While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 6 edition

Airliner skids off La Guardia runway as winter storm hits US

An airliner skidded off a runway at New York's La Guardia airport Thursday as a major winter storm battered the United States from Texas to the US east coast.

Heavy snow was falling as Delta flight 1086 from Atlanta slid off the runway, up an embankment and into a fence after landing at around 11am (midnight Singapore time).

Video of the scene showed passengers climbing out of the plane through an exit over a wing and trudging through thick snow.

It was the most dramatic incident on a day in which a huge winter storm forced thousands of flight cancellations, and disrupted life across a broad swathe of the United States.

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Angry mob beats, lynches rape accused to death in India

A rape suspect was pulled out of a jail and lynched by a mob in northeastern India on Thursday, local reports said, with anger raging over the high rate of sexual violence in the country.

The man, who stood accused of raping a woman multiple times and was arrested on Feb 24, was dragged out of the prison in Nagaland state before being beaten to death and strung up, according to media reports.

The Hindustan Times newspaper said the crowd "tore down two gates and took custody" of the suspect, before dragging him to the town's landmark clock tower. The suspect was then stripped naked, beaten and his body was strung up to the tower, the newspaper said.

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Canada pastor held by North Korea: Officials

A Canadian pastor who went missing in North Korea is being held by the communist state's authorities, his church and Canadian consular officials said Thursday.

Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim, 60, has not been heard from since Jan 31, just after he arrived in North Korea via China.

The Light Korean Presbyterian Church said his family "received notice from Canadian officials that the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has confirmed that Mr Hyeon Soo Lim is being held in North Korea."

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Football: Van Gaal 'very irritated' by Giggs rift talk

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal on Thursday angrily rejected media speculation that there is a rift between him and assistant manager Ryan Giggs.

Van Gaal reacted jubilantly to Ashley Young's late goal in United's 1-0 victory over Newcastle United at St James' Park on Wednesday.

In marked contrast, Giggs greeted the dramatic winner in subdued fashion and failed to react when van Gaal playfully jabbed the Welshman in the face as he celebrated.

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Hackers threaten phone in your pocket, experts warn

The boom in smartphones among often careless users has made happy hunting for hackers, whose virus attacks and hijacking of unprotected mobiles are multiplying, experts warn.

Security analysts and companies at this week's Mobile World Congress, a top wireless telecom fair in Barcelona, Spain, said phone makers and users must be on guard to stop hackers getting into your pocket.

Anti-virus firm Kaspersky's most recent study showed that 28 per cent of users were ignorant of the risks of cyberattack on their smartphones.

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