The United States on Saturday downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The Chinese balloon, of the size of three buses, laced with a significant number of payloads will probably be over the United States for a few days, the Pentagon said on Friday asserting that it has surveillance capabilities.

As he sat stoically in court, Elon Musk on Friday was both vilified as a rich narcissist whose reckless behaviour risks "anarchy" and hailed as a visionary looking out for the "little guy".

London: The UK government has defended the BBC as a media outlet "independent in its output" in the wake of widespread Indian diaspora protests against the controversial documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Peshawar: The death toll from the suicide blast rose to at least 100 on Tuesday after rescue workers retrieved more bodies from the debris of the devastated mosque inside a major police facility in Pakistan's northwestern Peshawar city.

London: Former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh was recently conferred a Lifetime Achievement Honour by the India-UK Achievers Honours in London for his contribution to economic and political life.

Peshawar: A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque packed with worshippers during afternoon prayers on Monday in the high-security zone in Pakistan's northwestern Peshawar city, killing at least 46 people and wounding more than 100 others, mostly policemen, security and health officials said.

Two people were injured and as many Sikh men were detained when two separate brawls broke out between Khalistani activists and pro-India demonstrators here during the so-called 'Punjab independence referendum', the police said on Monday.