Tonight, Pussy Riot perform their show Riot Days as a part of Auckland Fringe. In the lead-up to the performance, Dina Jezdic talked to the collective’s Maria ‘Masha’ Alyokhina. In 2012 Maria ‘Masha’ Alyokhina, member of the Pussy Riot activist collective, was sentenced to two years in prison and sent to a Russian penal colony. Today, Masha … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. It’s a public holiday, so we’re going to have a slightly different edition of The Bulletin this morning. We’ll cover off a few major world news stories that are worth keeping an eye on, and if possible, what they mean for New Zealand. Don’t worry, normal service of the … Read more
Inspired by the screening of Leto at this year’s International Film Festival, Auckland-based Moscovite Anastasia Doniants presents a guide to the first wave of rock from the USSR. It’s been almost a year since Russia’s acclaimed theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov was confined to a house arrest – banned from talking to media, accessing … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Defence Force outlines what they say are complex and emerging threats, cochlear implant funding effectively cut, and there’s a public service strike today. The Defence Force is warning about increasingly complex threats, including from Russia and China, in their strategic policy statement released on Friday. Newshub reports that both those … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, who is the New Zealand billionaire at the centre of a bubbling Brexit scandal? There aren’t many billionaires who have called New Zealand home. Of course there’s Graeme Hart (dubbed by Forbes New Zealand’s perennial richest person) with … Read more
Journalist, broadcaster and former member of the press gallery Guyon Espiner analyses New Zealand’s foreign policy, and how it must look to outsiders, in the first of a new fortnightly column for RNZ. To outsiders New Zealand foreign policy must look like a riddle wrapped in a mystery, perhaps clear only to the enigmatic deputy prime … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In this morning’s edition: Minister Clare Curran still under fire over Radio NZ meeting, New Zealand’s spies can’t find any Russian spies, and no National candidacy for Dr Lance O’Sullivan. Radio NZ’s Head of Content Carol Hirschfeld has resigned after lying over the arrangement of a meeting with Broadcasting … Read more
Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to The Bulletin. The Defence Minister is defending the use of Air Force for travel, the Police get pinged for checkpoint targeting activists, and the latest on the diplomatic saga over the spy attacked with a nerve agent. Defence minister Ron Mark has been accused of abusing the Air Force … Read more
Good morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Britain calls on New Zealand’s support after alleged Russian attack, there’s been another sexual assault allegation at a Labour Party function, and Dr Lance O’Sullivan could be about to join TOP. Britain is calling on New Zealand to join diplomatic action against Russia, after British PM Theresa … Read more
New Zealand career diplomat Gerald McGhie witnessed the fall of Gorbachev and the rise of Yeltsin when he served as our ambassador to Russia – but seems to have seen nuzzink, writes reviewer Tony Simpson. I have encountered quite a number of New Zealand foreign service staff, some at quite senior levels in my own … Read more
Guy Somerset takes on the new novel by Julian Barnes. Martin, Ian, Julian – those Brits, how they like to dabble in Eastern Europe. For the most part, it’s been reviewing the latest Bohumil Hrabal or Ivan Klima in one of the weekend newspapers or an approving nod to Milan Kundera or Josef Skvorecky in … Read more