Senior Australian MPs from opposite sides of politics have defended Opposition Leader Tony Abbott following edited television footage of him apparently describing the death of an Australian soldier as "shit happens".

John Key says he is confident security for the Rugby World Cup will not be compromised by extending the deployment of the SAS in Afghanistan.

The Taleban is resorting to desperate measures to retain control in an Afghanistan region.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's claim that his Cabinet colleagues were fully aware of his determination to deal with Saddam Hussein has been bluntly called into question by testimony from two of his most senior officials.

The godfather of the Taleban, one of Pakistan's most prominent retired spies, has died of a heart attack in the wilds of Waziristan while held captive by Islamist militants he helped spawn.

Austria announced plans to exhume graves containing the remains of 220 suspected victims of Nazi Germany's infamous euthanasia programme yesterday.

War medal collectors are combing death notices to harass families of late veterans for their medals.

Nobody wins unless everybody wins. It's a phrase on a post it that's been stuck to my computer monitor for weeks.

Major General Lou Gardiner, the Chief of Army for three years until he retired last year after 39 years service, said he would back what the SAS troops said over anyone else.

The Defence Force insists that New Zealand SAS troops in Afghanistan involved in a fatal shootout were fired upon first.

When his father was diagnosed with terminal cancer this week, Squadron Leader Steve Hall was determined to make it home from Afghanistan.