Islamabad, Oct 15: At least 17 children and one female teacher were killed and more than 30 others injured after the roof of a private school collapsed in Pakistan’s Peshawar on Thursday, local media reported.

Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Asim confirmed the casualties and said that an emergency has been declared at the hospital, leading Pakistani daily The Express Tribune reported.

He said that the injured were undergoing medical treatment, with some in critical condition.

Asim further mentioned that all the children were aged 13 years and below.

Upon receiving the information, ambulances and disaster response vehicles reached the site of the incident and launched a rescue operation.

Rescue 1122 ambulances provided first aid to over eight injured children before taking them to hospital. The rescue operation was being conducted at the site to find more people trapped under the rubble, with fears that the death toll could increase, The Express Tribune reported.

Reports suggest that roof and building collapses are a recurring problem in Pakistan, where weak safety enforcement and substandard construction materials have repeatedly contributed to such tragedies.

In August, a couple was killed, and their daughters were injured after the roof of their house collapsed in Islamabad after three days of heavy rainfall, another Pakistani daily Dawn reported.

Earlier in June, as many as 14 children were killed after the roof of a private tuition centre in the Kahna area of Pakistan’s Lahore.

The incident took place less than two months after four children were killed and 20 people were injured after the roof of a classroom at a private school collapsed in Dera Ghazi Khan city of Pakistan’s Punjab, Dawn reported.

In a separate incident in June, a labourer was killed, and three others were injured after the roof of an under-construction building collapsed in Khawaspur locality of Gujrat in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Washington, Oct 15: Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi stepped up attacks on President Donald Trump’s deal to buy Russian diesel, even as Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev defended it, days before a sanctions law deadline that could bring steep tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil such as India and China.

“Trump started an illegal war with Iran that sent fuel prices soaring. Now he’s rewarding Putin with a Russian diesel deal while pressuring Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil facilities,” Krishnamoorthi wrote on X on Wednesday (local time).

“Putin gets billions. Ukraine gets more Russian attacks. Americans get stuck with the bill,” the Illinois Democrat added.

In a later post, he said the deal “would help bankroll Putin’s war machine without meaningfully lowering fuel prices for Americans”.

“It’s illegal, ineffective, and no substitute for ending Trump’s Iran war,” he wrote.

Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, pushed back on X.

“All pragmatic world leaders who care about their people want affordable diesel, gas and oil, including from Russia,” he wrote.

In another post, he attacked The Economist, saying it failed to mention “the 5 per cent decline in diesel prices from the deal, showcasing its benefits to US farmers, consumers and energy markets”.

Dmitriev did not say how he arrived at the figure or over what period prices had fallen.

Opposition on Capitol Hill has grown. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said he was “leading 12 of my colleagues demanding that Trump rescind the disastrous Russian diesel deal”.

“It betrays American security interests & brave Ukrainians fighting Putin’s bloody slaughter,” he wrote.

Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina called it “a mistake”. “Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel will do little to lower US fuel prices but a lot to fund Russia’s war against our ally Ukraine,” he wrote.

Representative Greg Stanton of Arizona said the plan was “likely illegal and unlikely to lower prices”, adding that it would “funnel billions of dollars into Putin’s Russia”.

Representative Mike Levin of California called it “a lifeline for Russia’s war machine”, citing a New York Times estimate that around $4 billion of American money could flow into Russia’s economy.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 135 on Friday, authorising transactions involving Russian-origin diesel until April 2027.

The dispute comes as the deadline under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 approaches on October 18.

Section 113 of the law requires the President to raise duties to “up to 100 per cent” on goods from countries that were among the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas and that knowingly make new purchases after the deadline. The President can waive the duties by certifying to Congress that a waiver is in the US national interest.

The administration has not said publicly how it will apply the law.

New Delhi has long argued that it is held to a different standard from Western countries that continue to trade with Russia.

Jerusalem, Oct 14: The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that it had killed a Hamas commander in an airstrike in Gaza City.

The commander, identified as Momen Ahmad Salameh Ay, allegedly held Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza City and served as an aide to commanders of Hamas’s Gaza Brigade.

According to the Israeli military, he had recently advanced attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians and attempted to restore Hamas’s capabilities.

The IDF said it had taken steps to minimize civilian casualties ahead of the airstrike, which was carried out Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a separate statement, the IDF said infantry soldiers operating in the village of Kfar Shouba in southern Lebanon had located a ready-to-detonate explosive device, a Hezbollah position, and additional weapons used by the group.

On Friday, the IDF said in a statement that it had killed three militants in Gaza City.

The IDF said two of the men were identified as Hassam Walid Hassan Abu Al-Ata, allegedly a commander in the rocket unit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s military wing, and Magdi Moein Yousef Al-Ayoubi, also a member of the group’s military wing.

The third was identified as Muhammad Aja, a company commander in Hamas’ military wing, it added.

According to the IDF, the militants, killed in aerial strikes on Thursday, had recently advanced attacks against Israeli soldiers and worked to restore the capabilities of the two groups.

In a separate statement, the IDF and the Shin Bet domestic security agency said they had dismantled four weapons storage facilities belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad across the Gaza Strip.

The facilities contained dozens of weapons and other military equipment, including rockets, explosive devices, mortars, and Kalashnikov rifles, the statement said.