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Unite against poverty wages: Interview with Heleyni Pratley

Friday, 1 August 2014, 3:32 pm | Fightback

Heleyni Pratley is an organiser for Unite Union and a member of Fightback (Aotearoa/NZ). In May, Heleyni attended the first global conference on fast food organising. Fightback writer Ian Anderson interviewed her. More >>

Martin Doyle cartoon: Innocent drivers deprived of alcohol

Friday, 1 August 2014, 3:02 pm | Martin Doyle

No driver (professional or private) should drive a car after consuming alcohol. The new reduced limit on alcohol is good but has been virtually sneaked into law with no party brave enough to champion it in the face of hard-drinking voters. More >>

Gordon Campbell on the rise of ISIS, and Labour

Friday, 1 August 2014, 11:19 am | Gordon Campbell

While global attention got distracted by the fate of MH17 and the atrocities in Gaza, the world’s other mega ‘bad news’ story – the rise of ISIS-led fundamentalism in Iraq - has reached a tipping point. More >>

Parliament Adjourns

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 5:48 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

After the completion of the adjournment debate, MPs left for the campaign trail with Parliament to be dissolved on August 14 ahead of the September 20 election. More >>

Martin Doyle Cartoon: Novopay has a new owner

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 5:34 pm | Martin Doyle

Government claims that Novopay is "no longer a dog" are little comfort to hard-bitten teachers. And taxpayers must wonder what they've just become 'owners' of. More >>

We Need to Fight for Equality

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 3:47 pm | William Spriggs

Last week, I had the great honor to receive the Benjamin L. Hooks "Keeper of the Flame" Award from the Labor Committee of the NAACP's Board of Directors. Both the new president, Cornell Brooks, and Lorraine Miller, who served as interim president ... More >>

Indian Foreign Minister’s Visit to Nepal

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 3:36 pm | Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

In preparation for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Nepal from July 25 through July 27, 2014. She had jointly presided over the meeting of Nepal-India Joint Commission. More >>

Is killing civilians part of Israel’s plan?

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 3:32 pm | Jonathan Cook

Another day, another UN school hit by Israeli shelling in Gaza. Israel’s attack on the morning of 30 July killed at least 16 civilians sheltering at the school and wounded dozens. The casualties figures are expected to rise. More >>

Recruiting to kill - it is not just an Israeli war on Gaza

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 3:20 pm | Ramzy Baroud

To some, US secretary of state John Kerry may have appeared to be a genuine peacemaker as he floated around ideas during a Cairo visit on 25 July about a ceasefire between Israel and resisting Palestinian fighters in Gaza. More >>

Talk Nation Radio: Sarah Ali: Under the Missiles in Gaza

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 3:05 pm | David Swanson

Sarah Ali is a Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip. She has lost friends and neighbors in the current war on Gaza. She speaks to us about conditions under the bombing. Sarah Ali studied English and literature and currently is working as a teacher in ... More >>

Urgency Hours Fall

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 2:24 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

The number of hours spent in Urgency in this Parliament was greatly reduced due to the use of extended hours provisions, Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee said today. More >>

Global Ecosystem Collapse

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 1:33 pm | Glen Barry

The global ecological system is collapsing and dying. Humanity wantonly destroys natural ecosystems and climatic patterns that provide all life's environmental habitats. Our one shared, overpopulated, ecologically diminished, abjectly unfair biosphere ... More >>

Nigeria: Who is afraid of General Muhammadu Buhari?

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 1:31 pm | Theophilus Ilevbare

The attempt to snuff life out of one of Nigeria’s most revered former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, in a fiendish operation which would have passed for a routine Boko Haram attack if their hand had performed their enterprise, would have thrown ... More >>

Houses Rises After Slave Ships Bill Passes

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 1:01 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

When the House sat under extended hours provisions this morning MPs agreed to add the third reading of the Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill to business. More >>

Valedictory Compendium

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 12:37 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

Fifteen MPs gave formal valedictory speeches with Tau Henare electing not to take up his spot. More >>

Slave Ships Bill To Pass

Thursday, 31 July 2014, 9:06 am | ParliamentToday.co.nz

The House resumed at 9am and MPs agreed to add the third reading of the Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill to this morning’s business. More >>

Early Start For Last Sitting Day

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 10:23 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

The last sitting day of this Parliament begins at 9am on Thursday morning to set in place new parliamentary rules and pass some non-controversial bills most agree should be passed. More >>

Drink Driving Law And Slave Boats Bill

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 9:59 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

A bill lowering the drink driving limits has passed into law this evening, while a bill banning “slave ships” made progress. More >>

More MPs Say Goodbye

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 7:43 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

Retiring MPs paid their last farewells today with little signs of bitterness and few regrets. More >>

Prevention technologies for HIV and STIs at AIDS 2014

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 5:03 pm | Shobha Shukla

Women of reproductive age have a need for prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, and family planning methods. More importantly, women need prevention tools/methods that are under their control and do not leave them at the mercy of ... More >>

