Ukraine shows neither Obama nor Putin in control
PAUL MCGEOUGH During a crisis such as the national fracturing in Ukraine, headstrong rebels running amok on the ground can stop the world on its axis by taking a potshot at a passing aircraft.
Top world stories
Israel launches ground offensive in Gaza Strip
William Booth 1:07am Israeli forces backed by artillery and airstrikes launched an incursion into the Gaza Strip, marking a dramatic escalation of the 10-day-old conflict with Hamas.
Social media scrutiny aids Indonesia election
MICHAEL BACHELARD Indonesia's tense election count is being done without international monitoring, but the country’s young people have come up with a solution for the social media age — they’re crowdsourcing it.
Bono-led relief no cure for Ghana, Zambia
Pauline Bax and Matthew Hill Less than a decade after a global campaign to clear the countries of debt, the two nations are struggling to finance their budgets.
Taliban ambush Afghan presidential team
3:52pm Dozens of armed insurgents have attacked a convoy carrying a presidential security team in Afghanistan, sparking a gun battle in which four guards were wounded, an official said.
Putin denies plans to reopen Cuban spy base
Juan Tamayo 1:07am Russian President Vladimir Putin is denying reports that his government had reached an agreement to reopen the Lourdes electronic eavesdropping base in Cuba.
FedEx charged with shipping online drugs
Wayne Risher 3:23pm A federal grand jury in California has indicted FedEx on charges of shipping prescription drugs for illegal online pharmacies.
United Arab Emirates plans mission to Mars
Ishaan Tharoor 3:21pm The government of the United Arab Emirates announced this week the creation of its own space agency and its plan to send an unmanned mission to Mars by 2021.
Hash brownies OK, but no pot in lollipops
Victoria Cavaliere 3:26pm Marijuana stores in Washington can sell pot in biscuits, cookies, brownies and other approved baked goods but cannot put the drug in sweets and lollipops, according to new rules.
Latest world news
AIDS researchers vow to find cure in memory of colleagues who died on flight MH17
JILL STARK 2:50pm AIDS researchers have vowed to fight on for a cure in memory of those who died on board MH17 on their way to a conference in Melbourne.
Militants force last Iraqi Christians to flee Mosul
Alissa Rubin 1:15pm By 1pm on Friday Iraq time almost every Christian in Mosul had heard the Sunni militants' message - they had until noon on Saturday to leave the city.
Understanding a disaster: MH17 crash explained
1:15pm A summary of what is known and not known about the crash of MH17.
MH17 crash site: Freelance journalist Filip Warwick reveals grim first views
LUCY CORMACK 2:48pm Walking around the crash site of the ill-fated MH17, freelance photojournalist Filip Warwick witnessed the lives of nearly 300 victims frozen in time.
Legal marijuana nurtures modern-day gold rush
Jack Healy and Kirk Johnson 1:00pm Like the glint of gold or rumours of oil in ages past, the advent of legal, recreational marijuana is beginning to reshape economies in Colorado and Washington state.
Iran nuclear deadline extended
12:18pm Iran and world powers have reached a deal to extend their deadline of Sunday to strike a nuclear accord, easing fears Tehran will get the bomb, diplomats say.
Israeli assault on Gaza could expand
Joel Greenberg 12:11pm Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he had ordered the army to prepare for a possible expansion of an Israeli ground push into the Gaza Strip as more tanks and infantry streamed into the coastal enclave and Palestinian casualties mounted.
Trouble underfoot on an Israeli kibbutz
Isabel Kershner 11:52am Israel's decision to invade Gaza has its roots just outside of a small kibbutz in southern Israel, where open fields and citrus orchards offer a pastoral scene that residents say has long been deceptive.
Dell becomes largest company to accept bitcoin
Riley Snyder 11:32am Computer giant Dell announced that it will begin accepting bitcoin as payment, making the Texas-based company the largest business to accept the virtual currency.
Barack Obama to meet Central American leaders about migrant crisis
Lisa Lerer 11:25am US President Barack Obama will meet the leaders of three Central American countries next week in Washington as part of US efforts to stem a flood of children coming across the Mexican border.
