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BEIJING — China's new home prices fell at the fastest pace in more than 9-1/2 years in May, official data showed on Monday, with the property sector struggling to find a bottom despite government efforts to rein in oversupply and support debt-laden developers. Prices were down 0.7% in May from the previous month, marking the 11th straight month-on-month decline and steepest drop since October 2014, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data. In annual terms, new home prices were down 3.9% from a year earlier, compared with a 3.1% slide in April. China's indebted property sector, once a key engine of the country's economic growth, has been hit by several crises since mid-2021, including developers defaulting on debt and stalling construction on pre-sold housing projects. Authorities have stepped up measures to prop up the crisis-hit property sector including facilitating 300 billion yuan ($41.35 billion) to clear massive housing inventory, cutting down payments and easing mortgage rules. But analysts believe these moves will do little to absorb the massive housing inventory, and the lifting of home purchase restrictions in major cities might further dampen buying sentiment in smaller cities. New home prices fell last month in nearly all 70 of the cities surveyed by the NBS. "The latest policies have boosted the second-hand home market in major cities, but the liquidity problem of real estate enterprises has not yet been eased and the confidence crisis in the new-home market has not yet been resolved," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Separately, official figures on Monday also showed property investment fell 10.1% in the first five months of the year from a year earlier, after dropping 9.8% in January-April. Home sales fell at faster pace in January-May. China's property market is set to diverge, said Nie Wen, an economist at Shanghai Hwabao Trust, with new home sales in large cities being driven by those who have been able to renovate and sell their existing homes, while real estate in small cities is expected to continue falling due to a housing oversupply and population outflows. Policymakers are expected to support local governments and state-owned enterprises with discounted loans to buy unsold homes for low-cost housing and at the same time cut interest rates and fees to support homeowners improve their homes, Nie said.

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NEW DELHI — A cargo train rammed into a passenger train in India's eastern state of West Bengal on Monday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others with rescue work ongoing. The state's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a post on social media platform X that doctors, disaster-response teams and ambulances were engaged in rescue work at the accident site, which is near the state's Darjeeling district, a tourist spot nestled in the Himalayan foothills. "Action on war-footing initiated," she said. Sabyasachi De, the spokesperson of the Northeast Frontier Railway, said three of the eight dead were railway personnel. At least 25 people were injured in the collision, which occurred close to the New Jalpaiguri station. Television channels showed one train rammed into the end of the other, with one compartment rising vertically in the air. Swarms of people had gathered at the spot, where rescuers were searching the crash site. What led to the collision was not immediately clear. The Kanchanjunga Express is a daily train that connects West Bengal state with other cities in the northeast. It is often used by tourists who travel to the hill station of Darjeeling, popular at this time of year when several Indian cities are sweltering in the heat. More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains across India daily, traveling on 64,000 kilometers of track. Despite government efforts to improve rail safety, several hundred accidents happen annually on India's railways. Most are blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment. Last year, a train crash in eastern India killed more than 280 people in one of the country's deadliest rail crashes in decades.

MOSCOW — Russia will hold the espionage trial of detained U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich behind closed doors later this month, a court in the city of Yekaterinburg said on Monday. Gershkovich, 32, was detained by the Federal Security Service on March 29, 2023, in a steak house in Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage that carry up to 20 years in prison. Gershkovich, the first American journalist to be detained on spy charges in Russia since the Cold War over three decades ago, denies collecting secrets for the CIA. The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that Gershkovich was collecting secrets about Uralvagonzavod, a powerful Russian defense enterprise that is one of the world's biggest battle tank producers. "According to the investigation authorities, the American journalist of The Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich, on the instructions of the CIA, in March 2023, collected secret information in the Sverdlovsk region about the activities of the defense enterprise JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod for the production and repair of military equipment," the Sverdlovsk Regional Court said. "The process will take place behind closed doors." The first hearing is scheduled for June 26, the court said. Gershkovich’s arrest shocked many Western news organizations and there are now almost no U.S. reporters in Russia, which is ranked by the State Department as a hardship posting on par with Freetown, Mogadishu, Damascus and Kabul. Russia has said Gershkovich was caught "red-handed." President Vladimir Putin has said there has been contact with Washington about potentially exchanging Gershkovich for someone jailed in the West, but that such negotiations should be held away from the media. The White House has called the charges "ridiculous," and President Joe Biden has said Gershkovich's detention is "totally illegal." The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones say that Gershkovich was simply doing his job in Russia and deny the espionage charges. The Journal and Dow have repeatedly demanded that Russia release him, thus far to no avail. Uralvagonzavod, based in Nizhny Tagil, sits at the heart of the Urals region, where Russia conducts some of its most secret weapons production and research. It is part of Rostec, Russia's vast defense corporation run by Putin ally Sergei Chemezov. A fluent Russian-speaker born to Soviet émigrés and raised in New Jersey, Gershkovich moved to Moscow in late 2017 to join the English-language Moscow Times, and subsequently worked for the French news agency Agence France-Presse. Gershkovich has appealed against his detention several times, appearing in the glass cages used for suspects in Russian courts. All of the appeals have been rejected.