Pakistan: dozens killed in mosque blast in Peshawar
At least 46 people dead and more than 100 wounded in suicide bombing claimed by the Pakistan Taliban
Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent
At least 46 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a suicide bombing carried out by the Pakistan Taliban at a mosque in the city of Peshawar, as the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate.
The blast struck as 200 worshippers were praying in the mosque, located in the Police Lines area of the city where the police headquarters and counter-terrorism officers are based. Most of those inside the mosque were thought to be officers.
The impact of the explosion collapsed the roof and one wall of the mosque and injured many people, said Zafar Khan, a local police officer. Witnesses said the blast took place in the main hall just as afternoon prayers were about to begin and worshippers were packed tightly inside. According to officials, the bomber had been standing in the front row.
Ex-spy chief caught in race row over anti-white conspiracy theory
Hans-Georg Maassen is accused of ‘repeatedly using language from antisemites and conspiracy ideologists’
Germany's main opposition party is trying to get rid of a member and former head of the country's domestic intelligence agency after he complained about what he said was a move toward “eliminatory racism against whites.”
The leadership of the center-right Christian Democratic Union unanimously approved a resolution on Monday calling for Hans-Georg Maassen to leave the party. It said that it would seek to start expulsion proceedings if he doesn't willingly do so by Sunday.
Mr Maassen was removed as the head of the BfV domestic intelligence agency in 2018 after appearing to downplay far-right violence against migrants in the eastern city of Chemnitz. He has since become a vocal if marginal figure on the hard right of the CDU, the party once led by former Chancellor Angela Merkel, and ran unsuccessfully for election to the national parliament in 2021.
How China's yuan props up Putin's anemic budget
Russia has started selling its growing reserves of the Chinese currency to fill a budget deficit caused by falling oil and gas revenues and the costs of war. For how long will the yuan shore up Putin's ailing economy?
Falling oil and gas revenues due to Western sanctions have widened Russia's budget deficit and the Kremlin is busy flogging off some of the Chinese yuan reserves it has built up to fill the gap.
Russia had a budget deficit of a 3.3 trillion ruble ($47 billion, €45 billion), or about 2.3% of GDP, in 2022.
A fall in the export price of Russian oil below $50 (€45,84) per barrel (159 liters) could increase Russia’s budget deficit by another 2.5 trillion ruble, forcing the Kremlin to increase yuan sales further, according to the analysts of news agency Bloomberg.
S.African judge in Zuma graft trial recuses himself
A South African judge presiding over Jacob Zuma's arms corruption trial recused himself on Monday, in a move likely to add further delay in an affair already dating back more than two decades.
Judge Piet Koen, who has presided over the case for several years, announced he would step aside following a decision to dismiss Zuma's bid to force out the prosecutor, Billy Downer.
Zuma accused Downer of leaking confidential medical documents to the media.
In December the Constitutional Court backed Koen's decision, concluding that Zuma's application to remove Downer had no reasonable prospects of success.
Israel was behind drone attacks at military plant in Iran, US media report
US officials believe drone attacks at a military plant in Iran’s central city of Isfahan were carried out by Israel, according to US media reports.
Tehran said on Sunday that drones had attacked the plant in Isfahan late the previous evening, calling the operation “unsuccessful.”
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that Israel was behind the attacks, citing US officials and people familiar with the operation. The New York Times cited senior intelligence officials who were familiar with the dialogue between Israel and the United States about the incident. None of the officials were named.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s effect on Wrexham: ‘They’ve given us everything we lacked’
It’s Saturday night in Wrexham and the BBC’s production trucks are already in town, parked up outside the Racecourse Ground next to The Turf pub, ready to screen Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Sheffield United.
According to Wayne Jones, the pub’s landlord, a space has been reserved for Gary Lineker, the BBC presenter and former England international, next to his burger van.
It is hard to know whether Jones is joking or serious. After all, anything seems possible at Wrexham these days.
“Night and day” is the expression Jones uses to describe the difference between Wrexham now and Wrexham before it underwent a Hollywood makeover.
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