SOFT COMMODITY PRICES. Last night’s GlobalDairyTrade result of a 0.7% increase in the average winning price, but softer milk powder prices confirmed reports that prices have plateau for now. Trade reports are indicating most buyers have their immediate requirements covered, but order books are firming up for 2013. The catalyst for another leg up may well be when export markets shift …

Whaleoil’s ‘out of sync’ video had the newzealandinc.com team wondering where we had heard David Shearer’s voice before – it is amazingly reminiscent of Colin Firth’s King George.  Speech training – or a dose of anger- might cure the stumbles. Job for Brian Edwards or maybe the stern hand of Judy Callingham? Forward to 0.54 “timing isn’t my strong suit.’

Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world’s top diplomats with President Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers have staked tough, hard-to-bridge positions, and the gaps keep alive the threat of …