Yemenis Fire Scud Missile 520 km to hit Saudi airbase near Mecca

Last Saturday the Saudi Arabian airforce bombed a funeral in Yemen and killed over 200 mourners at the funeral. Another 500 or more were injured, some of them seriously.

In retaliation the Yemenis fired a long range Scud missile to hit a Saudi airbase located at Taif inside Saudi Arabia. Taif is located within the district of Mecca, 108 km away from Mecca city.  Please see map:

This is the deepest missile strike into Saudi Arabia.

The Yemenis also fired missiles at two US Navy destroyers at the Bab el Mandeb straits.

Missiles Fired from Rebel-held Yemen Land near US Destroyer.

The Saudi government has been telling their people that the Yemenis have NOT crossed the border into Saudi Arabia and that they are defeating Yemen.

This first Scud missile strike 520 km into Saudi Arabia and hitting Taif  has just burst all the hot air in their propaganda.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen landed near an American destroyer in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy said Monday, the second such launch targeting ships in the crucial international waterway in recent days.

The missile launches Sunday came as a ballistic missile fired from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies.

The rebels fired another two missiles into the Saudi Jizan region along the border on Monday, wounding two foreigners who worked there, the local civil defense said in a statement.

Yemen's Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies offered no reason for the launches, though they came after a Saudi-led airstrike targeting a funeral in Yemen's capital killed over 140 people and wounded 525 on Saturday.

In a statement, the Navy said no American sailors were wounded and no damage was caused to the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer whose home port is Norfolk, Virginia. Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for U.S. Navy Forces Central Command, said that it's unclear if the USS Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction over an hour's time, starting at around 7 p.m.

An American defense official said the USS Mason used onboard defensive measures after the first missile was fired, but it wasn't clear if that caused the missile to splash harmlessly into the sea.

The destroyer was north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe through the Suez Canal, the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the incident that haven't been made public.

The Houthi-controlled SABA news agency of Yemen quoted an anonymous army official denying its forces fired on the USS Mason, without elaborating.

Last week, an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship.

U.S. Navy officials declined to immediately discuss what kind of rockets were used in the USS Mason incident.

Analysts with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy suggested in a report that the Houthis may have targeted the Emirati ship with an Iranian anti-shipping cruise missile, based on purported video of the attack.

Shiite power Iran supports the Houthis, but denies arming them. Any Iranian involvement could exacerbate tensions with the U.S. following a series of tense naval encounters in the Persian Gulf in recent months.

Saudi state television aired a brief clip of what appeared to be a projectile that was said to have landed in Taif, in the ballistic missile attack. The video shows the flash of an explosion, followed by images of emergency vehicles.
Taif is home to Saudi Arabia's King Fahd Air Base, which hosts U.S. military personnel training the kingdom's armed forces.

The Saudi military said the missile fired late Saturday night was intercepted and caused no damage. The U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel, identified the missile as a local variant of a Soviet-era Scud. It said the Volcano-1 missile targeted the air base.

The Houthis have fired a series of ballistic missiles in Saudi Arabia since a kingdom-led coalition of Arab countries launched an offensive against them in Yemen in March 2015. Most of those ballistic missiles have hit areas far closer to Saudi Arabia's border with Yemen.

In the Taif attack, however, the missile struck a target more than 520 kilometers (325 miles) from the border. Taif also is just outside of Mecca, which is home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that all of the world's Muslims pray toward.

The Saudi military said it earlier intercepted another ballistic missile fired Sunday on the Yemeni city of Marib.

The Houthis gave no reason for their targeting of Taif, but it comes after a Saudi-led airstrike Saturday targeting a funeral in Yemen's capital, Sanaa.

On Sunday, thousands marched through the streets of Sanaa to protest the strike, one of the deadliest single attacks in the impoverished Arab country's relentless civil war.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said its U.N. mission sent a letter on Sunday to the Security Council, expressing the kingdom's "deep regret of the reported attack" on the funeral. Saudi officials have promised to investigate the bombing.

