Spain's defence minister on Thursday accused Morocco of "aggression" and "blackmail" after more than 8,000 migrants poured into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta this week largely unimpeded.

-It is an aggression of Spanish borders and of the borders of the European Union, and this, in international law is unacceptable- Margarita Robles said during an interview with Spanish public radio, adding that Rabat was "using" minors.
-We are not talking about youths aged 16, 17, children as young as 7 or 8 were allowed through according to NGOs... ignoring international law.--Call it what you want but I call it blackmail- the minister added.
-It is not acceptable to put the lives of minors or of people of one's own country, at risk for reasons that I don't understand.-Several Spanish and Moroccan NGOs have expressed concern over the huge number of minors who have crossed over into Ceuta from Morocco, and the fact that Madrid is sending them back.
Over 8,000 people, a record, crossed into Ceuta by swimming or on small inflatable boats from neighbouring Morocco, prompting a crisis between Rabat and Madrid.
The majority were Moroccans and they included families with small children and many teenagers on their own.
Around 5,600 migrants had already been sent back according to the Spanish government, which said there were no new entries on Wednesday as anyone who reached Ceuta's beach was immediately sent back. 
Analysts said it was clear Morocco had turned a blind eye to the human tide entering Ceuta in order to put diplomatic pressure on Spain to recognise its sovereignty over Western Sahara.
The influx comes against the backdrop of increased tensions with Morocco over Spain's decision to provide medical treatment for the leader of the Polisario Front. The head of the Western Sahara independence movement has been seriously ill with Covid-19.
The Front has fought for the independence of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony mainly under Moroccan control.
Morocco's minister of state for human rights, Mustapha Ramid, said Wednesday it was "clear" Spain had favoured its ties with the Polisario and Algeria over those with Morocco by hosting Ghali.
-Spain must also know that the price for discrediting Morocco is steep- he added in a Facebook post.&nbsp;

Several NGOs have expressed concern over the huge number of minors who have crossed over into Ceuta from Morocco, and the fact that Madrid is sending them back

Spanish security forces guard the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, near the border of Morocco and Spain, Wednesday, May 19, 2021.

Spain accuses Morocco of 'aggression' and 'blackmail' over migrant crisis

A top security conference in Singapore that was to be attended by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was cancelled Thursday due to the coronavirus.

The Shangri-La Dialogue was scheduled to be an in-person event from June 4 to 5, and was also set to welcome ministers and senior military officials from around the world.
But the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the think tank that organises the annual forum, said it had become "unviable".
-Unfortunately the global Covid-19 situation has recently deteriorated, in part because of the rise of infectious new Covid variants- it said in a statement.
The institute also noted there had been an increase in local transmissions in Singapore, which has led to a tightening of restrictions in the city-state.
Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said cancelling the forum was the "responsible course" as the pandemic had "taken a turn for the worse, especially in parts of Asia, aggravated by more infectious variants.
-The next few weeks will remain challenging and uncertain.-It was the second year in a row that the conference, which has been running since 2002, has been cancelled due to the virus. 
The news came after the World Economic Forum announced this week it had called off its planned annual gathering of political, economic and business leaders, which had been set for August in Singapore.
In the past, the United States has used the Shangri-La Dialogue as a platform to criticise Beijing over its militarisation of the South China Sea and to reassure Asian allies of its support in the face of China's growing might.&nbsp;

The Shangri-La Dialogue was scheduled to be an in-person event from June 4 to 5, and was also set to welcome ministers and senior military officials from around the world

Singapore has tightened restrictions after a rise in coronavirus cases

Singapore security forum cancelled due to Covid

At least nine people were killed Thursday when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, officials said, the latest violence in a region that has seen weeks of intense fighting.

Helmand's deputy governor Baryalai Nazari told AFP that women and children were killed in the blast, in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.
Attaullah Afghan, head of Helmand provincial council, confirmed the toll.
No group has claimed responsibility, but the Taliban and Afghan government forces clash regularly on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah -- more frequently since May 1, when the United States began the final phase of its troop withdrawal.

