Magnitude 7.5 quake strikes southern Philippines, tsunami warning issued
A powerful magnitude 7.5 offshore earthquake hit the southern Philippines on Friday, prompting tsunami warnings and evacuations in coastal areas of Mi...
At least 20 people were killed and more than 50 injured after a suicide bomber attacked a church in central Damascus, Syria’s capital, on Sunday, officials confirmed.
The attack took place during a service at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in the Dweila neighbourhood. According to Syria’s interior ministry, the assailant, identified as a member of ISIL, entered the church, opened fire, and then detonated his explosive vest. A second man was reportedly involved but his fate remains unclear.
This marks the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar al-Assad was ousted by an Islamist-led rebel coalition in December. The incident highlights the persistent threat posed by ISIL despite the group’s territorial defeat.
The health ministry reported 52 people were injured in the blast. A livestream from the scene by Syria’s civil defence, the White Helmets, showed extensive damage inside the church, including bloodstained floors and shattered masonry.
ISIL has previously attempted attacks on churches in Syria, but this is the first successful strike since Assad's removal. A security source told Reuters the group had intensified its focus on religious minorities in recent months.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who assumed power in January for a transitional period, condemned the attack and reiterated his commitment to protecting minority communities.
The Greek foreign ministry also issued a statement, denouncing the bombing as "abhorrent" and urging Syrian transitional authorities to take swift action to secure all religious groups.
ISIL had carried out similar attacks in the past, notably the 2016 bombing targeting Shiite pilgrims in Sayeda Zainab, one of the deadliest incidents during Assad’s rule.
The latest bombing raises concerns over ongoing security lapses and the resurgence of extremist violence in the post-Assad era.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
The second 'Central Asia – Russia' summit has concluded in Dushanbe, held under the chairmanship of the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon. This meeting continued the efforts to build a sustainable platform for cooperation between the countries of the region and the Russian Federation.
New restrictions have been reported on some social media platforms in Afghanistan, barely a week after a two-day nationwide blackout disrupted internet and telecommunications services in the country.
The Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh is scheduled to visit Baku next week to take part in the tri-lateral meeting between Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia to exchange views on the development of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
At the invitation of President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has arrived in Dushanbe on 9 October to participate in the meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council.
The Kremlin says it is optimistic about talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, due to take place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Wednesday — their first full meeting in a year.
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