The ambassadors of Norway and the Philippines are among six people killed Friday when helicopter carrying them crashed into a school in northern Pakistan.

The warnings could not have been more severe: a monster named Haiyan was coming, a storm carrying rains at wind speeds no one on Earth had ever seen or felt before, so strong it could sweep the sea inland.

China's land reclamation is creating a "great wall of sand" in the South China Sea, leading to "serious questions" on its intentions, says a top US official.