No group has claimed responsibility

People look at a damaged police vehicle after a blast in Jalalabad, Afghanistan on April 24, 2021

Nine civilians killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan

A major new storm was brewing in the Bay of Bengal off India's east coast, forecasters warned Thursday, just days after the biggest cyclone to hit the west of the country in decades left at least 110 people confirmed dead.

Scientists say cyclones in the region are becoming both more frequent and stronger as climate change leads to warmer sea temperatures.
Cyclone Tauktae pummelled India's western coast late Monday and left a trail of destruction, compounding the misery for a country struggling with a devastating surge in coronavirus cases.
Even before it made landfall in Gujarat state, with gusts up to 185 kilometres (115 miles) per hour, heavy rains at its outer bands and strong winds killed around 20 people in western and southern India.
In Gujarat where winds smashed windows, felled tens of thousands of trees and knocked out power for huge numbers of people, the number of dead rose to 53, officials said late Wednesday.
The toll could rise further, however, with local newspapers saying almost 80 people had died in the state, many killed by collapsing houses or walls.
The cyclone weakened into a depression as it moved across northern India, dumping heavy rain as it did so including in Allahabad and New Delhi, which had its wettest May day on record.
The Navy said meanwhile that 37 bodies had been recovered after an oil installation vessel sank in the heavy seas. Thirty-eight people remain missing.
In its latest warning, the Indian Meteorological Department said that a low-pressure area was likely to form on Saturday in the Bay of Bengal off India's east coast.
The system was "very likely" to intensify gradually into a cyclonic storm, which would reach the coasts of the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha on around May 26.

Scientists say cyclones in the region are becoming both more frequent and stronger as climate change leads to warmer sea temperatures

The tail end of Cyclone Tauktae has dumped rain across northern India

New India cyclone warning as death toll rises

A Palestinian journalist working for a local radio station was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian reports.

Yusuf Abu Hussein, who works for The Voice of Jerusalem radio, lost his live in the attack that targeted his home in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of Gaza City, the radio station said in a statement.
Israeli fighter jets also struck a house in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, causing material damage, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.
At least 219 Palestinians have been killed, including 63 children and 36 women, and 1,530 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Ten Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

At least 219 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since May 10

Israeli fighter jets also struck a house in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, causing material damage

Palestinian journalist killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza

The US state of Texas plans to execute a convicted murderer Wednesday, despite his unusual efforts to earn clemency through a video message to the governor.

In the four-minute video, recorded in the prison visiting room and posted online by The New York Times, Quintin Jones speaks directly to Governor Greg Abbott, asking the Republican leader to commute his death sentence to life in prison.
-I killed someone 20 years ago- said Jones, 41. In 1999, he beat his great-aunt, 83, to death with a baseball bat and then stole $30 from her to buy drugs.
But "I am nothing like that person. I became a man on death row," he said, before speaking directly to the camera: "If you could find it in your heart, Governor, to grant me clemency, then I can continue to live life to better myself."
Jones's supporters, who include the sister of his victim and actress Sarah Paulson, started a petition online urging Abbott to grant him clemency.
The petition had more than 160,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
Abbott, who has only granted clemency to one death row inmate in six years, has not yet responded.
Jones's lawyers have also filed a final appeal to the US Supreme Court to try to obtain a stay of execution. They argue that he is "intellectually disabled" and is therefore ineligible for the death penalty.
If their efforts fail, Jones will be executed by lethal injection at the penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas at the end of the day.
No executions have been carried out in the United States since President Joe Biden, who opposes capital punishment, assumed office.
Even the most conservative states, such as Texas, have -- with rare exceptions -- renounced the practice since the start of the pandemic.
In contrast, the administration of former president Donald Trump resumed federal executions in July 2020 following a 17-year hiatus, carrying them out at an unprecedented rate (13 executions) until the end of his term.

No executions have been carried out since President Joe Biden, who opposes capital punishment

Jones's supporters, who include the sister of his victim and actress Sarah Paulson, started a petition online urging Abbott to grant him clemency

Despite rare appeal video, Texas to carry out first execution of 2021

China has postponed the planned launch Thursday of a rocket carrying supplies for its new space station due to technical reasons, state media said.

