MIL-OSI Export – Page 52

January 28, 2026

As Syria’s new government consolidates its power, the Kurdish minority fears for its future

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University

Renewed fighting in Syria in recent weeks between government-aligned forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) isn’t just a local issue. It has serious implications for the stability of the rest of the Middle East.

Syrian government forces launched an offensive in early January into areas of northeastern Syria controlled by Kurdish forces. The operation enabled the government to gain control of key oil and gas fields and major border crossings with Iraq and Turkey.

Of particular concern to Syria’s neighbours, though, is the thousands of former Islamic State (IS) fighters who have been held in prisons run by the SDF in the region. One camp, al-Hol, reportedly held about 24,000 detainees, primarily women and children. There were also diehard IS supporters from around the world at the camp.

Amid concerns the prisoners would escape with the SDF retreat, the US military began moving detainees from Syria to other facilities in Iraq last week. Some prisoners, however, were able to escape.

Though both sides agreed to a ceasefire that would see the SDF forces incorporated into the Syrian armed forces, it remains shaky.

The government’s offensive has also resulted in mass displacement, mistreatment of civilians and what the SDF claims are Islamic State-style killings of its forces and civilians.

And there are concerns the Islamic State will take advantage of the chaos to regroup and try to destabilise the region once again.

A pattern of violence

The fighting has followed a pattern disturbingly similar to other violent episodes following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government to forces led by now-President Ahmed al-Sharaa in late 2024.

Al-Sharaa has pledged to protect minorities in the new Syria he is building, but religious and ethnic minorities have specifically been targeted. This includes the Druze in southern Syria and Alawite communities in the west.

There have been credible reports of summary executions, arbitrary killings and kidnappings.

When the Islamic State controlled large portions of Syria around 2014, its violent actions against civilians – in particular, minorities such as the Yazidis and Kurds – were widely condemned as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In al-Sharaa’s Syria, the violence has allegedly been carried out by government security forces, as well as armed factions affiliated with the government, including foreign fighters.

And al-Sharaa’s government has been supported – or at least tolerated – by international actors, most notably the United States. US President Donald Trump praised al-Sharaa earlier this month for his “tremendous progress”, adding, “I think he’s going to put it all together.”

Trump even met al-Sharaa during a visit to Saudi Arabia in May at the behest of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

As a result, violent actions that once triggered airstrikes and global outrage are now met largely with silence, caution or political justification.

This shift is most stark in the treatment of Kurdish forces, particularly the Syrian Democratic Forces. These forces have been among the US government’s most effective local partners in the fight against Islamic State for years.

Despite this record, violence against Kurdish civilians has elicited little meaningful reaction. Instead, US policy has focused on supporting the Syrian government structure and urging Kurdish leaders to accept the new political order and fully integrate into state institutions.

For Kurdish communities, this demand carries profound risks. The experiences of the Druze and Alawites offer little assurance that disarmament and territorial concessions will be met with protection or political inclusion.

Many Kurds fear laying down arms without security guarantees could expose them to similar attacks.

A return of Islamic State

Another destabilising consequence of the fighting in eastern Syria has been the collapse of the detention network built to prevent the return of IS.

The US has said up to 7,000 detainees could be transferred from Syria to detention facilities in Iraq in its operations.

While framed as a logistical and security necessity, the announcement immediately triggered alarm across Iraq, where memories of the 2014 Islamic State invasion remain vivid. That was fuelled, in part, by prison breaks from poorly secured detention facilities in Iraq and Syria.

In response to these concerns, Iraqi security forces have deployed in large numbers along the Syrian border to prevent escaped IS detainees from infiltrating the country.

US and Turkish agendas

At the centre of this unfolding crisis is the US, which favours a centralised Syrian state under a single trusted authority. This is easier to manage diplomatically and militarily than a fragmented country with competing armed factions.

This approach also aligns with Trump’s broader regional ambitions, including expanding the Abraham Accords by persuading more regional countries to normalise ties with Israel.

Turkey, a NATO member and key US ally, also has a vested interest in the future of Syria. Ankara, a key backer of al-Sharaa, has long viewed any form of Kurdish autonomy in Syria as an existential threat, fearing it would embolden Kurdish demands inside Turkey.

Together, these overlapping agendas reveal why the international response to the fighting in eastern Syria has been so muted. Concerns over civilian protection or the potential regrouping of the Islamic State have been trumped by the strategic realignment taking place with a post-Assad Syria.

Kurdish forces, once indispensable partners, now find themselves caught between shifting alliances and competing regional interests — another casualty of a new international order defined by convenience rather than principle.

Ali Mamouri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. As Syria’s new government consolidates its power, the Kurdish minority fears for its future – https://theconversation.com/as-syrias-new-government-consolidates-its-power-the-kurdish-minority-fears-for-its-future-274110

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/28/as-syrias-new-government-consolidates-its-power-the-kurdish-minority-fears-for-its-future-274110/

January 28, 2026

Xi Jinping has dismissed two of China’s most senior generals. What does this mean?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David S G Goodman, Director, China Studies Centre, Professor of Chinese Politics, University of Sydney

Last weekend, China’s Ministry of National Defence announced that the country’s two most senior generals – Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli – would be removed from office and placed under investigation for serious disciplinary violations.

Zhang had been the People’s Liberation Army’s most senior general since October 2022. He was the highest ranking military member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China (CCP), the party-state’s 24-member executive policy-making body.

Zhang was also the senior vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, which controls the armed forces.

Liu was the former commander of the PLA’s Ground Force and had most recently been in charge of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff Department.

The reaction to these developments outside China has led to dramatic headlines. A BBC headline initially focused on a “military in crisis”, while the Australian Broadcasting Corporation called it an “astonishing” purge that leaves Chinese leader Xi Jinping almost alone at the top of the world’s biggest army.

Certainly, the moves were surprising. But so little is known about the internal workings of the CCP’s leadership, including Xi’s relations with his colleagues in the Politburo, that interpreting these developments is difficult, if not impossible.

What we know

For historical and political reasons, the PLA is an organisation of the CCP. Both fall under the direct purview of Xi, who is chair of the Central Military Commission, general secretary of the CCP and president of the country.

The removal of Zhang and Liu at least temporarily leaves military leadership under just Xi and General Zhang Shengmin. Three other members of the Central Military Commission have lost their positions since 2024 and not been replaced.

Though the Chinese leadership is notoriously opaque, it is clear there have been disciplinary problems within the military in the last few years, particularly related to corruption and procurement in the more technically advanced departments of the PLA. Some two dozen senior military figures have been dismissed or investigated since 2022.

Zhang and Liu were fairly recent appointments to even more senior positions. Both were also seen as personal supporters of Xi. The fathers of Xi and Zhang had a close relationship dating back to the early days of the CCP in the 1930s before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Moreover, the removals of Zhang and Liu happened more quickly than other senior military dismissals of recent years – and there were fewer warning signs. Both men had appeared in public as recently as a month ago.

Perhaps of even greater surprise, the Wall Street Journal reported that Zhang is accused of providing the United States with information about China’s nuclear weapons program, alongside allegations of accepting bribes and forming “political cliques”.

So, how to read the tea leaves?

Past practice suggests without a doubt that once a senior figure loses their status or is dismissed – for whatever reason – their downfall results in accusations of a litany of crimes.

The Politburo has also seen its share of intense internal politics in the past, though the precise circumstances of such conflicts usually take years to surface. A good example is the mysterious death of Lin Biao in 1971, another former PLA commander who at the time was Mao Zedong’s designated successor.

Given the broader context at play here with the management of the military and the development of government programs in recent years, as well as the claims Zhang and Liu violated “discipline and the law”, there are two possible explanations for their dismissals.

Both may have had direct involvement in corruption, taking bribes to appoint officials or ensure contracts for suppliers. It is equally likely they are being held responsible for corruption that has undoubtedly occurred in military procurement under their watch.

Then there is the possibility of a difference of opinion within the Central Military Commission and the Politburo on how to deal with corruption, particularly within the military.

Xi has repeatedly stressed the importance of the fight against corruption since he became general secretary of the CCP in 2012.

In recent weeks, he has made this an even more important crusade in the context of the about-to-be-announced 15th Five-year Plan for Economic and Social Development. On January 12, he designated the issue of corruption as a “major struggle” in a speech to China’s top anti-corruption agency:

Currently, the situation in the fight against corruption remains grave and complex […] We must maintain a high-pressure stance without wavering, resolutely punishing corruption wherever it exists, eliminating all forms of graft, and leaving no place for corrupt elements to hide.

To meet China’s developmental goals, he added, the CCP “must deploy cadres who are truly loyal, reliable, consistent and responsible”.

It is difficult to see Zhang and Liu or indeed anyone else currently willing or able to challenge Xi. Or, indeed, that Xi might feel immediately threatened by Zhang, Liu or others.

To that extent, Xi’s personal position is neither strengthened nor weakened by these dismissals.

Other analysts have suggested that the disruptions caused by the dismissals could lower Xi’s confidence in his military. Some have even said the potential for an invasion of Taiwan has now been lowered.

The removal of so many leaders may indicate the PLA is now expected to undergo culture change. At the same time, it would be drawing a very long bow to suggest its military capacity generally or in relation to Taiwan has either been strengthened or weakened.

David S G Goodman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Xi Jinping has dismissed two of China’s most senior generals. What does this mean? – https://theconversation.com/xi-jinping-has-dismissed-two-of-chinas-most-senior-generals-what-does-this-mean-274425

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/28/xi-jinping-has-dismissed-two-of-chinas-most-senior-generals-what-does-this-mean-274425/

January 28, 2026

Nearly 40% of voters think Treaty of Waitangi has too much influence on government decisions – poll

Source: Radio New Zealand

The latest RNZ-Reid Research poll asked respondents what they thought about the Treaty of Waitangi in terms of its influence on the government’s decision-making. RNZ / REECE BAKER

More voters think the Treaty of Waitangi has too much influence on government decisions rather than too little, according to the latest RNZ-Reid Research poll.

