Washington: The US on Monday is set to ask five nations, including India and China, to completely end their imports of Iranian oil or be subject to US sanctions, a media report said, a decision that comes about a year after America quit the Iran nuclear deal and imposed toughest ever sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation.

A local outfit identified as the National Tawheed Jamath is suspected of plotting the deadly Easter blasts that killed 290 people and wounded 500 others in the worst terror attack in the country's history, a top Sri Lankan minister said on Monday.

Colombo: Police in Sri Lanka said Monday the investigation into the Easter Sunday bombings will examine reports that the intelligence community failed to detect or warn of possible suicide attacks before the violence.

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Monday lifted the curfew which was indefinitely imposed after the island nation was rocked with eight blasts targeting churches and hotels that killed over 215 people.

 An improvised pipe bomb discovered close to Colombo's main airport was successfully defused by the Sri Lanka airforce, police said.

Beijing: Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Monday held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussed the progress in bilateral ties since the Wuhan summit last year and said both sides were implementing the decisions in a manner in which "we are sensitive to each other's concerns".

Colombo: Sri Lankan authorities have arrested 24 people from the minority Muslim community in connection with the multiple blasts that rocked the island nation on Sunday, killing over 290 people.