Yemen's war is largely overshadowed by the conflict against the Islamic State group elsewhere in the Middle East, though rights groups have mounted increased criticism of the Saudi-led airstrikes in recent months for killing civilians. The U.N. and rights groups estimate the conflict has killed at least 9,000 people and displaced nearly 3 million more.

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Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Sanaa, Yemen, Brian Rohan in Cairo, and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

Helikopter NURI terhempas di Tawau

Sebuah helikopter dilaporkan terhempas di atas bumbung sebuah dewan yang masih dalam pembinaan di Sekolah Kebangsaan Balung, Tawau, pagi ini, menyebabkan sekurang-kurangnya 13 anggota tentera dan empat pelajar cedera.

Ketua Polis Daerah Tawau, Asisten Komisioner Fadil Marsus, berkata kejadian berlaku kira-kira jam 9.15 pagi.

Semua mangsa yang cedera dikejarkan ke Hospital Tawau untuk rawatan lanjut.

Helikopter terbabit dipercayai melanggar bucu bumbung bangunan sekolah sebelum terhempas di dewan sekolah terbabit yang dalam pembinaan mengakibatkan struktur berkenaan mengalami kerosakan teruk. 


Kejadian berlaku ketika sesi pembelajaran sebelum disusuli dentuman kuat yang mengejutkan warga sekolah berkenaan.

TUDM: Helikopter NURI mendarat cemas

Sementara itu, Bahagian Perhubungan Awam TUDM dalam satu kenyataan media berkata helikopter itu membuat pendaratan cemas berhampiran Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Balung Tawau pada jam 9.35 pagi.

Helikopter yang membawa 14 penumpang berlepas pada jam 7.35 pagi membuat latihan penerbangan harian biasa.

“Semua anak kapal dan penumpang helikopter tersebut selamat,” kata kenyataan itu.

Katanya TUDM menghantar pasukan penyelamat ke kawasan insiden dan mengawal kawasan sebelum mengambil tindakan bagi membawa keluar helikopter dari kawasan insiden.

“TUDM akan menubuhkan satu pasukan penyiasatan bagi mengenalpasti punca kejadian,” katanya.

Gambar: Sumber FB/Twitter

World War 3 !

WW3 WARNING Planet closer to catastrophic World War III than at any time for SIXTY years, experts warn… and it doesn’t look good for Britain or America if it does kick off

BY COREY CHARLTON

THE world is closer to a catastrophic and bloody World War III than at any other point in the past 60 years, experts have warned.

Russia and China, both of which are pumping vast amounts of money into their militaries, could soon rival the US in terms of power and prestige.

All three nations want to remain a global superpower – if not the only one – and are preparing for war, it is claimed.

But they oppose each other on a swathe of issues across the globe, creating a delicate political balance that could collapse and engulf nuclear states and alliances such as NATO.

A range of experts have identified several flashpoints across the globe which are today the most likely triggers for such a war.

The proximity of NATO and Russian bombers flying over Syria, Vladimir Putin’s aggression in eastern Europe, and China’s movements in the South China Sea are among them.

Experts have also raised concerns about the instability of nuclear-power Pakistan as extremist factions and terrorist groups within the country grow in power.

Adding to this is these groups’ sworn opposition to neighbouring India – which holds its own much-coveted nuclear arsenal.

Britain’s Admiral Lord West told The Sun Online: “Basically none of us know what is going to happen but we are in a more dangerous, chaotic and unpredictable time than any other in my 50 years in the force.

“I believe that because of Brexit, I think Europe is very flaky, I think it is unfortunate that we didn’t stay in, because they actually need our military expertise.

“I can see bits of Europe breaking up and when Europe gets into a mess, twice in the past we’ve had to go in there and clear it up with immense loss of blood and lives.”

He warned that Britain was not sufficiently investing in its defence – and in particular, its Royal Navy.

The investment required to maintain its strength had not materialised in the years since the Falklands War, he said, leaving Britain in a precarious place.