Voters have also had their say on whether New Zealand’s Prime Minister should be in Waitangi for Waitangi Day commemorations, with a majority thinking attendance is very or somewhat important.

This term has seen Treaty issues come to prominence, and often met with protest.

While ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill, which according to its text sought to define the principles to “create greater certainty and clarity to the meaning of the principles in legislation,” was voted down at second reading last year, ACT leader David Seymour has promised to reignite the debate this election year.

The government is undertaking a separate piece of work, borne out of National’s coalition agreement with New Zealand First, to review references to the Treaty principles in 23 different laws, and will either replace the reference with specific wording that explains their relevance or application, or remove them entirely.

It is also reviewing the Waitangi Tribunal.

A thousand respondents were asked “thinking about the influence the Treaty of Waitangi has over government decision making, do you think it is too much, about the right amount, or too little?”

The most popular response was “too much,” with 38.1 percent, but “about right” was close behind on 31.4 percent.

Just under 17 percent thought the Treaty had “too little” influence, while 11 percent did not know.

Broken down by party lines, it follows a reasonably predictable track.

Just under half of Labour supporters thought it was “about right,” while those thinking it was “too much” or “too little” were relatively split.

That is compared to just over half of National voters who thought the influence was “too much”.

Just under two thirds of New Zealand First supporters also think there is “too much” influence, as do a majority ACT supporters – overwhelmingly on 81.6 percent.

More Green Party and Te Pāti Māori supporters meanwhile believe there is “too little” influence.

Should the PM go to Waitangi?

The Prime Minister is yet to share his plans for Waitangi Day this year.

Last year, Luxon did not attend the National Iwi Chairs Forum on the 4th or the ‘political day’ at Waitangi on the 5th, and spent Waitangi Day itself with Ngāi Tahu at Ōnuku Marae.

That will not be an option this year, with Ngāi Tahu heading to the Treaty Grounds.

Voters were asked “how important is it for New Zealand’s Prime Minister to be in Waitangi on Waitangi Day?”

Most said it was very or somewhat important, with 32 percent saying it was very important the Prime Minister attends, and 29.8 saying it was somewhat important.

Just over 15 percent said it was not very important, while just over 16 percent said it was not at all important.

Supporters of opposition parties were more likely to say it was important for the Prime Minister to attend, with 51.1 percent of Labour voters, 48.5 percent of Green Party supporters, and 55.6 percent of Te Pāti Māori supporters saying it was “very” important.

On the government side, 12 percent of National supporters thought it was very important, along with 10 percent of ACT supporters.

New Zealand First supporters were more evenly split.

This poll of 1000 people was conducted by Reid Research, using quota sampling and weighting to ensure representative cross section by age, gender and geography. The poll was conducted through online interviews between 15-22 January 2026 and has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/nearly-40-of-voters-think-treaty-of-waitangi-has-too-much-influence-on-government-decisions-poll/

January 28, 2026

Roads closed, traffic rerouted in Lower Hutt as $1.5b works continue

Source: Radio New Zealand

Heavy traffic on State Highway 2 and Hutt Rd at Dowse interchange at 5.40pm earlier this week. Phil Pennington/RNZ

A raft of public works in Lower Hutt is causing headaches for commuters, closing roads and rerouting traffic.

It is linked to Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi, formerly known as the RiverLink project – with electricity renewal work in the area also underway, as well as council roading maintainence.

The $1.5 billion works included flood protection and river restoration work, improvements to public transport links and walking and cycling routes as well as upgrading the Melling interchange which linked the city to State Highway Two.

A new pedestrian bridge was also planned to link the relocated Melling Railway Station – which closed for an estimated three years in December last year – to the city.

Multiple people say in recent weeks there’s been a marked increase in delays and heavy congestion – extending beyond peak times – around the already busy choke point between the city, hospital and housing on one side Hutt River and the motorway to Wellington City (south) and the Upper Hutt and Wairarapa in the north.

The Melling train line to Wellington continued to run from the Western Hutt Station – further south – and each weekday Metlink bused nearly 370 Melling passengers from line’s former end.

Across the river – towards the city – Block Road as well as a section of Pharazyn Street, north of Marsden Street, were permanently closed earlier this month.

While Queens Drive, between Rutherford Street and High Street, was being prepared for the added traffic expected through the area and would remain closed until 2029.

Heavy traffic on State Hughway 2. Phil Pennington/RNZ

Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi works to carry on through 2031

Jon Kingsbury from Hutt City Council said the full extent of the Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi works was not expected to be completed until some time in 2031.

People should expect longer travel times and were encouraged to plan ahead, he said.

“Different elements of the work will be delivered at different times, and disruption will vary as projects moves through scheduled phases.

“We appreciate people’s patience while this critical work is underway. While the disruption is significant, these projects are about making Lower Hutt safer, more resilient and better connected for the long term.”

Kingsbury said the council appreciated the cumulative effect of the multiple works could feel significant especially during peak travel times.

“Project partners are working closely together, alongside local businesses, residents, and transport providers, to plan, sequence and manage disruption as much as possible.

“Traffic management plans and local detours are in place across the city. While alternative routes are available, people should expect longer travel times and are encouraged to plan ahead,” the spokesperson said.

Works overlap regular road maintenance season

The early stages of the work on Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi had also co-incided with Hutt City Council’s road maintenance season.

Beginning in last November and set to continue through the summer to March the program would resurface and reseal around 15 kilometres of road in the area.

Outside of Hutt Central, construction of Tupua Horo Nuku – a 4.4 kilometre seawall and shared path along Marine Drive between Ngau Matau/Point Howard and Eastbourne – had also added to the congestion, with up to three-lane closures, stop/go traffic controls, and a reduced speed limit on the road accessing the Eastbourne Bays.

Later in March, Hutt City Council would also close the intersection of Queens Drive and High Street as the nearby roundabout was removed and replaced by traffic lights.

That piece of the puzzle would be completed near the end of the year and was expected to bring an extra layer of commuter chaos to the city’s centre.

Electricity works clear substations and cables from construction zone

This week – south of the main works – Wellington Electricity also closed the Ewen Bridge on-ramp and a lane across the bridge which linked the city to Alice town, the Hutt Road and the Western Hutt Railway station.

The electricity supplier would be laying trenches for cable removal or installation in the area as cables and substations in the Te Awa Kairangi construction zone were relocated.

Lanes on Market Grove, Marsden Street, and Connolly Street would also be blocked – as new cable was laid down as a part of the project.

Lower Hutt closures at a glance:

Queens Drive is closed between Rutherford St and High St until approximately 2029
The northern section of the Riverbank car park is permanently closed to vehicles and pedestrians.
The Hutt River Trail on the western side of the river (from 800m south of Kennedy Good Bridge to 500m north of Ewen Bridge) is closed.
Pharazyn Street is closed from near Marsden Street to Block Road until approximately 2029
Block Road and the pedestrian crossing from Tirohanga Rd over SH2 to Block Rd are permanently closed.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/roads-closed-traffic-rerouted-in-lower-hutt-as-1-5b-works-continue/

January 28, 2026

NZ Post mistakenly included rural Waikato community’s only post shop on closure list

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Richard Tindiller

A rural Waikato community will not be losing its only post shop after NZ Post admitted it mistakenly included it on the list of almost 150 sites earmarked to close.

But the state-owned company has indicated the service could be on the chopping block in future.

This week, NZ Post confirmed it would be removing 142 service counters in partnering convenience stores, pharmacies and libraries around New Zealand by the end of the year.

A total 567 post shops would remain open nationwide and rural post shops would not be affected.

The Te Kauwhata site was initially listed for closure, sparking bewilderment from the local convenience store owner who runs the service.

For residents, it would have meant the nearest postal store was more than 15 kilometres away.

On Wednesday, NZ Post confirmed the changes do not apply to the Te Kauwhata service.

“Their name appeared on our website in error, and we’ve now corrected this and spoken with them by phone. We remain available and continue to engage with them as needed,” a spokesperson said.

NZ Post said it had provided “early visibility of potential longer term plans” for the Te Kauwhata site.

“As part of the careful, evidence-based approach taken across the retail network, we’ve been transparent that, over time, NZ Post services in their area may move as we develop a future retail network with the right services in the right places,” a spokesperson said.

“This planning involves making sure we’re in the right environment to maintain services in this area, rather than withdrawing services.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/nz-post-mistakenly-included-rural-waikato-communitys-only-post-shop-on-closure-list/

January 28, 2026

Kiwi Khol Gillies loses leg after fighting in Ukraine

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealander Khol Gillies had to wait days to be evacuated from the battlefield in Ukraine. Supplied

A New Zealander who was severely injured while fighting in Ukraine said he sang Aotearoa’s national anthem to keep himself going as he was rescued.

Twenty-five-year-old Khol Gillies had to wait days to be evacuated from the battlefield, with his foot all but blown off, because fierce fighting made it nearly impossible to reach him.

Gillies, who is originally from Hawke’s Bay, had been in Ukraine for six months fighting as a volunteer.

It’s been three months since he was shot multiple times during a drone and ground attack. He’s now recovering in a hospital in Europe after having his leg amputated.

Gillies told Checkpoint he still hasn’t processed the day he was injured.

“We were manning our positions, and we came under a heavy attack. My comrades’ weapons were destroyed and we were running out of ammunition,” he said.

“Mine was the only functioning firearm, so I had to take point and obviously protect the group. Amongst all that, we started getting hit with drones, artillery bullet fire, small arms fire. My training and instincts really kicked in, and I wasn’t really thinking too much. I was just doing.”

During the attack, Gillies said his ankle was “blown off”, leaving his knee shattered and a 10-to-15-centimetre gash down his leg.

“I knew from then on, we had to really get out of there quick. [But] as we’re making our way out amongst what was happening, I sustained more injuries,” he said.

“My left eardrum had been blown out, so I couldn’t quite hear the drones coming. But I do remember looking down, seeing my injuries and thinking ‘shit, I want to live.’ So, I just started running.

“The adrenaline was pumping and as soon as I got to safety, I just dived in the hole. First thing I did, I reached down and checked my reproductive organs. Those were still intact and so I was very happy.”

