Sol Te Whata, 95 today, reckons his uncle's blessing before he left for World War II was one of the things that brought him home safely.

The killing of a senior Taleban warlord, blamed for the deaths of four New Zealand soldiers, has been met with shock and sadness by one grieving mother.

Prime Minister John Key reacts to the news that a senior Taliban leader thought to be behind a roadside bombing in which three New Zealand soldiers died has reportedly been killed by coalition forces.

Israel needs to "flatten all of Gaza" in order to spare the lives of Israeli soldiers and civilians, according to a son of former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon.

A New Zealand documentary maker has escaped the Gaza Strip in a taxi as Israeli air strikes began while he was filming.

A group of Latin American leaders yesterday declared that votes by two American states to legalise cannabis have important implications for efforts to quash drug smuggling.

The Australian Army is about to find out that deciding to pull out of Afghanistan is one thing. Getting home is something else again.

When Australia's latest Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Daniel Keighran first told his wife Katherine why he was receiving it, she wasn't impressed.

Veterans returning to battlegrounds in Egypt for a 70th anniversary next week have been promised business-class quality flights and silver service.