Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday India was becoming the world's most attractive destination for foreign investors, using his annual Independence Day speech to trumpet sweeping tax reforms designed to spur growth.

US President Barack Obama issued on Sunday a disaster declaration for flood-devastated Louisiana, where emergency workers have rescued more than 7,000 residents stranded in homes and cars, said the White House.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapon programme and defended the deployment of a US anti-missile system in the face of repeated "provocations" by Pyongyang.

A blast at a power plant in central China killed at least 21 people and injured five on Thursday, the eve of the first anniversary marking massive Tianjin explosions that have spurred government efforts to improve industrial safety.

The US State Department updated its already strong travel warning for North Korea on Thursday in light of Pyongyang’s recent warning that it would treat any detained US citizens according to “wartime law.”

A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck about 535 km (330 miles) southeast of the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, briefly triggering a local tsunami warning.

French security forces are on high alert as thousands of Catholics converge on the shrine of Lourdes for an annual pilgrimage unfolding in the shadow of a string of terror attacks.  Each year, tens of thousands flock to the sanctuary in the foothills of the Pyrenees for the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, marking the ascent of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday accused President Barack Obama of founding the Islamic State (IS) group.