Category: Evening Report

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeffrey Taliaferro, Professor of Political Science, Tufts University

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

Napoleon Bonaparte’s maxim may well have been in the minds of policymakers in Moscow and Beijing these past weeks, as the U.S. war in Iran dragged on. And now that a 14-day ceasefire between Tehran and Washington is in effect – with both sides claiming “victory” – Russian and Chinese leaders still have an opportunity to profit from what many see as America’s latest folly in the Middle East.

Throughout the weekslong conflict, China and Russia struck a delicate balance. Both declined to give Iran – seen to a varying degree as an ally of both nations – their full-throated support or sink any real costs into the conflict.

Instead, they opted for limited assistance in the form of small-scale intelligence and diplomatic support.

As a scholar of international security and great power politics I believe that is for good reason. Beijing and Moscow were fully aware that Iran could not “win” against the combined military might of the United States and Israel. Rather, Iran just needed to survive to serve the interests of Washington’s main geopolitical rivals.

Below are four ways in which the U.S. war in Iran has damaged Washington’s position in the great power rivalries of the 21st century.

1. Losing the influence war in the Middle East

As I explore in my book “Defending Frenemies,” the U.S. has long struggled to balance competing objectives in the Middle East. During the Cold War, this meant limiting the Soviet Union’s influence in the region, while contending with the development of nuclear weapons by two troublesome allies, Israel and Pakistan.

By the 2020s, the priorities in Washington were aimed at restricting the influence of the U.S.’s great power rivals – China and to a lesser degree Russia – in the Middle East.

Yet under Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, China and Russia have sought to increase their footprint in the region through a variety of formal alliances and informal measures.

For Russia, this took the form of aligning with Iran, while also partnering with Tehran to prop up the now-ousted regime of President Bashar Assad during the Syrian civil war. Meanwhile, China increased its diplomatic profile in the Middle East, notably by acting as a mediator as Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic ties in 2023.

The irony of the latest Iran war is that it follows a period in which circumstances were unfavorable to Russian and Chinese aims of increasing their influence in the Middle East.

The fall of Assad in December 2024 deprived Russia of its one reliable ally in the region. And Trump’s May 2025 tour of the Gulf states, in which he secured major technology and economic deals with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, was aimed at countering China’s growing economic and diplomatic influence in those countries.

With Washington perceived as an increasingly unreliable protector, the Gulf states may seek greater security and economic cooperation elsewhere.

2. Taking US eyes off other strategic goals

In expanding military, diplomatic and economic ties in the Middle East, Russia and China over the past two decades were exploiting a desire by Washington to move its assets and attention away from the region following two costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Trump’s decision to wage war against Iran directly contradicts the national security strategy his administration released in November 2025. According to the strategy, the administration would prioritize the Western Hemisphere and the Indo-Pacific, while the Middle East’s importance “will recede.”

In co-launching a war in Tehran with Israel, without any prior consultation with Washington’s other allies, Trump has shown a complete disregard for their strategic and economic concerns. NATO, already riven by Trump’s repeated threats to the alliance and designs on Greenland, has now shown further signs of internal divisions.

That offers benefits for China and Russia, which have long sought to capitalize on cracks between America and its allies.

The irony, again, is that the war in Iran came as Trump’s vision of the U.S. as the hegemonic power in the Western Hemisphere was making advances. International law and legitimacy concerns aside, Washington had ousted a thorn in its side with Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and replaced him with a more compliant leader.

3. Disproportionate economic fallout

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where some 20% of the world’s oil passes, was as predictable as it was destructive for U.S. interests.

But for Russia, this meant higher oil prices that boosted its war economy. It also led to the temporary but ongoing easing of U.S. sanctions, which has provided Moscow an indispensable lifeline after years of economic pressure over the war in Ukraine.

While a prolonged closure and extensive damage to oil and natural gas infrastructure in Iran and the Gulf states no doubt hurts China’s energy security and economy, these were risks Xi appears willing to accept, at least for a time.

And by building up a domestic oil reserve and diversifying energy sources to include solar, electric batteries and coal, China is far better positioned to weather a prolonged global energy crisis than the U.S. Indeed, Beijing has made strides in recent year to encourage domestic consumption as a source of economic growth, rather than be so reliant on global trade. That may have given China some protection during the global economic shock caused by the Iran war, as well as push the economy further down its own track.

The more the U.S. loses control over events in the strait, the more it loses influence in the region – especially as Iran appears to be placing restrictions on ships from unfriendly nations.

4. Loss of global leadership

Trump’s willingness to abandon talks to go to war, and the contradictory rhetoric he has employed throughout the Iran conflict, has weakened the perception of the U.S. as an honest broker.

That provides a massive soft power boost for Beijing. It was China that pressed Iran to accept the 14-day ceasefire proposal brokered by Pakistan. Indeed, China has slowly chipped away at America’s longtime status as global mediator of first resort.

Beijing has successfully mediated in the past between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and it attempted to do the same with Russia and Ukraine and Israel and the Palestinians.

In general, the Iran war adds weight to Beijing’s worldview that the U.S.-led liberal international order is over. Even if China benefited at some level from the war continuing, its decision to help broker the ceasefire shows that China is increasingly taking on the mantle of global leadership that the U.S. used to own.

And for Russia, the Iran war and the rupture between Trump and America’s NATO allies over their lack of support for it, shift world attention and U.S. involvement from the war in Ukraine.

– ref. 4 ways the war in Iran has weakened the United States in the great power game – https://theconversation.com/4-ways-the-war-in-iran-has-weakened-the-united-states-in-the-great-power-game-279069

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/13/4-ways-the-war-in-iran-has-weakened-the-united-states-in-the-great-power-game-279069/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Democracy Deputy Program Director, Grattan Institute

Around the world, democracy as a system of government is backsliding. After more than 50 years of liberal democracy in ascendancy, democratic progress plateaued around the turn of the century and is now going backwards.

In 2025, there were only 31 liberal democracies out of 179 countries assessed. And the United States – once the poster-child for democracy – was downgraded from “liberal democracy” to “electoral democracy” because of declining checks and balances on power, freedom of expression and civil rights and equality before the law.

Australia is one of the few remaining liberal democracies, and a leading one at that. But we are not immune to anti-democratic forces or the fraying international rules-based order.

A new Grattan Institute report, For the people: Future-proofing Australia’s democracy, identifies the main vulnerabilities for Australia’s democracy and opportunities to build a better, more resilient democratic system.

A bright light in a dark landscape

Australia comes from a place of strength. We are one of the world’s leading democracies, consistently ranking highly on international measures of democratic health, as well as on a suite of economic and social measures – including life expectancy, human development, employment, and GDP (gross domestic product) per capita.

This is no coincidence. Our democracy underpins our prosperity and safeguards our rights and freedoms. International evidence shows democracy supports peace and economic growth, while delivering longer lives and more education.

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Social trust matters too. Countries with higher interpersonal trust – like Australia – tend to have higher economic growth and lower income inequality, which in turn support democratic resilience.

But the world order in which Australia has flourished is now being seriously tested. These are more turbulent times not just for our economy or standard of living, but for liberal democracies themselves.

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Read more: New study shows global democracy hasn’t been this bad since 1978. Australia should be worried

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Fuel for discontent is building

Our report takes stock of Australia’s greatest asset: the health of our democracy.

The good news is that Australians’ support for democracy has been consistently strong – even growing over time. Only a small share of the population is discontent or disengaged with the system, and the data do not suggest either have been spreading.

The bad news is that our social compact is under pressure. This is showing up in growing economic pessimism, worry for future generations, concern about unfairness, declining sense of belonging, and low trust in political actors.

While support for democracy remains high in Australia, satisfaction with how our democracy actually works is more fragile.

Satisfaction with democracy is typically lower among groups who are less well served by the status quo. Most obviously, our institutions have persistently failed First Nations Australians, and don’t fully support new migrants.

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Read more: The Voice would have renewed Australian democracy. Its failure leaves us all worse off

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Lower-income Australians and those with financial concerns tend to report lower trust and satisfaction with democracy.

Renters are less satisfied than homeowners, and people in regional areas tend to be less satisfied than people in cities.

Migrants are an interesting exception here. Migrants (except for those from the United Kingdom) are typically more satisfied than people born in Australia with the way democracy works here, despite the disadvantages they often face living here. This may, at least in part, be due to direct experience with other systems.

Everyone needs confidence that the system can work for them, even if it doesn’t always. Groups who persistently lack security, opportunity, or solidarity under the current system cannot reasonably be expected to trust or defend it.

3 big risks

Where there is fuel for discontent, there is increasing risk that global challenges could spark a blaze. Three inter-related global risks are particularly testing for democracies.

First, the decline in traditional news media and the rise of online and social news sources are fragmenting our fact base, and making misinformation and extreme views more salient in people’s daily lives.

Second, global political tensions and the rise of anti-democratic forces overseas are testing Australia’s social cohesion at home.

And third, the heightened probability of economic, social, and environmental shocks increases the challenges democratic governments face to deliver better outcomes for their people.

These are risks – not eventualities. The resilience of our democracy is in its capacity to recognise challenges and collectively respond.

And 5 ways forward

Our research and consultation identified five priorities for Australia to build a better and more resilient democracy:

1. Make the most of our parliament

Our elected federal parliament sits at the centre of Australia’s democracy. An independent review should consider how to make it more representative and better functioning – to rebuild trust in politics, improve administration of government and enable better long-term decision-making.

2. Nurture belonging and engagement

We need more ways to have a say and be heard and clearer pathways to citizenship. Our public sector leaders should also be actively stitching public engagement into the fabric of our existing institutions.

3. Protect our public sphere

A healthier public sphere requires ensuring the sustainability of our news media and investing in institutions that produce trusted information. We should also experiment with responses to misinformation, to work out which approaches are effective at scale.

4. Tackle the known policy challenges

In a democracy, process matters, but so do outcomes. Australians need confidence that our system of government can work for them and build something better than the status quo.

5. Prepare for the future

Crises are the moments that build trust, or lose it, and the future will almost certainly be more volatile. Governments can prepare by reducing our vulnerability to known risks, building fiscal buffers and calibrating expectations about what governments can reasonably do to cushion the blow.

Governments can and should lead on this. But we mustn’t forget that in a democracy, we govern ourselves. This is a task for all of us.

– ref. To stop Australian democracy going the way of the US, here’s what we need to do – https://theconversation.com/to-stop-australian-democracy-going-the-way-of-the-us-heres-what-we-need-to-do-280353

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/13/to-stop-australian-democracy-going-the-way-of-the-us-heres-what-we-need-to-do-280353/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne

While stopped in heavy Melbourne traffic recently, I noticed that what looked like a shadow under a row of spotted gums (Corymbia maculata) along a major road was actually a stain on the concrete kerb.

As a botanist, it caught my attention; biological stains always have an interesting story attached.

Stains like these – under many tree species, on your car after certain leaves have fallen on them, and on your timber deck after rain has washed leaves onto it – are from tannins leaching out of foliage.

Tannins are astringent and bitter-tasting chemicals found in many leaves; they’re what add flavour to red wines, chocolate and tea. Oak timber is high in tannins, and it’s the tannins in oak barrels that enrich the flavour of some wines.

