Has a dictatorial regime been overthrown by freedom fighters? Have cowardly plotters backed by evil empires tried to defeat the will of the people? Here’s Alex Braae’s cheat sheet sorting out what exactly is going on in Venezuela. What’s all this then? Early this morning, New Zealand time, a man called Juan Guaidó stood with … Read more
If Donald Trump believes yesterday’s release of the long-awaited Mueller report is the end of his troubles, he’s in for a rude awakening, writes a former investigator into Reagan’s Iran-contra scandal. The release on April 18 of a redacted version of the Mueller report came after two years of allegations, speculation and insinuation – but … Read more
The words of the Christchurch gunman were vile, vicious and unhinged. What they were not was shocking. In fact, they were ordinary, recycled lines from the political mainstream, writes Mehdi Hasan in this post originally published at the Intercept “IT’S THE BIRTHRATES.” So begins the online manifesto of the man accused of shooting and killing at least … Read more
The Hanoi Summit – the second of its kind between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un – has disappointingly ended with no agreement being reached. Rebekah Jaung writes about the ramifications. T-shirts with caricatures of the two heads of state, King Jong Ale, and, images of crowds lining the streets of … Read more
Mark Thomas discovers that ‘reality’ in North Korea means theme park-style monuments, hopelessly pot-holed roads, and much bowing to Eternal Leaders. Living and working in Singapore last June you couldn’t avoid the mayhem caused by the first Trump/Kim summit. But you could also feel the anticipation. On subsequent visits to South Korea I felt as … Read more
I had the privilege to stand alongside Mātua Nathan and his daughter Alethea in New York last year, writes Julia Amua Whaipooti. Now is a moment of progressive global outrage. It will pass, but his work will not. On April 20 last year I was sitting in the General Assembly at the United Nations when I … Read more
President Trump has been compared with Shakespeare’s autocratic Richard III. New Zealanders watching their diminishing KiwiSaver balances should take note. The first thing you’ll notice is this is the business editor writing about Shakespeare. It may be a summer rush of blood to the head; I prefer to think of it as a perk of … Read more
Linda Burgess on the biggest-selling, most-loved book of summer: Becoming, the memoir by Michelle Obama. Celebrity memoirs are usually written by someone else. I’m fairly sure this isn’t the case with Becoming. There’s a lengthy list of people to thank in the book’s acknowledgements (“Many of my former staff helped confirm critical details and time … Read more
The US federal government shutdown is a case of political and economic vandalism, committed by politicians against the people who elected them, writes Alex Braae from the USA. The guy in the museum got quite agitated when I mentioned we were about to drive to White Sands National Park. He was already a slightly wild-looking … Read more
The Presidential Wall Game is an ugly celebration of Trumpian nationalism and has no place on NZ shelves, argues Emily Writes. Toyco is selling a board game that encourages children and their parents to build a wall – a wall that more than anything is a symbol of the xenophobia and hatred that is central to … Read more
Trump has proven once again that he is an impressive electoral campaigner with a crude but effective grasp of strategy – and shown that scaring people works, writes Timothy J Lynch of the University of Melbourne The good news if you don’t like US President Donald Trump: he has less than 24 months remaining in his first term in office. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. This morning, it’s a US midterm elections special edition. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of NZ news and features if you scroll down the page. It wasn’t quite a blue wave, but the Democratic Party has restored some semblance of balance to American politics. The numbers aren’t yet final, but … Read more
Howdy, and welcome to The Spinoff’s live blog of the 2018 US midterm elections, brought to you by Catherine McGregor, Toby Manhire, Alex Braae, and maybe some of your other mates at The Spinoff. We’ll see how it goes. 9.07pm: Union-busting Wisconsin governor Scott Walker lost his re-election bid. The unions issued this six word statement … Read more
The time to start tuning in, the races to look out for, the chances of a Democratic ‘blue wave’, and why today’s result could completely alter the course of American politics. READ OUR LIVE BLOG: Some important updates, and some unimportant updates, from America’s big day of democracy. It’s been a long, long time coming. … Read more
