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 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
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 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 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 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 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
Call us, Malaysia Airlines tells relatives of MH17 victims
LINDSAY MURDOCH 8:47am Malaysia Airlines appeals for the relatives of people killed in the MH17 crash to contact the company, saying efforts have failed to contact many of them.
MH17 crash site a farce as amateurs control recovery of bodies
NICK MILLER 8:44am The recovery of the bodies of the MH17 travellers that fell from the sky over eastern Ukraine should be ordered, respectful and expert. But it isn’t. It has become an invasion of body snatchers and a duel over possession of the dead.
Dutch professional cyclist, Maarten de Jonge, escapes Malaysian air crash twice
Maud van Gaal and Martijn van der Starre 6:11am A Dutch cyclist, riding for the Terrengganu team in Malaysia, has told how he should have been on both doomed Malaysian Airline flights.
Singapore Airlines apologises for insensitive Facebook posts after MH17 shot down
7:12am After getting a drubbing on social media for making statements deemed "insensitive" after the downing of flight MH17, Singapore Airlines issued a public apology on Saturday and expressed solidarity with families affected by the air tragedy.
Nine killed, 40 injured in bus crash in Germany
9:06am Nine people were killed and more than 40 injured when several buses crashed into each other on a German motorway near the eastern city of Dresden, police said on Saturday.
Protests over rape of 6-year-old Indian schoolgirl
9:03am Thousands of people have marched in India to protest alleged police inaction after a 6-year-old girl was raped at a school in Bangalore.
Australian soldiers laid to rest in emotional ceremony at Fromelles
3:14am The bodies of 20 Australian soldiers who died during the Battle of Fromelles in World War I have been formally laid to rest on the 98th anniversary of the bloody operation.
Airline industry deemed Ukraine corridor safe
JACOB SAULWICK The downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has focused attention on the disparate way in which airlines assess their security risk - some deciding it is safe to fly over war zones and some not.
Five car bombs in Baghdad kill 28
3:37am Five car bombs killed at least 28 people in mostly Shi'ite Muslim neighbourhoods in Baghdad on Saturday, police and medics said.
Israeli soldiers invade Gaza strip as thousands flee villages
William Booth 2:25am The first to fall to Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip were the shepherds and farmers of the Bedouin village of Um Al Nasser, who say they saw Israeli soldiers come out of the smoke to order everyone in schoolboy Arabic, "go south!"
MH17 crash: 'We have proof' that Russia participated in missile attack: Ukraine spy chief
NICK MILLER 1:25am Kiev: Ukraine's spy chief says he has proof that the missile that downed flight MH17 came from a Russian-operated missile launcher that has since been moved back onto Russian soil.
MH17: 'Unknown groups' use body bags
NICK MILLER 3:40am A group of international observers at the MH17 crash site watched as unknown groups removed bodies and put them in body bags.
MH17: Blocking access to crash site a 'betrayal' to the victims, says Malaysia
LINDSAY MURDOCH 9:38pm Malaysia has described the blocking of investigators and recovery teams reaching the crash site of MH17 as a betrayal of the 298 people whose lives were lost.
Malaysia condemns crash site interference, defends flight path
LINDSAY MURDOCH 9:10pm Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has described the blocking of investigators and recovery teams reaching the crash site of MH17 as a betrayal of the 298 people whose lives were lost.
Why the MH17 crash site may make sending victims home harder
ROSE POWELL 4:20am The open and days-old MH17 crash site poses significant challenges to identifying the bodies.
Moment of impact: MH17's final seconds
Michelle Fay Cortez 1:20am The blast force from the missile that slammed into a Malaysian plane over Ukraine, combined with the plane’s dramatic deceleration, probably instantly rendered everyone on board unconscious or dead.
MH17 crash fallout: world reacts to plane shot down in Ukraine
Sophia Phan 5:08pm Follow our rolling live coverage of the fallout from the MH17 air disaster.
Airline industry deemed Ukraine corridor safe
JACOB SAULWICK 2:25am The downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has focused attention on the disparate way in which airlines assess their security risk – some deciding it is safe to fly over war zones and some not.
Flight MH17: Malaysia calls for a safe corridor for investigators
LINDSAY MURDOCH 4:22pm Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has called on world leaders to pressure Russia and warring groups in Ukraine to establish an immediate safe corridor for investigating and recovery teams to reach the site of shot-down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
MH17 victim Robert Ayley's final email
Paul Easton 3:54pm British-born Kiwi Rob Ayley, who died aboard flight MH17, wrote to his family on the last day of his trip to say how much he was looking forward to coming home.
US man dies during arrest caught on video
3:18pm New York City mayor Bill de Blasio is promising a full investigation into the death of a man who appeared to have been put in a choke hold when police officers tried to arrest him.
MH17 tragedy: was aircraft deliberately shot down?
Michaela Whitbourn, Eryk Bagshaw 1:53am Experts have raised questions about whether the missile fired at MH17 was deliberately targeted at the civilian aircraft.
AIDS researchers vow to find cure in memory of fallen MH17 colleagues
JILL STARK 4:33pm 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
6:13pm 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 3:56pm 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.
