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The Question Nobody Is Asking · As New Zealand heads towards another General Election, Labour leader Chris Hipkins has challenged voters to ask a simple question: · "Are you better off than you were three years ago?" · It is a fair political question. · But perhaps it is not the most important one. · The question New Zealand should be asking is this: · If hundreds of billions of dollars of household wealth disappeared following the Covid…

Labour has sharpened its attack on the coalition Government ahead of the 2026 General Election, with leader Chris Hipkins reviving one of the most famous questions in modern political history. · Speaking at Labour's election conference, Hipkins repeatedly challenged New Zealanders to consider whether life has improved since the coalition took office three years ago, focusing on the cost of living, healthcare, household bills and economic…

After one of the most dramatic housing booms in New Zealand's history, the market has now spent more than three years largely moving sideways. While many homeowners continue to wait for prices to recover to their 2021 highs, economists argue there is another side to the story: housing affordability has improved significantly. Report by elocal · After one of the most dramatic housing booms in New Zealand's history, the market has now spent more…

The US bombs southern Iran following an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran says, with that, Washington violated their Memorandum of Understanding - and the blame for what may follow, sits at the Trump team's door. · Hezbollah rejects the framework deal signed by the US, Israel and Lebanon - warning its implementation could spark civil war in the already beseiged country. While in Beirut people flood the streets of the…

A California appeals court has ordered a new sentencing hearing for former US film producer Harvey Weinstein while upholding his convictions for raping and sexually assaulting Russian-born model-actress Evgeniya Chernyshova. The original 16-year term was based “solely on an aggravating factor that no longer exists,” the court stated in a ruling on Friday. The disgraced Hollywood movie mogul, who was accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of…

The deadly US strike on a girls school in the Iranian coastal city of Minab happened due to gaps in the Pentagon’s system for analyzing potential targets, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the investigation. The bombing, in which more than 120 students aged between 6 and 13 were killed in addition to 26 teachers, happened on February 28, the opening day of the American-Israeli military campaign against Iran. · The…

Russia can either decisively “escalate to de-escalate” in its own right to swiftly end the conflict on as many of its terms as possible, carry on as usual amidst this new “war of attrition” at tremendous risk to itself, or freeze the conflict. by Andrew Korybko · Lavrov sheepishly said during a roundtable event last week that “I do not even want to suspect that Alaska, like the actions of the Europeans, was designed to buy time to rearm the…

A new report released by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has reignited international debate over the conduct of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and the West Bank. INR Report · Presented during a press conference in Geneva, the Commission's latest 100-page report contains some of the strongest allegations yet made by a UN investigative body concerning the treatment of…

More than 700 rabbis are demanding an apology from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after he called the American Israel Public Affairs Committee “monsters” during a campaign rally. The rabbis warned that Mamdani’s remarks demonized pro-Israel civic participation and placed Jewish Americans and their allies at greater risk during a time of rising anti-Semitism. By David Lindfield · Mamdani made the comments during a June 18 rally ahead of New…

By Frank Bergman · Authorities in Western Australia have launched an official investigation into the death of Jeffrey Epstein victim and ex-Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre. · The probe will review police interactions with Giuffre before her death. · The investigation follows calls from her family and domestic violence experts for closer scrutiny of whether officials failed to protect her. · Giuffre, 41, died by suicide in 2025 at…