The China Manned Space Agency gave no details on what the reasons were, and said only that a new launch time would be "determined later," the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The blast-off was to have taken place just days after China landed a rover on Mars, as it hustles ahead with its extraterrestrial ambitions.
Beijing has pumped billions into its space programme in a bid to make up ground on pioneers Russia and the United States, with ambitious projects in Earth orbit and the landing of uncrewed craft on the Moon and Mars.
But it was heavily reprimanded by the United States and many experts for a potentially dangerous breach of space etiquette for letting a massive rocket segment free-fall to Earth earlier this month after launching the core module of China's space station.
In the now-delayed mission, the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft was to have blasted off on a 14-tonne Long March 7 rocket, and had been expected to carry essentials such as food and space suits to the core module.
The space station -- named Tiangong, meaning "heavenly palace" -- will need around 10 missions in total to complete assembly in orbit.
Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, said the construction of the space station has entered a "critical stage".
It is expected to remain in low Earth orbit for up to 15 years.
With the possible retirement of the International Space Station after 2028, China's could become the only human outpost in Earth orbit.
Although Chinese authorities have said they are open to foreign collaboration on their space station, the scope of that cooperation is as yet unclear.
But the European Space Agency has already sent astronauts to China to train for work inside Tiangong when it is ready.
The latest cargo launch was to have come days after China landed its Zhurong rover on Mars, becoming only the third nation to successfully land a craft on the red planet.
The rover is expected to soon start studying Martian geology, spending around three months taking photos and harvesting data from a vast northern lava plain.

The blast-off was to have taken place just days after China landed a rover on Mars, as it hustles ahead with its extraterrestrial ambitions

China's space ambitions include a crewed space station, a partial model of which is pictured here in 2018

China postpones launch of rocket carrying space station supplies

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Monday urged the UN to stop Israel's crimes against Palestinian children. 

In a message to Virginia Gamba, UN’s special envoy for children and armed conflict, Maliki said that Israel's intense and violent attacks on Gaza have caused the deaths of dozens of children, and Palestinian children did not have safe places to seek shelter.
-We call Gamba to protect Palestinian children, and urge Israel to stop its attacks on Palestinian children- Maliki said
The death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip has risen to 212, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday.
The grim figure includes 61 children, 35 women, and 16 elderly people, the ministry said in a statement, while 1,400 people have been injured during the offensive.
The Israeli military has staged airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since May 10, leaving behind a massive trail of destruction across the seaside territory.
Ten Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Israeli attacks kill dozens of Palestinian children, says Palestinian foreign minister

Relatives mourn for Palestinian children killed during Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, at the morgue of Beit Hanoun Hospital, in Beit Hanoun, Gaza on May 10, 2021

Palestine urges UN to stop Israeli crimes against children

The death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the start of the offensive on the Gaza Strip has risen to 213, including 61 children and 36 women, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The ministry said Tuesday that the number of injuries also climbed to 1,442.
The Israeli military has staged airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since May 10, leaving behind a massive trail of destruction across the blockaded enclave.
Ten Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Number of injuries climbs to 1,442, says Health Ministry

The Israeli military has staged airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since May 10, leaving behind a massive trail of destruction across the blockaded enclave

Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip rises to 213

President Joe Biden's administration approved the potential sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel, and congressional sources said on Monday that U.S. lawmakers were not expected to object to the deal despite violence between Israel and Palestinian militants.

