Thousands of people rallied in cities across the United States, on Friday, calling on President Donald Trump to reverse a policy of separating undocumented parents from their children.
The protests organised by a coalition of groups, was part of a National Day of Action dubbed “Families Belong Together” after it emerged that children were being separated from their families while trying to cross the southwest border with Mexico.
In two weeks of May alone, some 658 children were separated from their parents.
Carrying posters, placards and chanting slogans, protesters demanded that the Trump administration end funding to the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs Border Patrol.
They also called on Trump to end family separations through the policy of prosecuting undocumented migrants.
Reverend Jennifer Butler, from Faith in Public Life, called the policy a “moral abomination.”
Thousands of people were expected to rally in nearly 30 cities across the country, including Oakland, Las Vegas, Allentown, Miami, Cleveland and New York City.
- Houthi official: ‘Abu Dhabi is no longer safe’
A spokesperson for the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen has threatened to launch missiles targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In comments carried by Saba news agency, Brigadier General Sharaf Ghaleb Loqman said on Friday that “Abu Dhabi is no longer safe after today.”
Loqman also warned investors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to take his remarks seriously.
The statement comes amid reported advances by UAE-backed forces on the crucial port city of Hodeidah in western Yemen.
The Houthi movement would effectively be under a land, sea and air blockade if they lose control of the Hodeidah, the country’s third-largest city.
Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, has been wracked for more than three years by a bloody war between the Houthi rebels and supporters of its internationally recognised government.
In September 2014, the Houthis took control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and proceeded to push southwards towards the country’s second-biggest city, Aden.
In response to the Houthis’ advances, a coalition of Arab states, including the UAE, launched a military campaign in 2015 to defeat the Houthis and restore Yemen’s government.
- UN Security Council rejects US draft resolution on Gaza
The United States has voted against a Kuwait-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution calling for the protection of Palestinian civilians, while being the only country to back its own measure condemning Hamas for the recent violence in the Gaza Strip.
More than 120 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli forces during weeks-long peaceful protests in the besieged Gaza Strip near the fence with Israel.
Among the victims have been medical professionals and journalists.
Ten countries, including Russia and France, voted in favour of the Kuwait-sponsored resolution on Friday.
Four others – Britain Poland, the Netherlands and Ethiopia – abstained, while the US, a major ally of Israel, was the only country to vote against it.
The resolution, which was revised three times and said to have been “watered down,” previously called for international protection for Palestinian people.
The final draft called for “the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the Gaza Strip.”
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, described the resolution as “grossly one-sided” as she pinned the blame on much of Palestinians’ suffering on the Hamas movement, which runs the Strip.
- Five people die in US romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak
Five people have now died in a major E. coli outbreak in the US involving romaine lettuce, with 197 cases reported across 35 states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 25 more people had been affected since its last report on 16 May.
Two of the victims were from Minnesota, with the other three from Arkansas, California and New York.
It is the largest US outbreak of E. coli since 200 people fell ill in 2006.
According to the latest statement from the CDC, many of the people affected fell ill two to three weeks ago, when the contaminated lettuce was still on shop shelves.
Romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region in Arizona is thought to be the source of the latest outbreak, although the Food and Drug Administration says no single grower, distributor or region can account for the spread.
An investigation is ongoing.
- Brazil Petrobras oil boss Pedro Parente resigns amid protests
The head of Brazil’s oil giant Petrobras, Pedro Parente, has resigned, following a nationwide strike by lorry drivers that caused huge disruption.
The strike against diesel prices, which ended this week, caused major shortages in the country.
Many of the protesters blamed Mr Parente for rising costs, after the company stopped subsidising fuel prices for its domestic consumers.
However, Petrobras gave no specific reason for the resignation.
In his resignation letter to President Michel Temer, Mr Parente said the strike challenged the pricing policy he had implemented.
Mr Parente said his role “as CEO had stopped being positive” and the government needed to consider “alternatives” to its pricing policy going forward, according to Reuters news agency.
Two years ago, former Energy Minister, Mr Parente, pegged the price of fuel in Brazil to international oil prices, which have since almost doubled.
After years of corruption scandals involving senior politicians and officials, his policy had helped Petrobras recover its market value.