…As Peru landslide kills at least 15 at hotel wedding party***

The Trump administration has lifted sanctions on three firms linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, an ally of President Vladimir Putin.

Curbs on aluminium giant US Rusal, En+ Group and JSC EuroSibEnergo were lifted after Mr Deripaska ceded control.

The oligarch has been linked to the probe into alleged Russian interference in US elections, and Democrats wanted the sanctions to continue.

But the Treasury Department said curbs on oligarch himself remained in force.

The companies were blacklisted last April when the Trump administration targeted people and businesses it said had profited from a Russian state engaged in “malign activities” around the world.

That included Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, as well as international cyber attacks.

But earlier this month, Republicans in the US Senate blocked an effort to continue the sanctions against Rusal, the world’s second largest aluminium firm and other Deripaska-linked firms.

They and the Trump administration argued the curbs could have an impact on the global aluminium industry. They also said Mr Deripaska had lowered his stakes in the firms so that he no longer controlled them, a sign the sanctions were working.

In the meantime, at least 15 people were killed when a landslide crashed into a hotel during a wedding celebration in south-eastern Peru, officials say.

The impact of the mud and rocks forced the building’s walls and roof to cave in while guests were inside dancing.

Twenty-nine people were injured and had to be pulled from the debris following the incident on Sunday in the Andean city of Abancay, officials said.

Local media report that the incident occurred during heavy rain in the area.

About 100 guests were present at the Alhambra hotel at the time of the incident, the head of Peru’s National Civil Defence Institute (Indeci), Jorge Chávez, told local media.

Some 50 people were believed to have been close to one of the walls that collapsed, he added.

The mayor of Abancay, Guido Chahuaylla, said that every effort was made to ensure that rescuers were able to reach those trapped in the rubble. The wounded were taken to a local hospital, he added.

Local media report that the Alhambra hotel is situated close to a steep slope, and the wall that collapsed into the building was built to protect it from mud and rocks.

BBC