The neglected burial site of Sapper Robert Hislop, mourned a century ago as NZ's first casualty of World War I, is expected to become an official war grave.

The entrance is a deep vertical shaft, usually hidden in a house. It drops down a dozen metres or so before reaching a horizontal passage.

One hundred years ago on Tuesday, a tense crowd of 12,000 gathered at Parliament to hear confirmation of what they already knew - the young nation of New Zealand was going to war.

The family of a young soldier who was given a military farewell as New Zealand's first casualty of World War I wants his neglected burial site honoured as an official war grave.

Wearing a bright hijab, black blazer and long denim skirt, Mariam Abultewi sat in a taxi she had just ordered using Wasselni, a taxi-ordering and carpooling app she launched in Gaza four months ago.

Even while "the monstrous anger of the guns" was hauling millions to their death, the blame game was already well under way.

Israel is approaching a fateful decision on what to do when it completes the stated initial goal of its ground offensive: locating and destroying Hamas cross-border tunnels.

6: James Thomson Steven was a tall farmer from Totara Valley at Pleasant Pt in South Canterbury when war broke out.

A young soldier killed in a firefight with Hamas gunmen in the southern Gaza Strip was born in New Zealand.

A Dutch-led investigation team including 11 Australian police officers has had to abandon a plan to visit the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine due to safety concerns.

The gravestone of a young soldier mourned as New Zealand's first casualty of World War I is so weathered that details of his sacrifice have been erased by time.

In the dangerous streets around the hospital in Beit Hanoun, the buildings were, by and large, still standing at the start of the weekend. Then, they were gone.

Isis has used military equipment seized from Iraq in its biggest challenge yet to Assad regime forces.

The United States says it has evidence that Russia is planning to deliver "heavier and more powerful" rocket launchers to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

At least 15 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli tanks shelled a UN-run school in Gaza.

In the agonising quest to pin down exactly what happened when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 went down over Ukraine last week, Web archivists and other digital sleuths are playing an unusual — potentially pivotal — role.

Ukraine’s security services has released photographs and videos it says show Russian-made BUK-M1 surface-to-air missile systems inside the rebel-held area.

On Sunday I stumbled on War News, the local attempt to retell the World War I story through the eyes of a radio journalist broadcasting live from the front.

Fast Facts is a series of digital resources for students and teachers. This episode focuses on New Zealand's involvement in the First World War. Courtesy Auckland Museum

Fast Facts is a series of digital resources for students and teachers. This episode takes a look at what life was like in the trenches for soldiers of the First World War. Courtesy Auckland Museum

The largest flight of Christians in the Middle East since the massacre of Armenians in Turkey during World War I continues as Isis stick to its hardline policies.

The seven children of Kibbutz Alumim, located just 3.3km from Israel's border with Gaza, have a new game.

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza rose to 508 last night after 20 bodies were reportedly found in a home blasted in an Israeli airstrike in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Australia continued to spearhead international demands yesterday for Russian-backed rebels to allow unrestricted access to the MH17 crash site.

John Key says he is "deeply concerned" by the lack of access to the MH17 crash site and has called on Vladimir Putin to show leadership on the issue.