The body of a Lt Tim O'Donnell and two of his injured comrades will fly back to NZ later today, the Defence Force says.

The body of slain NZ soldier Lieutenant Timothy O'Donnell and his two wounded colleagues may be home as early as Saturday evening.

Sir Geoffrey Palmer says heading an inquiry into a fatal Israeli raid on an aid flotilla will probably be the hardest job he has done.

Kerri Jackson ponders whether Dubai is the perfect long-haul stopover.

You can't run and nor can you hide in a Syrian bath house, explains JJ Somerset.

A Palestinian man who masqueraded as a Jew to have sex with a Jewish woman has been convicted of rape "by deception" and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Syria has forbidden the country's students and teachers from wearing the niqab - the full Islamic veil.

Fifteen lucky poker players are headed from Auckland to Queenstown this week for a chance to strike it rich.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is battling to control his coalition as he heads for a showdown with his hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.

Jill Worrall avoids the tourist throng by following an ancient Nabatean path to the Monastery at Petra.

Kiwi volunteers hoping to take part in a Gaza aid convoy have been told by organisers they could be putting their lives in danger.

Prime Minister John Key will kick off a parade to honour the All Whites in Wellington next Wednesday.

Claims that more than one hundred Iraqi civilians were tortured and abused by British soldiers must be fully investigated, Britain's High Court was told yesterday.

General David Petraeus has formally assumed command of the 130,000-strong international force in Afghanistan.

Will it be useful to add to my CV, I wonder, the title of honorary Bedouin camel trekking manager?