Papua New Guinea disaster agency tells UN 2,000 people are buried after landslide

Unstable terrain, remote locations and damaged roads have been hampering relief efforts in the aftermath of the landslide, the UN said

The Papua New Guinea national disaster centre has said that Friday’s landslide in a remote village in the northern part of the country buried more than 2,000 people, and has formally asked for international help.

Unstable terrain, remote locations and damaged roads have been hampering relief efforts in the aftermath of the landslide, the United Nations said on Monday.

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‘Putin’s patience snapped’: Insiders marvel at Russia’s military purge

Under new defence minister Andrei Belousov, FSB is tackling corruption aggressively with serious implications for Ukraine

In the weeks since Vladimir Putin sacked his longtime defence minister Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s FSB security service has pursued a series of high-level corruption cases against a deputy minister and department heads in what many insiders are now calling a purge in the defence ministry.

Andrei Belousov, the technocrat economist appointed to replace Shoigu, has a mandate to reduce corruption in the defence ministry and streamline military production for a long war against Ukraine that could largely be decided by industrial output.

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Hamas launches rocket attack on Tel Aviv for first time in months

IDF says Palestinian militant group fired salvo from Rafah area as Israel’s offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city continues

The Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Sunday that it had launched a barrage of rockets at Israel’s commercial centre Tel Aviv for the first time in months, in an apparent display of strength as Israel’s operation in Gaza targets the group’s last stronghold in the southern city of Rafah.

Air raid sirens sounded in the Mediterranean coastal city and across central Israel on Sunday afternoon for the first time since January after what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said was a salvo of eight rockets were fired from the Rafah area. The group’s ability to fire rockets and drones towards Israeli territory has steadily diminished over eight months of war.

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Iran presidential election: up to 20 possible contenders gear up for battle

As official mourning for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi ends, here are some of the names of his potential successors

The end of official mourning for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has unleashed a battle for succession in which as many as 20 credible names have been proposed.

All candidates have to be cleared by the 12-strong elite body known as the Guardian Council, and the regime is torn between ensuring continuity on the one hand and on the other, allowing an open competition that stimulates turnout and gives the victor legitimacy.

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Papua New Guinea landslide death toll exceeds 670, says UN agency

Emergency workers give up hope of finding survivors of Friday’s landslide as tribal warfare threatens rescue effort

More than 670 people are believed to have been killed in a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, the UN migration agency has said, as emergency workers and relatives gave up hope that any survivors would be found.

The death toll from the landslide on Friday had been estimated at more than 300, but 48 hours later the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it may be more than double that, with the full extent of destruction still unclear.

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Thousands of Parisians take part in free picnic on the Champs-Élysées

Event aims to reverse decline in local people visiting boulevard, which has become hub for wealthy tourists and designer stores

Thousands of people have gathered on the Champs-Élysées for a giant free picnic organised by a committee of local traders and businesses fighting to halt the slow decline of the boulevard long known as “the most beautiful avenue in the world”.

Once a favourite haunt of Parisians, the Champs-Élysées has in recent years been steadily abandoned by local people as popular stores and cinemas have given way to luxury boutiques and the avenue has become the preserve of wealthy tourists.

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Five dead after powerful storms tear through rural Texan community

Storms began on Saturday night as tornado overturned vehicles and shut down an interstate north of Dallas

A Texas sheriff has said at least five people died after powerful storms tore through a rural community, obliterating homes and leaving thousands of people without power.

The Cooke County sheriff, Ray Sappington, told the Associated Press the victims included three family members who were found in one home near Valley View, a rural community near the border with Oklahoma.

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Zelenskiy calls on world leaders to attend Ukraine ‘peace summit’ after deadly Kharkiv strike

Ukraine president urges Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to ‘show your leadership’ and send message to Moscow

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has released a desperate video plea calling on world leaders to attend a “peace summit” next month in Switzerland after a deadly Russian attack on a DIY hypermarket in Kharkiv on Saturday killed at least 16people and injured dozens more.

Zelenskiy appealed in particular to the US president, Joe Biden, and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to attend the summit, which is due to start on 15 June. “Please, show your leadership in advancing the peace – the real peace and not just a pause between the strikes,” said Zelenskiy in English.

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ANC at a crossroads as South Africa goes to the polls

Party’s leaders are more nervous than ever that it will lose its majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to victory

It was supposed to be a show of strength, a packed crowd of 83,000 ANC supporters showing South Africa that despite the country’s myriad problems, the ruling party was still confident of victory in Wednesday’s pivotal elections.

Instead, as people streamed out of the three-quarters-full venue before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech had even begun, the Siyanqoba (“To conquer”) rally will have left ANC leaders more nervous than ever that the party that liberated South Africa will lose its majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in 1994.

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Six newborn babies die after fire tears through Delhi hospital

Bystanders ran in to rescue 12 newborns from fire at children’s hospital as PM Narendra Modi says deaths are ‘heart-rending’

Six newborn babies have died after a fire tore through a children’s hospital in the Indian capital, Delhi, with people charging into the flames to rescue the infants, police have said.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, called the fire and deaths “heart-rending” in a post on social media.

