Gold futures posted the biggest gain in four weeks after Ukraine said rebels shot down a Malaysian jet carrying 295 people near its border with Russia. Palladium extended a rally to a 13-year high.

The Kremlin said Mr Putin had informed President Obama of the disaster after learning of it just before a scheduled phone call between the two.

World Cup tourists have given a big thumbs up to the just-ended event in Brazil, according to a new study.

To Russia, with love. But the renewal of the people's vows with the World Cup will be severely tested by its money-driven forays into the uncharted territories of Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022). Was Brazil the last great folk festival?

Iraq has bought used fighter jets from Russia and Belarus to battle Islamist militants after delays by the US to deliver planes.

The last home to Russia's doomed royal family, and the haunt of 'mad mystic' Rasputin, the Alexander Palace has been trashed over the past century. Now an Aucklander is part of an international group helping to restore it as a world-heritage museum.

Nicolas Sarkozy thought it was a neat idea: sell Russia two advanced warships and open up a lucrative market for France's troubled armaments industry.

A man named last week as the biggest new threat to America's banking system has never needed a gun to steal more than US$100 million.

Prince Charles is facing calls to ‘abdicate’ from a British Labour MP after he reportedly compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler in relation to his actions in Ukraine.

Prince Charles has compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler over Russia's actions in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin made a triumphant visit to Crimea yesterday, as one of the bloodiest days of the conflict in eastern Ukraine pushed the country further toward civil war.

They left in groups of threes and fours, soaked in the pouring rain and punching the air victoriously.

Strong local support for the rebel movement has proved a major barrier to Kiev in responding to the situation and the spate of violence.

Ukraine's Government said yesterday that the country was now at war with pro-Russia insurgents.

I'm no apologist for Russia but it's long overdue for a more balanced perspective on events and an end to the constant unfair abuse, writes Bob Jones.

Heavily armed pro-Russian gunmen last night seized another town in east Ukraine, storming the town hall in Kostyantynivka and setting up barricades.

A pregnant journalist is recovering in hospital today after a pro-Kremlin political leader in Russia told two male aides to 'violently rape' her at a press conference.

Defeating grim expectations of a failure, talks on the Ukrainian crisis have led to a deal aimed at hauling the region back from the brink.

Jews have reportedly been told to "register" with pro-Russian forces in the east Ukrainian city of Donetsk, in a move condemned by the US as "grotesque and beyond unacceptable".

Ukraine's armed forces and government suffered a public humiliation yesterday after pro-Russian separatists seized six of their armoured personnel vehicles and paraded them through the streets.

A prolonged and increasingly vicious confrontation in eastern Ukraine turned into armed conflict yesterday.

Are some of the 'patriotic' gunmen seizing police stations and buildings in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine actually Russian troops?

An Auckland man who went to the other end of the earth to find his biological parents in Russia has chanced upon another person from the same orphanage living in New Zealand.

Poland has asked Nato to station 10,000 troops on its territory as a visible demonstration of the alliance's resolve to defend all its members after Russia's seizure of Crimea.