RUSSIA AND THE BALTIC STATES

In July, a 25-page report by the US-based think tank Atlantic Council warned of Russia’s growing threat to NATO.

NATO has been Europe’s primary military alliance since WWII – all 28 member states have sworn to respond as a group if a single member is attacked.

The council’s report warned that Russia was an “existential threat to the Baltic states and Poland” and an annexation could be implemented “with great speed”.

It continued: “This might come at a time NATO and the EU are distracted by another crisis, or it might relate to some particular high profile event, the outcomes of which Moscow wants to shape.

“It might also result from a misperception of NATO’s activities and a miscalculation of the Alliance’s resolve.”

Admiral Lord West also said: “Russia under Putin is becoming quite aggressive, it’s spending a large amount of money on its military capabilities.

“Putin has said he believes in using tactical nuclear weapons if there is a war. That is highly dangerous.

“There’s little debate that he thinks of the Baltic states and possibly Poland as a Russian sphere of influence. They are NATO countries – I find that extremely dangerous.”

“I think people like Putin understand robust responses, they understand military power. I think he thinks he’ll pick (the Baltic states) off one-by-one.”

CLASHES OVER SYRIA

Another point of simmering tensions is Syria, where US and Russia are both carrying out airstrikes in support of opposing groups.

While they share a common foe in ISIS, the US has backed Kurdish and moderate Syrian rebel groups against President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia, on the other hand, is backing al-Assad against the rebels.

With both countries carrying out air raids across the relatively small area, the chances of accidental clashes and misperceptions is high.

Peter W. Singer, a leading expert on future war, wrote in The Daily Telegraph last year: “As in the past, it is perfectly possible that a third world war could start with a small event, or even by accident.

“One of the many Russian bomber planes now probing NATO’s borders could collide with an RAF Typhoon, prompting an aerial skirmish the likes of which the world has not seen for decades.

“Indeed, the skies over Syria are starting to get dangerously crowded, with Russian jets flying near US planes on bombing runs, and sparring with NATO air defences in neighbouring Turkey.”

Such an incident – albeit on a much smaller scale – was seen in November when Turkey downed a Russian jet it claimed it had encroached on its airspace during raids in Syria.

The incident led to a collapse in diplomatic relations between the two countries and sparked weeks of mudslinging between Ankara and Moscow.

With neither side prepared to lose face, their military posturing only came back from the brink after a Russian soldier was photographed travelling through the Bosphorus Strait brandishing a rocket launcher.

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

In the past few years China has moved aggressively to dominate the South China Sea with the construction of artificial islands containing fighter jet bunkers.

The move has alarmed countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines who dispute its territorial claims in the region.

Futhermore, it has aggravated Japan and South Korea – two key members of a Pacific bloc the US has sworn to protect.

Peter W. Singer is also among those to suggest World War III could be triggered when “a Japanese or American ship scrapes paint with its Chinese Navy counterpart amid the reefs in the Pacific that are being militarized as part of Asia’s current arms race”.

Indeed, Chinese military commanders – who are pushing ahead with new submarine deployments into the US’s Pacific sphere – believe this to be a genuine and legitimate scenario.

After a close call last year, China’s naval commander Admiral Wu Shengli warned his US counterpart: “If the United States continues with these kinds of dangerous, provocative acts, there could well be a seriously pressing situation between frontline forces from both sides on the sea and in the air, or even a minor incident that sparks war.”

THE COLLAPSE OF NUCLEAR PAKISTAN

Experts have long feared the collapse of nuclear-armed Pakistan – a country rife with instability, terror groups and with a sworn hatred of neighbour India.

The concern is that its nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of non-state groups ready to use it against the West, or other proxy groups.

Notably, Pakistan was the birthplace of the Taliban – a fundamentalist Islamic group that spread into Afghanistan and ran the country following its war with the Soviet Union.

A British Ministry of Defence report released in January earmarked the region as one that will continue to generate threats to the UK.

It also warned that “inter-state conflict and internal instability” were possible.

A March report by Harvard Kennedy School stated the “risk of nuclear theft in Pakistan appears to be high”.

