here in the uk, the prime minister insists he's on the side of car drivers, and wants traffic—reducing measures reviewed. and in the women's world cup — in a last—minute twist — colombia stun germany with a shock late win. welcome to the programme. at least 37 people have been killed in an explosion at a political rally in north—west pakistan. dozens more were injured in the explosion in the bajaur district, where the leader of an islamist party was due to address the gathering. local clinics and hospitals have been overwhelmed by casualties, and the authorities have declared a health emergency. the party has urged its

supporters to donate blood. the tribal area of bajaur is near pakistan's border with afghanistan. it's not immediately clear what caused the explosion — though police suspect it was a suicide bomber. no organisation has admitted carrying out the attack. our pakistan correspondent, caroline davies has the latest, from the capital, islamabad. a sunday afternoon political rally by one of pakistan's biggest religious parties. hundreds crowded in, covered from the afternoon sun by a marquee, waving flags and chanting. then the speaker was interrupted by the explosion. some people were stretchered out, soaked in blood. others were simply carried by any hands that could offer help. the district hospital declared a health emergency and a call was put out for blood donations. as the

wards filled up, some were taken by helicopter to nearby peshawar. the death toll rose quickly. police have said they have struggled to identify all of the dead. among those named as a local political leader. there has been an increase in violent attacks in pakistan, particularly in this province. police have said that they have discovered evidence suggesting that the explosion might have been a suicide bomber, but have not yet confirmed it. if this was an attack, it is not clear what the motive could be, and no group has claimed it, leaving many questions about what has happened, and how it could affect the build—up to pakistan's much anticipated general election, still expected later this year. pakistan's prime minister has condemned the attack. live now to our correspondent in islamabad — caroline davies. what is the latest coming from emergency services on the number of casualties there? it has been

reported that the death toll is likely to rise. we reported that the death toll is likely to rise.— likely to rise. we have had different — likely to rise. we have had different numbers - likely to rise. we have had different numbers that. likely to rise. we have had. different numbers that have likely to rise. we have had - different numbers that have been associated with this explosion, throughout the course of the afternoon and into the evening. that is relatively common as the authorities are trying to understanding sally what happened. the death toll does rise as people are taken to hospital and sometimes there is nothing further that can be done for them. the death toll at the moment, we have heard, is 37 dead and around 90 injured. we are keeping a close eye on that in case that number continues to rise throughout the course and into this evening. looking at some of those images in the report, you can see that very early on it became apparent that this would probably be apparent that this would probably be a serious loss of life. people are very closely packed together and you can see the force of the blast. there are other images that we haven't used that are particularly graphic, of the injuries that people have sustained. this was a serious

incident. in terms of exactly where people are being treated, we know some are being treated relatively locally, but that was very quickly overwhelmed and people are being taken further afield, to peshawar, and because this is a rural area, just try to get people to places quickly helicopters were used to try to get people out of the area and give them treatment.— to get people out of the area and give them treatment. really shocking and worrying — give them treatment. really shocking and worrying images _ give them treatment. really shocking and worrying images there. _ give them treatment. really shocking and worrying images there. have - and worrying images there. have there been any developments about there been any developments about the motive of the attack? there there been any developments about the motive of the attack?— the motive of the attack? there has been plenty — the motive of the attack? there has been plenty of _ the motive of the attack? there has been plenty of speculation - the motive of the attack? there has been plenty of speculation about. been plenty of speculation about what might be behind it. there has been discussion about whether this is about political pressure being put on. this is a party that is currently part of the coalition and the government. there is discussion about whether this is a localised issue or something wider. the thing is, wejust don't issue or something wider. the thing is, we just don't know at this stage. it is not entirely clear what the motives behind it. we haven't heard from any group claiming this

