World News Update, What you need to know

Nearly 280 people were killed when a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake centred in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan ripped across South Asia, toppling buildings, triggering stampedes and knocking out communication lines.

ELSEWHERE

VANCOUVER - Five Britons are confirmed to have died and one person remains missing after a whale-watching boat carrying 27 capsized near Vancouver Island, off Canada's Pacific coast.

LONDON - The Australian Federal Police has been brought into the Chris Cairns trial in London, with the cricketer's defence suggesting an officer authorised a deal for an alleged match fixer in exchange for information.

JERUSALEM - Efforts to douse Israeli-Palestinian tensions over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound by installing cameras at the site have run into trouble, as more knife attacks against Israelis saw two Palestinians shot dead.

MOSCOW - Russian jets struck 94 targets in war-torn Syria over a 24-hour period, the highest one-day tally since the Kremlin began its month-old bombing campaign, the Russian defence ministry says.

LJUBLJANA - Countries in southeastern Europe facing an unprecedented influx of migrants have reacted cautiously to new EU plans to help stem the crisis, following an emergency mini-summit at the weekend.

PARIS - Global warming could create peaks of humid heat in the Persian Gulf beyond human tolerance by century's end, according to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

BERLIN - Chinese artist Ai Weiwei says his plan to create a Lego artwork can go ahead as donations of the toy poured in from fans after the Danish company refused his bulk order on political grounds.