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Singapore authorities said Monday that a dredger boat reported a sudden loss in engine and steering control that led it to hit a stationary cargo tanker, causing an oil spill that has blackened part of the city-island's southern shores. The Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima struck the Singaporean fuel supply ship Marine Honor on Friday. It ruptured one of the cargo tanks on the Marine Honor, which leaked low-sulfur oil into the sea. The leak has been contained, but tides washed the spilled oil, which had been treated with dispersants, further along the shoreline, including to the popular resort island of Sentosa. Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority, in a joint statement with the National Environment Agency, the National Parks Board and Sentosa Development Corp., said the master and crew members of Vox Maxima are assisting in the ongoing investigations. Part of the beachfront at a public park, beaches at three southern islands and a nature reserve have been closed to facilitate cleanup efforts. Sentosa beaches remain open to the public, but sea activities and swimming are prohibited. Oil Spill Response Limited, an industry-funded cooperative that responds to spills, will deploy floating containment and recovery devices to corral the oil on the water surface, where two skimmer craft will then lift the oil into storage tanks, the statement said. More than 250 workers are involved in the cleanup. Close to 1.5 kilometers of containment booms have been set up to trap the oil and another 1.6 kilometers of temporary barriers will be laid over the next few days to prevent further spread of oil onto the shore, the statement said. The National Parks Board also deployed oil-absorbing booms to protect mangroves at another park that hasn't been affected so far. Members of the public who volunteered to help have been assigned to patrol the park for early signs of oil slicks.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Muslims in Asia on Monday celebrated Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, with food and prayers for people in Gaza suffering from the Israel-Hamas war. One of the biggest Islamic holidays, the occasion commemorates Prophet Ibrahim's test of faith through slaughtering livestock and animals and distributing the meat to the poor. It's a joyous occasion for which food is a hallmark where devout Muslims buy and slaughter animals and share two-thirds of the meat with the poor and it's a revered observance that coincides with the final rites of the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Much of Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh, observed Eid al-Adha on Monday, while Muslims in other parts of the globe, including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen celebrated the holiday on Sunday. On Monday, worshippers shoulder-to-shoulder joined in communal prayers in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. Preachers in their sermons called on people to pray for Muslims in Gaza and Rafah. "Our prayers and thoughts are with our brother and sisters who are now suffering in Palestine," worshipper Adi Prasetya said after praying at a field in southern Jakarta. "There are many opportunities for us now to channel our help through charities." "May Allah give strength to those ravaged by war... may those who are divided can live in peace again," said another devotee, Berlina Yustiza. Although Indonesia has more Muslims than any other country in the world, its traditions to mark Eid al-Adha have been influenced by other religions. Residents in Yogyakarta, an ancient center of Javanese culture and the seat of royal dynasties going back centuries, believe that if they manage to catch the crops arranged in the form of a cone-shaped pile called "gunungan" that is paraded from the royal palace to the Kauman Grand Mosque, it can bring them good luck. They scrambled to grab various food offerings, made of fruit, vegetables and traditional snacks. A day before the sacrifice festival, people in East Java's Pasuruan city expressed their gratitude and respect for the sacrificial animals by dressing them as beautiful as a bride. The sacrificial cow is wrapped in a seven-fold garland, a shroud, turban and prayer mat and paraded in a tradition called "manten sapi," or bride cow, before being handed to the sacrificial committee. Villagers in Demak, a town in Central Java province, celebrated the holiday with a procession of livestock called "apitan" as a form of gratitude for the food and harvest. They bring foods in bamboo containers to the town's square that they eat together after praying. Locals believe the procession will provide prosperity and that disaster would come if it was abandoned. Eid al-Adha commemorates the Quranic tale of Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he could carry out the sacrifice, God provided a ram as an offering. In the Christian and Jewish telling, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac. In Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim joined thousands of congregants, including foreign tourists, and offered morning prayers at a mosque near his office in Putrajaya, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile at a wholesale market in Selayang, just outside the capital, Muslim workers there knelt on mats placed on a large piece of white cloth laid outside the market to perform their prayers. In his message, Anwar said the opportunity to go on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca is one of God's great gifts and should make one more ascetic and simpler. "I invite Muslims to live the message of simplicity that is preached in Hajj, to always be humble and not be mesmerized by the attraction of temporary worldly riches," Anwar said, "Let's not deviate from this goal. The world should be a bridge to the eternal land."