incident. we haven't even heard absolute confirmation from the police that they definitely think it was a suicide blast. they say they have seen elements that mean it could be, that they are investigating, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. we have also heard from some elements of pakistani taliban, distancing themselves from this incident as well. at the moment it really is unclear about what exactly the motive is behind this. all that militant activity has risen in pakistan over the last few months, but in this particular region has the violence been commonplace?— region has the violence been commonlace? , , . ., commonplace? yes, in this particular rovince commonplace? yes, in this particular province the — commonplace? yes, in this particular province the violence _ commonplace? yes, in this particular province the violence and _ commonplace? yes, in this particular province the violence and attacks - province the violence and attacks have been particularly rising as well. we have also seen incidents backin well. we have also seen incidents back in january. well. we have also seen incidents back injanuary. i reported from peshawar where there had been an explosion inside a mosque inside what is referred to as police lines, an enclave in peshawar. that was a

significant loss of life as well. there have been multiple incidents, some of them smaller, targeting security forces like the police, the army, and in this particular incident there was a pool political party that seems to have been the target, if this was a deliberate attack. that is raising multiple questions because it is highly anticipated that there will be a general election later on this year. this was a political rally in anticipation of the fact there may be an election in october or november time. this was a political rally to try to build up support. that is raising many questions with people about exactly what we might anticipate happening in the course of the next few months, if even at this stage we are seeing political rallies targeted.— this stage we are seeing political rallies targeted. thank you for your anal sis. the economic community of west african states has agreed to impose immediate financial sanctions on the leaders of the military coup in niger.

following a meeting in neighbouring nigeria, the bloc — known as ecowas — gave the junta a week to hand back power, and said it wouldn't rule out —the use of force. niger's ambassador to the united states told the bbc he would welcome military intervention if a peaceful solution was not reached. the bloc has also imposed a no—fly zone on all commercial flights to and from niger, and closed all land borders between niger and member countries. thousands of protesters have gathered outside the french embassy in niamey, the capital of niger, in support of the military coup. many demonstrators were seen with placards, calling for the departure of french forces from niger and shouting pro—russian slogans. there's been speculation that the coup leaders have enlisted the support of the russian mercenary group, wagner, which is active in other african countries. a group of protesters tried to break into the embassy by smashing doors and starting a fire.

the french president, emmanuel macron, said he would not tolerate any attack against france or its interests. french soldiers used tear gas to disperse the area. five people were reportedly injured. translation: during 12 years nothing has changed, - so this is why we took to the streets and decided to kick the president out. also let me be clear, we also send a message to france and macron, that niger belongs to us and not to him. we are free to discuss with whoever we want. is this clear? the west african bloc, ecowas, had better not try and interfere in this process. translation: should the west african bloc ecowas come - and intervene militarily, it would simply be on the wrong side of history, plain and simple. it would even steer them away from their core mission which is to create a stable

environment for the whole region to grow. aneliese bernard is director of strategic stabilization advisors, a washington—based risk advisory group focused on west africa. she was formally with the state department in nijerfor several years. in nigerfor several years. i spoke with her earlier. this military coup was not exactly precedented. that said, we need to be clear that niger itself has only had one democratic election, that being the one that got us president bazoum in the first place. so coups in general are somewhat of a familiar terrain for nigerians and for the government, for the region, for that matter. that said, ecowas�*s response to this coup is incredibly significant and probably one of the more severe responses we've seen in the region. the last time ecowas threatened the potential use of force to dislodge the coup

was for the gambian coup that took place in 2016. before that was in mali in 2012. so the point made is that the past five coups that have taken place in the sahel have not been met with such strong rhetoric by the regional bloc, but also the international community. so this is quite significant. and niger's neighbours, burkina faso and mali, they both pivoted towards russia since their own coups. do you think that will be the case for niger? it's absolutely unclear at this point. there is so far no evidence that russia is part of this or has influenced this directly. that said, in the... similarly with burkina faso and mali, we should anticipate that at least russian influencers and those who are trying to exploit the chaos, so to speak, would possibly step in. and i wouldn'tjust look towards russia. i mean, we can also consider other issues at play, such as the presence ofjihadists in the region and how those groups also exploit some of the confusion around lack of governance and lack

of security in situations like this. and as i mentioned, we know that hundreds of coup supporters protested outside the french embassy after france stopped the aid. what do you make of what we're seeing currently on the ground? yeah, that's obviously a huge escalation of civilian response to what's going on. otherwise, things have been kind of quiet, from what i understand. france's response was also a very hard—line response, but that was a natural response. the us embassy is right next to the french embassy, so it's also pretty significant in terms ofjust the operational security for all expats in the city. that said, if you look at what the ecowas authorities put forward in their recent statement, their communique, any harm that's done to any of the expatriates in the city is also going to come down with serious implications for the putschists. so it really is incumbent on leaders right now to ensure that the civilians remain calm.

