Herald political editor Audrey Young sets out the case for the Foreign Minister losing his job over the $11m Saudi sheep deal.

Try as they might, Labour and NZ First failed to turn the Great Saudi Sheep Saga into the Great Saudi Sheep Scandal, writes John Roughan.

It’s difficult to see how Key can axe his foreign minister without also turning focus back on his entire Cabinet, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Phill Goff says there is nothing in the papers to embarrass Labour nor is there any reference to a "commercial solution" as Mr Key suggested.

Murray McCully's controversial $10m deal bypassed the normal Govt control channels, writes Fran O'Sullivan. "The deal is now being challenged as an outright bribe."

Phil Goff and Jim Anderton challenge John Key to release any documents he has suggesting the Labour-Progressive Government considered settling a grievance with a Saudi investor.

If NZ taxpayers have provided a businessman with a sheep farm in compensation for his loss, it raises many more questions than Minister Murray McCully has been inclined to answer.

Murray McCully's secret Saudi deal is attracting far too much adverse comment on the international stage to be easily swept under the carpet, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

A threat of legal action being used to partly justify nearly $12 million spent on a Saudi businessman's farm was clearly hollow, Labour says.

A controversy over the spending of millions of dollars on a overseas businessman’s farm in Saudi Arabia has boiled over in Parliament with accusations of bribery.

New Zealand spent more than $11.5 million to help establish a demonstration farm in Saudi Arabia - but does not have any contractual rights to access it.

Saudi Arabia has executed 85 people so far in 2015, already almost hitting the total number for 2014.

Spending millions of dollars on a Saudi businessman's farm was not "compensation" paid to clear the way for a free trade deal, officials say.

Prime Minister John Key has met dignitaries and enjoyed a Burger Fuel meal in Kuwait, on the final stop of his Gulf States tour.

Prime Minister John Key has met with the Saudi Arabian king and raised the issue of human rights.

Saudi Arabia yesterday blamed a "technical fault" for forcing two of its pilots in an F-15 to eject over waters south of Yemen.

Except for the machine guns and guard towers, the al-Hair high-security prison for terrorists looks remarkably like a hotel - especially the conjugal-visit wing.

Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger whose punishment of 1000 lashes prompted international condemnation, may now face the death penalty.

Enjoy low oil prices while they last, though how long that will be is anyone's guess, writes Brian Fallow.

A Saudi historian has sparked outrage by claiming Western women drive cars because they do not care if they are “raped by the roadside”.

Saudi officials deny they blurred out US First Lady Michelle Obama, but her decision not to wear a headscarf, and don blue, not black at the late King's funeral, is controversial.

The things you have to do to keep on side with your oil merchant, writes Brian Rudman. Wouldn't a card and pohutukawa blossoms been enough for the Saudi king?

Did the PM realise it would happen as Auckland was celebrating its 175th anniversary? The tribute to the King that he issued suggests his advisers were not giving much thought to the gestures.

He ruled over one of the most repressive regimes in the world - so why were the flags on the Harbour Bridge flying at half mast for the late Saudi King?

Late Saudi King Abdullah was hailed as "a strong advocate for women" - so why are four of his daughters reportedly under house arrest?

The Governor-General will represent New Zealand at the funeral of the Saudi King Abdullah.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia has died at the age of 90, bringing to an end the rule of the world's oldest monarch.