing and Development Board flat in Singapore, Dec. 19, 2023.

SINGAPORE —

Sunny prides herself on being a law-abiding Singaporean citizen, but for the last three years, she's been hiding a feline fugitive called Mooncake.

The fluffy ragdoll lives with Sunny in defiance of a 34-year-old law banning cats in the government-built apartments that house the vast majority of Singaporeans. Luckily for Mooncake, Singapore plans to scrap the ban later this year, freeing Sunny from the threat of a $3,007 fine or her pet's potential eviction.

"Cats are so much quieter than dogs. If they allow dogs, I don't understand why not cats," said Sunny, 30, who works in marketing and asked to be identified only by her first name because she didn't want to risk her cat being taken away.

Authorities rarely enforce the ban, which applies to the high-rise Housing and Development Board apartment blocks where 80% of 3.6 million Singaporeans live. It has long been flouted by countless cat lovers.

Singapore's ban on cats in HDB housing is yet another example of the city-state's infamously exacting rules-based culture, in which, for example, the sale and import of chewing gum remains banned.

Established in 1960, the HDB scheme sells government-built units directly to qualified citizens on 99-year leases. It has led to one of the world's highest home-ownership rates, but residents are subject to many restrictions and regulations.

Cats were allowed in HDB flats until parliament amended the housing law in 1989. On its website, the HDB justifies the ban by saying that cats are "difficult to contain within the flat ... they tend to shed fur and defecate or urinate in public areas, and also make caterwauling sounds, which can inconvenience your neighbors."

It's not clear what made the Singapore government change its mind, but the tipping point appears to be an official survey in 2022 that showed 9 out of 10 respondents agreed that cats were suitable pets to keep, including in HDB flats.

The authorities are now surveying members of the public on the "proposed cat management framework" that should come into place later in 2024.

Dogs have not been subject to a similar ban, but they are limited to one per household and only certain breeds and sizes can be kept as pets: for example, miniature poodles are allowed, but golden retrievers are not.

Market research firm Euromonitor International has predicted a surge in cat ownership. In a report on the prospects for cat food companies, it estimated Singapore's pet population at 94,000 cats and 113,000 dogs.

Lawmaker Louis Ng, who ran an animal welfare group before joining parliament in 2015, also hopes the change will lead more people to adopt rescued cats.

Under the new framework, HDB residents would be limited to two cats. It also mandates licensing and microchipping cats, as well as installing mesh screens on windows so cats don't fall out.

Some cat lovers say the new regulations don't go far enough.

Thenuga Vijakumar from the Cat Welfare Society wants the law to mandate sterilization. Cat rescuer Chan Chow Wah, 50, also wants penalties for irresponsible owners. He said he had to take care of a cat that fell from the third story and whose owners refused to pay its medical bills, as well as another cat that was abandoned after being diagnosed with heart disease.

"I end up taking over these cases. Basically, I look after them until they pass away," said Chan, estimating he spent $45,100 on vet bills in 2022.

But for many cat owners like Mooncake's Sunny, the law is a blessing that will bring her peace of mind.

"I think it's a good thing and it's a step forward after 30 years," she said.

Internal Conflict in Myanmar Proves to Be a Challenge for China

January 02, 2024 7:32 PM
Nyein Chan Aye

WASHINGTON —

Regional experts believe China's recent efforts to mediate between the Myanmar junta and ethnic rebels on its northern border are motivated mainly by self-interest but unlikely to have a significant impact on the conflict.

China's goals in convening the peace talk between the military and the Three Brotherhood Alliance, conducted most recently in Kunming on December 20, is two-fold, according to the experts: to eliminate cyberfraud operations victimizing Chinese citizens and to stabilize trade across the China-Myanmar border.

"So, the economic interest or the border trade is being affected, that is for sure," Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, said in an interview.

"But that is a minor consideration compared to the cyber campaign. … The sooner it can be completed, the sooner the cease-fire is, and the sooner the stability can be restored."

The armed conflict has caused a daily loss in bilateral trade between China and Myanmar of about $10 million, according to Than Soe Naing, a veteran Myanmar domestic political analyst. But he said this loss is more damaging for Myanmar than China.

"The flow of goods from the border region is not much compared to China's international economic relations. Our country suffers more," he said.

Beijing has taken care to be evenhanded in its statements about the talks, in line with its public policy of solving problems and pursuing stability in the region through negotiations and dialogue.

In a formal statement on December 28, China's Foreign Ministry said the country "hopes that relevant parties in Myanmar will exercise maximum restraint, actively ease the situation on the ground, together realize the soft landing of the situation in northern Myanmar and take concrete actions to protect the safety and security of Chinese projects and personnel in Myanmar."

Yun Sun said China's main concern is not to resolve the issue of territorial control between the military council and ethnic forces in Myanmar but to crack down on cyber scams located on the China-Myanmar border.

This has been challenging for China. The anti-junta People's Defense Forces movement has gained momentum since a major offensive in late October known as 1027, taking over significant amounts of territory in the north.

