North Korea has pushed Seoul too far

After North Korea tested a ballistic missile on the weekend, worried nations searched for new ways to respond to an old fear - the fear that the rogue nation will one day have a nuclear bomb.

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Latest Comment

How to retrofit Sydney to build a metro

Chris Johnson dinkus

Chris Johnson 9:00 PM   The success of other global cities' metro systems comes from the urban densities that provide the patronage that makes rapid transit feasible. How can Sydney retrofit Paris or New York-like density?

Comments 68

The real test of tax reform is still ahead

Peter Reith

It's a good idea to encourage a public discussion about increasing the GST but it's also good that it looks like the Turnbull government will dump a GST increase.

Comments 9

Forced council mergers see locals losing out

The council amalgamation process is promoting the belief that politics is about delivering power to the parties.

The state government, in expensive, taxpayer-funded ads, claims the local government reform process is all about better services for our communities. The government has not provided sufficient evidence to support these claims.

Comments 12

Affirming the challenge of parenthood

Jen Vuk dinkus

How can a film that draws immediate comparisons with crimes, such as the abduction, rape and 24-year imprisonment of Elizabeth Fritzl in Austria be described as "enthralling", "life-affirming and awe-inspiring"?

Comments 4

When even court orders cannot keep you safe

SMH Editorial dinkus

Greater penalties from breaches may help but most authorities have realised they need to do more.

FEBRUARY 9

Public debate on the republic

SMH letters dinkus

Your editorial today ("Turnbull should embrace republican consensus", February 8) reasonably asks Australians to advance the republican cause without needless delays.

Column 8

Column 8

"I received a Fitbit for Christmas," reports Michelle Graham, of Hamlyn Terrace. "I finally got round to wearing it, and discovered that overnight I had walked some 173 steps. I even accumulate steps whilst I'm driving."

In the Herald: February 9, 1927

In the Herald dinkus

Lyn Maccallum 8:19 AM   John Archibald McKillip appealed against the Commissioner of Police not to grant him a driver's licence on the ground of deafness, the Herald reported on this day in 1927.

The threat of online porn to kids is real

Pornography is easily accessible to children online.

Susan McLean   No longer is it OK to say, "I don't understand tech". Parenting in the 21st century requires you to be able to parent online.

Comments 9

Disregard for UN ruling blow to human rights

Julian Assange, pictured on the balcony of Ecuador's London embassy, with the UN report that says he is being ...

Melinda Taylor   In September 2014, Julian Assange filed a complaint against Sweden and Britain before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD).

Flawed report fuels alcohol lobby

Peter Miller, Professor of Violence Prevention and Addiction Studies
School of Psychology, Deakin University.

It is vital that public policy be driven by reputable and rigorous research, and there are many problems in a recent City of Sydney report on the city's nightlife.

Comments 72

Life doesn't begin at retirement: Five truths about super and saving

Tim Dick

The indulgent devil on one shoulder pitches for more enjoyment now, the prudent angel on the other reminds me to have enough for later.

Comments 20

The curious case of Julian Assange

Julian Assange speaks via video link from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

What’s so ‘arbitrary’ about this investigation of serious crimes?

Comments 101

Australia's leadership whitewash

Australian of the Year David Morrison: "Honest enough to admit that he is on a journey himself."

We need a big cultural shift if Australia is to become a truly inclusive society.

Comments 54

Turnbull's republic reticence

SMH Editorial dinkus

His rise to leadership owed much to support across the board for his progressive social views on the republic, same-sex marriage and Indigenous recognition.

FEBRUARY 8

Increasing GST rate is just a money grab

SMH letters dinkus

I'm sorry, Peter Hartcher, but increasing the GST rate by 50 per cent, or however much, is in no way a tax reform; it is simply a quick-fix money grab to staunch the bleeding caused by government expenditure outstripping revenue – a problem exacerbated by falling commodities prices.

Column 8

Column 8.

"I've just heard Dr Finn Romanes, the Victorian Department of Health's senior medical adviser, say that the outbreak of salmonella in pre-packed lettuce was 'just the tip of the iceberg'," reports Adrian Paul, of Coffs Harbour. "Boom boom." 

In the Herald: February 8, 2009

In the Herald dinkus

Lyn Maccallum   Death comes to Kinglake and Big Brother watches over the beer.

Turnbull's agenda hit by election year realities

Square, dink, dinks, dinkus, head shot,federal politics, federal, Heath Aston

The threat of a 'double-D' is supposed to instil fear in senators, but this was a hollow threat.

