Reuters World News Summary

Seven people have died in the riots, in which cars and businesses have been torched and shops looted. Taiwan president extends goodwill after China drills, US lawmakers arrive Taiwan President Lai Ching-te extended goodwill towards and offered cooperation with China on Sunday following two days of Chinese war games near the island, as a group of U.S. lawmakers arrived in Taipei.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

South African election could spell the end of ANC dominance

South Africans will vote on Wednesday with widespread anger over power cuts, joblessness and corruption threatening to end the dominance of the African National Congress, thirty years after Nelson Mandela led it into power. At no point since world media beamed iconic images of Black South African voters queueing to cast ballots for the first time following the end of white-minority rule has the ANC looked so likely to lose its parliamentary majority.

Lagging in polls, UK Conservatives pitch national service at 18

Britain's Conservative Party will introduce mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if it wins the national election on July 4, comprising military or community participation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday. Young adults will be able to choose between spending one weekend a month volunteering over the course of a year, or take up one of 30,000 spaces to spend a year in the armed forces, Sunak said.

Zelenskiy, from ravaged Kharkiv, urges Biden and Xi to join peace summit

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sunday to attend his peace summit as Ukraine struggles to stave off unrelenting attacks by Russia in its 27-month-old invasion. Ukraine hopes to host as many countries as possible at Kyiv-led talks in Switzerland next month aimed at uniting global opinion on how to halt the war and piling pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has not been invited.

One dead, villages cut off after flooding on Armenia-Georgia border

Flooding caused by heavy rain and rivers bursting their banks in Armenia and Georgia has left one person dead, villages cut off and hundreds of people being evacuated from their homes, according to television footage and media reports in the region.

One person was killed and buildings and infrastructure were destroyed, Russia's TASS news agency cited Armenia's interior ministry as saying on Sunday. At least 230 people were evacuated from dangerous areas in the north of Armenia, agencies reported.

Trump booed and heckled by raucous crowd at Libertarian convention

Presidential candidate Donald Trump was booed and heckled by many in a raucous audience at the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday night, a marked change from the adulation he receives at rallies from his fervently loyal supporters. Libertarians, who believe in limited government and individual freedom, blame Trump, a Republican, for rushing through the creation of a COVID-19 vaccine when he was president and for not doing more to stop public health restrictions on the unvaccinated during the pandemic.

Hamas armed wing says it launched 'big missile' attack on Tel Aviv

Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades said it launched a "big missile" attack on Tel Aviv on Sunday as the Israeli military sounded sirens in the central city warning of possible incoming rockets. In a statement on its Telegram channel on Sunday, al-Qassam Brigades said the rockets were launched in response to what it called "Zionist massacres against civilians".

US lawmakers visiting Taiwan this week

A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is visiting Taiwan this week, the de facto U.S. embassy said on Sunday. The delegation is in Taiwan from Sunday to Thursday, the American Institute in Taiwan said in a statement, a trip that comes shortly after China ended two days of war games around the island.

New Caledonia airport to remain closed until at least June 2

New Caledonia's international airport will remain closed until at least next Sunday, its operator said, nearly two weeks after rioting erupted on the French-ruled Pacific island over a contested electoral reform. Seven people have died in the riots, in which cars and businesses have been torched and shops looted.

Taiwan president extends goodwill after China drills, US lawmakers arrive

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te extended goodwill towards and offered cooperation with China on Sunday following two days of Chinese war games near the island, as a group of U.S. lawmakers arrived in Taipei. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, carried out the military drills on Thursday and Friday, calling them "punishment" after Lai's inauguration speech on Monday which Beijing called another push for the island's formal independence.

More aid trucks expected to roll into Gaza

Israel prepared on Sunday to allow around 200 aid trucks into Gaza through Kerem Shalom at the southeastern edge of the Palestinian enclave, bypassing the main Rafah crossing that has been blocked for weeks. The aid shipments follow an agreement between U.S. President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday to temporarily send aid via the crossing.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)