Kevin O’Rourke’s ‘A Short History of Brexit’ provides an excellent introduction to the British muddle, but does not resolve it.
Read MoreBritain
World News Brief, Tuesday August 13
Israel names 26 Palestinian prisoners to be freed; Cambodia upholds election results; Japan's economy expands for third consecutive quarter; Mugabe makes first post-election speech; Britain may take legal action against Spain over Gibraltar
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday August 7
Taliban hold secret talks with Hamid Karzai; China's foreign minister finishes Southeast Asia tour; Japanese prime minister vows to pursue world without nuclear arms; US and Britain withdraw government and diplomatic personnel from Yemen; US evaluating whether Obama will attend Russian summit in wake of Snowden decision; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday April 18
Britain marks Margaret Thatcher's passing; Taiwan conducts live-fire military drills; Islamist militant leader narrowly escapes army offensive in Philippines; Musharraf banned from Pakistani elections; more clues in Boston bombings
Read MoreThe curious dispute over the Falkland Islands
Thirty years after the Falklands War, the dispute over who controls the British outpost simmers on
Read MoreWorld news Brief, Friday June 22
Britain and Ecuador at standoff over Julian Assange's bid for political asylum; China asks Cambodian officials to extradite French architect with links to Bo Xilai's wife Gu Kailai; a Burmese court sentences to death two Muslim men convicted of the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman; South African couple held by Somali pirates since October 2010 released; new prime minister appointed in Greece; and more
Read MoreBritain + Iran = lose-lose
Iran's hurtling towards being a diplomatic outcast raises cause for serious concern about what is really going on within the country politically, and the impact domestic tensions are having on furthering Iran's nuclear arms ambitions and consequently, its dangerous isolationism.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday July 27
No solution yet for US debt--Obama and Boehner both seek support from American people via TV addresses; US will default on loans if compromise not reached by Aug 2; territorial feud between China and Philippines heats up; Britain and France come to agreement on Qaddafi; US military funds meant for transportation contract diverted to Taliban; and more
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday April 7
Obama's new nuclear policy less hard-line than predecessors'; Thai red-shirt protesters rally despite ban; Baghdad rocked by eight explosions; Taliban takes responsibility for Peshawar bombing; Britain heads to General Election; and more
Read MoreOne very public assassination
As Israel launches a public relations campaign to try and improve its damaged international reputation, its own spy agency Mossad is at the centre of a diplomatic row following a high profile assassination of an enemy of Israel in a Dubai hotel
Read MoreMemo to Key: Canadians keen to quit Afghanistan
As the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan continues to mount, the latest public opinion poll shows Canadians steadily losing faith in sending troops into that war. John Key should take note
Read MoreRecieving spelling lessons from British freinds
Education bureaucrats want to dump the only spelling rule that I can remember
Read MoreThose French farmers are at it again
Stories of the EU "overhauling" its farm subsidies are coming off the wires today. If only they were true
Read MoreWhen record numbers aren't records at all
Pundit member Carolyn points out that the number of Kiwis leaving for Australia might not be as catastrophic as some media – and politicians – suggest. A population expert replies to her questions
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