PRAYER NEEDS
Every situation below needs prayer. Choose one and make your pledge.
Houthi missile strike on a Yemeni army training camp in Shabwa kills at least 50 recruits
Ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi movement struck the Al-Alam military camp in Jardan district, north of Ataq in Yemen’s southern Shabwa province, on Monday, 19 October, while new recruits were training there, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 200, local authorities said. Some reports put the toll at 53, and officials warned that it could rise. The most seriously wounded were taken to hospitals in neighbouring Hadramout and in Aden. The Houthis said they had targeted the camp. The attack came two weeks into a government offensive against Houthi-held territory.
3 praying
Russian drone strike on a park in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region kills six, including three children
A Russian drone struck a park where families had gathered in Nova Vodolaha, a settlement south-west of Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine, on Monday, 19 October, killing six people, three of them children, and injuring 15, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. A café in the park was damaged. Prosecutors said the drone appeared to be a Geran-type model, and investigators have opened a war-crimes case.
3 praying
Drone strike on a transport hub in Sudan’s West Kordofan kills at least 80
A drone strike hit a transport hub in al-Dibab, in Sudan’s West Kordofan state, on the evening of Sunday, 18 October, killing at least 80 people, most of them people waiting for trucks to take them home after market day, a medical source and a witness told AFP. The witness said the drone struck twice, ten minutes apart. Local groups have given higher preliminary figures. The administration set up by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces blamed the army; responsibility has not been independently established. It is one of the deadliest single strikes of Sudan’s war.
3 praying
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo spreads to Kenya, where seven cases are now confirmed
An outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus, the largest ever recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has passed 8,000 cases and is spreading beyond the east, with new cases in health zones in South Ubangi and Haut-Uele. In Kenya, the health ministry has confirmed seven cases linked to a man who died in Nairobi on 5 October after arriving from DR Congo, among them three health workers who treated him; they are the first infections passed on inside Kenya. Kenya says 128 of his 130 contacts are in quarantine and there is no evidence of community spread. WHO has declared a public health emergency of international concern, and nearly half of those infected have died.
4 praying
Collapse at an informal gold mine in Colombia’s Nariño kills at least six
An open-pit gold mine collapsed on Monday, 19 October, in a remote rural area of Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé, in Colombia’s south-western Nariño department, killing at least six miners, a regional disaster official said. Another 12 to 15 miners were reported missing, and some reports put the death toll at nine or more. About 30 people were believed to have been at the site, which the governor described as informal. Rescue teams struggled to reach the area because of the difficult terrain and the presence of armed groups.
3 praying
Twelve migrants, among them a baby, die as boats capsize off Greece’s Lesbos and Samos
Twelve migrants died on Monday, 19 October, in two separate capsizings in the eastern Aegean Sea, Greece’s coast guard said. Six people, among them a baby, died off Lesbos after their speedboat collided with a coast guard vessel, and six more died off Samos when a speedboat overturned. Survivors were rescued from both boats, and the coast guard was still searching for three people reported missing.
3 praying
Torrential rain floods eastern Spain, killing at least four
Torrential rain swept across eastern Spain on Monday, 19 October, flooding towns along the Mediterranean coast and killing at least four people, authorities said. Three of the deaths were in the Valencia region, two of them in the coastal town of Oliva, and a woman died in Catalonia after falling into a rain-swollen stream. Some areas received up to 700 litres of rain per square metre in 24 hours. Helicopters lifted residents from rooftops, more than 400 rescues were carried out in the Valencia region, and more than 800,000 people were told to shelter indoors.
3 praying
Measles outbreak in Bangladesh has killed 1,186 people, most of them children
Bangladesh’s measles outbreak has killed 1,186 people since mid-March, the Directorate General of Health Services said on Friday, 16 October. Of those deaths, 104 were from confirmed measles and 1,082 were among people, most of them children, who had measles-like symptoms. Five more deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours, and a public health expert said the wave of infections may last at least another month while a national vaccination drive takes effect.
3 praying
Nepal ends search for more than 5,000 missing after August flood that killed 1,455
Nepal has ended the search and rescue operation after the 26 August flood that originated at its border with China’s Tibet region, officials said on 5 October. At least 1,455 people were killed and 5,285 remain missing, while 13,795 people were rescued. The National Emergency Operation Centre says the response is moving from search and rescue to rehabilitation.
