Botched execution raises death penalty dilemma
NICK O'MALLEY Reporter Alan Johnson has witnessed 19 executions, but the killing of the murderer and rapist Dennis McGuire in Ohio last Thursday, he says, was different.
Top world stories
Image of alleged grenade-thrower emerges
LINDSAY MURDOCH 5:31am Police say closed circuit television has captured the moment an attacker threw a grenade into a crowd of anti-government protesters in central Bangkok, injuring 28 people, seven of them seriously.
UN chief invites Iran to Geneva talks
1:38pm Syria's political opposition said on Monday it will withdraw from international peace talks scheduled this week unless United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon retracts an invitation to Iran, President Bashar al-Assad's main backer.
Tharoor's death will haunt me: journalist
11:04am The Pakistani journalist accused of an affair with an Indian minister has said she is ‘‘shattered’’ by the death of the politician’s wife
South Sudan state capital in ruins
11:45am The capital of South Sudan's biggest state lay in ruins on Sunday after suffering the heaviest fighting of the civil war and changing hands four times in as many weeks.
Homophobic? Not me, says Putin...
11:01am Vladimir Putin insisted on Sunday that he is "on friendly terms" with gay acquaintances and that millions of Russians love pop icon Elton John "despite his orientation", as he sought to defuse calls from gay rights activists to boycott the Winter Olympics.
Nun's surprise baby 'a gift from God'
11:30am A nun from El Salvador who gave birth to a baby boy in Italy has described him as "a gift of god" and pledged to take care of him as she faces expulsion from the convent.
US probes if Russia behind Snowden leaks
Two children killed in 'exorcism' in US
Royal Palace staff merges amid expectations of change
UK politician claimed floods linked to gay marriage
Iraqi army launches operation in Ramadi
Netherlands reduces gas output after tremors increase
Boy, 7, suffocates after beach sand hole collapses
Obama: Some dislike me because I'm black
Russia not sharing info on Sochi safety
Gay Russian protester held at Olympic relay
Fresh charges against Egypt's Mohamed Mursi
Fresh scandal for New Jersey Governor
Crisis - and sexist attacks - continue
Syrian opposition votes to join peace talks
South Sudan ready to sign ceasefire
BBC staff turned 'blind eye' to Savile victims
Deadly ambush hints at change for foreigners
Death of Tharoor's wife 'unnatural': doctors
Hollande's partner leaves hospital
Piranha-like fish attack 10 in Argentine river
Putin tells gays to 'leave children alone'
Latest world news
Palestine Liberation Organisation calls on Julie Bishop to clarify government's position on Israeli settlements
JUDITH IRELAND 2:48pm The Palestine Liberation Organisation has condemned Julie Bishop's recent comments that question the illegality of Israeli settlements and called on the Australian government to clarify its position on the settlements.
After love unravels in public, Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Indian politician Shashi Tharoor, is found dead
Betwa Sharma 11:10am He was a smooth-talking politician from South India with an international reputation from his time at the United Nations. She was a beautiful Kashmiri from the north when they met in 2009 in middle age and began a relationship partly played out in the media, and social media, glare.
China begins building second aircraft carrier: reports
Tom Phillips 11:54am China has started building its second aircraft carrier as part of a push to cement its position as the world's second biggest navy, according to reports in both China and Hong Kong.
Feeding the world's population getting tougher as climate changes, other threats mount
7:52am Efforts to rid the world of hunger face 'immense challenges' as farmers deal with resource scarcity, climate change and loss of soil fertility, agriculture ministers from 65 countries said.
Ukraine rally turns violent
Richard Balmforth and Natalia Zinets 2:04pm Protesters clashed with riot police in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday after tough anti-protest legislation, which the political opposition says paves the way for a police state, was rushed through parliament last week.
Second blast injures 28 in Bangkok protest
LINDSAY MURDOCH Twenty-eight people were wounded, seven of them seriously, in a blast at an anti-government protest on Sunday afternoon, the second daylight attack using explosives in 48 hours in the Thai capital.
Indonesia to free drug convict Frenchman
Indonesian authorities have approved the parole of a Frenchman jailed 14 years ago for drug smuggling and he could be released in days, an official says.
Rodman 'checks into US alcohol rehab'
Former basketball star Dennis Rodman, facing a backlash for a series of visits to North Korea, has checked himself into an alcohol-rehab facility, US media report.
Sand hole suffocates boy at beach
CAROLINE ZIELINSKI A seven-year-old boy has been suffocated after a hole he was digging at a beach in New Zealand's north collapsed on top of him.
Madonna apologises for racial slur
Madonna is apologising for using a racial slur to refer to her white son on Instagram.
