Germany has begun confiscating money and jewellery from refugees to pay for the cost of their stay, in a practice the UN says contributes to xenophobia.

America's well-known pro-gun lobby group the National Rife Association has targeted Australia in a recent video, in what appears to be a scare campaign.

Bringing Iran back from the cold has implications for New Zealand. With restrictions lifted, exporters should expect demand to rebound.

President Barack Obama says Australia has been "consistent and extraordinarily effective" fighting the Islamic State group.

Muslim women can be banned from wearing veils in schools, courts and other British institutions, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

British MPs have debated a petition to ban US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from Britain over remarks on Muslims.

"For anyone who has paid only scant attention to the Democratic nomination contest, it took only a few minutes to grasp the state of the race."

It's time for the fairness of good tax systems to help us build a better world - and the meeting in Davos offers a real opportunity to put this into action, writes Rachael Le Mesurier.

WATCH LIVE: Barack Obama will be delivering his last State of the Union speech as the country's focus shifts toward the 2016 presidential race.

COMMENT: Trade Minister Todd McClay is not an openly combative politician, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Police in Sweden have been accused of hushing up a series of sexual assaults by asylum seekers at Europe's largest teen pop festival.

The British MP intervened in a longstanding row between the Chinese owners of Wentworth golf club and its members following a row over price hikes.

Despite local rumours that he could be lining up a round of golf in Northland, the government says there are no plans for Barack Obama to pay us a visit.

For any rational military strategist, the risks of an armed response to North Korea's sanctions violations and pin-prick provocations are prohibitive, writes Benjamin Habib.

With 158 beheadings in the past 12 months, it is hard to tell whether it is Saudi Arabia that has gone mad, or the United Nations, writes Donna Miles-Mojab.

As tensions escalate between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the Saudi execution of a Shia cleric, countries such as ours will be reluctant to take sides.

The beheadings sent a clear message to militant Islamists and the Shi'a that the state would not hesitate to employ its monopoly on violence against those who challenged its authority, writes Ben Rich.

A British MP suspended from the Labour Party for sending salacious text messages to a 17-year-old girl is under fire from one ex-wife.

Islamic law forbids the enslavement of Muslims, but all that did was to encourage a roaring trade in the enslavement of non-Muslims that lasted for over a thousand years, writes Gwynne Dyer.

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump blasted the Obama administration on its relationship with Iran and its handling of the Islamic State group. He also said Hillary Clinton "created ISIS with Obama."

Four gunmen and two troops have been killed in an attack on an Indian Air Force base near the border with Pakistan.

Barack Obama is the person New Zealanders most want to visit New Zealand this year, according to a Herald-DigiPoll survey.