Independent Analysis and Reportage
Forough Amin in her opinion piece “The consequences of selective morality” (The Press, 28 April 2026) argues that the Palestine solidarity movement’s call for sanctions against Israel is “selective morality”. She says we should be calling out all human rights abuses everywhere — which in her case means Iran.
POLITICAL CARTOONS: By Campion Ohasio My name is Campion Ohasio, and I am currently the only political cartoonist in Solomon Islands. In recent weeks, I have received many questions and comments from people across the country about my cartoons. Some ask why I draw our national leaders in certain ways. Others wonder whether my caricatures ... <a title="Pacific political caricatures: Why criticising a leader’s actions isn’t a personal attack" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/05/pacific-political-caricatures-why-criticising-a-leaders-actions-isnt-a-personal-attack/" aria-label="Read more about Pacific political caricatures: Why criticising a leader’s actions isn’t a personal attack">Read more</a>
COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle Kiwi Julien Blondel’s face may be bloodied but it is unbowed. So far the New Zealand government has done nothing after Blondel and other New Zealand peace activists were savagely beaten by Israeli soldiers who attacked the Global Sumud flotilla near the Greek Island of Crete on April 30. The flotilla ... <a title="After Israel’s brutal attack on Kiwis the NZ government does nothing" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/05/after-israels-brutal-attack-on-kiwis-the-nz-government-does-nothing/" aria-label="Read more about After Israel’s brutal attack on Kiwis the NZ government does nothing">Read more</a>
By Stefan Armbruster of Pasifika TV Fiji has recorded a dramatic jump in its media freedom rating to be in the top 25 nations globally while Samoan government press restrictions have seen its rating plummet in the latest World Press Freedom Index. Advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) said globally it was the first time ... <a title="Fiji jumps, Samoa plunges in World Press Freedom Index" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/04/fiji-jumps-samoa-plunges-in-world-press-freedom-index/" aria-label="Read more about Fiji jumps, Samoa plunges in World Press Freedom Index">Read more</a>
By Charlotte England of Novara Media Israeli soldiers beat and tortured flotilla organisers Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila after abducting them in international waters near Greece in the early hours of Thursday morning, allege lawyers and diplomats. After illegally intercepting 22 boats and kidnapping around 200 activists hundreds of miles from Gaza, Israel transferred the ... <a title="Gaza flotilla organisers subjected to ‘extreme brutality’ in illegal Israeli detention" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/04/gaza-flotilla-organisers-subjected-to-extreme-brutality-in-illegal-israeli-detention/" aria-label="Read more about Gaza flotilla organisers subjected to ‘extreme brutality’ in illegal Israeli detention">Read more</a>
RNZ Pacific Fiji has recorded the biggest improvement in the Pacific in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, rising to 24th out of 180 countries. The index has been compiled and published by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) since 2002. Papua New Guinea moved up slightly on the index to 73rd. But Samoa ... <a title="Fiji climbs to 24th in World Press Freedom Index, biggest gain in the Pacific" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/04/fiji-climbs-to-24th-in-world-press-freedom-index-biggest-gain-in-the-pacific/" aria-label="Read more about Fiji climbs to 24th in World Press Freedom Index, biggest gain in the Pacific">Read more</a>
Fijian Media Association Three years after the lifting of draconian media laws under which Fiji’s media industry operated, and even with significant improvements in the country’s media freedom rankings, the gains from the return of media freedom remain tenuous. This World Press Freedom Day, the Fijian Media Association is heartened by the country’s remarkable progress ... <a title="FMA praises Fiji media workers for press freedom climb but warns it is ‘tenuous’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/04/fma-praises-fiji-media-workers-for-press-freedom-climb-but-warns-it-is-tenuous/" aria-label="Read more about FMA praises Fiji media workers for press freedom climb but warns it is ‘tenuous’">Read more</a>
By Anish Chand in Suva Fiji’s rise in the latest global press freedom rankings is being credited to improved media conditions following key political and legal reforms in recent years. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the country’s jump to 24th place in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index reflects a shift in the media environment ... <a title="Political reforms drive Fiji’s big press freedom gains, says RSF" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/04/political-reforms-drive-fijis-big-press-freedom-gains-says-rsf/" aria-label="Read more about Political reforms drive Fiji’s big press freedom gains, says RSF">Read more</a>
RNZ News – The Global Sumud Flotilla is demanding the New Zealand government intervene to uphold international law, after being intercepted by Israel. It said 22 boats carrying aid for Gaza were illegally intercepted in international waters near the Greek island of Crete. New Zealanders Jerome (Jay) O’Connor, Mousa Taher, Julien Blondel, and Sean Janssen ... <a title="Global Sumud Flotilla calls on NZ govt to intervene after Israeli interception" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/03/global-sumud-flotilla-calls-on-nz-govt-to-intervene-after-israeli-interception/" aria-label="Read more about Global Sumud Flotilla calls on NZ govt to intervene after Israeli interception">Read more</a>
SPECIAL REPORT: By Brett Wilkins Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has slammed European leaders — and the West at large — for what he said is their complicity in Israel’s abduction of two leaders of the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla seized off the coast of Greece. In what numerous critics have called an act ... <a title="Former Greek minister slams ‘Western complicity’ over brutal Israeli kidnap of Gaza flotilla leaders" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/02/former-greek-minister-slams-western-complicity-over-brutal-israeli-kidnap-of-gaza-flotilla-leaders/" aria-label="Read more about Former Greek minister slams ‘Western complicity’ over brutal Israeli kidnap of Gaza flotilla leaders">Read more</a>
Asia Pacific Report A leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on Indonesian security forces to halt their crackdown on peaceful protest in the wake of this month’s massacres in Dogiyai and Puncak. Interim president Benny Wenda accused Indonesian authorities of suppressing peaceful action in order to “stoke a cycle ... <a title="Wenda calls on Indonesia to halt crackdown on peaceful Papua protests" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/29/wenda-calls-on-indonesia-to-halt-crackdown-on-peaceful-papua-protests/" aria-label="Read more about Wenda calls on Indonesia to halt crackdown on peaceful Papua protests">Read more</a>
COMMENTARY: By Jason Brooke 1news tonight featured a report on the War in Ukraine. The reporter, a foreign war correspondent, explained to viewers how Ukrainian soldiers were increasingly using long-range high-tech drones to target Russian infrastructure. Now while not explicitly stated, the narrative being delivered through our particularly “Western-centric” media lens is that Ukrainians are ... <a title="‘Self-defence’ and the contradictions of Western exceptionalism in our media" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/29/self-defence-and-the-contradictions-of-western-exceptionalism-in-our-media/" aria-label="Read more about ‘Self-defence’ and the contradictions of Western exceptionalism in our media">Read more</a>