The inconvient truth is that John Key always should have been going to Copenhagen and dairies should never have been selling liquor. So hooray for a change of heart on both
Read MoreSerendipity: the recipe for happiness
Happiness has simple ingredients – good food, a bit of luck and, apparently, lots of rosy sex
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday December 4
Pakistan and Afghanistan raise doubts about Obama's war plans (+ analysis); Italy commits 1,000 more troops; Honduran congress backs new president; Philippine journalists ask for UN intervention; and more
Read MoreNo more buddy buddy, no more messing around
Our courts must not just be impartial and unbiased. Our judges must be seen to be so too
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday December 3
Obama outlines Afghanistan plan; Australian government will reintroduce rejected climate change bill next year; Philippine mayor charged with mass murder; NATO pledges 5000 extra troops for Afghanistan
Read MoreWhich Hone will return to parliament?
Hone Harawira has won himself a second chance. He won't get a third. So the question for him next year is whether he wants to be a leader or a rebel
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday December 2
Obama sends 30,000 troops to Afghanistan; Bank of Japan has a new stimulus plan; China and EU vow to promote green economy; Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock prices fall; views on the Honduran election; and more
Read More2025 taskforce report: If lions ran the circus...
The muddle-headed 2025 taskforce report recommends policies that would not only drive more New Zealanders across the ditch, they would fail to catch Australia's GDP growth.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday December 1
UAE promises to prop up Dubai banks; Iran raises stakes in nuclear row; China rejects yuan appreciation; Indian economy grows nearly eight percent; and more
Read MoreSorry about the SNAFU in super city
Situation Normal – All Fouled Up. That sums up the current state of Rodney Hide’s plans to turn Auckland into New Zealand’s first super city as the citizens start wondering what happened to the local in local government
Read MoreYo Blair! Got your story straight yet?
It will be January before Tony Blair is required to appear before the Chilcot inquiry, but in truth he's already in the dock and not faring well
Read MoreGimme, gimme, gimme: the annual Christmas pressie scramble
What to do about the perennial Christmas gift problem? Sorry, no answers provided here—unless you're in the market for a cupcake car
Read MoreLabour's dangerous, dirty path
The Phil Goff Labour party has slowly been taking shape in recent weeks. Today it veers in an unwelcome new direction, playing the race card
Read MoreMāra Kai: Māori kai?
Pita Sharples’ Māra Kai Māori gardening initiative is a little jewel of sustainability policy, which could benefit all of us
Read MoreA new kind of fiction
Hilary Mantel's award-winning Wolf Hall skillfully dances the line between fiction and biography
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday November 25
Leaders disagree on cure for global economy; Philippines in state of emergency after election murders; new Japanese consumer more budget conscious; some success in Israeli hostage negotiations; eight men charged in Somali terror case in US; and more
Read MoreContempt, or curiosity from John Key?
John Key wanted to know which "prominent entertainer" got convicted on an indecency charge. So he asked someone
Read MoreLeaky homes—our multi-billion dollar shame
The shameful saga of New Zealand’s leaky homes keeps dragging on—while more than 40,000 people sit in homes that are rotting away because of flawed law, lax regulation, and shoddy design and building practices in the 1990s
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday November 24
Iran practises to defend nuclear facilities (+ analysis); Fringe groups deny Hamas claims of ceasefire; Journalists and politicians found dead in Philippines; Cambodia refuses to extradite Thaksin; Senate re-thinks healthcare bill; and more
Read MoreThe rhetoric and reality gap: MPs talking crap
We learn to expect a certain standard of behaviour from our politicians—but that doesn’t excuse it
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