A forensic mental health nurse who had sex with a recent patient after giving her wine quit his district health board job as soon as he was outed.

The conviction of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on sodomy charges has prompted widespread outrage.

The mastermind behind the Bali Nine drug trafficking plot is reportedly living large after winning the lottery as two Australians face execution.

Indonesian authorities are waiting for a Nigerian drug boss and others to receive word their clemency bids have been rejected before scheduling their executions and that of two Australians.

New Zealand's bullying problem may be going unchecked because schools do not want to share their problems nationwide.

Governments increasingly view human rights as "a luxury" they can ill afford, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

Supporters are preparing a candelight vigil in Sydney as hopes fade the Bali Nine duo will escape an Indonesian firing squad.

Kurdish militias claimed to have driven Isis (Islamic State) jihadists from the Syrian town of Kobane, after an intense four-month battle that killed thousands but captured the world's imagination.

In Europe and even parts of the United States, Jews report rising levels of the "oldest hatred". And we aren't immune from the subject here in New Zealand, writes Inge Woolf.

The right to freedom of expression is one of our fundamental rights.

The family and supporters of "one of the most abused prisoners in Guantanamo" has launched a new celebrity-backed campaign demanding his release, coinciding with the publication of his prison diary.

There is no word yet on Australian Andrew Chan's fate as Indonesia risks diplomatic tensions with its plans to execute more drug offenders this year.

Shin Dong Hyuk, the North Korean prison camp survivor who has admitted that parts of his well-known tale are inaccurate, has urged his supporters to continue.

Pushing the Treaty process beyond its natural limitations is spawning unintended consequences for our constitution. It is encroaching on equal citizenship.

So far we've identified the achievements of the Treaty settlement and reconciliation process, and flagged that the process is now being pushed beyond the point of being useful.

Australian PM Tony Abbott has been mocked online for saying women are "particularly focused on the household budget".

The UN's refugee agency has revealed "the most lethal route in the world" after a record number of deaths.

'It's a hotbed for the degradation of women.' A number of sexual assaults has seen several US colleges move to suspend fraternities.

Turkey's Foreign Minister says Ankara has no hard feelings towards New Zealand after its defeat in its bid to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

By the time the boys were returned to their parents, their jihadist kidnappers had achieved their goal: loyalty to the Islamic State (Isis).

Experts are warning employers advertising for "young" staff" could be in breach of the Human Rights Act.

Prime Minister John Key won't rule out sending New Zealand's elite SAS personnel to assist US efforts to counter Islamic State militants in Iraq or even Syria.

Prime Minister John Key is expecting to receive advice over the coming weeks on further assistance New Zealand could offer to help counter the terrorist group Isis.

As the judge in the Oscar Pistorius trial was training to qualify, she changed her name from Matilda to Thokozile - the Zulu word meaning happy.

NFL player Michael Sam told reporters that he hoped in future he would be seen "as Michael Sam the football player, instead of as Michael Sam the gay football player".

A Queenstown man says he is subjected to taunts over his sexuality, which he likens to racism, every time he goes out in the resort at night.

Anxiety and anger remained a toxic cocktail in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson last night as demands for the arrest of the police officer who shot Michael Brown grew louder.

Most New Zealanders take their rights for granted, but they're rights often not realised by disabled people, writes Paul Gibson.