but again, nigerand niamey, i mean, my time when i lived in niger, when i was working for the us embassy there, there were street protests quite regularly. they wouldn't exactly get violent, so to speak, but they would result in some destruction of property. so another thing that is just kind of a little bit more commonplace and not unprecedented for the current situation. ukraine's president zelensky, is warning "war is coming to russia," on the day three when drones were shot down over moscow, forcing the temporary closure of the airport. it comes after one person died and five others were injured, in a russian missile strike, on the north—eastern ukrainian city of sumy. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. it was early morning in moscow when this happened. russia says it downed three ukrainian drones that

were targeting the capital. two of them smashed into skyscrapers. though no one was killed, it added to the sense of insecurity here. but the president was upbeat, marking navy day in saint petersburg. russia's war in ukraine has not gone at all to plan, but there's nothing like a parade of warships and submarines to project an image of russian power. translation: in the name of russia our sailors - are devoting all their energy. they are displaying true heroism. they are fighting valiantly, just like our ancestors did. ancestors. it's the key word. for it is by referencing past heroes and history that those in power here today try to nurture love for the motherland. we saw just that this weekend near moscow.

they were re—enacting a 16th century battle, when the army of ivan the terrible crushed invaders from the south. russians are being told more and more that they have a glorious, victorious past. the organisers here say russians can learn from this battle how to be victorious again today. in russia, now, the past dominates the present. this is a country which lives in the past, which is constantly referring to the past, to try to justify what it is doing now, to portray russia's actions today as right and just. konstantin is the oligarch who organised this event. the us and the eu sanctioned him for his ties to separatists in eastern ukraine when the conflict began in 2014. recently, the us seized $5 million

of his assets over alleged sanctions violations. they'll be transferred to ukraine. translation: 2014 is when russia woke up and i'm proud to have - played a part in this. no country, including the us and britain, has the right to punish me. i am a citizen of russia. western sanctions are a scam, a criminal act, and criminals should be arrested and jailed. i don't know how long it will take the russian police to get their hands on president biden. but when they do, i'd like my money back. "russians forward" they cry. re—enactment over, the next battle. russian fist—fighting — an ancient sport that comes with a message. russians are determined to win. steve rosenberg, bbc news, near moscow. here in the uk, the government says

it's reviewing the impact of low traffic neighbourhood schemes, which restrict cars in certain areas, to cut pollution. earlier this month, it was announced funding would end any new projects in england. from newcastle, alison freeman has more. all quiet on this street in newcastle today. it's part of one of several hundred low traffic neighbourhoods known as ltns that have been introduced in cities across the country. the aim — to reduce traffic in residential areas and stop side roads being used as rat runs. it's sort of adding 10 minutes onto yourjourney and you sort of think to yourself, is this actually doing any good for the environment? my road might be quieter, but the main roads are chock a block. it's definitely quieter down the roads and so the traffic down the main road's not even that bad. so i don't really see

what the problem is. tell me about the cleaner sitting in those queues, l those incessant queues. queues. queues, queues of cars pumping out fumes and using up extra fuel. - this ltn, which was introduced back in march, is going to be trialled for 18 months. but these bollards have not only physically divided jesmond they've divided opinion too, with more than 4000 people already signing a petition against it. feelings about low traffic neighbourhoods have been running high nationally. protests in places like ealing in west london led to the reversal of some zones there. and earlier this month, the government said it was halting money for new schemes. today the prime minister said the government will be reviewing existing low traffic neighbourhoods and that he is on the side of drivers. but labour argues there is still a place for the zones. we are in favour of well—planned, low traffic neighbourhoods but as i say, they have to be

