Auckland Emergency Management continues to urge Aucklanders to get prepared and have a plan ahead of Cyclone Vaianu arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Auckland and Aotea Great Barrier Island are currently under three weather warnings – keep up-to-date with the latest MetService forecast and all current watches or warnings by downloading the MetService app from the App Store or Google Play, or visit the MetService website: metservice.com
Prepare your home
If you or your property are in danger at any time, phone 111 – don’t wait, natural warnings need to be acted on immediately.
Get ready for power outages:
Strong winds bring down trees and can cause power outages.
Make sure you’ve got a torch and batteries.
Keep your phone and power banks charged.
Have a battery-operated radio (remember, your car radio can be an alternative).
You can prepare your property ahead of time by:
Checking drains and gutters to ensure they aren’t blocked.
Clearing tree branches, leaves and debris – these can cause flooding issues during heavy rain.
Putting away or tying down any loose outdoor furniture and trampolines in case of high winds.
Have a plan and a grab bag
Consider where you might go if you need to leave home in a hurry. Have the talk and make a plan with whānau and friends about what you would do and where you would go if it is unsafe to shelter in place.
Have a grab bag prepped and ready with essentials like:
Medication
Warm clothes and sturdy shoes
Chargers
Snacks and water
And remember babies and pets’ needs too.
Delay unnecessary travel
Plan your travel carefully and consider whether your travel this weekend is essential.
Make sure you drive to the conditions and never drive through floodwaters or over slips.
Drivers should expect the Auckland Harbour Bridge may need to be fully closed if wind gusts get too high. It is also likely that there will be lane closures and reduced speed limits in place.
Check for real time updates before you travel on the NZTA Highway conditions page: Highway conditions for Auckland | NZTA Journey Planner.
Allow extra time when travelling on public transport during severe weather in case there are delays during your journey. Before taking public transport check the live departures feature in the AT Mobile app.
Postpone remote walks and recreational activities at our parks and beaches until after the weekend.
The forecast is predicting large swells and high energy waves. These conditions are not ideal for boating or shore fishing.
Auckland Council services
Sports fields around the Auckland region will remain open for activities to take place on Saturday 11 April – but all fields will be closed throughout the day on Sunday 12 April.
Those who have booked to stay overnight at any of Auckland’s regional parks this weekend are being advised to stay at home and are being offered full refunds.
Tāwharanui campground, Te Haruhi Bay campground, and Tunnel Point campground will be closed this weekend.
For tree damage on public land, go to the council’s website and ‘report a problem’ online.
Report stormwater issues and flooding to the council on 09 301 0101.
Visit the Auckland Council website: aucklandcouncil.govt.nz for more information.
Advice for boaties
Check your boat before the bad weather arrives.
Secure sails and loose items on deck.
Check condition of mooring lines and run extra lines and if necessary, consider removing your boat if on a mooring in an exposed mooring zone.
Keep a close watch on the weather forecast.
Stay informed
Keep up-to-date on the latest information from official sources and trusted channels.
Stay up to date with weather forecasts and check AT and NZTA’s journey planners for any public transport and roading disruption.
Visit the AEM website (aem.govt.nz) for the latest information, and advice on getting your household prepared for an emergency – you can also visit getready.govt.nz.
President Donald Trump’s rapid and dramatic turn from threatening to kill “an entire civilization” in Iran on the morning of April 7, 2026, to announcing a two-week ceasefire later that day left many observers with a sense of whiplash.
While it is difficult to predict whether the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will hold or how events will unfold, the dynamics of the conflict so far reveal multiple vulnerabilities in the short term and numerous detrimental effects on the region in the medium to long term.
Already, the truce has shown signs of strain. Iran and the U.S. almost immediately offered dueling narratives about the agreement, including whether it would cover the war in Lebanon. Iran and Pakistan, the primary mediator, asserted that it would, while the U.S. and Israel, which pledged to honor the U.S. agreement, said it would not. Indeed, a day after the ceasefire came into force, Israel conducted some of its most intense bombing in Lebanon to date.
