Former Liberian president Charles Taylor sentenced to 50 years in prison for his part in Sierra Leone's civil war; Suu Kyi addresses migrant workers in Bangkok; China buys up Spain's $938 million assets in Brazilian construction company; Syrian diplomats expelled from 13 countries after Kofi Annan says Syrian situation at tipping point; European Central Bank won't fund recapitalisation of Spain's Bankia SA; and more
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World News Brief, Wednesday May 30
Pressure builds on Syria to answer reports of civilian massacre; Philippine senate convicts chief justice for failing to declare foreign currency deposits; China ousts former rail minister on charges of bribery and vice; al-Qaeda second-in-command killed in NATO strike; UN report links Rwanda to Congolese rebellion; and more
Read MoreMMP Review: My 2c
Only one day left to put in your MMP Review submissions. Here is one I prepared just now.
Read MoreWhose airwaves are they anyway?
About 400 people packed a Wellington hall to protest the planned closure of TVNZ7. Among them was former ABC TV current affairs journalist Duncan Graham
Read MoreStat games: National nonsense about employment
If National is going to keep shining up shit and calling it gold, then I am going to keep exposing it as shit.
Read MoreThe Optimist’s Budget
The National-led government has delivered an “Optimist’s Budget” forecasting increased tax revenue, increased spending, and increased debt on its journey to a wafer-thin surplus by June 2015.
Read MoreSee no evil, hear no evil, insist there is evil
So the Urewera Four are serving time, yet no-one can confidently say what they were really up to and the police allegations are all over the place
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday May 25
Hollande promotes "euro bonds" at EU dinner summit, but Merkel not keen; China accuses US of violating WTO trade rules; Aung San Suu Kyi to attend World Economic Forum in Thailand, her first trip outside Burma in 24 years; Pakistani doctor who helped CIA find Osama bin Laden sentenced to 33 years in prison; UK recession deepens; and more
Read MoreStudent defiance rocks Quebec
After more than 100 days of striking, Quebec students have backed the provincial government into a corner. An election that will surely bring it down seems the only solution to quell unprecedented, and sometimes violent, protests taking over Montreal night after night.
Read MoreGDP growth: Further nonsense from government Ministers
The government makes plenty of excuses for New Zealand’s poor recent GDP growth. Unfortunately for its excuses, data exist.
Read MoreWho you gonna call (out)? Bill English or the Greeks?
Budget 2012 lays the ground for the battle of the narratives that will decide Election 2014. Yes siree, the campaign begins now, with the blame game
Read MoreMassaging the GDP figures: An update and a prediction
The revised GDP growth figures are bad news for New Zealand, unless you inhabit the same fantasy world as government Ministers.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday May 17
Ratko Mladic on trial at The Hague for war crimes during Bosnian war of 90s; Chen Guangcheng tells US congressional hearing his family is being harassed; Burmese president pledges to stop buying weapons from North Korea; Pakistani president will attend NATO summit; anti-Putin 'Occupy' protesters in Moscow moved on; and more
Read MoreThe cautionary tale of a successful welfare system
Of all the organisations that might have become champions of the welfare state, it's Treasury that has shown why we need it -- and why it is at risk
Read MoreLies, damned lies, and National party spin-doctoring
National says “the economy has grown in ten of the last eleven quarters.” That phrasing is pretty unusual. I wonder why.
Read MoreWinning the War of Empty Stomachs?
Palestinian prisoners have ended their mass hunger strike before anyone died. Now the world needs to ask some serious questions about the mass incarceration of Palestinians as a tool to break their resistance to occupation.
Read MoreBang goes another public service TV channel
The Save TVNZ 7 campaign moves into top gear this week – New Zealand loses another public service channel - and Freeview has a rough road ahead.
Read MoreColin Craig explained -- a little John, a little Sir Rob
Colin Craig has been hogging headlines this past week. Many have laughed him off - most notably the PM literally rolled his eyes - but that would be perilous in the extreme. Here's why
Read MoreObama on the right side of history - straight and gay
Obama's evolution on the rights of gays to marry has taken him to the only tenable place...the place others went not so long ago to bring to an end the crime of marrying someone of another race. Welcome to the 21st Century.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday May 11
Two bomb blasts in Damascus kill 55 and wound over 300; Chinese have detained two relatives of Chen Guangcheng; US has approved plans for three Chinese banks to expand presence in US; Sudan launches air strikes over South Sudan, violates UN resolution; and more
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