January 6, 2024

SUKKUR: Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Mahrang Baloch along with around 300 unknown campaigners for the recovery of missing Baloch citizens was booked in a sedition case at the Wada Machhiyoon police station of Khairpur district on Friday. SHO Sarfaraz Khoso lodged the FIR on behalf of the state under Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code. The complainant alleged that Mahrang Baloch and her supporters had been inciting people to public revolt against the state and army during the recent protests in Islamabad under a foreign agenda. Source:https://www.dawn.com/news/1803549/another-sedition-case-lodged-against-mahrang-baloch-supporters

Hundreds of people are still missing after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Japan’s west coast on January 1. The death toll from Japan’s New Year’s Day earthquake has now exceeded 100, as rescuers and residents have been sifting through the rubble to recover bodies. Hopes have dimmed to find survivors following the country’s deadliest earthquake in nearly eight years. But the authorities said on Saturday that more than 200 people are still missing. end of list The magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck Japan’s west coast destroyed infrastructure, leaving 23,000 homes without power in the Hokuriku region. Sixteen further deaths were confirmed in Wajima city and Anamizu town by 1pm (04:00 GMT) on Saturday, bringing the total to 110, the Kyodo news agency reported, quoting the Ishikawa prefectural government and other sources. Wajima city has recorded the highest number of deaths with 59, followed by Suzu with 23. The disaster resulted in more than 500 injuries, at least 27 of them serious. Rescuers carry away the body of a victim who was retrieved from a landslide site in the Kawashima district in the city of Anamizu, Ishikawa prefecture, on January 6, 2024 [Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP] “I was relaxing on New Year’s Day when the quake happened. My relatives were all there and we were having fun,” Wajima resident Hiroyuki Hamatani, told the AFP news agency amid charred cars and fallen telegraph poles. “The house itself is standing but it’s far from livable now … I don’t have the space in my mind to think about the future,” the 53-year-old said. Four of the world’s tectonic plates meet in Japan making the country particularly prone to earthquakes. It experiences hundreds of tremors every year, but most cause little to no damage. The death toll from last week’s earthquake is the highest since 2016, when quakes in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, killed 276 people. In 2011, a magnitude 9 undersea earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that wiped out entire communities and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. At least 18,500 people were killed. Advertisement AD Relief operations ongoing Thousands of soldiers were flying and trucking in water, food and medicine to the more than 32,000 people who had evacuated to auditoriums, schools and other facilities. However, road disruptions and other problems have hindered the delivery of relief supplies. “We are doing our best to conduct rescue operations at the isolated villages … However, the reality is that the isolation has not been resolved to the extent that we would like,” Ishikawa governor Hiroshi Hase said on Friday. The Yomiuri newspaper reported more than 100 landslides in the area, some blocking essential roads. While power is gradually returning along the coastline, water supplies remain scarce, with damaged emergency water systems. In an unusual gesture from nearby North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/6/japan-earthquake-death-toll-crosses-100

