Latest fromInternational Politics

UN: Syria 'humanitarian calamity'
Syria's civil war has driven almost a third of the country's population from their homes, causing the humanitarian calamity of the century, says the United Nations.

Kerry and Hagel's big test
Amid signs in Washington of deep anxiety about unintended consequences and unforeseeable outcomes.

Aussie heritage out of fashion
Shame' over colonial history is seeing valuable threads of the nation's story left to crumble into ruin.

President in bind as he builds case
Why did US President Barack Obama delay planned air strikes on Syria after the chemical attack last month?

Obama tries persuading the sceptical on Syria
President Barack Obama, working to persuade sceptical lawmakers to endorse a US military intervention in civil war-wracked Syria, hosted two leading Capitol Hill foreign policy hawks for talks.

Rudd: Abbott not qualified
The Syrian crisis and Opposition leader Tony Abbott's competence to deal with international affairs have become a central issue in the fight for power in Australia.

Heat on Cameron to revisit 'no' vote
British defence figures admit evidence of Syrian gas attack growing stronger as US repositions military assets in Middle East.

Mandela in care at his home
Nelson Mandela has spent his first night back home after being discharged from hospital, with his home turned into a private intensive care ward.

Alexander Gillespie: Punishments risk eclipsing crime
Western powers' best option for responding to regime's gas attacks in Syria is to arm selective rebels, writes Alexander Gillespie.

Britain in strife over chemicals for Syria
The British Government was accused of "breathtaking laxity" in its arms controls after it emerged that officials authorised the export of two chemicals to Syria.

Editorial: Obama move sets Congress a test on Syrian action
Editorial: Barack Obama said Syria's use of chemical weapons would be a "red line", yet flicking the issue of a US response back to Congress looks a lot like passing the buck.

Veteran broadcaster David Frost dies
Broadcaster David Frost, best known for his interview with ex-US President Richard Nixon, died of a heart attack aboard the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship.

Mood for change in the suburbs
Don Payne, a retired aircraft engineer, had one thing to say to David Bradbury, Labor MP for the ultra-marginal seat of Lindsay.

Rudd battles for Holy Grail against odds
Slashed from all sides by polls predicting his doom, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was channelling Monty Python's Black Knight yesterday.

Key: NZ will accept immunity clause for Fiji coup leaders
Prime Minister John Key says a proposal to give Fijian coup leaders immunity for crimes and human rights abuses is not a "deal breaker" for New Zealand.

Obama wants congress OK on Syria
US President Barack Obama has lifted the threat of immediate punitive air strikes on Syria, announcing he will seek congressional approval for any military action.

Stumbling into the war the West doesn't want
The American and British governments should have seen this coming.