A secretive group of Republican operatives and conservative leaders convened for more than three hours to discuss ways to unite the right against Donald Trump.

The warning was issued by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, which put a Trump presidency in sixth place among the top 10 risks facing the world.

Clinton is likely to become the first major-party female presidential nominee of our times, and happens to be running when women are ruling comedy.

A criminal complaint of alleged battery was filed against Lewandowski last week by Michelle Fields who says he assaulted her as she tried to ask a question.

COMMENT: I bet every Western leader was privately impressed with Putin's tactical agility.

Seeking to preserve his policies from a Republican commander in chief, Obama is poised to be the most active sitting president on the campaign trail in decades.

Donald Trump has warned of riots if he is denied the party's presidential nomination and pulled the plug on a scheduled debate among candidates.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, with his sudden move to withdraw Russian forces from Syria, once more caught international observers by surprise.

COMMENT: With presidential race and border crossings turned into lucrative TV, issues of office solve themselves, writes Jerry Flay.

COMMENT: Trump has turned the entire political world upside down, he's turned it into a sideshow of stylised violence, writes John Dybvig.

Husband of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin hospitalised after a "very serious" snowmobile accident.

Iran's Foreign Minister talks with Murray McCully kicked off with some small talk about Zarif's plane and an offer for Mr McCully to visit Tehran in May.

An already ugly campaign has descended to a new level. The question now is whether it is possible to contain what Trump has unleashed across the country.

COMMENT: The man who is taking charge of everything, President Xi Jinping, is now turning into the first one-man regime since Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s.

Germany's Chancellor was not only absent from the election rally for the party she leads - she wasn't invited.

"Fantasy and schoolyard taunts" - The President of the United States says the Republican Party is getting what it asked for.

Ohio governor blames Republican rival for clashes in Chicago and elsewhere between Trump supporters and protesters.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Selleck and Mr T joined mourners to bid farewell to former US First Lady Nancy Reagan at her funeral on Friday.

A promise of something for nothing. A childish insult. And a crowd eating it all up. Sounds familiar.

Moral dilemmas often pit narrow self-interest against the greater good, writes Paul Thomas.

Nixon and Kissinger's diplomacy would now be seen as capitulation, writes Vincent Matthews.

You want to be mayor? Get a wall.

US President has friends in Auckland and his children want to make the trip.

NZ one of six countries in relationship-building tour of Asia-Pacific following the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

Donald Trump could soon be the new US President. So how would he get on with John Key? Isaac Davison looks at where the two men agree and disagree.

The star used a quote widely attributed to Winston Churchill in predicting the frontrunner's eventual electoral defeat.

Caitlyn Jenner's offer to be a "trans ambassador" to US Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has drawn criticism from some members of the LGBT community.

Taken as a whole, the day, with the latest Republican debate, only served to harden the divisions tearing the GOP apart and raise dire doubts about whether its factions could unite in the general election.

The night started with a joke about the size of Trump's genitalia - and went downhill from there, often devolving into hard-to-comprehend shouting matches.

Russian's plan is "the best opportunity the Syrian people have had over the past five years for lasting peace and stability".