live from london, this is bbc news. the conservatives say they'll bring back mandatory national service for 18—year—olds if they win the general election. the labour party describe the proposal as a gimmick and promises not to increase income tax if it wins on polling day. the united nations says 670 people are feared dead following a landslide in papua new guinea. at least 12 people are now confirmed dead after a russian attack on a crowded diy store in ukraine's second city of kharkiv. the uk's general election campaign is well and truly under way, with an eye—catching announcement from the conservative party

to bring back mandatory national service if it wins on polling day onjuly 4th. the party said 18—year—olds would have a choice of eitherjoining the military full—time for 12 months, or volunteering one weekend every month, taking part in community service, with organisations like the fire brigade, police or the national health service. home secretary james cleverly said the plan would address social fragmentation and get young people "out of their bubble". labour has described the plan as a "desperate gimmick". it's been answering questions on its tax and spend plans this morning. more on that shortly. first, this report from our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. an eye—catching policy from the conservatives early on in this campaign, one that's grabbed the headlines in this morning's papers. yeah, many more of these over the next few weeks! enjoy your weekend. bye—bye. they say if they win the general election, by the end of the next parliament they would bring back a form

of mandatory national service for every 18—year—old. that would involve either applying for one of 30,000 full—time one—year placements in the armed forces or cyber defence, or young people would have to volunteer in their communities for one weekend a month in organisations such as charities, the police or nhs. the tories say the scheme would cost £2.5 billion a year by 2029, but key details are yet to be worked out, for example how much those on military placements would be paid and what sanction there would be for not complying. cuts in the british army has seen its size fall from more than 100,000 in 2010 to around 73,000 as ofjanuary this year. rishi sunak says the programme would provide life—changing opportunities and a shared sense of purpose. labour said the tories were out of ideas and described the plan as desperate. it's certainly one that will be noticed. leila nathoo, bbc news. let's get more on what's been going on this morning. i'm joined now by our political coresspondant ione wells.

this has taken a few people by surprise, the idea of some kind of return to national service, what more detail how the conservatives been giving?— more detail how the conservatives been giving? certainly this is being seen as the — been giving? certainly this is being seen as the first _ been giving? certainly this is being seen as the first major _ been giving? certainly this is being seen as the first major policy - seen as the first major policy announcement by either party during this election campaign, they have outlined a few more details, we know this would be a compulsory scheme for 18—year—olds, and i would have the choice of doing 12 months of paid military service or volunteering for one weekend a month, 25 days or so a year, in other public services, for example in the nhs, the fire service. now what is not clear is how it would be enforced, the home secretary, james cleverly, suggested it would not be a criminal offence not to do it, so there are questions about how it would be implemented in practice, but the home secretary was asked earlier to give more details about the purpose of the scheme. what we are putting forward is a mandatory national service, a small element of which will be with the military, and anyone taking that route

will volunteer to do so. so whilst you will be compelled to take part in national service, no—one will be compelled to do the military bit. and it's about addressing the fragmentation we have seen in society with too many young people living in their own bubbles, whether that's digital or social. we want to get back to the situation where people are mixing with young people from different areas, different economic groups and religions to try and find a way of addressing the fragmentation we see too much of. so in terms of what labour was talking about today, rachael ray is talking about today, rachael ray is talking about today, rachael ray is talking about the economy. that talking about today, rachael ray is talking about the economy.- talking about the economy. that is riaht, talking about the economy. that is right. labour— talking about the economy. that is right, labour focusing _ talking about the economy. that is right, labour focusing on - talking about the economy. that is right, labour focusing on the - right, labourfocusing on the economy this morning, and speaking to laura kuenssberg, the main promise she made was that labour wouldn't raise interest —— wouldn't raise income taxes, and although she

did not entirely rule out the spending cuts, this is a question both parties will be facing with inflation at the moment, there is a question about whether there will be real terms cuts to some unprotected departments. they said they would be investing in core departments like police and schools and one be returning to austerity but did not rule out further spending cuts. it does, does it not, mean cuts to some public service spending? well, there's not going to be a return to austerity- under a labour government. that's not my question. well, you know, we had austerity i for five years and that is part . of the reason why our economy and our public services - are in a mess today. there is no spending review. the government haven't done i a spending review, so there's no allocations for departments. i would have to do that if i become chancellor in a few weeks' time . and i'll set out those plans. but would you rule out making cuts to some areas to public spending in some areas? we're not going to be l bringing back austerity, but we have got that immediate injection of cash into our- frontline public services.