So tannin stains on concrete, cars and decks may be unsightly, but that doesn’t mean tannins are unimportant.

Important to plants

When it rains, materials such as amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and sugars can be washed or leached from leaves of trees. These contribute to the complex chemistry of soils. Many of the microflora and fauna in the ground, which contribute to healthy soils, depend on these chemicals for their growth and proliferation.

Among the many chemicals that are leached from leaves are tannins.

Tannins are important to plants as their bitter taste makes the leaves unpalatable; it’s the plant’s way of trying to dissuade animals from eating their leaves.

Some caterpillars and grasshoppers are turned off by tannins; koalas and possums cope with tannins by having specialised gut microbes that allow them to consume high-tannin diets.

If you spot a water-filled cavity or hollow in a tree trunk, or in between the trunks and a branch, it is often dark brown or even black due to the tannins that have leached into it.

These tannins can be efficient in preventing insects and other pests from growing in the water, although mosquito larvae can be quite resilient if the concentration of tannin is low.

Sometimes forests and felled timber leach so much tannin into streams and rivers they create a blackwater river, where the water may look and taste bad, but is often safe to drink.

The brown stains seen in Tidal River at Wilson’s Promontory, Victoria, and the Franklin River, Tasmania, are caused by tannins.

The dark colour of tannin streams does not mean they are unhealthy, and may indicate the tree canopy cover upstream is in good nick.

Tannins leached into soil can play an important role in the rate of litter decomposition, which is important to ecosystem function.

When tannin levels are high, they slow down litter decomposition. That means the leaf litter can be a food source for bugs for a long time. It also reduces soil drying and protects soil microbes.

Useful to humans, too

A number of tree species contain tannins that contribute to the durability and the distinctive colours of their timbers.

The name tannin comes from their use, particularly in days gone by, in the tanning of leather. However, they are also used in the dyeing of fabrics and as wood preservatives.

Tannins range in colour from pale yellows through orange to dark browns that are almost black. Their chemical structure means they bind well with fibres such as cotton and linen for long-lasting and environmentally-friendly colours.

We are just learning of their many environmental roles, and their impact on human health has yet to be fully explored (we do know they can be anti-oxidants and anti-carcinogenic).

As for that tannin stain I spotted while stuck in traffic, it’s likely it’ll still be there next time I drive past. Concrete is very porous and the tannins from the leaves above will be topped up each time it rains. So stains like this may be more or less permanent.

Tannin stains can generally be washed from vehicles and other non-porous surfaces quite easily, but a high pressure spray may be required to clean up tannin-embedded concrete, slate or stone paving surfaces. Warm or hot water may help.

For such a common stain on concrete, there is much we don’t know about tannins and so much to learn.

– ref. From river stain to your cup of tea: the secret world of tannins – https://theconversation.com/from-river-stain-to-your-cup-of-tea-the-secret-world-of-tannins-271730

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/13/from-river-stain-to-your-cup-of-tea-the-secret-world-of-tannins-271730/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giuseppe Carabetta, Associate Professor of Workplace and Business Law, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney

ANZAC Day is commemorated on 25 April each year as a tribute to more than 2 million Australians who’ve served in war and peacekeeping operations.

That date is always the same. But how it’s marked as a public holiday varies between states and territories when it falls on a weekend, as it does this year.

Some Australians will get an extra day off as a result, while millions of others won’t.

That can be confusing for employees, and creates a rostering headache for employers operating across states and territories, such as in hospitality, retail, health, transport and other essential services.

Whether you’re an employee or an employer, here’s what you need to know about workers’ rights to paid time off.

Do you get a bonus day off?

People often assume public holidays such as Anzac Day are automatic “days off”. However, the rules under Australian employment law are a bit more complicated.

As Anzac Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, there are different rules across Australia about how it’s marked as a public holiday.

A bonus day: New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory all have a public holiday on April 25 2026. But they’ve also declared an additional public holiday on Monday April 27. If you’re rostered to work on that Saturday or Monday, both of those days count as public holidays in NSW, WA and the ACT.

Just one day: Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory will only observe Anzac Day on Saturday April 25. If you work in a Monday-Friday job, unfortunately this means you won’t get an Anzac Day holiday this year.

Those variations have direct implications for people’s entitlements to leave and penalty rates.

Public holiday pay rules

If a public holiday such as Anzac Day falls on a day a permanent employee would normally work, they are entitled to:

• be absent from work on a public holiday
• and be paid their base rate of pay for ordinary hours that would have been worked on that day.

But if you’re not rostered onto work on a public holiday (including if you’re a part-timer or casual, whose hours don’t fall on the public holiday), you won’t get paid for that day.

Can employees refuse to work on public holidays?

Let’s say you’re a nurse, rostered on for Saturday April 25, which is a public holiday right across Australia, or on Monday April 27 if you’re in NSW, WA or the ACT.

If your employer asks you to work then, do you have to agree? And, if you do agree, do you get extra pay?

Under the national Fair Work Act, employers cannot require an employee to work on a public holiday. Employers are allowed to ask, but it has to be a “reasonable request”.

Likewise, an employee may refuse a request to work on a public holiday if their refusal is “reasonable”.

Whether a request (or refusal) is reasonable depends on the circumstances. The Fair Work Act identifies various factors that can be taken into account, including:

• the employer’s operational requirements (such as if the business must operate that day)
• the employee’s role and seniority
• the employee’s personal circumstances, such as caring responsibilities, religious observance or cultural significance
• whether the employee will receive additional compensation, including penalty rates or time off in lieu
• and whether the employee was given adequate notice.

A failure to properly assess or document these factors can expose employers to disputes, underpayment claims and even legal action.

Extra rights to check

Beyond that national law, it’s important to know your rights if you (or your staff) are also covered by an award or enterprise bargaining agreement.

These can impose additional or stricter obligations, such as higher penalty rates on public holidays, or additional rostering and consultation requirements.

For employees, that can be good news, as it can mean more pay. But this can significantly increase an employer’s costs for public holiday work.

For employers with staff across Australia, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to this year’s Anzac Day public holidays.

That makes early planning and clear communication from both employers and employees even more important – well before April 25.

– ref. This Anzac Day falls on a Saturday – and these states will be getting an extra public holiday – https://theconversation.com/this-anzac-day-falls-on-a-saturday-and-these-states-will-be-getting-an-extra-public-holiday-279858

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/13/this-anzac-day-falls-on-a-saturday-and-these-states-will-be-getting-an-extra-public-holiday-279858/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Costello, Professor, School of Computer Science, Queensland University of Technology

Online data is generally pretty secure. Assuming everyone is careful with passwords and other protections, you can think of it as being locked in a vault so strong that even all the world’s supercomputers, working together for 10,000 years, could not crack it.

But last month, Google and others released results suggesting a new kind of computer – a quantum computer – might be able to open the vault with significantly less resources than previously thought.

The changes are coming on two fronts. On one, tech giants such as IBM and Google are racing to build ever-larger quantum computers: IBM hopes to achieve a genuine advantage over classical computers in some special cases this year, and an even more powerful “fault-tolerant” system by 2029.

On the other front, theorists are refining quantum algorithms: recent work shows the resources needed to break today’s cryptography may be far lower than earlier estimates.

The net result? The day quantum computers can break widely used cryptography – portentously dubbed “Q Day” – may be approaching faster than expected.

The quantum hardware race

Quantum computers are built from quantum bits, or qubits, which use the counterintuitive properties of very tiny objects to carry out computations in a different and sometimes far more efficient way from traditional computers.

So far the technology is in its infancy, with the major goal to increase the number of qubits that can be connected to work as a single computer. Bigger quantum computers should be much better at some things than their traditional counterparts – they will have a “quantum advantage”.

Late last year, IBM unveiled a 120-qubit chip which it hopes will demonstrate a quantum advantage for some tasks.

Google also recently announced it planned to speed up its move to adopt encryption techniques that should be safe against quantum computers, known as post-quantum cryptography.

Alongside these tech giants, newer approaches are also flourishing. PsiQuantum is using light-based qubits and traditional chip-manufacturing technology. Experimental platforms such as neutral-atom systems have demonstrated control over thousands of qubits in laboratory settings.

In response, standards bodies and national agencies are setting increasingly concrete timelines for moving away from common encryption systems that are vulnerable to quantum attack.

In the United States, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has proposed a transition away from quantum-vulnerable cryptography, with migration largely completed by 2035. In Australia, the Australian Signals Directorate has issued similar guidance, urging organisations to begin planning immediately and transition to post-quantum cryptography by 2030.

Algorithms make the lock-picking faster

Hardware is only half the story. Equally important are advances in quantum algorithms – ways to use quantum computers to attack encryption.

Much interest in quantum computer development was spurred by Peter Shor’s 1994 discovery of an algorithm that showed how quantum computers could efficiently find the prime factors of very large numbers. This mathematical trick is precisely what you need to break the common RSA encryption method.

For decades, it was believed a quantum computer would need millions of physical qubits to pose a threat to real-world encryption. This is far bigger than current systems, so the threat felt comfortably distant.

That picture is now changing.

In March 2026, Google’s Quantum AI team released a detailed study showing that far fewer resources may be needed to attack a different kind of encryption which uses mathematical objects called elliptic curves. This is what systems including Bitcoin and Ethereum use – and the study shows how a quantum computer with fewer than half a million physical qubits may be able to crack it in minutes.

That’s still a long way beyond current quantum computers, but around ten times less than earlier estimates.

At the same time, a March 2026 preprint from a Caltech–Berkeley–Oratomic collaboration explores what might be possible using neutral-atom quantum computers. The researchers estimate that Shor’s algorithm could be implemented with as few as 10,000–20,000 atomic qubits. In one design they propose, a system with around 26,000 qubits could crack Bitcoin’s encryption in a few days, while tougher problems like the RSA method with a 2048-bit key would need more time and resources.

In plain terms: the codebreakers are becoming more efficient. Advances in algorithms and design are steadily lowering the bar for quantum attacks, even before large-scale hardware exists.

What now?

So what does this mean in practice?

First, there is no immediate catastrophe – today’s cryptography won’t be broken overnight. But the direction of travel is clear. Each improvement in hardware or algorithms reduces the gap between current capabilities and useful quantum cracking machines.

Second, viable defences already exist. NIST has standardised several post-quantum cryptographic algorithms which are believed to be resistant to quantum attacks.

Technology companies have begun deploying these in hybrid modes: Google Chrome and Cloudflare, for example, already support post-quantum protections in some protocols and services.

Systems that rely heavily on elliptic-curve cryptography – including cryptocurrencies and many secure communication protocols – will need particular attention. Google’s recent work explicitly highlights the need to migrate blockchain systems to post-quantum schemes.

Finally, this is a two-front race. It is not enough to track progress in quantum hardware alone. Advances in algorithms and error correction can be just as important, and recent results show these improvements can significantly reduce the estimated cost of attacks.

Every new headline about reduced qubit counts or faster quantum algorithms should be understood for what it is: another step toward a future where today’s cryptographic assumptions no longer hold.

The only reliable defence is to move – deliberately but decisively – toward quantum-safe cryptography.

– ref. Quantum computers are coming to break our codes faster than anyone expected – https://theconversation.com/quantum-computers-are-coming-to-break-our-codes-faster-than-anyone-expected-280303

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/13/quantum-computers-are-coming-to-break-our-codes-faster-than-anyone-expected-280303/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melanie O’Brien, Professor of International Law, The University of Western Australia

Warzones are full of danger.

