Now for a look at news making international headlines this Friday 6th May
U.N. Again Trying To Evacuate Civilians From Ukraine's Mariupol
INTERNATIONAL: A third operation is under way to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and the besieged Azovstal steel plant, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday (May 5) as Russia accused the West of waging an economic World War.
The United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have so far helped nearly 500 civilians flee the area during two operations in the past week. At a briefing to the U.N. Security Council, Guterres declined to give details on the new operation "to avoid undermining possible success."
"I hope that the continued coordination with Moscow and Kyiv will lead to more humanitarian pauses to allow civilians safe passage from the fighting and aid to reach those in critical need," he told the 15-member council. "We must continue to do all we can to get people out of these hellscapes."
Guterres has also warned that the war in Ukraine was putting even more pressure on the developing world.
He told the Security Council he was ready to facilitate talks on "reintegrating Ukraine's agricultural production and the food and fertilizer production of Russia and Belarus into world markets, despite the war."
U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet told the Security Council that for about five weeks from late February in areas around Kyiv, "Russian forces targeted male civilians, who they considered suspicious." Russia has denied attacking civilians.
"Men were detained, beaten, summarily executed and, in some cases, taken to Belarus and Russia, unbeknownst to their families, and held in pre-trial detention facilities," she said.
Since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24 - in what Moscow calls a "special military operation" - the United States and western allies have hit back with tough sanctions.
"It is as if you were eagerly awaiting this moment to unleash repression against Russia," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council. "If we were to talk about World War, then without a doubt it is being waged at the economic level today."
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, accused Russia of lying to the Security Council.
"Russia alone started this war and Russia alone can end it. Silence the guns, withdraw from Ukrainian territory, and embrace diplomacy," she said.
Three People Killed In Suspected Palestinian Attack In Israel
INTERNATIONAL: At least three people were killed in what police suspect was a Palestinian attack in the central city of Elad on Thursday (May 5), Israel's independence day.
Police investigators and ambulances were at the scene of the attack on Thursday night, and a helicopter flew overhead.
Witnesses and emergency responders said the attackers used axes.
Police set up roadblocks to try to catch the assailants who fled the scene, about 15 km (9 miles) from Tel Aviv. On television, Elad's mayor urged residents to stay indoors while security forces were still operating.
Health officials said three people were killed and two others were being treated with serious slash wounds.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted him as saying "the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians will only lead to more deterioration of the situation."
There have been a spate of Arab street attacks in Israel in recent weeks.
Prior to Elad, Palestinians and members of Israel's Arab minority had killed 15 people, including three police officers and a security guard, in attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have mostly targeted civilians..
Israel has responded with arrest raids in Palestinian towns and villages which have often sparked clashes and brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year to at least 40.
Earlier on Thursday, confrontations again broke out between Palestinians and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, though they were far more limited than clashes that had erupted weekly over the past month.
Jewish visitors were allowed in to the area on Thursday after their entrance to the site had been suspended for the last 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Al-Aqsa mosque is Islam's third-holiest site. The compound is Judaism’s holiest site and the vestige of two ancient Jewish temples.
CCTV Captures Tornado Churning In Kansas, Skirts Near Building
CCTV cameras in Andover, Kansas have captured a tornado churning through the city.
The security camera footage was taken from the Andover City Hall on April 29. It shows the tornado moving close to the building's parking lot.
A powerful low pressure system approached Kansas allowing a sharp dryline to track generally along Interstate 135. Storms first developed across central and northeast Kansas near the warm front, but as the early evening hours continued, a couple storms fired just east of Wichita. One of these storms produced a strong tornado across the east side of Andover, causing extensive damage. This same storm produced numerous additional tornadoes as it tracked east.
Residents received warnings from the National Weather Service eight minutes before the tornado struck. Their quick response to the warnings prevented more severe injuries and fatalities, said Chance Hayes, a meteorologist with the service. “They sheltered in homes, they sheltered in businesses, they sought shelter any place they possibly could to get out of harm’s way,” he said.
No fatalities were reported as a result of the tornado but over 1,000 buildings were damaged.
Storms could continue to fire up, pushing off to the northeast.
The main threats were hail, damaging winds, and an isolated tornado or two.