that's a downpayment on the changes that we want to make. _ but in the end, _ we have to grow the economy. that was the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, saying that they wouldn't necessarily be able to rule out any cuts, but they wouldn't be cutting personal income taxes. both parties will be outlining more of their specific policies in the coming weeks, when they announced their full manifestos, and that is where we will get more detail about how some of these policies and pledges will work in practice. bier? pledges will work in practice. very early days. _ pledges will work in practice. very early days. more _ pledges will work in practice. very early days, more detail required of these politicians. ione wells, thank you very much. to papua new guinea now, where around 670 people are thought to have died after a massive landslide on friday. the figure is an estimate based on the number of houses believed to have been buried in up to eight metres of rock, earth and trees. so far, only a handful of bodies have been recovered. the landslide hit remote villages. the affected areas are in the highlands of enga, in the north of the island nation in the south—west pacific.

journalist scott waide, the papua new guinea correspondent for radio new zealand, spoke to the bbc and gave us this update. there is a kilometre of earth that stretches from the foot of the mountain to where it has ended. and there are at least 500, and that is a figure we are using at the moment... there has been some glimmer of hope in the last 2a hours. a husband and wife were buried were rescued and thankfully their three children weren't there at the scene where the landslip happened. there's been four bodies recovered, the partial remains of a 25—year—old man who has been identified by his family, three women who have been pulled

out of the rubble dead. it has been that grim reality that people have had to face over the last hours. it has been difficult, as you said, getting to where many of the bodies are buried. it isa it is a whole clan that has been buried by this landslip, so it is a grim reality that people have to face. officials in ukraine say at least 12 people have been killed and 43 others wounded after russian forces hit a supermarket in the northern ukrainian city of kharkiv. two glide bombs hit the building on saturday. some people are still missing. later in the day russia launched another attack on the residential area in the kharkiv city centre, with a civilian block of flats damaged, leaving at least 25 people injured, according to local authorities. it takes the total current number of injured in kharkiv to 68. the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, repeated his appeal for more air defences. russian forces have made gains

in the kharkiv region since launching a renewed offensive across the border. 0ur correspondent in ukraine, james waterhouse, has the latest. well, president zelensky has used this attack to renew calls for air defences to defend the city, but he has gone a lot further this time. he has gone a lot further this time. he has released a six minute film standing in a bombed out printing factory where he talks about what he describes as russian lies with attempted ceasefires in the past over the course of the ten years of aggression towards ukraine. he talks about cities which have fallen, like avdiivka, and he references the upcoming peace summit in switzerland next month. but what is also interesting is that he has done it interesting is that he has done it in english, suggesting he is addressing the west directly. because these are troubling times for ukraine, you have kharkiv, the city which is coming under increasing air strikes, in the case

of this supermarket, or this diy store, officials are single out the bombs were used again, we are seeing more of them used in the front lines, as well as in kharkiv after a russian cross—border incursion earlier this month. now, while it is thought that the city of kharkiv will not fall because of the capability of these russian troops, they are taking territory, and that is concerning for ukraine as they wait for mobilisation laws to come into effect, for enough men tojoin the fight, as well as the billions of dollars worth of american weaponry and ammunition so ukraine can try and study the front line in any way. but what president zelensky is trying to do is to show his country that he is willing to negotiate peace, but only, and these are still returns for kyiv, only if russian forces withdraw completely. at the moment, the tide is going the other way, at the moment, the tide is going the otherway, noticeably at the moment, the tide is going the other way, noticeably in the north—east, but also across the

eastern and southern front line as well, where russia is, crucially, holding on to what it has taken so far. a fire at a children's hospital in the indian capital, delhi, has killed at least six babies. several other newborns are receiving treatment after being rescued from the burning building. the cause of the fire is not yet clear. the city's chief minister described the deaths as heartbreaking and said said an investigation was under way. this is a small hospital, the size of a nursing home, squeezed between residential homes, and it seems from these videos that residents felt, you can see bursts of flame is just climbing up and impacting even the buildings adjacent to the baby care hospital. now, as you said, it's

early days to talk about the cause of the fire, but what the fire department has said is that the fire spread more rapidly because of oxygen cylinders that leaked and fed the fire. they also said that although it took place late at night, which enabled them to reach the spot quickly, what slowed down the spot quickly, what slowed down the process of rescue was the fact that there was a single staircase leading up to the floors above and that was totally clogged by the smoke that the fire had generated. they were able to rescue i2 smoke that the fire had generated. they were able to rescue 12 babies, some of whom are receiving treatment, but from what we are hearing, there seems to be one more baby who might have succumbed to their injuries, taking the death toll from six to seven. . israel is reported to have agreed a new framework to revive stalled negotiations aimed at securing a hostage deal in gaza. mediated talks ground to a halt