He said he had to wait nearly five days in the bunker with his comrades, and waiting for the weather to turn.

“Fog is the only time that you can really manoeuvre around, so the drones can’t use their thermals and all their optics. It’s pretty much a no-fly zone when the fog is out, so that’s all we’re waiting for – some bad weather, which is good weather.”

Despite his injuries, he still did what he could to support his fellow comrades.

“I was still pulling radio and guard duty. I mean, it wasn’t too bad. I was just laying down, watching the door, manning the radio. My comrades were attending to my needs and pretty much being my medics for me.

“At one point, I did think about dying because of the pain. I can’t describe the pain. It was horrible.”

During one of the nights in the bunker, Gillies was woken up by the sound of nibbling.

“I looked down at my leg and I saw two bloody rats there. And I think ‘holy shit, they’re eating my leg,” he said.

Khol Gillies is recovering in a hospital in Europe after having his leg amputated. Supplied

After over four and a half days, Gillies was pulled out of the bunker during a foggy morning on a stretcher by three of his comrades.

“We had to navigate me through a minefield and that was tough,” he said.

He was then placed on a ground drone, a type of vehicle that is used to evacuate wounded soldiers.

“That lasted about four hours to get me out. These things go maybe 10… at the maximum 15km’s an hour. During that trip, I ended up getting hypothermia and it was really cold.”

He said the trip was agonising.

“The machine that I was on was a bit smaller than me, so my legs were hanging out the front, and I had to keep holding them up because they kept getting caught on the dirt and foliage.”

“There were also other enemy drones that would hover above me and I was just wondering, will I get hit and die here or something?”

Gillies sang the New Zealand National Anthem and ‘Stayin’ Alive’ by the Bee Gees to pass the time and take his mind off his wounds.

‘I have no regrets about going’

Gillies said he knew instantly from the first day after being hit and staying in the bunker that he was going to lose his leg.

“I had two tourniquets on for those five days, and I lost I think 50 percent of my blood. We couldn’t stop the bleeding.”

“From then on, I just knew that it had to come off, it didn’t look good. But my reproductive organs were good. I still had my hands so I can play the PlayStation. So, I was quite happy, but I was somewhat content with my injuries.”

“I mean it still sucks having no leg. Yeah, it’s not as bad as it could have been. I’m one of the lucky ones.”

But despite his injuries, he said he has no regrets about going to Ukraine.

“Maybe putting my wife through all of this. But no, I have no regrets. My comrades are saying if I didn’t do what I did, they most likely would have died and I would have still had my leg, but I’m very happy that wasn’t the outcome.”

Khol Gillies said one of the reasons why he wanted to serve in Ukraine is because of hearing stories during his childhood from one his grandfathers, the late Sir Robert Bob Gillies.

“That was very inspiring to me and I’ve always just felt good about helping out. I feel like it’s an honour to serve and help, no matter where it is, as long as you know the cause is righteous in some sort of sense.”

“I felt like I had the capacity and the will to do something and me just being back at home, knowing that I had those things and was doing nothing about it was eating away at me and I probably wouldn’t be happy with myself, knowing that I could have helped do something.

‘This was something he felt strongly about.’

Jasmine Gillies, Khol’s wife, supported him when he decided to go to Ukraine. Khol left New Zealand for Ukraine at the end of June last year.

“Initially, when he first told me, I had mixed emotions about it, but I supported what he wanted to do. I knew this was something he felt strongly about.”

Jasmine said a few days after Gillies was injured, she had a feeling that something bad had happened.

“I reached out to one of his friends in his unit and he got back to me, and he confirmed my suspicions that something had happened to Khol,” she said.

“I think he didn’t want to worry me too much, but he did explain to me that it was quite serious and that Khol was in the middle of being evacuated and it had something to do with his leg.”

Although it worried Jasmine that Gillies was overseas fighting in a war, she always believed he would come out alive.

“I booked my tickets within two days of finding out that he had been injured. I just knew I just needed to get there to be with him and support him in any way that I could.”

Jasmine arrived in Europe two weeks ago with help from Kiwi K.A.R.E, a charity led by former NZ Army Colonel Tenby Powell that provides medical aid and evacuations to New Zealand soldiers.

“I was nervous to see him. I hadn’t seen him for six months and I was trying to stay strong for him. I didn’t want to cry when I saw him because I knew he would already be going through it,” she said.

“I [didn’t] want to put any more stress on him or put my emotions on him or anything like that. It was extremely hard.”

She said it has been difficult being away from home and her family.

“We would have been more comfortable; I guess if we were going through this process back at home so he could get visitors and familiar faces.

“It’s been hard just having each other, although I am grateful, we have at least that.”

The journey back home

It’s a long path forward for Khol Gillies.

Once he leaves the hospital, he will be going into rehabilitation to learn how to walk again and to have a prosthetic leg made.

“I’m starting to do as much as I can here now. I will start doing press-ups again just to gain some strength. I’m looking at maybe three months it’ll take me; I’m healing pretty quick.”

Gillies said he’s aiming to come to back to his home in Hawke’s Bay.

“I dearly miss home and everything we have at home; I have such a deeper appreciation for everything in our country.

“Just the way of life, like every little thing that I used to take for granted before, that’s completely vanished. I am thoroughly looking forward to a steak and cheese pie and some pavlova.”

He said he’s been grateful to receive support from the Weatherman Foundation and the Ukrainian military.

“The Weatherman Foundation has helped me a lot, they’ve organised my hospital care. Ukrainian military will be helping me out with the prosthetic because I am under contract with them.”

But he’s got a GiveaLittle page to help fundraise for travel back to New Zealand and things he’ll need to help his recovery back at home.

“Extensions for like [the] shower, bathroom, toilet, just ramps, just stuff I haven’t really thought about at the moment. But I know I’ll need it.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/kiwi-khol-gillies-loses-leg-after-fighting-in-ukraine/

January 28, 2026

Jonathan Cook: Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ is the nail in Gaza’s coffin

Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. –

Feckless European leaders like Starmer let Israel and the US tear up international law in Gaza. Now, faced with Greenland and Ukraine, they are suffering from a severe case of buyer’s regret.

ANALYSIS: By Jonathan Cook

US President Donald Trump has declared the three-month “ceasefire” in Gaza a great success, and now wants to move on to phase two of his so-called “peace plan”.

What does success look like? Israeli soldiers have killed more than 460 Palestinians since October, including at least 100 children.

Israel has levelled another 2500 buildings, the last of the few that were still standing.

And amid a continuing humanitarian catastrophe engineered by Israel through its blockade of food, water, medicines and shelter, at least eight babies are known to have frozen to death as winter temperatures plummet.

Marking the transition to the new phase, Trump announced earlier this month a “Board of Peace” to determine the enclave’s future.

“Peace” here is being used in exactly the same Orwellian sense as “ceasefire”. This is not about ending Gaza’s suffering. It is about creating Big Brother-style narrative control, selling as “peace” the final eradication of Palestinian life in Gaza.

The narrative spin is that, once Hamas is disarmed, the board will take on the job of Gaza’s reconstruction.

Implicit assumption
The implicit assumption is that life will gradually return to normal for the survivors of the two-year genocide Israel has carried out — though no Western leader is acknowledging it as a genocide, or cares to find out how many Palestinians have actually been killed in the onslaught.

But, as we shall see, peace is definitely not what the board is aiming to achieve. This is a cynical exercise in smoke and mirrors.

The term “board” hints not only at Trump’s preference for the language of business over politics. It alludes too to the business opportunities he intends to make from Gaza’s “transformation”.

His plan is to strip the United Nations — and thereby the international community — of any oversight of Gaza’s fate.

We are back to the time of viceroys. Colonialism is again out and proud.

Trump’s “Board of Peace” has much grander ambitions than simply managing Gaza’s takeover. In fact, the enclave and its future is not even mentioned in the board’s so-called “charter” sent out to national capitals.

In a leaked invitation to the president of Argentina, Trump referred to the board as a “bold new approach to resolving global conflicts”.

‘Results-orientated’
The charter says it will be “results-orientated” and have the “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed”.

Some of us have long warned that Israel and the US view the Palestinians as lab rats, both for testing weapons and surveillance technologies and for changing the norms developed after the Second World War to safeguard against the return of fascist, militaristic and expansionist ideologies.

The critical legal and humanitarian architecture put in place in the post-war era included the UN and its various institutions, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Israel and the US stress-tested this system to destruction from the very start of the two-year genocide in Gaza, as Israel carpet-bombed the enclave’s homes, schools, hospitals, government buildings and bakeries.

Trump’s second presidency has pushed this agenda into overdrive.

Only this month the White House announced that the US was pulling out of 66 global organisations and treaties — some half of them affiliated with the UN.

Meanwhile, the judges and prosecutors of the ICC have been under draconian US sanctions for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant. The ICJ, which is investigating Israel for genocide, appears to have been cowed into silence.

Dysfunctional world order
Trump’s kidnapping of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his imminent seizure of Greenland are evidence enough that the already dysfunctional, international “rules-based order” is now in tatters. Both the UN and Nato, the West’s so-called “defence” alliance, are on the ropes.

The US president hopes his “Board of Peace” will deliver the knockout blow, supplanting the UN and the system of international law it is there to uphold.

The reconstruction of Gaza may be its first task, but Trump has much larger aspirations.

The board stands at the heart of a new world order being shaped in Trump’s image. Billionaires and their hangers-on will openly decide the fate of weak nations, based on the power elite’s naked, predatory instincts to make money.

In a petulant letter sent to Norway’s prime minister, Trump advised that, after being passed over for the Nobel peace prize: “I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.” What in that case, one might wonder, is the point of a “Board of Peace”?

The answer is that Orwell’s moment is truly upon us: “War is peace.”

Trump, of course, has sat himself atop this new imperial business venture, an updated East India Company — the gargantuan, militarised corporation licensed by England’s Queen Elizabeth I that went on to pillage much of the globe for more than two centuries, spreading death and misery in its wake.

