ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on January 12, 2026.
Meet the springtails: little-known fantastic beasts that live everywhere on Earth
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Stevens, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Adelaide University _Womerleymeria bicornis_, a springtail from Tasmania. Cyrille D’Haese In virtually every piece of land on Earth – from near the summit of Mount Everest to Antarctica to caves nearly 2,000 metres underground – live tiny critters
Not just ‘eunuchs’ or sex workers: in ancient Mesopotamia, gender-diverse people held positions of power
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chaya Kasif, PhD Candidate; Assyriologist, Macquarie University An 8th century BCE gypsum relief from modern-day Iraq depicts a king and his chief ša rēši. Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago. OIM A7366. Daderot/Wikimedia Commons/Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago. OIM A7366 Today, trans people face politicisation of
Mixed reactions over Samoan PM’s proposal to ban non-Christian religions
RNZ Pacific A proposal by Sāmoa’s Prime Minister to ban all non-Christian religions from the country is being met with mixed reactions. The Samoa Observer reported church ministers and members of the public voicing views both for and against the proposal. Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt said he raised the issue with Samoa’s Council of
NZ’s low productivity is often blamed on businesses staying small. That could be a strength in 2026
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rod McNaughton, Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images For decades, we have heard a familiar story about why New Zealand’s firms choose to stay small. Business owners prefer comfort, control and lifestyle over ambition, summed up in the old notion of the
Beauty in ordinary things: why this Japanese folk craft movement still matters 100 years on
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Penny Bailey, Lecturer in Japanese Studies, The University of Queensland A thrown tea bowl made by Hamada Shōji. Wikimedia, CC BY-SA On January 10 1926, Yanagi Sōetsu and the potters Hamada Shōji and Kawai Kanjirō sat talking excitedly late into the night at a temple on Mt
Rain one minute, heatwave the next. How climate ‘whiplash’ drives unpredictable fire weather
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Graeme Thomas/Facebook After a weekend of extreme heat and windy conditions, more than 30 blazes were still burning in Victoria and New South Wales as of Sunday evening, including major fires in the Otways, near the
Modern rock wallabies seem to survive by sticking together in small areas. Fossils show they need to travel
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Laurikainen Gaete, PhD Candidate, Wollongong Isotope Geochronology Laboratory, University of Wollongong Today, rock wallabies are seen as secretive cliff-dwellers that rarely stray far from the safety of their rocky shelters. But the fossil record tells a very different story. New research suggests rock wallabies were once
The antisemitism debate is already a political minefield. The royal commission must rise above it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matteo Vergani, Associate Professor and Director of the Tackling Hate Lab, Deakin University What we currently know about antisemitism in Australia is pieced together from a fragmented body of information produced by community organisations, researchers and law enforcement. And it is largely interpreted and translated to the
Why eating disorders are more common among LGBTQIA+ people and what can help
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kai Schweizer, PhD Candidate in Youth Mental Health, The University of Western Australia; The Kids Research Institute MDV Edwards/Getty When people picture someone with an eating disorder, many think of a thin, teenage girl with anorexia nervosa. This stereotype is so pervasive it can feel like a
Is it okay to feel ‘schadenfreude’ at work? Here’s how to navigate this complex emotion
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Sachinthanee Dissanayake, PhD Candidate, University of Wollongong Pressmaster/Getty Have you ever felt delighted (perhaps secretly) when something went wrong for someone else? We may not openly admit it, but many of us have probably felt this way – sometimes intentionally, sometimes unconsciously. This feeling has
Australia’s ‘antisemitism crisis’ – examining what’s real and what isn’t
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week announced a Royal Commission into the Bondi Beach Attack and antisemitism. Andrew Brown weighs the evidence on Australia’s “antisemitism crisis” for Michael West Media. ANALYSIS: By Andrew Brown Australia is being told it faces an unprecedented wave of antisemitism — a crisis requiring extraordinary measures, including a Royal
Sāmoa set to become third Pacific nation to open Jerusalem embassy
RNZ Pacific Sāmoa is set to become the third Pacific nation to have an embassy in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt told a gathering of the Sāmoa branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem on Tuesday he had instructed the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin work on the opening of an office
ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for January 11, 2026
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on January 11, 2026.
