As far as I'm concerned, preventing gays from adopting is as morally repugnant as stopping mixed-race couples from marrying. But our adoption laws are a bit more complex, and outdated, than just this one issue
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday August 21
Afghans vote today; Bill Richardson and the North Koreans; Chinese children suffer lead contamination; bike bomb explodes in Baghdad; Lockerbie bomber released on compassionate grounds; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday August 20
Violence in Afghanistan ahead of election; North Koreans to attend Yonhap's funeral; China offloads some American debt; China-Australia natural gas deal; Baghdad bombings; and more
Read MoreCompetitive mothering, a non-contact sport
God, save me from the supermums
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday August 19
Mubarak at White House to discuss Mideast peace (+analysis); Obama speech: Afghanistan "a war of necessity"; UN to investigate Australian aboriginal laws; Thai protests demand Thaksin pardon; and more
Read MoreAfghanistan: What are we fighting for?
As
World News Brief, Tuesday August 18
Abdullah rally shows Afghani race is tightening (+ analysis); Adviser demands more troops in Afghanistan; Japan emerges from recession; Two Koreas agree family reunions; and more
Read MoreJust say no to the Small Poppy Syndrome
The real concern in this country isn't our jealousy of wealth and success, it's our knee-jerk meanness towards those at the bottom of life's heap
Read MoreLatest US mercy dash forgets to get the gal
As the US sweeps in to rescue an American from the clutches of the Burmese military junta, the woman the world really wants to see free, Aung San Suu Kyi, is left behind to her fate
Read MoreCrime and punishment: Jackson James Wood makes a Salient point
Today’s special issue of Salient – Victoria University’s student magazine – critiques the criminal justice system
Read MorePublic health – reality, reason & rhetoric
Telethon: the lessons charities must learn
Judging the KidsCan charity on its administration costs alone misses the point of what charities are created to do... change society for the better
Read More"Overpaid" MPs are the canaries in the coal mine
New Zealand's politicians do get paid a lot—if you are on the average wage. But that's not who they are compared to anymore
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday August 14
WTO ruling urges China to ease restrictions on DVD and internet sales; Lockerbie bomber may be freed; Taiwan troops help mudslide rescue; Russia commits military support to breakaway republic; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday August 13
World opinion condemns San Suu Kyi conviction (+analysis); hundreds survive Taiwan mudslides; Kuwait terror plot foiled; charges laid against Musharraf; and more
Read MoreNew Zealand's role in Sri Lanka's civil war
Is New Zealand inadvertently supporting the cause of the Tamil Tigers?
Read MoreAfghanistan: Where is that exit?
The Prime Minister’s announcement that the SAS will return to combat duties in
World News Brief, Wednesday August 12
Obama backtracks on immigration promise and targets drug war; Aung San Suu Kyi convicted; Hundreds feared dead in Taiwan; Iraq death toll reaches 100 in four days; and more
Read MoreThe unlikely wisdom of returning to war
Although it goes against all my instincts, sending the SAS back to Afghanistan makes sense. What other path is there to peace?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday August 11
Drugs, trade and immigration on agenda at North American summit; ETA re-emerges with Mallorca explosions; Israel bombs Gaza smuggling tunnel; Beijing air quality improves; and more
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