Independent Analysis and Reportage
By Justin Wong, Local Democracy Reporter An ACT candidate has withdrawn from a new Wellington electorate race at November’s election, after failing to declare her previous membership of a Chinese political group linked to the country’s ruling communist party. After Local Democracy Reporting sent questions about Lyra Yan Zhang’s background on Monday, the party confirmed
By Patrick Decloitre of RNZ Pacific The official results of New Caledonia’s provincial elections held on Sunday were proclaimed last evening. In a comprehensive document, the French High Commission in New Caledonia has published the key election figures, which confirm the tendencies observed immediately after the vote on Sunday. This includes the final makeup of
COMMENTARY: By David Robie, Pacific Media Watch A friend and colleague, Solidarity columnist Eugene Doyle, posed a brief question on the Facebook media page Kiwi Journalists Association last week. “Kiwi journalists . . . is there a reason for so little solidarity with Palestinian colleagues,” he mused over a haunting portrait of emaciated Palestinian journalist
ANALYSIS: By Shannon Bosch A recent United Nations report has detailed serious allegations of Israel deliberately targeting Palestinian children during the conflict since October 2023. The report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, which has been rejected by the Israeli government, documents harrowing
Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) has warned that a planned AI data centre in Southland would consume up to 25 percent of New Zealand’s annual electricity output and push power prices higher for Kiwi consumers and businesses. CAFCA organiser Murray Horton said in a statement that
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s military has hit out against budget cuts it copped last Friday. In a social media post, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), which has gained influence in law enforcement over the last year, issued an apparent warning to detractors to recognise the role they play in Fijian society. “The RFMF… genuinely
By Patrick Decloitre of RNZ Pacific The one-round provincial election held in New Caledonia yesterday has produced a few surprises, but essentially maintained the existing blocs between pro-independence and pro-France parties. In the Southern Province (New Caledonia’s most affluent and populated, including the capital Nouméa), provisional results show half the votes went to the “Strong
By Patrick Decloitre of RNZ, RNZ Pacific reporters Polling stations have now closed in New Caledonia, as electoral officials begin tallying votes in today’s provincial elections. The Sunday elections are the first to be held in the French territory for 7 years after the 2024 elections were abandoned following riots that left 14 dead, and
COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, one of the signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the US, has called out what he says are double standards and duplicity by those trying to wreck the peace deal. His short, memorable statement was largely ignored in the Western media
By Patrick Decloitre of RNZ Pacific Heavy security has been deployed in New Caledonia as crucial provincial elections are being held in the French Pacific territory today. Polling stations are open from 8am local time (9am NZ time) until 6pm tonight. This comes as heavy security has been deployed. It involves a total of some
COMMENTARY: By Liz Remmerswaal Up to 1000 people joined a March for Peace in Auckland last weekend to demand that Aotearoa New Zealand become a voice for peace rather than a complicit partner in US-led illegal wars. The march on June 20 was organised by a new group, Anti-War Aotearoa (AWA), and Greenpeace Aotearoa, and
Israel’s legitimacy has been catastrophically squandered. It can only begin to be rebuilt through justice for the Palestinian people, writes Lim Tean. ANALYSIS: By Lim Tean It is a peculiar kind of defeat — one dressed in the language of victory. Operation Epic Fury was sold to the world as a decisive strike to eliminate