africa. it came justst six weeeeks after ananother devastating ststorm cyclone aiai hit mozamambique, d as sea surface temperatures off the coast of africa continue to rise due to climate change. in western sahara, moroccan authorities have swept out across the city of laayoune in a bid to crush protests, as activists call for a referendum on the status of the territory and demand the release of political prisoners. video clandestinely recorded and circulated on social media sites shows activists mina bali and aziza biza being beaten by plainclothes security officers as the women protest peacefully in the streets of western sahara's capital. mina bali suffered broken bones in her hand requiring surgery. meanwhile, sultana khaya, a famed sahrawi activist who had her eye gouged out by a moroccan police officer in 2007 during a peaceful protest, was stopped by authorities trying to enter laayoune and turned around. the latest crackdown on dissent by morocco comes as the un security council is set to vote today on an extension of the 's mandate western sahara. morocco is seeking to prevent u.n. peacekeepers there from adding human rights monitoring to their mandate. morocco has occupied western sahara since 1975, and no other country on earth recognizes its sovereignty over the territory. to see our democracy now! special, "four days in western sahara, africa's last colony" you can visit our website at democracynow.org. in chicago, boeing held its first annual shareholders meeting since fatal crashes of its 737 max airplanes in indonesia and ethiopia killed nearly 350 people. outside the meeting, family and friends held a silent protest demanding boeing executives be criminally prosecuted. the demonstration was organized by the family of 24-year-old samya stumo, who died march 10th when ethiopian airlines flight 302 crashed due to a faulty flight control system. stumo is the grand niece of consumer advocate ralph nader. as boeing's shareholders met, families of the crash victims held an emotional news conference to discuss their lawsuit against boeing. paul, who lost his wife and three young children in the ethiopian airlines crash, said he stays up at night thinking about the horror his family endured as pilots struggled to keep the plane flying for six minutes. >> those six minutes will forever be embedded in my mind. i was not there to he