World

Israeli soldiers have fired on Palestinians in Gaza for the second day running.

Four young men were injured near the border, where 17 unarmed Palestinians were killed on Friday.

Videos from Gaza show one protester being shot in the back while running away from the border with a tyre in his hand.

Another man was shot while praying at the protest.

The Israeli army is under increasing international pressure to explain why. Al Jazeera's Alex Gatopoulos reports.

At Kuwait's request, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting late on Friday, to issue a statement condemning Israel's use of force against Palestinians protesting in Gaza.

The US blocked it several times, and the council failed to agree on a joint statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an ''independent and transparent investigation'' and reaffirmed ''the readiness'' of the world body to revitalise peace efforts.

However, Mansour al-Otaibi, Kuwait's ambassador to the UN, issued a statement criticising the Security Council's for failing to take action against Israel. Al Jazeera's James Bays reports.

Israel is threatening more action against Palestinians protesting along the Gaza border.

Security forces shot dead 17 Palestinians on Friday as they marked Land Day - an annual rally against Israeli occupation.

More than 1,400 protesters were injured; half of them had gunshot wounds.

It was the single worst day of violence in Gaza since the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel.

Israeli security forces have confirmed they used drones to spray tear gas on protesters. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports.

US President Donald Trump says American troops will be leaving Syria ''very soon''.

He made the comments at a rally in Ohio on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Turkey's president is rejecting France's offer to mediate between Ankara and Kurdish armed groups in Syria. Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker has more.

China has sold Pakistan a powerful tracking system in an unprecedented deal that could speed up the Pakistani military’s development of multi-warhead missiles.

News of the sale - and evidence that China is supporting Pakistan’s rapidly developing missile programme - comes two months after India tested its most advanced nuclear-ready intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a range long enough to hit Beijing or Shanghai.

Chinese authorities declassified information about the deal on Wednesday.

A statement on the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) website said China was the first country to export such sensitive equipment to Pakistan.

Zheng Mengwei, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Optics and Electronics in Chengdu, Sichuan province, confirmed to the South China Morning Post that Pakistan had bought a highly sophisticated, large-scale optical tracking and measurement system from China.

The Pakistani military recently deployed the Chinese-made system ''at a firing range'' for use in testing and developing its new missiles, he said.

India and Pakistan are in a heated race to build up their nuclear weapons capabilities.

India’s January 18 test of its Agni-V ICBM, with a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), is seen as a message that the South Asian giant can deploy a credible nuclear deterrent against China.

While India’s single-warhead missiles are bigger and cover longer distances, Pakistan has focused its efforts on developing multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), a type of missile carrying several nuclear warheads that can be directed towards different targets.

The US Defence Intelligence Agency officially confirmed in March that Pakistan conducted the first test launch of its nuclear-capable Ababeel missile in January 2017, ''demonstrating South Asia’s first MIRV payload''.

Although the Ababeel missile has a range of only 2,200km, it can deliver numerous warheads to different targets. The technology has the potential to overwhelm a missile defence system, wiping out an adversary’s nuclear arsenal in one surprise attack.

There are growing concerns that MIRV technology will tip the strategic balance between India and Pakistan and destabilise the subcontinent.

India has so far not found success in building a system that can effectively deliver more than one nuclear warhead at a time.

But outside Pakistan, military experts believe that it will take much more time before the Ababeel missile is ready for use in battle. It is thought to be still at an early stage of development, with plenty of room for improvement.

It has been a long-held notion that Beijing is supporting Islamabad’s missile development programme. But solid evidence can seldom be found in the public domain, making the CAS statement a rarity.

The Chinese team enjoyed VIP treatment during the nearly three months it spent in Pakistan assembling and calibrating the tracking system and training technical staff on how to use it, according to the statement.

''The system’s performance surpassed the user’s expectations,'' it said, adding that it was considerably more complex than Pakistan’s home-made systems. It did not reveal how much Pakistan paid for the system.

Austin police have identified the supsect in the Austin bombings as Mark Anthony Conditt, a 23-year-old white male.

Mark Anthony Conditt is a native of Pflugerville, Texas, a suburb of Austin near Round Rock, where the alleged bomber killed himself.

The suspect blew himself up inside his car as police moved in to arrest him early Wednesday morning, police said.

Al Jazeera's John Hendren reports from Austin.

In northern Nigeria, Boko Haram fighters have released most of the 110 girls abducted from their school last month.

The schoolgirls were abducted after fighters stormed the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, in the northeastern state of Yobe, on February 19.

Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid reports.

At least 29 people have been killed and 52 others wounded in a mid-day explosion in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Tolo News reported that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack, which happened close to Kabul University and Ali Abad hospital.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports.

More than half of Kenya's population only have access to unsafe drinking water from ponds, shallow wells and rivers.

The lack of clean water, caused largely by prolonged drought, is causing conflicts between farming communities.

Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi reports from Wajir in northeastern Kenya.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has met the US president at the White House, with Donald Trump using the encounter for an unusual photo opportunity.

He displayed large cards to illustrate the benefits of arms being sold to Riyadh.

But rights groups say those sales should not be made to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a campaign in Yemen against the Houthi rebels.

Alan Fisher reports from Washington DC.