World News
PNG tension rises as judge arrested
4:59pm A second judge of Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court has been arrested on charges of sedition as police call for an end to political tensions.
The shabbiha - the 'ghost militia' accused of doing Assad's dirty work
Glenda Kwek 2:09pm They are the "ghost militia", accused of slaughtering more than 100 people, including at least 49 children, in an attack on a Syrian town on Saturday.
The murdered Russian businessman, the princess and the prince
Harriet Alexander and Svetlana Skarbo in Moscow 11:35am In London this week, a princess was attending the Chelsea Flower Show, seemingly without a care in the world. In Moscow, a family was grieving for their son - a successful businessman, shot dead in a lethal hit.
Houla massacre: 108 dead, says UN
8:39am The UN Security Council has condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the Syrian government for the Houla massacre, in which at least 108 people were killed.
Radioactive waste at Fukushima threatens second nuclear catastrophe
Hiroko Tabuchi, Matthew Wald What passes for normal at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant today would have caused shudders among even the most sanguine of experts before an earthquake and tsunami set off the world's second most serious nuclear crisis after Chernobyl.
Doubts over confession
New York Man authorities say confessed to killing 6-year-old has been on anti-psychotic medication.
Egypt's economy the loser after first round of elections
Ruth Pollard, Cairo For the Egyptians who fought so hard to unseat the regime that dominated their lives for 30 years, the results of the first round of the country's first free presidential election are unthinkable.
Lady Gaga cancels Jakarta concert
Michael Bachelard Religious fundamentalists threatening chaos force pop diva to pull out.
Star in the can, so Cannes just not on
Nick Squires, Rome Strong contender for best actor award at film festival currently serving life sentence.
ANALYSIS
US bid to remove Assad ignores brutal reality
Paul McGeough The international community will not take control of events in Syria.
Global outrage over Syrian child massacre
Paul McGeough AS A WAVE of revulsion sweeps the world after a regime massacre in Syria - 32 children, some with what appear to be bullet holes in their temples, are among more than 90 dead - Washington is manoeuvring to win Moscow's support for a plan to dislodge the embattled Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad.
Senator asks airlines to drop seat fee for kids
12:04am Senator Charles Schumer is urging airlines to allow families with young children to sit together without paying extra.
Leveson Inquiry heat turns onto Brit MP
Beleaguered British Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt will appear before the Leveson inquiry this week in one of its most high profile hearings so far.
Clinton condemns massacre in Syrian villiage
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday condemned the "atrocity" of the deaths of 92 people in the Syrian town of Houla, joining global calls for world action to end the bloodshed.
Horror comes to Houla: dozens of children dead as Syrian forces lay siege on neighbourhood
Calls for Western military action against Syria intensified last night after grisly footage of the bodies of dozens of children killed in fresh violence laid bare the failure of the United Nations-brokered peace plan.
State of the union
Nick Miller Barack Obama's presidency has been defined in large part by his marriage to his No. 1 confidante, Michelle.
A European union that proved successful
THE Eurovision Song Contest is a bizarre event that provides high camp entertainment for close to half a billion viewers in 42 countries. It has never really been a music contest, and to its fans this is the appeal. Every vote from every country is dripping in politics, and through these votes you see scores being settled, pot shots being fired and even hatchets being buried. Eurovision is a wonderful annual clash of polities, cultures and ethnicities that not only reflects European politics but even anticipates future trends. One night of Eurovision says more about European politics than a year of debates in the Strasbourg parliament.
Fight goes on, without athletes
The rebel runner John Carlos doesn't expect to see anything like his Black Power salute at the London Olympic Games, writes Gary Younge.
Hand-wringers cutting off nose to spite Facebook
Farhad Manjoo Smart people have been predicting the social-networking boom will ruin the culture of Silicon Valley.
Monument to optimism has its dark side
Neil Tweedie THE Golden Gate Bridge is 75 years old today, a masterpiece of construction marrying strength and grace. There are longer suspension bridges but none more recognisable than America's art deco gateway to the Pacific. Opened on May 27, 1937, it took 4½ years to build, a vote of confidence in the future cast in the depths of the Great Depression. Spanning the Golden Gate Strait, the entrance to San Francisco Bay, the bridge draws the eye, its two great towers, painted orange-vermilion, glowing in the sunset of a clear day or looming majestically out of the fog.
Slick invention's got a lot of bottle
THE research institution that brought you the fax machine and GPS has come up with another potentially world-changing invention: a bottle coating so slick that every last bit of tomato sauce slides out quickly and easily.
The good wife
Nick Miller Feisty, fearless and brilliant, Michelle Obama is Barack's number one weapon in his bid for re-election.
'Worst of outcomes' in Egyptian poll
Richard Spencer Egypt faces a presidential runoff vote between the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood and a former leader of the old regime.
For Obama, dope came before hope
Jon Swaine, Washington He is not the first US president to confess to experimenting with drugs in younger days before the demands of Washington took over.
The butler did it? Fresh twist in Vatican whodunit
Rachel Donadio 'VatiLeaks' burst into the open on Friday with the arrest by Vatican police of a man identified in news reports as Paolo Gabriele, the Pope's butler.
Assad's troops kill scores
Bashar al-Assad's forces have killed at least 90 civilians including 25 children, activists say, in one of the highest death tolls in one area since a ceasefire went into effect last month.
France heading for Afghan exit
Emma Graham-Harrison, Kabul French President Francois Hollande has paid a surprise visit to his country's troops in Afghanistan and told them: 'You'll be home by Christmas.'
Independent analysis of Oruzgan mission axed
Tom Hyland Australian government axes a $US3.6 million contract with international consultants hired to provide expert analysis.
A vision of hell, or just a few sour notes?
John Elder Is the Eurovision Song Contest a glitzy distraction from Azerbaijan's human rights scandals - or is it the repressive regime's latest atrocity?
Obama's pot-smoking days in the Choom Gang
A new biography of Barack 'Barry' Obama has revealed the US president's fondness for marijuana as a student, detailing his membership in an informal pot-smoking group in Hawaii called the Choom Gang.
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