Calls for ceasefire grow as Israeli-Palestinian violence escalates
Yahoo Finance's Akiko Fujita breaks down the top stories around the world.
Video transcript
AKIKO FUJITA: In our world view today, fighting between Israel and Hamas continues for a ninth day, as calls for a ceasefire grow louder. The Israeli military continued to bomb Gaza, as southern Lebanon-- and southern Lebanon, while Hamas fired rockets into southern Israel. The exchange came hours after President Biden called for a ceasefire in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, in a rare show of unity, Israelis and Palestinian citizens went on strike Tuesday to protest Israeli treatment of Arabs. Hundreds of thousands across the West Bank in Gaza closed their stores and businesses and rallied in town squares, calling for an end to the violence and Israeli occupation. More than 210 Palestinians have been killed so far, while 10 have died in Israel.
Nearly 20 people are dead and more than 80 missing after a powerful cyclone ravaged the west coast of India. The storm made landfall in Gujarat state, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate. Strong winds and rainfall damaged roads, complicating the region's response to COVID-19, as the total number of infections surged past 25 million. Away from the hospitals, the Indian Navy is now searching for dozens of workers who were on board an oil barge that sank in the storm.
And over in Singapore, the country's improved Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for use in children between the ages of 12 and 15. The approval comes as schools shut down yet again to control the spread of new coronavirus variants. Over the weekend, Singapore reported the highest daily number of new cases since September. The country's vaccination program has also been expanded to those between 40 and 44.
