Peshawar: A powerful suicide blast ripped through a crowded Shia mosque during the Friday congregation here in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 200 others, in one of the deadliest attacks in the restive province, bordering Afghanistan.

US President Joe Biden spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to receive an update on the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and urged Russia to cease its military activities in the affected area and allow access to emergency responders, the White House has said.

A top American Senator has urged the Ukrainian government to end racial discrimination at its border, a prickly issue that has been pointed out by numerous students who have been frantically trying to flee the war-ravaged country.

Russian troops are shelling Europe's largest nuclear power station in Ukraine. We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire, Andriy Tuz, spokesperson for the plant in Enerhodar, said in a video posted on Telegram. There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.

As Russian forces advance on strategic points in southern Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities on Thursday called on compatriots to launch a guerrilla war against Russian forces.

Washington: The World Bank has announced that it will stop all its programmes in Russia and Belarus with "immediate effect" in response to Moscow's military operations in Ukraine and "hostilities" against the people of the war-torn country.

Washington: China is provoking India at every turn just as it is doing with the United States and Washington is committed to accelerating progress in strengthening India's defence capacity to deter Chinese provocations, a senior Biden administration official has told lawmakers.

Washington: US President Joe Biden will decide whether to apply or waive sanctions on India, one of America's key partners, under the CAATSA law for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia, a senior administration official has told lawmakers.