ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on October 14, 2026.
How the ‘digital duty of care’ bill could undermine vital sex and drug education online
Safety messages about drugs and sex are already routinely misidentified and removed from social media platforms. The proposed bill would take this further.
Domestic violence is a national crisis in PNG. The Chiefs NRL team must do more to support women
PNG is grappling with despicable rates of gender-based violence. Why isn’t a women’s team part of the Australian government’s $600m NRL deal?
Loops, flashbacks and fractured narratives: why filmmakers love to play with time
Cinema, almost from its infancy, has been drawn to telling stories out of sequence – and forcing audiences to reassemble what they have just seen.
By making protests conditional on state approval, governments are eroding our democracy
A new report maps how protest permit systems work in every state and territory. The result is a tangle of laws, council by-laws and complicated rules.
Renters and home buyers are seeing AI-‘enhanced’ property photos. Now NSW is changing the rules
Renters and homebuyers have been turning up to properties to find a very different reality from the ads. There’s even a name for it: ‘housefishing’.
Pope Leo XIV’s lung cancer highlights growing number of nonsmokers diagnosed with the disease – and younger people too
While lung cancer rates have decreased by 43% in men, they have risen by 79% in women. Broader screening guidelines and recognizing early symptoms can help address the changing face of lung cancer.
Manifesto of Silences reimagines opera from a Deaf perspective, as a space to process trauma communally
The Deaf-led theatrical work explores the tragic consequences of the Milan Conference of 1880, which resulted in the suppression of sign language around the world.
Our detection dogs are helping protect one of Australia’s most imperiled lizards
Highly trained canines, Sugar and Moss, are helping protect the critically endangered Victorian grassland earless dragon.
Voters want stronger action on AI. Can NZ afford to keep taking a soft approach?
As AI and its impacts become harder to avoid, other countries are setting rules for its use. New Zealand has some catching up to do.
Social Security benefits are rising again, but probably not enough to offset healthcare costs
Some advocates for older Americans want the government to change the index used for this adjustment to one more tailored to their spending patterns.
Guilfoyle resigns as ambassador to Greece – adding to the global vacancies sapping US embassies
93 out of 196 U.S. ambassador jobs are currently unfilled. That includes countries that are key partners to Washington.
Introduced species aren’t good or bad. But when they slip from our control, we are quick to condemn them
Pigs, camels, rabbits and many others were brought to Australia deliberately as valuable species. But we see them very differently once they become free-roaming.
When parents don’t see eye to eye: are differences in parenting styles a bad thing?
When parents have different approaches to raising children, who’s right? Research suggests the answer matters less than how they handle their disagreements.
How young people do democracy: pausing, questioning, creating and bringing others along with them
The second annual Shopfront Youth-Led Conference was designed by young people for young people. They wanted to talk about ‘redesigning success’.
Ontario’s alcohol overhaul is costing taxpayers more than expected. The LCBO’s finances explain why
Ontario’s alcohol market overhaul has cut LCBO earnings, while a ban on selling U.S. liquor has left taxpayers paying millions to store unsold stock.
Who’s paying whom? The circular money machine behind the AI boom (or bubble)
What’s not clear is how much of this AI boom is being driven by real, end-user demand — and how much might be a bubble.
Spawning coral release quintillions of eggs each year: new research
The first estimate of coral egg numbers across the Indo-Pacific shows which species can help rebuild devastated reefs.
NZ’s health system suffers from chronic ailments only cross-party consensus can treat
Voters should look for long-term health policies that address workforce shortages, improve access to primary and specialist care, and include early intervention.
How lessons from fisheries management could help us govern Earth’s orbital space
Orbital space management organizations could help ensure that future generations live with stars above their heads, rather than constellations of debris.
Mental disorders are twice as common among victim-survivors of intimate partner violence
Yet victim-survivors often don’t or can’t access mental health care.