Sri Lanka remained on high alert as police on Wednesday carried out a controlled explosion of a suspicious motorcycle parked near a cinema hall here.

Afghan civilians are for the first time being killed in greater numbers by US and pro-government forces than by the Taliban and other insurgent groups, a UN report released Wednesday revealed.

 Russia on Tuesday called the US tightening of oil sanctions on Iran an "aggressive and reckless" policy after Washington announced it was seeking to stop all exports of Iranian crude.

Durban: The death toll from floods and mudslides that crushed homes in the South African port of Durban on Tuesday has risen to 33, with reports of children missing and scores of people displaced, authorities said.

The death toll in Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bomb attacks has risen to 359, police said Wednesday.

Extensive search operations were carried out and several people arrested in connection with the attacks on Tuesday, Police spokesman Ruwan Guansekera said.

Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe admitted Tuesday that there had been prior intelligence warnings about the attacks in the country, including on the Indian High Commission in Colombo.

 A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck China's remote Himalayan region of Tibet close to India early Wednesday, authorities said.

Colombo: The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a series of devastating suicide attacks that killed 321 people and wounded more than 500 others in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.