The suicide bombers behind the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka assembled easily-available chemicals to make explosives, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, as authorities probe how the assailants acquired the technical knowledge to make the bombs.


Easily-available chemicals used for bombs: SL PM


IANS Automatic

US and Pakistani officials held delegation-level talks on the Afghan peace process here on Monday, the media reported.


US, Pakistan officials discuss Afghan-peace process


Afghanistan's President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani stressed achieving viable peace in his militancy-battered country through dialogue in the much-awaited consultative Loya Jirga or traditional grand assembly of elders and chieftains inaugurated here on Monday.


Ghani calls for 'durable peace' at grand assembly


Sri Lankan intelligence has received information on an attack targeting Buddhist temples by the National Thowheed Jamaath extremist group, using female bombers, the media reported on Monday.


SL intelligence warns of attack on Buddhist temples


Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the Easter Sunday attacks could have been prevented if the new Counter Terrorism Bill was passed in Parliament without delay.


Counter Terrorism Bill could prevent SL attacks: PM


The sister of the suspected ringleader of Sri Lanka's deadly April 21 Easter Sunday bombings has said that up to 18 of her family members are missing and feared dead since the attacks and subsequent raids, the media reported.


SL bomb suspect's sister fears 18 relatives killed


Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday appealed to Pakistan and India to mend their ties, ruptured after the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama by a Pakistan-based terror outfit early this year.


China's Xi urges India, Pakistan to mend ties


Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said, here on Sunday, if voted to power again at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would scrap Article 370.


Himachal CM Thakur harps removal of Article 370


All three militants involved in the attack on a police post in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar district on Friday have been arrested, police said on Sunday.


3 militants involved in Srinagar attack arrested: Police


Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday recovered gemstones worth more than 30 million rupees and 15 million rupees in cash from a safe house in Dematagoda, police said.


Gemstones, cash recovered from Sri Lanka safe house


Catholics in Sri Lanka followed televised religious services on Sunday as churches remained shut after the bishops' conference decided to suspend mass until further notice due to fears of fresh attacks following the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings.


Church services televised in Sri Lanka


Churches in Sri Lanka remained shut on Sunday, a week since the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 253 people.


Sri Lankan churches shut a week after bombings


A Dubai-based Indian couple narrowly escaped the blast at Colombos Cinnamon Grand hotel, which was one of the eight targets of the April 21 serial bombings in Sri Lanka, the media reported on Sunday.


UAE-based Indian couple narrowly escaped SL attacks


Two suspects, wanted over the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, were arrested on Sunday, police said.


2 suspects wanted in Sri Lanka bombings arrested


The ISIS, or the Islamic State, has eventually claimed responsibility for the multiple terror bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday targeting churches and hotels, killing 359 and injuring about 600 people. The sites hit in the attacks were all frequented by tourists, and at least 42 foreign nationals died in the explosions.


Sri Lanka's Easter carnage: Colombo needs to be wary of Pakistan-ISIS links (Comments)


The Islamic State (IS) terror group has claimed responsibility for an "ambush" carried out by three jihadis in Sri Lanka, saying that it caused 17 deaths after authorities in the island nation confirmed 16 dead in an operation in Kalmunai city.


IS claims responsibility for SL ambush that killed 17


At least three security personnel were killed and two others injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan's northwest district of North Waziristan, local media reported.


Three killed in bomb blast in Pakistan


Two women Maoists, including a senior cadre carrying a reward of Rs 16 lakh on her head, were shot dead in a gunfight with security forces here on Saturday afternoon, officials said.


Two top women Maoists killed in Maharashtra gunfight


Fifteen people were killed in a gun battle between the government forces and an armed group in Kalmunai city of Sri Lanka, authorities said on Saturday. Around 70 suspected suicide bombers were estimated to be at large, they said.


15 killed in Lanka gun battle; 10 more held (2nd Lead)


An angry mob in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar town on Saturday attacked the office of the district magistrate and burnt the effigy of Governor Satya Pal Malik.


Mob burns J&K Governor's effigy in Kishtwar


Expressing concern over the Canadian government's "covert and overt" support to the hardliners operating from its soil to create disturbances in India, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday urged the Central government to ask the global community to join India in cracking down on this grave threat to its peace and security.

Page 17 -