Even by the outrageous standards of North Korean propaganda chiefs, it was an unusually vulgar slur, a dramatic escalation in the two-week-long war of words between Pyongyang and Washington.

Assumptions that President Barack Obama was a lame duck, counting down his last quarter after Republicans seized Congress, were confounded by several White House coups.

North Korea experienced one of its worst internet outages for several hours, days after United States President Barack Obama vowed a "proportional" response.

Australian PM Tony Abbott has been mocked online for saying women are "particularly focused on the household budget".

North Korea is suffering internet outages just days after Barack Obama's warning over the Sony hacking.

Last month's devastating cyber-attack on Sony Pictures was not an "act of war", but simple vandalism, President Barack Obama has said.

Liam Dann writes: 2014 doesn't look like letting go early. In fact, like a good TV drama, it looks set to end on a cliff-hanger.

US President Barack Obama has become embroiled in a dispute with the makers of the comedy The Interview over how much the White House knew about North Korea's threats against the film.

Muscovites rushed to the shops yesterday as the ruble's slide brought fears that imported goods would soon soar in price.

It may seem hard to believe, after so many decades of rancour, that Fidel Castro first came to power with the aid of the US Government.

The raw figures look bad, and they are deteriorating.

Russia's ruble was tanking on Tuesday faster than journalists could type, hitting levels against the dollar that were unimaginable even a week ago.

British PM David Cameron is under mounting cross-party pressure to approve an investigation into whether Britain was involved in the CIA's torture of suspects.

Father-of-four Craig Stoker had just bought a coffee at the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney's Martin Place when he walked out and bumped into a "crazy-eyed" man.

Could it happen here? That is a question to haunt this country whatever the outcome of the hostage crisis in Sydney.

Here's what we know now about the situation in Sydney where a gunman has seized hostages.

Read how the Sydney siege unfolded during the day.

In his first speech as the leader of China, President Xi Jinping identified corruption as a major priority.

Princess Srirasm Suwadi of Thailand has lost her royal title after a series of moves that have left the country's citizens wondering what is happening in their royal household.

The collapsing oil price that is reshaping the global economy could derail the green energy revolution by making renewable power sources prohibitively bad value.

It's more important to get constitutional recognition for Aborigines right than to rush it through, Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday.

A former Guantanamo Bay detainee posed no threat during an awards ceremony confrontation, his target says.

"I was tortured for 5-and-a-half years!" Ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks heckled Australia's Attorney-General at an awards ceremony last night.

Grace Mugabe, Zimbabwe's first lady, clinched a surprising political ascent yesterday with the announcement that she has been appointed head of the ruling party's powerful women's wing, increasing....

Australia's PM Tony Abbott says boys should be boys and girls should be girls, in response to a campaign urging parents not to buy gender-specific toys this Christmas.