Welcome to The Spinoff’s US presidential inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated through Wednesday and Thursday. The inauguration ceremony begins at 5.15am Thursday, NZ time, and Joe Biden takes the oath of office around 6am. 3.10pm: New Radicals reform to perform one of the greatest pop singles ever Forgive the editorialising, but … Read more
Good morning and welcome to this one-off edition of The Bulletin, covering major stories from the last few weeks. A quick preamble to this: Today’s special edition of The Bulletin is all about filling you in on some of the stories you might have missed over the summer period. Perhaps you had the radio on in … Read more
It’s been described as ‘pointless revenge’, but impeaching the president has a firm moral purpose, argues Michael Blake – setting a limit to what sorts of action a society will accept. A House majority, including 10 Republicans, voted today to impeach President Trump for “incitement of insurrection”. The vote will initiate a trial in the … Read more
Several prominent Twitter users on the fringe of right-wing politics in New Zealand have had their accounts suspended amid a wider clampdown by the social media giant. Twitter has suspended the accounts of several prominent members of the right-wing fringe of New Zealand politics, amid a broader crackdown following last week’s US Capitol riot. The … Read more
How did America get to this point? A Time to Build, by leading conservative intellectual Yuval Levin, goes a long way to explaining what has happened there, and in New Zealand, too, writes a former leader of the NZ National Party. Yuval Levin used to be one of the most influential political theorists in the … Read more
From aggressive squirrels to the return of SATC, the start of the year has presented clear evidence that the end is nigh, says Emily Writes. Happy New Year! I think we’re all going to die! The first days of 2021 have shown that those who said “2021 will be better” in a fit of desperate … Read more
New Zealand needs to be intellectually curious about what has taken place in the US under Donald Trump and what it may mean for our country. Trends in governance there can easily spread, writes former NZ prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer. The long and disgraceful end of Donald Trump’s tenure as president of the United … Read more
While conspiracy theorists are often dismissed as a bunch of social media cranks, QAnon adherents were at the front line of the insurrection at the home of US democracy. What is the cost of propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theories? Democracy and public safety, to name just two things. The United States has received a stark … Read more
The year 2020 is about to burn itself out and we can all put it behind us. Despite its terribleness, José Barbosa argues 2020 will be remembered as the ultimate fork in the road. In the last 12 months we’ve all been witness to some remarkable things. I needn’t go over them all here, but … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Australia welcomes travel bubble talk, no new public info about Ihumātao, and speaker Mallard proactively arranges meeting with select committee. There’s still some water to go under the air bridge, but a trans-Tasman travel bubble could become a reality early next year. At her post-cabinet press … Read more
Shipping delays mean bookstores are placing massive one-off orders rather than sitting back to see what sells. They’ve gone huge on Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land – there are probably enough copies in the country to dam Cook Strait. Luckily, Danyl Mclauchlan writes, it is in fact good. I somehow forgot that Obama could … Read more
Donald Trump has grudgingly accepted that preparations for a White House transition should commence, after weeks of crying fraud, mounting spurious legal challenges and attempting, in effect, a coup d’état. However hapless and distant it might seem, is there the potential for a similar breakdown in New Zealand? Duncan Greive examines our defences and our … Read more
The US president is promoting unfounded allegations of voter fraud. Now, New Zealand’s election is being called into question on Twitter. Posts on social media reveal that New Zealand is no more immune to claims of voter fraud than the United States. And while the allegations may not be coming from any of our politicians, … Read more
With violence erupting in Washington DC this weekend and Covid-19 sweeping the nation, you could be forgiven for thinking the United States is descending into utter chaos. Justin Latif got in touch with a few mates to see if this really is the case. Following Joe Biden’s US presidential election victory and then Donald Trump’s … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 17. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day in sum There were four new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation Act leader David Seymour called on Chris Hipkins to apologise after the Covid-19 response minister labelled Taiwan an “authoritarian regime”. Taiwan is a multi-party democracy. The government … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 16. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 4.10pm: Masks mandatory on Auckland public transport and domestic flights nationwide From Thursday morning, masks will need to be worn on all public transport in Auckland, in and out of Auckland, and on domestic flights throughout New Zealand, Covid-19 response minister Chris … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Decision day for mandatory masking, NZ signs on to major Asian trade deal, and Trump’s Kiwi sits down for extensive interview. A proposal will be taken to cabinet today to increase the scope of mandatory mask-wearing, particularly on public transport. As Justin Giovannetti reported on Saturday, it likely … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for the weekend. Contact us on inof@thespinoff.co.nz Sunday November 15 7.00pm: Regional trade pact signed The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has been agreed in a virtual ceremony with 15 national signatories from the Asia-Pacific region –the 10 members Asean, plus China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. India … Read more
Why the news media will miss the Trump presidency – and how the New Zealand leader’s use of social media bears a passing resemblance to Trump’s. Many journalists and the companies that employ them are going to miss President Donald Trump more than they realise. The Trump news tornado has arguably saved some of the … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 13, covering all the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 3.20pm: The full list – Ministry updates Covid-19 ‘locations of interest’ The Ministry of Health has updated its Covid-19 locations of interest, and is asking anyone who was at the Auckland … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 12, covering all the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 8.40pm: All Auckland University exams tomorrow to be online Auckland University has announced that following the community Covid case reported today, all exams scheduled for tomorrow, Friday November 13, on central … Read more
A new social media platform that keeps censorship to a bare minimum has taken off in the wake of Donald Trump’s election loss. So what is this thing? You’ve quite possibly never heard of Parler, the new app taking the free speech world by storm. But in the United States it’s top of the app … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 11, covering all the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day in sum The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced a new funding for lending programme will be rolled out next month. The impacts of Covid-19 on Auckland Council … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 10, covering all the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.30pm: The day in sum There was one new case of Covid-19 in managed isolation. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced a breakthrough on a Covid-19 vaccine, with early trials suggesting it protects … Read more
David Farrar (not Farrier) is a pollster for the National Party. Today, he’s being tweeted by Patricia Arquette. Stewart Sowman-Lund talks to New Zealand’s newest celebrity. Updated with tweets by Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Right-wing blogger, commentator and the head of Curia Market Research, David Farrar, has been flung from the safety of New … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 9, covering all the latest from the US election along with New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. See the latest results on an interactive US map here. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7pm: The day in sum Four new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation were announced. … Read more
Yesterday’s celebrations over Donald Trump’s election loss were a rare moment of unalloyed joy in what has been a miserable year. But the happiness was tempered with fear for a bitterly divided nation, writes New York-based New Zealander Tess McClure. It is 11.31am when Harlem erupts. Down the street, I hear a woman scream. A … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tough week looms for National, PM congratulates president-elect Joe Biden, and community case acts as another reminder to use the Covid app. Not an awful lot of attention has been paid to them since the election defeat, but National is about to be back in … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 7-8, covering all the latest from the US election along with New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. See the latest results on an interactive US map here. Reach me on jihee@thespinoff.co.nz 8pm: The day in sum Joe Biden was declared the next president of the United … Read more