The Palestinian death toll in Gaza rose to 508 last night after 20 bodies were reportedly found in a home blasted in an Israeli airstrike in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Disbelief at the killing of 298 civilians as they travelled peacefully through the skies above Ukraine is prompting many people to react with anger.

Four days after Malaysia Airlines' Flight 17 was shot down, the families of the 298 people on board can only wonder what is happening to the remains of their loved ones.

What does the tragedy of MH17 mean for the conflict in eastern Ukraine and for Russia's relations with Europe and the US?

Malaysia Airlines have released the names of the 283 passengers and 15 crew on flight MH17.

Australian experts will join a team of international investigators who will travel to the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed 10 people, medics say, on day 12 of a major operation against the Palestinian territory.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says New Zealand has used a special sitting of the UN Security Council to call for a full investigation into the crash of flight MH17.

Russia may be forced to take direct or indirect responsibility for loss of all aboard the Malaysian flight

The losing World Cup teams and fans are licking their wounds while Germany will celebrate for at least four years.

Angela Merkel does not want to complete her full term as German Chancellor and plans to resign before elections in 2017, according to reports.

It is not every day that a government rejects a foreign aid scheme just as it is about to begin.

Actress Angelina Jolie will visit the asylum seeker detention centre on Nauru in a move likely to put further international pressure on the Australian Government's harsh policies.

When the gang came for him, Ceferino decided he had three choices: join them, refuse to join and risk being killed, or flee the country.

It is difficult to know what will become of the newly declared Islamic State carved out of large conquered areas of Syria and Iraq.

Six heritage-listed Government-owned houses on Sydney's harbourside will soon be up for grabs as the state pushes on with its public housing sell-off.

Kurdish leaders accuse Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of being hysterical and unbalanced, while he says the Kurdish capital, Erbil, is a centre for the Islamic State (Isis) and adherents of Saddam Hussein.

Police say they sought to remove the bail conditions for the Malaysian diplomat at the centre of a sex case — including an order to surrender his passport — because the conditions were not enforceable under diplomatic immunity.

Hone Harawira says he made a "big mistake" for earlier dismissing the sex assault case involving a Malaysian diplomat as a "big fuss about bugger all".

The woman at the centre of a diplomatic incident and the victim of an alleged attack says Foreign Minister Murray McCully should resign.

A New York newspaper has apologised after it referred to US President Barack Obama as a “n*****” in one of its headlines.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott faces two major challenges this week - the first, a wilful and unpredictable new Senate, the second, a delicate diplomatic balancing act.

It may have been a little early for wine, but Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, was on a tight schedule in Auckland so lunch at Villa Maria winery started about 11.45am.

Warfare is set to get more advanced with 3D-printed drones, self-healing aircraft and a "Transformer" aircraft that can split apart.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unabashed by criticism of Japan's role in the Trans Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.

Malaysian officials are silent over when diplomat Warrant Officer 2 Muhammad Rizalman Ismail will be returned to NZ to face burglary and sexual assault charges.

A German intelligence "double agent" who allegedly sold hundreds of top secret documents to the Americans was caught by his own country's counter-espionage agents.

A paedophile scandal engulfing Westminster deepened after the British Home Office confessed to losing or destroying 114 "potentially relevant" files.