But that’s never stopped humanitarian workers from living and working in such places, with the aim of keeping civilians safe.

Humanitarian workers are deployed to locations ravaged by conflict or natural disasters. Most recently, they’ve helped distribute essential supplies including food, water and medicine to communities affected by the US-Iran conflict.

In the last three years, more than 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killed while serving in war-torn regions. Just last week, Australia joined six other nations in calling for more legal protections for humanitarian personnel.

So what do humanitarian workers do? And are we doing enough to keep them safe?

Who are humanitarian workers?

Humanitarian workers provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people. This includes any effort that helps save lives or alleviate suffering in times of crisis whether human-made, such as war, or natural disasters such as bushfires and floods.

There are different kinds of humanitarian personnel. Humanitarians may be paid or be volunteers, and are a mix of local and international staff. All are protected under international law.

Aid workers deliver essential supplies such as food, water and medicine to people in need. They may also help distribute other resources such as sanitation equipment and temporary shelters.

Health-care workers, such as doctors and nurses, provide specialised care to vulnerable people including emergency medical care, ambulance support, surgery, vaccinations and mental health support. They usually work in teams based in existing hospitals or mobile emergency medical units.

High-risk work

Humanitarian workers in conflict zones face greater risk of kidnapping, injury and death.

The international community recognises just how dangerous humanitarian work can be. This is particularly true for health-care workers. On average, there are more than 750 threats, kidnappings and other forms of direct violence against health-care workers each year.

This prompted the International Committee of the Red Cross to launch its Healthcare in Danger project in 2011. This project aims to curb violence against health services by providing governments and key stakeholders with training and resources to better protect health workers.

However, the risk posed to humanitarian workers is only increasing. The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have become hotspots for attacks on these vital personnel. Most recently, health-care workers and hospitals in Lebanon have become military targets. Since the start of the US-Iran conflict in March 2026, the World Health Organization has confirmed 106 attacks on Lebanon’s health-care system.

Military forces may attack health-care workers and facilities for several reasons. A country or armed group may claim a hospital or medical site is being used by the enemy for military purposes, making it a legitimate military target under international law. A nation or armed group might also attack its enemy’s health system to erode the morale of its civilians and soldiers. In recent decades military forces have also increasingly fought in towns and cities, known as urban warfare. This often involves indiscriminate bombing, which may damage medical facilities located near legitimate military targets.

How are we protecting health-care workers?

International humanitarian law, also known as the laws of war, regulates how conflicts should be fought. This includes who and what is protected in times of war. These rules are found in international treaties such as the 1949 Geneva Conventions. They make three main points regarding humanitarian workers.

1. They are civilians

International humanitarian law considers humanitarian and health-care workers as civilians. This means the law would treat any attack on them as a war crime.

2. They have extra protections

These same laws provide specific protections for people who provide humanitarian and medical assistance, as well as the equipment they use. Examples of protected equipment may include ambulances, hospitals, medical helicopters and mobile medical units.

3. They are not a military threat

International humanitarian law recognises humanitarian and health-care workers are in warzones to help vulnerable people. This, as well as the fact they’re not armed, means they don’t represent a military threat and shouldn’t be targeted. This is why humanitarian workers often wear the Red Cross, the Red Crescent or the Red Crystal, all well-known emblems meaning “don’t shoot”.

Where to next?

In 2025, Australia led a push to create a new Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel. The declaration has 112 signatories to date. Nations who sign the declaration commit to:

• adhering to international humanitarian law
• allowing humanitarian workers into their countries
• working to better protect humanitarian personnel, for example by providing security training for health-care workers
• taking immediate action if there are violations of the law, including prosecuting anyone who breaches the laws of war.

The declaration is not legally binding, meaning there’s no law forcing any country to uphold it. However, it’s still a crucial step in protecting humanitarian workers around the world. They risk their lives to keep others safe. It’s time we make their safety a priority.

– ref. Health-care workers risk their lives in warzones. Are we protecting them enough? – https://theconversation.com/health-care-workers-risk-their-lives-in-warzones-are-we-protecting-them-enough-280256

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/13/health-care-workers-risk-their-lives-in-warzones-are-we-protecting-them-enough-280256/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will leave on Tuesday for his second fuel security mission within a week.

He will visit Brunei and Malaysia, after his trip to Singapore last week won assurances that the country would not be putting restrictions on its exports of liquid fuel.

In Brunei Albanese will meet Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to discuss energy, food security, and the bilateral flow of essential goods.

Brunei supplies 9% of Australia’s diesel imports, and 11% of its fertiliser-grade urea imports. Australia exports food and agricultural products to Brunei.

In Malaysia, Albanese will meet Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, to discuss the supply of fuel and other critical goods.

Malaysia is Australia’s third-largest source of refined fuel. It supplies 10% of Australian imports of fertiliser-grade urea. Australia supplies 95% of Malaysia’s imported natural gas.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong will also be on the trip, before she goes separately to Singapore.

Albanese said:“We are taking every step to reinforce relationships and engage with key partners to keep our fuel supply flowing”.

The government at the weekend announced a $20 million national advertising campaign on the theme “Every little bit helps”, aimed at encouraging people to save fuel by using public transport, and handling their vehicles more efficiently.

Economist Chris Richardson says crisis has budget upside

As Albanese pursues fuel security, independent economist Chris Richardson has estimated the pluses of the crisis for the budget.

Richardson calculates that even allowing for cost-of-living support such as cuts in fuel tax, the budget is likely to be about $30 billion better off between now and 2028-29.

One way the war boosts the budget is through increases in prices for our exported gas and coal, and also a high gold price.

“In effect, the world just gave Australia a pay rise, and the government gets a chunk of that,” Richardson says.

“And although the ceasefire has also reduced the fire under fuel prices, there’s enough damage to infrastructure and ongoing uncertainty to ensure the pay rise the world has granted us disappears slowly rather than fast.”

Second, a rise in inflation will act “like a tax, taking money from families and giving it to the government.”

“That first factor is boosting the size of the pie being taxed, and the second is increasing the taxman’s share.

“The uncomfortable fact is that war is a moneymaker for the Australian federal budget – partly because war boosts inflation (which effectively acts as a tax), but mostly because the war has bid up the price of what Australia sells to the world.”

Richardson estimates the effect will likely be smaller-than-budgeted deficits this year ($6 billion smaller than the official forecast of $37 billion), next year ($20 billion smaller than the forecast $34 billion), and the year after ($9.6 billion smaller than the forecast $36 billion). But, he says, the deficit may be bigger than budgeted (by $5.6 billion compared to the forecast of $36 billion) in 2028-29 as war-driven budgetary positives pass.

Also “net debt is set to be a smaller share of national income than the official forecasts had it being.

“That’s because inflation isn’t just good for the budget in the next couple of years. Inflation also shrinks existing debt, as that debt can now be paid off in ‘inflated dollars’. (And that’s true for all debtors, including recent homebuyers – inflation transfers wealth from creditors to debtors.)”

– ref. Second fuel security trip to Asia for PM – https://theconversation.com/second-fuel-security-trip-to-asia-for-pm-280434

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/13/second-fuel-security-trip-to-asia-for-pm-280434/

RNZ News

Weather warnings in New Zealand’s North Island are starting to lift, as Tropical Cyclone Vaianu tracks away from the country.

Red and orange wind and rain warnings have been in place across much of the island since Friday.

All red warnings and most orange warnings have now expired or been lifted.

Orange wind warnings are in place in Hawkes Bay overnight and in Tararua from 10pm Sunday, while Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Tairāwhiti have had overnight wind warnings downgraded to a yellow watch.

Metservice meteorologist John Law said the system was beginning to clear away.

“On the latest analysis, the central part of Cyclone Vaianu is now just off that eastern coast towards Hawkes Bay, with the winds now generally turning more southwesterly across New Zealand.

“We’ve still got some wet weather, particularly those areas east of Lake Taupō, but over the next few hours, we’ll start to find even that pulling away, as this whole system continues to move through.”

Far North mayor ‘grateful’
RNZ’s Peter de Graaf reports Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said he was breathing a huge sigh of relief after his district escaped serious damage from Cyclone Vaianu.

The district was the first to feel the effects of the cyclone on Saturday night, but the storm took a path further to the east than initially predicted, limiting its impact on Northland.

However, some areas, such as Whangārei’s central city, were lashed by more than 130mm of rain in a 24-hour period, and winds of 110km/h were recorded at Cape Reinga.

A buoy off the Bay of Islands recorded a maximum wave height of 10.8m on Saturday afternoon.

Tepania said the outcome was a huge relief.

“All of the reports that are coming in — and not just through our Emergency Operations Centre intelligence lines, but also the good old kūmara vine and our Kaitiaki Response Network on the ground — are showing us that the effects of Cyclone Vaianu have been very limited,” he said.

“Power outages, a few roofs that have blown off, but all in all, our roading networks made it through and rivers never breached warning levels. So I’m very grateful.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/12/cyclone-vaianu-damaging-winds-heavy-rain-hit-nzs-north-island/

Asia Pacific Report

Thousands of protesters took part in the “Stop Wars Aotearoa” rallies across New Zealand today, calling for an end to the illegal war on Iran and the brutal onslaught on Lebanon this week breaching a fragile two-week truce.

While high-powered delegations from Iran and the United States were arriving in Islamabad for historic mediation talks being brokered by Pakistan, protesters in Auckland, Christchurch and other places across New Zealand were challenging the US and Israeli “warmongering” and criticising the New Zealand government’s “shameful” stance.

Led by US Vice-President JD Vance, the Americans arrived to take part in direct talks with their Iranian foes for the first time since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Ironically, Americans living in New Zealand were among those protesting in Auckland.

Kelby Dalton of Americans Abroad Against the War told the cheering crowd in Aotea Square that many of his compatriots condemned the US warmongering under President Donald Trump and were leaving the US in droves – not because they hated America, but because “we love America” and want the destructive political direction to change.

One of the rally organisers, Socialist Aotearoa activist and Unite unionist Joe Carolan declared the protesters opposed all wars and championed freedom – “Hands off Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Venezuela, Cuba and Iran.”

Carolan said: “We will not be provoked by those who believe in violence down at the US Consulate, those who say that violence can bring freedom, those who think that Netanyahu can guarantee women’s rights in Iran.

“Are you joking?

Counter-protest
He was referring to a small counter-protest of Israeli and Shah-supporting Iranians outside the US Consulate in downtown Auckland who were calling for resumed bombing of Iran.

“These people are guilty of a genocide where 60,000 people have been killed [in Gaza].

“No liberation for women – or anyone in Iran – can come from the pedophile Donald Trump or the genocider Netanyahu.”

The protesters marched to the US Consulate at the Citygroup Building in Customs Street and staged a “die-in” to mark the targeted slaughter of 168 children at the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in the southeastern Iranian city of Minab by US bombs.

This tragedy took place on February 28, the opening day of the illegal and unprovoked US-Israel war on the Islamic Republic.

Bill Bradford of the Workers First Union and Filipino community advocate Mikee Santos and a group of Filipino union activists spoke out about how the US military machine and imperialism had exploited migrant communities around the world, especially in the Middle East.