Trump’s lone veto
As chairman, Trump hand-picks the other members — he is reported to have sent out invitations to some 60 national leaders. He can terminate their participation whenever he sees fit. He decides when the board sits and what it discusses. He alone has a veto.

His term as chair, it seems, may extend even beyond his time as US president.

Members are granted a three-year term. A permanent seat at Trump’s new alternative to the UN Security Council can be bought for $1 billion in “cash funds”.

Hungary’s far-right leader Viktor Orban was among the first out of the blocks. He was joined by Netanyahu. Other early participants include the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Belarus and Argentina.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is reported to be considering a place at the top table.

The significance of this is not lost on the diplomatic community. One told Reuters: “It’s a ‘Trump United Nations’ that ignores the fundamentals of the UN charter.”

Similarly, in a desperate attempt to hold the line, the French Foreign Ministry issued a forlorn statement that “reiterates [France’s] attachment to the United Nations charter”.

White House shredder
But the founding UN document, with its formal commitments to non-aggression, self-determination, multilateral obligations and the protection of human rights, has been put through the White House shredder.

Gangsters have no time for rules.

For decades, Israel has been dreaming of this moment: of taking a wrecking ball to the UN and its legal and humanitarian institutions.

With a record number of UN resolutions against it, Israel believes the world body has too often limited its room for manoeuvre. Now it will hope Trump frees it to finish its long-cherished plan of eradicating the Palestinian people from their homeland.

As if in celebration, Israeli bulldozers swept into occupied East Jerusalem to demolish the buildings of Unrwa, the UN refugee agency that has served as the main aid lifeline for Gaza’s people.

Unrwa called Israel’s action an “unprecedented attack” and one that “constitutes a serious violation of international law and the privileges and immunities of the United Nations”.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the “Board of Peace” to raise any objections.

Sidelining of UN
Trump’s sidelining of the UN means its assessments of the realities facing Gaza, after Israel’s two-year campaign of genocidal destruction, can be quietly shunted into the shadows.

Trump has set a five-year timeline for Gaza’s transition. But the figures simply don’t add up.

The world body has warned that, even if Israel stops its blockade tomorrow, it will take decades to reconstruct Gaza, effectively from scratch, to house those of its 2.1 million inhabitants who survive.

According to estimates from the UN Development Programme, on the best-case scenario it could take seven years to clear some 60 million tonnes of rubble. Other surveys by the UN suggest a more realistic timetable of 20 years, with 10 years to clear unexploded ordnance.

The UN’s trade and development arm further warns that Israel has erased 70 years of human development in Gaza, and destroyed nearly 90 percent of cropland, leading to “the worst economic collapse ever recorded”.

Gaza’s schools, universities, hospitals, libraries and government offices are all gone. And Israel’s so-called “Yellow Line” that divides Gaza into two has annexed in all but name almost 60 percent of what was already a tiny territory, one of the most densely populated on the planet.

The fact is that these enormous hurdles to restoring life in Gaza to anything approximating “modernity” barely register in Trump’s peace plan. There is a good reason for that: strip away the fanfare and the plan has nothing substantive to say about the welfare of Gaza’s population.

Gaza’s population ignored
Or to put it more bluntly, Trump’s Gaza’s plan is not interested in Gaza’s population because it does not envision them being present in the enclave for much longer.

Israel’s barely veiled goal over the past two years has been the wholesale ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The carpet bombing was intended to make the territory entirely uninhabitable.

Trump’s plan does not conflict with that ambition. It complements it. His “Board of Peace” is the means to arrive at the final destination willed by Israel.

The first practical function of the “Board of Peace” will be to entrench the complicity of Western and Arab states in Israel’s eradication of Gaza. None can wriggle out of their responsibility for what follows.

Real decision-making powers, however, will reside not in the Board but in an executive body comprising seven figures close to Trump. The “Board of Peace” will presumably be expected to sign off on — and fund — whatever they decide.

This “Founding Executive Board”, like the “Board of Peace”, will have no Palestinian representatives.

Instead, Palestinians will be present only on a technocratic, dogsbody committee, called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. It will oversee the administration of day-to-day affairs in the so-called Red Zone, where Gaza’s people are penned up, in place of Hamas.

Revamped UN peacekeeping force
Finally an “International Stabilisation Force”, a revamped UN peacekeeping force, will be led by a US major-general, and presumably partner closely with Israel’s genocidal army.

Even assuming that Trump has the Palestinians’ welfare at heart — he doesn’t — no progress can be made by any of these bodies until Israel gives its approval.

In the meantime, their role will be to provide a veneer of legitimacy for further inaction, while more of Gaza’s survivors die from the Stone Age conditions engineered for them by Israel.

Note well the three real power brokers appointed to the “Founding Executive Board”: Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and Tony Blair. Gaza’s fate is effectively in their hands.

It was Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and scion of a real estate business family, who way back in February 2024 — long before Trump took office — framed Israel’s genocide in Gaza as “a real-estate dispute”.

It was then that Kushner first publicly floated the idea of developing the enclave into a “very valuable” waterfront property, once it had been “cleaned up”.

Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate mogul and Trump’s special envoy, has spent long months with Kushner — as Israel has been busy clearing out Old Gaza — working on a 40-page prospectus for their proposed New Gaza.

Kushner’s panic
In October, on the US TV news show 60 Minutes, panic was etched on Kushner’s face as Witkoff observed that the pair had been working on a “masterplan” for Gaza’s reconstruction for two years — long before Gaza was levelled by the Israeli military.

He added: “Jared has been pushing this.”

Witkoff’s slip suggested Trump’s team had known from the outset of Israel’s bombing campaign that the intention was to eradicate the whole of Gaza rather than just Hamas. They therefore began working on a business plan to cash in on the carnage.

Through a so-called GREAT Trust — an oh-so-clever acronym for Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation — they have reimagined the enclave as a glitzy seaside resort and a tech hub generating billions of dollars in annual revenue.

A surreal video Trump posted on social media nearly a year ago gave an early idea of what the pair may have in mind. It showed the US president and Netanyahu sipping cocktails on sun loungers in their swimwear amid high rises on Gaza’s ethnically cleansed beachfront.

Gaza’s population — impoverished and malnourished by decades of isolation and blockade, even before the genocide — is viewed as an obstacle to the plan’s realisation.

The enclave’s Palestinians must first be resettled elsewhere, on terms that are as yet unclear, seemingly even to the plan’s formulators.

Misleading Tony Blair
Also popping up on the Executive Board, like a bad penny, is Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who misled Parliament and the public to make the case for joining President George W Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003.

A subsequent, long, violent US-led occupation resulted in the collapse of Iraqi society, a vicious sectarian civil war, the development of an extensive US torture programme, and the deaths of more than a million Iraqis.

Those seem like exactly the kind of qualifications Trump needs from someone overseeing his Gaza plan.

His administration is therefore selling Blair as a safe pair of hands, a statesman apparently well-acquainted with navigating the yawning gap between the imperious demands of Israel and the forlorn hopes of the Palestinian leadership.

Blair’s skill set, we are assured, will be critically important as the board turns its attention to rebuilding Gaza.

In fact, the last person Gaza needs is Blair, as he proved during his disastrous eight-year stint as special envoy to the Middle East, shoe-horned in by the US in 2007 on behalf of a little-missed, defunct international body known as the Quartet.

At the time, most observers mistakenly assumed Blair’s mandate would be to revive a moribund “peace process” between Israel and the Palestinians.

Diplomatic pressure avoided
But Blair avoided bringing any diplomatic pressure to bear on Israel and remained silent about what was then a newly instituted blockade of Gaza in 2007 that rapidly eviscerated its economy and left much of its population destitute and poorly fed.

One of his key battles as envoy was lobbying Israel — over the Palestinians’ heads — to let a British-led consortium drill for natural gas in Gaza’s territorial waters, where large reserves are known to exist.

According to reports, he sought to entice Israel into approving a $6 billion deal by promising that the pipeline would head directly to Israel’s port of Ashkelon. Israel would be the only customer permitted to buy the Palestinians’ gas and could therefore dictate the price.

Israel, preferring to maintain its chokehold on Gaza’s people, refused.

Blair claimed he promoted the Gaza gas project at the behest of the Palestinians. But even the supine Palestinian leadership of the Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, had no love for him.

In 2011, Nabil Shaath, then one of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ most trusted advisers, observed of Blair: “Lately, he talks like an Israeli diplomat, selling their policies. Therefore he is useless to us.”

Another official called him “an obstacle to the realisation of Palestinian statehood”.

No interest in Palestinians
Like Blair, Trump has no interest in the Palestinians ever benefiting from their own resources. But doubtless he will be keen to leverage the former UK prime minister’s “experience” as envoy to assist in plundering its gas fields.

The centrality of Israel to Blair’s moral worldview was underscored in a comment by him in 2011 about the Arab Spring, in which peoples across the Middle East tried to liberate themselves from the toxic grip of tyrants. The former British prime minister chiefly saw these democratic uprisings as likely to “pose a problem for Israel”.

Blair has denied any personal dealings with Kushner and Witkoff’s Gaza Riviera plan — now sometimes referred to as the Sunshine Project — of luxury beachfront resorts and a “smart manufacturing zone” named for billionaire Elon Musk.

But a version leaked last July suggests his fingerprints are all over the plan, including a proposed “voluntary relocation” scheme to buy out Palestinian landowners with minor sums to leave Gaza.

It emerged that two key members of his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, had been liaising behind the scenes with Israeli businessmen and the Boston Consulting Group on the project.

A statement from the institute welcomed Blair’s role on Trump’s Executive Board, noting: “For Gaza and its people, we want a Gaza which does not reconstruct Gaza as it was but as it could and should be.”

It is hard to believe that Blair’s “should” connotes anything other than Israel’s dream of a Palestinian-free Gaza and Trump’s vision of Gaza as a playground for the rich.

Trumpian world template
The template for a new Trumpian world order is being crafted in Gaza. The US president’s road to the takeover of Venezuela and Greenland is being paved in this tiny Palestinian territory.

Feckless European leaders, like Britain’s Keir Starmer, who helped arm Israel and provided it with diplomatic cover as it levelled the enclave, were the ones who emboldened Trump.

