Rescuers searched for dozens of people still missing in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province on Sunday after heavy rains in recent days triggered floods and mudslides that have killed more than 440 people.
The floods have left thousands homeless, knocked out power and water services and disrupted operations at one of Africa's busiest ports, Durban. A provincial economic official estimated the overall infrastructure damage at more than 10 billion rand ($684.6 million).
The province's premier, Sihle Zikalala, said the death toll had risen to 443, with a further 63 people unaccounted for.
In some of the worst-affected areas, residents said they were terrified by the thought of more rain, which was forecast to fall on Sunday. Some faced an agonising wait for news of missing loved ones.
President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said late on Saturday he had delayed a working visit to Saudi Arabia to focus on the disaster. Ramaphosa will meet cabinet ministers to assess the response to the crisis.
KZN Premier Zikalala told a televised briefing that the floods were among the worst in his province's recorded history.
"We need to summon our collective courage and turn this devastation into an opportunity to rebuild our province," he said. "The people of KwaZulu-Natal will rise from this mayhem."
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border, officials and state media said on Monday.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office said on Monday it had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was given permission to have a full appeal over his extradition to the United States after arguing at London's High Court on Monday he might not be able to rely on his right to free speech at a trial.
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Israel describes Rafah, which abuts the Gaza Strip's border with the Egyptian Sinai, as the last stronghold of Hamas Islamists whose governing and combat capabilities it has been trying to dismantle during the more than seven-month-old war.
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