Three congressional aides said Congress was officially notified of the intended commercial sale on May 5, as part of the regular review process before major foreign weapons sales agreements can go ahead.
The sale was first reported by the Washington Post.
Congress was informed of the planned sale in April, as part of the normal informal review process before of the formal notification on May 5. Under U.S. law, the formal notification opens up a 15-day window for Congress to object to the sale, which is not expected despite the ongoing violence.
The sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, made by Boeing Co (BA.N), was considered routine at the time, before the start last week of the fiercest hostilities in the region in years.
There were no objections at the time by the Democratic and Republican leaders of the congressional foreign affairs committees that review such sales, aides said.
Asked for comment, a State Department spokesperson noted that the department is restricted under federal law and regulations from publicly commenting on or confirming details of licensing activity related to direct commercial sales like the JDAMs agreement.
-We remain deeply concerned about the current violence and are working towards achieving a sustainable calm- the spokesperson said.
Strong support for Israel is a core value for both Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. Congress, despite calls from a few of the most progressive Democrats to take a tougher stance against the government of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.
U.S. law allows Congress to object to weapons sales, but it is unlikely to do so in this case. Because Israel is among a handful of countries whose military deals are approved under an expedited process, the typical window for objecting will close before lawmakers can pass a resolution of disapproval, even if they were inclined to.

Congress was informed of the planned sale in April, as part of the normal informal review process before of the formal notification on May 5

Biden administration approved $735 million arms sale to Israel

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Israel and Palestinians to "protect civilians, especially children", reiterating that Israel "as a democracy has an extra burden" to do so.

-We'll continue to conduct intensive diplomacy to bring this current cycle of violence to an end and "we are ready to lend support, if the parties seek a ceasefire- Blinken told a press conference in Copenhagen.
He reiterated Washington's support for Israel's right "to defend itself", stressing there was "no equivalence between a terrorist group indiscriminately firing rockets at civilians and a country defending its people from those attacks."
-So we call on Hamas and other groups in Gaza to end the rocket attacks immediately.-However, he added that "Israel as a democracy has an extra burden to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties."
That includes journalists, Blinken said, referring to an Israeli air strike on Saturday that destroyed a building in Gaza housing international media outlets Al Jazeera television and US news agency The Associated Press.
The top US diplomat reiterated Washington's concerns about protecting the media, but stopped short of condemning the strike.
He said Washington had requested Israel provide "additional details regarding the justification" for the strike.
Blinken said he had not personally seen any information shared by Israeli authorities, and therefore did not want to comment on the legitimacy of the strike.
-Israel has a special responsibility to protect civilians in the course of its self-defence, and that most certainly includes journalists- he said.
Blinken also defended Washington's move to block a UN Security Council declaration calling for an end to the hostilities.
-We're not standing in the way of diplomacy- Blinken stressed.

We call on Hamas and other groups in Gaza to end the rocket attacks immediately

Blinken urges Israel and Palestinians to 'protect civilians' and children

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said Monday it was providing emergency assistance for more than 51,000 people in northern Gaza and appealed for $46 million for its work in the region.

Israeli air strikes hammered the Gaza Strip Monday after a week of violence that has killed more than 200 people, the large majority Palestinian, despite international calls for de-escalation.
-For people who have lost or fled their homes, one of the most pressing needs at the moment is food- said WFP country director Samer AbdelJaber in a statement issued by the Rome-based agency.
-The quickest and most effective way we can provide support is with cash, in the form of e-vouchers.-He said many shops were open and food was currently available in the crowded Palestinian enclave but warned the closure of crossings into Gaza "may soon cause a dearth of commodities, including food, and push up food prices".
Prices of fresh produce are already rising as farmers are unable to reach their land, the UN agency said.
The WFP said it supporting the coordination of humanitarian cargo that may need to enter the area if borders stay closed.
-People in Gaza have already been living on the edge and many families struggle to put food on the table- added WFP Middle East and North Africa director Corinne Fleischer. 
Their situation has deteriorated even further over the past year due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
-The majority of the population cannot withstand further shocks and the current situation could unleash a crisis that could spill into the entire region.-The WFP regularly supports about 260,000 people through food help, direct rations or other projects in Gaza, where it says 53 percent of people live in poverty.
It called for another $31.8 million to maintain regular food assistance to more than 435,000 people in Gaza and the West Bank for the next six months.
In addition, it said it urgently needs $14 million to support emergency assistance in the next three months for 160,000 people in Gaza and 60,000 in the West Bank.

