The PM has accused Glenn Greenwald of acting against NZ's interest after the US journalist said he'd release details of NZ's spying activities on its allies ahead of UN vote.

International child mortality rates have dropped by half since 1990 but will still fall short of 2015 targets, new data released yesterday by the United Nations shows.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has touched down for a two-day visit, but won't be drawn on NZ's chances of securing a seat on the Security Council.

The UN's new leader on Ebola says the fight against the epidemic is a "war" which could take another six months.

Prime Minister John Key is rejecting claims the Government is too soft on Israel and should expel the Israeli Ambassador.

With the UN warning sugar could be ‘the new tobacco’ because of its risks to health through obesity, you might think a diet that cuts it out would get the thumbs up from experts.

Until last week, the Rohme family lived in a house on the eastern fringe of Gaza City near an open field.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says New Zealand has used a special sitting of the UN Security Council to call for a full investigation into the crash of flight MH17.

Social media has become one of the weapons of war. The Israeli army, which has been on Twitter since 2009, now has 286,000 followers.

Washington has warned Israel against any ground invasion of Gaza, as the UN says more than 40 of the 176 dead were children.

Actress Angelina Jolie will visit the asylum seeker detention centre on Nauru in a move likely to put further international pressure on the Australian Government's harsh policies.

The legal escape route for Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail has not been updated for more than 50 years.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of the Islamic State stretching across Iraq and Syria, has promised to lead the conquest of Rome.

This winter was not a good one for farmers in the Fertile Crescent.

"Which NZ will be turning up in New York should our UN bid be successful?" asks Dita De Boni. "Not just NZers, but citizens of other countries too, have a right to know."

Well, which is it? Would New Zealand support a United States intervention in Iraq, as the Prime Minister said in Washington?

A major new report has revealed that the numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people worldwide has soared to 50 million for the first time since World War II.

India will offload about a quarter of its rice stockpiles and ease restrictions on selling fruit and veggies as a weak monsoon threatens crop output.

The United Nations hasn't seen so much fun in ages.

Ex-Prime Minister Helen Clark says going for a seat on the UN Security Council is part of the responsibility of membership of the UN for countries like NZ.

Prime Minister John Key says he would support Helen Clark making a bid for United Nations Secretary-General if she put up her hand for the job.

Let's call them what they are: junkets, writes Toby Manhire. They might be effective, they might bring in crucial votes, but the whole approach leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth.

Eleven UN ambassadors are being schmoozed in Queenstown in an attempt to win support for a New Zealand seat on the UN Security Council.

Two teenage cousins found hanging from a mango tree may in fact have been murdered in an honour killing by members of their own family.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is the 23rd most powerful woman in the world in Forbes magazine's annual list published overnight.