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
Anna Fifield, Beijing bureau chief for the Washington Post, talks to Toby Manhire about her new book The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un, about working in China, and about reporting from Christchurch after March 15 There are few stories on the world news pages as enthralling, and as … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $23) Please someone write us an essay about the Roonster and why she … 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
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: 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
Last night North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in met for the first time, pledging a new era of friendship between the two countries. In today’s Cheat Sheet: is peace finally about to come for the people of Korea? What’s all this about then? The leaders of North and … Read more
Sabre-rattling between North Korea and the US has prompted a wave of apocalyptic panic. But there are two relationships pivotal to international security, and for the moment they look stable, writes Nicholas Ross Smith Last Saturday, Pope Francis said he feared that the rising tension between North Korea and the United States has the potential to … Read more