Israeli air strikes hammered the Gaza Strip Monday after a week of violence that has killed more than 200 people, the large majority Palestinian, despite international calls for de-escalation

Fire and smoke billow above buildings in Gaza City during Israeli strikes

UN food agency steps up help in Gaza, appeals for funds

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Sunday discussed ongoing Israel's attacks on Palestine on phone.

According to a statement by Turkey's Directorate of Communications, Erdogan told Rouhani that Turkey will continue to take a serious stand against Israeli strikes targeting Palestine.
The global community, Erdogan said, should send Israel a strong message of deterrence in the face of reckless attacks.
The Turkish president also stressed that it a must for the Islamic world to adopt a uniform discourse and action against the Israeli attacks.
The two leaders also addressed bilateral relations during their conversation, the statement noted.
A total of 181 Palestinians, including 52 children and 31 women, have been killed and 1,225 more injured since Israel started attacks on Gaza on May 10.
The tensions spread from East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate against Israeli assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah if they were not halted.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Global community should send Israel strong message of deterrence in face of reckless attacks, Erdogan tells Rouhani over phone

Turkish, Iranian leaders discuss Israeli attacks on Palestine

At least six people have died in torrential rain and winds as virus-hit India braces for a powerful cyclone, officials said Sunday, with more than 150,000 residents set to be evacuated from their homes.

Cyclone Tauktae -- India's first major tropical storm this season -- is moving northwards in parallel with the country's western coast, bringing heavy rains, thunderstorms and strong winds to several states, the meteorological department said.
It is expected to make land in coastal Gujarat early Tuesday, bringing wind speeds of around 155-165 kilometres per hour (96-102 miles per hour) gusting up to 185 kilometres per hour, the weather bureau added.
Thousands of disaster response personnel had been deployed to the states, while units from the coast guard, navy, army and air force had been placed on standby, Home Minister Amit Shah said in a statement.
Four people lost their lives on Saturday as torrential rain and winds battered Karnataka state, the disaster management authority said Sunday.
Several towns and villages were flooded and properties damaged, officials added. 
Two people died in the resort state of Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said Sunday, adding that power supply had been disrupted while some 200 houses were damaged, roads were blocked and trees uprooted.
Two others were reported dead and 23 fishermen were feared missing in Kerala, local media said.
More than 150,000 people are set to be evacuated from coastal districts in Gujarat, where the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination rollout will be suspended on Monday and Tuesday, the state government said.
The meterological department has warned of storm surges of up to three metres high (9.8 feet) in some coastal districts of Gujarat.
Hospitals with coronavirus patients in the affected districts were also backing up their power supply, local district development officer Varunkumar Baranwal told AFP. 
Oxygen and power supply to hospitals in the state would be uninterrupted, Maharashtra said, while hundreds of virus patients will be moved from field hospitals.
India is already battling a deadly wave of infections that has pushed its healthcare system to breaking point, leading to severe shortages of hospital beds, oxygen and medicines.
The vast nation of 1.3 billion people reported just over 311,170 new infections on Sunday, taking the total tally to nearly 24.7 million. 
The death toll rose to more than 270,000 after 4,077 deaths were officially recorded over the past 24 hours. Experts say the actual toll could be significantly higher.
Last May, more than 110 people died after "super cyclone" Amphan ravaged eastern India and Bangladesh, flattening villages, destroying farms and leaving millions without electricity.

It is expected to make land in coastal Gujarat early Tuesday, bringing wind speeds of around 155-165 kilometres per hour

Cyclone Tauktae -- India's first major tropical storm this season -- is moving northwards, bringing heavy rains, thunderstorms and strong winds to several states

Six dead as powerful cyclone heads for India

UN chief Antonio Guterres is “deeply disturbed” by an Israeli attack that targeted a multi-story building housing the offices of media organizations, his spokesman said Saturday.

