UN gets briefing on Syria; Japanese fire water cannons at Taiwanese boats; China commissions its first aircraft carrier; two US marines face charges for urinating on Taliban bodies; IMF warns Argentina it must provide reliable inflation and GDP statistics; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday September 25
Police chief in Bo Xilai scandal sentenced; Japan sends diplomat to China over islands dispute; Kazakhstan's PM resigns after five years in power; Sudan and South Sudan meet; and more
Read MoreWe got the power... So now what?
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta's visit marks a turn in New Zealand-United States relations. We have won the cake and are getting to eat it too, but that doesn't mean there aren't still risks
Read MoreWorld news Brief, Friday September 21
France to close embassies, consulates, cultural centres and schools in 20 Muslim countries; Aung San Suu Kyi receives Congressional Medal in US; software millionaire entrepreneur to run for South Korean presidency; Israeli airstrike kills two in Gaza; Greece to sell off palaces, airports and islands to stem debt; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday September 20
Relations between Russia and US chill; US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta meets with Chinese Vice President Xi Jingping; more mine protests in South Africa; France boosts security at embassies and schools following publication of Prophet Mohammed cartoons; and more
Read MoreWelfare protest - back to the cells
Arrested for the first time in over a decade in protest against welfare reforms - a response to the critics - and I also stage a return to Pundit
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday September 19
NATO to restrict joint operations with Afghan units; anti-Japan protests continue in China; North Korea negotiates debt restructuring deal with Moscow; Kosovo declared "fully independent"; aid to Egypt on hold; and more
Read MoreJust when I thought I was out, they pull me back in
National's "we know you are going to do bad things" law is now before the House. Can the people of Whanganui now sleep safe in their beds?
Read MoreMitt vs the 47%
Mitt Romney does it again...this time writing off Democrats en masse as tax-avoiding bludgers who think the government owes them a living and who can't be taught personal responsibility. With just seven weeks till election he's written off half the country. Way to go!!
Read MoreNo Virginia, There Is No Closure
The incomparable, incredible heaviness of grief and how it's just not fair
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday September 18
Japan-China relations deteriorate over disputed islands -- anti-Japan protests erupt across China; Suu Kyi arrives in Washington DC to meet with Clinton and Obama; protests over anti-Islam film continue to surge; major anti-austerity protests in Spain and Portugal; and more
Read MoreWhy Key & Shearer BOTH need the Wizard of Oz
In which John Key plays the part of the scarecrow and David Shearer the cowardly lion
Read MoreWorld news Brief, Friday September 14
Demonstrators storm US embassy in Yemen over anti-Islam video; leading Khmer Rouge figure unfit for trial; North Korea rejects South Korean offer of aide as "deeply insulting"; Mexico captures cartel boss; suicide bombers target new Somali president; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday September 13
US ambassador to Libya and three staff killed at consulate in Benghazi in response to video critical of Islam; experts say it is tragic diplomat who had done so much to free Benghazi from dictator would be killed by residents; US urges "cooler heads to prevail" in dispute over South China Sea islands; Occupy Hong Kong protesters removed after 11 months; 300 killed in Pakistan factory fires; South African mining protests spread to platinum mine; and more
Read MoreWhy don't I have a right to know what I have a right to know?
John Banks knows who gave money to his mayoral campaign. We know John Banks knows who gave money to his mayoral campaign. So why don't we know who gave money to John Banks' mayoral campaign?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday September 12
UN human rights commissioner calls on international community to take "protective action" in Syria; China sends patrol boats to disputed territory in East China Sea; Chinese vice president misses third meeting with foreign dignitary in a week; Al Qaeda second-in-command reported killed in Yemen; Somalia elects new leader; and more
Read MoreRMA at the heart of our nature
Even more significant than the government's former ideas about mining our national parks, a long-awaited government advisory group report would spell disaster for the Resource Management Act if it were implemented
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday September 11
Iraqi vice president sentenced to death; Japan confirms purchase plan for disputed islands; China reports weaker economic growth for August as imports drop; US hands control of Bagram prison over to Afghan officials; Hollande outlines new austerity plan for France; and more
Read MoreI was wrrr ... wrrrooo ... not right.
It looks like a lot of people owe David Bain an apology - as well as an awful lot of cash. Here's my contribution (to the apologies, anyway).
Read MoreThe new Herald reviewed: Granny is gone
In which I spend a bit of time before breakfast browsing through the new paper that arrived in my letterbox... the good, bad and meh
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