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PARIS — France on Monday began less than a fortnight of frenetic election campaigning for snap polls called by President Emmanuel Macron to combat the far right, with star footballer Kylian Mbappe warning the country was at a historic crossroads. Candidates had until Sunday evening to register for the 577 seats in the lower house National Assembly ahead of the official start of campaigning from midnight for the June 30 first round. The decisive second round takes place on July 7. The alliance led by centrist Macron, who called the snap polls some three years early after the far right trounced his party in EU Parliament elections, is still lagging way behind with little chance of winning an outright majority itself. Many in France, including ex-leaders, remain baffled over why Macron took the risk of calling an election that could see the far-right National Rally (RN) leading the government and its leader Jordan Bardella, 28, as prime minister. One of the most high-profile of the last candidates to register was Marie-Caroline Le Pen, the elder sister of the RN's three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who will stand for the party in the central Sarthe region. Her daughter Nolwenn Olivier is Bardella's ex-partner. Mbappe, representing France at the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany, said he was "against extremes and divisive ideas" and urged young people to vote at a "crucial moment" in French history. The striker defended comments made on Saturday by his teammate Marcus Thuram, saying he "had not gone too far" in calling on the country "to fight every day to stop" the RN winning the elections. "Today we can all see that extremists are very close to winning power and we have the opportunity to choose the future of our country," Mbappe said. France's men's football team has long been seen as a beacon for diversity in the country. The French Football Federation has urged against "any form of pressure and political use of the French team". Macron's dissolving of parliament after the French far right's victory in the EU vote has swiftly redrawn the lines of French politics. A new left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front that takes in Socialists and hard-leftists, faced its first crisis over the weekend after some prominent MPs from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party found they had not been put forward to stand again. But Adrien Quatennens, a close ally of LFI figurehead Jean-Luc Melenchon, withdrew his candidacy which had sparked anger due to a conviction for domestic violence. On the right, the decision of Eric Ciotti, the leader of the Republicans (LR), to seek an election pact with the RN provoked fury inside the party and a move by its leadership to dismiss him, which a Paris court blocked on Friday. Adding to the chaos, the LR's executive is now fielding a candidate to stand against Ciotti in his home region of Nice.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The world's nine nuclear-armed states continue to modernize their nuclear weapons as the countries deepened their reliance on such deterrence in 2023, a Swedish think tank said Monday. "We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War," said Wilfred Wan, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's weapons of mass destruction program. Earlier this month, Russia and its ally Belarus launched a second stage of drills intended to train their troops in tactical nuclear weapons, part of the Kremlin's efforts to discourage the West from ramping up support for Ukraine. In a separate report, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, ICAN, said the nine nuclear-armed states spent a combined total of $91.4 billion on their arsenals in 2023 – equivalent to $2,898 per second. The Geneva-based coalition of disarmament activists won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. The group said that figures show a $10.7 billion increase in global spending on nuclear weapons in 2023 compared with 2022, with the United States accounting for 80% of that increase. The U.S. share of total spending, $51.5 billion, is more than all the other nuclear-armed countries put together. "There has been a notable upward trend in the amount of money devoted to developing these most inhumane and destructive of weapons over the past five years," said Alicia Sanders-Zakre, Policy and Research Coordinator with ICAN. The next biggest spender was China at $11.8 billion, she said, with Russia spending the third largest amount at $8.3 billion. "All this money is not improving global security, in fact it's threatening people wherever they live," Sanders-Zakre said. SIPRI estimated that about 2,100 of the deployed warheads were kept in a state of high operational alert on ballistic missiles, and nearly all belong to Russia or the U.S. However, it said China is also believed to have some warheads on high operational alert for the first time. "Regrettably we continue to see year-on-year increases in the number of operational nuclear warheads," said Dan Smith, SIPRI's director. He added that the trend will likely accelerate in the coming years "and is extremely concerning." Russia and the United States have together almost 90% of all nuclear weapons, SIPRI said. The sizes of their military stockpiles seem to have remained relatively stable in 2023, although Russia is estimated to have deployed around 36 more warheads with operational forces than in January 2023, the watchdog added. In its SIPRI Yearbook 2024, the institute said that transparency regarding nuclear forces has declined in both countries in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and debates around nuclear-sharing arrangements have increased in importance. Washington suspended its bilateral strategic stability dialogue with Russia, and last year Moscow announced that it was suspending its participation in the New START nuclear treaty. Of the total global inventory of an estimated 12,121 warheads in January, about 9,585 were in military stockpiles for potential use. An estimated 3,904 of those warheads were deployed with missiles and aircraft — which is 60 more than in January 2023 — and the rest were in central storage. In Asia, India, Pakistan and North Korea are all pursuing the capability to deploy multiple warheads on ballistic missiles, the institute said. The United States, Russia, France, U.K. and China have that capacity, enabling a rapid potential increase in deployed warheads, as well as the possibility for nuclear-armed countries to threaten the destruction of significantly more targets. The ninth nuclear nation is Israel. SIPRI stressed that all estimates were approximate and that the institute revises its world nuclear forces data each year based on new information and updates to earlier assessments.

