Asher Keddie, Germaine Greer and Alan Jones are among those who have thrown their support behind two Australians facing the death penalty in Indonesia, in a powerful star-filled video calling for mercy.

Declassified files have revealed new details of US government knowledge and support of an Indonesian army extermination campaign in the 1960s.

A United States citizen who attacked US policies and its human rights record during a press conference in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang is mentally ill, his mother says.

Poison gas conjures up the ghost horrors of WWI. But it’s been used in battle since. And Western leaders are warning that Russia may use it soon in Ukraine. What would that mean?

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by Fairfax picture editors