Hundreds of thousands of people joined a pro-Palestine march in central London on Saturday to show their support for the people of Palestine and demand an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Waving flags, drumming and chanting loud slogans, organizers from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign said they were expecting hundreds of thousands of people to join the rally.
Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza since Oct 7, 2023 after the group carried out a surprise attack on southern Israel. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from the ongoing Israeli attacks had risen to 34,388, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Saturday.
The protesters voiced their anger with what happening in Gaza.
"I think the main thing is just the silence of everyone else, I think that's what's really upsetting and with constantly seeing these just devastating images, just videos from everywhere, we feel its everybody's responsibility including ours and our children's to show that we are going to stand for what is right and you should stand for humanity and those people who are weak at any time. It doesn't matter who you are at the end of the day, this should never happen to anyone," said a demonstrator.
"To make my boys proud hopefully when they grow up and they see that mum and dad did something while other people did nothing. So we are here. I want the people of Palestine to know as well that there are people who care and there are people who are here to fight for them and stand up for them even the rest of the world and the government doesn't seem to care," said another demonstrator.
A protester said he did so to give a glimpse of hope to children in Gaza, and to tell the government to stop using tax payers’ money to kill civilians.
"If you look at what is happening in Gaza, we need to give children of Gaza hope, not hatred. And it's a belt building bonds across the globe, regardless of what religion, ethnicity you are, and know, send a strong message to the people of Gaza that we stand in solidarity with them and their children are our children, and send a strong message to government that's supplying arms to Israel that this will not stand. It's our money. We are the people, that our money is being supplied and kill children, men, women, and destroy their homes and their hospitals," said a demonstrator.
Another march due to be held in London by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism was canceled at the last minute due to concerns over safety. That protest sought to highlight the 133 people still held hostage in Gaza since the Oct 7 attacks. London's Metropolitan police said these months of protests had led to 'fear and uncertainty' in the Jewish community.
With no immediate end to the conflict in sight, these protests and counter protests will continue in the weeks ahead.
Thousands gather in London, calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
The seventh Digital China Summit will take place in Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province, from May 24 to 25, Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, said Friday at a news briefing in Beijing.
Themed "unleashing the value of data and developing new quality productive forces", this year's summit is the first after the optimization and adjustment of China's data work system, Liu told the news briefing.
It mainly includes the opening ceremony, the main forum, 13 sub-forums and a digital innovation competition with an on-site experience area. The Digital China Development Report (2023) will also be released at the summit.
The sub-forums include discussions on data resources and digital security, the digital economy, digital governance and other relevant topics.
"In terms of the arrangement, the event mainly includes the opening ceremony, the main forum, sub-forums and the Digital China Innovation Competition. In addition, there will be an experience area set up on-site," Liu said.
The summit is co-hosted by the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Data Administration, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and the People's Government of Fujian Province.
Lin Wenbin, vice governor of Fujian, said this year's summit is expected to attract the participation of more industry experts the in previous ones.
"Over 400 authoritative experts, scholars, and representatives from leading digital economy enterprises will deliver speeches at the summit. The ratio of business guests is set to rise from the 50 percent of last year to over 65 percent this time," said Lin.
Over the past six consecutive years, the summit has drawn over 1,700 experts and scholars along with more than 1,800 exhibitors, and has facilitated the signing of nearly 2,600 digital economy projects.
Among these projects, Fuzhou has secured a total of 683, with investments surpassing 600 billion yuan (about 83 billion U.S. dollars), sparking a notable influx of leading enterprises and companies in the digital economy sector that use special and sophisticated technologies.
"Fuzhou's digital economy has seen remarkable growth, expanding from 280 billion yuan at the inaugural summit in 2018 to over 710 billion yuan at the sixth summit last year, representing an increase of over 150 percent in just five years," said Guo Ningning, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Fuzhou Municipal Committee.
Last year, the added value of Fujian's digital economy topped 2.9 trillion yuan, contributing more than half of the province's total economic output.
"We've always been steadfast in integrating the digital development of Fujian into society, making it accessible to all, and deeply intertwined with everyday life. Currently, digital technology has permeated various aspects of society, including shopping, home life, education, healthcare, and more," said Lin. This year, Fuzhou aims to push 330 small and medium-sized enterprises to achieve full digital transformation by leveraging platforms like Fuzhou Software Park to nurture and expand industries such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, low-altitude economy, in a bid to establish several internationally competitive digital industrial clusters.
Annual summit on China's digital development to be held in Fujian