7 praying
Crush at a Durga Puja festival pavilion in Kolkata kills at least 19
At least 19 people were killed, among them a seven-year-old girl, and 25 were injured on Saturday evening, 17 October, when crowds waiting outside a Durga Puja pandal, a temporary festival pavilion, in north Kolkata, India, surged forward and fell, officials said. The state’s chief minister first gave a toll of 17 before it rose to 19, PTI reported. Police blamed heavy crowds of festival-goers caught in rainfall, and a senior official said an announcement caused commotion as the rain began.
3 praying
Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia kills at least 23, including four children
A Russian strike with guided aerial bombs destroyed a five-storey residential building in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday, 10 October, killing at least 23 people, including four children, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said when search and rescue work ended on 11 October. At least 16 people were injured, local officials said. More people were killed in attacks elsewhere in Ukraine the same day. The strike came as talks on ending the war were held in Miami, and a day after the United States eased sanctions on Russian diesel.
3 praying
Fire at a beach resort in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar kills 10 tourists
Ten people were killed, all of them tourists and six of them reportedly from one family, when fire swept through the Tuptup Resto and Resort at Inani, on the Marine Drive south of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, early on Saturday, 17 October. Several people were injured. The cause is not yet known. Fire service officials said the mostly wooden resort had been warned in June about fire-safety violations and had been built without fire service clearance.
3 praying
Truck ploughs into worshippers outside a temple in India’s Gwalior, killing 15
A speeding truck loaded with paddy ploughed into worshippers gathered outside the Sheetla Mata temple in Gwalior, in India’s Madhya Pradesh state, at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, 18 October, during the Navratri festival, killing 15 people and injuring more than 25, police said. The truck broke through police barricades into a no-entry zone and brought down part of the temple wall. Its driver and owner have been arrested, and the state government has ordered an inquiry.
2 praying
Monsoon Flooding Displaces Families Across the Philippines
A flood has affected the Philippines. According to current reports, at least 3 people have been reported killed, at least 9,618 people have been displaced from their homes. Figures may change as the situation develops.
5 praying
Dengue kills 245 in Bangladesh as outbreak worsens after deadliest month
At least 245 people have died of dengue in Bangladesh this year and 79,620 have been admitted to hospital, the health ministry says. September was the deadliest month so far, with 148 deaths against 43 in August, and experts warn the rains could drive further infections through October, adding to pressure on hospitals already fighting a severe measles outbreak.
5 praying
Boat sinks off Mexico’s Baja California, leaving 11 missing as survivors suffer shark bites
A boat carrying 27 people sank about 140 miles (225 kilometres) west of Ensenada, off Mexico’s Baja California coast, in the early hours of Friday, 16 October, after a distress call. The US Coast Guard, helped by the US and Mexican navies, rescued 16 people, at least three of them with injuries consistent with shark bites. The search for the 11 people still missing was called off on 18 October. The survivors were Mexican nationals, Mexico’s consulate said. Only debris was found, in an area the Coast Guard said is used by smugglers.
3 praying
Fire at a Canadian military base in Alberta kills four service members
Four Canadian service members were killed and dozens more seriously injured when fire swept through Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta on the afternoon of Saturday, 17 October, Prime Minister Mark Carney said. Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, said on Sunday that 39 people were still in hospital, at least 19 of them in critical condition. Unconfirmed reports have put the death toll higher. The military said there was no indication of terrorism, and the cause is under investigation.
1 praying
Four killed fighting a wildfire at Indonesia’s Mount Bromo as fires spread nationwide
Four people were killed and two were seriously burned on Thursday, 15 October, when a wildfire trapped a team of national park staff, fire-brigade members and local volunteers in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java, Indonesia, police said. Indonesia is battling its worst forest fires in more than a decade, and toxic haze from fires on Borneo and Sumatra has spread over parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
3 praying
Houthi strikes on Riyadh airport kill 13 and injure more than 300
An attack on the passenger terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and injured 309 on Saturday, 10 October, Saudi authorities said. Four of those killed were Saudis and the others were of several nationalities, including a US citizen; some of the injured are in critical condition. A second strike on the airport on Sunday, 11 October, killed a Pakistani resident and wounded 11, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said. Yemen’s Houthis have claimed a series of attacks on Saudi airports, and the airport remains closed as airlines cancel flights.
