Julia Gillard late last night appeared poised to become Australia's first female prime minister after a dramatic coup that caught Canberra by surprise.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he will put his leadership to the vote in caucus on Thursday.

NZ-Chinese representatives and a pro-Tibetan group are at odds over Russel Norman's anti-Chinese protest last week.

Liquor licences and event and planning approvals could be fast-tracked under a proposed law aimed at ensuring the Rugby World Cup runs smoothly.

Bridgecorp's receivers are investigating what to do after the Fijian military regime seized the failed Momi Bay resort against its wishes.

New Zealand food companies are being slippery about whether they use palm oil, according to a Green Party survey.

Will someone in authority please do something this time so we don't get yet another episode like the one outside the Beehive last Friday.

Four soldiers, three of them Australian, have been killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

They have something in common, Chris Carter and the Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club - they both keep digging when they're deep in the hole.

Several entities run by veteran Timaru financier Allan Hubbard have been placed in statutory management over irregularities involving investments worth $134 million.

Political commentator John Armstrong says nothing happening in politics this week had a hope of upstaging the fall and fall of Chris Carter.

Fran O'Sullivan believes the visit to NZ by Chinese Vice-President Jinping is probably of more long-term importance than a visit by his US counterpart, Joe Biden.