The authors wrote: “The trend seems to be toward increasing risk, as Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal expands and shifts toward tactical nuclear weapons, while adversary capabilities remain extremely high.

“Over the longer term, the possibilities of state collapse or extremist takeover cannot be entirely ruled out.”

BE READY FOR WAR': LEADING EXPERT'S DIRE WARNING

George Friendman, the founder of geopolitical forecaster STRATFOR, has warned: “Be ready for war.”

Mr Friedman has written extensively about emerging trends and international affairs.

He recently told Business Insider that interstate war – such as that seen during World War I and II, is a recurring characteristic of politics.

“There has never been a century that has not had a systemic war — a systemic war, meaning when the entire system convulses.

“Do you want to bet this will be the only century that doesn’t have one? I’ll take that bet.

“When you have the countries like Germany, China, and Russia decline, and be replaced by others, that’s when systemic wars start.

“That’s when it gets dangerous, because they haven’t yet reached a balance. So Germany united in 1871 and all hell broke loose.

“Japan rose in the early 20th century, and then you had chaos.
“So we’re looking at a systemic shift. Be ready for war.”

Untung jadi rakyat Selangor

Selangor baru beberapa hari tak ada air, TV3 dah kecoh. Macam nak pecah skrin buat siaran 24/7.Belum dicampur dengan media cetak lagi.

Sabah dan Sarawak sudah 53 tahun ada lagi kawasan tak ada bekalan air bersih, senyap pula. Kenapa RTM1, RTM2 dan TV3 tak buat liputan?
Kadang-kadang bekalan air di Asajaya, Simunjan, dan Sebuyau dicatu tetapi kenapa media massa kawalan BN tak bising? Sebab kawasan ini dipegang oleh BN.

Malah kawasan di Semenanjung juga banyak kawasan berhadapan masalah air. Tetapi ajaibnya media tak nampak.Tengok sahaja kawasan Felda semasa musim perayaan.Air kena catu.Kejap ada kejap tiada.

Sebab itu untung jadi rakyat Selangor.Baru beberapa berlaku gangguan bekalan air , media tak putus putus tumpu isu ini.

Setakat 29 SEPTEMBER 2016.Status pemulihan terkini kawasan yang terjejas dengan gangguan bekalan air ekoran penutupan Loji Rawatan Air Sg Semenyih akibat pencemaran bau air mentah kini berada di tahap 97.6%. Bekalan air di Daerah Kuala Langat telah pulih sepenuhnya.


Namun begitu, beberapa kawasan yang berada di penghujung sistem agihan air dan kawasan tinggi masih mengalami gangguan bekalan air berikutan paras kolam air takungan utama masih belum mencapai paras optimum.

Berita terkini Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd menggantung seorang pekerjanya kerana disyaki terlibat dalam perbuatan khianat yang menyebabkan gangguan bekalan air hingga menjejaskan 340,000 pengguna di Klang dan Petaling 1 September lepas.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Air Selangor, Suhaimi Kamaralzaman berkata pekerja tersebut digantung pada 6 September lepas manakala laporan polis berhubung kejadian itu dibuat pada 9 September lalu.

Katanya laporan siasatan juga dikemukakan kepada Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN).

Tapi ada pemimpin BN tak habis habis nak tunjuk jadi hero dan jaguh rakyat.Konon mereka pejuang rakyat. Kami rakyat Selangor tahulah tembelang mereka.Mereka akan main kan isu ini berminggu lagi nampaknya walaupun bekalan air dah pulih sepenuhnya.

Kalau mereka betul betul nak jadi hero perjuangkan isu air ini di kawasan atau negeri BN yang perlukan lebih pembelaan.

Apapun beruntung jadi rakyat Selangor.Oh ye ramai tau rakyat Selangor tak bayar bil air selama 8 tahun.Sebabnya menikmati skim air percuma pemberian Kerajaan Negeri sejak Pakatan mentadbir.

Oleh: Mohd Ezli Mashut 
Rakyat Negeri Selangor