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Israel-Gaza war: protesters in Tel Aviv demand end to war – as it happened

This blog has now closed. You can read our latest report on the Israel-Gaza war here and all our coverage on the conflict here

Al Jazeera are reporting that an Israeli military strike has targeted a family home in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood, killing a woman and injuring other people. It attributes the information to “colleagues on the ground”.

The publication, citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa, reports that “numerous other neighbourhoods of Gaza City have come under heavy artillery shelling … including Sheikh Ajlin, Tal al-Hawa and Zeitoun”.

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Russian strikes on Kharkiv supermarket kill six and injure 40

Dozens also injured after guided bombs hit residential area, in attack Zelenskiy says is ‘terrorism’

Russian strikes on a crowded DIY hardware store and a residential area in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed at least six people and injured 40 on Saturday, local officials said.

Four people were killed after two guided bombs hit the DIY hypermarket in a residential area of the city, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on national television, while 40 people were injured in the attack and 16 still unaccounted for.

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British climber and Nepali guide feared dead after reaching Everest summit

Dan Paterson and Pastenji Sherpa went missing during descent after landslide of snow and ice on mountain

A British man and his Nepali guide are believed to be dead after reaching the summit of Mount Everest on Tuesday, a guiding company said.

Dan Paterson, 40, and Pastenji Sherpa, 23, reached the peak just before 5am on Tuesday but have not been heard from since, according to Paterson’s partner, Becks Woodhead.

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At least 27 people killed in huge fire at amusement park in India

Most of those who died in blaze were children, according to police in Rajkot, Gujarat

At least 27 people, most of them children, have died after a huge fire broke out at an amusement park in western India, police said.

The fire erupted at the park in the city of Rajkot in Gujarat state on Saturday. Police commissioner Raju Bhargava said the fire was under control and the rescue operation was under way.

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Iran jails father of young man executed over 2022 protests

Mashallah Karami sentenced to six years after pleading for his son’s life to be spared

Iranian authorities have jailed a father who campaigned unsuccessfully for clemency for his 22-year-old son after he was sentenced to death in connection with 2022 protests, his lawyer said Saturday.

Mashallah Karami was sentenced to six years in prison by a Revolutionary court in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj on charges of illegally organising gatherings and collecting donations, his lawyer, Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, said on X, adding that the verdict had “flaws” and would be appealed.

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Revealed: how Church of England’s ties to chattel slavery went to top of hierarchy

Lambeth Palace documents show purchase of enslaved people in 18th century approved by Anglican archbishop

An archbishop of Canterbury in the 18th century approved payments for the purchase of enslaved people for two sugar plantations in Barbados, documents seen by the Observer have revealed.

Thomas Secker agreed to reimburse a payment for £1,093 for the purchase of enslaved people on the Codrington Plantations, as well as hiring enslaved people from a third party. It was stated the measures were “calculated for the future lasting advantages of the estates”.

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‘History is written at the dining table’: what 4,000 menus tell us about royals, politicians and society

The bills of fare for dinners with kings, presidents and dictators show how tastes have changed over 150 years

On Friday, 22 May 1896, guests of Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle had a lot on their plates. A handwritten menu shows “Her Majesty’s Dinner” offered soup with vermicelli, trout meunière, boudin (black pudding), quails, ducklings and spinach with croutons followed by peaches and cream, then cheese. For those still peckish, hot and cold meats including pork tongue and beef were laid out on a side table.

The finely decorated card is one of 4,600 menus in a unique collection being sold in Paris on Friday, spanning 150 years of high-society dining from the late 19th century.

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Hopes grow of G7 deal to support Ukraine with $300bn in frozen Russian assets

Foreign ministers confident of agreement to use bank assets as security for Ukraine reconstruction loan

Hopes of a multi-country deal to use $300bn of Russian state assets frozen in the European banking system to support Ukraine have grown after it emerged that G7 ministers were confident of overcoming technical and political obstacles at a meeting in northern Italy on Saturday.

The Canadian finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, said she was optimistic that G7 leaders would reach an agreement, as support coalesced around a plan to use frozen Russian central bank assets as security for a $50bn (£39bn) loan.

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Polish foreign minister calls for long-term rearmament of Europe

Exclusive: Radosław Sikorski also says he favours deepest possible inclusion of UK in EU defence structures

A long-term rearmament of Europe, in which the UK can play the closest possible role, is necessary to defeat Russian imperial ambitions, Poland’s foreign minister has said.

Radosław Sikorski also called for majority voting for EU sanctions and a 5,000-strong EU mechanised brigade, and said Poland was willing to back an EU-wide scheme to incentivise Ukrainian draft dodgers to return to their homeland.

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Last major Arabic-style mosque in China loses its domes

Exclusive: Experts say changes to Grand Mosque of Shadian mark completion of five-year sinification campaign

The last major mosque in China to have retained Arabic-style features has lost its domes and had its minarets radically modified, marking what experts say is the completion of a government campaign to sinicise the country’s Muslim places of worship.

The Grand Mosque of Shadian, one of China’s biggest and grandest mosques, towers over the small town from which it takes its name in south-western Yunnan province.

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