NZ should remain a sovereign nation to deny Australia "the kiwi and the juiciest spring lamb", says Simon Schama.

Time-consuming and unproductive "distractions" involving Tim Shadbolt's council are behind Suzanne Prentice's bid to become Invercargill's new mayor.

Thousands of Poles lined the streets of Warsaw as the coffin of President Lech Kaczynski was taken to the presidential palace after his death alongside at least 95 others in a plane crash in Russia.

Mfat has updated its travel advisory for Thailand in the wake of mounting political protests that have so far seen 18 people killed.

Poland is confronting the worst political disaster since WWII after its president, his wife and dozens of top officials were killed in a plane crash.

The Ombudsman Office has ruled that retaining-wall piles for a luxury lodge at Pakiri Beach are on land reserved for planting bush.

A nuclear security summit next week is likely to be the tipping point for a push for global disarmament, writes Audrey Young.

Fran O'Sullivan writes that it is time New Zealand authorities were given the ability to issue a permanent ban against errant company directors.

Paul Thomas writes that there's a widespread assumption of American ignorance, particularly in the heartland.