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.

Sally Faulkner says she still hasn't seen her children despite being freed from prison almost 24-hours ago in a deal struck between the Nine Network and her estranged husband Ali Elamine.

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

The Rio Olympics are yet to produce its final medal tally but one team has already claimed victory.

The fate of 10 death row prisoners saved from the firing squad in Indonesia remains unclear.

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

Thailand's ousted PM says the junta has fined her $1.3 billion over a rice subsidy scheme critics say haemorrhaged billions of dollars.

The siege in Sydney’s CBD and its terrible end received saturation coverage on American cable news, with at least one commentator lamenting Australia’s tough gun laws.

He was, in many ways, a perfect spy - a man so important to Cuba's intelligence apparatus that the information he gave to the CIA paid dividends long after Cuban authorities arrested him and threw him in prison for nearly two decades.

The head of Russia's influential Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, said on Sunday cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were "childish" compared to offences it had dished out to Christians.

A fire broke out at a Las Vegas Strip luxury hotel and destination for music stars, injuring two people and covering the gambling district with thick plumes of black smoke.

A return to the seaside village of Unawatuna in Sri Lanka 10 years after it was devastated in the Boxing Day tsunami brought back good and bad memories for a Melbourne family.

What was supposed to be on the trip of a lifetime for a pair of young Aussie backpackers has become a nightmare for the family of Rye Hunt, in the fortnight since he vanished in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Local sources say the crowd was protesting after Indonesian soldiers beat a 12-year-old boy, but Indonesia says that story is a fabrication, and the crowd 'ran amok'.

The Herald's picture editors showcase the best images from around the globe.

The twice-weekly service will begin as soon as a trans-Tasman bubble is established, the airline says.

Finance News Update, what you need to know

The weekend death of the northern white rhino Angalifu, 44, leaves only five of his kind in the world.

As Malcolm Turnbull prepares to embark on his first official visit to China as prime minister, some 60 Chinese community leaders in Australia gathered in Sydney urging him to watch his words when discussing the South China Sea in Beijing.

Australian suspects may be involved in the booming Chinese meth trade.

Israel said it had uncovered a new network of Jewish extremists in the West Bank that was responsible for several recent attacks against Palestinians, including the attempted arson of at least one home as people slept inside.

A little-known legal case being decided half a world away from the South China Sea could have a big impact on escalating tensions in the region.

New free trade deal will pave the way for more Australians to live and work in Britain once international borders reopen.

A selection of photographs from around the world by Fairfax picture editors.

The US official co-author of the contentious memo permitting water-boarding and other interrogation techniques, now seen as torture by many around the world, has conceded operatives might have "crossed the line".