Kiwi – Snake - Stick

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 4:56 pm | Simon O'Neill

Many years ago, the nice Army sent me to Singapore for two years. Much of our time was in the jungles of Malaysia, rich in many forms of less than hospitable wild life and on occasion, a young Kiwi would run afoul of a snake. In such cases, a general ... More >>

The Battle For Lysychansk; Ukr on the Move

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 4:50 pm | Michael Hammerschlag

I reached my friend Andre Samobarona (self-defense militia from Maidan) at the front Sunday- where I didn't know he was till last call 5-6 days ago, “I'm in a battle- can't talk”. He was out of touch till today, when he was on R+R from the National ... More >>

SRI LANKA: Freedom of Association in 1992 and today

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 4:21 pm | Asian Human Rights Commission

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), are the popular punching bag of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), when its actions are challenged by any individual and/or organization. Name-calling, brandishing circulars to warn NGOs and now a draconian law to prevent ... More >>

CLG Update - Israeli military resumes Gaza fighting

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 4:07 pm | Citizens for Legitimate Government

The Israeli military started fighting again in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, saying Hamas militants had ignored a 24-hour, humanitarian ceasefire requested by the United Nations...Residents in Gaza reported hearing heavy shelling east of Gaza City shortly after the announcement ... More >>

What more horrors are in store for Gaza?

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 3:47 pm | Stuart Littlewood

I wonder what Hamas and Israeli leaders are thinking as they survey the devastation in Gaza and review the death-toll and casualty figures? Or course, neither has to live among the ruins and clamber over the devastation. More >>

Hiroshima Myth and the Glorification of American Militarism

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 3:43 pm | Gary G. Kohls

This coming Wednesday, August 6, 2014, is the 69th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, the whole truth of which has been heavily censored and mythologized ever since war-weary Americans celebrated V-J Day on August 15. More >>

Petitions And Reports

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 2:12 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

When Parliament resumed at 2pm a petition was presented calling on the Government to recognise that the Christians of Syria are a significant but highly threatened minority, put the plight of Christians and other minorities at the forefront of their ... More >>

Valedictory Speeches And Bills

Wednesday, 30 July 2014, 10:37 am | ParliamentToday.co.nz

A number of National MPs will give their farewell speeches this afternoon including Health Minister Tony Ryall. More >>

Local Govt Amendment Passes Into Law

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 10:05 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

Legislation amending councils’ ability to charge development level fees passed into law this evening after the Government completed it Budget’s process for the year. More >>

War in Our Collective Imagination

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 5:43 pm | David Swanson

I started seeing graphics pop up on social media sites this past week that said about Gaza: "It's not war. It's murder." So I started asking people what exactly they think war is if it's distinct from murder. Well, war, some of them told me, takes place ... More >>

Martin Doyle Cartoon: Ugly dumping bestowed on fish and game

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 5:31 pm | Martin Doyle

Never before in human history has anyone been so maligned for sticking up for clean water as the poor Fish and Game people who had the pleasure of meeting with Minister of Conservation Nick Smith. More >>

Pepper Sprayed & Pursued in North Tel Aviv

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 5:13 pm | The Leftern Wall

It happened after the demonstration -the biggest in Tel Aviv against the war yet, estimates of over 6,000 demonstrators- had mostly dispersed. The now-familiar group of right-wing demonstrators had worked themselves up into a frenzy throughout the ... More >>

First World War Marked

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 5:12 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

The House held a special debate this afternoon to mark New Zealand's entrance into the First World War 100 years ago on August 4. More >>

Syllogism of Death - Dan Lieberman on Gaza

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 4:55 pm | Dan Lieberman

The media emphasizes the emotional aspect of tragedy, and the public responds with tears and regrets, rarely giving attention to the illogic that caused the tragedy. When illogic is a governing factor in the violence against people, it elevates the ... More >>

Packing Heat in the Brothers’ ’Hood

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 4:10 pm | Walter Brasch

A group of white gun-rights advocates plan to sling rifles, shotguns, and semi-automatic assault weapons onto their bodies, and walk through a Black neighborhood in Houston. What could possibly go wrong with that?! More >>

Nepal-India Cooperation in Hydropower Development in Nepal

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 3:49 pm | Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

On the eve of the visit of Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj to Nepal for making an arrangement for the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the leaked Draft proposal titled "Cooperation in Power Sector with India" has shadowed the publicity ... More >>

Papers And Petitions

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 2:15 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

These included a petition requesting the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2013 be repealed, another petition asking the House demand the release of Bahia prisoners in Iran, and one calling for those convicted of breaching suppression orders ... More >>

Werewolf Edition #49: Laila Harre, The Internet and Mana

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 12:26 pm | Werewolf

Hi and welcome to the 49th edition of Werewolf , which kicks off this month with an extended interview with Internet Party leader Laila Harre . As the new entrants in the centre-left bloc, Harre and her Internet Mana colleagues have been holding ... More >>

MPs To Mark First World War

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 10:35 am | ParliamentToday.co.nz

As this Parliament enters into its last sitting week MPs will mark the beginning of the First World War. More >>