decisions that are made by local communities. many people here say it's created more problems than it's solved, but with the drive towards net zero, more ways of tackling pollution need to be found. alison freeman, bbc news, newcastle. in china, until recently, it was extremely difficult for single women to have children. last year the government said health insurance should cover the cost of giving birth for single mothers and that they should also get paid maternity leave. despite widespread conservative cultural attitudes a shift is underway ? especially in the big cities ? where more unmarried women are choosing to continue their pregnancies. as our correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from south—east china. two—month—old hung—hung is being raised by his mother and grandmother. it's a lifestyle still frowned on by many, especially in rural areas or smaller towns where beliefs

are more conservative. attitudes are definitely changing towards single mothers in china, but mainly only in the big cities. this mother said she was lucky to have moved to shanghai to run a business. translation: i'm grateful l for the tolerance of shanghai. i'm from rural hunan, an area which will have a lot of discrimination against me as a single mum. she became a single mother after her boyfriend's family rejected his choice of bride because her income and status was too modest. although she was pregnant, he broke up with her. her mother says the choice to continue with the pregnancy under such circumstances would have been impossible when she was young because of community pressure and official regulations. that this change in community attitudes has happened at this precise moment in history has been crucial. with an ageing population,

the government wants more babies and yet many young couples have refused to answer the call on financial grounds, so more and more we are seeing officials starting to change the rules which had been blocking single women from giving birth. this woman isn't waiting for the government to sort out all the health insurance hurdles. she will soon become a single mum on her own terms. we met her at an expo in hangzhou, showcasing her online sales platform. translation: my mum always told me that women should - be more independent, confident and strong. i don't want to marry into another familyjust because of a child. the 30—year—old says the time wasn't right for marriage when she accidentally became pregnant with her much younger boyfriend. however, women's status and financial independence are shifting in china, giving more options.

translation: traditionally, women relied on men - and the family for support. as we earn more, men and women become more equal. women can even employ people to help them. the situation is patchy in china. even in some cities, single mothers on lower incomes are being denied the paid leave and health insurance needed to give birth. unmarried parents can now get the documents to, for example, process a child's school application. however, other government regulations still need to catch up with what's becoming a reality in china. a third firefighter has died in canada while battling the country's worst wildfire season on record. authorities say the firefighter died tackling a fire in the western province of british columbia.

people are evacuating an area further south in the province near the us border, as fires swirl out of control. so far this season, canadian wildfires have burned about 30 million acres of land — more than the land area of south korea or cuba. to the women's world cup now — there's huge disappointment for the co—hosts new zealand, who are out of the competition. they could only manage a draw against group—winners switzerland, who are joined in the knockout stages by norway, who thrashed philippines 6—0. and a major shock as colombia have beaten two time champions germany 2—1. ealier we spoke to sports writer and broadcaster nicky bandini following today's huge results in the tournament. we started off by speaking about columbia beating germany. huge, huge result for colombia. such a sort of impressive group and put together so many young players, making a huge difference

for that team. and to have been for a while, of course. they did reach the final of the copa america just last year. but seeing linda caicedo, 18 years old, only two years removed, by the way, from an ovarian cancer diagnosis, scoring such a brilliant, brilliant opening goal in this game. and then even after germany, thisjuggernaut, who haven't lost a world cup group game since 1995, they get that penalty at the end of the game and you think, ok, this is sort of reverting to the story everyone expected. and manuela vanegas comes up with that 96th minute winning header in injury time. i think it was probably the most dramatic game of the tournament so far. and there have been a couple. itjust goes to show anything can happen, right? and it is a huge result for norway as well, as they beat the philippines 6—0. yeah, i think that was perhaps an expected result, but what's maybe more of an important part of the story for norway is they recovered from such a bad start to the tournament. nobody thought they were going to lose that opening