BEIJING — A Philippine supply ship dangerously approached a Chinese ship resulting in a slight collision after it illegally intruded into waters adjacent to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, the Chinese coast guard said Monday. The Philippine transport and replenishment ship ignored China's repeated warnings, the coast guard said in a statement. The guard said the vessel deliberately and dangerously approached the Chinese ship in an unprofessional manner, resulting in a collision. The statement made no mention of injuries or damage to either vessel. For months, China and the Philippines have traded accusations over dangerous maneuvers and collisions at the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. Several incidents have happened when the Philippines deploys resupply missions for Filipino soldiers living aboard an aging warship there deliberately run aground to protect Manila's maritime claims. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. China had previously warned the Philippines about intruding into its territorial waters and the country has issued new rules, which went into effect on June 15, that would enforce a 2021 law allowing its coastguard to use lethal force against foreign ships in waters that it claims. The new rules allows China's coastguard to detain suspected trespassers without trial for 60 days.

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NEW YORK — Winners at the 2024 Tony Awards, announced Sunday. Best Musical: "The Outsiders" Best Play: "Stereophonic" Best Revival of a Musical: "Merrily We Roll Along" Best Revival of a Play: "Appropriate" Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Maleah Joi Moon, "Hell's Kitchen" Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Jonathan Groff, "Merrily We Roll Along" Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Sarah Paulson, "Appropriate" Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Jeremy Strong, "An Enemy of the People" Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Daniel Radcliffe, "Merrily We Roll Along" Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Kecia Lewis, "Hell's Kitchen" Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Will Brill, "Stereophonic" Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Kara Young, "Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch" Best Direction of a Play: Daniel Aukin, "Stereophonic" Best Direction of a Musical: Danya Taymor, "The Outsiders" Best Original Score: "Suffs," music & lyrics: Shaina Taub Best Book of a Musical: "Suffs," Shaina Taub Best Choreography: Justin Peck, "Illinoise" Best Costume Design of a Play: Dede Ayite, "Jaja's African Hair Braiding" Best Costume Design of a Musical: Linda Cho, "The Great Gatsby" Best Orchestrations: Jonathan Tunick, "Merrily We Roll Along" Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Tom Scutt, "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club" Best Scenic Design of a Play: David Zinn, "Stereophonic" Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Hana S. Kim and Brian MacDevitt, "The Outsiders" Best Lighting Design of a Play: Jane Cox, "Appropriate" Best Sound Design of a Play: Ryan Rumery, "Stereophonic" Best Sound Design of a Musical: Cody Spencer, "The Outsiders"

Scores of participants attending a two-day international summit in Switzerland on peace in Ukraine, signed a document saying that Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” should be the basis for a peace agreement with Russia and that Kyiv should enter dialogue with Moscow on ending the war. Texas Christian University professor Ralph Carter provides analysis. Israel’s military announced a “tactical pause” Sunday in daytime fighting around a critical aid route in Gaza. The plan falls short of a total cease-fire outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden. VOA’s Ricki Rosen in Tel Aviv shares the details.

