Colombo: International drug syndicates orchestrated Sri Lanka's deadly Easter Sunday bombings, the country's leader claimed Monday, despite earlier blaming the attacks on Islamists.

Lhasa/Beijing: The successor of the Dalai Lama has to be decided within China and any interference by India on the issue will impact bilateral ties, Chinese authorities have said.

Jakarta: A major 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit off the remote Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia Sunday, US seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

Kathmandu: At least 43 people, including 18 women, were killed and 20 others injured in floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains in various parts of Nepal, police said.

Herat(Afghanistan): Four Afghan security forces were killed Saturday when Taliban insurgents attacked a hotel, officials said, as violence continues across Afghanistan despite US-led efforts to end the war.

Fifty-one people were injured and several homes, churches and other buildings damaged on Saturday when an earthquake sent terrified residents of the southern Philippines fleeing their homes before dawn, police said.

Dozens of New Zealanders handed in their firearms Saturday as a gun buyback scheme went into operation aimed at ridding the country of semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks.

At least 10 people, including two journalists, were killed in an extremist attack on a hotel in the port city of Kismayo, a Somali official said.