ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on August 28, 2025.
I’m autistic and don’t speak. Here’s what I want you to know
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy HoYuan Chan, PhD Candidate, Sociology, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University Kateryna Kovarzh/Getty My travels with autism started long before my diagnosis at the age of three years and three months. My family noticed autistic features from around 15 months of age. I never
In a lonely world, widespread AI chatbots and ‘companions’ pose unique psychological risks
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel You, Clinical Lecturer USYD, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist FRANZCP, University of Sydney Cheng Xin/Getty Images News Within two days of launching its AI companions last month, Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot app Grok became the most popular app in Japan. Companion chatbots are more powerful and seductive
Polls suggest this man could become Turkey’s next president. Erdoğan is doing everything to stop him
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Gourlay, Teaching Associate in Politics & International Relations at the School of Social Sciences, Monash University A Turkish proverb – düştüğün yerden kalk – counsels that one should arise from where one has fallen. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the jailed mayor of Istanbul and main rival to President
Tourist trap: why charging entry fees at iconic NZ natural attractions could have hidden costs
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Espiner, Associate Professor, Department of Tourism, Sport & Society, Lincoln University, New Zealand Sanka Vidanagama/NurPhoto via Getty Images Recent calls from sections of the tourism industry to cut the international visitor levy (IVL) risk undermining one of the few bright spots in current government policies shaping
Why TikTok is the perfect home for absurdist comedy
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Nickl, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Culture, Literature and Translation, University of Sydney The Conversation, Ashby/TikTok, CC BY-SA Why do so many of the funniest things on social media make no sense at all? How about Ashby’s stunt scenes for a back brace infomercial on a white
See Earth’s seasons in all their complexity in a new animated map
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Drew Terasaki Hart, Ecologist, CSIRO The average seasonal growth cycles of Earth’s land-based ecosystems, estimated from 20 years of satellite imagery. Terasaki Hart et al. / Nature The annual clock of the seasons – winter, spring, summer, autumn – is often taken as a given. But our
Why scammers fake illness for cash, according to a psychologist
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqui Yoxall, Associate Professor & Chair of Discipline – Psychological and Social Health, Southern Cross University Queensland woman Amanda Maree Power has recently been jailed after faking cancer and fraudulently raising about A$24,000 from friends, family and strangers over several years – including to pay for holidays
Getting rid of fossil fuels is really hard – and we’re not making much progress
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Brueckner, Pro Vice Chancellor, Sustainability, Murdoch University Jason Edwards/Getty If miners, the media, policymakers and renewable energy companies are to be believed, Australia is in the midst of a green energy transition aimed at preventing the worst effects of climate change. This appealing narrative suggests we
21 questions about the claim that Iran orchestrated antisemitic attacks in Australia
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Canberra will be expelling the Iranian ambassador and legislating to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a “terrorist group”. Albanese says the move is because an assessment by the intelligence agency ASIO has
A ‘scathing’ report on RNZ’s performance obscures the good news – and the challenge of serving many audiences
ANALYSIS: By Peter Thompson, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The recent internal report on RNZ’s performance, variously described as “scathing” and “blunt” in news coverage, caused considerable debate about the state broadcaster’s performance and priorities — not all of it fair or well informed. The report makes several operational recommendations, including addressing
Q&A with Kylie Moore-Gilbert: this is why Iran is instigating terrorism in Australia
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Bergman, International Affairs Editor, The Conversation Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called Iran’s involvement in at least two antisemitic attacks in Australia last year “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression”. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it “crossed a line”. We asked Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a Middle East
Bougainville’s President Ishmael Toroama candid and relaxed a week out from polling
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist The President of Bougainville, Ishmael Toroama, says he is not feeling the pressure as he seeks a second five-year term in office. Bougainville goes to the polls next Thursday, September 4, with 404 candidates vying for 46 seats in the Parliament of the autonomous Papua New Guinea region.
A court has found Brittany Higgins defamed Linda Reynolds. Here’s why
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor in Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia Six years on from the Parliament House sexual assault allegations that spurred a public reckoning, the legal fallout continues. This time, a court has found former Western Australian Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds was defamed
What is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Thomas, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, Deakin University With news Iran orchestrated two antisemitic attacks in Australia last year, the federal government has declared the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist group. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s Director-General Mike Burgess said the group, known as IRGC,
Mr Squiggle entertained Australia’s children for 40 years. Now, he’s back in the spotlight
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jo Coghlan, Associate Professor, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, University of New England Mr Squiggle, 1958, and Rocket, about 1975. National Museum of Australia If you grew up in Australia any time between the 1960s and the late 1990s, chances are you knew a little man from
Australia faces a home insurance reckoning – and we can learn from California’s bold move
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ehsan Noroozinejad, Senior Researcher and Sustainable Future Lead, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Luis Ascui/Getty Images Climate change is making home insurance costlier and, for some, harder to secure. According to one analysis, one in ten Australian properties will be uninsurable within a decade. Insurance
Uni students are using AI to ‘ask stupid questions’ and get feedback on their work
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jimena de Mello Heredia, PhD candidate, Faculty of Education, Monash University Imagine a student working on an assignment and they are stuck. Their lecturer or tutor is not available. Or maybe they feel worried about looking silly if they ask for help. So they turn to ChatGPT
Why grow plants in space? They can improve how we produce food and medicine on Earth
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Troy Miller, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space, The University of Western Australia ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space, CC BY-ND Sometime in the 2040s, humans may well reach a new frontier – Mars. To get there, we’ll
Why are police a target for sovereign citizen violence?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Shakespeare, PhD Candidate, Griffith University As the tragic events evolve in Porepunkah, northeast Victoria, media outlets have reported the alleged shooter, Dezi Freeman, is known to be a “sovereign citizen”. Sovereign citizens believe they are not subject to the law. This view stems from deeply held
Taylor Swift is engaged. She’s been getting her fans ready for this moment for 20 years
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Scales, PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, Media, Film and Education, Swinburne University of Technology taylorswift/Instagram Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have announced their engagement, posting on Instagram images of the proposal with the caption “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married”. “America’s