Over the past decade, there has been a shift in regional alliances in the Middle East, leading to increasingly assertive foreign policies by many countries and a deepening rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The current war only fuels these dynamics, incentivizing competition and offering governments and militant groups new opportunities to exert leverage over opponents.
The current reality also underlines the idea that external intervention and privileging war over diplomacy has made conflict resolution ever more difficult in a region with a long history of imperial expansion, great power competition and bitter political divides.
A Lebanese man gathers his belongings from his home, which was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day after the ceasefire with Iran went into effect.AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Regional fault lines
One of the more remarkable aspects of the war in Iran that began on Feb. 28 was how quickly it escalated in terms of geographic scope and the actors pulled into it.
The three key countries involved – Israel, the U.S and Iran – are all facing internal political tensions, polarization and legitimacy crises.
Outside countries such as China, Russia and Pakistan have deployed their own strategic interests and diplomatic tools in the conflict in indirectly getting involved.
The conflict has also drawn in a variety of regional governments and other groups, from [Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states] to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
All of that is bound to deepen the fault lines that make regional tensions and sectarian conflict more likely in the long run.
Meanwhile, public opinion in the Arab world shows profound damage to the United States’ reputation in the region and a loss of credibility in the international legal and humanitarian system.
I think these developments are also deeply troubling for the long term.
Events since the war began have been bad enough. The war has led to over 1,200 Iranian civilian deaths, over 3.2 million Iranians temporarily displaced and significant damage to Iranian infrastructure. Thirteen American soldiers have also died in the course of the conflict, as have more than two dozen in Israel and the Gulf states.
The Houthis and the politics of regional instability
The Houthis in Yemen, one of the conflict participants that remained surprisingly silent at the outbreak of the war, are instructive for understanding the region’s complicated and fractured dynamics.
Houthi supporters burn American and Israeli flags during a rally against the war on Iran in Sanaa, Yemen, on April 3, 2026.AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman
Avowed opponents of Israel, the Houthis declared war against the country following the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza.
In 2024, the Houthis attacked maritime shipping in the Red Sea near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key maritime choke point. That prefigured, in a much smaller and less consequential way, Iran’s own actions in blocking the Strait of Hormuz during the current crisis.
That Houthi campaign to block maritime shipping resulted in a U.S.-led international coalition and significant military strikes against the insurgent group, their redesignation as a foreign terrorist organization, and ultimately a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and the Houthi movement in May 2025.
Yet the underlying regional disputes and domestic fractures that the Houthis were part of were never resolved.
Eventually, the Houthis reentered the fight against Israel amid the latest war in Iran, attacking Israel on March 28.
They refrained from attacks in the Red Sea and currently are observing the ceasefire. But entering the war enabled a weakened Houthi movement to signal resolve, military capacity and commitment to its alliance with Iran, just as Yemen continues to face an economic and severe humanitarian crisis. The Houthis now also have added leverage to play the role of spoiler amid ongoing diplomacy.
The costs of diplomacy avoidance
Of course, the Houthis are not the only movement that will perceive the war on Iran as an opportunity to exert regional influence.
Just as the Houthis and their enemies are using regional conflicts to boost their domestic legitimacy and strategic advantages, so too are the more salient participants − Iran, Israel and the U.S. − relitigating their own past conflicts on the battlefield.
Amid all of these current regional trends of crises and contestation, the United States’ own strategic goals have remained remarkably unclear. The Trump administration has vacillated from a focus on regime change to preventing Iran from developing nuclear capabilities.
President Donald Trump departs a news conference on April 6, the day before threatening to destroy Iran’s civilization − and then agreeing to a ceasefire.AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
So far, there are no indications that talks with Iran to extend the ceasefire into a full diplomatic agreement will successfully prevent Iran from pursuing uranium enrichment. Indeed, one of the contested points of the framework for talks with Iran is the apparent acceptance of Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment.