4 praying
Drone strike kills 41 displaced people near Sudan’s border with Ethiopia
A drone strike in Sudan’s Blue Nile state killed 41 displaced people near the border with Ethiopia, a Sudanese rights group said on Saturday, 10 October, blaming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The toll has not been independently verified. The war between Sudan’s army and the RSF has driven millions from their homes and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
4 praying
Pakistani airstrikes kill at least nine women and children in Afghanistan, Kabul says
Pakistani airstrikes overnight into 1 October hit civilian homes in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces, killing at least nine people, all women and children, and wounding 11, the Taliban government said; the United Nations has also reported civilian casualties. Pakistan said its strikes targeted militant hideouts. The strikes in Helmand were rare, and come after weeks of renewed cross-border attacks.
4 praying
Three civilians killed in Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, UN confirms
Pakistani airstrikes overnight into Monday 21 September hit Kunar and Paktika provinces in Afghanistan. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed the deaths of three civilians: a man, a woman and a girl. According to Afghanistan's Taliban government, a strike at around 3am in Kunar's Nurgal district completely destroyed a family's house, killing three members of the family and injuring four others; in Paktika, it said, a shop and an unoccupied house were destroyed. Pakistan said the strikes targeted militant facilities and killed 28 militants. That figure is Pakistan's own claim about combatants, not a civilian toll. Figures may change as the situation develops.
4 praying
Bombing at mosque near police offices in Pakistan kills at least 31
The death toll from an explosion and gun attack at a police headquarters in northern Pakistan rose to at least 31, with more than 100 others injured, after attackers stormed the Old Police Lines complex in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on 18 September. According to current reports, at least 31 people have been reported killed and more than 100 injured. Earlier reporting on the day of the attack gave lower figures as the toll rose. Figures may change as the situation develops.
3 praying
Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake and Tsunami Strike Eastern Indonesia
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off Flores in eastern Indonesia on 15 August 2026, triggering a tsunami. More than a hundred people have been killed, over sixteen hundred injured, and more than seventy-seven thousand homes damaged.
4 praying
Powerful Earthquake Strikes Western Colombia
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on 10 August 2026, with its epicentre in Chocó department. More than three hundred people were killed, thousands were injured, and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed.
3 praying
Millions Face Severe Hunger in Somalia
Six million people in Somalia are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, and around 1.8 million children are expected to need treatment for acute malnutrition this year.
4 praying
Houthi strike on Yemen’s presidential palace in Aden kills five and injures 16
Houthi missiles struck the al-Maashiq presidential palace complex in Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, on Thursday, 15 October, killing five people and wounding 16, Yemen’s health minister said. The prime minister and cabinet members were safe, the information minister said. It was the first attack on the palace in the current conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.
3 praying
Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv kill three and injure 22
Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv overnight into Wednesday, 14 October, killed at least three people and injured 22, damaging homes and a key power plant and leaving more than 600,000 people without electricity. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, first reported one person killed and one injured; the toll rose by Wednesday morning. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the ballistic missiles came with no early warning from Ukraine’s partners. The attack came as Ukraine enters the heating season.
4 praying
Air strikes kill at least 72 gold miners on Sudan’s border with Egypt, rights group says
Air strikes on an artisanal gold mine in a remote area on Sudan’s border with Egypt killed at least 72 workers on Saturday, 10 October, the Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers said. The group accused Egypt’s air force of carrying out the attack. The toll and the accusation have not been independently verified, and Egypt has not commented. It was the second deadly strike on miners in the area in several months.
3 praying
Intercommunal clashes kill 71 in South Sudan’s Rumbek
At least 71 people were killed when armed civilians attacked the town of Rumbek, capital of South Sudan’s Lakes State, before dawn on Friday, 9 October, the government said. Witnesses told AFP the fighting was driven by ethnic and community conflict, and that attackers briefly took parts of the town before reinforcements arrived. Four soldiers were among the dead. Security forces say they have regained control, have arrested four people and have urged calm to prevent revenge attacks. The toll has not been independently verified.
3 praying
Airstrikes hit Ethiopia’s Tigray after the fall of Mekelle; at least 52 civilians killed in earlier fighting
Airstrikes and artillery fire hit northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region overnight into Monday, 5 October, aid sources said, after the fall of the regional capital, Mekelle, almost two weeks into clashes between federal government and rebel forces. At least 52 civilians were killed during three days of fighting around Alamata in late September, hospital sources told the BBC. The fighting has spread to the Afar and Amhara regions, and Ethiopia and Eritrea have cut diplomatic ties.