The Fitz Files: fiery interview with Palmer

Peter FitzSimons.

I note with interest that the fiery interview my Missus, Lisa Wilkinson, did with Clive Palmer on the Today show on Friday morning led the nation's news websites.

Turnbull's wrong, the future isn't what it was

Peter Martin dinkus

What would you rather give up: the internet, or airconditioning?

Comments 33

Conscious Club shows Sydney has a pulse

Charles Waterstreet.

Evenings of searing sanity, musical adventure and talks taken together feel like an experience approaching near levitation.

Government and vocational training takeover

Kirsty Needham

The Turnbull government's leaked plan to take over control of vocational training should come as no surprise to the Baird government.

Press pause on shock therapy for TAFE

Sun-Herald Editorial dinkus

It is hard to fathom why a federal government presiding over an education system already reeling from a destructive and staggeringly expensive policy disaster would contemplate subjecting it to still more dislocation.

FEBRUARY 7

Letters to the Editor

SMH letters dinkus

Mitchell Pearce has shown his regret and we should leave him to rebuild his life.

Highlights

Nauru: How long can we keep lying to ourselves?

The history of asylum seeker policy in Australia will be remembered as a story of how successive governments legislated their lies to justify a world of make-believe borders and compliance.

Fine art of ignoring the UN

One key point of illumination from Julian Assange's announcement on Thursday is the rich impotence of the United Nations.

Banks are using us to hedge their bets

We only need a tiny part of the financial services industry – the rest is just speculation and it doesn't stand up to close scrutiny.

Raising the GST to 15% is fiscal folly

If Australia goes down the path of increasing the GST to 15 per cent, it will be on the way to joining that collection of West European countries which are the highest taxed countries in the world.

Why Tony Abbott should leave politics

... and a few other Liberal MPs such as Bronwyn Bishop and Philip Ruddock should stop being so selfish and move on.

Disgrace oddity - how I tried to help David Bowie

Thirty years ago the writer interviewed David Bowie - and blew it entirely.

From the desk of our chief comment moderator

Fairfax Media's chief comment moderator Rob Ashton discusses the most-commented stories of the year, and offers advice for those who get rejected.

15 of our best comment pieces of 2015

Highlights from the Herald's opinion pages in 2015 - our most-read, most-discussed, most-shared pieces (plus a few editors' favourites).

In defence of the hangover

The common or garden hangover is a terrible and wonderful thing, a device of startling ingenuity designed (one can only assume) by the bloodless Calvin himself.

Bystanders struggle to do the right thing

I boarded my flight from Paris, happy to be going home. Until I met the man in the seat next to mine.

Why New Year's Eve is the most hypocritical night

One of my starkest New Year's Eve memories comes from when I was at university in New Zealand. I was at a house of a friend of a friend, and in that house I saw a man demonstrating his talent at opening beer bottles using his mouth.

The Australian fair go is dead

Elizabeth Farrelly: Why are we OK with this? How did the fair go slip so seamlessly into tooth and claw? Or was it always thus?

Captain's speech doesn't represent the Ravenswood I know

Throughout my time at Ravenswood, I experienced an environment that encouraged hard work, equality of standing, humility, and gratitude – virtues that I believe are the very foundation of the school itself.

Where to now for a newly unseated PM

Peter Hartcher: The government may have moved on, but Tony Abbott is still adjusting to his new reality and coming to grips with life beyond the prime ministership.

Big karma hits big pharma

Paul Sheehan: When a venture capitalist bought the rights to a drug and increased its price by 5500 per cent, there was widespread outrage. Now comes corporate revenge against corporate evil.

Islamic State thrives as big boys squabble

Waleed Aly: Force will not wipe out Islamic State because it is a byproduct of a much bigger conflict that needs to be resolved first.

Why Turnbull will be our longest-serving PM

Elizabeth Farrelly: It is a relief to have a leader who uses intelligence to connect with us.

The only thing worse than having your family murdered

When Ann O'Neill woke up in hospital after her estranged husband had shot her and killed their two children, she wasn't prepared for the public response.

A photo diary of France's week of terror

For photographer Andrew Meares, a dinner in Berlin turned into a week of terror after attacks ripped through the heart of Paris.

Why I won't be changing my Facebook profile

I am a self-confessed Francophile. I speak French; have a degree in French; in my 20s I did the obligatory year as an au pair, in Limoges, working for the family of a famous French porcelain house.

Turning hateful tweets into a force for good

Susan Carland: Bombarded with hateful tweets from trolls, it was only natural that my response would be rooted in the fact that I am Muslim.