Celia Hatton

military, and they have close relationship with the U.S.

Nafiseh Conovart, who was speaking to Christian Fraser.

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To Pakistan now, where at least 31 people have been killed and dozens wounded in an explosion at a Shia mosque in the country's capital, Islamabad.

The motives behind the attack are not clear, but violence towards the country's Shia minority has increased in recent years.

Our Pakistan correspondent, Caroline Davies, gave us this report.

This explosion happened around lunchtime during Friday prayers, which means that the mosque would have been packed full of worshippers.

We've been able to speak over the phone to one eyewitness, a caretaker for the mosque, who was outside the building at the time.

He told us that he heard gunfire, then ran towards the mosque, and by the time he reached it, the explosion had already happened.

The head of the PIMS hospital has told us that the explosion was huge and that they have continued to see more injured come in throughout the course of the afternoon.

We understand that there are several people that are in critical conditions and you can see the true extent of this explosion by seeing how quickly the number killed and injured has risen throughout the course of the last few hours.

We've also heard from Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shabazz Sharif, who has talked about an investigation into finding out who is responsible for this.

Caroline Davies in Pakistan.

To Thailand now, and opinion polls leading the Thai general election happening this Sunday point to the same thing.

The People's Party, which is popular with young people pushing for change, will once again come out on top, possibly with even more seats than in 2023.

They embody the hopes of millions of Thais who want profound reform within the system.

And yet, Thailand's conservative establishment has shown time and again that it will not tolerate a progressive reformist government.

The People's Party has been dissolved twice before by the notoriously conservative Constitutional Court.

And the party's most charismatic candidates have been banned from politics for 10 years.