Martin Doyle cartoon: Where to put your security

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 9:55 am | Martin Doyle

The fact Gerry Brownlee and two staff arrogantly, illegally, bypassed security checks to get on a plane shows profound irresponsibility on the part of the offenders, the security officer, the Pilot, and the Airport authorities. Is out security really ... More >>

Gordon Campbell on National’s electorate deals

Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 9:13 am | Gordon Campbell

For all the talk yesterday from Prime Minister John Key about National being transparent about its electorate deals in Epsom and Ohariu, that transparency is entirely front-loaded. Yes, we know a lot about how Act and United Future are going to get into Parliament, ... More >>

PM Presser, Audio/Video: Key Discusses Electorate Deals

Monday, 28 July 2014, 5:46 pm | The Scoop Team

At todays Post-Cabinet press conference: Prime Minister John Key focused on election coalition partnerships with specific regard to possibilities of partnerships with New Zealand First and The Conservative Party. More >>

Top 5 Scoop Press Releases Week To 26 July | Scoop Insights

Monday, 28 July 2014, 11:35 am | Scoop Insights

1. Stan Walker Sings Te Reo for Maori Language Week 2. Kiwi icons team-up to create limited edition special treat 3. Slips/Flooding/Road closure, SH 1 Brynderwyn Hill, Northland 4. Vodafone launches Fantastic Fridays 5. Fatal Motorcycle Crash - Waimauku ... More >>

Solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza begins

Sunday, 27 July 2014, 3:00 pm | Franklin Lamb

As the latest Zionist aggression continues unabated in its slaughter of the defenseless population of Gaza (for the fourth time in ten years, no less!) one of course might simply sit back and hope for the improbable—that the global community will act ... More >>

Maori Party Founders Say Goodbye

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 6:25 pm | ParliamentToday.co.nz

Two major Maori MPs gave there farewell speeches to Parliament today outlining their history, experiences, triumphs and regrets. More >>

NEPAL: Trauma & Drama Echo in Dolpo

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 5:25 pm | Asian Human Rights Commission

'A cold shiver runs through my veins and my body heats up every time I see a policeman', is what Nyima Tsering, from Tsarka VDC in Nepal, said to reporters after a 29 July press conference. During the police crackdown on 3 June, Nyima, 25 years of age, ... More >>

'Every TB-HIV case is a public health failure...'

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 5:15 pm | Shobha Shukla

So said Helen Ayles. She was quoted by Dr Diane Havlir who was speaking in the plenary of the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) in Melbourne, Australia. Dr Diane Havlir who is a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, ... More >>

US plays decisive role in Israel’s attack on Gaza

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 5:12 pm | Jonathan Cook

Two reporters for major US TV channels were summarily “removed” last week from covering Israel’s attack on Gaza, moments before Israel launched a ground invasion. More >>

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? Labour and MANA

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 5:08 pm | Ian Anderson

Early in July this year, Labour Party leader David Cunliffe made headlines by apologising for being a man. Stoked by capitalist media sensation, Prime Minister John Key responded that “not all men” abuse women. More >>

Break the silos: drug use, HIV, HCV, TB, laws and funding

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 5:03 pm | Shobha Shukla

Viet Nam is one of the countries in the world that has made remarkable progress over the last decade in not only making harm reduction and HIV services available and accessible for people who use drugs but also reforming laws for supportive health ... More >>

Gaza: Where Evacuation is No Game

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 5:00 pm | Save The Children

At the bottom of my apartment building in Gaza two girls about six years old sit on the ground, laughing as they hurriedly pack items into their backpacks. Intrigued, I ask them what game they are playing. They tell me it’s called ‘evacuation’. More >>

Illegal Wildlife Trading: The Global Response

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 4:50 pm | Fiona Gordon

At the closing session of the inaugural United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi last month, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, “We need to act decisively to change humanity’s relationship with our planet.” More >>

Slaughter: Israel’s new “self defence”

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 4:35 pm | Stuart Littlewood

Britain’s newly-minted foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has lost his shine already. A few days ago he warmly welcomed Egypt’s bogus ceasfire proposal which hadn’t even been shown to Hamas. More >>

Gaza’s Resistance Will Not be Crushed

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 4:21 pm | Ramzy Baroud

On the 13th day of Israel’s so-called Operation Protective Edge, stories of entire families collectively pulverized, women and children keenly targeted by Israeli soldiers saturate the media. Until now, 430 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and ... More >>

Move to Amend & the Double Standard of Corporate Personhood

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 4:07 pm | Gary G. Kohls

In 2010, the NeoConservative, pro-corporate, anti-democratic Roberts Supreme Court “Gang of Five” granted inanimate corporations some of the rights and privileges previously only constitutionally guaranteed to human entities. More >>

Elite Insanity on Display in Ukraine

Thursday, 24 July 2014, 3:37 pm | Robert J. Burrowes

For those of us interested in understanding what is driving the conflict in Ukraine, now seriously complicated by the shooting down of a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet – which has raised the potential of the conflict to explode into a nuclear ... More >>