Those now trying to assert the primacy of international law and the “rules-based world order” — whether in Greenland or Ukraine — were the ones who helped Washington destroy that order. They are now suffering from a severe case of buyer’s regret.

They could still stymie Trump’s latest, sinister vanity project by refusing to join the “Board of Peace” and instead defend the United Nations and its legal institutions like the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

Will they do so? Don’t bet on it.

Jonathan Cook is a writer, journalist and self-appointed media critic and author of many books about Palestine. Winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. Republished from the author’s blog with permission. This article was first published by Middle East Eye.

This article was first published on Café Pacific.

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/28/jonathan-cook-trumps-board-of-peace-is-the-nail-in-gazas-coffin/

January 28, 2026

Australian inflation jumps, adding to chances of an RBA interest rate hike

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Head, Canberra School of Government, University of Canberra

Inflation has risen further above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2–3% target. There is now a very real prospect the Reserve Bank will feel it needs to increase interest rates at its meeting next week, with an announcement due on Tuesday afternoon.

Inflation rose 3.8% in the year to December, up from 3.4% in the year to November, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics consumer price index (CPI) report.

The Reserve Bank will look at the data for the December quarter at its February 2-3 meeting.

Financial markets and economists had been leaning towards the possibility of an interest rate rise, as inflation proved stubbornly high in recent months and the jobs market picked up. Today’s inflation data has led markets to regard an interest rate increase as more likely.

Where prices moved the most

Comparing prices in the December quarter of 2025 with the same period in 2024, strong rises were recorded for beef and veal, up 10.7%, reflecting strong overseas demand for Australian red meat.

The ending of rebates saw electricity prices rise 26%, reversing previous sharp declines. The cost of child care was up 11.3%. The prices of some food items, such as pork, poultry, seafoods and cheese, were little changed over the year. So were prices of furniture and pharmaceuticals. But very few goods and services showed significant price falls.

The Reserve Bank’s preferred indicator for the underlying trend in inflation is the “trimmed mean”, which takes out items with the most extreme price changes. This measure was 3.4% in the December quarter, up from 3.0% in the September quarter.

This is significantly above the top of the target range and almost 1% above the mid-point of the range, which is where the central bank would like to see inflation. It is also above the RBA’s most recently published forecast.

This measure of underlying inflation initially dropped rapidly from its 6.8% peak at end of 2022, once the Reserve Bank started raising interest rates. Progress in returning to the target range, unsurprisingly, slowed going into 2025. But inflation has now risen again.

The International Monetary Fund recently warned Australia is “projected to see some drawn-out persistence in above-target inflation”.

But another international body, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, was more optimistic, commenting “if, as expected, inflation turns back down during 2026, there may be some space for further easing” in interest rates.

The more volatile monthly series

As well as the long-running quarterly series, the Bureau of Statistics has recently published monthly data. The December 2025 data is only the third complete monthly CPI issued.

Previously, the monthly update was called an “indicator” because it covered fewer goods and services than the long-running quarterly CPI report.

But the complete monthly CPI is not only new, it is also more volatile than the long-running quarterly series. So this increase in reported inflation needs to be interpreted with care.

As you can see from the chart above there have been periods such as August–September 2023 when the monthly measure briefly spiked up but inflation was still on a downward trajectory. So the annual increase of 3.8% in December may be exaggerating the problem.

Why the latest jobs data matters too

The recent jobs data showed a very healthy labour market. About 65,000 more people were employed in December than November. The unemployment rate dropped from 4.3% to 4.1%.

Low unemployment is a good thing. Indeed, full employment is explicitly an objective of the Reserve Bank.

The RBA would only be concerned about lower unemployment if they thought the labour market was overheating and causing inflationary pressures. Wages growth has been 3.5% or less for the past year. The RBA’s latest forecast is for it to slow to 3%. If labour productivity can grow close to 1%, as the bank expects, that would be consistent with inflation around the middle of the RBA’s 2–3% target range.

Nor is the latest annual growth in the economy, around 2%, indicating an economy that is overheating.

What it all means for interest rates

The increase to 3.4% in the RBA’s preferred measure of underlying inflation means the bank will seriously consider lifting its key interest rate, the “cash rate”.

This would be an unusually rapid turnaround after the recent interest rate cuts. Generally, the RBA will hold rates steady for a longer time – perhaps a year or so – before reversing course.

The Reserve Bank would want to be sure there has truly been a sustained increase in the inflationary pressures in the economy, or that they had earlier been underestimating them.

The central bank would want to avoid a situation where, after cutting rates last August, it raised them again in February – then had to cut again soon after if the economy slowed again.

John Hawkins formerly worked as a senior economist at the Reserve Bank.

– ref. Australian inflation jumps, adding to chances of an RBA interest rate hike – https://theconversation.com/australian-inflation-jumps-adding-to-chances-of-an-rba-interest-rate-hike-274195

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/28/australian-inflation-jumps-adding-to-chances-of-an-rba-interest-rate-hike-274195/

January 28, 2026

Sex offending by priest Rowan Donoghue ‘deeply disturbing’, school says

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former St Bede’s College Friar Rowan Donoghue arrives at the Christchurch District Court for an appearance on January 28, 2026. Nathan McKinnon / RNZ

The rector of St Bede’s college says a former staffer’s sexual offending against boys more than two decades ago “makes me feel sick”.

It comes after RNZ reported that the Society of Mary was made aware of allegations against the priest nearly 20 years ago.

RNZ revealed on Wednesday that Fr Rowan Donoghue had pleaded guilty to six charges, five of which are representative, including indecent assault on a boy aged 12-16, indecent assault on a boy 16 and over and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.

The offending related to four boys who were boarding at St Bede’s College between 1996 and 2000.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

St Bede’s College rector Jon McDowall told RNZ the details outlined through the court process were “deeply disturbing”.

“As Rector, it makes me feel sick to think that young people entrusted to an adult’s care were abused in this way. I am deeply sorry that this happened to them, and my thoughts are with the victims and survivors who continue to live with the impact of that harm.”

McDowall said the school had worked openly with police throughout the process.

“We will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities should any further information come to light.

“Abuse has no place at St Bede’s – past, present, or future. The College has an established policy in place to respond and support victims of historical abuse, alongside safeguarding policies and practices to protect the wellbeing and safety of students today. Our focus remains on providing a safe and supportive environment for all members of our community.”

McDowall extended an open invitation for victims in the case, and others who may have been impacted, or anyone with concerns to contact him directly.

McDowall earlier told RNZ the school was “formally notified” of the allegations by police and had “worked openly with them since that time”.

“We hold victims and survivors in our thoughts and remain focused on providing a safe and supportive environment for all members of our community – past, present and future.”

In response to questions from RNZ on Wednesday, the Society of Mary confirmed an anonymous complaint of a sexual nature was made against Donoghue in 2007.

“The Society of Mary sought to investigate the complaint, but was unable to gain sufficient information to verify the allegations. Even so, the Society of Mary determined that Donoghue should be removed from public ministry, with a safety plan enacted. That has stayed in place since that time.”

The Society was not aware of the allegations to which Donoghue entered guilty pleas until police laid charges, the spokesperson said.

“Our first thoughts are with those who came forward and described what happened to them. We extend our apologies to them, and will seek to do so personally at an appropriate time. We deeply regret the hurt or harm caused.”

The society was “committed to ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of all people in Church settings”.

Asked whether police were told, the spokesperson said the complainant was “encouraged to contact the police”.

In early 2023, police were contacted about the allegations of sexual abuse by Donoghue in relation to his time at St Bede’s College.

In response to questions from RNZ, St Patrick’s Silverstream rector Rob Ferreira said the school had not been made aware of any allegations of abuse in care while Fr Donoghue worked at the school between 1982 to 1992.

“We have not had any inquiries from the police either.

“We operate according to clearly set out guidelines and best practice and you should note that our primary concern is the wellbeing of our students. Given that – our protection of the privacy and any other rights of survivors of abuse and other individuals would be paramount.”

He said the school had informed the community that Donoghue’s name suppression had lifted.

St Patrick’s College Wellington rector Mike Savali confirmed to RNZ that Donoghue was on the college staff from 2003 to 2007.

The Society of Mary encouraged anyone who has a concern or complaint about one of our members to contact the Police, the National Office for Professional Standards 0800 114 622, or the Society’s confidential helpline 021 909 749.

Where to get help

If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

If you have been abused, remember it’s not your fault.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/sex-offending-by-priest-rowan-donoghue-deeply-disturbing-school-says/

January 28, 2026

Scale of flood-damage starting to sink in for East Coast

Source: Radio New Zealand

Flood damage in Punaruku, Te Araroa on the East Coast. Supplied

Local authorities say the adrenaline has worn off and in its place is the scale of the damage in flood-hit East Coast communities.

Te Araroa on the East Coast has been described as a ‘war zone’ and was one of the worst hit during last week’s torrential rainfall.

Communities remain separated from each other, with work to clear slips on State Highway 35 continuing.

In a post on Wednesday, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence urged the public to be kind after receiving reports of people bullying roadworkers.

Te Araroa Civil Defence coordinator Tash Wanoa said the priority was still ensuring the 27 households cut off on the East Cape Road, toward Horoera, had food and supplies, but the recovery work was also underway.

“We’re now moving into clean-up mode with our crews, making assessments and going around the community and asking who needs help.”

She said it was important for help to be visible.

“I think now we’re at the critical point where people are starting to process what’s gone on,” Wanoa said.

“So, the adrenaline and the fight or flight has kicked off, and people are starting to realise, ‘Oh yep, okay’.”

Damage to State Highway 35 from a landslide. Supplied / NZTA

Wanoa said locals were grateful for the support they’d received – it was community helping community – but said the “scale of the damage in their homes and township area” was starting to sink in.

“I imagine there’s a few areas where people are feeling a little bit anxious about what the next steps are, especially in terms of insurance processes and timelines for returning to their homes.”

The numbers fluctuated, but Wanoa said between 14 and 19 people, including tourists, were still staying at the Civil Defence hub at Hinerupe Marae.