-The Secretary-General is also deeply disturbed by the destruction by an Israeli airstrike today of a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed the offices of several international media organizations as well as residential apartments- Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
Israeli warplanes destroyed the al-Jala tower which hosts media offices for Aljazeera TV, The Associated Press, Mayadeen Company for Media Services, radio station Voice of Prisoners and the Doha Media Center.
The 13-story building targeted by Israeli missiles was one of Gaza's oldest multi-story buildings. It had 60 units, including offices of media companies, legal firms and doctors.
Guterres is “dismayed” by the increasing number of civilian causalities, including the death of 10 members from the same family, including children, as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the al-Shati camp in Gaza, said Dujarric.
-The Secretary-General reminds all sides that any indiscriminate targeting of civilians and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs- he said.
Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 147 Palestinians, including 41 children and 23 women and caused injuries to 1,115 since May 10, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry.

Antonio Guterres urges sides to avoid indiscriminate attacks

Israeli warplanes destroyed the al-Jala tower which hosts media offices for Aljazeera TV, The Associated Press, Mayadeen Company for Media Services, radio station Voice of Prisoners and the Doha Media Center

UN head ‘deeply disturbed’ by Israeli attack on media offices

Thousands of demonstrators in Washington, DC and New York City rallied Saturday in solidarity with Palestine and to protest Israel for attacks on Gaza.

In the US capital, demonstrators gathered at the Washington Monument, carrying Palestinian flags and signs in support of Palestine, chanting "Free, Free Palestine.”
The crowd protested the US administration that has remained silent on Israeli attacks in Palestine. Later they marched to the US Congress building that houses the House of Representatives and Senate offices.
Demonstrators called on the Joe Biden administration to halt military support for Israel.
The three-hour protest remained peaceful and coincided with the 73rd anniversary of Nakba, or Great Catastrophe.
Nakba, the symbol of forced migration and massacres for millions of Palestinians who have lived in exile for decades, expresses an unrelenting pain for more than seven decades after they were forcibly evicted from their lands.
Brooklyn, New York was the focal point of pro-Palestine protests that was attended by thousands with Muslim and human rights groups joining hands.
Protesters marched in the Bay Ridge area, carrying banners that read: "End the occupation," "End Israeli apartheid" and "Stop the killing."
Orthodox Jews were also present at the rally.
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since May 10 have killed nearly 150 people, including women and children, and injured more than 1,200.
Air raids on Gaza were preceded by days of tensions and Israeli aggression in occupied East Jerusalem, where hundreds of Palestinians were assaulted by Israeli forces and settlers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Tensions spread from occupied East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate for Israeli assaults if they were not halted.

US capital, Brooklyn, New York focal points of pro-Palestine demonstrations on anniversary of Nakba

The crowd protested the US administration that has remained silent on Israeli attacks in Palestine

Spain accuses Morocco of 'aggression' and 'blackmail' over migrant crisis

Singapore security forum cancelled due to Covid

Nine civilians killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan

New India cyclone warning as death toll rises

Palestinian journalist killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza

Despite rare appeal video, Texas to carry out first execution of 2021

China postpones launch of rocket carrying space station supplies

Palestine urges UN to stop Israeli crimes against children

Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip rises to 213

Biden administration approved $735 million arms sale to Israel

Blinken urges Israel and Palestinians to 'protect civilians' and children

UN food agency steps up help in Gaza, appeals for funds

Turkish, Iranian leaders discuss Israeli attacks on Palestine

Six dead as powerful cyclone heads for India

UN head ‘deeply disturbed’ by Israeli attack on media offices

Thousands in US protest Israeli attacks in Palestine

World

Spain accuses Morocco of 'aggression' and 'blackmail' over migrant crisis

Singapore security forum cancelled due to Covid

Nine civilians killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan

New India cyclone warning as death toll rises

Palestinian journalist killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza

Despite rare appeal video, Texas to carry out first execution of 2021

China postpones launch of rocket carrying space station supplies

Palestine urges UN to stop Israeli crimes against children

Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip rises to 213

Biden administration approved $735 million arms sale to Israel

Blinken urges Israel and Palestinians to 'protect civilians' and children

UN food agency steps up help in Gaza, appeals for funds

Turkish, Iranian leaders discuss Israeli attacks on Palestine

Six dead as powerful cyclone heads for India

UN head ‘deeply disturbed’ by Israeli attack on media offices

Thousands in US protest Israeli attacks in Palestine