Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has confirmed that legal protection has been secured for New Zealand troops to fight in Iraq against the Islamic State.

Previous experience has been positive and benefits would outweigh the costs.

China has placed on the record - ever so diplomatically - its displeasure at the latest Edward Snowden revelations, Fran O' Sullivan writes.

Modern warfare is vastly different today. Those going to Iraq will not be in the frontline - at least not yet, Fran O'Sullivan writes.

Every political party laid claim to the moral high ground in the argument over sending a team of army training personnel to Iraq, John Armstrong writes.

The decision to commit NZ military contingent to Iraq is a case of misguided foreign policy.

Edmund Burke once said political decisions often involve a choice between intolerable and disagreeable options.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully told the UN Security Council that its future credibility and effectiveness depended on its permanent members making progress on reform.

Jim McLay, New Zealand's representative at the United Nations in New York, will be replaced in May by career diplomat Gerard van Bohemen after Mr McLay's second term ends, Foreign Minister Murray McCully has announced.

There is no crime of war, nor crime against humanity that they have not committed, writes Alexander Gillespie. But what is NZ's risk in getting involved?

More than 200 boat people were missing early today after their overcrowded dinghies sank in the frigid waters of the Mediterranean.

A child soldier who became an infamous commander in Joseph Kony's militia is before the International Criminal Court.

Former National MP Michael Cox says Anzus conflict in 1984 will hurt chances of Helen Clark becoming United Nations secretary general.

Nick Sheppard writes: "Due to factors including nationality, gender and timing, Helen Clark may be the front runner" for the top United Nations post.

New Zealand has taken its seat at the heart of international decision-making for the next two years.

Yesterday we saw how progress has been made on matters where both language versions of the Treaty say the same thing. Those areas are predominantly natural resources and cultural treasures.

The possibility of former Prime Minister Helen Clark leading the United Nations is a common subject of speculation.

United Nations Ambassador Jim McLay dismisses suggestions that New Zealand will be in the pocket of the United States on the Security Council.

The war is officially over, victory secured. And Afghanistan, once again, has been rebuilt. But for many, life in the restive provinces is much as it ever was.

Assumptions that President Barack Obama was a lame duck, counting down his last quarter after Republicans seized Congress, were confounded by several White House coups.

This week, as The Interview's December 25 US release date loomed, the Guardians of Peace threatened "the world will be full of fear", hinting at a 9/11-style attack.

The UN's refugee agency has revealed "the most lethal route in the world" after a record number of deaths.

US embassies have been told to prepare for violent protests ahead of a report into the CIA's use of torture.

New Zealand's proposal to tackle climate change on an international scale is seen as "the only game in town" by the United States, Climate Change Minister Tim Groser says.

At a time when commodity producers are enduring a slump in prices for everything, Vietnam's pepper farmers are prospering.

The prison where Phillip Smith is being held was two years ago condemned by the UN as it packed in 30 inmates to a cell, was infested with roaches and was leaking.

Turkey's Foreign Minister says Ankara has no hard feelings towards New Zealand after its defeat in its bid to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Terrorism is an affront to our freedom, human dignity and right to life.