Some say the media posing questions about our military presence in Afghanistan is 'disgraceful' and 'unpatriotic'. I say, regardless of the rights and wrongs, the opposite is true
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World News Brief, Wednesday April 27
Syria crackdown prompts West to consider sanctions and UN response (+ analysis); Yemen Opposition split over plans to remove Saleh; UN finds war crimes on both sides in Sri Lanakan war, 40,000 dead; Chernobyl remembered 25 years on; and more
Read MoreIs Don Brash on a Hide-ing to nothing? Or just Hide-bound?
Rodney Hide and Don Brash want to lead ACT. That much we know; the rest is cloudy. So let's look at some of the core questions, battles and potential strategies...
Read MoreViva la vida
At new year, in spring time, and on Anzac Day, my calendar clocks another year, and I resolve to start again, again. This blog is not immune to it: it’s time for a change, because we know everything we need to, about National’s green blues
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday April 26
Syrian military uses tanks against protesters leaving little room for compromise (+ analysis); Renewed pressure for Japan PM to quit; Leaked documents pull back curtain on Gitmo; France tightens border controls after Italy does deal with Tunisians; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday April 21
European military advisers head to Libya to help rebels; Japan will force more evacuations from nuclear fallout zone; US auto industry effected by halt in production at northern Japanese factories; UN Security Council meets to discuss Yemen uprising; US army chief arrives in Pakistan for talks; raid on Rio's biggest slum nets three tonnes of marijuana; and more
Read MoreA sign o' the times
Has Labour managed to stuff up even a pretty good idea? [Turns out no - not as much as I prematurely thought.]
Read MoreNew Zealand TV – there’s got to be a better way
Mediaworks gets a $34 million government bail-out. TVNZ blows $79 million on two non-commercial digital channels. And successive governments drop the ball on free-to-air public service television. There has to be a better way of broadcasting
Read MoreKiddies in Court
The Minister of Justice moved swiftly to change the rules on legal aid eligibility following Dame Margaret Bazley's report, but quick-as-a-flash, nothing's been done on her recommendation that creches be set up for kiddies in courts
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday April 20
Funerals lead to more deaths in Syrian protests; Assad concessions fail to satisfy critics; Rebels beg for NATO troops in beseiged Misurata; Nigeria election winner confirmed, but violence continues; S&P downgrades US debt; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday April 19
Nigeria incumbent on course for victory, but peaceful election turns sour (+analysis); Five dead after Green Zone bombing in Baghdad; Raul Castro pro-term limits, says failures are "embarrassing"; Chinese artist still missing; Six months before Fukushima plant is safe; and more
Read MoreThe Idiotic Cocktail of Politics and Religion
In the midst of the Canadian election campaign - the fourth in seven years - the Conservative incumbents have come up with a doozy...hunt the ethnic vote under the guise of an office of global religious freedom.
Read MoreIn a courtroom next door to Mark Hotchin's... another suppression is granted
I wonder what would have happened to Mark Hotchin if he hadn't been quite so respectable, quite so upper class and quite so, well, rich
Read MoreSomeone give that man a latte
In which the author takes the opportunity to settle accounts in a petty and petulent fashion.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday April 15
NATO meets to renegotiate Libyan airstrikes as Qaddafi besieges Misurata (+ analysis); Analysts say boots on the ground will be required; Inflation in China on the rise; Yemeni protesters clash with military after leader threatens civil war; Obama offers $4 trillion cuts in military and domestic spending; and more
Read MoreCharge of the right brigade
Paula Rebstock is appointed to the ACC Board one day after the resignation of Chief Executive - National lays strong foundations for further ideological assault on ACC
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday April 14
Hosni Mubarark suffers "heart problems" as he's detained for violence and corruption; Egyptian frustration with military grows (+ analysis); Libyan rebels set up fund for international donations, warn of humanitarian needs; China suffers debt rating downgrade; Japan lowers economic assessment; and more
Read MoreNo, Non – Not Libya and the Security Council
Prime Minister John Key should keep his hands firmly in his pockets and avoid enlistment in a Middle East peace-making mission when he meets political leaders in Paris and London this month
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wenesday April 13
Nuclear threat at Fukushima raised from five to seven, the highest level; despite elevated status, experts say damage will be much smaller than Chernobyl; China hosts Brazil in trade talks; Libyan rebels reject African Union ceasefire; Gbagbo faces trial; and more
Read MoreLabour's list not diverse enough... and lessons from '93
Labour's list deserves scrutiny and poses questions - just not the ones raised by Damien O'Connor
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