Prime Minister John Key welcomed Nick Smith back into the Cabinet in a reshuffle in which he has also sacked the Labour and Conservation Minister, Kate Wilkinson, and Energy and Housing Minister Phil Heatley. diy solar panels He also relieved Associate Education Minister Craig Foss of his responsibility for the Novopay system for paying teachers, putting that in the hands …

Just a short entry for the blog today. We left the hotel in Beijing at 5:30 this morning enroute to the airport. After a few far-too-close calls, Fran and I successfully boarded and were on our way to Shanghai. Pudong airport is quite a distance from central Shanghai – connecting the two however is the engineering marvel that is the …

New Zealand stocks regained their positive tone today, with gentle rises across the board in light trading, affected by Wellington Anniversary Day and subdued global markets owing to the Martin Luther King long weekend in the US. The NZX 50 Index rose 21 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4185.18. Within the index, 31 stocks rose, 11 stocks fell, and eight …