3 praying
Russian strikes kill 26 across Ukraine, including five children in Pryluky, as attacks on cities intensify
Russian strikes across Ukraine on 7 October killed at least 26 people, including five children, Ukrainian officials said. At least 20 people died when an apartment block was hit in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region; President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said three of the children killed were 12 months old. The attacks follow Russia’s largest strike on Ukraine’s energy grid since the spring, overnight into 30 September, which killed seven people and forced emergency power cuts in Kyiv and nearby regions.
3 praying
Military airstrike on Myanmar market kills 50, aid workers say
A military airstrike hit the riverside market in Kyauktaw town, in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, around midday on 28 September. Local aid workers say at least 50 people were killed, and families gathered their dead the following day. The toll has not been independently confirmed and may change.
3 praying
Istanbul’s heaviest rain in 80 years floods the city, killing at least eight
Torrential rain flooded Istanbul on 14 and 15 October, the heaviest rainfall since records began in 1942, and the death toll has risen to eight, among them a teenage boy, Istanbul’s governor, Davut Gül, said on 19 October. The toll includes people from neighbouring Kocaeli province, and one person is still missing. Water flooded homes, businesses and hospitals, roads and underpasses caved in and schools were closed. In Sarıyer, the hardest-hit district, about 3,000 homes and business premises were badly damaged.
3 praying
Russian strike on two buses in Kramatorsk kills at least 33
A Russian strike hit a street in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Thursday morning, 8 October, where two city buses were operating, killing at least 33 people and wounding 18, authorities and police said. Earlier reports put the toll at 30. One bus was set on fire. The regional governor accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians, and the city has suspended public transport.
3 praying
Two dead and hundreds of police hurt as France imposes curfews after its worst unrest in years
A protest movement that began in French high schools in mid-September spread across the country on the weekend of 17 and 18 October, when hundreds of thousands of people marched against the cost of living and poor school conditions. Violent groups set cars and buildings on fire, looted shops and attacked police in cities including Paris, Lyon and Marseille, in some of the worst unrest France has seen in years. Two people died, more than 600 police officers were injured and more than 2,000 people were arrested. On Monday, 19 October, curfews took effect in Lille and other northern towns and around parts of central Paris, and the prime minister did not rule out a state of emergency.
3 praying
Seven sailors missing after drones strike tankers off Romania’s Black Sea coast
Rescuers were searching for seven missing crew members on Thursday, 15 October, after drones struck two chemical tankers, including the Wine Trader, setting them ablaze overnight near Romania’s Black Sea coast, Romanian officials said. A NATO source said the drones came from Russia. Boats and helicopters were searching in rough seas. It is the latest in a series of attacks on commercial ships near the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria.
3 praying
Migrant boat capsizes off Djibouti, killing at least 139, including 15 children
At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, died and 84 are missing after a boat carrying about 300 people capsized off Djibouti on its way to Yemen, the UN’s International Organization for Migration said on Sunday, 11 October. The boat sank north of the town of Obock on the night of 8 to 9 October; more than 80 people, all Ethiopians, survived. The route across the Gulf of Aden is one of the busiest and most dangerous migration routes in the world, used mostly by people from the Horn of Africa trying to reach Yemen and the Gulf states.
3 praying
Gunmen kill 28 in two mass shootings near Johannesburg and Cape Town
Gunmen killed 18 people and wounded 15 at a tavern in Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, on 27 September; the eight attackers, armed with assault rifles, torched vehicles as they fled. In a separate attack the same night, gunmen killed 10 people at a store in Lwandle, near Cape Town. Police have launched a manhunt, and no arrests have been reported.
3 praying
Fiji declares national HIV emergency as Pacific nation grapples with surge in cases
The country’s health and medical services minister, Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu, said in a statement on social media that an outbreak-level response was no longer sufficient to address what he described an “epidemic”. The full impact is still being assessed. Figures may change as the situation develops.
3 praying
Pakistan says it launches air strikes on Afghanistan after drone attacks
Pakistan conducted airstrikes on locations in Afghanistan that it said were being used to launch and store drones, some of which had been used against Pakistan a day earlier, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Thursday. Afghanistan's Taliban government said the strikes killed four civilians in the country's southern and eastern provinces; Pakistan said it targeted militant sites. Figures may change as the situation develops.