A wide range of speakers, politicians, civil society leaders and trade unionists earlier addressed the main rally, including Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa’s co-chair Maher Nazzal — “we cannot all be free until Palestine is free” — Labour Party’s Phil Twyford; Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez-March, Alliance Party’s Victor Billot, Council of Trade Unions’ president Sandra Grey and the union choir.

‘Standing with peace and justice’
Two displaced Afghani women speakers thanked everybody for “standing up against American and Israeli imperialism — and for standing with justice and peace”.

Miriam Majud recited a 13th-century humanist poem “Bani Adam” (“Sons of Adam” or “Human Beings”) by Iranian Sufi poet Saadi Shirazi, in Farsi (Persian) and in English.

Bibi Amena gave a speech highlighting Iranian achievements for women in contrast to mainstream media reports.

“I am not from Iran, and I have never visited Iran. But I want to talk about what Iran has done for my people,” she said.

“In 1979, when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Iran opened its borders for us. In 2001, when American and NATO forces invaded and brutally occupied Afghanistan, Iran once again opened its borders.

“For 40 years, Iran hosted millions of Afghan refugees — not in camps, but in cities among their own citizens. They gave us homes, schools, hospitals. They gave us a life of dignity.

“Now the same America that destroyed my home Afghanistan attacks Iran. The same Israel that bombs Gaza bombs Iran.

Today I stand with Iran because yesterday Iran stood with my people — just as Iran has and continues to stand with Palestine, with Yemen, Cuba, Lebanon, Venezuela and with every other oppressed nation fighting for freedom from the chains of neocolonialism.”

She pointed out that while the regimes in Washington and Tel Aviv “love to pretend they care about women’s rights – it’s only while bombing them”.

“Today, Iran’s female literacy rate is 99 percent, one of the highest in the world. Over 60 percent of Iranian university students in science and engineering are women,” she said.

“Again, one of the highest statistics in the world. 49 percent of doctors in Iran are women.

“Iranian women are engineers, pilots, doctors, judges, parliamentarians, and professors. They lead pro-government rallies, they guard their bridges and power plants against US and Israeli bombs.

“They’re not waiting for permission from Tel Aviv or Washington.”

‘We can bring change’
In Otautahi Christchurch, Iranian-Kiwi columnist and writer Donna Miles told protesters that New Zealand and the world ought to leave Iran to sort out its own future free of global interference.

“We can bring change. We have brought change. And we can do so if Iranians are left alone — if sanctions are lifted, if the middle class in Iran are able to breathe. And if civil society is able to thrive.

“This is what we need. Leave us alone. America needs to get out of the Middle East.

“Peace in the Middle East is possible. It’s not unachievable. Israel needs to end its occupation of Palestine and America needs to end its imperialism.”

Miles also questioned the New Zealand government?

“How shameful it was to see [Foreign Minister] Winston Peters standing next to [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio soon after Trump made those tweets threatening extremist war crimes wiping out an entire civilisation, ending a country in one night, taking it back to the stone age — and we have a minister who stood there silent.”

Her critical comments came just days after her article in The Press warning that US President Trump “can’t kill off Iranians’ resilient spirit”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/12/protesters-rally-across-aotearoa-in-condemnation-of-israel-us-warmongering-and-shameful-nz/

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 12, 2026.

‘Ten minutes of terror’ – Lebanon death toll tops 300 from Israel’s ‘Black Wednesday’
Democracy Now! AMY GOODMAN: As the US and Iran prepared to hold ceasefire talks in Pakistan today, Israel is continuing to bomb Lebanon. The death toll from Israel’s massive attack on Wednesday topped 300. More than 1150 people were injured. In a span of 10 minutes, Israel struck 100 sites across Beirut, the Beqaa Valley

ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for April 11, 2026
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 11, 2026.

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/12/er-report-a-roundup-of-significant-articles-on-eveningreport-nz-for-april-12-2026/

Democracy Now!

AMY GOODMAN: As the US and Iran prepared to hold ceasefire talks in Pakistan today, Israel is continuing to bomb Lebanon.

The death toll from Israel’s massive attack on Wednesday topped 300. More than 1150 people were injured. In a span of 10 minutes, Israel struck 100 sites across Beirut, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon.

The Financial Times described Israel’s attack on Lebanon as, “one of the deadliest single bombing campaigns in the history of a country wracked by decades of war and destruction”.

Israel and the US have claimed the Iran ceasefire deal does not include Lebanon, but numerous other nations disagree — and the ceasefire mediator Pakistan provided written evidence that Lebanon was included.

Foreign ministers of Pakistan and France condemned what they called “serious ceasefire violations made in Lebanon”. CBS News reports Trump initially agreed Lebanon was included in the ceasefire, but his position changed after a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US is expected to host talks between Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday. As Israel continues to attack Lebanon, Hezbollah has retaliated by firing missiles at Israel.

At the United Nations, a spokesperson for the secretary-general spoke.

STÉPHANE DUJARRIC: With the announcements of the ceasefire between Iran and the United States, the ongoing military activity in Lebanon poses a grave risk to the ceasefire and efforts towards a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.

AMY GOODMAN: Since the war began in late February, Israel has killed more than 1530 people in Lebanon, including at least 130 children. In Beirut, grieving families gathered at hospitals to identify bodies after Israel’s attacks on Wednesday.

MOHAMMED: [translated] I had dropped off my sister. She went up into the house. I went on a little trip, and they hid. I came back and didn’t find the building.

I didn’t find my sister, and I didn’t find my family, any of them. I found my brother, and his son was in the rubble.

AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Beirut, where we’re joined by Rania Abouzeid. She’s an award-winning Lebanese Australian journalist and author based in Beirut. Her books include No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria. Her latest piece in New York magazine, headlined “The Iran War Is Not Over: Scenes from a day of carnage in Beirut.”

Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Rania. Why don’t you describe those scenes of a day of carnage in Beirut? We have a four-second delay, so we will wait.

[embedded content]
Lebanon death toll tops 300 from Israel’s Black Wednesday    Video: Democracy Now

RANIA ABOUZEID: It was 10 minutes of terror, a day that the Lebanese are calling Black Wednesday. It was hard to tell what was blowing up where, because those hundred or so attacks were all happening simultaneously, and not just in the capital Beirut, but also in other parts of the country.

They targeted very densely populated parts of the capital, neighbourhoods in the capital that were themselves hosting people who had been displaced from other parts of the country. In the Beqaa, mourners at a funeral in a cemetery were targeted. In Beirut, workers at a well-known roastery were removed by Civil Defence personnel as charred corpses.

So, it was a very, very ugly day. And as we speak, the — I can’t say “rescue,” because there’s — unfortunately, the people are dead, but search teams continue to try and locate and find and retrieve the remains of people who were killed in the rubble of their homes.

AMY GOODMAN: Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said Israel will “continue to strike Hezbollah wherever required,” but later said he’s approved direct talks with Lebanon as soon as possible. Can you talk about what’s happening with these negotiations?

You had the Belgian foreign minister who had come to Beirut to meet with the Lebanese President Aoun, and the bombing hit very close to their quarters, as he was congratulating the Lebanese president on saying that he would directly negotiate with Israel, then condemned the attack and said Lebanon had to be included with the ceasefire.

Can you take it from there? What’s happening now? Where do you understand these talks will take place?

RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, the first thing is that the talks remove Lebanon from the wider ceasefire talks that are due to take place between Iran and America tomorrow. That has many Lebanese worried, because they wonder: What sort of leverage does Lebanon have? It doesn’t exactly have a Strait of Hormuz, whereas Iran seems to have a stronger negotiating position.

Yesterday, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam made it quite clear. He said that Lebanon, the Lebanese government, will negotiate for Lebanon, and that nobody else will do so.

So he has very clearly drawn the line between whatever Iran negotiates and what he hopes his government will be able to negotiate with the Israelis. Now, the Iranian foreign minister has made a ceasefire in Lebanon a condition of tomorrow’s talks, so it’s unclear whether or not they are going to go ahead.

So, in addition to the question of what sort of leverage does Lebanon have, some Lebanese are also worried because there is a precedent. There is a 15-month so-called ceasefire, where the — this is the second war in less than two years — and there was a 15-month ceasefire between the two.

During that period, the Lebanese government was supposed to negotiate indirectly with Israel, through something called a “mechanism” — which was US and French-led — to ensure that each side fulfilled its requirements under the terms of that ceasefire. During those 15 months, Israel continued to occupy five hilltop positions that it had newly seized in the war.

It was supposed to withdraw from them under the ceasefire. It didn’t. It was supposed to withdraw its troops back across its border under the ceasefire. It didn’t. So the Lebanese government was unable to get Israel to adhere to any of the conditions of the ceasefire. So some Lebanese wonder what it will be able to achieve now.

In addition, I have to say that the — just the mere fact of direct talks not only breaks a taboo here in Lebanon, it also breaks a very longstanding law. Since the mid-1950s here, it is considered an act of treason to have any direct interaction with an Israeli.

But the Lebanese president himself, General Joseph Aoun, about a month ago, called for direct talks with Israel, breaking that massive, massive taboo. He had four conditions for these talks that were supposed to be followed sequentially. The first condition was an immediate and complete ceasefire.

Condition number two was that the Lebanese Army is strengthened. Third was that the Lebanese Army would continue its efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

And then fourth was the direct negotiation. So it looks like the Lebanese state has jumped over the president’s own — you know, three of his conditions to go straight to the fourth one.

So, Hezbollah, for its part, has said it does not think that Lebanon should be negotiating under fire, because it puts it in the weaker position. Some Lebanese fear that this is a ploy by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prolong the war under the pretext of, you know, having these talks under fire.

The proponents of the talks, I have to say, say that it is an issue of Lebanese sovereignty that Lebanon will negotiate any sort of deal with the Israelis. They also say that Lebanon is not a card for the Iranians to wield or to use in any negotiations. And they point out that, well, you don’t exactly talk to your friends to make deals; you talk to your enemies.

So, it’s a very, very divisive issue. The Hezbollah secretary-general is due to give a speech where he will, no doubt, address the issue of the talks. And there’s supposed to be a protest here in Lebanon, just behind me, actually, in front of the Grand Serail, which is where the prime minister’s office is, against the idea of these talks.

AMY GOODMAN: Let me turn to the questions you raise in your latest New York magazine piece, “The Iran War Is Not Over: Scenes from a day of carnage in Beirut.” First of all, “How much of Lebanon is Israel prepared to destroy while claiming to target Hezbollah and its infrastructure, and will the world just watch as it does so?”

And your second question: “Can Israel even defeat Hezbollah militarily or is it, as many Lebanese suspect, trying to exact so painful a price from fellow Lebanese that they turn on the group, plunging the country into civil strife?”

RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, the Israelis have made no secret of what they want to do in Lebanon. Officials, from the defence minister, Smotrich, the finance minister, they have all talked about Lebanon being part of their Greater Israel project. They have talked about seizing and occupying southern Lebanese territory up to the Litani River, which, at its deepest, is about 30 km away from the Israeli border.

Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, said that he wants to turn that area, that lush, verdant agricultural area, into a wasteland that resembles what the Israelis did in Gaza. He has threatened that the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who have been displaced from there will not be allowed to return.

