May 13, 2013 One is painted as a despotic dictator, the other an over-cautious bore. But Vladimir Putin and Barry O'Farrell may soon be in the same company.

May 13, 2013 Phillip Johnson looks fondly at a tubby bottle tree: ''You just want to give it a hug, don't you?'' We're at the Chelsea Flower Show, with just days until the Queen casts her eye over what he hopes will be his finest work.

May 13, 2013 US and South Korean intelligence agencies are sitting on a huge archive recording torture, starvation and gross human rights abuses in North Korea. The files would be of great value to a United Nations investigation into crimes against humanity by the Pyongyang regime.

May 13, 2013 The former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has claimed victory in the Pakistani election, reaping the benefit of a protest vote against the incumbent Pakistan People's Party, whose five years in power have been marked by corruption scandals, economic mismanagement and militant violence.

May 13, 2013 The Herald's picture editors showcase the best images from around the globe.

May 13, 2013 A stand-off involving dozens of asylum seekers will stretch into a second day in Bali as up to 75 people refuse to leave a boat intercepted bound for Australia.

May 12, 2013 Women have voted in record numbers in Pakistan’s general election, many defying tradition, party orders, and Taliban threats of violence to cast a ballot. But millions still missed out. South Asia Correspondent BEN DOHERTY writes from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in north-west Pakistan.

May 12, 2013 Newborn babies are being bought and sold on a lucrative black market

May 12, 2013 Nawaz Sharif has declared victory for his centre-right party in Pakistan’s landmark elections, as unofficial partial results put him on course to win a historic third term as premier.

May 12, 2013 Obama administration officials have insisted the White House and State Department had a minor role in altering an erroneous account of a deadly attack on a US compound in Libya last year, after internal emails surfaced indicating it was shaped by political concerns.