Russia's defence secretary has assured his US counterpart that there are no military personnel in its controversial aid convoy for Ukraine, the US says.

When the federal senator for the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party, Ricky Muir, sounds like the voice of reason, you know you have a problem.

The authorities in Pakistan are readying themselves for what could be a huge demonstration of anti-government feeling.

Australia is considering joining the United States in a limited military operation to rescue as many as 30,000 Iraqi refugees trapped on a barren mountain in the north.

Cigarette-style warnings should be placed on wine showing its health risks and the number of calories it contains, a group of British MPs has said.

Despite all the talk of action against Vladimir Putin, Exxon Mobil, the largest US energy company is undeterred, starting work on $700m oil well in the Arctic.

According to the last national head-count, 130,000 people born in Scotland now live in Australia. I'm one of them, writes Billy Adams.

Up to 150,000 desperate refugees were still isolated on a barren stretch of mountain in Iraq, surrounded by Islamic extremists despite a major international intervention.

The 8-year-old boy's question seemed simple enough but was all the more tragically poignant for that.

Vladimir Putin has ordered bans on food imports from countries that have issued sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Google is facing criticism for continuing to allow Android mobile users to download a game called "Bomb Gaza".

An Israeli airstrike killed a militant leader in the Gaza Strip last night, as other flashpoints in the wider Middle East flared up in worrying signs of regional instability.

Memories of his service along the Gaza border two years ago have been streaming through the mind of Shai Davidovich this week.

The entrance is a deep vertical shaft, usually hidden in a house. It drops down a dozen metres or so before reaching a horizontal passage.

Hundreds of people living in the Torres Strait face the prospect of having to leave their homes in the coming decades as rising seas engulf their low-lying islands.

The Indian Government is hiring men to pose as menacing langur monkeys to scare off the hundreds of macaques terrorising MPs and staff around its buildings.

Donetsk is Tony Abbott's "Bali moment".

Russia's economy faces a financial stranglehold and President Vladimir Putin's inner circle will be hit with asset freezes and travel bans.

Even while "the monstrous anger of the guns" was hauling millions to their death, the blame game was already well under way.