At least 32 people have been killed and 150 injured after a suicide bomber struck a mosque in Pakistan.
The bomber detonated his suicide vest as a large number of worshipers – including many policemen from nearby police offices – were praying inside.
Local police officer Zafar Khan said the impact of the explosion caused the roof of the mosque to cave in, injuring dozens.
“A portion of the building had collapsed and several people are believed to be under it,” he added.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, local police said.
Mohammad Asim, a spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, said they were treating 90 injured people, some of them in critical condition.
Up to 15 people are in critical condition, Mr Asim said, as police feared the number of deaths would rise.
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Local media published a photograph showing people gathering around the collapsed wall of the mosque.
One survivor, 38-year-old police officer Meena Gul, said he was inside the mosque during the blast, and that he did not know how he survived unhurt.
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He said he could hear cries and screams after the bomb exploded, adding there were more than 150 worshippers inside the mosque when the bomb went off.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the bombing in a statement, before ordering authorities to ensure the best possible medical treatment for the victims.
He also vowed “stern action” against the perpetrators.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan described the bombing as a “terrorist suicide attack”.
“My prayers & condolences go to victims families,” the ex-premier said on Twitter.
“It is imperative we improve our intelligence gathering & properly equip our police forces to combat the growing threat of terrorism.”
The Pakistani Taliban is usually suspected of such attacks in the country, after claiming similar bombings in the past.
Known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, the Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
The group has waged an insurgency in Pakistan over the past 15 years, fighting for stricter enforcement of Islamic laws, the release of their members who are in government custody, along with a reduction of Pakistani military presence in the country’s former tribal regions.
Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.
“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.
“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”
The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.
The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.
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The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.
Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.
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Sky witnesses China-Philippine confrontation
The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.
It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.
Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.
He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.
Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.
The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.
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“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.
Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.
Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.
Three suspects have been charged by Canadian police over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Vancouver last June, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a temple by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver, on 18 June 2023.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner David Teboul said police could not comment on the nature of the evidence or the motive.
“This matter is very much under active investigation,” Teboul said.
The three suspects – Indian nationals Kamalpreet Singh, Karan Brar and Karampreet Singh – were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said: “This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each one of these individuals.”
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Canada killing ‘linked’ to India govt
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic feud with India when he said in September that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing. India angrily denied involvement.
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Mr Nijjar, an Indian-born citizen of Canada, was a leader in what remains of the Khalistan movement – a once-strong group calling for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland.
He was organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death and had denied allegations of ties to terrorism.
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The Khalistan movement has lost much of its power but is still supported by some in the Punjab state in northwestern India and in the Sikh diaspora overseas.
A violent, decade-long Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s, and was ultimately crushed in a government crackdown which saw thousands of people killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
In June 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, where separatists had taken refuge.
In more recent years, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.
The Indian government said it “completely rejected” Mr Trudeau’s allegations and added: “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”
Heavy rains in southern Brazil have killed 37 people, local authorities have said, with dozens still unaccounted for.
More than 70 people are missing and at least 23,000 people have been displaced in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the state’s civil defence agency.
In some cities, water levels have been at their highest since records began almost 150 years ago, the Brazilian Geological Service said.
It said the flooding is the worst to hit the state in more than 80 years, surpassing that of a historic deluge in 1941.
Roads have been turned into rivers in several towns, with bridges destroyed and the storm triggering landslides and the partial collapse of a dam structure at a hydroelectric power plant.
Residents near to a second dam in the city of Bento Goncalves have been ordered to evacuate, as fears of another collapse grow.
“It’s not just another critical situation, it’s probably the most critical case the state has ever recorded,” Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite said on social media.
He added the number of deaths will likely rise as authorities have not been able to reach some locations.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has travelled to the state to visit affected locations and discuss rescue efforts with the governor.
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The state is at a geographical meeting point between tropical and polar atmospheres, which has created periods of intense rains and others of drought.
Scientists believe the pattern has been intensifying due to climate change.
Heavy rains hit the state last September, as an extratropical cyclone caused floods that killed more than 50 people.
That came after more than two years of a persistent drought due to the La Nina phenomenon.
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