ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on March 6, 2026.
Epstein files reveal the power – and peril – of online sleuths doing the government’s work
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oliver Alfred Guidetti, Post Doctoral Researcher, Cybersecurity and Psychology, University of Wollongong A large release of important documents once meant teams of journalists staying back, working through piles of records late into the night. Today, it triggers something closer to a public audit. The January 30 publication
Iran’s regime has shut down the internet in the middle of war – placing civilians in the crosshairs
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD Candidate in International Relations, Deakin University; Dublin City University On February 28, hours after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, the Iranian regime imposed a nationwide internet shutdown. Roughly one week into the conflict, it is estimated only around 1% of
Is honey good for you? Can it speed recovery if you’re sick or injured?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle Honey is often praised for a range of health benefits, from soothing a sore throat and helping you get to sleep to healing woulds and lowering risk factors for diabetes and heart disease. Honey’s acidity has
English doesn’t need protecting in New Zealand – but other languages do
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sidney Wong, PhD Candidate in Linguistics (Canterbury) and Research Fellow, University of Otago Anyone tuning into political debates about the recently introduced English Language Bill might be led to think New Zealand’s most widely spoken tongue is endangered. The bill, which forms part of a coalition deal
In Trump’s precarious world, NZ will need all the middle-sized friends it can get
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Ross Smith, Senior Research Fellow, National Centre for Research on Europe, University of Canterbury When a local political commentator recently suggested (partly tongue-in-cheek) that New Zealand might respond to US President Donald Trump’s new world order by becoming the seventh state of Australia, it was dismissed
40% of teenage boys believe women lie about domestic and sexual violence: new research
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Meger, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, The University of Melbourne On International Women’s Day, March 8, we often commemorate the progress women have made across the centuries. Rightly so, as there’s much to celebrate. But what if the more urgent story is about backlash? We are
Wasps and frogs keep evolving a crucial pain molecule in their venom. Now we know why
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Robinson, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland The next time you stub your toe, get pricked with a needle, or have your fingers jammed in the lid of a piano, you might pause to consider the marvellous way our bodies are
Hezbollah − degraded, weakened but not yet disarmed − destabilizes Lebanon once again
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mireille Rebeiz, Chair of Middle East Studies, Dickinson College The fragile peace in Lebanon was already showing serious strains in the first months of 2026 – and then came the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran. After the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hezbollah – a
Australia’s official plan for AI safety isn’t much more than a single dot point. Will it be enough?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By José-Miguel Bello y Villarino, Senior Research Fellow, Sydney Law School, University of Sydney Last week, one of Australia’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, Toby Walsh, warned Australia’s lack of guardrails for AI is putting young people at risk of being “sacrificed for the profits of big tech”.
New rules and high expectations: can Oscar Piastri break Australia’s F1 drought?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan van den Hoek, Senior Lecturer, Clinical Exercise Physiology, University of the Sunshine Coast The Australian Grand Prix launches the 2026 Formula 1 (F1) season at Melbourne’s Albert Park on Sunday. While the US strikes on Iran forced many teams to change their travel plans, organisers are
A ‘good death’ has a price – and a new study shows not everyone in palliative care can afford it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henrietta Byrne, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, University of Sydney You would hope for your dying days to be full of calm and care. But our research with people who are dying shows this is far from the reality for many people. Instead, financial
New modelling shows renewable electricity can meet NZ’s future demand – without importing gas
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Brent, Professor and Chair in Sustainable Energy Systems, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The government’s plan to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) has raised questions about whether this is the best approach to strengthening New Zealand’s energy security, not least because the conflict
We thought inbred koalas were at risk of extinction. But what we discovered upends genetic conventions
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Weeks, Associate Senior Research Scientist, The University of Melbourne If you follow media coverage of koalas, you could be forgiven for feeling confused. Recent stories describe a “koala paradox”: endangered in the north of Australia, abundant in the south; genetically diverse in some regions, genetically depleted
Meet ‘Tous’ — an entirely new genus of mammal we identified. Here’s why it’s so exciting
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erik Meijaard, Honorary Professor of Conservation, University of Kent Mammals are not especially diverse. Roughly 6,800 mammal species are known to exist, compared with about 8,800 species of amphibian, 11,000 species of bird and 12,500 of reptile. Yet when most people picture biodiversity, they often think of
Fertiliser costs are soaring amid war in the Middle East. Will your grocery bill follow?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Ubilava, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Sydney Conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran has now led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes. But oil is not the
Amanda Seyfried’s ‘prosthetic butthole’ isn’t a joke – costuming nudity is important for actors
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Brayshaw, Honorary Research Fellow, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney Amanda Seyfried wears a “prosthetic butthole” in her new movie, The Testament of Ann Lee. She told BBC Radio 2: This movie needed to be graphic, so I wore a prosthetic butthole. […] It was
‘I know she’d be really proud’ – NZ’s first Pasifika heritage All Blacks coach
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The All Blacks have their first coach of Pasifika heritage. Dave Rennie has been given the job, replacing the ousted Scott Robertson. Rennie’s Cook Islands heritage comes via his mother, who hails from Titikaveka on Rarotonga, and Rennie even played a non-test match for the country in 1990. Asked
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s presumed next supreme leader? And would he bring change – or more brutal suppression?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehmet Ozalp, Professor of Islamic Studies, Head of School, The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt University The death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, during the holy month of Ramadan marks one of the most consequential turning points in the history of the Islamic
Politics with Michelle Grattan: South Australian election special
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra South Australians are heading to the ballot box on March 21. If polls are correct, Peter Malinauskas’s Labor government will win in a landslide. Polling also indicates One Nation has pulled ahead of the Liberal Party in the state, making
Grattan on Friday: would Labor be supporting this war if it were in opposition?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed federal parliament on Thursday his well-crafted speech had one gaping hole. It did not mention the huge issue dominating world attention – the United States-Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent ever-widening conflict
