PHEW. That was some curveball. Totally out of left field (sorry ... right field), John Key announces he's quitting and eclipses TV

Our region is alive and well and heralding the festive season with market days, Christmas parades and even night markets - many of

Von Clausewitz's aphorism that "war is the continuation of politics by other means" may well apply today, with reversal of the two

There has always been a philosophical debate in politics - should governments/councils be in business? More specifically, should

System is sick I would suggest Mr Benfell (Chronicle letters, December 5) look up Greg Palast's website for the complex reasoning

You won't remember me," a fellow retiree said in town the other day. He was wrong. Vague memories surfaced of learning to swim and

The death of Ray Columbus on Wednesday has added another music icon to what many see as a swingeing cull on pop stars in 2016. David

Separate dux Again, I wonder whether New Zealand is a country of equality or are racial distinctions still seen as necessary? We

As I write my final contribution for the year (and - as I am about to leave Whanganui - for the foreseeable future), I am thinking

THE human race is like a smoker. As cigarette smoke is to the human body, greenhouse gases are to the planet. So we can learn lessons

New mayor Hamish McDouall's idea of government department's in Wellington damaged by the November 14 earthquake re-housing in Whanganui

Last month's Whanganui Science Forum talk featured Doug Armstrong from Massey University. A professor of conservation biology, he

IT'S been a funny old week, and readers will have no doubt seen the news that this will be my last term in Parliament. I appreciate

How quickly fortunes can change on the cricket field. After returning home from an arduous - and losing - tour of India, New Zealand's

I'm a woman on the edge people. Pushed to breaking point and finally ready to push back. Sick to bloody death of being bullied

LIKE Green Party member Chris Cresswell, I, too, was in Auckland last week for the Royal New Zealand Navy's 75th anniversary. Unlike

THE worst-kept secret in town is now official - Whanganui is to be the nation's new capital city. Any day now, following extensive

Guy McPherson is nothing, if not controversial. His human extinction within 10 years prediction polarises people. And attracts large

The news that Kerry James Borrows - aka Chester - is stepping away from politics prior to next year's General Election is not a great

Another White Ribbon Day last Friday, and another good crowd supporting the cause of ending domestic violence against women. It is

Looking back I realise I have had a privileged art education. At Parakino Maori School I was a day one student in the new modernist

AS THE silly season descends on us and - hopefully - so does the summer weather, opportunities to get together with family, friends

MONDAY They call me The Punisher but at the end of the day I'm just plain old Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, and

THE sixth anniversary of the Pike River disaster has been and gone with some new information exposed. Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint

I'M NOT known for quoting from The Bible, but Luke 21:11, "There will be great earthquakes ... famines and plagues ... and there

MacTRUMP Act 4, Scene 1: An alley alongside a luxury apartment building - in the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder. Enter three

I don't know about you but the last three weeks are proof that we're living in unsettled times. Depending on your point of view

The Honorable Chris Finlayson can come across as a rather cold fish, a tightly-buttoned intellectual. But yesterday he was all smiles

MOHAMMED Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, has now been in prison more than three times as long as he was in

Trump beat 'em all Jay Kuten (November 16) makes some good points about the US election but fails to deliver an accurate assessment. He