The Swedish Government this week decided to scrap an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, effectively bringing to an end a decade-old defence agreement with the kingdom.

A liquor store worker who was threatened, assaulted, called a "f***ing Indian" and "Indian dog" by his employer has been awarded $45,000 in damages.

Fighting began in the key central Iraqi city of Tikrit, birthplace of the former dictator Saddam Hussein, as government forces and Shia militia launched a major assault to displace Isis jihadists.

New Zealand is among the best in the world at expanding human rights, religious tolerance and peaceful dialogue, writes David Rutherford.

Edmund Burke once said political decisions often involve a choice between intolerable and disagreeable options.

The Judicature Modernisation Bill had its second reading last week. Somehow it has not led the news, Dr Richard Cornes writes.

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.

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.

Late Saudi King Abdullah was hailed as "a strong advocate for women" - so why are four of his daughters reportedly under house arrest?

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are, by all accounts, model prisoners.

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.

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.

Middle-aged home buyers face being locked out of the property market because banks are worried they are too old to pay off their mortgage before they retire.

The southern French city of Marseille has been forced to scrap a system of yellow triangles intended to help spot homeless people after it was accused of employing Nazi-style tactics.

'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.