The Bull Ring

POLL: Coalition Holds Power – But Greens Surge, While Major Parties Slide. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘛𝘝1/𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 2026: 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 & 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 11%, 𝘕𝘡 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 10%. 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴: Bruce Alpine . T he February 2026 1News Verian poll , conducted 7–11 February and released 16 February, provides the first significant insight into voter sentiment as New Zealand enters election year ahead of the November 2026 vote.  Surveying 1,003 eligible voters via mixed mobile and online panels (margin of error ±3.1%), it highlights a coalition government still comfortably ahead but with clear signs of voter fatigue and shifting dynamics among minor parties.  Credit: Bruce Alpine Party support shows National at 34% (down 2 points from December 2025), Labour at 32% (down 3 points).  Their combined 66% is notably low com...

Bad Bunny Smashes Records, TPUSA Alternative Craters in Viewership 𝘉𝘢𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺'𝘴 2026 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘰𝘸𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 135 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘗𝘜𝘚𝘈 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 ~6.1 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯—𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 20 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴: Bruce Alpine . T he Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show, headlined by Bad Bunny, drew massive audiences, becoming the most-watched halftime performance in Super Bowl history according to early reports.  Preliminary figures from sources like CBS News, NBC, and Nielsen estimates placed viewership at over 135 million, with some outlets citing 135.4 million viewers.  This edged past the previous record set by Kendrick Lamar in 2025 (133.5 million) and earlier benchmarks like Michael Jackson's 1993 performance (around 133.4 million in adjusted terms).  The numbers include the main NBC br...

A New Order Is Emerging - Allies Losing Faith In Trumps America 𝘒𝘦𝘺 𝘜.𝘚. 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦-𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝗢𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻: Bruce Alpine . U S President Trump's second term has significantly strained relations with many traditional U.S. allies, leading to a notable erosion of trust in American foreign policy leadership.  Recent polls and analyses from mid-2025 through early 2026 reveal a consistent pattern: majorities in key partner nations express low confidence in Trump's global approach.  For example, Pew Research Center surveys in June 2025 showed that more than half of adults in 19 out of 24 countries surveyed lacked confidence in Trump's leadership on the world stage, with U.S. favorability declining sharply ...

Economies Grow By Adapting. Not Sticking To Old Ideas. 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 '𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦' 𝘮𝘺𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘸-𝘺𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴. 𝗢𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻: Bruce Alpine . T he old idea that farming is the main support of any economy is like a heavy chain holding a boat back. It comes from times when most people grew food to survive. But today, in the 21st Century, with cities full and computers everywhere, this myth stops countries from moving forward. Real growth happens when we shift workers and money to new areas like tech and services, where they make much more. Hanging on to farming as the "big boss" wastes chances and keeps people poor. The facts show it's not true anymore. Farming makes up just 4% of the world's total economy in 2024, maybe 5% in 2...

Trump Threatens ➟ Europe Unites ➟ Trump Backs Down 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 10% 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥'𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 "𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦" 𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘴. 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘭, 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬: Bruce Alpine . A fter threatening military force to seize Greenland and imposing tariff hikes on opposing European nations, President Trump faced unified EU resistance to his imperial ambitions.  He backed down, canceling the tariffs and ruling out force. Trump intensified his pursuit of Greenland, Denmark's autonomous territory, framing it as vital for Arctic strategy against Russia and China, resource access, and U.S. security.  On January 17, he threa...

Canada's Gripen Gambit: Reshaping Global Air Power? 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘍-35𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴—𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘕𝘈𝘛𝘖, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘜.𝘚. 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝗢𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻: Bruce Alpine . I n the frosty corridors of Ottawa, a seismic shift brews in the world of fighter jet procurement.  Canada's long-committed $19-billion deal for 88 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters—signed in 2023 to replace its creaky CF-18 Hornets—is under fierce scrutiny.  With only 16 jets delivered amid ballooning costs and U.S. geopolitical saber-rattling under President Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has greenlit a high-stakes review.  Enter Sweden's Saab JAS 39 Gripen: a nimble, affordable multirole marvel that's suddenly the darling of Canadian sovereignty advocates. From a n...