So, that’s what the Israelis have indicated that they want to do.

In terms of what they’re able to do, they have, according to Israeli media reports, had to scale back some of those ambitions because of the fierce resistance that they’re facing on the ground from Hezbollah fighters.

Let me give you the example of a town in southern Lebanon called Khiam, where there are Israeli forces in this town, but they have been fighting for weeks and weeks to try and take control of it, and they have been unable to.

So, according to the Israeli media reports, they now say that they want to occupy about a three-to-four-kilometre strip of territory. And Hezbollah will, no doubt, fight and try and prevent them from doing that, too. So, that’s what the Israelis want to do.

In terms of Lebanese turning on each other, Israeli officials called up — there are a couple of Christian villages down in the south. There are also Sunni. There are Druze, as well as the Shiite villages down south. It’s a mixed area.

And the Israeli officials called up some of those Christian towns, where the people refuse to leave their territory, and told them, “Listen, do not shelter your Shiite neighbours; otherwise, you will come under attack.”

So, that’s a very clear sort of indication of what the Israelis are sort of hoping to foment in terms of civil strife and turning, literally, neighbour against neighbour.

AMY GOODMAN: Let me play a clip from a Beirut resident. Naim Chebbo survived a bombing on Wednesday, said he’s now afraid to sleep. He said he wants the fighting to stop, and blamed Hezbollah.

NAIM CHEBBO: [translated] We want peace. We don’t want problems with anyone anymore. Eighty percent of Arab countries have peace with Israel. Why doesn’t Lebanon have peace, so that we can end all these problems?

As long as Hezbollah is in Lebanon, Israel will strike Lebanon. That’s it. Hezbollah is not defending Lebanon. It’s defending Iran’s agenda. That’s it.

AMY GOODMAN: Rania Abouzeid, how common or typical is this comment of a Lebanese who survived the bombing on Wednesday, Israel’s bombing?

RANIA ABOUZEID: The Lebanese are very divided over the issue of Hezbollah and its weapons, and they always have been, but more so now in this recent war, because it started on March 2, and Hezbollah lobbed about six rockets into Israel, claiming that it was in retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as, “in defense of Lebanon.”

So, many Lebanese saw it as a war of choice almost by Hezbollah.

Now, Hezbollah and its supporters say that after those 15 months of a ceasefire — that wasn’t really a ceasefire, because, according to the UN, Israel violated Lebanon’s sovereignty about 15,000 times during that period. There were thousands of attacks, resulting in the deaths of more than 350 Lebanese.

So, Hezbollah supporters say they were patient for those 15 months, and now they have chosen to respond.

But, certainly, there are Lebanese who are very angry with Hezbollah. They don’t want any war. I mean, no Lebanese wants war, even the hundreds of thousands of displaced, many of whom might be Hezbollah supporters. Everybody wants to go home.

You know, war is not the option for anybody. But it’s a question of: Under what circumstances, for example, will Lebanon negotiate with Israel? Will it be under the Iranian umbrella in these talks tomorrow, or will it try and forge another path? And which is better?

I mean, look, there are some Lebanese who don’t care if aliens will negotiate on behalf of Lebanon as long as it can secure a ceasefire.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to, finally, ask you about what’s happening on the ground. According to the World Health Organisation, some of Lebanon’s hospitals may run out of lifesaving medical supplies within days and attempt to treat patients wounded by the Israeli airstrikes. This is WHO representative in Lebanon, Dr Abdinasir Abubakar.

DR. ABDINASIR ABUBAKAR: There are some shortages, some of those essential chronic medications, the insulin, but also some of the, you know, dialysis supplies.

If the current situation and the current demand actually continue and the current escalation continue, probably the country may be facing a very real risk of critical shortage, including trauma supplies, surgical materials, blood products, chronic medications.

And any other further disruption could seriously hinder the ability of providing timely, adequate care for both emergency and ongoing health needs.

AMY GOODMAN: Rania Abouzeid, your final comments on what you think is about to happen? And do you think Iran will insist on including this in the ceasefire, joined by many countries around the world who are saying Lebanon has to be included, or, as you write in your column, “many Lebanese are wondering whether Iran will forsake Hezbollah and allow Lebanon to be pounded”?

RANIA ABOUZEID: Very difficult to tell, Amy. That’s the honest truth. But, you know, Iran also has its considerations. If it does forsake Hezbollah and goes it alone, well, then, you know, Hezbollah is part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance. There are other allies in the region who will see this and wonder if Iran might forsake it, too.

So it’s a question of its broader network. There are the Houthis in Yemen. There are various militia groups in Iraq who will be watching very carefully to see what Iran does, if it stands by its ally, Hezbollah, or if it doesn’t.

There are also — it also has domestic considerations. You know, Iranians have been pounded now for weeks and weeks. They want a reprieve. They don’t want to return to war.

So, the Iranians will be juggling those, their own sort of conditions, as well, in terms of what their ultimate stance is with regard to heading to the negotiations with or without a ceasefire in Lebanon.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Rania, I mean, you are there in Beirut. Israel struck central Beirut, southern Beirut, gone beyond the Litani River to the Zahrani River, some are wondering if they’ll take over that whole land, about a fifth of Lebanon. But you, yourself, are you afraid to walk in the streets?

RANIA ABOUZEID: It depends on what streets, Amy. It depends on where, what part of Lebanon, because that’s the thing about Wednesday’s attack, is that it shattered the sense that any place is safe, because you just don’t know.

The neighbourhoods that were targeted were very far, for example, from the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hezbollah has some institutions — not that that justifies striking a very densely, you know, populated area. The southern suburbs are home to hundreds of thousands of people.

But it was anybody’s guess. Like, why target a street with a roastery? Why target during rush hour when children were leaving school and civil servants were heading home? So, that’s the thing. The sense of safety anywhere has been shattered.

Republished from Democracy Now! under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States Licence.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/12/ten-minutes-of-terror-lebanon-death-toll-tops-300-from-israels-black-wednesday/

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 11, 2026.

Ending Israel’s war on peace – Iran’s 10-point proposal is serious
To make lasting peace in the Middle East, the US must end its blank cheque to Israel’s perpetual wars and join with the rest of the world to force Israel to live within its internationally recognised borders of June 4, 1967. Common Dreams reports. ANALYSIS: By Jeffrey D. Sachs and Sybil Fares A two-week ceasefire

Cyclone Vaianu: First impacts could be felt Saturday amid NZ warnings
MetService meteorologist John Law told RNZ Checkpoint the first impacts of the system could be felt on Saturday morning with large swells for north-eastern areas. “This is a multi-hazard area of low pressure that runs down. You can imagine that these strong winds rushing over the seas help to drive large swells across the open

More Australian LNG to Singapore flagged as Albanese looks to strengthen oil supply chain
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Increased exports of Australian LNG to Singapore are in prospect, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong in Friday talks to shore up Australia’s oil supply chain. During a joint news conference Prime Minister Wong said

What is andrographis, the cold and flu ingredient the TGA says can be fatal?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, Adelaide University A herb commonly sold in cold and flu supplements may no longer be classified as “low-risk”, after Australia’s therapeutic goods regulator found it can cause severe allergic reactions and even death. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is proposing to

Who checks Australian theme park rides and roller coasters are safe? A risk expert explains
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Eager, Professor of Risk Management and Injury Prevention, University of Technology Sydney As thousands of people packed into the Gold Coast’s Warner Bros Movie World theme park for the school holidays on Wednesday, one of Australia’s biggest roller coaster rides ground to a halt. A Village

What actually is ‘civilisation’? The dark and loaded history behind Trump’s threat against Iran
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Buchan, Professor of History, School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University In the midst of a war of his own choosing, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, recently tried to threaten his way out of it. On April 7, he posted on

Robert Reich: Lessons on how to defeat Donald Trump every time
COMMENTARY: By Robert Reich An hour before Trump said he’d cause the death of a “whole civilisation” if Iran didn’t open the strait of Hormuz, an Iranian official said the shipping channel would be reopened for two weeks if the United States stopped bombing Iran. The US has now stopped bombing Iran. So we’re back

ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for April 10, 2026
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 10, 2026.

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/11/er-report-a-roundup-of-significant-articles-on-eveningreport-nz-for-april-11-2026/

To make lasting peace in the Middle East, the US must end its blank cheque to Israel’s perpetual wars and join with the rest of the world to force Israel to live within its internationally recognised borders of June 4, 1967. Common Dreams reports.

ANALYSIS: By Jeffrey D. Sachs and Sybil Fares

A two-week ceasefire has partially halted the Israel-US war on Iran. The war accomplished precisely nothing that a competent diplomat could not have achieved in an afternoon.

The Strait of Hormuz was open before the war and it is open again now, but with more Iranian control.

Meanwhile, the chaos continues. Israel is intent on blowing up the ceasefire, as this was Israel’s war from the start.

Israel dazzled Trump with the prospect of a one-day decapitation strike that would put Trump in charge of Iran’s oil. Israel, in turn, was out for bigger prey: to bring down the Iranian regime and thereby become the regional hegemon of Western Asia.

The foundation of the ceasefire is Iran’s 10-point plan, which Trump (perhaps unwittingly) called a “workable basis on which to negotiate.” The plan makes sense, but it is a major climbdown for the US, and probably a redline for Israel.

Among other points, the plan calls for an end to the wars raging in the Middle East, almost all of which have Israel at their root cause. The plan would also resolve the nuclear issue, essentially by going back to the JCPOA that Trump ripped up in 2018.

The Iran War, and the other wars raging across the Middle East, trace back to one core Israeli idea, that Israel will permanently and steadfastly oppose a sovereign Palestinian state and will topple any government in the Middle East that supports armed struggle for national sovereignty.

It is crucial to note that the UN General Assembly has passed multiple resolutions, such as Resolution 37/43 (1982), affirming that political self-determination is so vital, that armed struggle in the quest for self-determination is legitimate.

The UN was born, in part, out of the determination to end the centuries of European imperial domination over Africa and Asia. Of course, there would be no cause for armed struggle if Israel would accept a political solution, notably the two-state solution that has overwhelming support throughout the world.

The peace is within reach, if the US grasps it.
Netanyahu’s core goal may be summarised as Greater Israel. This means no Palestinian sovereignty, and no clear boundaries for Israel even beyond the boundary of historical Palestine under British rule after the First World War.

Zionist extremists like Netanyahu’s political allies, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich favour Israeli control over parts of Lebanon and Syria, as well as permanent control over all of what was British Palestine.

America’s Christian Zionists, exemplified by the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and a strong voter base of Trump, speak of God’s promise to Israel of the lands between the Nile and the Euphrates. Crazy stuff, but these are real beliefs, nonetheless, and they are conveyed in the White House.

Israel’s strategy is therefore regime change in every country that resists Greater Israel, a plan already foreshadowed in the famous political document “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm,” written by US Zionist neocons as a platform for Netanyahu’s new government in 1996.

We’ve had constant wars in the Middle East since then to implement the Clean Break vision. This has included the war in Libya to overthrow Moammar Qaddafi, the wars in Lebanon, the war to overthrow Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, the war to overthrow Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, and now the war to topple the Iranian regime.

