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Why we need new ways to protect rivers from extreme weather
Analysis: In the summer of 2022, extreme heat and unprecedented drought drove parts of the world's third-largest river, the Yangtze, to dry up.
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Buying a car? Here’s what you need to know about new safety ratings
24 Feb 2026Explainer - Significant changes have been announced for the way car safety is assessed across Australia and New Zealand.
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Primary care under unprecedented strain worldwide
24 Feb 2026Analysis: Strengthening primary care is not just another reform. It is the only path to a sustainable health system. Countries that fail to recognise this are…
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Delving into 'deep time': What New Zealand's ancient past reveals about its present
24 Feb 2026Known as the New Zealand Geological Timescale, it has just undergone its most comprehensive revision in 20 years.
Comment & Analysis headlines with summaries.
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Andrew's daughters face uncertain future after his arrest
23 Feb 2026Analysis - While Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faces potentially serious consequences, the women closest to him are grappling with the fallout.
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Andrew was the Queen's favourite. Did she do too much to protect him?
23 Feb 2026Analysis - It will be up to King Charles to shepherd his family's institution through its darkest hour. But could his mother have done more?
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A former prince is arrested in the UK with accountability in question in the US
Analysis: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest punctured the defining perception that wealthy elites are shielded from scrutiny because of who they are.
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Debunking five myths about traumatic brain injury in NZ
20 Feb 2026Analysis: Touching the lives of an average 110 people each day in Aotearoa, traumatic brain injury is much more common than any of us would like it to be.
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What legal protection does the royal family get?
20 Feb 2026A member of the British royal family has not been arrested since Charles I was taken prisoner for treason before being executed in 1649.
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We're about to find out how far one man, and the monarchy, can fall
20 Feb 2026Analysis - There's an overwhelming sense that a 'never explain' policy is no longer palatable to the public.
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Trump's dilemma on Iran
20 Feb 2026Analysis: It's been more than a month since US President Donald Trump declared a red line on Iran.
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Why racing enjoys special treatment under NZ gambling laws
19 Feb 2026Analysis: Despite the harm it is known to cause to a significant number of New Zealanders, the gambling industry as a whole is commonly defended for its contribution back to the community.
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Wired for power: The geopolitics of subsea cables in the South China Sea
18 Feb 2026Analysis: Control of undersea fibre-optic cables, the arteries of the global internet, has become the new frontline in the battle for digital power.
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Is is time NZ had an anti-corruption agency?
18 Feb 2026New Zealand's score has been falling for a decade, even as its position near the top holds, Matevz Raskovic writes.
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Wellington's catastrophic sewage spill could be bad news for coastal ecosystems
18 Feb 2026Public concern over the total failure of the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant on Wellington's south coast has been growing, despite this week's announcement of an independent review. Video
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NRL Indigenous All Stars vs Māori match much more than a novelty
13 Feb 2026First staged in 2010, the fixture was not conceived as a marketing stunt, but as a deliberate exercise in showcasing Indigenous excellence and its contribution.
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Four lessons NZ should take from another summer of weather disasters
12 Feb 2026Another summer of extreme weather has destroyed and damaged homes, cut off communities and, in the most tragic cases, left families mourning their loved ones.
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Natural hydrogen can make decarbonising industry cheaper
12 Feb 2026Currently, "green" hydrogen - made by splitting water with renewable electricity - costs more than $12 per kilogram.
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AI researchers sounding alarm on way out the door
Analysis: In just the past few days, a number of high-profile AI staffers have decided to call it quits.
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AI replicas of the dead an innovative tool or ethical nightmare?
5 Feb 2026Opinion - AI replicas are already used to assist people during bereavement and could be integrated into medical education - but should they?
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How fake NZ news pages are swamping Facebook with AI slop
9 Feb 2026Analysis - "Fake NZ news" pages are bombarding social media with misleading slop, including using AI to animate photos of a teenage landslide victim. Audio
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WHO membership doesn't threaten NZ's sovereignty - walking away from it would
8 Feb 2026Part of the problem for the WHO is not that it is too powerful, but that it is oddly invisible, writes vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris.
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Opposition infighting gives coalition brief relief at Waitangi
6 Feb 2026For once, it was the opposition feeling some heat at Waitangi.
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Backdown on apes video shows even the 'Teflon president' has limits
8 Feb 2026US President Donald Trump's complete impunity and dominance, "Peak Trump", may have passed, writes John Lyons.
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Can NZ set its own path with laws against online harm?
8 Feb 2026Comment - Online harm, including exposure to illegal material, sexualised deepfakes, harassment and bullying, is a pressing problem. NZ can now cautiously follow laws introduced overseas, or develop…
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The Auckland cottage where Māori, colonial histories collide
7 Feb 2026Analysis: Past, present and future intersect at 18 Wynyard Street, where Māori and European stories entwine.
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Diabetes care in NZ: Who's being left behind?
4 Feb 2026Analysis - At first glance, it can look like the result of individual choices, but that doesn't hold up.
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How to fix the 'build now, fix later' culture
Nearly 10 percent of the construction sector's total value is lost to systemic quality failure, writes industry consultant Mark Kirby.
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