Independent Analysis and Reportage
Asia Pacific Report
By RNZ Morning Report and Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior journalist The bank accounts of two New Zealanders have been frozen as police probe an extraordinary international case of two alleged Samoan hitmen who confessed to murdering a Sydney gang boss. Joseph Vaa, 27, admitted on Vietnamese television to gunning down suspected “Coconut Cartel” ringleader
Pacific Media Watch Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has accused the Israeli army and internal security agency Shin Bet of repeatedly perpetrating inhumane acts against Palestinian journalists from Gaza. The Paris-based global media freedom monitoring and advocacy movement says it has interviewed five Gazan journalists who were imprisoned in Israel after the 7 October 2023 attack
By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist New Zealand’s Budget 2026 will see more foreign aid to the Pacific region, while defence and customs spending rises with an eye towards crime and security. But Pacific-focused policy work will be cut as the government seeks to reduce the size of the public sector, as the Ministry for
By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior journalist Samoa police have launched an investigation into a bizarre international case involving two Samoan men who have appeared on Vietnamese television confessing to the murder of a Sydney gang leader in Ho Chi Minh City. The Samoa Observer reported that Joseph Vaa, 27, admitted gunning down suspected “Coconut
As the Bondi Royal Commission continues, one major campaigner against antisemitism demonstrates its vehement opposition to social cohesion. Wendy Bacon reports for Michael West Media. ANALYSIS: By Wendy Bacon Sheina Gutnick, whose father Reuben Morrison was killed in the Bondi Massacre, was the first witness at the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. She
ANALYSIS: Global Sumud Flotilla As testimonies from the 428 participants illegally kidnapped by the Israeli regime continue to surface, the United States critical role in the abuses and torture of humanitarian volunteers and journalists has become undeniable. This role goes beyond the US State Department’s diplomatic shielding and the US Embassy’s refusal to assist American
By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A West Papuan independence activist says AI-generated fake footage of her and her words has been used to spread disinformation on social media. Koteka Wenda, daughter of the leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda, said the Instagram video reel by an Indonesian
By Christina Persico, RNZ Pacific senior bulletin editor Moana Pasifika captain Miracle Fai’ilagi says he still hopes the franchise will be saved. Shareholders of Moana Pasifika have voted to appoint liquidators to the franchise’s holding company. The Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) said it could no longer continue funding the team and it was “deeply disappointed”
Asia Pacific Report One of the three New Zealanders on the Global Sumud Flotilla who were among the hundreds kidnapped by the Israeli military illegally on international waters this month and abducted to Israel has described his brutal treatment after returning home. Speaking in a TV3 news report last night, Hāhona Ormsby (Ngāti Maniapoto), 56,
RNZ Pacific The head of the United Nations body mandated to develop regulations for seabed mining in international waters says Pacific countries are playing a big role in shaping the regulations that will govern the future industry. International Seabed Authority (ISA) Secretary-General Leticia Carvalho was in Fiji last week conducting training for Pacific Island nations
By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Indonesian filmmaker says the crackdown by authorities on his West Papua documentary in some parts of the country is a threat to democracy. The Pesta Babi (Pig Feast) documentary looks at the social and environmental impacts of land seizures for big agri-business ventures in Papua — and
COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone The empire’s war on activism and journalism continues to escalate as the Trump administration targets leftwing streamer Hasan Piker and antiwar activist Medea Benjamin for the “crime” of bringing humanitarian aid to Cuba. This is yet another act of aggression in the same onslaught that has seen inconvenient truth-telling and expressions