Labour's alternative Budget manages somehow to be both cautious and audacious - and is all the better in political terms for being so, writes John Armstrong.

Iraq has bought used fighter jets from Russia and Belarus to battle Islamist militants after delays by the US to deliver planes.

The Senate that has frustrated Tony Abbott since he won power last September dissolves today.

If there is to be change in the world, then change should start at the top. And 2017 has the potential to be a historic year for women and the world, writes Rachel Smalley.

Editorial: In large measure, John Key achieved the main objective of his visit to the White House - President Obama recommitted the US to the TPP.

There are plenty of pessimists, but the gains from deep economic integration are worth pursuing, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Well, which is it? Would New Zealand support a United States intervention in Iraq, as the Prime Minister said in Washington?

Islamists leading the jihadist advance in Iraq are using the World Cup to seek recruits and spread their propaganda via social media, according to reports.

The Iraqi Army and Isis rebels are battling for control of Iraq's largest refinery outside Baiji, north of Baghdad, with each side holding part of the complex.

Election, what election? In three months the country goes to the polls. In the meantime, Prime Minister John Key and several leading MPs are out of the country.

The humanitarian situation in Syria is worsening and the number of people needing urgent help has reached 10.8 million.

Max Key, the 18-year-old student son of PM John Key, got a special mention by President Barack Obama during John Key's visit to the White House today.

Saudi Arabia has warned against Western or regional intervention in Iraq, as the country's ambassador to London joined international calls for a new government to be established in Baghdad.

With evil geniuses what you see is just the first instalment of what you're going to get.

John Key has called the intervention by Obama to allow the NZ Navy to berth at the US naval base a 'tangible sign of the warmth of the relationship.'

The United States should launch targeted military attacks against an emerging "terrorist army" in Iraq if the security of the West is jeopardised, the former head of coalition forces in the country said yesterday.

No nation is more thirsty for Canadian oil than China. But until now, the oil from Alberta has only flowed south to the United States.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is ducking earlier threats to take Australians back to the polls as Labor and the Greens dare him to call an early election.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott arrived back in Canberra yesterday from talks with world leaders in United States, Canada, France and Indonesia.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was criticised over a claim that the current generation of political leaders is to blame for the violence engulfing Iraq.

Prime Minister John Key says he would support Helen Clark making a bid for United Nations Secretary-General if she put up her hand for the job.

Liam Dann asks, "What sort of economic fallout can we expect if Baghdad falls? It is a question that has carried serious geopolitical weight for thousands of years."

After five days of siege and foreboding, the citizens of Baghdad breathed easier yesterday and old-world tea houses were once again brimming.

Australian taxpayers will prop up Nauru's ailing finances more than residents of the tiny Pacific Island nation.

A Tea Party candidate running for office in Oklahoma has appeared to endorse the practice of stoning gay people to death.

'I'm a tough old bird', British Defence Minister Anna Soubry once said. And she's backed it up - breaking up a fight between three drunk men in London.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned British Prime Minister David Cameron not to threaten her over the appointment of an arch-federalist.

Islamic militants have captured Iraq's northern capital, Mosul, in a devastating defeat for the Iraqi Government, whose forces fled the city, discarding weapons and uniforms.