New Zealand could further extend its mission training security forces in Afghanistan beyond next year after the United States announced it was delaying the planned withdrawal of 1000 troops from Afghanistan.

Gerry Brownlee is one of National's most level-headed, collected, unflappable and even-tempered Cabinet ministers.

It's not easy being a member of the Swiss Guard. There's the silly uniform to wear, and occasionally you might have to step in and risk your life to save the boss.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters claims "large-scale" military preparations are under way at New Zealand bases in anticipation of a deployment to Iraq.

We all know John Key is susceptible to brain fade when it comes to historic events, writes Brian Rudman. But to forget what happened at Gallipoli 99 years ago does suggest he should really start upping his ginseng and cod-liver oil intake.

The beating of the patriotic drum resonates in the proposal to send an Anzac force of trainers and troops to Iraq.

John Key has admitted that though any Kiwi troops sent to Iraq would be "behind the wire", they'd still face significant risk from attack by Isis supporters posing as soldiers.

Defence Force staff have begun training for potential deployment to Iraq to support the fight against Islamic State (Isis), Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has confirmed.

Racially charged protests in Ferguson are fuelling an exponential increase in gun sales among mainly white customers at one of the premier shooting ranges in the United States.

Only in a topsy-turvy world would it be seen as rational to bring a posse of spies to heel by increasing their rights to snoop without a warrant, writes Brian Rudman.

China is building a massive island in the South China Sea that could host an airfield in an area where Beijing is locked in territorial disputes with neighbouring states, a US military spokesman says.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion aircraft which has been supporting counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Arabia has had its mission extended for another year.

Nine years after The Cosby Show star settled out of court with an alleged victim of sexual assault, a string of fresh claims have been made about the 77-year-old comedian's past.

An agent who evaded the Nazis to send coded messages to Britain is to be honoured by France. Andrew Stone writes about a modest war hero who lives quietly in Auckland.

A chilling but illuminating legacy of the former East German state is the archives of its Ministry for State Security, the dreaded Stasi.

The Prime Minister says New Zealand could expand its counter-piracy mission around Somalia or undertake missions delaying or disrupting enemy forces in the Gulf to free up other countries to focus more on Isis.

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says any deployment of soldiers to train the Iraqi Army will not be the same as Afghanistan.

If there's one thing that irks Rebecca Kitteridge, it is being referred to as the new head of the SIS spy agency.

As many as six senior members of the North Korean regime have apparently been purged in the latest bout of blood-letting in Pyongyang.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully is quite prepared to test friendships including with China and the US during New Zealand's two-year term on the Security Council, starting in 2015.

New Zealand's options for assisting the US led coalition against Islamic State range from simply continuing our humanitarian support to the "pointy end of things" - a deployment of our....

PM John Key appears to have been misinformed by the Defence Force about the nature of a Washington meeting of the United States-led coalition to defeat Islamic State.

When faced with an "angry" man wielding a shotgun outside a hospital emergency department, West Auckland Constables Nick Frederick and Mike Nolan didn't hesitate to put their own lives on....

Displaying your defeated enemy's heads on poles is a time-honoured New Zealand military practice.