Over the weekend, homes in Te Araroa and Onepoto in Hicks Bay had been evacuated due to the risk of landslides.

Te Araroa residents have since been given the all-clear to return, and following geotechnical assessments, 66 households in Onepoto were also deemed safe to live in.

The Gisborne District Council said assessing the safety of homes (flood or structural damage, landslide risk) would continue on Wednesday in Potaka, Rangitukia, and on the East Cape Road.

On Tuesday, red stickers had been given to eight buildings in Punaruku, Te Araroa, and three in Onepoto.

Four properties in each place had also been yellow-stickered, meaning they could be inhabited following remedial work.

Gisborne’s mayor Rehette Stolz told Checkpoint the region would need around $21.5 million following the latest damage, excluding roading costs.

Work to restore access to and between communities was ongoing, with State Highway 35 shut between Pōtaka, west of Hicks Bay, and the Taurangakoau Bridge, about 3km south of Te Araroa.

Slip clearing on the East Coast’s SH35 between Tikitiki and Te Araroa, 25 January 2026. Supplied/ NZTA

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said reports of people bullying roadworkers were unacceptable.

It said the closure included the Pōtaka to Hicks Bay section.

“The road is incredibly dangerous and unnecessary movement could cause even more damage. When it is safe to be open, you will be the first to know!

“We’ve reports of people bullying the traffic management crews – let’s be clear on this – it is not acceptable.”

It urged the public to be kind, considerate, and to abide by the safety measures.

Hicks Bay and Te Araroa, usually a short drive from one another, remained separated by multiple slips on the highway, including a massive one estimated by the Transport Agency (NZTA) to be around 6500 tuck loads of soil.

A spokesperson said access between the communities remained challenging.

They said engineers were carrying out assessments and would have a better idea of a timeframe for reopening the road later this week.

SH35 between Te Araroa and Taurangakoau Bridge, reopened for essential services and residents three times a day on Monday, with NZTA announcing an extended midday window for Wednesday and Thursday.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/scale-of-flood-damage-starting-to-sink-in-for-east-coast/

January 28, 2026

Marae welcome recovery funding boost but say more could be done

Source: Radio New Zealand

Hinerupe Marae in Te Araroa is a Civil Defence base and has sheltered evacuees. Te Araroa Civil Defence / supplied

Marae are welcoming the governments funding boost as a “good start” for the marae communities who turn out time and time in the wake of severe weather events.

Tauranga Moana iwi representative Roimata Ah Sam said 23 marae across the Tauranga region were able to open their doors and provide shelter and not for the first time.

“It is pretty incredible that time and time again, our marae communities, our Māori communities, turn out to respond. And we’ve seen that in complete action over the last week of how Māori turn out, regardless of where you’re from, to ensure that people are looked after in some of the most challenging times of people’s lives.”

Dozens of marae across Northland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti opened their doors in the wake of last weeks severe weather, sheltering evacuees, providing kai and serving as Civil Defence hubs. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/585204/te-araroa-evacuees-overwhelmed-by-aroha-extended-to-them-at-east-coast-marae

On Tuesday the government announced it would make $1.2 million available to mayoral relief funds for affected regions, and another $1 million would go to marae that have helped communities in need.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon praised support from marae as “exceptional”. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/585163/political-parties-respond-to-government-funding-for-communities-hit-by-severe-weather

“They have provided shelter, food and care to people in need, and I cannot speak more highly of them.”

Ah Sam said she is proud of how marae have responded in way that exercises a level of resilience and manaakitanga, even in challenging times.

“We’ve had to reopen some doors as of this afternoon. So one of our marae… out at Ngāti Pūkenga is having to open up their doors for an evacuated area. So we’re still seeing that being practised.

“The beauty of marae is that the ability for whānau and for Māori to activate and practice manaakitanga means that those doors get open pretty quickly.”

Earlier on Wednesday residents were evacuated from Mangatawa, including Mangatawa marae, in Pāpāmoa where a slip poses a risk to life and property. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/585216/new-slip-prompts-emergency-evacuations-in-tauranga

Ah Sam said Tauranga iwi welcomed the funding announcement saying that it would be a good start.

“Our marae are the first to open our doors and provide support to our communities. And in effect, they need to be resourced to do that. So whilst we’re incredibly proud of the work that our marae and our communities are able to exercise, we do need to make sure that we’re providing them with the level of support to continue to do that sustainably.”

Marae themselves are often vulnerable to floods and landslides and Ah Sam said once attention shifts from recovery to review the iwi would welcome a conversation around making marae more resilient. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/512771/survey-finds-third-of-marae-in-flood-prone-areas-up-to-30-percent-prone-to-landslides

Multiple marae across Tauranga were impacted by the floods, she said.

The challenges ahead are incredible, particularly for the whānau who are grieving for loved ones, and the thoughts of Tauranga Moana are with the whānau who are grieving, she said.

Paora Glassie, Civil Defence lead for Ōtetao Reti Marae at Punaruku on Northland’s storm-ravaged east coast. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Ōtetao Reti marae in Punaruku, five minutes drive from hard-hit Ōakura in Northland, has been sheltering members of the community and providing help during the storm. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/584867/marae-provides-community-lifeline-following-northland-floods

The marae’s Civil Defence lead Paora Glassie, told Morning Report, he was grateful the government were reimbursing marae that provided welfare, but believed the money was not enough. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2019020692/marae-to-be-reimbursed-for-help-provided-during-weather-event

“I think it’s not enough, but at the end of the day we should be grateful we have been offered some money.”

Glassie hoped the money would help ease the burden for those who had lost loved ones during the storms.

He said his area had major floodings and slips which cut the community off from the outside world, but luckily some roads had been cleared now.

With events like this, he said it was important marae were prepared with Civil Defence readiness plans and that they had basic resources to take care of people.

“Making sure that you have a good Civil Defence team too, to work alongside, so that you’re not stuck with all the load at the time of a major event.”

For his marae, he said it was “lucky” as the only real problem was access in and out of the area as the marae was equipped with solar power and generators for when the power was out.

“Just making sure that the basic things are in place, generators, you’ve got gas and that, so that when you come into… that situation the marae can continue to survive or continue to help the people in the area.”

The $1 million allocation has been added to the Māori Development Fund, enabling Te Puni Kōkiri to provide one-off reimbursement grants to marae that delivered welfare support during the January 2026 severe weather event.

Marae or related organisations that provided welfare support can apply for reimbursement grants by contacting their regional Te Puni Kōkiri office to begin the process.

Funding can be used to cover eligible costs incurred while supporting communities, including food, accommodation, utilities and other essential welfare expenses.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/marae-welcome-recovery-funding-boost-but-say-more-could-be-done/

January 28, 2026

Telecommunications Bill raises questions about encryption, Free Speech Union says

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Free Speech Union says planned changes to telco regulations could open the back door to encrypted communication channels. 123rf

The Free Speech Union is concerned proposed changes to telecommunications regulations will open the back door to encrypted communications channels, but the tech industry says the horse has already bolted.

The Telecomunications Bill introduces a new enforcement power to allow the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to suspend or revoke licences if providers fail to comply with regulatory requirements, including services provided by overseas providers, such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and Starlink.

“That power effectively gives a government official the ability to switch off a communications service in New Zealand,” Free Speech Union chief executive Jillaine Heather said.

“That raises serious questions about whether genuinely private communication would remain available in New Zealand at all.”

Tech Users Association chief executive Craig Young said the technology behind end-to-end encryption was already under pressure from developments in quantum technology, which was capable of breaking current encryption standards.

“I do understand their concern, but in my mind, the encryption battle is going to be ongoing no matter what happens,” Young said.

“I think technology will always be ahead of how fast governments react. At least (with) the New Zealand government, we have a level of trust with them around not abusing any powers that they that might be in place.

“But I don’t think that is a concern we should be worried about at the moment.”

Still, Heather said communication was the first thing a government would pull or restrict, if there was an emergency or civil unrest, as had been seen in Iran and Myanmar over the past couple of years.

“There’s a real hole in the fact that they want to break encrypted communications because it makes it so unsafe for everyone.”

Young said it was unclear why the government had included the new enforcement power in the proposed legislation.

“It’s not completely clear from reading (the bill). I mean, you have to read quite a lot into the legislation to find that because it’s in with other things that we’re obviously quite keen to see happen around the telco space.”

Heather said the union would be sharing its concerns and questioning the Parliamentary Select Committee about its reasons for inclusion of the new powers, later this week.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/telecommunications-bill-raises-questions-about-encryption-free-speech-union-says/

January 28, 2026

Do trees prevent landslides? What science says about roots, rainfall and stability

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Brook, Professor of Applied Geology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

DJ Mills/Getty Images

In the days since last week’s fatal landslides at Mount Maunganui, there has been widespread discussion about what may have caused the slopes above the campground to fail, including the possible role of recent tree removal on Mauao.

In the aftermath of such tragedy, it is natural to search for clear explanations. But landslides typically reflect a complex combination of factors – from geology and long-term slope evolution to weather, climate and land use.

A landscape prone to failure

The Tauranga region is underlain by volcanic materials that are well known for their instability. Over time, volcanic rock weathers into clay-rich soils, including a problematic mineral known as halloysite.

During heavy rainfall, water infiltrates these clay-rich soils, increasing porewater pressure between soil particles. This reduces the soil’s shear strength, making slopes more prone to failure.

Similar processes have driven devastating landslides elsewhere: dozens of people were killed in rainfall-triggered landslides in Indonesia’s West Java region just days ago, on comparable volcanic clay soils.

Recognising this risk, Tauranga City Council commissioned landslide susceptibility mapping following the extreme weather events of 2023. These datasets allow the public to view landslide-prone areas and “relic slips” – ancient landslides that still leave visible imprints on the landscape.

Importantly, they indicate where land has failed in the past – and remains potentially vulnerable during intense rainfall or after land-use changes.

While most of the Tauranga district is comprehensively covered by these mapping tools, there is one notable omission: the area west of Adam’s Avenue, where Mauao and the campground are located. Landslide hazard layers for this zone are absent from public web portals, despite Mauao being particularly landslide-prone.

