…As Texas church shooting leaves 26 dead***

After a top Pentagon official said the only way to destroy North Korea’s nuclear weapons program would be through a ground invasion, a senior Senate Democrat urged the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, to “stay the course” and achieve a diplomatic solution to the crisis, in spite of President Donald Trump’s unpredictable behaviour and threats of military action.

“The worst alternative is a war which could become nuclear,” Dianne Feinstein said on Sunday.

Trump himself threw a characteristic wildcard into the mix, saying he would “certainly be open” to meeting the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

Rear Adm Michael J Dumont of the joint staff offered his blunt assessment of US options in response to a letter from two congressional Democrats who asked about casualty assessments in any conflict with North Korea.

The US is evaluating Pyongyang’s ability to target heavily populated areas of South Korea with artillery, rockets and ballistic missiles, Dumont said, adding that Seoul, the South’s capital with a population of 25 million, is just 35 miles from the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

Casualties would differ depending on advance warning and the ability of US and South Korea forces to counter such attacks, Dumont said, also mentioning the possibility that chemical and biological weapons might be used by the North.

“It is the most bleak assessment,” Feinstein, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, told CNN’s State of the Union. “I’ve spent a lot of time reading the intelligence. I’ve had an opportunity to discuss the situation with [Defense] Secretary [James] Mattis. I believe that an outbreak of war would kill hundreds of thousands of people.”

Dumont’s views were made public as Trump began a visit to Asia in which North Korea and Kim Jong-un’s nuclear ambition loom large. “No one, no dictator, no regime … should underestimate American resolve,” he told a military audience at Yokota airbase near Tokyo on Sunday on the first leg of his five-country trip that will also take in South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The president has repeatedly threatened North Korea, saying in his maiden speech at the United Nations in September he would “totally destroy” the country if necessary. He has also repeatedly undercut Tillerson in his efforts to pursue talks with the regime in Pyongyang.

Trump has also said before that he would be willing to meet Kim. In an interview with the Sinclair TV show Full Measure broadcast on Sunday morning, he said he was holding meetings with numerous Asian leaders and “would sit down with anybody.

“I don’t think it’s strength or weakness, I think sitting down with people is not a bad thing. So I would certainly be open to doing that but we’ll see where it goes, I think we’re far too early.”

Feinstein said she was “very pleased that Secretary Tillerson is with the president [in Asia]. I think if he will stay the course and use diplomacy the way diplomacy can be used, that it might be possible to work something out.”

Also speaking to CNN on Sunday another senior Democrat, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, said the US should “exhaust every possible diplomatic resolution”. She also said Trump’s approach to North Korea was akin to “poking a stick in the eye of a mad dog”.

In the meantime, at least 26 people have been killed and 20 others wounded after a gunman opened fire at a Texas church during Sunday service.

The attack happened at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small town in Wilson County. The victims’ ages ranged from five to 72.

The suspected gunman was later found dead in his vehicle some miles away.

Police identified him only as a “young, white male”, but US media named him as Devin Patrick Kelley, 26.

Kelley is reported to have been discharged from the US Air Force in 2014 following a court-martial for assaulting his wife and child.

The motive for the killings is not yet clear.

Texas Department of Public Safety regional director Freeman Martin said the attacker, dressed all in black and wearing a bulletproof vest, opened fire with an assault-style rifle outside the church at around 11:30 local time (17:30 GMT) and then moved inside.

As the gunman left the church, a local citizen grabbed his own rifle and began shooting at the suspect, who then dropped his weapon and fled in a vehicle.

The citizen pursued the suspect, who eventually drove off the road and crashed his car at the Guadalupe County line.

Police found the man dead in his car, but it is unclear if he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or from injuries received when fired on by the local citizen. The car contained several weapons.

Mr Martin added: “We have multiple crime scenes. We have the church, outside the church. We have where the suspect’s vehicle was located.

“We have been following up on the suspect and where he’s from. We have Texas Rangers at all the hospitals locating those and interviewing those who were injured.”

Governor Greg Abbott, confirming the death toll, said it was the worst mass shooting in the history of Texas.

“This will be a long, suffering mourning for those in pain,” he said at a news conference on Sunday.

The First Baptist Church’s pastor, Frank Pomeroy, told ABC News that his 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle, was among those killed.

Mr Pomeroy, who was in Oklahoma at the time of the attack, described her as “one very beautiful, special child” in a phone call to the television outlet.

At least 10 victims, including four children, were being treated at the University Health System in nearby San Antonio, the hospital said in a tweet.

Sheriff Joe Tackitt said authorities could not confirm the names of any victims yet as they continued to work through the crime scene.

Officials said 23 people were found dead inside the church while two people were fatally shot outside. Another died in hospital, authorities said.

Guardian with additional report from ABC