The Mecca agreement, signed between rival Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah on February 8, under the auspices of the Saudi leadership, was welcomed by thousands of cheering Palestinians throughout the Occupied Territories, and seen as the closing of a chapter of a bloody and tumultuous period of

In the UK, people are similarly shocked by their placement at the bottom of Unicef's child-wellbeing league table. But they're not afraid to point the finger where it belongs, with many commenters attributing it directly to the UK's "dog"...

Valentine's Day action images from around the world. We love Japan, but whaling is breaking our hearts!

The Green Party today presented a cheque for $87,082 to cover the amount identified in the Auditor General's report as being outside his interpretation of the rules. A photocopy was tabled in Parliament.

Information and reviews on the Wellington Fringe ’07 Festival and the Asia Pacific Festival: selected from a total of 98 shows, 538 performances, 56 theatre shows, 14 music, 9 outdoor events, 11 visual arts and 8 dance shows...

Two and a half months on, the Fijian coup looks set to face the first real challenge to its authority, with lawyers for the ousted SDL party filing papers in Fiji's High Court challenging the legality of the interim government...

The decision of the Privileges Committee to demand an apology from former MP Matt Robson is an outrageous assault on free speech, and a resurrection of the ancient monarchical abuse of lese majeste. It should not be permitted in a free and democratic society.

The National Security Advisor to former President Carter testified before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on 1 Feb 2007. Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski delivered a scathing assessment of the core mistakes made by the Bush administration in the Middle East. Just before describing what he terme

"Undistinguished" would be a fair, even generous, word for New Zealand's showing in the Unicef report An overview of child well-being in rich countries released yesterday. The New Zealand Herald's story sums up our shabbiest performances:...

The key vessel of the Japanese whaling fleet, the factory ship Nisshin Maru, is on fire and has been evacuated in Antarctica...

Save The Children - New Zealand must work much harder to improve the lives of our children, according to Save the Children New Zealand's Executive Director, John Bowis in response to the UNICEF report on child well-being released today.

As the Fijian regime keep reminding people who criticise them, Fiji is still under a "state of emergency". This suspension of human rights is supposedly justified by "national security", but...

Scoop's Selwyn Manning and KiwiFM's Wallace Chapman discuss how the United States has intensified its military presence in the Persian Gulf amidst expectation of regional conflict with Iran. Will the USA strike first against the Atomic Ayatollahs?

Douglas Coupland writes a wee parable of The Seven Days of UNcreation. This is meant to dramatise the extent and impact of human activity on the earth. Unscientific, but thought provoking.

Taito Philip Field's ejecton from Labour does not threaten the government's majority.