VOA News for Friday, May 21st, 2021

VOA News for Friday, May 21st, 2021
Thanks to gandalf.ddo.jp/ for transcribing
This is VOA News. Reporting by remote, I'm Joe Ramsey.
A truce between Israel and Hamas began on Friday at the hour set by Egyptian mediators and U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to help the devastated Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid after the worst fighting in years.
Palestinians poured into Gaza streets late Thursday, many of whom had spent 11 days huddled in fear of Israeli shelling. Mosque [*loudspeeder] loudspeakers feted "the victory of the resistance achieved over the Occupation (Israel) during the 'Sword of Jerusalem' battle.”
In the countdown to the 2 a.m. local times cease-fire, Palestinian rockets continued and Israel carried out at least one airstrike. Each side said it stood ready to retaliate for any truce violations by the other. Cairo said it would send two delegations to monitor the cease-fire.
The violence erupted on May 10th and Gaza health officials claim 232 Palestinians, including 65 children, have been killed and nearly 2,000 wounded in airstrikes.
Israel says it has killed at least 160 combatants and authorities put the death toll in Israel at 12, with hundreds of people treated for injuries and rocket attacks that cause panic and sent people rushing into shelters.
U.S. President Joe Biden had a day earlier urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek de-escalation while Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations sought to mediate.
Biden at the White House Thursday extended condolences to bereaved Israelis and Palestinians and said Washington would work with the United Nations "and other international stakeholders provide rapid humanitarian assistance" for Gaza and its reconstruction.
Biden said aid would be coordinated with the Palestinian Authority, run by Hamas' rival, President Mahmoud Abbas.
This is VOA News.
A poll released Friday shows young people in Britain no longer think the country should keep the monarchy and more now want an elected head of state, with their mood souring over the last couple of years.
The British monarchy traces its history back to William the Conqueror who invaded England in 1066, though royals ruled the patchwork of kingdoms which stretched across what became England, Scotland and Wales for centuries before that.
According to the survey by YouGov, 41 percent of those aged 18 to 24 thought there should now be an elected head of state compared to 31 percent who wanted a king or queen.
While there is no possibility of an end to the monarchy while the queen remains on the throne, there is concern for the royals about a declining support among younger Britons.
British Princes William and Harry on Thursday hit out at the BBC and journalist Martin Bashir over "the deceitful way" Bashir obtained his explosive 1995 TV interview with Princess Diana, their late mother, in which she detailed her troubled marriage to Prince Charles.
Their stinging criticism came hours after an independent inquiry found Bashir had used falsified documents to get his sensational sit-down with Diana, and that BBC leaders had failed to adequately probe how he had arranged it.
William said that a deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what his mother said on the air and made a major contribution to the demise of his parents' relationship. He added that the BBC's oversight failures had contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation in her final years.
Diana and Charles, the heir to the British throne, formally divorced in 1996. She died age 36 in a high-speed car crash while being chased by paparazzi photographers in Paris the following year.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed [a hate crom...] a hate crimes law Thursday aimed at protecting Asian Americans who have suffered a surge in attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden says the Asian American community has been made a "scapegoat" anti-Chinese sentiment since the coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China in 2019.
And Canadian immigration authorities said Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's new immigration pathway for Hong Kong residents has received nearly 6,000 applicants three months since its launch.
The Canadian government announced last November it would make it easier for Hong Kong youth to study and work in the country in response to a new security law imposed by China on the former British colony.
Hong Kong is home to about 300,000 Canadians, one of the largest Canadian communities abroad.
Find more on these stories at VOA news.com. Reporting by remote, I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News.