game to new zealand, which they did, and then they drew their second game. and you've got a team with some of the best players in the world in it — ada hegerberg, who didn't play this game because she is injured. she's a ballon d'or winner. you've got caroline graham hansen, who is then at odds with the coach but is a brilliant, successful barcelona forward who has been playing in the champions league finals. you've got serie a's player of the year in that team — such a strong norway team. and we hadn't seen a game from them yet at this tournament, and finally it is like all of those girls showed up all at once. a really big performance from sophie haug in that game today as well. so they got through the group a bit more by the skin of their teeth than they expected to, but the important thing is to be into the knockout rounds. nicky, it is sad news, isn't it, for in new zealand. isn't it, for new zealand. the hosts are out. but i guess great news for morocco because they scored their first goal in the tournament. yeah, unfortunately new zealand are the first world cup hosts not to make it through the group stage. at the same time, if you think of the beginning of this group stage they were talking about the fact

they had won their first ever group game, men's or women's at a world cup, so it was a huge start. and theyjust couldn't quite build on it. and as you say for morocco, a huge moment. another team claiming its first win at this world cup. and at the expense of a south korea team who a lot of people expected bigger things from as well. that was sports writer nikki speaking to me earlier about the women's world cup and giving her analysis of all the latest results. stay with us here on bbc news. thank you forjoining me. hello. it's turned cloudy and wet in many parts of the country and if the rain hasn't reached you yet, it is not far away. here is the outlook for the week ahead. there is no let—up to the kind of weather we have been experiencing for the last few weeks. more unsettled weather on the way. if you look at the satellite picture, you can see a daisy chain of weather systems sweeping off north america and across the atlantic and heading in our direction, propelled by quite

a strong jet stream, which will also be rippling across the atlantic and at times it will even be south of us as we see these troughs developing, and that will also allow cooler air to sweep in from the north. let's have a look at the forecast then for the evening and overnight. plenty of cloud, here is the weather front with the rain sweeping northwards. it should reach the lowlands later in the evening or through the early hours. the north of scotland may stay dry through the night but for many of us it is cloudy, with rain at times, mist and murk and low cloud. breezy, if not windy, conditions, but mild — 17 celsius in cardiff with this maritime air mass. and tomorrow it is a cloudy picture, at times bursts of rain, some of them heavy. both in the morning and the afternoon. it certainly won't be raining all of the time and if anything even a chance of a few sunny spells. perhaps even lengthy ones across the south and the south—west, maybe to the east of the pennines. the cloud and the rain will never be too far away.

that is how we are going to end monday, with the low pressure close by and a generally overcast picture with rain at times. that takes us into tuesday, the low pressure moves away and we are in between weather systems. there is another one heading our way. i think tuesday, overall, it's going to be the best day of the week. we have the most amount of sunshine. yes, a few sunny showers in the north but not a bad day compared to what is going to happen on wednesday. look at this low pressure sweeping in and bringing a wet day on wednesday for many parts of the country. and then on thursday, we develop a northerly wind and it will be quite noticeable, right across the uk. it will be particularly noticeable across the north of scotland and along the north sea coast. this is looking at the weather into the following weekend. the same sort of weather, unsettled, on the cool side, with rain at times. goodbye.

this is bbc news. the headlines... at least 37 people have been killed in a bomb blast in pakistan — during a rally organised by an islamist party. dozens of people were also injured in the north—west

bajaur district. president putin praises the might of russia's fleet at navy day celebrations. he said he doesn't reject the idea of peace talks on ukraine, but it's hard to implement a ceasefire with ukraine on the offensive. hundreds of supporters of niger's military coup protest outside the french embassy in niamey as france stops aid — leaders of the coup have warned regional and western powers against military intervention to reinstate the ousted president. here in the uk, the prime minister wants a review into low—traffic neighbourhood schemes — which seek to reduce the numbers of cars in some residential areas. now on bbc news, it's sportsday. hello, and welcome to sportsday — i'm paul scott at the bbc sport centre. here's what we've got for you. the fifth ashes test will go to a final day, as rain stops play, with australia needing another

249 to win.