This is not to say that the US lacks its own grandiose ideas. Israel wants regional hegemony, this is not a secret. Netanyahu confirmed these ambitions in his recent remarks about Israel becoming “a regional power, and in certain fields a global power.”

On the other hand, American officials dream of global hegemony. And Trump dreams of money. He craves the Iranian oil and repeatedly said so.

In any event, it’s clear that this war was Netanyahu’s creation. He and the Mossad chief came to Washington to sell Trump a bill of goods. It’s not hard. Trump was suckered, while everybody else had their doubts about Netanyahu’s claims of an easy one-day decapitation strike — essentially a replay of the US operation in Venezuela.

It’s pathetic to “listen in” on the White House discussion, as revealed by the New York Times. Netanyahu, a con man, presented rosy scenarios of regime change that US intelligence contradicted, yet Trump foolishly accepted.

Trump and Netanyahu were cheered on by Christian Zionists (Hegseth), Jewish Zionists and real-estate developers (Kushner and Witkoff), a faith healer (Franklin Graham), and high-level sycophants (Rubio and Ratcliffe).

Trump himself who was begging for a ceasefire
Until Tuesday evening, it looked like Trump might lead the world blindly to the Third World War. The vulgarity and brutality of his public rhetoric was unmatched in US presidential history.

Now we know that he was desperately seeking an off-ramp and using Pakistan for that purpose. While Trump was telling the world that Iran was begging for a ceasefire, it was Trump himself who was begging for a ceasefire. The Pakistani leader delivered it.

The ceasefire is good, and the 10-point plan is good, even if perhaps Trump didn’t know what was in it when he said that it was a good basis for negotiation. Israel will, in any event, work overtime to break it, and has already started to do so, with carpet bombing of Beirut that is killing hundreds of civilians, and with other strikes.

A permanent US-Iran agreement is the last thing that Netanyahu wants. That would end his dream of Greater Israel.

Yet there is a way to peace and that is for the US to face reality. Israel is the real “terror state,” waging perpetual war throughout the Middle East for a wholly indefensible reason — to have unchecked freedom to terrorise and rule over the Palestinian people and to expand its borders as Israel’s zealots see fit.

To make lasting peace in the Middle East, the US must end its blank check to Israel’s perpetual wars and join with the rest of the world to force Israel to live within its internationally recognised borders of June 4, 1967.

Iran’s 10-point plan can be the basis of a comprehensive regional peace — if the US accepts the reality of a state of Palestine. In that case, Iran would likely agree to stop funding non-state belligerents, and Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the entire region could live in mutual security and peace.

That outcome should be the basis of a negotiated agreement of the US and Iran in the next two weeks.

American views clear
The American people have made their views clear. A 2025 Pew survey finds most Jewish Americans lack confidence in Netanyahu and back the two-state solution. Most Americans now view Israel unfavourably, the highest unfavourability in history. Sympathy for Israel has hit a 25-year low. Now the political class must catch up with the public.

The peace is within reach, if the US grasps it. Iran’s proposal is serious and the ceasefire is a fragile opening for a comprehensive settlement.

The question is whether the US will, once again, allow Israel to destroy the peace, or rather this time stand up for America’s interests and the world’s interests in a lasting peace.

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a university professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he directed the Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016. He is also president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development. Sybil Fares is a specialist and adviser in Middle East policy and sustainable development at SDSN.

Republished under Creative Commons.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/11/ending-israels-war-on-peace-irans-10-point-proposal-is-serious/

MetService meteorologist John Law told RNZ Checkpoint the first impacts of the system could be felt on Saturday morning with large swells for north-eastern areas.

“This is a multi-hazard area of low pressure that runs down. You can imagine that these strong winds rushing over the seas help to drive large swells across the open waters, and they run in from the northwest.

Swells up to 6, 8 metres
“And I think around those northern coasts, places like Northland and the Bay of Plenty, swell heights could be as much as six to eight metres.

“Now, adding to that, the wet weather coming down the rivers, the strong winds, the extra boost of that sea by the extra low pressure, those coastal eliminations, that risk does increase.”

Law also said it was “very unusual” to see the entire North Island under weather watches and warnings.

“Normally our watches and warnings, we try and keep them to as small an area as possible to kind of really focus in on those areas impacting.

“So the fact that the whole island has got these severe weather watches and warnings … it is an indication of the severity of the system coming through, not just in terms of the wet weather, but that wind, I think, is going to be one of the key features as we head through the weekend.

“As this system runs across us, we’ll find our winds changing direction… as they come in to start with we’re looking at northerly winds, but as the system sweeps down to the south, strong south or westerly winds behind it will also be another issue.

“So that change in direction, something else to keep in mind.”

Orange heavy rain warnings
Meanwhile, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty west of Whakatane including Rotorua, and Gisborne/Tairawhiti north of Tolaga Bay are all under an orange heavy rain warning from the early hours of Sunday morning.

Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell says it will be a potentially significant and damaging storm, and Earth Sciences NZ predicted more than 200mm of rain could fall in some places across the upper North Island.

An orange strong wind warning is in place for Northland from 11pm Saturday until Sunday afternoon. Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo, Taupo, Taumarunui, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua, Gisborne/Tairawhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Taihape, Taranaki and Wanganui are all also under orange warnings which come into place overnight Saturday.

Aucklanders have been warned the Harbour Bridge might close due to strong winds.

FIFA matches advanced
FIFA World Cup qualifying matches due to be played in Hamilton on Sunday have been brought forward to Saturday to avoid the worst of it.

Officials said the decision was made to ensure the safety of participants and fans attending the games.

The Oceania semi-finals between the Football Ferns and Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) and American Samoa were originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Hamilton.

They will now be played Saturday, with PNG playing American Samoa at midday and New Zealand playing Fiji at 4pm.

• RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster. That means RNZ will provide vital information and updates as they come to hand on air and online during an emergency.
• Find the radio frequency for your area here and get prepared here.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/10/cyclone-vaianu-first-impacts-could-be-felt-saturday-amid-nz-warnings/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

Increased exports of Australian LNG to Singapore are in prospect, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong in Friday talks to shore up Australia’s oil supply chain.

During a joint news conference Prime Minister Wong said Singapore would look to access more Australian LNG on a commercial basis “and hopefully more long-term gas as well”.

Albanese said if Singapore required more LNG, over a period “additional fields are going to come online”.

Asked about the tax treatment for new exports, Albanese dodged answering the question directly. But he has previously indicated – in the face of pressure from the left and right of politics for a super profits tax on increased gas exports – that his priority is to maintain Australia’s reputation as a reliable supplier. At the news conference he again stressed Australia’s reliability.

During a flying visit to Singapore focused on energy security, Albanese and Wong pledged to keep trade in energy products flowing between the two countries – LNG from Australia and refined products from Singapore.

Wong said: “Essential goods will continue to move between Australia and Singapore. That includes liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which Australia supplies to Singapore, as well as refined petroleum products like diesel which Singapore supplies to Australia.”

Singapore supplies more than a quarter of Australia’s refined fuel imports, while Australia provides about one third of Singapore’s LNG.

When asked whether Australia would be given priority if Singapore had to restrict exports, Wong said: “We do not plan to restrict. We didn’t have to do so even in the darkest days of COVID. And we will not do so during this energy crisis. It’s hypothetical. It won’t happen.”

The two countries are negotiating a legally binding Protocol to the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement on Economic Resilience and Essential Supplies, and are arranging to step up coordination on energy issues.

In a joint statement the leaders said:

we recognised the importance of the role of our countries in each other’s energy security – Singapore is one of Australia’s top suppliers of refined petroleum products, and Australia is one of Singapore’s top suppliers of liquefied natural gas.

we stated our determination to make maximum efforts to meet each other’s energy security needs in the context of the acute energy crisis currently affecting global markets.

we reaffirmed our commitment to support the flow of essential goods including petroleum oils, such as diesel, and LNG and agreed to intensify cooperation to facilitate the timely movement of goods and essential supplies through enhanced coordination, efficient border and port processes, transparency, and early consultation.

– ref. More Australian LNG to Singapore flagged as Albanese looks to strengthen oil supply chain – https://theconversation.com/more-australian-lng-to-singapore-flagged-as-albanese-looks-to-strengthen-oil-supply-chain-280260

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/10/more-australian-lng-to-singapore-flagged-as-albanese-looks-to-strengthen-oil-supply-chain-280260/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, Adelaide University

A herb commonly sold in cold and flu supplements may no longer be classified as “low-risk”, after Australia’s therapeutic goods regulator found it can cause severe allergic reactions and even death.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is proposing to remove andographis – widely used in Indian and Chinese traditional medicine – from its list of permitted ingredients. A new safety review found the herb can cause “rapid and unpredictable” anaphylaxis, the most severe type of allergic reaction.

Anaphylaxis can happen even if you’ve previously taken andrographis without any problems. But little is known about why.

Currently, products containing this ingredient can be purchased at supermarkets and pharmacies without a prescription.

Here’s what we know about the risks, and what the TGA wants to change.

What is andrographis?

Traditional medicines are becoming more popular in Western societies, particularly in response to the COVID pandemic.

Andrographis paniculata is one of these: a herb in the Asterids clade of flowering plants. Andrographis is often used to treat and prevent cold and flu symptoms, upper respiratory tract infections, inflammation and fever.

However, despite its popularity, there is a gap in empirical evidence to support these benefits.

In Australia, andrographis is ofen used in combination with another herbal ingredient, echinacea. In 2024, the TGA said more than 80% of the adverse event reports it received were for multi-ingredient preparations that included both andrographis and echinacea, which has also been linked to anaphylaxis.

Why did the TGA conduct this safety review?

All medicines are surveyed for adverse events, and andrographis is known to be associated with allergic responses.

The TGA first began receiving reports of anaphylaxis and hypersensitivity in 2005, from people who’d taken andrographis.

In 2015, the TGA published a public alert after a safety review found andrographis can cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis can be fatal if not treated immediately. Anaphylactic reaction to a trigger (such as food, medication or insect bites) can cause symptoms including swelling of the tongue and throat, and difficulty breathing.

So, while rare, allergic reactions to andrographis are concerning because they can be life-threatening.

Changes to labelling

In 2019 there was a sudden rise in adverse effects reported, with a large number of allergic and anaphylatic reactions. This led the TGA to change safety messaging on medicines containing andrographis. A warning was added to the label:

Andrographis may cause allergic reactions in some people. If you have a severe reaction (such as anaphylaxis) stop use and seek immediate medical attention.

The new, mandatory labelling was rolled out between December 2019 and May 2020.

Despite this labelling, the TGA recorded another spike in reported adverse events from May 2020. This increase coincided with first months of the COVID pandemic, although there were few COVID cases in Australia at that time.

This particular rise in adverse events was associated with a loss of sense of taste and smell, symptoms associated with COVID, although these people did not have COVID. Allergic and anaphlyactic responses were also reported.

Industry groups responded with further voluntary labelling changes. Some also decided to put preparations containing andrographis behind the pharmacy counter, so people would need to consult with a pharmacist before using them.

Further spikes in allergic reactions

Even with these new labelling and availability approaches, there were significant adverse event spikes in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, involving significant numbers of allergic reactions.

Tragically, in June 2024 the TGA received a report that someone had died from anaphylaxis after taking andrographis. Another case involved drug-induced liver injury.

