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New Zealand has more debt than ever. Image / NZH

Nation of Debt: Kiwis owe $571 billion - or $115,000 each

19 Jul, 2019 5:00am

10 minutes to read

The first flames of the Pigeon Valley blaze captured by passer-by Joel Scott. Photo / Supplied

Pigeon Valley fire six months on: Anatomy of a disaster

111 calls released to Herald: "We're going to need a chopper real fast."

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen poses following a media opportunity. Photo / Getty Images.

Gregor Paul: Thinking four moves ahead - the method to Hansen's 'madness'

Gregor Paul: The Pumas/Springboks and Steve Hansen's convenient cover story.

The Notre-Dame Cathedral went up in flames on April 15, 2019. Photo / Getty Images

Weekend reads: 11 of the best international premium pieces

Catch up with some the best reads from our premium syndicators this weekend.

Read more Premium

The best from our global partners

Search teams looking through the rubble in the town centre of Lac-Megantic in the days following the crash. Photo / Getty Images

Six years after train exploded, deadly cargo still rolls through Canada

New York Times: 47 people were killed. The core of the town still remains a wasteland.

The office toilet is much more important than one would think. Photo / Getty Images

Much can be learnt about an organisation from its bathrooms

Financial Times: Why do we care so much about the most private room in the office?

Grisa Muntean, the last survivor of Dobrusa, a village in Moldova that was first settled in the 19th century, when the area was part of the Russian Empire. Photo / New York Times

Three people lived in this village, until two were murdered

New York Times: Thirty years ago, the village of Dobrusa had about 200 residents.

As social media expands its cultural dominance, the people who can steer the online conversation will have an upper hand. Photo / 123RF

Don't scoff at influencers. They're taking over the world

New York Times: The people who have mastered social media are going to dominate society.

Mate Rimac is redefining the limits of electric cars. Photo / Facebook

Meet the Bosnian refugee taking on Elon Musk

Times: It took less than five seconds for a 22-year-old to defeat a billionaire.

One scientist and his inaccurate chart led to unwarranted fears of wireless technology. Photo / New York Times

The 5G health hazard that isn't: Scientist and inaccurate chart led to fears

New York Times: One scientist and his inaccurate chart led to unwarranted fears

Laura Angela Hansen's parents contacted John Carney and asked him to help bring her home.

The truth about sex and Isis: Soldier who rescued 70 jihadi brides speaks out

Telegraph: Ex-soldier reveals sordid tales shared by women he rescued from Isis brothel.

President Donald Trump. Photo / AP

Markets need to wake up to the risk of US dollar intervention

Financial Times: Trade wars are now conducted by Trump tweets, so why not currency wars?

Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a sex crime involving a teenage girl. Some elites shunned him, but others embraced him. Photo / AP

Jeffrey Epstein was a sex offender. The powerful welcomed him anyway

New York Times: When he returned after being branded a sex offender his reputation rose.

Business

There's no shortage of choice when it comes to the cannabis industry. Photo / Getty Images

Comment: The risks of investing in Kiwi cannabis

Comment: Kiwis should think carefully before investing in cannabis.

Netflix original Bird Box. Photo / Supplied

Netflix strategy looks shakier after US subscriber defections

Financial Times: The weak subscriber numbers could not have come at a worse time.

Mahima Shokeen, former store manager at Jory Henley. Photo / Supplied

Staff sacked 'without warning', then boss starts new company

Migrant worker made redundant claims director purposely put company into liquidation.

Read more Business

Moon Landing 50th Anniversary

Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969. Photo / NASA

Revealed: The extraordinary three-hour mercy dash to get Moon footage to NZ

NZers saw moon landing on TV thanks to Kiwi ingenuity and complex trans-Tasman effort.

Ex-RNZAF pilot Gavin Trethewey flew tapes of the Moon landing to NZ and still flies Warbirds. Photo / Gregory Young

Kiwi's Apollo mission: How 'balls to the wall' flying brought Moon landing to NZ

Gavin Trethewey flew what was probably a transtasman record to get the film to viewers.

Ed Dwight during his time in the US Air Force. Photo / Courtesy of Ed Dwight via The New York Times

Ed Dwight was set to be the first black astronaut. Here's why it never happened

New York Times: For a brief moment, civil rights movement and space race came together.

It's 50 years since the moon landing.

Moon landing: Te Awamutu's claim to fame

It's 50 years since the Courier reported the moon landing. Was it the first to do so?

The newly renovated mission control centre at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Photo / Todd Spoth,The New York Times

Nasa reopens Apollo mission control room that once landed men on moon

New York Times: Restored room is as though engineers stepped out, but would be right back.

The July 1969 moon landing.

Opinion: That wondrous and historic place with no name

It is 50 years since we humans set foot on the place with no name.

Politics

Labour MP Kieran McAnulty (left) and Black Caps captain Kane Williamson (right). Or is it the other way round? Photo / Supplied

Beehive Diaries: The sad, mad week that was

The week that delivered cricket-gate, pavlova-gate, and Youth Parliament-gate.

