The Australian federal Government has rejected claims that it was told about multiple allegations of child sexual abuse more than a year before it commissioned an inquiry.

Fran O'Sullivan on governor Lu Hao - widely tipped to be a major player in Beijing's "next generation" leadership - who was in NZ yesterday.

Pressure is mounting for the abolition of a law allowing Queenslanders who kill homosexuals to have a murder charge reduced by arguing that their victim propositioned them.

Two Australians on death row will face a firing squad after a Jakarta court rejected their bid to appeal against the Indonesian President's clemency refusal.

The Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, has repeated his call for New Zealand to be kicked out of the Pacific region's main decision-making body.

Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan have lost their appeal in Indonesia to challenge the decision to deny them clemency.

Either a former dictator or a "weak" leader could emerge as President of Africa's most populous nation this morning.

Australians, do you abhor Sharia law, want the foreign aid budget halved and promise never to wear yellow?

The White House is investigating reports that President Barack Obama's passport details, with those of other world leaders, were leaked before last November's G20 meeting in Brisbane - and that....

Fijian nationals will be eligible to register for a residency ballot under the Pacific Access Category for the first time since the military coup in 2006.

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy bolstered his chances of a return to France's top job after his conservatives gave the Socialists one of their greatest election thrashings.

There are 15 major contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. Together, they own at least 40 guns.

Queensland's six-week-old minority government hung in the balance yesterday after Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was forced to expel one of her MPs, opening up the possibility of a byelection that could hand power to the Liberal-Nationals.

Mike Baird's comfortable victory in Saturday's New South Wales election has taken some of the heat off Prime Minister Tony Abbott, according to pundits - but has also highlighted the differences....

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for democracy in Africa yesterday as Nigerians resolutely cast their votes amid shootings by Islamist militants and technical glitches.

Big-name departures are a fact of life for US Presidents as their influence wanes in the second term, but few White House exits in recent memory have caused as much intrigue as the departure of the Obama Administration's chief florist.

Confounding many expectations, mainstream conservatives prevented the far-right National Front from breaking through in local elections seen as a test of faith in France's battered political....

A plan to save Australia's Great Barrier Reef from destruction has been announced as Prime Minister Tony Abbott sought to persuade the United Nations that the World Heritage site was not in....

Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has died at the age of 84.

Atriumphant Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be on a new collision course with Barack Obama after the US President bluntly restated his belief in a Palestinian state and criticised the Israeli leader's election campaign tactics.

Israel is facing the prospect of its first national unity government in 30 years.

With portraits of the late Menachem Begin on prominent display, the bustling Jerusalem market should have been comfortable home turf for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Government ministers, foreign press and ambassadors including New Zealand's Mark Sinclair are sitting in a glitzy conference room in downtown Tokyo, looking at stunning photographs on powerpoint of a....

The GCSB not only spies on the Solomon Islands using its Waihopai satellite interception base - it also had a secret listening post inside the country, according to documents provided by the United States National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snow