While there are other serious reactions to andrographis, the anaphylactic reactions are considered the most serious as these are life-threatening, unpredictable and usually progress rapidly. Symptoms usually began within 30 minutes.

It is not clear why andrographis causes anaphylaxis. Most people affected had no history of allergies or asthma.

What does the TGA recommend now?

Previous changes – to labelling, and putting the products behind the pharmacist’s counter – have not substantially altered the incidence of serious adverse reactions.

So the TGA has proposed to remove andrographis from its list of permitted ingredients. These are low-risk ingredients that are permitted in listed medicines, including herbal preparations.

The TGA has opened a consultation about this proposal with stakeholders, such as consumer associations, health professionals, medicine sponsors and industry peak bodies.

In the meantime, consumers should read the TGA’s updated safety review and supplementary report website before taking any medicine that contains andrographis.

How else to stay safe

If you believe you or someone else is having an anaphylactic reaction, seek emergency medical help immediately by calling triple 0.

And if you experience any other symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop taking the product and seek medical advice.

You should always speak to a health professional before taking any medication, including herbal supplements, and read the label before using a product – even if you buy it without a prescription.

– ref. What is andrographis, the cold and flu ingredient the TGA says can be fatal? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-andrographis-the-cold-and-flu-ingredient-the-tga-says-can-be-fatal-280356

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/10/what-is-andrographis-the-cold-and-flu-ingredient-the-tga-says-can-be-fatal-280356/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Eager, Professor of Risk Management and Injury Prevention, University of Technology Sydney

As thousands of people packed into the Gold Coast’s Warner Bros Movie World theme park for the school holidays on Wednesday, one of Australia’s biggest roller coaster rides ground to a halt.

A Village Roadshow Theme Parks spokesman confirmed all riders on the DC Rivals HyperCoaster had got off safely, before being walked back down the incline.

No one ever wants to see rides stop – not the theme parks, not the regulators, and especially not the ride passengers.

It’s not the first time it’s happened: riders were stopped on the same roller coaster in January 2024, when a loose scarf got tangled in the wheels and the ride operator stopped as a precaution.

Nearby theme park Dreamworld was home to one of Australia’s worst theme park disasters in 2016, in which four people were killed on a water ride. That tragedy highlighted failures by the theme park operator Ardent Leisure, which was later fined $3.6 million, and the need for stronger safety standards.

Yet as someone who has been voluntarily involved in writing the standards on Australia’s amusement rides for almost 29 years, here’s why I’ve felt comfortable taking my own kids on roller coasters – and what work is being done right now to improve safety further.

What tests do roller coasters have to pass?

Every morning, major theme parks in Australia such as Movie World test their rides before opening. This is mandatory under the national standard for amusement rides.

Before opening the theme park each day the roller coasters are tested both empty and loaded.

Roller coasters are a gravity ride: the roller coaster train is elevated to the top of the ride, then gravity takes it down. If it’s empty, it might get stuck on the way down because it does not have enough stored energy to get over the humps, rises and round the bends. To test it being loaded, dummies full of water are placed in the passenger seats.

The theme parks also run other tests, from practice evacuation procedures to manage unexpected stoppages, through to checking multiple trains running on the roller coaster track stay at a safe, separated distance.

Before launching every ride, there’s a diagnostic check on the passenger restraint system. There are also other checks, such as for potentially faulty limit switches, which keep the trains on the roller coaster from ramming into each other. If there is an alarm for one of these devices, the staff can’t launch the ride.

If you’ve ever been in the queue for ages, thinking “hurry up, why don’t they start the ride?” – the ride operator is most likely running safety checks, or waiting for bad weather to pass.

Beyond the morning tests, theme parks have an engineering team on standby to check and fix rides if needed. They also have a night shift to conduct preventative maintenance, particularly during peak times such as school holidays.

Also, by law, all rides have to pass an annual inspection. This comes under each state’s Work Health and Safety Act. In Queensland, for instance, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is the regulator for theme parks.

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Read more: After damning report into Dreamworld tragedy, who can be held accountable under the law?

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How dangerous is riding a roller coaster?

Australia doesn’t publish national safety data on amusement rides, as they’re regulated on a state basis. The Conversation contacted Queensland’s regulator to request state-based data, but this was not available in time for publication.

The United States is home to more theme parks than the rest of the world. According to The Global Association for the Attractions Industry’s latest safety reports, there were 1,495 injuries at North American theme parks out of around 422 million visitors in 2024.

In North America, roller coaster rides accounted for 44% of those injuries in 2024 – the highest level on record. But the overall injury rate is still lower than many other activities, with just 2.86 injuries for every 1 million attendees – down from 4.78 injuries per million a decade earlier.

To put that risk in perspective, in 2001 Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, the Health and Safety Executive, compared the risks of injury or death from different activities.

Using around a decade of data, they found people were less likely to die from a fairground ride in the UK (1 in every 834 million rides) than rock climbing (1 in 320,000 climbs), canoeing (1 in 750,000 outings) or even catching a plane (1 in 125 million passenger journeys).

What’s changed since the Dreamworld tragedy?

A 2020 coroner’s inquiry into the deaths of four people at Dreamworld in 2016 recommended significant changes to theme park management, including more stringent, regular inspection of rides.

Queensland announced stricter safety rules in 2019 in response to the Dreamworld failures. In 2024, it followed up on the coroner’s recommendations, launching Australia’s first “amusement device safety” code of practice. It’s a detailed rule book for everything from theme parks to dodgem cars and jumping castles.

Nationally, there’s an independent Standards Australia committee for amusement rides and devices. I’m a voluntary member, representing Engineers Australia.

The committee is in the process of adopting the world’s best practice European standard on amusement rides. Standards Australia hopes to release a draft for public comment this year.

So there’s still more work to do. But if you’re visiting a theme park these holidays, deciding whether to let your kids try a ride, my recommendation is let them enjoy their childhood. It’s probably safer than you think.

– ref. Who checks Australian theme park rides and roller coasters are safe? A risk expert explains – https://theconversation.com/who-checks-australian-theme-park-rides-and-roller-coasters-are-safe-a-risk-expert-explains-278063

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/10/who-checks-australian-theme-park-rides-and-roller-coasters-are-safe-a-risk-expert-explains-278063/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Buchan, Professor of History, School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University

In the midst of a war of his own choosing, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, recently tried to threaten his way out of it. On April 7, he posted on Truth Social that unless Iran buckled to his will, “a whole civilization will die tonight”.

He presumably meant to amplify his earlier claim that he intended to bomb Iran back to “the stone age”.

Trump’s words are rarely to be taken at face value. Yet his recent incitement to war crimes proved shocking, even by his standards.

But what actually is “civilisation”? And why has Trump’s threat struck a nerve in even his most ardent loyalists?

Coined in an age of conquest and enslavement

The word “civilisation” is a creation of the age of Enlightenment in the 18th century. It was coined to describe a social order that European philosophers and writers then believed was coming into being in parts of Western Europe.

The word derived from older terms in Europe’s lexicon. To be “civil” denoted politeness, and “civility” a code of peaceful conduct essential to city life.

One of the first people to use the word was French political economist Victor de Riqueti, Marquis de Mirabeau (1715–89). In his work L’ami des Hommes, ou, Traité de la Population (The Friend of Man, or Treatise on Population) (1756), civilisation implied three things.

Mirabeau described the historical role of Christianity as the “primary driving force of civilisation”. What he meant was Christianity curbed human violence and turned Europeans by slow degrees over time toward amity and friendship. In other words, the civilised knew God and acted with divine purpose – or at the very least, were less violent and cruel than the “uncivilised”.

Mirabeau also employed the word to describe the “natural cycle of barbarism and […] civilisation”. Here, he implied all peoples were located somewhere along a pathway in time between the condition of mere barbarians, and the exalted heights occupied by the civilised. Not all may scale the heights, but those who do must take care to avoid falling.

The civilised could see more, know more and have more. That “more”, Mirabeau suggested, was the evidence of their civilisation. The barbarian by contrast, simply lacks.

Finally, Mirabeau used the word to warn of a “return of barbarism and oppression” that would destroy “civilisation and liberty”, endangering “humanity in general”. Civilisation needed defence, especially from the so-called “barbarians”, who he warned may be among us, rather than threatening hordes beyond the city gates.

Here then, at the very origin of the word, lies a deep-laid curse.

Civilisation’s curse is the monumental presumption of separation, of imagining oneself as different from all others, and privileged by that difference. That privilege has so often been expressed in the disdain for, or fear of, “the barbarians” who must be “civilised” – turned away from their presumed savagery, heathenism or mere animality.

A term wrapped up in identity

These connotations still reverberate in contemporary use of the term. It echoes in plural references to particular civilisations in time, such as the Romans, Babylonians, Inca or Mexica.

Although different in language and laws, these civilisations were capable of providing a reasonably refined way of life in flourishing cities, such as with running water, sanitation, roads and bridges. Useful as a teaching aid, this “bricks and mortar” approach reduced civilisation to something like a checklist.

In 1996 the American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington invoked this “bricks and mortar” view in The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order. In the post-Cold War era, he argued, global order would be riven not by ideological division so much as by conflicts between distinct civilisations. Huntington’s thesis has been widely discredited, but the idea of plural civilisations remains.

Today, however, the most potent meaning of the word is what we might call the civilisation of capital letters. Western Civilisation, for example, is still regularly invoked to convey a certain history that links Britain and Western Europe with their far-flung colonial offshoots (such as Australia).

Much more than just history, Western Civilisation also implies identity; as if the appellation encompasses who we are as a nation. In this identification lies that deeper curse.

Rarely is Western Civilisation invoked except in warnings that it is in imminent peril, careening toward the end.

Arrogant assumptions

Too frequently has the curse of civilisation inspired this recurrent nightmare. In his 1899 novel, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad presented civilisation as a kind of madness – a derangement of humanity expressed in a nightmarish will to “exterminate all the brutes”.

Thanks to Trump’s threats, this is where we find ourselves now: on the cusp of that persistent curse. As long ago as 1767, one of the earliest adopters of the word, Scots philosopher Adam Ferguson (1723–1816), sought to trace humanity’s path “from rudeness to civilisation”.

Yet Ferguson also questioned the obtuse presumption spawned by the word, that “we are ourselves the supposed standards of politeness and civilisation”. From there it was but a short step to the arrogant assumption that “where our own features do not appear […] that there is nothing which deserves to be known”.

When President Trump says that Iran’s “civilisation” will be “taken out in one night”, we hear echoes of that presumption. His words have made barbarians of us all, equally at the mercy of a madman’s curse.

– ref. What actually is ‘civilisation’? The dark and loaded history behind Trump’s threat against Iran – https://theconversation.com/what-actually-is-civilisation-the-dark-and-loaded-history-behind-trumps-threat-against-iran-280268

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/10/what-actually-is-civilisation-the-dark-and-loaded-history-behind-trumps-threat-against-iran-280268/

COMMENTARY: By Robert Reich

An hour before Trump said he’d cause the death of a “whole civilisation” if Iran didn’t open the strait of Hormuz, an Iranian official said the shipping channel would be reopened for two weeks if the United States stopped bombing Iran.

The US has now stopped bombing Iran.

So we’re back to the status quo before Trump began his war.