At least 18 Palestinians killed after Israeli attacks targeted a house in Khan Younis overnight. Israeli forces raiding locations across the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem with reports of fierce Palestinian resistance. UN humanitarian chief says Gaza has become a place of “death and despair” for Palestinians. Lebanon filed official complaint to the UN Security Council, saying that Israel fired six missiles in the attack that killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a Beirut suburb. At least 22,600 people killed and 57,910 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack on Israel stands at 1,139. If you’re just joining us It’s just after 11:15am (09:15 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Here’s a recap of the latest developments: Israeli forces intensifying operations in Zawaida in central Gaza, moving in with tanks, armoured vehicles, and attack drones. Hezbollah fires 62 rockets at Israeli air base, in “preliminary response” to killing of Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut. Death toll mounts from overnight Israeli attacks on southern and central Gaza. At least 18, including many women and children, killed in Khan Younis’s al-Manara neighbourhood. Residents of the occupied West Bank reel from another night of violent raids, with fierce clashes reported in Nablus city and Shu’fat refugee camp. US Secretary of State is in Turkey for talks with Erdogan on the Gaza war. He next heads to Greece as part of his regional tour. UN humanitarian aid chief says Gaza has become “uninhabitable… a place of death and despair” three months into the war. Click List of key events on day 92 of the war Israeli air attack that targeted a house in Khan Younis overnight killed at least 18 Palestinians overnight. Three people were killed and several wounded in an Israeli attack on a house in Deir el-Balah city in the central area of Gaza. Fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians reported in the occupied West Bank’s Nablus city and Shu’fat refugee camp amid raids. Israel’s army says it hit Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Friday with air strikes, tank fire and artillery shelling. Hezbollah launched missiles at an Israeli air base with 62 missiles on Saturday. US Secretary of State is in Turkey, and will also visit several other Middle East nations before heading to Israel and the occupied West Bank next week. Read the list of key events here. Residents and civil defense teams have been carrying out search and rescue operation after Israeli attacks in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. [Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency] Click here to share on social media Why is Lebanon home to so many Palestinian refugees and leaders? Simon Speakman Cordall Successive waves of Palestinian refugees to Lebanon have led to a stateless population of up to about 270,000 people, who live in 12 camps across the country. It started with the Nakba of 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were expelled during the creation of Israel, and has continued since, as resistance leaders and refugees alike sought shelter from Israeli attacks. Read our explainer to find out why so many Palestinian refugees and officials are in Lebanon. Click here to share on social media Hezbollah says this was only an initial strike to avenge al-Arouri’s killing Imran Khan Hezbollah put out a statement and said the 62 missiles it launched against an Israeli air base were part of its “initial” response to al-Arouri’s killing. We were expecting this to happen. Hassan Nasrallah promised a response to the killing. Things really depends on what the Israelis do next. They would have expected a response and would have been on high alert for these attacks. Hezbollah does have a political calculation and doesn’t want Lebanon to suffer from an all-out war, but it is talking tough and says if Israel wants to escalate, it will respond in kind. Israel is putting immense pressure on Hezbollah positions in the south with air strikes and drones. That’s interesting because the more pressure it puts on Hezbollah, there may be a misfire or a miscalculated strike from either side and that could escalate things. Israeli forces intensifying operations in az-Zawayda Hani Mahmoud Reporting from Rafah, Gaza We are getting news that the Israeli military is stepping up its military action and air strikes in az-Zawayda in an attempt to clear the way for its forces to invade the heart of central Gaza. Az-Zawayda is a strategic location because from there it is easy to get to all the entrances of central Gaza’s refugee camps. There are reports of attack drones hovering at low levels and tragically targeting people who are trying to flee the horror of the bombs. Injuries and deaths from these attacks have been reported at al-Aqsa Hospital. Click here to share on social media 1h ago  (08:25 GMT) Palestinian man mourns loss of wife, two children in overnight strikes “The Israeli government claims democracy and humanity, but they are inhumane,” says Abdel Razek Abu Sinjar, whose wife and two children were killed in overnight Israeli strikes in southern Gaza. “They killed women and children who have nothing to do with this [war].” Click here to share on social media Israeli forces shoot and injure two Palestinians in Qatanna The Palestinian men were shot in the foot during a military raid in the town, 12km (7.5 miles) northwest of occupied East Jerusalem, according to a report by the Palestinian Wafa news agency. Numerous Palestinian men were also arrested. At least 325 Palestinians have been killed and 3,800 injured in near-daily raids by Israeli forces throughout the occupied West Bank since October 7. Click Maghazi refugee camp shelled Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza has come under heavy artillery fire as fighting continues between the Israeli military and Palestinian fighters in the area. The Maghazi camp has repeatedly been targeted during the war. On December 24, more than 100 Palestinians were killed by air strikes there in one of the war’s deadliest attacks. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/6/israel-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-forces-raid-occupied-west-bank-towns