Pakistan floods undermine Zardari, empower military (+ analysis); Geithner hints at government role in US mortgages with private sector in "full retreat"; Lebanon does u-turn on Palestinians; North Korean plane crashes, pilot may have been defecting; and more
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World News Brief, Wednesday August 18
Suicide bomber kills at least 60 outside Baghdad army base (+ analysis); US wary of potential "for miscalculation" as Chinese military grows; Japan looks at new stimulus plans; World Bank redirects Pakistan loans as food prices rise; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday August 17
Concern over Japanese growth as yen rises and China supplants it as world's second largest economy; North Korea criticises "US imperialists" and South Korean "traitors"; US questions Turkey's reliability; Russia bans grain exports; and more
Read MoreI don't know this law.... It probably exists only in your heads
Don't be fooled - the "court challenge" to NIWA's temperature records is very little to do with the law and a lot to do with getting your attention.
Read MoreWelfare report aftermath – we won't be fooled again
Response to last week's Welfare Working Group report shows that not so many of us are fooled by shonky stats and a new generation of beneficiary bashing rhetoric
Read MoreAfghanistan – alarm bells should be ringing
If the Afghanistan alarm bells were not ringing in Wellington over the last weekend – they should have been
Read MorePakistan's politics play on as flood waters rise
It is ridiculous to suggest the sluggish response from the donor-world to Pakistan's utter devastation is not related to that country's terrorism troubles, but does it have a president who can stop hard-line Islamists from winning the hearts and minds?
Read MoreFilthy rich: our developing energy strategy
Does this government’s ‘developing country’ shtick, or our luck in being small, give us the moral authority to dine richly on oil and coal?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday August 13
Stocks in Asia and Europe follow US markets down on back of more bad economic news (+ analysis); Pakistan faces new floods threat; Iraq general warns military won't be able to secure country until 2020; Russia moves missiles into breakaway region; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday August 12
US Federal Reserve downgrades economic outlook, keeps interest rates low (+ analysis); UN calls for more Pakistan flood aid, says international response is disappointing; Venezuela and Colombia restore ties; FIFA investigates reports the North Korean football coach has been sentenced to hard labour; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday August 11
Obama administration to cut billions from Pentagon budget; More than 700 die in Chinese landslide, millions displaced by flooding; 1200 civilians killed in Afghanistan so far this year; Hezbollah blames Israel for al-Hariri assassination; and more
Read MoreHone Harawira and the partnership pickle
Hone Harawira's view that he doesn't want his children going out with pakeha is already last week's water cooler debate. But his words will come to haunt both him and the Maori Party as they cut to the heart of Maori progress
Read MoreOn the horns of a dilemma: housing cows
The quashed ‘cubicle dairy’ consents and withdrawn applications were only the opening line of a much more difficult conversation: can you tell happy cows in a barn from sad ones in a so-called factory?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday August 10
Pakistan floods have affected six-13 million, undermining government and boosting military and Taliban (+ analysis); Netanyahu says flotilla raid legal, blames Turkey; Bali bomber Abu Bakar Bashir detained by police; North Korea snatches South Korean fishing boat; and more
Read MoreHow can we be there to fight the terrorists when the terrorists have left?
The government says we're in Afghanistan to stop it becoming a safe haven for terrorists. Problem is, the war has changed and that rationale no longer stands up to scrutiny
Read MoreSunday Star-Times: Can you look me in the eyes and apologise?
The Sunday Star-Times is very big on the need for accountability in others. How about it demonstrates a bit itself?
Read MoreThe Nation misses the hint: Labour's new-old big idea
It was all hints and mirrors, but the Labour Party seems set to embrace one of the big ideas from its own past, one that our grandkids would thank us for
Read MoreYou get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
The latest episode in the unfolding story of Justice Bill Wilson sees our intrepid hero, Sir Edmund (Ted) Thomas, radically reduce the number of Christmas cards he will have to answer this year.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday August 6
Pakistan floods force hundreds of thousands more from their homes, undermines anti-terrorism efforts; Gay marriage legal again in California; Troops in Afghanistan get new combat rules; South Korea's anti-submarine drills; and more
Read MoreUnemployment is up, so where's the plan?
Unemployment and benefit figures keep rising, but Government continues with misguided and dangerous reforms; Jobs Summit passion a faded memory
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