The spate of race baiting, ethnic slurs and off-colour jokes that have marred this year's election campaign continued yesterday.

How to explain Peters' "two Wongs don't make a right" excuse for a joke, writes John Armstrong.

The days of the military strongman are on the wane around the world - few people would be sad about that.

Prime Minister John Key is rejecting claims the Government is too soft on Israel and should expel the Israeli Ambassador.

They were NZ's first legally married same-sex couple, but now it seems Melissa Ray and Tash Vitali have called it quits after less than a year.

Social media has become one of the weapons of war. The Israeli army, which has been on Twitter since 2009, now has 286,000 followers.

Washington has warned Israel against any ground invasion of Gaza, as the UN says more than 40 of the 176 dead were children.

Samsung said 59 suppliers failed to provide adequate safety equipment for workers as the smartphone maker struggles to improve labour standards in China.

British High Commissioner Vicki Treadell says Britain would not abuse diplomatic immunity because it is there for a good reason.

Dress from a British retail store contained a label reading 'forced to work exhausting hours'.

Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Jackie Blue is calling for targets to close gender and ethnic pay gaps in the public service.

A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death for converting from Islam to Christianity has been released from prison, according to her lawyer.

They were four generations of one family, ranging in age from 98 to a few weeks, united by the desire for sanctuary and a better life.

Police broke the law and breached the human rights of hundreds of people when they blocked a Chch street for seven hours to check 200 cars, the IPCA has ruled.

A survey on how family violence affects victims' work is "chilling but compulsory" reading for Government leaders, the Human Rights Commission says.

The father of a transgender beauty pageant contestant says he lost a son but gained a daughter in accepting her.

A Hamilton girl has taken out the New Zealand final of an inaugural pub beauty pageant.

Contestants of a "battle of the babes" competition say they're looking forward to competing against a transgender teenager at the NZ final tonight.

'Help, help, help', started the note found by a shopper buying boots from a New York department store, from a man claiming to be held in a Chinese prison factory.

Women earn less than men because they are seen as pushovers when they don't negotiate hard and are seen as "ball-breakers" when they do, a psychologist says.

At least 10 residents and police officers were injured yesterday as authorities ousted squatters from an abandoned building just steps from Rio's Maracana stadium.

There has been no shortage of media reports lately regarding gender change - even of children.

A petrol station attendant believes she was let go from her job when a new lessee took over because she was pregnant.

Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of new laws which define atheists as terrorists, according to a report from Human Rights Watch.