Australia's political transformers are striding the campaign trail.

Security experts are questioning whether New Zealand's spy agency is processing data from an American mass surveillance programme.

'It's about who is more fair dinkum.' Opposition leader Tony Abbott says he's ready for Australia to decide on September 7, election day.

Like a conscientious schoolboy, Kevin Rudd has spent the past month working through a list of Things To Do Before Calling An Election, writes Kathy Marks.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has thrown doubt on the likelihood of a September 7 election, saying he has made "no determination whatsoever" about the date and that he intends to attend a G20 meeting just days before.

Now that Silvio Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence have been upheld by Italy's highest court, key questions remain about what will happen next to the former Italian premier. Here are some answers.

Labor has locked in its last major policy priority before the coming election, clearing the decks for a poll that could be held as early as the first week of September.

Two spectres haunt Tony Abbott, the man who may yet cement the first two decades of the century as a Liberal golden age.

Counting is under way in Zimbabwe's tightly fought election, amid high turnout and accusations of rigging by President Robert Mugabe's allies who wish to extend his 33-year rule.

Israel's Cabinet endorsed the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners, paving the way for the resumption of peace negotiations in Washington DC as early as tomorrow.

We're all grateful to nurses, doctors and surgeons when we need them and survive their attempts to kill us, writes Bob Jones.

Japan's association with TPP marks a remarkable sea-change in Japanese policy and is full of consequence for New Zealand.

This week Anthony Weiner, a candidate for mayor of New York and former Democratic Congressman, publicly admitted he's been sending lewd messages to strange women online.

In Australia the issue has become what humanitarian issues should never be - a political football kicked around by politicians desperate to win an election, writes Grant Bayldon.

It is 8.30am in the favela in Rio de Janeiro that will receive Pope Francis on Friday, and men carrying weapons walk along what will be the Pontiff's path.

Jeered by protesters, human rights activists, jurists, Australia's Prime Minister yesterday refused to budge on his new PNG refugee policy.

Israel has said it will release "heavyweight" Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement to enter preliminary talks in Washington.