World News Update, what you need to know

The US military has deployed aircraft and troops to northern Iraq to boost capabilities to rescue downed coalition pilots, after a Jordanian pilot was captured and killed by jihadists in Syria.

ELSEWHERE:

LONDON - Former entertainer Rolf Harris has been interviewed by British police over allegations of sexual offences.

KEROBOKAN, Bali - Figures being used to justify the executions of two Australians and around 60 other drug offenders in Indonesia have been exposed as "questionable and vague".

LONDON - British glam rocker Gary Glitter could spend the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty at a London court of sex abuse against three young girls.

KIEV - German and French leaders have flown into Kiev armed with a new peace plan aimed at halting an upsurge in deadly fighting in eastern Ukraine.

LONDON - The cost of policing the embassy in London where Julian Assange has been holed up since mid-2012 has now topped STG10 million ($A20 million).

CAIRO - The wife of an Egyptian journalist for Al Jazeera imprisoned in Cairo has pleaded for a foreign passport for her husband, reflecting concerns that his Egyptian nationality is an impediment to his freedom.

ATHENS - Greece's ambitious hard-left government has run into trouble with Germany and the European Central Bank but vowed to push ahead with its electoral pledge to renegotiate the country's unpopular bailout.