POLITICS & POLICY

Bill Gates and Bill Clinton pose for a selfie while they were having fun

New Zealand will soon welcome President Francois Hollande of France to its shores as the French leader will visit the country for the first time. It is also the first time that a France's head of state will arrive in New Zealand to further strengthen the ties between the two countries and discuss the common interests in the South Pacific.

The new island that shot up off the Arabian Sea after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Pakistan on Tuesday is not permanent and will most likely erode over time.

The Australian Defence force had released the inquiry report of the Aug 29 insider attack

Northern Territory and Tasmanian Senators have been decided by the Australian Electoral Commission

Prison rapes would hopefully be reduced significantly in New Zealand jails with a new policy by the government to give transgender convicts and accused the option to choose if they would be sent to a male of female facility.

The Al Shabaab, the militant group, linked to the Al Qaeda, involved in siege of the Westgate mall in Nairobi has warned that more attacks will follow if Kenyan troops do not pull out of Somalia immediately. The extremist group said the carnage was in retaliation for Nairobi's two-year battle against the extremists' bases in southern Somalia.

Reasserting his country’s right to peaceful nuclear enrichment, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani proposed immediate “time-bound” talks to resolve the nuclear issue. Addressing the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations on Tuesday, President Rouhani said, he had listened carefully to the statement made by President Obama [made earlier at the General Assembly].

The European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft is currently preparing to capture and further observe the 2013 Comet ISON while making its closest flyby to planet Mars on Tuesday, October 1. Space.com reports that Comet ISON will pass by the Red Planet at 6.5 million miles (10.4 million kilometers) so the spacecraft that started the observation campaign on September 21 must have a superior view.

Terming the prevention of slaughter within countries, whose institutions offer no hope to innocent men, women and children, as the new challenge the world faces today, U.S. President Barack Obama called upon nations to demonstrate the courage and determination to act decisively “when the breakdown of societies is so great [and] the violence against civilians so substantial.”

David Suzuki gave his thoughts about Tony Abbott's firing of Tim Flannery as Flannery launches new Climate Council.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Pakistan on Tuesday has given birth to a new island off the Arabian sea. On land, the major tremor has killed at least 46 people and destroyed scores of infrastructure.

Official confirmation from no less than Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott that Prince Harry of Britain is visiting Australia on Oct 3-10 has led to speculations if he would again repeat his royal faux pas in August 2012 when he had fun in Las Vegas with some women playing strip poker.

Google Inc has criticised the New Zealand government for its new spy bill's failure to address privacy concerns. The new spy bill or the GSCB Bill is a new law to improve online state surveillance. The commerce committee has sent the Telecommunications Interception Capability and Security Bill back to the Parliament.

Fairfax Financial Holdings' intent to buyout Blackberry may just be what the latter needs before it's too late, but investors and analysts remained unimpressed.

China has set to increase the prices of cleaner fuel before the year ends, making its intent clear in cleaning up its air by easing out on its coal usage.

Some 130 world leaders are set to gather at United Nations headquarters in New York for the General Assembly's annual General Debate, which kicks off Tuesday and aims to set the stage for building a new global development agenda which both protects the planet and promotes equity, justice and prosperity for all people. A news release by the UN said thus far 84 heads of State, 41 heads of Governments, 11 Deputy Prime Ministers and 65 Foreign Ministers are scheduled to address the 68th Annual Se...

At the United Nations (UN), world leaders pledged to work together on national and international policies that enhance and promote disability-inclusive development. This, as UN officials on Monday urged, a High-level meeting of the General Assembly, that the rights of persons with disabilities be directly addressed by the post-2015 development agenda.

The highest-ranking transgender in the Australian Army says that she and Prime Minister Tony Abbott are close

Three British princes are visiting Australia in 2013 and 2014. They are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th in-line heirs to the throne.

Ahead of the 68thGeneral Assembly Session as world leaders begin to converge at the New York Headquarters of the United Nations, General Assembly (UNGA) President John Ashe and Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson held wide ranging consultations with more than 1,100 civil society representatives about their priorities for global sustainable development in the years following the end of the current development cycle in 2015.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council on Sunday condemned the terrorist attack at a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, calling it “totally reprehensible”. He urged that the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible, an U.N. news release said on Sunday.

Global warming and the resulting climate change will not only alter the world's temperature and push some species to extinction, but also drive food prices to go up because of widespread hunger.

The Environmental Protection Agency urged to limit greenhouse-gas emissions from new power plants, the biggest source of carbon dioxide that linked to climate change.

China is set to purchase some three million hectares of farmland in Ukraine, according to a report by the South China Morning Post, to sustain its rising food demand.

Typhoon Usagi, dubbed as 2013's most powerful typhoon since 1984, has killed at least 25 in China. The fatality tally is still expected to rise.

All members of NBN Co tendered their resignations to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Canadian diplomat, Annemarie Desloges, 29, was killed in a mall attack in Kenya.

Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes in October 2010.