The Government's response to the synthetic drugs crisis is to cripple the supply chain, such as these products caught at the border, but not to criminalise drug users. Photo / Supplied

Drug decriminalisation? Govt rejected having no criminal penalties for synthetic drug use

Govt doesn't want to criminalise drug users, but also doesn't want to decriminalise drugs.

National leader Simon Bridges (right) with his new best friend, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Photo / Supplied

Simon Wilson: Why National is our biggest climate change threat

Comment: I believe National's plan to make climate change an election issue will hurt NZ.

Read more Politics

World

Joaquín Guzmán Loera twice escaped from prisons in Mexico. Photo / Getty Images

El Chapo has disappeared. Is he at the supermax?

New York Times: After being sentenced the Mexican drug lord was whisked away.

Christopher Tapp, right, and his lawyer, John Thomas, during Christopher Tapp's post-conviction relief hearing in Idaho Falls. Photo / AP

The jury said he killed her daughter. She helped clear his name

New York Times: Victim's mother used genealogy to find another suspect.

Buzz Aldrin left this boot print in the lunar soil at Tranquillity Base. Photo / Nasa via The New York Times

One small step for man, one big step for moon boots

New York Times: Who decided what the most famous footprint in the world would look like?

Read more World

The Big Read

Anti-vaxx debate: Vaccination rates plummet for NZ babies

Just 77 per cent of six-month-old babies are now getting their vaccines on time.

New Zealand has more debt than ever. Image / NZH

Nation of Debt: Kiwis owe $571 billion - or $115,000 each

New Zealand is deeper in debt than ever. Why does it matter? And how do we get out?

The first flames of the Pigeon Valley blaze captured by passer-by Joel Scott. Photo / Supplied

Pigeon Valley fire six months on: Anatomy of a disaster

111 calls released to Herald: "We're going to need a chopper real fast."

Notre-Dame burns. Photo / Getty Images

Notre-Dame came far closer to collapsing than anybody knew

New York Times: Firefighters were going in "without knowing if they would come back out".

Facebook's currency could quickly become one of the most powerful in the world. Photo / Getty Images

Facebook's Libra could become bigger than NZ dollar

It would only take 0.2 per cent of Facebook's user base.

A watchtower at Guantanamo Bay. The trip put on by the US military had strict restrictions on photography. Photo / Doug Mills, The New York Times.

A look inside the secretive world of Guantánamo Bay

New York Times: Nearly 2 decades after it opened, the prison remains shrouded in secrecy.

More Big Reads

National

Labour MP Kieran McAnulty (left) and Black Caps captain Kane Williamson (right). Or is it the other way round? Photo / Supplied

Beehive Diaries: The sad, mad week that was

The week that delivered cricket-gate, pavlova-gate, and Youth Parliament-gate.

Houses in Dargaville are no longer as desirable as they once were to investors causing a shortage in rental properties. Photo / File

Rents put squeeze on Kaipara families

A weekly round-up of community news and events from the mighty Kaipara District.

The Government's response to the synthetic drugs crisis is to cripple the supply chain, such as these products caught at the border, but not to criminalise drug users. Photo / Supplied

Drug decriminalisation? Govt rejected having no criminal penalties for synthetic drug use

Govt doesn't want to criminalise drug users, but also doesn't want to decriminalise drugs.

Read more National

Crime

Architect Michael Davies is accused of stealing trade secrets... except he doesn't know what a trade secret is. Photo / Sam Hurley

Accused architect: 'I don't know what a trade secret is'

A 46-year-old architect is on trial for allegedly stealing his former firm's secrets.

Huge crowds showed up at vigils and memorial events for the 51 victims of the Christchurch terror attacks. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Big Read: Four months after the shootings has Christchurch really changed?

Mosque shootings stirs up disturbing underbelly but how representative is it?

New Zealander Hamish Edmond Thompson has been found guilty after 1.4 tonnes of cocaine was found on his yacht Elakha in February 2017. Photo / Supplied

Kiwi broke own record for 1.4 tonne cocaine bust

Kiwi yachtie broke his own record for largest cocaine seizure in Australian history.

Read more Crime

Education

Girls attending Wesley College's ball on the weekend said they were patted down and their bags searched for contraband. Photo / Getty Images

Wesley College school ball pat-down illegal, says security firm

Security firm says guards have no legal right to carry out an intrusive search.

This year alone, five teachers have been struck off over sexual misconduct and 82 have faced or are facing allegations. Photo / File

Teachers behaving badly: Child educators struck off over sex crimes

More than 20 child educators struck off across NZ in past five years for sex offending.

A student says the girls at the Wesley ball were herded into a room for intrusive checks.

School ball patdown 'feels like they violated my daughter'

A 17-year-old was told to lift her dress up so high her underwear was exposed.

Read more Education

Health

The Government's response to the synthetic drugs crisis is to cripple the supply chain, such as these products caught at the border, but not to criminalise drug users. Photo / Supplied

Drug decriminalisation? Govt rejected having no criminal penalties for synthetic drug use

Govt doesn't want to criminalise drug users, but also doesn't want to decriminalise drugs.

