Pro-Russian forces seal off another military airport in Crimea; search for Malaysia Airlines jet continues; North Koreans endorse government in Parliamentary elections offering just one candidate per seat; Middle East drought threatens global food prices; Nigerian healthcare hit by Boko Haram violence; and more
Read MoreThe left missed a chance to score today
The announcement of the election date was an opportunity for the left to define the campaign. It can’t afford any more missed opportunities.
Read MoreOne of these things actually isn't quite like the other
David Cunliffe's Trust and the Dinner at Antoine's were not the same. I wish they were, but they just aren't.
Read MoreDon't walk away, in silence
Last year, John Key said New Zealand might send any refugee claimants who arrive by boat over to Australia's detention camps. That's not still a thing, is it?
Read MoreWhy do right wing parties not want women?
Some fruit loop Liberal MP in Australia wants her party to lurch to the left by (gasp) doing something to get more women into Parliament. Doesn't she know that parties on the right don't do that sort of thing?
Read MorePalestinians can not recognize Israel as a Jewish state
While the crisis in the Crimea has somewhat overshadowed him, Israel's Prime Minister has again this week goaded the Palestinians to do something he knows they can't - recognise not just Israel's right to exist which they did years ago, but now refer to Israel as the Jewish state.
Read MoreIt's not the computer that's racist, it's us
Ask Google what "Maori are", and you get some pretty nasty suggestions. Whose fault is that (hint - look at the people around you)?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday March 6
EU offers Ukraine $15 billion aid package over seven years; China warns Japan it will "safeguard victory of World War II"; 814 million people registered to vote in Indian election -- world record; UN estimates 3.2 million in South Sudan need humanitarian aid; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday March 5
US puts together $1 billion aid package for Ukraine; Xi Jinping expands China's anticorruption campaign; descendants of Japanese samurai and feudal class overrepresented in upper echelons of society, finds study; UN recommends sending more troops to Central African Republic; Osama bin Laden's son-in-law to go on trial in US; and more
Read MoreWith friends like these... the coalition questions
Uncertainty makes for fascinating elections, and David Cunliffe has added to that by not even being willing to show solidarity with the Greens. But as fun as the tealeaves game is, voters are going to need better answers from the major party leaders
Read MoreIs global economy really on the mend?
The IMF's latest assessment of the world's economy contains a surprising policy suggestion. Should we be concerned (again), or is it just another part of the great plan?
Read MoreFor there are three that testify … and these three agree
David Cunliffe was dumb. The Taxpayers' Union have a challenge. You can say what you like about Colin Craig and gay people.
Read MoreTime to put the punch into ‘punch above our weight’
Words are easy. Don’t just ask the world to vote for New Zealand to get on the UN Security Council because “Our foreign policy has been tested by significant confrontations with some major powers, when we have proved our independence and resilience".
Show the world what we mean. Show we deserve a position of global leadership.
Read MoreLet's all pick on the deaf girl!
Need to know if your MP is giving you value for money? Just ask Jordan.
Read MoreIs this the "new" Sochi-sanitized Russia?
It's a week since the world was watching Putin's "new Russia" on display at the Winter Olympics. Ukrainians might say the new Russia looks a hell of a lot like that of old, and they'd be right.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday February 28
Ousted Ukrainian president hiding out in Moscow; US warns China and Japan to ease tensions over East China Sea to avoid "unintended consequences"; Chinese companies face billions of dollars in losses if currency continues to weaken; Syria agrees to new chemical weapons deadline; Norway opens up new coal mine in Arctic; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday February 26
Unrest grows in Venezuela; China's property market slows down; Chinese man sues government over air pollution; India to double price of natural gas; Russia questions legitimacy of Ukraine's interim government; and more
Read MoreWarning: Annual minimum wage debate could lead to hysteria and unscientific claims
It never ceases to amaze me how outraged the richest people get when you suggest paying poor people a little bit more.
Act’s new leader Jamie Whyte said it was "hard to think of a crueler policy" for people most in need of work than increasing the minimum wage.
Say what? Cruel to pay people on the lowest incomes 50c more? Surely he can think of something crueler than that, like not having a minimum wage at all.
Read MoreWhy the Maori Party could be left, right out
National has put in another commanding poll performance, yet the short-term prospects and long-term ambitions of the Maori Party could yet have a signficant impact on this year's election race
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday February 21
Shaky Ukraine truce collapses; growing chill between Japan and US; South and North Korean families reunited after 60 years; Facebook to buy WhatsApp; first round of Iran nuclear talks ends with timetable; and more
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