earlier this month — after israel launched a military operation in rafah. meanwhile, israeli officials have denied a claim by hamas that the militant group has captured one of its soldiers in gaza. hamas said it had ambushed some israeli forces in the north of the territory. and while ground operations and shelling by israel forces continue to advance across gaza reports from egypt say re—routed aid trucks have begun to enter the gaza strip through the kerem shalom border crossing. let's speak to our correspondent danjohnson injerusalem. dan, let's first of all start with what difference, if any, this ruling by the icj that the israeli offensive in rafah is to seize. yeah, it seems like israel is operate in defiance of that ruling, the offensive has continued around rafah, the border crossing remains closed, and i have been more air

strikes and ground operations in and around rafah over the weekend. that activity over the last two weeks has displaced overi million palestinians, many of them people who were sheltering in rafah, having moved from other parts of gaza early in the conflict. israel rejected the ruling of the court on friday and seems to be ignoring it. it doesn't recognise what is being accused of with what is playing out on the ground, it says what it is doing does not amount to genocide, it is not targeting the palestinian people, it is focusing on eradicating hamas battalions, and it says it has the right to defend itself, having suffered the attacks of the 7th of october and it doesn't believe that what it is conducting on the ground in rafah and other parts of gaza adds up to what the international court is accusing it of, so that military operation continues for now. it was also declared by the court that israel needed to do more to get aid into gaza, particularly into the rafah area, and now we have this deal which will see aid which is waiting to cross at rafah now re—routed via

israel to come in through the other crossing so that it can hopefully reach palestinians who need feeding. the problem has been that even when aid gets across the border into gaza, distributing it has been a challenge, because so many humanitarian aid workers face logistical difficulties and i have a problem protecting and securing themselves because of all the risks and all the fighting. so a really difficult situation in terms of aid, but israel says it is getting more shipments into gaza, it is doing it as much as account of these people and give them shelter. talk as much as account of these people and give them shelter.— and give them shelter. talk to us briefl if and give them shelter. talk to us briefly if you _ and give them shelter. talk to us briefly if you would _ and give them shelter. talk to us briefly if you would about - and give them shelter. talk to us briefly if you would about the - and give them shelter. talk to us| briefly if you would about the new framework that has been agreed that is designed to revive negotiations about getting hostages out of gaza. yes, we have seen very little progress in the last few weeks in terms of peace talks, but there is now hope that israel can return to negotiations from tuesday. there will be meeting in brussels tomorrow of arab nations and europeans, and hope that these talks which are being mediated by the egyptians and

qatar can resume. nothing it has been put to hamas, and will have to see how they respond, they have said that for any deal on the release of they would need guarantees about israel pulling out of gaza, about a full ceasefire and about commitment to rebuilding gaza's future. there are hopes that these issues can be addressed and negotiated to try to secure the release of hostages back to their families in secure the release of hostages back to theirfamilies in israel. dan. to their families in israel. dan, for the moment, _ to their families in israel. dan, for the moment, thank - to their families in israel. dan, for the moment, thank you - to their families in israel. dan, | for the moment, thank you very to their families in israel. dan, for the moment, thank you very much, danjohnson injerusalem. an unexpected pleasure to see you! fresh from manchester united's fa cup success, manager erik ten tag is vowing to continue winning trophies, whether he remains at the club or not. senior officials have so far failed to give any assurances about his future. the build—up to the fa cup final was dominated by speculation that ten hag would be sacked whatever happened. as it transpired, united beat manchester city 2—1 at wembley, the second trophy the manager's won.

lifting spirits after their worst ever premier league campaign where united finished eighth. whatever co—owner jim ratcliffe decides, the manager's staying positive. the team is progressing and we are winning trophies, two trophies in two years is not bad, three finals is not bad. but two years is not bad, three finals is not bad-— is not bad. but we have to keep auoin , is not bad. but we have to keep going. i'm _ is not bad. but we have to keep going. i'm not _ is not bad. but we have to keep going, i'm not satisfied - is not bad. but we have to keep going, i'm not satisfied with - is not bad. but we have to keep going, i'm not satisfied with it, | is not bad. but we have to keep i going, i'm not satisfied with it, we have to do better, and if they don't want me any more, i will go somewhere else to win trophies, because that is what i did my whole career. while city couldn't claim a double, celtic did by winning the scottish cup final. they too beating rivals in the form of rangers in the old firm derby. brendan rodgers, who returned to the club as manager last year to a mixed reaction, making it four wins in five this season over their city rivals, adam idah with the winner in the final minute of the game, which also signalled the end forformer england international and manchester city goalkeeper joe hart, who's leaving celtic

