- AI research uncovers 300 ancient etchings in Peru's Nazca desert
- Brazil's Lula calls Security Council makeup 'unacceptable'
- Alarm grows as Israel launches new 'extensive' strikes on Lebanon
- Carey blasts Australia to 304-7 against England in 3rd ODI
- Biden warns against clinging to power in UN farewell
- Alarm grows as Israel launches new strikes on Lebanon
- Biden warns at UN against 'full-scale war' over Lebanon
- 'Monumental step' as Thai king signs same-sex marriage into law
- French lake still riddled with bombs 80 years after World War II
- Alberta Ferretti quits as creative director at brand she founded
- Two killed in Mexico as Hurricane John weakens to tropical storm
- Multiple arrests after US woman uses machine-assisted suicide in Switzerland
- Dubois will next fight Joshua or Usyk, 'whoever pays me the most'
- Stock markets surge on China stimulus
- Lopetegui ready to learn from mistakes as Liverpool loom in League Cup
- US Fed dissenter warns inflation risks remain 'prominent'
- UN chief warns Lebanon on 'brink' as world leaders gather
- Surprise start for Libbok as Etzebeth set for Springboks record
- Ten Hag says expanded schedules make injuries 'almost unavoidable'
- Liverpool boss Slot praises Alexander-Arnold's defensive work
- Barca coach backs Pena but will debate new goalkeeper signing
- UN says tens of thousands flee Lebanon strikes
- Asian stock markets lead rally on China stimulus
- Arteta stands by defensive tactics in fiery Man City clash
- Tropical Storm John hits Mexico's Pacific coast
- Sri Lanka's new leader appoints cabinet ahead of expected snap polls
- Singapore ex-minister convicted in rare graft trial
- UK town catches Subbuteo fever
- France facing 'one of worst deficits' in its history: minister
- China's Olympic champ Zheng embraces big home expectations
- Biden bids farewell to UN, in shadow of Trump
- All Blacks seek to end Wellington jinx, with Cane poised for 100th cap
- Postbank (Постбанк) анулює рахунки українців у Німеччині
- Meryl Streep says a 'squirrel has more rights' than an Afghan girl
- Postbank terminates accounts of Ukrainians in Germany
- Hong Kong, Shanghai lead markets rally after China stimulus
- Dutch paint giant Akzonobel slashes 2,000 jobs worldwide
- Sri Lanka's new leader to call snap parliamentary polls
- In Ukraine's Pokrovsk, some quietly waiting for Russian troops
- Singapore ex-minister pleads guilty in rare graft trial
- Fishy business caught by fraying India-Bangladesh ties
- US Open champion Sabalenka chases year-end number one ranking
- New Zealand scientists discover ghostly 'spookfish'
- Trump slams early voting, even while urging Pennsylvanians to do so
- Singapore ex-minister pleads guilty to bribery in rare graft trial
- Major Hurricane John hits Mexico's Pacific coast
- IMF says ready for talks with Sri Lanka's new leftist government
- Phillies clinch division title, eye top seed
- Bills trample Jaguars, Commanders claw Bengals
- China unveils fresh stimulus to boost ailing economy
RYCEF | -0.86% | 7 | $ | |
SCS | 0.19% | 13.035 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.16% | 60.1 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.08% | 25.05 | $ | |
RELX | -0.79% | 48.475 | $ | |
NGG | -0.1% | 70.41 | $ | |
VOD | -0.25% | 10.085 | $ | |
RIO | 4.41% | 67.56 | $ | |
GSK | 0.26% | 40.965 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.22% | 24.95 | $ | |
BTI | 0.52% | 38.1 | $ | |
BCE | -0.4% | 34.96 | $ | |
JRI | 0.31% | 13.342 | $ | |
BCC | -0.5% | 140.94 | $ | |
AZN | -0.14% | 77.035 | $ | |
BP | -0.11% | 32.825 | $ |
New clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound
New clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters broke out on Friday at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem.
The Israeli police stormed the compound and fired teargas and rubber-tipped bullets at stone-throwing Palestinian youths, said an AFP photographer on the scene.
The clashes come after a month of deadly violence, as the Jewish festival of Passover overlaps with the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The violence has sparked international fears of a major escalation, a year after similar unrest led to an 11-day war.
At around 4:00 am (0100 GMT), Palestinians began hurling stones towards the Western Wall, considered the holiest site where Jews can pray, the police said.
"Police forces used crowd dispersal means in order to stop the violence," the police said in a statement.
Eleven Palestinians were rushed to hospital, two of them in moderate and serious condition, said the Palestinian Red Crescent.
In the past week, more than 200 people, mostly Palestinians, have been wounded in clashes in and around the Al-Aqsa compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
This led to further escalation as Palestinian armed groups fired rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Israel retaliated with air strikes on Gaza, a blockaded territory with an impoverished population of 2.3 million.
- Status quo -
Friday's clashes come after nearly a month of bloodshed focused on the Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Palestinians have been outraged by repeated visits by Israeli Jews to the site, the third-holiest in Islam and the holiest in Judaism.
By long-standing convention, Jews are allowed to visit under certain conditions but are not allowed to pray there.
Arab ministers meeting on Thursday in neighbouring Jordan said Israel should respect the status quo at the site, which is officially overseen by the kingdom's Islamic affairs ministry.
The ministers condemned "Israeli attacks and violations against worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque", calling them "a blatant provocation to the feelings of Muslims everywhere".
US acting Assistant Secretary of State Yael Lempert and senior diplomat Hady Amr visited the region on Thursday.
After meeting them, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Israel was "preserving and will continue to preserve the status quo on the Temple Mount" -- contradicting Palestinian claims.
The escalation has proved a political headache for Israel's Prime Minster Naftali Bennett, himself a right-winger and a key figure in Israel's settlement movement but who leads an ideologically divided coalition government.
Earlier this month the coalition lost its one-seat majority in parliament -- then on Sunday, the Raam party, drawn from the country's Arab minority, suspended its support for the coalition over the Al-Aqsa violence.
- Rocket fire -
Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israeli warplanes exchanged fire Thursday in the biggest escalation in months.
Israel carried out air strikes in central Gaza, hours after a rocket fired by militants hit the garden of a house in southern Israel -- the first such fire to hit Israel since January.
The military said it had hit an underground rocket factory, prompting another volley of rockets from the impoverished territory, run by Islamist movement Hamas.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Thursday that the movement was "determined to continue the struggle side by side with the Palestinian people to resist (Israeli) aggression no matter the sacrifices".
The current spike in violence includes four deadly attacks since late March in Israel by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs that claimed 14 lives, mostly civilians.
A total of 23 Palestinians have meanwhile been killed in the violence since March 22, including assailants who targeted Israelis, according to an AFP tally.
Y.Bouchard--BTB