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Protesters Oppose Biden War Policy in Large Pro-Palestine Rally

The US Capitol building is seen in the distance as demonstrators gather in Freedom Plaza during a rally in support of Palestinians in Washington, DC, on November 4, 2023. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP)
The US Capitol building is seen in the distance as demonstrators gather in Freedom Plaza during a rally in support of Palestinians in Washington, DC, on November 4, 2023. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP)
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Protesters Oppose Biden War Policy in Large Pro-Palestine Rally

The US Capitol building is seen in the distance as demonstrators gather in Freedom Plaza during a rally in support of Palestinians in Washington, DC, on November 4, 2023. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP)
The US Capitol building is seen in the distance as demonstrators gather in Freedom Plaza during a rally in support of Palestinians in Washington, DC, on November 4, 2023. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP)

Thousands of protesters gathered in Washington on Saturday to demand a ceasefire in Gaza where thousands have been killed in an Israeli offensive since an attack by Hamas, and to denounce President Joe Biden's policy towards the war.
Protesters carried placards with slogans such as "Palestinian Lives Matter," "Let Gaza Live" and "Their blood is in on your hands," as the US government continued to reject demands to add its voice to calls for a blanket ceasefire.
Activists called the planned protest a "National March on Washington: Free Palestine" and organized buses to the US capital from across the country for demonstrators to attend, said coalition group ANSWER, an acronym for "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism."
"What we want and what we demand is a ceasefire now," said Mahdi Bray, national director of the American Muslim Alliance.
The demonstration was among the largest pro-Palestinian gatherings in the United States and among the biggest for any cause in Washington in recent years, Reuters reported.
Crowds began gathering at Freedom Plaza near the White House in the afternoon before the protest started with a moment of silence as demonstrators held up a large poster with names of Palestinians killed since Israel's massive retaliation began.
The deep-rooted Israeli-Palestinian conflict reignited on Oct. 7 when scores of fighters from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, crossed into Israel, killing at least 1,400 people.
Israel has since struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and launched a ground assault, stirring global alarm at humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Gaza health officials said at least 9,488 Palestinians had been killed as of Saturday.
The growing number of civilian deaths has intensified international calls for a ceasefire, but Washington, like Israel, has so far dismissed them, saying a halt will give Hamas chance to regroup.

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Ukrainian Drone Attack Triggers Earthquake-Sized Blast at Arsenal in Russia’s Tver Region 

In this photo released by Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, Tver region governor Igor Rudenya, center, arrives to attend a meeting of the operational headquarters in Toropets, following the strike by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Toropets, Russia. (Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia via AP)
In this photo released by Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, Tver region governor Igor Rudenya, center, arrives to attend a meeting of the operational headquarters in Toropets, following the strike by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Toropets, Russia. (Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia via AP)
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Ukrainian Drone Attack Triggers Earthquake-Sized Blast at Arsenal in Russia’s Tver Region 

In this photo released by Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, Tver region governor Igor Rudenya, center, arrives to attend a meeting of the operational headquarters in Toropets, following the strike by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Toropets, Russia. (Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia via AP)
In this photo released by Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, Tver region governor Igor Rudenya, center, arrives to attend a meeting of the operational headquarters in Toropets, following the strike by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Toropets, Russia. (Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia via AP)

A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russia triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major arsenal in the Tver region on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of a nearby town, war bloggers and some media reported.

Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting high into the night sky and multiple detonations thundering across a lake about 380 km (240 miles) west of Moscow.

NASA satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from an area of about 14 square kilometers (5 square miles) at the site in the early hours and earthquake monitoring stations picked up what sensors thought was a small earthquake in the area.

"The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets," said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger.

"Everything that can burn is already burning there (and exploding)."

There was no information about casualties.

Russian state media have in the past reported that a major arsenal for conventional weapons was located at the site of the blasts. State media, which is now subject to military censorship laws, was muted in its reporting on Wednesday.

Igor Rudenya, the governor of the Tver region, said that Ukrainian drones had been shot down, that a fire had broken out and that some residents were being evacuated. He did not say what was burning.

One woman told Reuters that members of her family had been evacuated from Toropets.

"A fire started with explosions," the woman said, giving only a first name, Irina.

A source in Ukraine's SBU state security service told Reuters the drone attack destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian government.

Russia and Ukraine each reported dozens of enemy drone attacks on their territory overnight, with Russian forces advancing in eastern Ukraine.

MAJOR EXPLOSION

The size of the main blast shown in the unverified social media video was consistent with 200-240 tons of high explosives detonating, according to George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California.

A Toropets chatroom on the Russian social media site VK was flooded with messages of support from other parts of the country and offers of help to people fleeing the town.

Some people were asking whether buildings at specific addresses were still standing.

"People, does anyone know what's happened to Kudino village??? They told me nothing is left of our house," posted one woman.

Another woman replied: "It's horror there." Kudino is a village 4.5 km (2.8 miles) northeast of Toropets.

Some war bloggers questioned how drones could trigger such large explosions at what was thought to be a highly fortified facility.

According to an RIA state news agency report from 2018, Russia was building an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets, a 1,000-year-old town, which has a population of just over 11,000.

Dmitry Bulgakov, then a deputy defense minister, told RIA in 2018 that the facility could defend weapons from missiles and even a small nuclear attack. Bulgakov was arrested earlier this year on corruption charges. He denies the charges.

"It (the concrete facilities) ensures their reliable and safe storage, protects them from air and missile strikes and even from the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion," RIA quoted Bulgakov as saying at the time.

Russia reported that its air defense units had destroyed 54 drones launched against five Russian regions overnight, without mentioning Tver. Ukraine said it had shot down 46 of 52 drones launched by Moscow overnight and that Russia had used three guided air missiles which did not reach their targets.