ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for January 28, 2026
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on January 28, 2026.
Independent Analysis and Reportage
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on January 28, 2026.

By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent Pacific delegates in the United States Congress are warning efforts to fast-track deep-seabed mining could sideline island communities and cause irreversible damage to fragile ocean ecosystems. The concerns were raised at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing in Washington last week, held a day ... <a title="Pacific delegates warn against US fast-tracking seabed mining" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/28/pacific-delegates-warn-against-us-fast-tracking-seabed-mining/" aria-label="Read more about Pacific delegates warn against US fast-tracking seabed mining">Read more</a>

By Haya Ahmed In Gaza today, university scholarships have taken on a whole new meaning. No longer are they a step towards self-development, educational attainment or an academic experience in a different country. For a whole generation of Gazan students, a foreign university scholarship has become a lifeline and one of the few remaining legal ... <a title="In Gaza, university scholarships are now a matter of survival" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/27/in-gaza-university-scholarships-are-now-a-matter-of-survival/" aria-label="Read more about In Gaza, university scholarships are now a matter of survival">Read more</a>

ANALYSIS: By Laurens Ikinia in Jakarta The logbook of presidential flights in Indonesia reveals an unusual pattern — from the Merdeka Palace to the Land of the Bird of Paradise. By 2023, then President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had set foot in Papua at least 17 times — a record in the republic’s history, surpassing the ... <a title="Jakarta at crossroads – can President Prabowo connect with Papuan hearts?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/27/jakarta-at-crossroads-can-president-prabowo-connect-with-papuan-hearts/" aria-label="Read more about Jakarta at crossroads – can President Prabowo connect with Papuan hearts?">Read more</a>
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on January 27, 2026.

By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific bulletin editor With all the setbacks of recent years, Vanuatu’s citizenship sale schemes should be dead in the water — instead they are thriving, and geopolitical chaos is playing a part. The citizenship-by-investment sector is the biggest single revenue earner for Vanuatu’s government, but lingering issues of integrity cast a ... <a title="Vanuatu citizenship sales strong despite currency hassles and integrity issues" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/27/vanuatu-citizenship-sales-strong-despite-currency-hassles-and-integrity-issues/" aria-label="Read more about Vanuatu citizenship sales strong despite currency hassles and integrity issues">Read more</a>

ANALYSIS: By Shailendra B. Singh “You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.” Although made in an American context, this observation by President Harry S. Truman has universal appeal. It highlights the unpredictable and treacherous nature of politics, whether it’s the chameleon-like antics of politicians or the fickleness of voters. The precariousness of politics ... <a title="Eroding trust in Fiji politics – lessons of 2025 and beyond" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/27/eroding-trust-in-fiji-politics-lessons-of-2025-and-beyond/" aria-label="Read more about Eroding trust in Fiji politics – lessons of 2025 and beyond">Read more</a>

COMMENTARY: By Chris Hedges The murders of unarmed civilians on the streets of Minneapolis, including the killing of the intensive-care nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti, would not come as a shock to Iraqis in Fallujah or Afghans in Helmand province. They were terrorised by heavily armed American execution squads for decades. It would not come as ... <a title="Chris Hedges: We sowed the wind, now we will reap the whirlwind" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/26/chris-hedges-we-sowed-the-wind-now-we-will-reap-the-whirlwind/" aria-label="Read more about Chris Hedges: We sowed the wind, now we will reap the whirlwind">Read more</a>
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on January 26, 2026.

RNZ Pacific Samoan playwright, author and poet Papali’i Sia Figiel has died in prison, according to local media reports. Local media, citing sources at the country’s main correctional facility in Apia, are reporting that Papali’i, 58, was found dead in her prison cell on Monday. She was being held at Tanumalala Prison, awaiting her next ... <a title="Samoan playwright found dead in prison, local media report" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/26/samoan-playwright-found-dead-in-prison-local-media-report/" aria-label="Read more about Samoan playwright found dead in prison, local media report">Read more</a>

COMMENTARY: By Kalafi Moala, publisher of Talanoa ‘o Tonga As a journalist based in Tonga, I have chosen mostly to refrain from giving a view of US President Donald Trump, one way or another, as I thought that he would sooner or later get over his incredible childishness and tyrannical behavior, and start doing something ... <a title="Kalafi Moala: My view of tyrannical Trump" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/26/kalafi-moala-my-view-of-tyrannical-trump/" aria-label="Read more about Kalafi Moala: My view of tyrannical Trump">Read more</a>

ANALYSIS: By Jim Sanday The recent announcement by Fiji’s Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs that Fiji will consider contributing troops to a proposed international stabilisation force in Gaza imposes a responsibility on all of us to ask the hard questions before the decision is finalised by Cabinet. At the outset, let’s all be clear ... <a title="Gaza peacekeeping deployment – five clear questions Fiji cannot ignore" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/25/gaza-peacekeeping-deployment-five-clear-questions-fiji-cannot-ignore/" aria-label="Read more about Gaza peacekeeping deployment – five clear questions Fiji cannot ignore">Read more</a>