Spain, Norway, Ireland to formally recognize Palestinian state, saying it is ‘justice for Palestinian people’ and only way for peace in the region. ( )

The UN Security Council was set to convene an emergency meeting Tuesday over an Israeli strike targeting Hamas operatives that also reportedly killed dozens in a displaced persons camp in Rafah, with three European countries slated to formally recognize a Palestinian state.( )

AFP journalists on the ground early Tuesday reported fresh Israeli strikes overnight in the southern Gaza border city, where an Israeli attack targeting two senior Hamas members on Sunday night sparked a fire that ripped through a nearby displacement center, killing 45 people, according to Hamas-run Gaza health officials.( )

The attack prompted a wave of international condemnation, with Palestinians and many Arab countries calling it a “massacre.” Israel said it was looking into the “tragic mishap.”

There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres posted on social media.( )

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths pointed to the widespread warnings of civilian deaths that circulated ahead of Israel’s incursion into Rafah, saying in a statement: “We’ve seen the consequences in last night’s utterly unacceptable attack.”

To call it ‘a mistake’ is a message that means nothing for those killed, those grieving, and those trying to save lives,” he added.

SpaceX has confirmed they are kicking off Memorial Day with a morning Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Launch Complex 40.( )

Launch is now targeted for 11:29 a.m. EDT on Monday, which is the end of the launch window. Should SpaceX not be able to launch during the allotted window, a backup opportunity is open on Tuesday, May 28, beginning at 7:30 a.m. EDT.( )

The next Cape Canaveral rocket launch:Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida

The Falcon 9 booster set for launch on Monday morning will see its tenth flight. This particular booster launched the memorable NASA Crew-6 mission in early 2023.( )

Approximately eight and a half minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.( )

SpaceX Starship flight update

SpaceX has confirmed they are targeting as early as Wednesday, June 5, for the fourth flight test of its Starship. While SpaceX is targeting that date, the FAA has yet to provide regulatory approval.( )

The fully stacked Starship will launch from Boca Chica, Texas, on a test flight. Target objectives include: achieving a landing burn and soft splashdown of the Starship Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and achieving a controlled reentry of the Starship. Following a similar flight pattern to the third flight, SpaceX is targeting a splashdown of the Starship in the Indian Ocean.( )

SpaceX states that they have implemented hardware and software updates based on what was learned during the third fight. That third flight test, whichtook place March 14, was highly successful. Not only did Starship reach space and coast for over 40 minutes, but it demonstrated the opening and closing of the payload door, as well as a propellant transfer demonstration.

Once operational, Starship will transport payload and crews to Earth orbit and beyond. It will also be used by NASA as part of Artemis − ferrying astronauts down to the lunar surface from the Orion spacecraft. This Starship human landing system will be used during Artemis III, which is slated return astronauts to the Moon's surface no earlier than September 2026.

See more......

It has a flag. A national anthem. Diplomats. Even its own international dialing code. In fact, three-quarters of the world's 195 countries − 143 U.N. member states plus the Vatican and Western Sahara − say it is a state.( )

A decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognize an independent Palestinian state, which officially takes effect Tuesday, comes nearly eight months into Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and decades into one of the world's most high-profile and intractable conflicts, between Israelis and Palestinians.( )

But what does this formal statehood label mean? And will these recognitions, which the U.S. and larger European nations have not joined, bring full Palestinian statehood closer, and improve the lives of Palestinians?( )

Rowan Nicholson, a scholar of international law at Australia's Flinders University, said that to qualify as a state four criteria are typically required: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and independence.( )

He said the conditions for statehood are both fairly rigid and a matter of debate.

"The criteria have developed over the centuries through the practice of states. There’s no single definitive written version of them; they are fuzzy and open to interpretation," said Nicholson, who has worked on cases before the International Court of Justice, a Hague, Netherlands-based court that last week ordered Israel to halt its military operation in Rafah, in Gaza, as part of a war crimes allegations case brought by South Africa.

READ MORE......... 

Relations between the European Union and Israel took a nosedive on the eve of the diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state by EU members Ireland and Spain, with Madrid suggesting sanctions should be considered against Israel for its continued attacks in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.( )

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Spain that its consulate in Jerusalem will not be allowed to help Palestinians.

At the same time, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, a Spaniard, threw his full weight to support the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, including the leaders of Hamas.( )

“The prosecutor of the court has been strongly intimidated and accused of antisemitism - as always when anybody, anyone does something that Netanyahu’s government does not like,” Borrell said. “The word antisemitic, it’s too heavy. It’s too important.”Angry words abounded Monday, with Katz accusing Spain of “rewarding terror” by recognizing a Palestinian state, and saying that “the days of the Inquisition are over.” He referred to the infamous Spanish institution started in the 15th century to maintain Roman Catholic orthodoxy that forced Jews and Muslims to flee, convert to Catholicism or, in some instances, face death.No one will force us to convert our religion or threaten our existence — those who harm us, we will harm in return,” said Katz.( )

Even though the EU and its member nations have been steadfast in condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack in which militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage, the bloc has been equally critical of Israel’s ensuing offensive that has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.( )

The latest attacks have centered on Rafah, where Palestinian health workers said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 35 people Sunday, hit tents for displaced people and left “numerous” others trapped in flaming debris.

See more.......

Papua New Guinea government official has told the United Nations that more than 2,000 people are believed to have been buried alive by last Friday’s landslide and has formally asked for international help.

The government figure is roughly triple the U.N. estimate of 670 killed by the landslide in the South Pacific island nation’s mountainous interior. The remains of only five people had been recovered by Monday, local authorities reported. It was not immediately clear why the tally of six reported on Sunday had been revised down.( )

In a letter seen by The Associated Press to the United Nations resident coordinator dated Sunday, the acting director of the country’s National Disaster Center, Luseta Laso Mana, said the landslide “buried more than 2,000 people alive” and caused “major destruction” in Yambali village in Enga province.Estimates of the casualties have varied widely since the disaster occurred, and it was not immediately clear how officials arrived the number of people affected.( )

The International Organization for Migration, which is working closely with the government and taking a leading role in the international response, has not changed its estimated death toll of 670 released on Sunday, pending new evidence.We are not able to dispute what the government suggests but we are not able to comment on it,” said Serhan Aktoprak, chief of the U.N. migrant agency’s mission in Papua New Guinea.( )

“As time goes in such a massive undertaking, the number will remain fluid,” Aktoprak added.

The death toll of 670 was based on calculations by Yambali village and Enga provincial officials that more than 150 homes had been buried by the landslide. The previous estimate had been 60 homes.

( )

The office of Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape did not respond Monday to a request for an explanation of what the government estimate of 2,000 was based on. Marape has promised to release information about the scale of the( ) destruction and loss of life when it becomes available.

READ MORE...........