Both analysts believe that the military regime is now on the defensive and more likely to favor a cease-fire. But Than Soe Naing predicted the rebels will continue their offensive and that fighting is likely to intensify throughout northern Shan State.

"China will sit and watch over the issue of who will win between the Military Council versus Spring Revolution forces in Myanmar," he said. Beijng "will come to whoever takes power in Burma. He will cooperate with the ruling entity and continue his plan," including the Belt and Road Initiative.

"Let me give you an example: China is like a tiger sitting on a mountain watching two buffaloes fight. They will cooperate with the forces of whoever wins. However, according to their current practicing international diplomacy position, they will not take sides in this conflict. China will cooperate with whoever is in power. Even if there is a change in power, China will continue to cooperate with the new one in power."

Than Soe Naing also pointed out that China does not want external interference in the Myanmar issue.

"I believe China will continue to prevent the involvement of Western democratic forces in these issues in various ways," he said.

UPDATED

Japan says Coast Guard plane apparently not cleared for take-off before runway collision

2024/01/03

By Maki Shiraki, Daniel Leussink and Lisa Barrington

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese authorities said on Wednesday a passenger jet that collided with a Coast Guard turboprop at a Tokyo airport was given permission to land, but the smaller plane was not cleared for take-off, based on control tower transcripts.

All 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 managed to evacuate after it erupted in flames following Tuesday's crash with a De Havilland Dash-8 Coast Guard turboprop shortly after landing at Haneda airport.

But five died among the six Coast Guard crew who were due to depart on a flight responding to a major earthquake on Japan's west coast, while the captain, who escaped the wreckage, was badly injured.

Authorities have only just begun their investigations and there remains uncertainty over the circumstances surrounding the crash, including how the two aircraft ended up on the same runway. Experts stress it usually takes the failure of multiple safety guardrails for an airplane accident to happen.

But transcripts of traffic control instructions released by authorities appeared to show the Japan Airlines jet had been given permission to land while the Coast Guard aircraft had been told to taxi to a holding point near the runway.

An official from Japan's civil aviation bureau told reporters there was no indication in those transcripts that the Coast Guard aircraft had been granted permission to take off.

The captain of the turboprop plane said he had entered the runway after receiving permission, a Coast Guard official said, while acknowledging that there was no indication in the transcripts that he had been cleared to do so.

"The transport ministry is submitting objective material and will fully cooperate with the ... investigation to ensure we work together to take all possible safety measures to prevent a recurrence," Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters.

The Japan Safety Transport Board (JTSB) is investigating the accident, with participation by agencies in France, where the Airbus jet was built, and Britain, where its two Rolls-Royce engines were manufactured.

The JTSB has recovered the voice recorder from the coast guard aircraft, authorities said.

POLICE INQUIRY

Meanwhile, Tokyo police are investigating whether possible professional negligence led to deaths and injuries, several media, including Kyodo and the Nikkei business newspaper, said.

Police set up a unit to investigate and planned to interview those involved, a spokesperson said, declining to say if they were examining suggestions of negligence. Parallel investigations have raised concerns in the past over tensions between civil safety investigations and police-led inquiries.

"There's a strong possibility there was a human error," said aviation analyst Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who is a former JAL pilot.

"Aircraft accidents very rarely occur due to a single problem, so I think that this time too there were two or three issues that led to the accident."

In a statement on Wednesday, JAL said the aircraft recognised and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control before approaching and touching down.

All passengers and crew were evacuated within 20 minutes of the crash, but the aircraft, engulfed in flames, burned for more than six hours, the airline said.

The Coast Guard aircraft, one of six based at the airport, had been due to transport aid to regions hit by Monday's earthquake of magnitude 7.6 that has killed 64 people, with survivors facing freezing temperatures and prospects of heavy rain.

The accident forced the cancellation of 137 domestic, and four international, flights on Wednesday, the government said.

But emergency flights and high-speed rail services have been requested to ease the congestion, Transport Minister Saito said.

Michael Daniel, a former U.S. accident investigator, said investigators will be looking to make recommendations.

"The main thing is the situational awareness: what is it they would have told the pilot holding short of getting on a runway ... And then what was air traffic's understanding. Did the controller gave them clearance to take off? ... A lot of that information will come out when they start reviewing the cockpit voice recorder as well as the air traffic tapes."

(Reporting by Maki Shiraki, Kaori Kaneko, Daniel Leussink and Nobuhiro Kubo in Tokyo and Lisa Barrington in Seoul; Writing by John Geddie, Tim Hepher; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Heinrich)

Concerns mount over runway technology gap as Japan probes crash

By Tim Hepher, Allison Lampert, David Shepardson and Valerie Insinna

January 3, 2024

PARIS, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A runway collision at Tokyo's Haneda airport has raised concerns over a gap in alerting technology, weeks after the global aviation industry faced new warnings about runway safety.

All 379 people aboard a Japan Airlines (JAL) <9201.T> Airbus A350 escaped following a collision with a Dash-8 Coast Guard turboprop that killed five of six crew on the smaller aircraft.