3 praying
Yemen fighting displaces more than 200,000 as war spreads to Saudi and Yemeni airports
The number of people displaced by the latest escalation of fighting in Yemen has passed 200,000, the UN migration agency said on 7 October, and the World Health Organization says almost 1,000 people have been killed. Saudi authorities said Houthi attacks on Riyadh airport on 8 October killed three people, including a Saudia pilot, and damaged an airliner; Houthi media said Saudi strikes on the airport in Sanaa killed two people the next day. Houthi forces have also fired on Aden International Airport, in the city that is the seat of the internationally recognised government. On 9 October Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s government asked the UN Security Council to act, and the World Food Programme warns that three in four families in parts of the country are going hungry.
3 praying
Fresh flash floods sweep away homes and bridges in central Nepal, leaving five missing
A flash flood on the Budhi Gandaki river in Nepal’s Gorkha district swept away dozens of homes, several bridges and parts of hydropower projects on Sunday, 11 October, and five people are missing, officials said. Authorities have rescued 321 people, including 12 foreigners, and more than 100 foreign trekkers are stranded after the flood washed away parts of the Manaslu trekking trail. The United Nations has begun an aid operation. The flood came six weeks after the catastrophic flood of 26 August, from which Nepal is still recovering.
3 praying
Thailand flood death toll rises to 60 as monsoon waters strain Bangkok and the economy
Monsoon floods in Thailand have killed 60 people since mid-September, officials said, including 19 in central Prachinburi province, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. The waters have destroyed homes and crops and flooded factories. Bangkok declared a flood disaster across all 50 of its districts on 26 September after almost 300 mm of rain fell in under 48 hours, and nearly 4,900 people moved into shelters.
3 praying
Over 55,000 Sudanese refugees fled to east Chad this year: UN
Sudanese refugees have crossed into eastern Chad since the start of the year, the United Nations said Friday, warning that the displacement was accelerating even as aid funding falls far short The full impact is still being assessed. Figures may change as the situation develops.
3 praying
School roof collapse in Pakistan’s Peshawar kills at least 34 children and a teacher
The roofs of two classrooms collapsed at the Al-Khair Education Centre, a private school in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Thursday, 15 October, killing at least 34 children and a teacher and injuring more than 50 people, some critically, authorities and a hospital official said. Most of the children were between six and 12 years old. Lady Reading Hospital declared an emergency as rescuers cleared the rubble. Officials described it as the deadliest building collapse in Pakistan’s history.
3 praying
Torrential rain floods Libya’s capital, killing two
Torrential rain flooded Libya’s capital, Tripoli, on Tuesday, 13 October, killing two people, authorities said. Floodwater submerged cars, homes and hospitals, security forces closed the city’s ring road, and the government ordered emergency work to drain the streets. One of those who died was a bank employee, his employer said.
3 praying
Tour bus crashes into truck in western Türkiye, killing 11 and injuring 27
A tour bus crashed into a truck near the entrance to a motorway between Bursa and Izmir in western Türkiye on Sunday, 11 October, killing 11 people and injuring 27, the governor’s office in Manisa said. Police detained the bus driver.
3 praying
Floods in Spain’s Catalonia region kill two as one person remains missing
Two people have died and another is missing after torrential rain and flooding in Spain’s Catalonia region, authorities said on Sunday, 4 October. Authorities warned of extreme danger around Barcelona and Girona, with rivers at risk of overflowing, and urged residents to stay indoors.
3 praying
Road crash in Kenya kills 17, most of them Catholic pilgrims
At least 17 people, most of them Catholic pilgrims, were killed after midnight on 3 October when a truck driver tried to overtake another truck and collided with vehicles including a minibus carrying the pilgrims, in the Salama area on the Nairobi–Mombasa highway, about 90 km southeast of Nairobi, police said. The pilgrims, from St Mathias Mulumba parish in Mikindani, Mombasa, were travelling to the National Prayer Day at the shrine in Subukia.
3 praying
Floods and landslides kill at least 62 in northern India and 14 in Nepal
Days of heavy rain have caused floods and landslides across Uttar Pradesh in northern India, where at least 62 people had died by 28 September, officials said. Rivers rose above danger levels in parts of both countries, and in neighbouring Nepal at least 14 people have died.
