The advice from the front office at East Side High in Cleveland, Mississippi, is clear

His upbeat oratory reflected his country's innate optimism, despite the turbulence of the times.

The Universe is 13.82 billion years old, give or take 20 million years. This was established from precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background.

How can a second-term government - often distracted by its own blunders - continue to poll around the record levels it was elected on, asks Bryce Edwards.

It seems odd that Dame Susan Devoy applied for the job of Race Relations Commissioner. It is even odder that she got it.

The reaction to the appointment of Susan Devoy as the new Race Relations Commissioner demonstrates NZ's sensitivity on Maori issues, writes Bryce Edwards.

Join us as we follow tonight's online debate on Louisa Wall's marriage equality bill.

In a bid to combat homophobia, a new ad campaign has been launched in Quebec asking readers "How open are you?"

A Grey Power official's complaints about immigration have been labelled uninformed, but the group's central Auckland president says they reflect the feeling of many elderly.

The government administration select committee report to Parliament recommends the passing of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill with certain amendments.

Parliament will be asked to condemn the brutal beating and torture of Fijian prisoners, which Fiji's Prime Minister is standing by.

Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says he will support his men if they were involved in the repeated beating an escaped prisoner.

NZ has been ranked the best place in the world to be a working woman - but one advocate says the major obstacles and inequalities for women here are getting worse.

Prime Minister John Key says a video of Fijian men apparently being beaten is "alarming and concerning" and it will be raised with the Fiji government.

Amnesty International is investigating a graphic video posted on the internet, which show men being beaten and tortured in Fiji.

The challenge for those in this discussion is to acknowledge and respect the values of others and to be courageous and generous in love, writes Russell Hoban.

Photographs have emerged which raise fresh questions about the conduct of Sri Lanka's armed forces during the final stages of the operation against Tamil rebels.

Prices would have to go up by 6 to 8 per cent to pay a "living wage" of $18.40 an hour to workers in the lowest-paid sectors - hospitality and retailing.

I loved the fact that Auckland had hotels in the 1930s that catered to the gay trade where you could rent a room and share a bed with your same-sex partner.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully will not meet a West Papuan freedom fighter who was refused a public forum at Parliament.

"Is NZ's relationship with Indonesia so lacking that it could not tolerate a West Papuan independence activist speaking at a lunch-hour meeting?" asks John Armstrong.

A leading human rights lawyer yesterday hit out at a decision banning a West Papua independence activist from speaking at Parliament.

Opponents of a law change to allow same-sex marriage are stepping up their campaign, targeting MPs they feel may change their vote at the bill's next hurdle.

There is, if you'll pardon the expression, something rather queer about the gay marriage controversy.

Beneficiaries have overtaken Asians as the group New Zealanders consider to be the most discriminated against.

An Asian New Zealander who found it easier to discuss his sexuality with MPs than his parents.