Coal-fired power stations in Australia emit around 200 million tonnes of CO2a year. This does not include emissions from our coal exports.

New Zealand is unlikely to compromise on its protection plan for the Antarctic's Ross Sea at key talks this year.

Across Australia, the young and talented children of expatriate Kiwis find their careers stunted when they leave school, cut off from higher education and government apprenticeships by costs and policies.

Until last weekend, most Australians knew little about Peta Credlin, Tony Abbott's 1.8m (6ft) tall, fiercely loyal and formidably bright chief of staff.

President Barack Obama's ready resort to "fiscal cliff interruptus" does not address the US' entrenched economic problems. It is simply a stop-gap measure that does not face up to America's basic problem of spending far more than it earns.

As Presidents cannot seek more than two terms, the political focus will inevitably be beyond them. This overall domestic policy context means Obama, like other 2nd-term Presidents in the post-war era, is likely to turn his focus towards foreign policy.

Cabinet documents released today reveal the diplomatic, political and military agonies Australia tried to balance because of New Zealand's non-nuclear policy.

President Barack Obama's victory in November was the climax to an abrasive election season in which both sides raised about US$2 billion ($2.4 billion), a US record. Much was spent on negative TV advertising and get-out-the-vote strategies.

On Saturdays, Hobart's Salamanca Place hosts a market visited by thousands of locals and tourists.

The Queen looked past scandal that has at times this year shaken the royal family to send out a global thanks to those who helped celebrate her Diamond Jubilee.

Three weeks before the ceremony and the [Olympic Stadium] was packed with thousands of people all doing things impressively.

And so this is Christmas, and what have you done, New Zealand business?

Egypt's Islamist-backed constitution received a "yes" majority in a final round of voting on a referendum that saw a low voter turnout.

France is discovering that, when it comes to wealthy taxpayers, you win some - and you lose some.

Economists and psychologists have long been engaged in understanding behaviour when compromise and self-interest collide, writes Ananish Chauduri.

Fijians has began cleaning up after the effects of Cyclone Evan, which left a swathe of destruction after battering the Pacific nation for more than 12 hours.

When plans to slash $25 million from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's budget emerged early last year, Joanna Woods' book Diplomatic Ladies suddenly became a lot more topical.

Amid fears that the Newtown shootings will do nothing to shake the United States into tightening gun laws, there was a glimmer of hope.

The United States not only approves of New Zealand's close relationship with China, it is counting on it, says Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who was in Wellington at the weekend for strategic talks.