and retiring from the game. i have loved absolutely every minute of my whole career, football has been everything to me, it is everything i am as a person, and i'm going to have to find out who i am now. i will miss it one day, but right now i have got so much joy and thanks to give to everyone who has made a special for me. jofra archer took two wickets in his first international for more than a year as england began their world cup preparations with a 23—run victory over pakistan in the second t20 at edgbaston. captainjos buttler smashed 84 after england were put into bat at edgbaston. their 183—7 was too much for pakistan to chase down. reece topley claimed three wickets, with two for archer and moeen ali. england eventually securing victory by 23 runs. today it's the turn of england's women. ferrari's charles leclerc says he's hoping to fulfil his childhood dream later and win his home grand prix in monaco, where he'll start from pole. for the first time this season, max verstappen won't be at the front

of the grid. the formula i world champion's hopes of that ended when he hit the wall at the first corner of his final run in qualifying, leaving him sixth. leclerc, magnificent so far this weekend, took pole, will hope things go better than the previous two times that happened, when he failed to win the race. it feels really good. however, i'm know from the past, the qualifying is not everything. as much as it helps a lot for sunday's race, we need to put everything together the coming sunday. and in the past years we didn't manage to do so, but we are a stronger team, we have a stronger position and i am sure we can achieve great things, and obviously a win is the target. some sad news to bring you next. pga tour golfer grayson murray has died at the age of 30. he withdrew from the charles schwab challenge event in texas on friday through illness and was a two—time winner on the tour, including at the sony 0pen injanuary.

no cause of death has yet been given. tadej pogacat will ride into rome later to be crowned champion of cycling's first grand tour of the year, the giro d'italia. the slovenian claimed his sixth stage win on the penultimate day finishing more than two minutes ahead of his rivals to extend his overall lead to almost ten minutes. britain's geraint thomas was seventh on his 38th birthday and will claim third overall behind dani martinez. and that's all the sport for now. the french open is under way, naomi 0saka he is on course, you can follow that later on the osaka he is on course, you can follow that later on the- follow that later on the day, stanislas — follow that later on the day, stanislas wawrinka - follow that later on the day, stanislas wawrinka againstl follow that later on the day, stanislas wawrinka against andy murray is in the night session, we will keep you updated, but that is all your support for now, martin. political parties across

south africa have been holding their final rallies before wednesday's elections. it's 30 years since the african national congress won the country's first democratic elections following the release of nelson mandela and the end of apartheid. now polls suggest that for the first time, the party may fail to get an overall majority. let's cross to my colleague catherine byaruhanga, who is at a rally for the main opposition party the democratic alliance, just outside johannesburg. hi, martin, this weekend as the climax of months of campaigning by parties in south africa was top this weekend, you have the party is conducting rallies like this across the country. right now behind me as a sea of blue, this is the colour for the democratic alliance, it is the official opposition party in south africa. last time around, it took about 20% of the vote, but it

isn't the only party trying to take on the anc, you have more than 70 parties on the ballot paper next week, challenging the anc. 0ne parties on the ballot paper next week, challenging the anc. one of them is called rise mzansi, it has only existed for one year, and it has made a name for itself by trying to target young urban, ambitious south africans, and we are joined by its leaderfor south africans, and we are joined by its leader for the gauteng province, which also includesjohannesburg, which also includes johannesburg, who which also includesjohannesburg, who is on the line to us from johannesburg. you are holding your own event later today, when you look at the number of parties contesting in these elections, the fragmentation of the opposition, is it a problem when you are trying to unseat the anc, which is so dominant in south african politics? 50 i in south african politics? so i think what — in south african politics? so i think what we _ in south african politics? so i think what we are _ in south african politics? sr i think what we are witnessing, in south african politics? 5r i think what we are witnessing, as you have correctly said, 30 years into our democracy, and what we are

