Netanyahu speaks to US Congress; Australia boosts its forces in Iraq; Obama criticises China's proposed counterterrorism law; Boko Haram video shows two beheaded men; EU likely to fall short of climate targets; and more
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Hold the phone...35 minutes of time wasted in the US Congress
The Israeli PM's speech to US Congress is over with, unsurprisingly, no viable alternative to the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, but plenty of fearmongering, victimhood, condescension. Oh and fawning adoration from the mainly Republican audience. Netanyahu should have taken the sage advice to stay at home.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday March 3
Iraqi troops move against ISIS in Tikrit; North Korea test-fires two short-range missiles; Chinese central bank cuts interest rates; 300 die in avalanches in Afghanistan; Saudi diplomat freed in Yemen; and more
Read MoreWhat Is Happening at the Top of the Income Distribution?
The increase of the share of those on top incomes has not been caused by market forces but is the result of their more favourable taxation regimes they have experienced since the early 1990s.
Read MoreThe opposite of intervention isn’t peace
John Key hasn’t made the case for military intervention, which doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Making the case means understanding what drives people to join ISIS and resisting the temptation to retro-fit our own causes onto theirs.
It means staring at the consequences of intervening - and not intervening.
It requires communicating clearly to New Zealanders, the legal premise for intervention, and telling us what peace looks like.
There are a few myths to debunk first.
Read MoreA fight with limits: The right choice against Islamic State
I've wrestled with this for days and part of me still wishes we could give peace more of a chance, but the limited and precise deployment chosen by the government seems to be the right choice for the time and threat
Read MoreCuriouser and Curiouser
Jami-Lee Ross appears to be a quite exceptional candidate for the National Party. He does things in relation to money given to him that none of his colleagues do - albeit only in relation to one particular donation.
Read MoreAussie foreign minister says NZ's Iraq strategy plays into terrorists' hands
John Key has put a time limit on our stay in Iraq, but Australia isn't impressed with that kind of thinking, showing the Wellington-Canberra divide on Iraq
Read MoreYou can't have it both ways
The National Party's treatment of Donghua Liu's donation is strikingly at odds with with how it treated all the other donations it received. That's not only wrong, but it may even be illegal.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday February 25
Greece submits reform plans to lenders; Indonesian president holds firm on executions; US and South Korea to conduct annual joint military exercises; UN climate change panel head resigns following sexual harassment claims; ISIS kidnaps 90 Christians in Syria; and more
Read MoreThe alternatives to war: What if we did nothing?
Critics of the government are arguing New Zealand's role in Iraq is pointless... dangerous... or not our fight. But what does the alternative look like?
Read MoreSpy cables expose Netanyahu
Israel's PM needs to come clean on why he ignored his own intelligence service (Mossad) in his crusade to convince that Iran wants a nuclear weapon and so goad the world into bombing it, rather than negotiate for a nuclear energy settlement.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday February 24
Violence in Eastern Ukraine stalls troop withdrawal; Tony Abbott to toughen Australian citizenship law; Japanese agriculture minister resigns; Greece plans economic reforms to dodge bankruptcy; ISIS claims responsibility for Libyan bombings; and more
Read MoreGonna move on up to the waterfront
Auckland is again debating the future of its waterfront and port, but the truth is it doesn't all have to be decided now
Read MoreWho moved the inflation goal posts?
The inflation policy target has been missed regularly over the past two years, and will be missed for another year. The evidence is that the target has been moved. So by who? And will we be let in on the secret?
Read MoreDoes Radio New Zealand Need a Television Channel?
Too much of our national media is located in Auckland and democracy suffers.
Read MoreBetween the potency and the existence ... falls the shadow
Despite what the "three strikes" law seemed to say, another murderer has avoided a sentence of full-life-without-parole. And that's partly David Garrett's fault.
Read MorePundit's complete guide to the Cricket World Cup
I don't really know enough about cricket to say anything clever or meaningful about the World Cup. Fortunately, I've found someone who is able to be very funny about it
Read MoreOn the use of Daesh and the application of Terrorism
It is time to call ISIS by the acronym of its actual name which just happens to omit reference to both state and caliphate….and while we are at it, have a long hard think about how subjectively the 'T' word is bandied about these days.
Read MoreIt's punitive welfare that's pointless, not protest
Protest outside Nats' summer party a necessary act of defiance in face of welfare and housing reforms
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