It is not possible to consider the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman without taking race into account. The tragic story and the acquittal of Zimmerman has proven once again the danger of being young and black in America.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday July 16
Chinese economic slowdown causes domestic problems; tensions rise in East China Sea; GlaxoSmithKline accused of bribery scheme to boost sales; Spanish PM's leadership threatened by slush fund scandal; 60,000 Congolese flee to Uganda; and more
Read MoreStuart Broad and the Decline of the West
Is failing to "walk" in cricket symptomatic of a wider malaise?
Read MoreI just might die with a smile on my face after all
Nerds are funny. Not just in a Revenge of the Nerds type of way, of course.
Read MoreEven a stopped clock ...
The Speaker has found that Peter Dunne could not have commited a contempt of Parliament. Told you so.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday July 11
Egypt starts work on forming transitional government; Chinese exports and imports fall; Tokyo identifies growing security risks in region; brand-new $34 million US military headquarters built in Afghanistan will never be used; Somali pirates convicted in US court; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday July 9
Egyptian soldiers fire on pro-Morsi protesters; former Chinese rail minister gets death sentence; China mourns two teenaged girls killed in plane crash at San Francisco International Airport; 13 bombs planted in Buddhist temple in India; Snowden gets offers of asylum from Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua; and more
Read MoreCan Egypt's generals and the Brotherhood embrace democracy?
The latest massacre of pro-Morsi supporters at the hands of the Egyptian military shows the country's push towards democracy is probably going to get a whole lot uglier before it secures the prize.
Read MoreThe dollar cost: is pricing losing?
Putting a price on something ... usually, the first step to selling it off, or compensating for its loss. Pricing nature is on the agenda in Wellington this week.
Read MoreAnd now for something completely different
Time for a little light relief, methinks. Memorise these jokes, and you'll be the toast of the next dinner party you attend.
Read MoreRemember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors
Who'da thunk proposing that women should get representation equal to their share of the population would be such a controversial notion?
Read MoreOut Of Touch With Poverty, Mr Jones?
Sir Bob Jones knows there's no such thing as a free lunch, but his cafe codswallop shows the multi-millionaire is woefully ignorant about reality of poverty in New Zealand
Read MoreAbout that 'Man Ban'
Labour stuck talking about 'man-bans' and social engineering rather than jobs and social mobiltiy. How have they let this happen again?
Read MoreNZ Labour - as crazy as the UK Tories
What sort of crazy, ideologically blinkered party would require that a set proportion of its candidates be women? The UK Conservative Party, that's who.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday July 4
Morsi continues to defy Egyptian military despite crumbling cabinet; tensions high at ASEAN meeting; Japan's LDP Party set to consolidate power; drones kill 17 in Waziristan; Bolivian plane suspected of carrying Snowden; and more
Read MoreMy outlook for 2014: Your guess is good as mine
Inspired by the rash of speculation this week, I figured it's time I gave people a chance to make fun of me a year or two from now by giving my take on where we stand ahead of next year's election
Read MoreOn coming first, yet losing
John Key is claiming that the party with the most seats after the next election has a "moral mandate" to govern. Well, you would expect him to think that, wouldn't you?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday July 3
India rejects Edward Snowden's asylum request as he waits in Moscow airport; protesters in Hong Kong demand universal suffrage; North Korean foreign minister says high-level nuclear talks should be held "without preconditions"; Morsi rejects army ultimatum; Greek bailout threatened by lack of progress; and more
Read MoreSpying - everybody's doin' it, doin' it
We're learning this week just how common it is for countries to be spying on each other. Sir Geoffrey Palmer hinted last year that those in high power are quite aware of this
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday July 2
Egyptians throng streets demanding Morsi's resignation; John Kerry urges ASEAN nations to ease tensions in South China Sea; Japan, US and South Korea to boost trilateral cooperation in curbing North Korea's nuclear programme; Croatia joins the EU; and more
Read More