NEW YORK — "Stereophonic," the play about a Fleetwood Mac-like band recording an album over a turbulent and life-changing year, got a lighters-in-the-air cheer at the Tony Awards on Sunday, winning best new play while theater history was made for women as Broadway directors and score writers. "Stereophonic," the most-nominated play in Tony Awards history, is a hyper-naturalistic meditation on the thrill and danger of collaborating on art — the compromises, the egos and the joys. It was written by David Adjmi with songs by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler. "Oh, no. My agent gave me a beta-blocker, but it's not working," Adjmi said. He added that the play took 11 years to manifest. "This was a very hard journey to get up here," he said. "We need to fund the arts in America." He dedicated it to all the artists out there. Danya Taymor — whose aunt is Julie Taymor, the first woman to win a Tony Award for directing a musical — became the 11th woman to win the award. She helmed "The Outsiders," a gritty musical adaptation of the classic American young adult novel. "Thank you to the great women who have lifted me up," she said, naming producer Angelina Jolie among those on her list. Then Shaina Taub, only the second woman in Broadway history to write, compose and star in a Broadway musical, won for best score, following such writers as Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori. Taub, the force behind "Suffs," won for best book earlier in the night. Her musical is about the heroic final years of the fight to allow women to vote, leading to the passage of the 19th Amendment. "If you are inspired by the story of Suffs, please make sure you and everyone you know have registered to vote and vote, vote, vote!" she said. Taub also said the win was for all the loud girls out there: "Go for it," she urged. Earlier, Alicia Keys electrified the show when she teamed up with superstar Jay-Z on their hit "Empire State of Mind." Keys appeared at the piano on the stage of the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center as the cast of her semi-autobiographical musical, "Hell's Kitchen," was presenting a medley of songs. She began singing her and Jay-Z's 2009 smash before leaving the stage to join the rapper on some interior steps to wild applause. Host Ariana DeBose kicked off the telecast with an original, acrobatic number, and Jeremy Strong took home the first big award of the night as Broadway's biggest party opened its arms to hip-hop and rock fans. Strong, the "Succession" star, landed his first Tony for his work in the revival of Henrik Ibsen's 1882 political play "An Enemy of the People." The theater award for best lead actor in a play will sit next to his Emmy, Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe. The play is about a public-minded doctor in a small town who discovers the water supply for the public spa is contaminated, but his efforts to clean up the mess pit his ethics against political cowards. "This play is a cry from the heart," he said. Kara Young, the first Black performer to be nominated for a Tony three consecutive years in a row, won this time as best featured actress in a play for "Purlie Victorious," the story of a Black preacher's scheme to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church from a plantation owner. "Thank you to my ancestors," she said, adding thanks to her mom and dad, brother, partner, cast, her co-star Leslie Odom Jr. and her director, Kenny Leon. She saved her last thanks to playwright Ossie Davis and his star Ruby Dee, who originated the role. "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe cemented his stage career pivot by winning a featured actor in a musical Tony, his first trophy in five Broadway shows. He won for the revival of "Merrily We Roll Along," the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical that goes backward in time. "This is one of the best experiences of my life," Radcliffe said, thanking his cast and director. "I will never have it as good again." He also thanked his parents for playing Sondheim in the car growing up. Kecia Lewis, who plays a formidable piano teacher in "Hell's Kitchen," took home her first Tony. The 40-year veteran made her Broadway debut at 18 in the original company of "Dreamgirls" and endured amazing moments and heartbreak. "This moment is the one I dreamed of for those 40 years," she told the crowd. "Don't give up!" "Appropriate," Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' play — centered on a family reunion in Arkansas where everyone has competing motivations and grievances — was named best play revival. Jacobs-Jenkins in his remarks thanked Davis, saying there would be no "Appropriate" without "Purlie Victorious." Three-time Tony-honored Chita Rivera got a tribute by Tony winners Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Bebe Neuwirth. Images of her work in "Chicago," “Kiss of the Spider Woman" and "West Side Story" were projected while dancers mimicked her hit numbers. DeBose, who won an Oscar in Rivera's old "West Side Story" role of Anita, also joined in.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

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MEXICO CITY — Around 1.39 million people from 177 countries traveled through Mexico so far this year trying to reach the United States without entry papers, the Mexican government said Sunday. The vast majority were men or women traveling alone, while almost 3,000 were unaccompanied minors, the National Migration Institute said, providing figures for January through the end of May. The figure of 177 countries of origin represents almost the whole world -- the United Nations has 193 member states. By country, the largest number of would-be migrants at nearly 380,000 came from Venezuela, which has endured severe economic hardship for years, followed by Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Haiti, all of which are hard hit by gang and drug-trafficking violence. Others attempting the dangerous trek through Mexico in search of a better life in the United States came from as far afield as China, India, Mauritania and Angola, the institute said. In 2023 alone more than 2.4 million people crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without the required documentation, according to U.S. figures. The flow hit a record of 10,000 people per day in December although it has fallen as both countries cracked down on such crossings.