CoveragePost
February 14, 2025
The Chinese have politely told the Kiwis to back off. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that China and the Cook Islands have had diplomatic relations since 1997 which “should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party”. “New Zealand is rightly furious about it,” a TVNZ Pacific affairs writer editorialised to the ... <a title="Will New Zealand invade the Cook Islands to stop China? Seriously" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/14/will-new-zealand-invade-the-cook-islands-to-stop-china-seriously/" aria-label="Read more about Will New Zealand invade the Cook Islands to stop China? Seriously">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 13, 2025
By Melina Etches of the Cook Islands News A motion of no confidence has been filed against the Prime Minister and his Cabinet following the recent fiasco involving the now-abandoned Cook Islands passport proposal and the comprehensive strategic partnership the country will sign with China this week. Cook Islands United Party leader Teariki Heather said ... <a title="Cook Islands opposition files no-confidence motion against PM" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/13/cook-islands-opposition-files-no-confidence-motion-against-pm/" aria-label="Read more about Cook Islands opposition files no-confidence motion against PM">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 12, 2025
COMMENTARY: By Robin Davies Much has been and much more will be written about the looming abolition of USAID. It’s “the removal of a huge and important tool of American global statecraft” (Konyndyk), or the wood-chipping of a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America” (Musk) or, more reasonably, the unwarranted cancellation of an ... <a title="Powerless – another Asia-Pacific angle on the long siege of USAID" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/12/powerless-another-asia-pacific-angle-on-the-long-siege-of-usaid/" aria-label="Read more about Powerless – another Asia-Pacific angle on the long siege of USAID">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 12, 2025
As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators. By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since the agreement went into effect ... <a title="Hamas report to mediators accuses Israel of pervasive Gaza ceasefire violations" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/12/hamas-report-to-mediators-accuses-israel-of-pervasive-gaza-ceasefire-violations/" aria-label="Read more about Hamas report to mediators accuses Israel of pervasive Gaza ceasefire violations">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 11, 2025
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist China and the Cook Islands’ relationship “should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party”, says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, as opposition leaders in Rarotonga express a loss of confidence in Prime Minister Mark Brown. In response to questions from the Associated Press about New Zealand ... <a title="China: Cook Islands’ relationship with Beijing ‘should not be restrained’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/11/china-cook-islands-relationship-with-beijing-should-not-be-restrained/" aria-label="Read more about China: Cook Islands’ relationship with Beijing ‘should not be restrained’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 11, 2025
RNZ Pacific Marshall Islands Journal editor Giff Johnson says US President Donald Trump’s decision on aid “is an opening for anybody else who wants to fill the gap” in the Pacific. Trump froze all USAID for 90 days on his first day in office and is now looking to significantly reduce the size of the ... <a title="Trump’s USAID freeze ‘undermines relationships in Pacific’, says editor" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/11/trumps-usaid-freeze-undermines-relationships-in-pacific-says-editor/" aria-label="Read more about Trump’s USAID freeze ‘undermines relationships in Pacific’, says editor">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 10, 2025
COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle It generally ends badly. An old tyrant embarks on an ill-considered project that involves redrawing maps. They are heedless to wise counsel and indifferent to indigenous interests or experience. Before they fail, are killed, deposed or otherwise disposed of, these vicious old men can cause immense harm. To see Trump through ... <a title="Eugene Doyle: Trump and foolish old men who redraw maps" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/10/eugene-doyle-trump-and-foolish-old-men-who-redraw-maps/" aria-label="Read more about Eugene Doyle: Trump and foolish old men who redraw maps">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 10, 2025
The Cook Islands finds itself in a precarious dance — one between the promises of foreign investments and the integrity of our own sovereignty. As the country sways between partners China and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands News asks: “Do we continue to haka with the Taniwha, our constitutional partner, or do we dance ... <a title="Cook Islands crisis: Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/10/cook-islands-crisis-haka-with-the-taniwha-or-dance-with-the-dragon/" aria-label="Read more about Cook Islands crisis: Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2025
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson, RNZ News journalist New Zealand should be robust in its response to the “unacceptable” situation in Gaza but it must also back its allies against threats by the US President, says an international relations academic. Otago University professor of international relations Robert Patman said the rest of the world also “should ... <a title="NZ must take robust Gaza stance – ‘stop tip-toeing’ around Trump, warns academic" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/09/nz-must-take-robust-gaza-stance-stop-tip-toeing-around-trump-warns-academic/" aria-label="Read more about NZ must take robust Gaza stance – ‘stop tip-toeing’ around Trump, warns academic">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2025
MEDIAWATCH: By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatch presenter By the time US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on China and Canada last Monday which could kickstart a trade war, New Zealand’s diplomats in Washington, DC, had already been deployed on another diplomatic drama. Republican Senator Ted Cruz had said on social media it was “difficult to ... <a title="Mediawatch: NZ media in the middle of Asia-Pacific diplomatic drama" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/09/mediawatch-nz-media-in-the-middle-of-asia-pacific-diplomatic-drama/" aria-label="Read more about Mediawatch: NZ media in the middle of Asia-Pacific diplomatic drama">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2025
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says New Zealand is asking for too much oversight over its deal with China, which is expected to be penned in Beijing next week. Brown told RNZ Pacific the Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship was reciprocal. “They certainly did not consult with us when ... <a title="Mark Brown on China deal: ‘No need for NZ to sit in the room with us’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/09/mark-brown-on-china-deal-no-need-for-nz-to-sit-in-the-room-with-us/" aria-label="Read more about Mark Brown on China deal: ‘No need for NZ to sit in the room with us’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 8, 2025
A investigative journalism programme — Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) — that has pubiished exposes about the South Pacific and has not been impacted on by the “freeze” of USAID funding has hit back in an editorial calling for support of independent media. EDITORIAL: By the OCCRP editors “OCCRP is a deep state ... <a title="‘Journalism has become a blood sport. It is harder and harder to tell the truth’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/02/08/journalism-has-become-a-blood-sport-it-is-harder-and-harder-to-tell-the-truth/" aria-label="Read more about ‘Journalism has become a blood sport. It is harder and harder to tell the truth’">Read more</a>
