Independent Analysis and Reportage
Asia Pacific Report
ANALYSIS: By Lim Tean Across my social media platforms, I encounter daily a particular brand of ignorance that I find increasingly impossible to ignore. Iran is dismissed as a crazy country ruled by medieval mullahs, its people caricatured as fanatics who chant “Death to America” for no coherent reason. And from that caricature flows a
COMMENTARY: By Jale Moala It’s interesting how readily many people in Fiji embrace the work of the United Nations when it supports local programmes such as climate resilience, development, governance and social inclusion. Yet when the UN publishes reports critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, some of the same voices suddenly dismiss it as
RNZ Pacific Cook Islanders are set to head to the polls in six weeks’ time, the King’s Representative of the Cook Islands, Sir Tom Marsters, has announced. In a radio announcement, Sir Tom said that on the advice tendered to him by Prime Minister Mark Brown to call for fresh elections, and pursuant to Article
By Margot Staunton of RNZ Pacific A former coup convict in Fiji claims the country will remain unstable while the Indigenous iTaukei are economically marginalised. Josefa ‘Jo’ Nata, who spent 24 years in jail for treason, told the Fiji government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission that “the lot of iTaukei has not improved a single bit
COMMENTARY: By Lim Tean The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has told the world that Iran’s foreign policy is driven by “pure theology” and that “no one has ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran”. Both claims are demonstrably false. Both reveal a man profoundly unqualified for the White House office
By Christina Persico of RNZ Pacific The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) has formally outlined its final position on its political future, proposing a three-stage pathway towards self-government and eventual independence. President Ishmael Toroama presented its position to the independent facilitator who is overseeing the joint technical consultations between the ABG and the Papua New Guinea
COMMENTARY: By Saige England Good on the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) for its submission to the Royal Commission. The New Zealand Jewish Council is so very different to the Jewish Council in Australia. The latter has far larger numbers and more clout, over there at least. The NZ Jewish Council has clout and applies
Democracy Now! AMY GOODMAN: In Britain, Keir Starmer has announced his resignation as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party following growing pressure from within the Labour Party to step down. Starmer spoke earlier on Monday: PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER: The chance to change the lives of millions of people for the better, that’s
By Patrick Decloitre of RNZ Pacific The French High Commission in New Caledonia has banned all alcohol sales until next Sunday — June 28, the provincial elections day. The ban enforcement started on Monday and will last until Sunday at midnight, local time. The ban concerns the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.
By Johnny Blades of RNZ Pacific Bougainville Copper Limited has been told its licence for the Panguna copper and gold mine has been suspended. BCL said it was considering its position after the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s Registrar of Tenements advised that as a consequence of new mining legislation the company’s rights under the exploration licence
INTERVIEW: By Ibrahim Othman In an unprecedented move on New Zealand‘s political scene, the Free Palestine Party Aotearoa has been launched with the Palestinian cause at the heart of its political platform, describing it as the foremost moral, political and economic issue in the world today. The party’s launch comes in an election year with
RNZ Pacific Papua New Guinea’s ruling PANGU Party says it would support a 15-year transition process for Bougainville, regardless of whether Parliament votes for or against independence. Prime Minister James Marape outlined the proposal in a statement defending PNG’s constitutional process for deciding Bougainville’s political future. Bougainville, which is an autonomous region within PNG, voted