Historical aerial imagery dating back to 1943 reveals dozens of landslides on Mauao’s slopes. Some of the most significant occurred during Cyclone Wilma in January 2011, when 108mm of rain fell in 24 hours.

A detailed University of Auckland study identified at least 80 landslides from that single storm, including debris avalanches extending up to 120 metres downslope. Some of these failures have partially reactivated since, following later heavy rainfall.

A March 2011 aerial image of Mauao (Mount Maunganui), with some of the larger landslides triggered by heavy rain during Cyclone Wilma in January 2011 outlined in yellow. The white box marks the area in which last week’s landslide occurred. Author provided.
CC BY-NC-ND

Trees, slopes and stability

In addition to these historic events, older “paleo-landslides” exist on Mauao, including two on slopes above the campground. It was from this general zone that the January 22 landslide appears to have initiated – and much online discussion has also centred on tree removal within it.

Some media reports have pointed to vegetation clearance during 2022–23, but historical imagery suggests removal in this specific area likely occurred earlier, around 2018–19. More broadly, vegetation cover above the campground has declined gradually since the mid-20th century.

A series of aerial images from 1943 to 2025 show changes in vegetation and landform on the slopes above the campground. White boxes mark key areas, and arrows show the approximate location of the January 2026 landslide. Author provided.
CC BY-NC-ND

However, the relationship between vegetation and landsliding on Mauao is not straightforward. During Cyclone Wilma, major landslides occurred across both densely vegetated slopes and grass-covered areas.

Trees typically enhance slope stability in two main ways: their canopy intercepts rainfall, slowing water infiltration, and their roots reinforce soil strength. This is why widespread landsliding associated with forestry harvesting – particularly radiata pine – has long been a serious problem in parts of New Zealand.

But trees can also contribute to slope failure under certain conditions. Large leafy trees can act like sails during extreme winds, transmitting powerful forces into saturated soils.

After the 2023 Auckland Anniversary storm, research showed wind loading likely initiated some landslides on the slopes of Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill, as trees were rocked back and forth until they uprooted, dragging soil downslope.

As well, when trees grow near the tops of steep slopes, their weight – known as “surcharge” – can increase destabilising forces. In some clay soils, this effect may exceed the stabilising benefit of root reinforcement. Tree roots can also promote long-term weathering by growing into fractures in underlying rock.

All of this means vegetation is only one factor among many.

Why simple explanations fall short

Landslides in New Zealand’s hilly terrain typically result from a combination of preconditioning factors, many of which are influenced by human activity.

These can include reshaping slopes to create building platforms, cutting into slope toes for roads or structures, loading slopes with buildings, redirecting stormwater onto vulnerable terrain, and constructing poorly designed retaining walls that trap water within slopes.

While some trees were certainly removed from the broader source area of last week’s landslide, their role in destabilising the slope remains uncertain.

The slope had already experienced multiple historical failures, was underlain by volcanic clays and was subjected to intense rainfall – conditions that together are well known to trigger landsliding.

There is still much we do not yet know about the precise mechanisms that caused last week’s failures on Mauao. That is precisely why independent investigations and technical reviews are so important.

Martin Brook receives funding from the Natural Hazards Commission.

– ref. Do trees prevent landslides? What science says about roots, rainfall and stability – https://theconversation.com/do-trees-prevent-landslides-what-science-says-about-roots-rainfall-and-stability-274518

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/28/do-trees-prevent-landslides-what-science-says-about-roots-rainfall-and-stability-274518/

January 28, 2026

Plenty on the agenda as Anthony Albanese heads to Timor-Leste as PM for the first time

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Conley Tyler, Honorary Fellow, Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Timor-Leste today, making his first official visit.

Known in English as East Timor, Timor-Leste is one of Australia’s closest neighbours.

The countries have shared interests in everything from fishing to biosecurity.

Australia’s foreign policy has consistently identified Timor-Leste as a country of “fundamental importance”.

It’s in Australia’s interests that Timor-Leste is successful and stable.

Challenges in Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste faces significant challenges.

Despite being about 700 kilometres from Darwin, the United Nations considers it one of the world’s least developed countries. Its per person GDP is $1,502, compared to Australia’s $64,604.

In many ways, the period since Timor-Leste gained independence in 2002 is the first opportunity its people have had to shape their destiny.

Timor-Leste endured centuries as a Portuguese colony before political turmoil in Portugal caused it to drop its colonies in 1975.

Then, a declaration of independence was followed by annexation and 24 years of occupation by Indonesia.

Now it is full of hope as a new democratic nation with a rapidly growing youth population.

But it needs support. One in two children under five are stunted – not getting enough nutrition to grow in their early years – which will have lifetime effects on their health, education and productivity.

Encouragingly, a recent external review of Australia’s development cooperation program shows evidence that long-term partnerships are paying off, with local civil society organisations in Timor-Leste steadily strengthening their capacity over time.

Why visit now?

Timor-Leste is right in the middle of what President José Ramos Horta describes as “a crucial period for the future of our nation”.

Revenue from oil and gas fields has dried up. Past profits were saved in a petroleum fund, but that may soon be depleted.

Timor-Leste’s economy is not growing fast enough to create youth jobs.

However, Timor-Leste has just joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after a long process, with hopes it will open up economic opportunities.

When I visited last year, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was in town talking up the potential of trade links.

Australia also needs to prepare for eventual political change in Timor-Leste.

Until now, top political posts have been held by those who fought for independence. At some point there will be a generational transfer of power.

There was some political unrest last year in the form of student protests against politicians perceived to be granting themselves perks.

Australia does not want democratic regression or a failed state on its doorstep.

What’s on the agenda?

Not much information has been released ahead of Albanese’s visit.

We know the prime minister will be meeting with Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão.

He will be addressing parliament, which he describes as an honour.

The fact Albanese will be receiving Timor-Leste’s highest civilian award suggests the mood will be positive.

The biggest news would be if there are any further developments on the Greater Sunrise gas field, located in the Timor Sea, about 450km northwest of Darwin.

This A$50 billion project has not yet been developed due to disagreement over whether processing would take place in Darwin or Dili, Timor-Leste’s capital.

It is not expected to be a focus of the visit.

Other big news would be an enhanced security treaty.

Given concerns about China’s security cooperation with countries in the region, Australia has signed significant security agreements in the past year with Tuvalu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

But the prime minister has been at pains to stress this visit is not about China.

More likely it could be celebrating and expanding things that are going well. One example is the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme which enables Timorese workers to come to Australia to develop skills and earn money.

Another is the New Colombo Plan which supports young Australians to study and immerse themselves in the region. This has just been extended to Timor-Leste in 2026.

It may be there is nothing new from the visit, just a clear statement of how seriously Australia takes the relationship with Timor-Leste.

It may be as simple – and as important – as that.

Beyond government

The Timor Leste-Australia relationship has a lot of buy-in beyond the federal government.

Across Australia, there are friendship groups that raise funds for schools in Timor-Leste or sell Timorese coffee through local councils.

I’ve met Australians who came to Timor-Leste as students and are still there.

A great example is the MP for Darwin, Luke Gosling, who will be accompanying the prime minister on the visit.

After his Army service in the peacekeeping mission that led to Timor-Leste’s independence, he established a volunteer charity to build schools, provide running water and deliver maternal health care.

It’s important to keep these sorts of initiatives going and to extend them. The needs in Timor-Leste are so great that individual Australians can have a huge impact.

Surprisingly, given the complicated history between the two countries, most Timorese seem to have a real sense of friendship with Australia.

Having a neighbour that is stable, prosperous and friendly is something that is well worth our prime minister’s time.

Melissa Conley Tyler is executive director at the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue (AP4D), an initiative funded by the foreign affairs and defence portfolios and hosted by the Australian Council for International Development.

– ref. Plenty on the agenda as Anthony Albanese heads to Timor-Leste as PM for the first time – https://theconversation.com/plenty-on-the-agenda-as-anthony-albanese-heads-to-timor-leste-as-pm-for-the-first-time-274023

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/28/plenty-on-the-agenda-as-anthony-albanese-heads-to-timor-leste-as-pm-for-the-first-time-274023/

January 28, 2026

Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar sprayed by unknown substance during speech

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man is tackled after spraying an unknown substance at US Representative Ilhan Omar. AFP / Octavio Jones

US Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar has been targeted during a speech by a man who sprayed an unidentified liquid at her from a syringe before being tackled by security guards, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

The man was led out of the premises as Omar, a frequent target of attacks by President Donald Trump, continued her speech saying “we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw on us.”

The incident took place during a town hall in the US city of Minneapolis, where two US citizens have been killed this month in a violent anti-immigration crackdown, provoking growing unrest.

Omar had just finished calling for the Trump administration to reverse its current course when the attack occurred.

“ICE cannot be reformed, it cannot be rehabilitated. We must abolish ICE for good,” Omar said, to applause. “And (Department of Homeland Security) Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment.”

After Omar uttered those words, a man sprang up from the front row, made a remark and sprayed the congresswoman, as security leapt to grab him. Omar raised a fist and stepped toward the attacker before returning to the podium.

After uttering a few expletives, and against her team’s vocal concerns that she should not continue, the congresswoman took the microphone.

“Here’s the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand: We are Minnesota strong. And we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw on us,” Omar said.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump blasted Omar and Somalia during a speech in Iowa, saying the Mogadishu-born congresswoman “comes from a country that’s a disaster.”

Trump has ordered 143 strikes against Somalia in his second term, according to US think tank New America, and has pulled back diplomatic relations, including recently stopping humanitarian aid.

– AFP

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/democratic-congresswoman-ilhan-omar-sprayed-by-unknown-substance-during-speech/

January 28, 2026

Ikea hikes staff pay to minimum $29 as other retailers told to ‘step up’

Source: Radio New Zealand

IKEA’s first Auckland store opens on December 4 Marika Khabazi / RNZ

New Zealand retailers need to “step up” to keep up with the wages and conditions offered by international businesses coming into New Zealand, one union says.

