Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Confusion surrounds Trump’s Covid-19 status, horror fire and bad flooding for lower South Island, and announcement coming on Auckland’s alert level status. It will be impossible to have missed the news that US President Donald Trump, and many in his inner circle, have now tested … Read more
Why are we still looking to America first when it comes to our decisions on which countries to engage with, asks former MP Keith Locke. Britain’s decision to resist American pressure and let Huawei into its 5G network is embarrassing for New Zealand. Earlier our government had fallen into line with Washington and Canberra and … Read more
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that limes get expensive while out of season. But they’re very, very, very expensive right now. Is there something more worrying going on? Alex Braae reports. There’s nothing like a squeeze of lime juice to make the flavours of a guacamole sing, not to mention to make a mojito possible at … Read more
After years of calls to do so, Democrats in the US Congress are finally having a go at impeaching Donald Trump. But why now? What’s all this then? US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, one of the most powerful Democrats, has announced the launch of a formal inquiry of impeachment into one Donald J. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Both PM and deputy PM in action on foreign relationships, major climate report being released today, and DOC staff facing escalating threats. Both the PM and deputy PM are in action on foreign relationships this week, with plenty of challenges to navigate. Later this week, PM … Read more
The metric system might seem obvious to us, but resisting it has started to become a point of extreme pride for Americans. Can New Zealanders help save them? Elle Hunt investigates. With Trump gearing up for his 2020 campaign amid ongoing investigations into Russian interference, it is the question on every honest American’s lips: can … Read more
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
Might PM Jacinda Ardern’s visit to Beijing have meant more to China than we in New Zealand realise? Former Washington Post Beijing bureau chief John Pomfret, who is currently visiting New Zealand, thinks we have misunderstood the importance of the trip. The recent tensions between China and New Zealand were almost always framed in terms … 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
Good morning, and welcome to the last edition of The Bulletin for 2018. Well, crikey. It’s the end of the year. I’ve got some thoughts on that down the other end of the page, but you’re here for the news and there’s still heaps to get through here. I thought what might help people out the … Read more
When it comes to tension between the US and China, National and Labour are on the same side – the fence. Guyon Espiner examines a foreign policy that tries to have it both ways. We have the Five Eyes alliance with the US but have no free trade agreement with them. We have the FTA … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Open letter on China aimed at government, no new taxes if Simon Bridges is elected to government, and three issues could be on the ballot in 2020. The government has been called on to protect academic freedom, and the personal safety of academic Anne-Marie Brady, reports the NZ … 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
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
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
US prisoners went on strike last week to protest the exploitation of their labour. And the conditions they’re protesting aren’t that different to those in New Zealand. Starting on August 21st, hundreds of prisoners in dozens of American prisons declared they were going on nationwide strike. Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, an organisation of prisoners’ rights advocates … Read more
When the n-word slipped out of former National MP Tau Henare’s mouth on national television last Sunday, Ātea editor Leonie Hayden realised she’d been harbouring a guilty secret. I saw a video on Twitter a couple of weeks ago where Kendrick Lamar, who is playing here this week, stopped a white fan from rapping along … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: US President attacks national drug buying agencies, Iain Lees–Galloway embraces his critics, and Greenpeace under fire for sweary voicemail. New Zealand could end up paying more for medicine after a proposal from US President Donald Trump. This story on Stuff (joint winner website of the year) has … Read more
Matamata-born Chris Liddell has been given a top job by US President Donald Trump. But how does he fit into the long list of Trump’s hires, fires, triers and liars? Chris Liddell was already doing pretty nicely for himself when the call up came. White House chief of staff John Kelly had picked him out … Read more
Emails between the New Zealand branch of the US Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade offer a fascinating window into the way trade lobbying happens in NZ, writes Branko Marcetic. If you have a passing familiarity with US politics, you’ve probably heard of the US Chamber of Commerce. Alyssa Katz, … Read more
The American foreign intelligence bureau yesterday posted online for the first time millions of pages of declassified documents. Toby Manhire scrolls through some of the intel published on New Zealand The Central Intelligence Agency is America’s foreign spook outfit, famous for interfering in other countries’ elections, complaining about other countries interfering in US elections and … Read more
The Standing Rock protest against the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline officially opened on April 1st this year. It has grown into the world’s biggest pipeline protest, and the largest gathering of Native Americans in 130 years. As winter sets in and a violent December 5th eviction looms, Kristina Hard talks to Auckland woman Paula Friis … Read more
This week’s quickfire quiz: how much do you know about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States? Wednesday’s car-crash of a presidential debate meant a big day for excellent Kiwi Twitter account @MovingToEnZed. I reckon @MovingToEnZed is going to get a good workout during the debates eh — Somon (@simonpnz) September 27, 2016 With polls … Read more
The National Party MP on the epic theatre of the GOP’s big event, why a President Trump remains a real prospect, and what he was doing in Cleveland. America! Jesus! Freedom! That was the all-important catchphrase for Will Ferrell’s satirical character in The Campaign. Cam Brady would have fitted right in last week at the … Read more
His supporters at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and in comment threads around the world believe we’ll see a President Trump. But who else? Donald Trump has just finished his epic speech at a convention replete with mishaps and idiosyncracy. Despite the fact that he defied so many expert predictions that he stood almost … Read more
At Greenpeace we’re not so big into war. We like peace, hence the name. But the US government’s decision to send a ship here marks something distinctly positive – a victory for the people of nuclear-free New Zealand, writes Russel Norman. If a US ship arrives in our waters later this year as part of … Read more
Finlay Macdonald reviews The Killing of Osama bin Laden by Seymour Hersh About the worst thing anyone will say of Seymour Hersh’s journalism is that he’s only “one of America’s greatest investigative reporters”. But that’s the New York Times for you, always hedging. Others don’t hold back so much: “The most feared investigative reporter in … Read more