ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on September 17, 2025.
Trump accuses ABC journalist of ‘hurting Australia’ and says he’ll report him to Albanese
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra It doesn’t take much for a journalist to get under Donald Trump’s skin. When the ABC’s United States correspondent John Lyons started questioning the president during a Washington “doorstop” about his business dealings while in office, the response was both
A big, convulsive twitch while dozing off? Sleep experts explain the ‘hypnic jerk’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yaqoot Fatima, Professor of Sleep Health, University of the Sunshine Coast Photo by cottonbro studio/Pexels You’re gently drifting off to sleep when suddenly your arms and legs convulse and you jolt yourself awake. Or, perhaps you’re relaxing in bed when, out of the blue, your dozing partner
The ‘anxiety economy’ is booming. But should companies be profiting from our fears?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Harrison, Director, Master of Business Administration Program (MBA); Co-Director, Better Consumption Lab, Deakin University Ron Lach/Pexels, The Conversation, CC BY-SA When the newly appointed chief executive of tracking app Life360 recently described the company as part of the “anxiety economy”, it sounded like a throwaway phrase.
Pacific leaders reach agreement on big issues – but unity remains elusive
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sione Tekiteki, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Auckland University of Technology Ben Strang/AFP via Getty Images The Pacific Islands Forum wrapped up its annual leaders meeting last week with some significant agreements, including the launch of the region’s own climate financing facility, the endorsement of the Ocean
Top sports teams are bought and sold for billions worldwide. The risky trend is coming to Australia
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Nichol, Lecturer in Law, CQUniversity Australia In recent years, private equity has changed the global sports landscape, with clubs from Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Football League (NFL), rugby union in New Zealand and European soccer reaping massive financial benefits. Sports codes in Australia
A brief history of Bella Ciao, the anti-fascist Italian song cited in the Charlie Kirk shooting
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Mallia, PhD Candidate in Art History and Theory, Monash University The Bella ciao, Milano! demonstration for the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Italy from Nazi-fascism in April 2025. Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Getty Images Following the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, officials reported unspent
A pretty face helped make Robert Redford a star. Talent and dedication kept him one
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Sparkes, Senior Lecturer, Media Studies and Production, University of Southern Queensland Miroslav Zajic/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images Hollywood is the place where having a great face will get you far. Think Errol Flynn, James Dean, George Clooney, Brad Pitt – a handsome appearance opens acting doors. Those
Battle for the bush? Ignore the noise – most farmers like renewables
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elianor Gerrard, Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney Chris Gordon/Getty Reaching net zero in Australia relies on the bush. That’s where the land, sun, wind and freshwater resources are. But as the clean energy build accelerates, some landholders are pushing back. Unfortunately,
Since WWII, it’s been taboo to force nations to cede land after war. Russia wants to normalise conquest again
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Richardson, Visiting Fellow, Centre for European Studies, Australian National University A frequent question around peace talks over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is whether Ukraine should give up land as part of an interim or final settlement. United States President Donald Trump has often suggested this would
Viral violent videos on social media are skewing young people’s sense of the world
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Cornell, PhD Candidate in Public Health & Community Medicine, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney When news broke last week that US political influencer Charlie Kirk had been shot at an event at Utah Valley University, millions of people around the world were first alerted to
Could making tobacco cheaper actually cut down smoking rates? We asked 5 experts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Becky Freeman, Professor in Public Health, University of Sydney Australia aims to reduce rates of daily smoking to 5% or less by 2030. By 2023, we got down to 8.3%. A key tool to encourage smokers to quit has been to raise the tobacco taxes. Now a
Australia’s 2035 climate target is coming. Here’s how we’ll know if it’s good enough
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Hatfield-Dodds, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University The clock is ticking on the federal government’s big climate reveal: Australia’s 2035 emissions targets. The declaration is expected later this week, and will signal to the world how hard Australia will go to help avoid the
Our new study found AI is wreaking havoc on uni assessments. Here’s how we should respond
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Corbin, Research fellow, Center for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University Andriy Onufriyenko/ Getty Images Artificial intelligence (AI) is wrecking havoc on university assessments and exams. Thanks to generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, students can now generate essays and assessment answers in seconds.
Power struggle: why fixing NZ’s ‘broken’ electricity market is such a formidable challenge
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Bertram, Visiting Scholar, School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Getty Images The growing view that New Zealand’s energy market is “broken” has brought with it a stream of suggestions for piecemeal changes that nibble at
From batteries to EV chargers, Australia and NZ need these 3 fixes to hit net-zero at less cost
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flavio Menezes, Professor of Economics, Director of the Australian Institute for Business and Economics, The University of Queensland New figures show Australians bought a record 85,000 home batteries in the first half of 2025. That’s almost three times more than the year before, and nearly fivefold growth
Canadian cities can prepare for climate change by building with nature
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Skoyles, PhD Candidate, School of Planning, University of Waterloo A tree-lined street in downtown Vancouver providing shade to pedestrians. (Adam Skoyles), CC BY The housing affordability crisis is top of mind for many around the world, including Canadians. Between 2019 and 2024, house prices in Toronto
Opposition leader Sussan Ley commits to more targeted welfare, saying it shouldn’t go to high income households
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Opposition leader Sussan Ley says welfare should be targeted “to those who truly need it”, and people should be helped “off welfare and into self-reliance”. In her first major economic speech as leader, Ley on Wednesday will lay down some
Death Cap Murders portrays Erin Patterson as a woman who craved community – and would ‘stop at nothing’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Cantrell, Senior Lecturer, Writing, Editing and Publishing, University of Southern Queensland Catherine Marciniak/Stan Last week, Erin Patterson was sentenced to life in prison, with a non-parole period of 33 years, for three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. Justice Christopher Beale acknowledged the media
Charlie Kirk shooting suspect had ties to gaming culture and the ‘dark internet’. Here’s how they radicalise
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sharpe, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Australian Catholic University Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man suspected of having fatally shot right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, is reportedly not cooperating with authorities. Robinson was apprehended after a more than two-day manhunt and is being held without bail at the
Keith Rankin Essay – Geopolitical rugby: Bad plays Evil, for the final World Cup
Essay by Keith Rankin. Today’s geopolitics is already coming very close to a war (mainly of words, so far) between Asia and Europe (both entities broadly and loosely defined). For geopolitical purposes we may call this a war of hubris and cant between East and West. Conveniently for the West, the words East and Evil
