INTERNATIONAL

A van filled with gas bottles has been driven into the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) headquarters in Canberra. Australian Capital Territory Police said the incident was not “politically, religiously or ideologically” motivated. The 35-year-old driver suffered serious burns after the explosion destroyed the vehicle and damaged the empty office. The incident took place at 21:30 (10:30 GMT) on Wednesday and ...

A manhunt is under way across Europe’s Schengen states after prosecutors identified a suspect in the lorry attack on a Berlin Christmas market. A warrant was issued at midnight. Details were not given but media reports say the suspect is a Tunisian man named only as Anis A, born in 1992. His residence permit was found in the cab of ...

An explosion at a fireworks market outside Mexico City has killed at least 29 people, officials say. Dozens of other people were injured as the blast hit the San Pablito fireworks market, about 20 miles (32km) outside the city. Video from the scene showed a large number of fireworks rocketing into the air as they caught fire. Dozens of paramedics ...

More than 20 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, over President Joseph Kabila’s failure to give up power, a UN official has said. Some of the dead were shot at close range by troops, witnesses said. Mr Kabila’s 15-year rule was due to have ended on Monday ...

The German authorities say they cannot be sure if a man in custody was behind Monday’s lorry attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people. “We have to entertain the theory that the detainee might possibly not have been the perpetrator,” federal prosecutor Peter Frank told reporters. The style of attack and the target suggested Islamic extremism, he ...

At least 48 people have died in the Siberian city of Irkutsk after drinking bath essence, Russian authorities say. The hawthorn-scented liquid was consumed as if it were alcohol, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee. Several others are in a serious condition. Two people have been detained over the deaths and police are removing bottles from shops. Investigators said a warning ...

German police are questioning a man they believe ploughed a lorry into a busy Christmas market in the heart of Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48. The driver is an Afghan or Pakistani asylum seeker, according to security sources cited by DPA news agency. He reportedly arrived in Germany in February as a refugee. The daily Tagesspiegel said the ...

Evacuations have resumed from east Aleppo, with buses and ambulances leaving rebel areas of the Syrian city, a UN official says. At least 350 people reportedly left rebel enclaves in convoys late on Sunday, towards government territory. Earlier, buses sent to take people out of government-controlled areas, besieged by rebels, were set alight, halting the latest evacuation deal. Thousands are ...

An IL-18 aeroplane belonging to the Russian defence ministry has crashed in Yakutia in Siberia with at least 27 fatalities, local media report. The plane was carrying 32 passengers and seven crew when it came down in Bulun district in Russia’s far east. Initial reports suggest that there are only five confirmed survivors. Weather conditions were reportedly bad in the ...

Several buses en route to evacuate the sick and injured from two government-held villages in Syria’s Idlib province have been burned by rebels. The convoy was travelling to Foah and Kefraya, besieged by rebel fighters. Pro-government forces are demanding people be allowed to leave the mainly Shia villages in order for the evacuation of east Aleppo to restart. Despite the ...