Anti-vaxx debate: Vaccination rates plummet for NZ babies

Just 77 per cent of six-month-old babies are now getting their vaccines on time.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / File

Matthew Hooton: Jacinda Ardern's 'year of delivery' is a hoax

How has this Government failed? Let me count the ways.

Read more Health

Our Journalists

Business editor at large

Read more from Liam Dann

Read more from David Fisher

Senior politics writer

Read more from Claire Trevett

political reporter

Read more from Jason Walls

Read more from Chris Rattue

senior crime and justice reporter

Read more from Anna Leask

political editor

Read more from Audrey Young

investigative reporter

Read more from Kirsty Johnston

education reporter

Read more from Simon Collins

social issues reporter

Read more from Isaac Davison

health reporter

Read more from Emma Russell

deputy head of entertainment

Read more from Siena Yates

Lifestyle

Instagram is testing what happens if they remove likes. Photo / Getty Images

Will hiding like counts be good for Instagram users?

New York Times: Social media platform theorises the move may reduce pressure on users.

We take comfort in reading good news stories about viral acts of kindness toward the sick, the poor and others in need, experts say, but there's a catch. Photo / 123RF

When 'good stories' happen for bad reasons

New York Times: We take comfort in news about kind acts, but experts say there's a catch.

The model Hunter McGrady and Brian Keys, an advertising executive, were married June 16 at Eden Gardens in Moorpark, California. Photo / Alex Welsh, The New York Times

How a plus-size model found a devoted follower, and the man of her dreams

New York Times: Snapchat message lead to a real life love story.

Read more Lifestyle

Sport

Thibaut Pinot during the 106th Tour de France 2019. Photo / Getty Images

On the road with the Tour de France

New York Times: Life on road at the most glorious and heartbreaking of cycling races.

Kane Williamson during Monday's Cricket World Cup final and Sean Fitzpatrick in 1995. Photos / Getty

Phil Gifford: The only tiebreaker dumber than the Black Caps mess

Comment: Something has changed in Argentine rugby - and the All Blacks should be wary.

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen poses following a media opportunity. Photo / Getty Images.

Gregor Paul: Thinking four moves ahead - the method to Hansen's 'madness'

Gregor Paul: The Pumas/Springboks and Steve Hansen's convenient cover story.

Read more Sport

Entertainment

The Day Shall Come

All the Film Fest movies to see based on your mood

Can't decide what to see? We've got a movie pick to suit any mood at the Film Festival.

Orange is the New Black will finish at the end of its seventh season. Photo / Netflix

Orange Is the New Black taught us what Netflix was for

New York Times: Orange was the first series to show us how streaming TV would really work.

The announcement that the new 007 would be Lashana Lynch, a black woman, left people shaken and stirred. Photo / AP

James Bond's days are numbered, but 007 lives on

The announcement that the new 007 would be a black woman left people shaken and stirred.

Read more Entertainment

Travel

A beetroot salad resulted in a very colourful mess for one reader. Photo / Getty Images

Readers share their travel sickness stories

Readers share more tales of travelling sickness.

The resort's Trattoria Sull'Albero restaurant is in a large wooden

Italy: A delicious Scandi twist on Tuscany

James Lewisohn celebrates the grape harvest in style at Borgo Santo Pietro.

A corner suite at the Rosewood Hong Kong in Kowloon offers incredible views of the city. Photo / Rosewood Hotels

Modern opulence: A tale of two cities

Sometimes, money can buy happiness and for those who can't afford it, we can dream.

Read more Travel

Cartoons

July 19. Illustration / Rod Emmerson

Cartoons: Week of July 15 - 21

July 13. Illustration / Rod Emmerson

Cartoons: Week of July 8 - 14

July 6. Illustration / Rod Emmerson

Cartoons: Week of July 1 - 7

See more Cartoons

The Last Word

Simon Bridges' new strategy for world domination: Plan ScoMo. The strategy came in the form of an onslaught from National Party social media accounts. Photos / Supplied

Claire Trevett: Simon Bridges' plan to topple Jacinda Ardern

17 Jul, 2019 2:12pm

4 minutes to read

Gregor Paul: Thinking four moves ahead - the method to Hansen's 'madness'

Political Roundup: The problems with declaring climate change emergencies

Reive: Still no answer to All Blacks' biggest World Cup mystery

Simon Wilson: Why National is our biggest climate change threat

James Bond's days are numbered, but 007 lives on

Comment: The MP and 'humiliated' student - reaction to suicide speech is ironic

Ex-mayor: Phil Goff has failed - why I'm backing John Tamihere

Brian Fallow: Emissions plan a step in the right direction

After what happened at Lord's this is the perfect time for an ODI re-think. Photo / Getty

Rattue: Cut the World Cup outrage - Black Caps were lucky to reach final

COMMENT: After what happened at Lord's, this is the perfect time for an ODI re-think.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / File

Matthew Hooton: Jacinda Ardern's 'year of delivery' is a hoax

19 Jul, 2019 3:00pm

How has this Government failed? Let me count the ways.

Read more Opinion

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