New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch was shaken by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The government seismology agency said the quake was centred 10 kilometres east of the city at a depth of 11 kilometres.

The city was devastated by a force 6.3 quake in February last year, killing nearly 200 people, and destroying the central business district and making large areas of surrounding suburbs uninhabitable.

Nearly three-quarters of Japanese companies support abandoning nuclear power after last year's Fukushima disaster, although a majority set the condition that alternative energy resources must be secured, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.

The poll offers fresh evidence of the deep public distrust of nuclear power, the role of which the government is reconsidering after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant, triggering a radiation crisis that caused mass evacuations and widespread contamination.

Even as drought persists in parts of Kenya's arid north, intense rains are claiming lives in other parts of the country – flooding slums in the capital Nairobi, sweeping away hikers in the Rift Valley, and destroying crops.

Many Kenyans shake their heads in dismay at the increasingly extreme and volatile weather, which is costing money as well as lives in east Africa's economic powerhouse.

The island nation of Kiribati is one of the countries most threatened by rising sea levels. However, many of the floods it has seen may be due to a mix of natural variability and human activities, complicating the picture of how rising sea levels are endangering Kiribati and other island nations.

Climate researchers said Thursday the planet could warm by more than 3.5 degrees Celsius, boosting the risk of drought, flood and rising seas. The UN's target is a 2 C limit on warming from pre-industrial levels for manageable climate change. In a report, scientists said Earth's average global temperature rise could exceed the dangerous 3.5 C warming they had flagged only six months ago.

Erosion by the Teesta River has rendered around 70 families of three villages under Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila homeless in the last four days.

The affected villages are Kalmati, Tajpur and Gokunda.

The erosion-hit people have taken shelter at their relatives' houses at the adjoining villages.

The river devoured at least two fruit gardens, three bamboo clusters and about 32 acres of cultivable land, said locals.

Victim Nur Muhammad of Kalmati village told this correspondent that the erosion devoured several houses at the three villages.

Three people were killed and at least 250 others injured as storm lashed Netrakona, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat and Rangpur districts on Wednesday night.

Our Netrakona correspondent reported storm swept 30 villages of Kalmakanda, Barhatta, Mohongonj and Khaliajuri upazilas of the district, killing a mother and her son killed and injuring at least 30 others.

Around 25 Sri Lankans have been displaced following the earthquake that struck parts of Italy on May 20 around 4am, the Sri Lankan embassy in Italy said yesterday.

The embassy said the displaced Sri Lankans have been provided with facilities.

The embassy is in constant touch with the Sri Lankan community in the affected areas and the Civil Protection Agency of Italy to assist the displaced.

Bhubaneswar: At least 65 persons have reportedly died so far due to sunstroke even as severe heat wave continues to whip the entire state, throwing normal life out of gear. However, the revenue department confirmed only ten deaths out of the 65. As many as 17 places have recorded maximum temperature between 40 to 46 degrees Celsius on Thursday with Sambalpur town becoming the hottest place as mercury soared to 46 degrees there.

Large-scale crop plantations are expanding at a rapid pace across southeast Asia, with multinational firms often benefiting the most at the expense of local communities and the environment, two U.N. rights experts warned on Wednesday.

Demand for agrofuels, such as those derived from sugar cane and palm oil, has boomed thanks in part to the United States, Europe and other rich economies seeking alternative ways to fuel their cars and homes in order to reduce their carbon emissions.