Extremists in deadly attack on Nigerian village
Robyn Dixon 10:38am Nigerian militants have attacked a village in north-eastern Nigeria, killing many civilians, according to local officials and residents cited in Nigerian media.
MH17 tragedy: Malaysia moves swiftly to avoid repeat mistakes
LINDSAY MURDOCH Malaysia has acted quickly to prevent mistakes the country made when MH370 vanished over the South China Sea five months ago.
MH17 tragedy: Chaos at crash scene amid reports of looting
Lucy Cormack, Deborah Gough Reports of looting are now emerging from the crash site of MH17 as bodies remain strewn across the area more than 24 hours after the disaster.
Video reportedly shows MH17 missile launcher being moved to Russian border
DEBORAH GOUGH 10:54am Could this be the missile launcher that brought down the MH17 flight fleeing the Ukraine across to the Russian border? The Ukraine govenrment would have us believe so.
MH17 attack: Dutch victims remembered outside Kiev embassy
NICK MILLER 8:42am Grief, peace, fury and fear are the soil beneath the many blooms outside the Dutch embassy in Kiev.
Call to install missile defence systems on commercial planes in wake of MH17 tragedy
9:22am A United States senator says he will petition the country's Federal Aviation Administration to install missile defence systems on commercial airliners in the wake of the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine.
MH17 crash: China says Australia's response 'rash'
China has warned Western nations against rushing to implicate Russia in the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine, but said those responsible must be brought to justice for the "intolerable terrorist attack".
Netanyahu warns of a wider military operation by Israel in Gaza
Jodi Rudoren and Fares Akram 4:05am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to "prepare for the possibility of widening, significantly," the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, but acknowledged "there is no guarantee of 100 per cent success."
Russia Today reporter quits over 'lies' in reporting MH17 plane story
8:01am London-based reporter says 'we are asked on a daily basis if not to totally ignore then to obscure the truth.'
Obama says Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down in rebel-controlled Ukraine
NICK O'MALLEY 6:52am The United States continues to make the case that Russia bears significant responsibility for the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over the Ukraine with statements by both President Barack Obama and United Nations ambassador Samantha Power.
US intelligence report confirms pro-Russian separatists shot down Malaysia Airlines plane
Michael Birnbaum and Anthony Faiola Preliminary US report indicates a surface-to-air missile system was used, and because of the complexity of the weapon it was unlikely the separatists operating alone.
"Living death" under blockade, Gazans see no point in ceasefire
12:15am * Palestinians in Gaza see life under blockade as a slow death
Yes Minister, our empty hospitals in New Delhi are world class
JASON KOUTSOUKIS 12:15am In New Delhi, life is imitating art in a way that even the creators of Yes Minister would have found difficult to believe.
How Tony Blair's Middle East trip ended in a Clayton's ceasefire
PAUL MCGEOUGH 12:15am Imagine that, sometime in the last week, former UN boss Kofi Annan had flown to the Middle East and had some talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about how to halt the fighting between Israel and the Palestinians.
Islamic extremist Musa Cerantonio 'different' to other prisoners
LINDSAY MURDOCH 12:15am Embarrassed about being caught out lying, Australian religious extremist Musa Cerantonio aggressively pushed his hand up and stormed out of an interview in a Philippine jail.
MH17 shot down: Outcry grows as world mourns downed Malaysia Airlines flight
12:39am Stephane Orjollet, Max Delany
Italy appeals court clears Silvio Berlusconi in Ruby the Heart Stealer sex trial
1:07am An Italian appeals court on Friday overturned Silvio Berlusconi's conviction on charges of abuse of office and paying for sex with a minor, in a significant legal victory for the former prime minister.
Troops roll in : a 'living death' under Gaza blockade
12:15am Israel says it will be a limited incursion in Gaza, but a resolution seems as far away as ever.
Flight attendant Sanjid Singh Sandu's fateful shift swap
MICHAEL KOZIOL 7:18pm Fate was incredibly kind to his wife, but unspeakably cruel to Malaysia Airlines flight attendant Sanjid Singh.
MH17: a crash that could spiral into war
DANIEL FLITTON 6:49am This is no act of terrorism, but its ramifications could be terrifying and stretch far beyond Ukraine.