If anyone in Pittsburgh lacked motivation to get involved in the midterm elections, Trump’s ham-fisted response to the synagogue shooting provided it, writes Heather McCracken, a New Zealander living in Pennsylvania. Squirrel Hill is just a few streets away from my home in Pittsburgh. It’s my local shopping area. It has a main street that seems … Read more
Days out from critical midterm elections, RNZ’s Tim Watkin attends a Donald Trump rally, where it isn’t about facts and figures, it’s all about tribes and theatre. Outside President Donald Trump’s last rally in the key state of Florida before this week’s midterm elections, an African-American man walks up and down the queue putting on … Read more
It’s time for the midterm elections in the US, which means President Donald Trump faces his first nationwide electoral test since his surprise victory in the 2016 presidential election, writes RNZ’s Tim Watkin. No, Trump isn’t on the ballot, but more than ever when Americans go to the poll next week, they will essentially be … Read more
From Monday almost 100 NZ exporters are taking part in the China International Import Expo in Shanghai. The forum heralds a more prosperous and integrated China, but it takes place against the background of a debilitating trade war, writes Stephen Jacobi of the NZ International Business Forum Competing economic visions will need to find a … Read more
The NZ prime minister set foot in the US and immediately became a media sensation. Hayden Donnell looks at Ardern’s transformation into a beacon for our troubled world. At home, Jacinda Ardern’s life is filled with stress, trouble, and Winston Peters. She’s somehow involved in a multi-week scandal involving a person that willingly donated a … Read more
Stay tuned for updates as top Kiwi broadcaster lashes back at Donald Trump with word play after being victimised by brutal new rules and/or not filling out a form he needed to fill out. Sunday April 15, 6am It’s there above the masthead of this morning’s Herald on Sunday. Top Kiwi broadcaster Barry Soper has … Read more
Charlotte Grimshaw reports on the latest weird and turbulent week in Donald Trump’s presidency: “The most powerful country in the world is at the mercy of someone so unfit for office that he shouldn’t be running a gas station.” It was the end of summer on the east coast of America, and it was only getting … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Winston Peters goes at it on the radio, nurses go back to the bargaining table, and Trump and Putin agree that the FBI is wrong. Acting PM Winston Peters went on Newstalk ZB for a long form interview with Leighton Smith yesterday, and there was no … Read more
In a rant about media peddling nonsense, the Newstalk ZB host peddles nonsense about that Time border cover and we look forward to him saying sorry for peddling nonsense. The host of the Mike Hosking Breakfast, Mike Hosking, has left himself with no alternative but to issue an apology and correction over words spoken by … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Winston Peters is now officially acting PM, minister signals big policy shift for kids in state care, and David Seymour wants to abolish some public holidays. In breaking news, PM Jacinda Ardern has gone to hospital to deliver her first child. Deputy PM Winston Peters is … Read more
When the US is ripping children from the arms of their parents and throwing them into cages, we are firmly at the point in history where future generations might ask, ‘what would I have done?’ writes the Greens’ human rights spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman. We live at a moment in global history when the world’s most powerful state … Read more
The ‘Nectarine Nero’ meets Kim Jong-un in Singapore today to pursue the shared goals of peace in Korea and a lovely Nobel prize. Don Rowe breaks down the 30 seconds or so the pair spent with the press ahead of their talks today. Well how about that, the Apprentice guy is in Singapore negotiating for an … Read more
The Spinoff geopolitical-science panel is assessing the progress of the historic talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, as it happens, and delivering its verdict on the state of talks, by Toby Morris. Our latest forecast, based on data plugged into our proprietary Armageddologorithm™ … And the full range: … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Donald Trump behaves like Donald Trump overseas, National wins Northcote by-election, and PM Ardern reassures nation about imminent reign of Lord Winston of Whananaki. It’s been a massive weekend of news for international politics, centred around the US President Donald Trump. The photo above of Trump … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Historic Trump–Kim summit cancelled overnight, nurses disappointed with pay recommendations, and transport minister Twyford gets snapped. The historic summit between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong–un has been cancelled overnight, reports Radio NZ. It follows a series of events that ratcheted up tension on both sides, … Read more