Experts have cautioned it is too early to pinpoint a cause and stress most accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors.

Investigators are examining conversations between controllers and pilots and are expected to embark in coming days on a detailed examination of plane and airport systems.

Japanese authorities said on Wednesday the A350 was given permission to land, but the Coast Guard plane was not cleared for take-off, based on control tower transcripts.

The crash marks the first significant accident involving the Airbus A350, in service since 2015, and the first destruction by fire of a new generation of carbon-composite airliner.

It comes weeks after a U.S.-based safety group called for global action to prevent a new uptick in runway collisions or "incursions" as skies become more congested.

"Despite efforts over the years to prevent incursions, they still happen," Flight Safety Foundation CEO Hassan Shahidi said in a statement.

"The risk of runway incursions is a global concern, and the potential consequences of an incursion are severe."

Although ground collisions involving injury or damage have become rare, their potential for loss of life is among the highest of any category and near-misses are more common.

A collision between two Boeing 747s in Tenerife in 1977, killing 583 people, remains aviation's most deadly accident.

In 2016, a China Eastern Airbus A320 getting airborne from Shanghai missed hitting an A330 from the same airline as it taxied across the take-off runway just 19 metres below.

And a rash of near misses in the United States has led to the creation of an expert panel to address controller fatigue.

'TECHNOLOGY GAP'

The Washington-based Flight Safety Foundation says breakdowns in communication often play a role.

But a shortage of electronics to avoid collisions on the ground, rather than in the air where software to trigger avoidance has been available since the 1980s, is also a concern.

Officials investigate a burnt Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan January 3, 2024.

]Firefighters work on a burning Japan Airlines' A350 airplane at Haneda International Airport, in Tokyo, Japan January 2, 2024.

REUTERS/Issei Kato/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

"Many of the serious incidents could have been avoided through better situational awareness technologies that can help air traffic controllers and pilots detect potential runway conflicts," Shahidi said.

The Federal Aviation Administration says 35 U.S. airports are fitted with a system called ASDE-X that uses radar, satellites and a navigation tool called multilateration to track ground movements.

But National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said in November the U.S. - a bellwether for airports worldwide - lacks sufficient technology to prevent incursions.

In 2018, Airbus said it was working with Honeywell on a system called SURF-A, or Surface-Alert, to help prevent runway collisions by giving pilots visual and audio warnings.

But no date for implementation has yet been announced and the idea has brushed up against reluctance from some airlines unwilling to bear the extra cost, while underlying reforms in U.S. and European air traffic systems have long been delayed.

"(The) primary concern about SURF is costs," one airline told a U.S. panel on air systems, according to a 2021 report.

Another commented: "Nothing can motivate investment; simply don't see a risk issue or benefit worthy of pursuit."

Airline groups had no immediate comment. Industry experts say flying often involves tricky choices of costs versus safety.

A person familiar with the technology said it had also been delayed by gaps in ADS-B tracking coverage on which it depends.

Development had also proved more challenging than the TCAS cockpit system which has been monitoring the threat of in-air collisions during flight for decades, due to the need to take into account multiple ground obstacles and systems.

In 2022, two firefighters were killed when their untracked vehicle hit a LATAM Airbus A320 during takeoff.

"The system is still under development," an Airbus spokesperson said.

The head of Honeywell's Aerospace Technologies division, Jim Currier, told Reuters the system went through a series of successful tests in December and should be certified and available to airlines "gradually over the next few years".

Although automated landings are increasing, experts say much still depends on visual checks by pilots who may be distracted by a high workload or the blur of a night-time runway.

"I think the investigation will focus a lot on the clearances ... and then also what the (JAL) crew could see. Could they physically see that airplane on the runway," said former U.S. air accident investigator John Cox.

Lighting was an issue in a 1991 collision between a USAir plane and SkyWest Airlines aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport in California, for example.

"One of the things that came out of that was that the USAir crew physically could not see the SkyWest Metroliner there. Although it was on the runway, the lighting was such that you … physically couldn’t see it," he said.

Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Nick Macfie and Nick Zieminski

Airbus dispatches specialists to help investigate aircraft collision in Japan

Xinhua, January 3, 2024

Airbus announced on Tuesday that a team of specialists was dispatched to assist relevant authorities to investigate an aircraft collision that involved one of its A-350 aircraft delivered to Japan Airlines.

In a press release, Airbus said that it would provide technical assistance to the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) of France and to the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) in charge of the investigation.

Five of the six crew members aboard a Japan Coast Guard aircraft that collided with a passenger plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday were confirmed dead, while the captain who managed to escape earlier was severely injured, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported.

Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima earlier confirmed the collision between the Japan Airlines aircraft and its flight MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8, with both aircraft catching fire.

The Coast Guard plane was taxiing on the runway to transport relief goods for quake-hit areas in Niigata Prefecture after a series of temblors of up to 7.6 magnitude struck central Japan on Monday afternoon, according to the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, all 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Japan Airlines flight escaped from the airplane while it was on fire without life-threatening injuries after it collided with the smaller Coast Guard aircraft, the NHK reported.