Madrid, May 22 (IANS) Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has announced the definitive withdrawal of the country’s ambassador to Argentina, local media reported.

The move comes on Tuesday in the wake of provocative comments made by Argentinian President Javier Milei about the Spanish President, Pedro Sanchez, and his wife.

The comments were made during a rally by the far-right Vox party in the Spanish capital Madrid on Sunday, and no apology has been made since, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Albares said that “the Government remains vigilant, the situation has not changed and therefore I announce that we are withdrawing our ambassador (Maria Jesus Alonso) in Buenos Aires”.

Alonso, who had been called for consultations on Sunday, “will stay in Madrid and Argentina will continue without an ambassador,” the Minister said.

On Monday, Albares summoned the Argentine Ambassador to Spain, Roberto Sebastian Bosch, to the Ministry headquarters, to demand a public apology from Milei.

“I conveyed to the Argentine Ambassador in Madrid that we demanded a public apology for what was an assault on the good faith and hospitality of the Spanish institutions,” Albares said.

Security protection at an air base in Madrid was offered, he added.

“The response to that good faith and hospitality was a frontal attack with insults to our institutions, therefore Argentina will have to continue without a Spanish ambassador,” he said.

–IANS

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Ramallah, May 22 (IANS) The Palestinian presidency has slammed the US administration for its support of Israel amid the latter’s ongoing attacks on Palestinians in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

In a statement published by Palestine’s official news agency WAFA, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for the presidency, said on Tuesday that the Israeli government and its army continued their “crimes” in Palestinian territories as a result of the “continued and unjustified support” provided by the US, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said that the American support for Israel, including financial aid, weapons, and the shielding from accountability for its “crimes,” “pushed Israeli leaders to commit more crimes in northern Gaza and Rafah”.

He also warned of the danger of ongoing Israeli attacks on the Palestinians from the southernmost city of Rafah to the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that seven Palestinians were killed and 12 others were injured during an Israeli operation in Jenin. Among the injured, three were in critical condition and have been hospitalised.

Palestinian security sources said that Israeli soldiers conducted a raid on Jenin and its refugee camp on Tuesday, resulting in an exchange of gunfire between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces in the refugee camp and several neighbourhoods of the city.

Avichai Adraee, a spokesperson of the Israeli military, said in a post on the social media platform X that security forces carried out an operation to “thwart terrorism” in Jenin, where several gunmen were reportedly injured.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that Israeli bulldozers continued to demolish infrastructure near Jenin Governmental Hospital and in the city’s neighbourhoods.

Since October 7, 2023, Israelis have killed 513 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 127 from Jenin, according to official Palestinian statistics.

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Gaza, May 22 (IANS) The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 35,647, health authorities in the Palestinian enclave said in a press statement.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 85 Palestinians and wounded 200 others, bringing the total death toll to 35,647 and injuries to 79,852 since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in October 2023, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

The Israeli army said in a statement that drones and fighter aircraft bombed nearly 70 “terrorist targets” in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours, including military buildings, weapons depots, warehouses, rocket launchers, surveillance units, and other military infrastructure.

Israeli forces killed several militants in the Jabalia area of the northern Gaza Strip, including a “terrorist group” that was shooting at soldiers, the statement said.

It added that the Israeli forces were continuing their operations in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, where a drone killed a “terrorist” who was firing mortar shells at Israeli soldiers.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage.

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Manila, May 22 (IANS) The damage caused by the El Nino dry spell and drought to Philippine agriculture has reached 9.5 billion pesos (nearly $163 million), the Department of Agriculture said.

The El Nino weather phenomenon has left a trail of destruction, damaging 163,694 hectares of agricultural land in 13 regions across the country, and adversely affecting the livelihoods of at least 175,063 farmers and fisherfolk, the department said on Tuesday.

Damaged crops reached 426,798 metric tons in volume, data showed as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

El Nino, a climate pattern associated with extreme heat and drought, continues to weaken, but its impact is expected to persist until June.

The Philippines is now on high alert as it prepares for the potential arrival of La Nina, a weather pattern that could bring its own set of challenges to the already struggling agricultural sector in the Southeast Asian country.

El Nino occurs when seawater is warmer than usual, while La Nina is a large-scale cooling of sea surface temperatures in the central and equatorial Pacific Ocean.

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Jerusalem, May 22 (IANS) The Israeli Defence Ministry signed $760 million worth of contracts with the Israeli defence electronics company Elbit Systems for ammunition supply, according to separate statements issued by the Ministry and the company.

The Ministry said on Tuesday in the statement that the ammunition, to be supplied in two-year purchase orders, is intended for the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Xinhua news agency reported.

It noted that since the onset of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in early October last year, Elbit has ramped up its production lines across the country in response to the Ministry’s demand, with thousands of employees transitioning to an expanded work schedule.

It added that since the outbreak of the conflict, the Ministry has expanded procurement to support the building of the IDF’s strength and longevity for continued fighting, to ensure Israeli production independence in vital areas, and to strengthen the economy.

The total purchases made by the Ministry since the outbreak of the conflict is estimated at tens of billions of shekels (1 shekel is about $0.27), with more than half of the purchases made from Israeli suppliers, according to the statement.

–IANS

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