North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would permanently strengthen its nuclear forces and treat South Korea as its most hostile state.

Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted a former waitress in 1972 after escorting her to one of his shows, a civil jury in California concluded yesterday.

Israel should extend its border with Lebanon up to the Litani River deep inside the country's south, Israel's finance minister says, as Israeli troops bomb bridges and destroy homes in an escalating military assault.

Iran denies it's in negotiations with the US, after President Donald Trump postponed a threat to bomb Iran's power grid because of what he described as productive talks with unidentified Iranian officials.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if Tehran does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

European Union leaders voiced their anger yesterday at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over his blockade of a new €90 billion ($NZ177b) loan for Ukraine.