Sri Lanka's deposed prime minister secured control of a key committee in parliament yesterday, dealing a blow to the country's president in the latest twist in a month-long political crisis.

An explosion ripped through a mosque inside an Afghan army base in the country's volatile eastern Khost province as Friday prayers were drawing to a close, killing at least 26 soldiers and wounding 57, the military said.

Indian troops killed six separatist militants in a gunbattle in the disputed region of Kashmir yesterday, the army said, taking the death toll for the year to the highest in nearly a decade.

Sri Lankan police yesterday reversed a decision sacking a top detective investigating a string of high-profile gruesome cases involving the rich and powerful, following intense protests. The island nation has been politically paralysed since October 26 when President Maithripala Sirisena controversially sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

An explosion at an ammunition dump in India killed six people yesterday, police said, underscoring concerns over the country's handling of military equipment. Staff were disposing of Russian anti-aircraft shells out of production since 2014 when a box was dropped and exploded, the Times of India reported.

A man hurled chilli powder at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal outside his office here yesterday. The attacker, identified as Anil Kumar, has been taken into custody, officials said.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has helped farmers of Uttar Pradesh by paying off their loans. The 76-year-old actor paid off loans of 1398 farmers from the state, that amounted to over Rs 4.05 crore.

An Indian soldier and four terrorists are killed today in an encounter between ultras and security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir state in India, officials say.

At least three people are killed and ten others wounded in a suspected grenade attack on a religious gathering in northern Indian state of Punjab.

Wrinkles are a natural part of ageing, especially for the face, neck, hands and forearms. But some people are more prone to wrinkles based on sun exposure and other factors.

Condemning human rights violations in Myanmar, the third committee of the UN General Assembly in New York has adopted a resolution on the situation.

At least 11 people were reported dead yesterday as a powerful cyclone battered India's eastern coast, authorities said.

The much-awaited launch of the Rohingya repatriation was cancelled at the last moment yesterday as the refugees refused to return to Rakhine for fear of fresh persecution.

Tens of thousands of rescue personnel were on standby and many more people were evacuated in southern India yesterday as authorities

A baby died after a monkey snatched it from its mother's arms, Indian police investigating the incident in the city of Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, said yesterday.

A week after being freed from jail, Asia Bibi -- a Pakistani Christian woman on death row for eight years for blasphemy -- remains in limbo, with negotiations apparently under way to allow her to leave the country despite objections from Islamist hardliners demanding her execution.

Sri Lanka's political crisis yesterday descended into farce with MPs throwing punches and projectiles in parliament, a day after voting the disputed prime minister out of office and leaving the country without a government.

Bangladeshi women shows a slow performance in using modern contraception in the world. In a wider perspective, an ambitious goal to boost the number of women using modern contraception by tens of millions by 2020 is falling far behind, said experts.

The International Crisis Group has warned of serious security risks of “forced repatriation” of the Rohingya, just as Myanmar and Bangladesh prepare for the November 15 return of the refugees sheltered in Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka's parliamentary Speaker yesterday accused President Maithripala Sirisena of "usurping" the rights of legislators and asked public servants not to carry out his "illegal orders".