ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on August 16, 2025.
Gordon Campbell: The lack of spine in New Zealand’s foreign policy on Gaza
ANALYSIS: By Gordon Campbell The word “Gaza” is taking on similar connotations to what the word “Auschwitz” meant to a previous generation. It signifies a deliberate and systematic attempt to erase an entire people from history on the basis of their ethnic identity. As a result, Israel is isolating itself as a pariah state on
‘I believe I can’: Elizabeth Palin runs for Bougainville North women’s seat
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist Elizabeth Tako Palin is one of five women contesting the Bougainville North women’s reserved seat next month. It was previously held by Amanda Masono, who has chosen to contest the open Atolls seat, which was once held by her father. The autonomous Papua New Guinea region is holding
Keith Rankin Analysis – Goodies and Baddies? Lessons since the World War of 1914
Analysis by Keith Rankin. World War One is really the first conflagration of a Great World War which lasted between 1914 and 1945. That great war was a ‘”game” of two halves’ with an extended and less violent mid-war phase; total war, with an interregnum which exacerbated rather than resolved the trigger issues of early
Greens may be a problem for Labor in next week’s Tasmanian no-confidence vote
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Liberals won 14 of the 35 lower house seats at the July 19 Tasmanian state election, Labor ten, the Greens five, independents five and the Shooters,
A rare ‘brain-eating amoeba’ has been detected in Queensland water. Can I catch it by drinking tapwater? Or in the shower?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian A. Wright, Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University Nico De Pasquale Photography/Getty Images One of the world’s most dangerous water-borne microorganisms, commonly called a “brain-eating amoeba”, has recently been detected in two drinking water supplies in south-west Queensland. Both affected towns are about 750
Do hot drinks really give you cancer? A gut expert explains
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and Clinical Academic Gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Kira auf der Heide/Unsplash When you order a coffee, do you ask for it to be “extra hot”? Whether you enjoy tea, coffee or something else, hot drinks are a comforting and often highly personal ritual.
Not quite angels: why we should stop calling these small winged children ‘cherubs’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland Raphael, Sistine Madonna (detail), between c. 1512 and c. 1513. Wikimedia Commons We are all familiar with cherubs – small, winged children that have a status in Western art history as angels.
‘Stop killing journalists’ in Gaza plea by media alliance advocates
Pacific Media Watch Union members of Australia’s Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) have made a video honouring the 242 Palestinian journalists and media workers killed by the Israeli military since October 2023 — many of them targeted. The death toll has been reported by the Gaza Media Office since the latest killing of six
The global plastics treaty process has fallen flat. Here’s what went wrong, and how you can help
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melanie MacGregor, ARC Future Fellow and Matthew Flinders Fellow in Chemistry, Flinders University Progress towards a legally binding global treaty on plastics pollution stalled and went into reverse this week. The United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, ran overtime. It’s likely to conclude this
Australia used to lead the world on shorter work hours – we could do it again
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Buchanan, Professor in Working Life, Discipline of Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney In the 1850s, when Melbourne stonemasons won the eight-hour day, employers of the day prophesied economic ruin. These standardised hours then flowed into other industries. Far from ruin,