Only now, Iran can credibly threaten to close the strait if it doesn’t get what it wants from Trump — thereby causing havoc to the US and world economies. Trump’s only remaining bargaining chip is his threat of committing war crimes.

In other words, Tuesday’s showdown was a clear victory for Iran and a clear defeat for Trump (although he framed it as a victory).

The Iran fiasco is only the latest in a host of examples revealing how to defeat Trump.

In addition to Iran, similar strategies have been used by China, Russia, Canada, Mexico and Greenland.

Inside the US
Inside the United States, the people of Minneapolis have used them, as have Harvard University, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, writer E Jean Carroll and the law firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and WilmerHale.

What’s the strategy that connects them all? All refused to cave to Trump, despite his superior military or economic power.

Instead, they’ve engaged in a kind of jiujitsu in which they use Trump’s power against him, while allowing Trump to save face by claiming he’s won. Consider:

Iran knew it was no match for the superior might of the US (and Israel). So it used cheap drones and missiles to close the Strait of Hormuz and incapacitate other Gulf oil installations, thereby driving up the prices of oil and gas at the pump in the US, which has put growing political pressure on Trump, months before a midterm election. Hence, Trump has been forced to pause his war.

China knew what to do when Trump imposed a giant tariff on Chinese exports to the US: it put restrictions on seven types of heavy rare earth metals and magnets, crucial to US defense and tech industries. Beijing continues to use these rare earth restrictions as tactical levers in ongoing negotiations over trade, rather than demand complete surrender by Trump on his trade policies.

Russia has leveraged its vast deposits of oil and natural gas in gaining leverage over US allies. It has also demonstrated its potential ability to intrude into US elections (the Mueller report detailed a “sweeping and systematic” campaign by Russia to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, primarily favouring Trump).

Canada and Mexico have won tariff showdowns with Trump by leveraging the US’s substantial economic dependence on them for components and raw materials, but without crowing about their victories.

Greenland has leveraged public opinion globally and in the United States — overwhelmingly against an American invasion or occupation — to curb Trump’s ambitions there.

Minneapolis resistance
Now, as to what’s happened inside the United States:

The citizens of Minneapolis and St Paul have leveraged their asymmetric power against Trump’s ICE and border patrol agents by carefully organising themselves into a force of non-violent resistance to protect immigrants there.

Harvard University’s strategy for resisting Trump’s interference in Harvard’s academic freedom has been to leverage its influence with the federal courts in Boston and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, to get rulings that stopped Trump (although he’s still trying).

The comedian Jimmy Kimmel turned a political crisis into a ratings victory by using the public backlash against his suspension from ABC, which Disney owns. Since ABC reinstated him, Kimmel has continued to target Trump, and secured his contract through 2027.

The writer E Jean Carroll defeated Donald Trump in two civil cases over sexual abuse and defamation, ultimately securing over $88 million in damages from him — verdicts that have been upheld by federal appeals courts.

Carroll’s lawyers used a civil lawsuit, requiring a lower burden of proof than proving a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. They presented the jury with Trump’s Access Hollywood tape and testimony from other Trump accusers. His depositions, where he called her a “whack job”, were played for the jury.

The law firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and WilmerHale refused to follow Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms that had represented causes or clients that Trump opposed.

First Amendment rights infringed
The firms leveraged constitutional arguments with the federal courts — arguing that the orders infringed on their First Amendment rights to advocate whatever causes they wished, violated the constitution’s separation of powers because the orders would prevent the judiciary from considering challenges to executive authority, and violated their clients’ rights under the constitution to be represented.

The Justice Department ultimately dropped its fight against these firms in March 2026 after federal appellate judges also found Trump’s orders unconstitutional.

What’s happened to the countries and organisations that have caved to Trump?

All have strengthened Trump’s leverage over them. Europe seems incapacitated, fearing Trump will leave Nato (despite a US law prohibiting it), but unable to decide where to draw the line with him.

The media network ABC continues to lose viewers, while being subject to Trump’s next whims. CBS was purchased by the Trump allies Larry Ellison and his son, David, and is hemorrhaging talent.

Columbia University has been racked by dissent from both students and faculty. The Trump regime continues to make demands of it.

The law firms that caved in to Trump’s executive orders have seen lawyers exit who felt the deals betrayed the firms’ values and principles.

Microsoft dropped Simpson Thacher to work with Jenner & Block — a firm that fought Trump. Students at elite law schools have also reportedly begun to shun firms that struck deals with the Trump regime.

Bottom line: there’s now a clear blueprint for how to defeat Trump. It’s available to any country, organisation or person on which he seeks to impose his will: reject his demands and then use your own asymmetric power — a form of jiujitsu — to turn Trump’s power against him.

Robert Reich, a former US Secretary of Labour, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and he blogs at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and in the UK. This article is republished from his Facebook page — other Robert Reich articles at Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/10/robert-reich-lessons-on-how-to-defeat-donald-trump-every-time/

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 10, 2026.

After ceasefire, negotiating a lasting deal with Iran would require overcoming regional rivalries and strategic incoherence
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ioana Emy Matesan, Associate Professor of Government, Wesleyan University President Donald Trump’s rapid and dramatic turn from threatening to kill “an entire civilization” in Iran on the morning of April 7, 2026, to announcing a two-week ceasefire later that day left many observers with a sense of

Hungary election: how a new opponent has forced Viktor Orbán into the first genuinely competitive race in 16 years
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zsofia Bocskay, Postdoctoral Researcher, CEU Democracy Institute, Central European University For the first time since Viktor Orbán came to power in 2010, the Hungarian electorate is faced with a genuinely competitive campaign ahead of the 2026 general election on April 12. For the past 16 years, Prime

Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb, has genuine warmth – but doesn’t quite work as a musical
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mara Davis Johnson, Lecturer in Creative and Performing Arts, University of Wollongong The Deb is finally here. The film has been plagued by unresolved legal troubles and repeated delays. But here it is – and for the most part, it’s an enjoyable Australian comedy with characteristically crude

What will it take to get ships going through the Strait of Hormuz again?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Parker, Adjunct Professor, Defence and Security Institute, The University of Western Australia; UNSW Sydney Wednesday’s ceasefire announcement by President Donald Trump, linked to Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, prompted immediate optimism shipping would quickly resume. It didn’t. The following morning, traffic remained minimal. A handful

Artemis II: as humans return to the Moon, which of these 4 futures will we choose?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priyanka Dhopade, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau The four Artemis II astronauts who looped around the Moon this week are expected to splash down soon. NASA’s grand mission spells a return to human deep-space travel, with renewed interest in building a

NZ is surrounded by ocean energy. Just what would it take to tap it?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Stevens, Professor in Ocean Physics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Earth Sciences New Zealand “Same as it ever was” is a phrase that continues to resonate in 2026. The oil shocks of the 1970s, triggered by conflict in the Middle East, sent global energy prices

‘First contact’ that may have led to complex life on Earth finally witnessed by scientists
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Paul Burns, Associate Professor, School of Biotech & Biomolecular Science, UNSW Sydney On the shores of the west coast of Australia lies a window to our past: the stromatolites and microbial mats of Gathaagudu (Shark Bay). To the untrained eye they look like a collection of

Some countries in Asia are rationing energy – why they’ve been hit hardest by the crisis in the Gulf
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gokcay Balci, Lecturer in Sustainable Freight Transport and Logistics, University of Leeds The war in Iran has led to a global energy crisis. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a major energy chokepoint that handles roughly 20% of the world’s oil, has been largely blocked by

The human body isn’t a masterpiece of design – it’s a patchwork of evolutionary compromise
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy E. Hyde, Lecturer, Anatomy, University of Bristol The human body is often described as a marvel of “perfect design”: elegant, efficient and finely tuned for its purpose. Yet, when we look closer, a rather different picture emerges. Far from being a flawless machine, the body reads

Psilocybin mushrooms are going mainstream, but scientific research and regulation lag behind
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hollis Karoly, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Amid a renaissance in the science of psychedelics, public interest in psilocybin – or magic mushrooms, as they’ve long been known – is surging. One study found that rates of psilocybin use increased 44% among

¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! Speedy Gonzales set to make his triumphant return to the silver screen
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jared Bahir Browsh, Assistant Teaching Professor of Critical Sports Studies, University of Colorado Boulder “¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!” Meaning “hurry up, let’s go,” the trademark slogan of Speedy Gonzales was, for generations of children, the first Spanish words they learned. But by the 1980s, ABC had pulled

Fixating on a ‘magic number’ of childcare hours misses what’s most important for kids’ development
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney Families with kids juggling full-time work may have been alarmed by media reporting this week, suggesting “too much” time in early childhood education and care could harm their child’s development. Data from a major Australian

Pauline Hanson has a long list of enemies. It’s intentional
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ashlynne McGhee, Head of Editorial Innovation, The Conversation Pretty much everyone of a certain age remembers this line in Pauline Hanson’s maiden speech: “I’m afraid we’re in danger of being swamped by Asians.” It wasn’t the first racist comment she’d made in public and it certainly wasn’t

Will knee injections help your osteoarthritis? Here’s what the evidence says
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Belinda Lawford, Senior Research Fellow in Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne Knee osteoarthritis is a complex disease that affects the whole joint, including bone, cartilage, ligaments and muscles. Osteoarthritis is a common cause of pain and movement difficulty, affecting 8.3% of people in Australia. When pain persists,

Is Australia at risk of a recession? Here’s what the data actually shows
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stella Huangfu, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney Talk of a recession in Australia has picked up in recent weeks. Rising fuel prices, a sharp fall in consumer confidence, and signs of softer spending have all added to concerns the economy may be losing momentum.

Meet Diocletian – the Roman emperor who retired to grow cabbages
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Edwell, Associate Professor in Ancient History, Macquarie University Very few Roman emperors died natural deaths. Most were assassinated, some died in battle and one was even struck by lightning. Some emperors sensed the danger and got out of Rome altogether. But only one laid down his

Designing cities: should we build from scratch or keep history alive?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abeer Elshater, Professor of Urban Morphology, Ain Shams University Cities are often described as living archives of human memory. Walk through an old neighbourhood in an Islamic city like Fez in Morocco or Cairo in Egypt, and you can see layers of history in its streets and

PNG defence minister steps aside amid army recruitment controversy
By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific bulletin editor Papua New Guinea’s Defence Minister Dr Billy Joseph has stepped aside to allow investigations into allegations he interfered with army recruitment. Prime Minister James Marape said he would assume the defence portfolio while an independent probe into PNG Defence Force recruitment irregularities proceeded. A media release from Marape

Grattan on Friday: Taylor and Canavan are chalk and cheese – and that’s a problem for Taylor
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra If you want a basic measure of the difference between Liberal leader Angus Taylor and Nationals leader Matt Canavan, compare these two reactions to US President Donald Trump’s extraordinary threat this week that “a whole civilisation will die tonight”. Asked

How does Medicare’s new Mental Health Check In work? Is this low-intensity CBT likely to help?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Baldwin, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology; UNSW Sydney If you’ve been struggling with your mental health lately, a new free service could help. Medicare Mental Health Check In launched earlier this year to give more Australians access to mental health care. The

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/10/er-report-a-roundup-of-significant-articles-on-eveningreport-nz-for-april-10-2026/