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Aspartame has long been marketed as a guilt-free alternative to sugar in popular food products, ranging from zero-calorie Diet Coke to sugar-free Jell-O. It's also had a pretty bad rap, and the artificial sweetener has now been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke in mice. But not everyone's convinced this is as bad as it sounds for humans. That's from a study published in Cell Metabolism, authored by cardiovascular health…

So the empire strikes back. Donald Trump’s tsunami of executive orders threatens to wash away the entire “DEI” establishment of the deep state even as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency conducts a thorough financial proctological examination on the books and payment systems of the deep state. The revelations have been embarrassing, almost stupefying. The sums featured abundant use of that great Babylonian invention: the zero.…

The jump that won Yvette Williams a gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics on February 20th, 1954 was only 1 cm short of the world record held by Francine (‘Fanny’) Blankers-Koen of The Netherlands. Williams, like Blankers-Koen, was a versatile athlete, competing successfully in the long jump and high jump, and a range of track events. Williams broke Blankers-Koen’s long jump record 18 months after the Helsinki Olympics at an athletics…

Humans possess a unique ability that sets us apart from other species – the capacity to collaborate not just as individuals pursuing parallel goals, but as truly unified collectives working towards shared objectives. This distinctive way of thinking and acting, termed "we-mode," represents a hidden human superpower, enabling achievements far beyond what any individual could accomplish alone. However, this crucial capability may be under threat…

The 90-minute phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 6, 2025, was the official initiation of return to diplomacy to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict with ‘immediacy’.  Trump had made ending the Ukraine war a campaign issue and dubbed it as former President Joe Biden’s war. The reality on the ground is that Ukraine is losing and Russia is gaining more ground every passing day. And that…

Stuck for healthy and nutritious lunch ideas that don't cause the 3pm slump. This simple to make and quick to prepare pasta dish is both full of flavour and has the benefit of vitamin e in the almonds, giving you a boost to your brain function to get you through the day INGREDIENTS -per person - 80g pasta (spirals or penne work well) - 1 roasted sweet red pepper from a jar, in oil, drained - 1 tbsp ground almonds - 1 tsp pine nuts - 1…

Speaking as a private citizen, Fiona Mackenzie delivered a forceful submission before Parliament’s Justice Committee in support of the Treaty Principles Bill. Criticising media coverage of Te Pāti Māori’s recent hikoi, she said: “TV interviews with protesters featured generic statements like ‘we’re standing up for Māori.’ However, there were no probing questions about what this truly means.” Mackenzie argued that Māori are not a homogeneous…

WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the character of Aotearoa-New Zealand, and its future evolution, remain matters for passionate disputation, rather than military chauvinism and outsized flags. Conservatives of a certain age…

Twenty men and one woman drowned when a cloudburst sent a wall of water surging through a public works camp in the Kōpuawhara Valley, near Māhia on February 19th 1938. Located on the banks of the Kōpuawhara Stream, the no. 4 camp accommodated workers building the Wairoa–Gisborne railway. Houses for married men were on higher ground, with a cookhouse and huts for single men closer to the riverbank. Although the stream was in flood after heavy…

Whether you buy your lunch from the most esoteric of health food stores, or simply nip to the supermarket for a meal deal, you will have seen shelves bursting with “gut-healthy” kefirs and colourful kombuchas. Or perhaps you’ve found your eyes watering over the pungent punch of homemade kimchi. What all of these have in common (aside from a first letter) is that they’re fermented foods, filled with microbes which are thought to boost gut…

Archaeologists have unearthed what is now believed to be the earliest section of the Great Wall of China, predating previous estimates by approximately 300 years. This section dates back to the late Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 BCE–771 BCE) and the early Spring and Autumn Period (770 BCE–476 BCE). This groundbreaking discovery was made in Changqing District, Jinan, Shandong Province. The Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and…

Few people would pop a medical pill without a doctor’s prescription or advice. The caution about self-medication or overuse, however, tends to drop when the pill in question is herbal. The common assumption is that since herbal pills are derived from natural sources, they must be safe to use freely without restrictions on courses and dosages. This is a dangerous misconception. The rise in use of herbal medicines and dietary supplements (HDS)…

On December 25, 2024, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported Beijing’s approval for the construction of a hydropower project (HPP) in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet. This is the river whose lower course is known as the Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and, after a confluence with two other major tributaries, as the Brahmaputra in Assam. Since then, Indian and global media have produced hundreds of experts elaborating on the…

Enjoy summer and all its fruitful bounty with the vibrant colour and tropical flavours of this fruity tart. Serve as is with a dusting of icing sugar or with extra fruit and mint leaves Ingredients - 300g mango chunks (about 1 large mango, prepared) - 5 egg yolks - 100g caster sugar - 60g butter (melted) - 1 lime zested and juiced - 2 passion fruit - whipped cream For the pastry - 300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting - 150g cold…

Donald Trump’s demand for a $500bn (£400bn) “payback” from Ukraine goes far beyond US control over the country’s critical minerals. It covers everything from ports and infrastructure to oil and gas, and the larger resource base of the country. The terms of the contract that landed at Volodymyr Zelensky’s office a week ago amount to the US economic colonisation of Ukraine, in legal perpetuity. It implies a burden of reparations that cannot…

Walter Bolton, a 68-year-old Whanganui farmer, became the last person executed on 18 February 1957 in New Zealand. Convicted for the murder of his wife, Beatrice, he was hanged at Mt Eden prison following a controversial trial. Beatrice’s tea had contained traces of arsenic, and, over the best part of a year, she had consumed enough to kill her. Investigators found traces of arsenic in water on the Boltons’ farm, and in Walter and one of his…

Microsoft has quietly severed ties with NewsGuard, a left-wing fact-checking outfit that has helped advertisers blacklist conservative media. The move comes after US Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, launched an investigation into NewsGuard’s funding and influence, revealing its ties to USAID and its history of labelling right-leaning outlets as “unreliable” while giving favourable ratings to progressive publications. Microsoft now…

It may not be to everyone's taste, but kombucha tea may be able to deliver the benefits of fasting, without the hardest part – the fasting itself. Researchers found that when the yeasts and bacteria from the fermented, sweetened tea colonized the gut, they altered fat metabolism, without any other dietary changes, resulting in lower fat stores. At the center of these findings is the flora found in kombucha tea's SCOBY (Symbiotic Cultures of…

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has slammed Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown for signing a partnership agreement with China without consulting New Zealand, calling it a “clandestine” move that has “damaged” relations. The deal’s contents remain undisclosed, raising concerns over potential Chinese involvement in deep-sea mining and unsustainable debt. Clark argues that under the Joint Centenary Declaration of 2001, Cook Islands should…

**Climate Change – Bullshit & Bluster** There was a February deadline from the UN under the Paris Agreement, to submit new emissions-reduction plans, yet of the 195 signatories to that agreement, only 13 submitted their climate action plans outlining emissions-reduction targets and strategies under that agreement. While global powers like China, India, and the EU delayed or outright ignored the requirement, New Zealand lined up with just nine…