World News Update, what you need to know

If Sam Worthington and Lara Bingle fail to settle a $US10 million ($A10.82 million) lawsuit brought by a New York paparazzo they will face a trial that will become a spectacle, the photographer's lawyer has warned.

ELSEWHERE:

AUCKLAND - A strong earthquake has jolted people awake in New Zealand's South Island, but there have been no early reports of damage.

BOSTON - The long-awaited trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has begun with jury selection, 20 months after the devastating attack that killed three at the city's signature race.

PARIS - The year 2014 broke a series of heat records in France, Britain, Germany and Belgium, weather agencies report.

BAGHDAD - The Islamic State jihadist group has executed eight people, four of them policemen, in Iraq's Salaheddin province, according to a series of pictures posted online.

JAKARTA - An Australian man has pleaded with an Indonesian court that he is a victim of addiction and not a criminal, as he made his defence on drug-possession charges.

CHAMPLAN - The dead baby of a Roma family at the centre of a racism row in France has finally been laid to rest with just close family present.