China's Long March-12 rocket launches new internet satellite group

China launched a Long March-12 carrier rocket on Saturday from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan, sending an internet satellite group into space.

The rocket lifted off at 03:27 and successfully placed the payload, the 27th group of low-orbit internet satellites, into the preset orbit.

Israel marked the somber third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the current round of conflict in Gaza, with national memorial events laying bare deep societal rifts across the country.

The divisions were evident in the anniversary commemorations, as many families of hostages and their supporters chose to skip government-organized ceremonies, arguing that the war had been prolonged for political gains.

"My family who lives in Israel would never go near a government ceremony, which is sad that even in grief we are so divided; the country is still so divided," said Julia, a Canadian visitor to Israel.

As government ministers took the stage in Jerusalem, the families chose to be elsewhere, including at "The Space Left Behind," an exhibition at the Peres Center in Tel Aviv showcasing personal belongings of those killed in the Oct. 7 attack and the war that followed.

"We are giving as much as we can to the families. I feel like the politics is coming between [us and] that exhibition, just because this is all for life," said Emek Keidar Juma'a, curator of "The Space Left Behind" exhibition.

"I have the feeling that I had when I went to Hostages Square. The support of the people in Israel, it's so exciting, and also here. And I see that people are reading and seeing Tal's item, and it's very exciting because they don't have to come. They choose to come in support," said Ela Haimi, a Gaza border resident, who lost her husband Tal in the October 7 attack.

The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people and triggered a massive Israeli military campaign across Gaza that has killed, according to Gaza-based health authorities, more than 74,200 people. It subsequently expanded into fighting across the region.