witnessing is a fundamental realignment of south african politics. forthe realignment of south african politics. for the last 30 years, the anc has been the dominant governing party, but over the last few election cycles, we have seen the influence and their numbers dropping, particularly in the local elections, where they have lost power in a lot of the main metros, and i think that comes to fruition in this election. so certainly there is a journey ahead of us, but i think this is exactly where we need to be and the electorate is hungry for more options and more choices, and i think we have now got a good assortment of choices for the electorate. assortment of choices for the electorate-— assortment of choices for the electorate. ,, ., ., electorate. and, vuyiswa, you have formed a multiparty _ electorate. and, vuyiswa, you have formed a multiparty coalition - electorate. and, vuyiswa, you have formed a multiparty coalition that l formed a multiparty coalition that could try to form a government if the anc loses enough votes, but why

haven't you joined the coalition? so haven't you “oined the coalition? so i haven't you joined the coalition? 5r i think what our understanding of the electorate and wide rise mzansi exist in the first place is because the parties that are part of a multipartyjar have existed, many of them existed for more than two decades, some even from the beginning of democracy, but they have failed to present a credible alternative political proposition that appeals to the broad majority of south africans, and i speak here particularly about the anc�*s base. a lot of anc voters are what we call disaffected and lapsed anc voters, but they don't find resonance with the politics of the opposition parties. so in our view, the multiparty charter is not the solution. what we need to be doing is actually putting together an alternative to the anc, which really speaks to the values and a political orientation of the south african people broadly, and that is what

rise mzansi has endeavoured to do. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. that is vuyiswa ramokgopa, one of the leaders of rise mzansi. the conversation in south africa at the moment, if the anc does not win enough votes, what kind of coalition wooded form, would it be with smaller parties, would the da be a partner, or maybe one of the parties or groups that have left the anc, like the for the mk party? back to you. it could look very different after this election, thank you very much, catherine byaruhanga in johannesburg. let me take you quickly to rome, where pope francis has been presiding over a mass to mark the first international children's day. he has been at the olympic stadium in rome, he is now 0lympic stadium in rome, he is now out touring, waving to the crowds,

and ahead of this event, he said i want to speak to each of you dear children, you are precious in god's eyes. you are watching bbc news. hello there. lots of sunshine around yesterday, but it is all change weather—wise today. there will still be some sunny spells, mostly towards the south of the uk, but also the threat of some heavy, thundery downpours breaking out, as well. it's been a soggy night for many with our weather fronts merging, slowly pushing further northward. so spells of rain, lots of saturated ground around this morning. for the northern half of the uk, it stays cloudy with further spells of rain, some heavy at times. further south, there will be some sunshine, but watch out for those thunderstorms. they could be heavy and slow—moving, particularly across the midlands, parts of eastern wales and through northern england too. a bit drier across northern scotland and south—east england. temperatures 15 to 19 degrees celsius for most. it will still feel pleasantly warm in the best of the sunshine.

the showers will tend to fade away overnight tonight, but still some showery outbreaks of rain across many central and western areas of scotland, gradually pushing further eastwards. clearer skies further south and east. it's a mild start to bank holiday monday. lots of typical bank holiday weather around tomorrow. most of the rain, though, will be towards the north. that's gradually pushing further eastwards as we head throughout the day. some heavy downpours of rain around at times and a scattering of showers further south, but also some bright and some sunny spells in between those showers, which won't be as heavy or as thundery as we're expecting for the rest of the day today. it will still feel pleasantly warm in the best of the sunshine. temperatures will be round about the seasonal average, generally 15 to 18 degrees. then we look out towards the south—west as we head into tuesday to see this area of low pressure sweeping in. the winds are going to pick up. it's going to be quite a breezy day. there will be more cloud, showery outbreaks of rain again pushing northwards and eastwards, but possibly dry still for much of the day across northern, eastern areas of scotland

and through north—east england too. temperatures once again very close to the seasonal average — 15 to 17 degrees. for much of the rest of the week there will still be more showers around with low pressure dominant, but as we head towards next weekend high pressure will start to topple in from the west, and this will settle things down. so a little drier, but still the possibility of some showers on friday and into next weekend. there will be some spells of sunshine. it will feel a little warmer. bye— bye.

the headlines. conservatives say they will bring back monetary national service for 18—year—olds in the uk if they win the general election. underthe the uk if they win the general election. under the plan there would be a choice ofjoining the military full—time for 12 months of voluntary one weekend every month carrying out community service. labour say it is a gimmick. the united nations says 670 people have died following a landslide in papa new guinea. it is an estimate based on the number of houses buried in up to eight metres of rock, earth and trees. so far only a few bodies have been recovered. at least 12 people have died after a russian attack on a crowded diy store in ukraine's

second city of kharkiv. the