North Korea says if the United Nations Security Council ignores its warnings over US-South Korea military exercises it will demonstrate the UN's most powerful body is only a "political tool" of the United States.

The discovery of more than 800 babies' bodies in a sewer at a former care home in Ireland prompts a response from Prime Minister Edna Kenny, who says the inquiry into church-run homes will be expanded if needed.

Donald Trump's revised travel ban leaves Iraq off the list of targeted Muslim-majority countries and lets in green card holders. But Democrats say the "watered-down" ban will still face an uphill battle in the courts.

Peter Humphrey, who was arrested and held in a Shanghai detention centre for two years, details his "traumatic" experience behind bars and offers advice to the families of detained Crown Resorts staff.

At least 40 people are killed in twin explosions near religious shrines frequented by Shiite pilgrims in the Syrian capital Damascus.