3 praying
Strong Earthquake Strikes Eastern Japan, Injuring at Least 37
A strong earthquake struck eastern Japan, injuring at least 37 people. Authorities are continuing to assess damage and other impacts from the quake. Figures may change as more information becomes available.
3 praying
Suicide car bombing at police checkpoint kills at least 11 in northwest Pakistan
A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a roadside police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on 26 September, killing at least 11 people and wounding about 30, officials said. The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) claimed the attack.
3 praying
Violent anti-government protests in Albania enter a sixth day
Protests led by students against Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, have turned violent in the capital, Tirana, since 14 October and have spread to other cities. Protesters have set fire to government buildings, among them the Education Ministry, and police have used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. About 120 police officers and 45 protesters had been registered as injured and about 500 people detained by 17 October, police figures showed, Reuters reported; many protester injuries are likely to have gone unrecorded. Rama has refused to resign.
1 praying
Shooting at Oregon elementary school kills three children and a teacher
A gunman opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, 15 October, killing three children and a teacher, police said. The attacker, a local 16-year-old, was killed at the school soon after police arrived. Other children were taken to hospital, and the school was placed in lockdown as officers responded.
3 praying
Hurricane Simon and Tropical Storm Rachel kill at least eight on Mexico’s Pacific coast
At least eight people have died in Baja California after Tropical Storm Rachel brought floods to the state, Mexican military officials said, among them four children, most of them in Ensenada, which has requested a disaster declaration. Several people are still missing. Hurricane Simon battered Mexico’s Pacific coast from Jalisco to Sinaloa earlier in the week, bringing floods that brought down trees and power lines and blocked roads.
3 praying
Powerful 7.7 earthquake strikes Panama, damaging homes, churches and a hospital
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck central Panama on the afternoon of Friday, 9 October, the US Geological Survey said, followed by a magnitude 6.6 quake and more than 40 aftershocks. At least 27 people were injured, Panama’s National Civil Protection System said. Homes, roads, hotels, churches and government buildings were damaged, including the cathedral and a hospital in Penonomé, where patients were treated outdoors. A multi-storey building collapsed at Playa Venao and buildings partly collapsed in Panama City as residents fled into the streets. No deaths have been reported. On Saturday residents near the epicentre began clearing debris, and the Red Cross has opened an emergency response. A tsunami warning for the Pacific coast of Central and South America was later lifted.
3 praying
Leftover explosive kills teenager and injures about 20 on school trip in northern Israel
A teenage boy was killed and about 20 other people were injured, some seriously, when a suspected unexploded munition went off during a school hiking trip near Israel’s border with Lebanon on Monday, 12 October, Israeli emergency services said. The Israeli military said an initial review showed it was most likely a leftover munition from the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
3 praying
Hurricane Isaias kills four and cuts power to hundreds of thousands in the US Southeast
Hurricane Isaias made landfall on the Florida Panhandle and killed at least four people, officials said, and left about 670,000 homes and businesses without power at its peak. Nearly 396,000 customers in the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama were still without power on Sunday, 11 October, as the remains of the storm moved north, bringing heavy rain and a risk of flash flooding to the central Appalachians and the mid-Atlantic.
2 praying
Gunman kills eight relatives and friends, including two children and a pregnant woman, in Erie, Pennsylvania
A 45-year-old man shot and killed eight people at his home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on the evening of Friday, 9 October, then apparently shot himself, police said. Seven of those killed were his relatives, including a pregnant woman and two children; the eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman. Police arrived within minutes after an alert from a gunshot-detection system.
2 praying
Prison riot in Mexico’s Sinaloa kills at least 10, including a visiting child
A riot at El Castillo prison in Mazatlán, in Mexico’s Sinaloa state, killed at least 10 people and injured 16 on Thursday, 8 October, authorities said. Nine of the dead were inmates and one was a child visiting with family; the violence broke out during visiting hours and inmates used firearms. Two more inmates were reported killed in a second clash on Friday. Federal forces have reinforced security, visits have been suspended, and President Claudia Sheinbaum said security in Sinaloa’s prisons would be strengthened.
