After days of relentlessly questioning Merrill about his role in the Korean War, the North Korean "investigator" suddenly switched subjects.

Officials have found the body of Jurgen Kantner, a German hostage beheaded by Islamist militants in the Philippines last week.

Nearly 50 people are feared dead after a landslide swept two buses down a gorge in Northern India, according to Indian state-run news outlet DD News.

The US admiral expected to become the country's next ambassador to South Korea says North Korea remains the most imminent threat to peace in the Pacific but China's "dream of hegemony" is Washington's biggest long-term challenge.