I HAD malaria once, and it was extremely unpleasant. I had been working in Yemen, but I contracted it while flying home on a Dutch

TWO American elections ago, during their primaries when Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton for the candidacy of the Democratic Party

I remember (only just) when my night didn't even properly start until after 9pm. IT'S probably not especially cool to admit this

By Philip McConkey AS MOST of us are aware, United States party conventions have been taking place over recent weeks. Among the many

NEGOTIATING with a gun to your head cannot be easy ... Is that why Whanganui chief executive Kym Fell was unwell over the weekend? Mr

MONDAY Monday caucus. They filed in, dragging their heels, yawning, scratching, sighing. They were a bit more animated than usual. I

THERE has been much talk of late about the "no show - no dough" proposal for Whanganui council members when it comes to attending

WHAT can I say when there is so much that needs to be said? I could begin with a horsey haw-haw response to Mark Todd saying he lost

IN medicine, something that grows until it kills its host is called a cancer. Something that is in balance, doesn't use up all its

They are calling it Woeful Wednesday - or maybe it should be Terrible Tuesday, depending if you are on NZ time or Brazilian time. Either

I'VE recently had a few weeks in the Far North - the place which people who don't live there cannot refer to without prefacing it

Lego. What a truly magnificent product and a case study for all business in terms of adaptation and staying ahead of the curve. On

I came to my skepticism of political advertisement early in life. World War II ended shortly after my 10th birthday and I remembered

In some ways many of today's kids do have it easy. Calculators and tablets for schoolwork, mums (and dads) zooming them everywhere in cars for after-school activities, bugger-all real chores to do. But in other ways today's kids have it harder.

THE five most ignorant countries in the world are Mexico, India, Brazil, Peru and New Zealand. And the five best informed are South

The issue of paying Whanganui councillors for attending meetings - or, more pertinently, not paying them when they do not turn up

In the 1960s an eccentric English aristocrat, Alexander Thynn, the 7th Marquis of Bath, proposed that the world should consist of

MONDAY Chiefs CEO Andrew Flexman: The boys are hurting over their loss to the Hurricanes. But that's rugby. At the end of the day

Over the years I've never made a secret of the fact that I call it like I see it. My no nonsense approach has meet with criticism

In Liverpool they sing You'll Never Walk Alone; in Patea they sing Poi E. When I arrived in Patea more than 30 years ago to work

AWHILE back I was talked into attending a live Super Rugby game -- the Hurricanes against the Blues at Wellington's Cake Tin. The

LAST week Prime Minister John Key announced a plan aimed at making New Zealand predator-free by 2050. At the heart of the programme

NOW that both political parties have chosen their nominees for president, the US public can look forward to 100 days of raucous campaigning

By Anna Wallis Air Chathams and Whanganui Airport have certainly started things off with a bang. There was a large crowd out at

By Fred Frederikse I AM not a great musician, but to quote Kinky Friedman: "I like hanging around with musicians because they have

By Scott Lee WHAT if I said: "Everyone is already wealthy." Would you respond: "Go on, Scott -- you're having a laugh." Or would

CELEBRATING is something uniquely human that transcends cultures, demographics and history. No matter when you were born, in what

By R K Rose WHAT on earth to wear today? It's not a question I usually spend any time on. The answering question is invariably:

MONDAY At the end of the day I think the majority of New Zealanders will feel good about this Government's abrupt and laughably half-baked

The bright sparks of Whanganui converged on the War Memorial Centre on Wednesday evening where their creative credentials were given