New Zealand's prison muster is closing in on 10,000 inmates, about the population of Greymouth.

Predators have a price tag. According to a University of Auckland study, the cost of ridding New Zealand of pests over 50 years is about $9 billion.

We are going to see Russians winning medals and an Olympic movement in disgrace.

The Republican Party in the United States conferred its nomination for President on a man of doubtful political pedigree and unpredictable intentions.

Plagiarism is bad form. Campuses throw out undergraduates caught cribbing lines. But that's not the way it works in Donald Trump's world.

A Treasury official suggested the Government could save more than $500 million a year legalising the popular drug.

Having once been too reliant on one export market, NZ does not want to be in that position again, whether the market is post-Brexit Britain or China.

Russia and her allies have started a fightback to stay in the Rio Olympics after the sensational disclosures about a state-directed doping programme.

The Vice-President should enjoy his 24 hours here. His personality and his politics are closer to a Kiwi style than most American officials we greet.

China refused to participate in the Sea Law case and does not recognise it as a legitimate exercise under international law.

It is hard to escape the sense that Hekia Parata should have gone further when announcing a limited inclusion of digital technology in school curriculum.

State housing and building programmes are just the political branding of a package that contains more potent taxation inside.

If the gun lobby in the US has been impervious to the carnage caused by lax gun laws, it surely cannot continue to ignore the power of phone cameras.

The Ministry of Health refuses to fund a simple sleeping pod for babies so they might more safely sleep alongside their mothers.

Way out in space, so far that it takes a message nearly an hour to reach earth, the Nasa craft Juno is doing what the classical mythologists anticipated.

John Chilcot produced his verdict on the Blair Government's decision to join the US' invasion of Iraq. None of its findings are a surprise.

First Trump, then Brexit, now the Australian election has produced a rebellion of sorts.

Editorial: The PM's announced $1 billion fund for interest-free loans for infrastructure to support new housing developments is another piece in the continuing response to its most pressing problem.

Serious social imbalances take shine off good performances in polls and economy.

When most of us look at a map of Auckland's railways, a spur line to the airport appears obvious and easy.

The Prime Minister was too quick to declare his confidence in this country's treatment of foreign trusts following the "Panama papers".

If Britain stands to suffer most from its foolish decision last week, the EU could be hurt just as badly if it cannot eject Britain quickly.

School zoning was a subject once close to the heart of public education. Now it serves a vested interest of a different sort.

The test table is being set for the real deal before the next Rugby World Cup - the British and Irish Lions tour next year.

The City will no doubt survive as a financial capital but United Kingdom is unlikely to.

The Government's decision to extend the service of New Zealand soldiers in Iraq beyond next February's deadline is the right one.

The EU has overreached its remit in many respects, yet the world is better when Europe is together. Britain should stay.

National has been remarkably conciliatory so far for a party so long in power. An extension of paid parental leave deserves its consideration.

Teina Pora's legal team are right to hold out on the Government's compensation offer until the issue of inflation adjustment is resolved.

The deathknell sounded for yet another custom this week, with the TAB hanging up the service which let punters place bets over the phone by talking to an operator.