Israel commentators have warned of a devastating Israeli blow should Syria implement threats being voiced in Damascus to retaliate against Israel.

Saudi Arabia secretly offered Russia a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia's gas contracts.

Over the past few days, American officials have spent a lot of time studying the 1999 Kosovo conflict, with it's parallels to the Syrian conflict readily apparent.

If chemical weapons are being used in Syria with the intention of killing civilians then we have just reached a new level of barbarism for humanity, writes Alexander Gillespie.

United States President Barack Obama has the authority to launch air strikes against Syria.

Prime Minister John Key says he is horrified by footage of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, and intervention by the US may be inevitable.

The US says chemical weapons had been used in an 'obscene' attack in Syria, and it has additional information about the attack it will make public.

A recent report by World Vision found there are increasing security concerns and resentment between refugees and local communities, writes Alison Maccoll.

A human "river" of tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds has begun flowing into neighbouring Iraq to escape jihadist violence, United Nations officials warned yesterday.

Riot police backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers and helicopters Wednesday swept away two encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, setting off running street battles in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. At least 192 people were killed nationwide, many of them in the crackdown on the protest sites.

Israel's Cabinet endorsed the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners, paving the way for the resumption of peace negotiations in Washington DC as early as tomorrow.

A far cry from the stinking ruins of the war-ravaged city New Zealand's war veterans saw here 60 years ago, Seoul is now an attractive destination.

The mystery of a Kiwi officer photographed with a woman in the Somme region during World War I may have been solved.

Karakia and waiata mixed with strains of bagpipes and brass as Korean War veterans from New Zealand and 10 other countries reunited to pay their respects yesterday.

New Zealand Korean War veterans were serenaded with Po Kare Ana sung by a children's choir during South Korea's official commemoration of the 1953 armistice in Seoul this morning.

In the 4km wide demilitarised zone which separates North and South Korea, absurdities abound that would be laughable if not for the fact they reflect the deadly reality of war that is on hold rather than over.

The Korean War and the mates lost to it remain painful memories for many of the New Zealand veterans who yesterday visited the demilitarised zone which still separates North and South Korea 60 years later.

After 70 years of wondering what he had done wrong to lose his wartime sweetheart, a British man will finally marry his love this weekend.

War in all its terror is becoming ever more visible. Helmet cameras and the like enable commanders to watch the fighting from the other side of the world and inevitably, the footage finds its way into the public eye.

MPs will return to the House today with three new reminders of New Zealand's losses and service in wars overseas.

Syrian state media had announced that "Operation Northern Storm" would retake Aleppo "within days" after regime forces captured Qusair at the beginning of June.

Seven al-Qaeda-linked militants on a suicide mission attacked the UN compound with a truck bomb and then poured inside, killing at least 13 people before dying in the assault.

More than half a million people fled Syria's civil war last year, and the UN says that number could double by the end of 2013.

Opposition fighters in Syria are preparing for a major onslaught by government forces in their northern strongholds around Aleppo.

Two years ago, at the beginning of the violence in Syria, I was asked to write a blog in the British Medical Journal on behalf of Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Israel is worried about continued arms supplies to the Syrian regime from Russia.

Photographs of the bloodied face of a 14-year-old boy executed in front of his parents by jihadists in northern Syria show the extreme justice meted out in rebel-held areas.