Ikea said on Wednesday it was hiring an extra 85 staff for logistics and food services, and adding evening shifts for stock replenishment.

That will take its total New Zealand workforce to 561.

It is also paying staff an entry level rate of $29, which increases to $31 as they progress to the next level.

They can also access a subsidised transport programme offering 75 percent off commuting costs, five weeks of leave, subsidised meals and a staff discount.

“The response from New Zealanders since opening has been incredible, and we’re proud to be growing our team to meet that demand while staying true to our values,” said New Zealand people and culture manager Lauren Clegg.

“Opening in a new market has its share of challenges and learnings for our team. We’re committed to listening, improving and supporting our co-workers along the way. By investing in competitive pay, meaningful benefits and everyday support, we want people choose to grow their careers with us as we continue building Ikea in Aotearoa together.”

Rudd Hughes, retail secretary for Workers First Union, said Ikea’s offer was a good one.

The union is due to initiate collective bargaining in the next week for staff at Ikea.

But he said the union had spoken to Ikea before the shop even opened.

“They have made it quite clear that their wages will be living wage and above. And so, although they didn’t start off with a living wage, they’ve now gone to the living wage… we’ll be looking to improve that, but also not just on the wages, but also other conditions.”

He said Costco and Kmart also offered the living wage or more.

“Other New Zealand-based brands or Australian-based brands like Woolworths, Foodstuffs, Briscoes, Warehouse, they’re all lagging behind and lagging significantly.

“Kiwi businesses really need to kind of step up to the market and pay their workers what they need to actually live in a society.”

He said Ikea’s hiring would have an impact on other retailers.

“It’s a significant player in the economy, I’m sure they’ll probably branch out as well. We welcome that. We also welcome the way in which they have worked alongside us to develop a relationship with the union, which isn’t that common.”

He said the union would use examples like Ikea as benchmarks in bargaining with other employers.

“The living wage should be the minimum for any worker in this country, but particularly retail workers as well. We have a large number of retail workers in this country.

“Why shouldn’t they have a living wage so they can partake in society, they can be part of society and they don’t have to scrimp and save?”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/ikea-hikes-staff-pay-to-minimum-29-as-other-retailers-told-to-step-up/

January 28, 2026

AllFinance.co.nz Helps Kiwis Better Understand Their Money

Source: Press Release Service

Headline: AllFinance.co.nz Helps Kiwis Better Understand Their Money

AllFinance.co.nz has officially launched, offering New Zealanders a free and easy-to-use platform for financial information, tools, and calculators designed for everyday use.

The post AllFinance.co.nz Helps Kiwis Better Understand Their Money first appeared on PR.co.nz.

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/allfinance-co-nz-helps-kiwis-better-understand-their-money/

January 28, 2026

Next steps to fix the basics of science funding

Source: New Zealand Government

Research Funding New Zealand will bring together leading science, innovation and technology experts to invest in research that delivers real-world benefits for New Zealanders, says Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti.

Dr Reti has announced the inaugural Research Funding NZ Board, established to streamline research funding and provide independent, strategic investment decisions that support economic growth.

“For too long, New Zealand’s research funding system has been fragmented and overly complex, creating unnecessary red tape and diluting impact,” says Dr Reti.

“Research Funding NZ fixes the basics by replacing multiple decision-makers with a single, independent board. This will create a simpler, more coherent funding system while strengthening our focus on excellent research with real-world outcomes.”

The Board brings together some of New Zealand’s most accomplished science and innovation leaders, with experience across the Marsden Fund, MBIE Science Board, Health Research Council, and international funding bodies in Australia, Singapore and Europe.

The Research Funding NZ Board members are:

Dr Emma Blott (Chair)
Professor Aidan Byrne
Professor Amanda Barnard
Professor Brett Cowan
Professor Dianne Gleeson
Dr Meika Foster
Distinguished Professor Sir Peter Hunter
Dr Sue Bidrose

Research Funding NZ will replace most existing research funding decision-makers, including the Marsden Fund Council, the Science Board, some MBIE functions and the Health Research Council.

The transition will be phased to ensure continuity and minimise disruption. The Marsden Fund and Endeavour Fund will be among the first to move under the new structure, with Research Funding NZ making decisions for upcoming funding rounds. All current research contracts will continue.

“Government investment across the full spectrum of science, from blue-sky research to applied and commercial innovation, will help grow the economy and improve health and wellbeing,” says Dr Reti.

“By fixing the basics of our funding system, we are building a stronger future for science, innovation and the researchers whose work improves our economy, health and resilience.”

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/next-steps-to-fix-the-basics-of-science-funding/

January 28, 2026

Pilot, passenger dead after helicopter crash in Paekākāriki Hill

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police officers on guard near the scene of the crash. RNZ/ Charlotte Cook

Police say two people have died in a helicopter crash near Wellington today.

Emergency services were called to a helicopter crash in the Paekākāriki Hill area, north of Wellington, by an automated crash alert at 7.30am.

Inspector Renée Perkins said both the pilot and sole passenger were found deceased following the crash.

She said police were working to remove the bodies from the area and cordons were in place around the Battle Hill campground.

Police would work alongside the Civil Aviation Authority to examine the scene.

A police vehicle with a trailer is seen at the site this afternoon. RNZ / Charlotte Cook

A man who discovered a body in the “unrecognisable” wreckage of a helicopter that crashed says he was checking for vital signs as the Westpac helicopter arrived at the scene.

The witness said they checked the vital signs of one of the people on the helicopter and they were deceased.

Shortly afterwards, he said another person was located some distance from the wreckage on steep terrain in thick scrub.

“It’s not my first. I spent 27 years in search and rescue – so it’s not something new to me,” the man said.

He said he attempted to shut the helicopter off as fuel was running out of the aircraft, but could not access the switch to do so.

“Because there’s fuel leaking out and the machine was still turned on, we took the safe option and we moved out of the way,”

The man said he understood the helicopter was involved in goat culling in the area.

A police vehicle with a trailer is seen at the site this afternoon. RNZ / Charlotte Cook

Police, Maritime NZ’s Rescue Coordination Centre and Fire and Emergency responded to the crash.

Fire and Emergency had sent two crews from Porirua, along with their “line rescue team”. Also known as rope rescue personnel, they are trained in high-angle, vertical, or challenging terrain, often handling rescues at height or in confined spaces.

RNZ / Charlotte Cook

The newly appointed Police Assistant Commissioner, currently District Commander, Corrie Parnell has arrived on site. RNZ understands authorities are currently in meetings and they are struggling to access the site because of the area.

Park rangers and teams on ATVs were trying to make the scene more accessible.

While helicopters have been in the air this morning, an RNZ reporter at the scene says Flight Radar is no longer showing helicopters in the area.

A helicopter flies over the search scene. RNZ / Charlotte Cook

The search area is near Pukerua Bay, where three people died in a crash involving an Air Force helicopter on Anzac Day in 2010.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/pilot-passenger-dead-after-helicopter-crash-in-paekakariki-hill/

January 28, 2026

Hauraki Ambassadors the face of DOC this summer

Source: NZ Department of Conservation

Date: 28 January 2026

The six-week seasonal placements for Kylie Harris (18) and Hayley Forlong (19) have focussed on education and advocacy, and a “mountains to sea” kaupapa sharing information about the district’s precious environments and vulnerable protected species.

Kylie has recently graduated from Paeroa College and is starting a Bachelor of Science majoring in Ecology and Biodiversity at Waikato University. Hayley has just gained a Level 6 diploma in Environmental Management and this year will get her Bachelor of Applied Science in Biodiversity management at Toi Ohomai Polytechnic in Windemere, Tauranga.

Kylie and Hayley say the most rewarding part of their roles has been engaging with more than 4,000 members of the public who were out naturing, and sharing what they themselves have learned.

They’ve been discussing topics ranging from the safe management of dogs in dotterel habitats to how visitors can limit the risk of spreading kauri disease by following advice on protecting the majestic taonga trees.

“We had some great questions from the public including things like ‘do our dogs need to be on a lead if they have had kiwi avoidance training’ – and yes they do, to protect the kauri tree roots, keep the dogs safe and prevent harm to other wildlife living in in our forests such as native frogs and invertebrates,” says Kylie.

For Kylie, educating people about dotterels has been eye-opening.

“People think ‘dotterels are stupid’ and to that we say ‘nuh uh’,” she says.

“Some visitors to the DOC marquee came to us with this mentality, mostly because of how and where dotterels nest. Dotterels need to nest close to the water’s edge as dotterel chicks must feed themselves after they hatch.

“Along with this, due to houses getting closer and closer to the beaches, it gives the dotterels less space to nest, and they need 360 degrees of vision to spot any threats.”

Hayley and Kylie say they’ve loved working alongside experienced and passionate DOC staff.

“I’ve enjoyed working in the Hauraki office – everyone is amazing and has so much knowledge to share,” says Kylie.

“I’ve always loved nature, so being able to work in this role where a majority of my time is outside of an office has been wonderful.”

Says Hayley: “I have always wanted to work for the Department of Conservation, so it’s been great to get a step in the door and get an idea of what it’s like working for DOC and the different job roles they have.”

Hayley and Kylie have a few more public event commitments as part of their summer ambassador role and they’ll return to their seasonal roles next summer.

Contact

For media enquiries contact:

Email: media@doc.govt.nz

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/28/hauraki-ambassadors-the-face-of-doc-this-summer/

A pattern of violence

A return of Islamic State

US and Turkish agendas

What we know

So, how to read the tea leaves?

Should the PM go to Waitangi?

Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi works to carry on through 2031

Works overlap regular road maintenance season

Electricity works clear substations and cables from construction zone

Lower Hutt closures at a glance:

‘I have no regrets about going’

‘This was something he felt strongly about.’

The journey back home

Where prices moved the most

The more volatile monthly series

Why the latest jobs data matters too

What it all means for interest rates

A landscape prone to failure

Trees, slopes and stability

Why simple explanations fall short

Challenges in Timor-Leste

Why visit now?

What’s on the agenda?

Beyond government

NATURE LOOKS DIFFERENT FROM HERE

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