2 praying
Nigerian Air Force plane crash in Ondo State kills 25, including civilian family members
A Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft crashed near a naval base in the Igbokoda area of Ondo State on Monday, 5 October, killing everyone on board. The Air Force put the toll at 25 on Tuesday, lowering an earlier figure of 32, and said civilian family members travelling with the crew were among the victims. President Bola Tinubu declared three days of national mourning and ordered an investigation.
2 praying
Gunmen kill seven on bus carrying workers home in Syria’s Homs province
Unknown gunmen opened fire on a civilian bus carrying company employees home from work as it crossed the Masyaf bridge in western Homs province on 30 September, killing seven people and wounding four, according to the Homs Health Directorate. The attack came hours after a gas-pipeline explosion knocked out three power plants near Damascus. Security forces have opened an investigation.
2 praying
Somali pirates kill five crew aboard hijacked tanker before rescue
Somali pirates killed five crew members aboard the Palau-flagged tanker MT Honour 25, hijacked in May, before Puntland’s maritime police retook the ship, officials said on 29 September. Three Pakistanis, one Indian and one Myanmar national were killed, and another crew member was injured. They are believed to be the first killings by Somali pirates in more than a decade.
2 praying
Gas explosion in Athens’ Plaka district kills six, including four American tourists
A suspected gas explosion destroyed a two-storey building in Athens’ historic Plaka district, beneath the Acropolis, on 25 September. Rescuers recovered six bodies from the rubble: four US citizens, a British man and his Greek wife.
2 praying
Avalanche at Himalayan base camp in Nepal kills at least 15 workers
An avalanche that buried the base camp of the 7,126-metre Himlung Himal peak in Nepal’s Manang district on 27 September killed at least 15 Nepali workers who were pitching tents and fixing ropes for coming expeditions. Rescuers have recovered 15 bodies, and one person remains missing. It is the deadliest incident of the autumn climbing season.
2 praying
Plane crash in DR Congo kills 17, including senior military officials
A plane carrying a Congolese military delegation from Kikwit to Kinshasa developed a technical fault and crashed into a residential area of Kenge on 25 September. Seventeen people were killed, among them two of the country’s most senior military justice officials and four civilians, the transport ministry said.
2 praying
Java Sea ferry sinking: 64 dead and 71 still missing
The passenger ship Virgo Transport 8 capsized in the Java Sea while sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin with 213 passengers and 30 crew. By 27 September rescuers had recovered 64 bodies and 108 people had been rescued, while 71 people remain missing as the search continues.
2 praying
Hurricane Polo crosses Baja California and strikes Sonora; no injuries reported
Hurricane Polo made landfall on Mexico’s Baja California Sur as a Category 3 storm, the first hurricane of the 2026 season to make landfall, then crossed the peninsula and struck the coast of Sonora on the mainland as a Category 1. Initial assessments by authorities reported little serious damage and no injuries, though damage on the mainland was greater than on the peninsula.
2 praying
One dead, four injured in Polish abbey knife attack, local media report
WARSAW, Sept - A knife attack on the grounds of a Benedictine abbey in southern Poland left one person dead and at least four injured, local media reported on Thursday. According to current reports, at least 1 person has been reported killed, at least 4 people have been injured. Figures may change as the situation develops.
2 praying
Mass shooting at a house party in South Africa kills 11
Three gunmen barged into a small house in an impoverished neighborhood in South Africa and opened fire on a group enjoying a party inside, killing at least 11 people, police and local authorities said Wednesday. According to current reports, at least 11 people have been reported killed. Figures may change as the situation develops.
2 praying
Wildfires Burn for Weeks in Serbia’s Deliblato Sands
Wildfires have burned for more than two weeks in the Deliblato Sands nature reserve in Serbia, affecting more than 3,500 hectares and prompting an international firefighting response.
3 praying
Boat collision on the Congo River kills at least 30 as search continues
Two vessels collided at night on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Équateur province, killing at least 30 people, officials said on 5 October, and rescuers are still searching the river. “Almost all the passengers on board were trapped underwater, and the boat itself also sank,” a security forces witness told The Associated Press.
2 praying
Tenth woman found dead as South Africa killings spark national outcry
The body of a tenth woman was found near Johannesburg on 26 September, adding to a string of killings of women in Gauteng province that has sparked vigils, protests and a national outcry. Police, who have offered a R400,000 reward for information, are working to establish whether the killings are connected. President Cyril Ramaphosa has called the murders “a stain on our national conscience”.
2 praying
Already pledged before? Sign in or