Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday said his government has been able to restore public life to normalcy within a very short period after Cyclone Ditwah devastated the island nation and took over 600 lives.

 At least 11 people, including three children, were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in a township near the South African administrative capital of Pretoria, police said on Saturday.

Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday, after US and Ukrainian officials said they'll meet on Saturday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly 4-year-old war.

A heavy exchange of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces was reported from the key Chaman border, according to a media report on Saturday.

Russian drones struck a house in central Ukraine, killing a 12-year-old boy, officials said, while long-range Ukrainian strikes reportedly targeted a Russian port and an oil refinery as US peace efforts continued out of public view.

Russia's state-run nuclear corporation has said it has delivered the first consignment of nuclear fuel for initial loading of the third reactor at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

 A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Thursday issued an arrest warrant against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s expatriate son Sajib Wajed Joy, a month after sentencing his mother to death on charges of committing crimes against humanity.

India has sent a Bailey bridge and hundreds of water-purification units to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka as part of its ongoing humanitarian support to reconnect isolated communities and restore essential services in the island nation.