North Korea on Saturday snubbed a UN resolution condemning its human rights conditions, calling it a US-led conspiracy to topple the communist regime through pressure.

Three civilians were killed and another 25 were wounded when a bomb fixed to a bicycle exploded on Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, the governor said.

The explosive gas known as "fire damp" that has stalled the rescue of 29 men at a New Zealand colliery is a miner's worst nightmare, a former worker at the mine said Saturday.

A moderate 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Saturday, the US geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano has killed 283 people since it began erupting late last month, with more than 270,000 people still living in makeshift camps, an official said on Saturday.

US President Barack Obama has lifted a ban on US aid and government assistance for Sudan to allow computers to be exported into the country ahead of a key referendum.

Two Chinese ships have been spotted near islands at the centre of a heated dispute between Beijing and Tokyo, the Japan Coast Guard said on Saturday.

The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has formally objected to plans by the opposition Maoist party to include members of its army in an upcoming political conference, a spokesman said Friday.

Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday he believed it was "realistic" for foreign forces in Afghanistan to hand over control of security to local forces by 2014.

A rare earthquake rattled Hong Kong on Friday, prompting alarmed residents to call local authorities to report feeling the tremor, officials said.