In 2018, Trump abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or so-called Iran deal. In it, Iran agreed to terms, including limiting uranium enrichment, that would block its path to a nuclear weapon, should it have desired one.
Under the Iran deal, Tehran had also complied with inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. It was not until much after American withdrawal from the agreement that Iran once again started stockpiling uranium and pursuing enrichment.
In her 2020 book on the tenuous 22-month diplomatic process leading to the Iran deal, aptly titled “Not for the Faint of Heart,” Ambassador Wendy Sherman wrote how complex, challenging and delicate such multiparty negotiations can be.
But the recent war on Iran suggests that the current machine-gun politics approach toward Tehran and the Middle East favored by the U.S. and Israel comes with serious costs and risks.
In the course of a war with unclear targets, vague strategic objectives and high human costs, the region is far less stable than it was when the conflict began. That has made the path to long-term durable peace all the more difficult now that diplomacy is back on the table.
For the first time since Viktor Orbán came to power in 2010, the Hungarian electorate is faced with a genuinely competitive campaign ahead of the 2026 general election on April 12.
For the past 16 years, Prime Minister Orbán’s party Fidesz has dominated. Faced with smear campaigns and attacks portraying opponents as a threat to national interests and sovereignty, any opposition has been fragmented and ineffectual, held together by uneasy alliances.
This time round, however, Fidesz’s hold is threatened by a single challenger, the Respect and Freedom Party (Tisza), which is currently leading by around 20 percentage points in the polls. Founded in 2020 and led by Péter Magyar since 2024, this centre-right party positions itself as a cross-ideological alternative. Its main focus is tackling government corruption and improving living standards and public services. Its international stance is pro-European and unifying.
The 2026 contest comes at a time of economic strain and growing public dissatisfaction. Hungary is one of the EU’s poorest member states. It also ranks among the most corrupt in international indices. Voters are therefore not just choosing between parties, but between the continuation of an entrenched system and what the Tisza is framing as a regime change.
Hungary is widely described as a competitive autocracy. Elections are regularly held, but the government dominates most of the media and benefits from institutional rules that favour it. Research bears this out. Campaigns in competitive autocracies occur in constrained information environments: governments dominate the media, limit opposition visibility, and, as studies I have contributed to show, often disseminate misinformation from the top.
The opposing parties drew huge crowds to Heroes’ Square and the Hungarian Parliament on March 15 this year.Wikimedia, CC BY
Increased public engagement
Fidesz has reshaped the country’s political system in ways that help it retain a durable electoral advantage. Since 2010, televised debates have disappeared from election campaigns. Around 85% of the media is now controlled by pro-government outlets that often convey identical narratives.
In line with these constraints, the government’s rhetoric has centred on security for over a decade. In 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine gave new momentum to the Fidesz campaign. It framed the opposition as pro-war. Campaign events were held in controlled settings, with Orbán appearing in pro-government media and smaller local events.
The 2026 election campaign has been different. Orbán is now campaigning more actively across the country. While he has continued to claim that the opposition, aligned with Ukraine and the EU, would take Hungary to war, he has been making frequent appearances and directly engaging with voters. Other government figures have also taken on a more visible role. Ministers are touring the country and appearing at campaign events.
The party has also made efforts to strengthen its social media presence as a way to distribute pro-government messages.
Despite this, the government’s control over the campaign agenda has been less stable than in previous elections. Increased exposure has come with greater risks. High-profile party members have generated public controversy. In January, transportation minister János Lázár drew ire for comments he made about the country not needing foreign labour, in which he also insulted Hungarian Roma.
Elsewhere, there have been confrontations at campaign events, where protesters have openly challenged the prime minister and black-clad security personnel have intervened. Anti-government protests at these events have also multiplied, reflecting this more direct and less controlled campaign environment.
Robust opposition
This shift is in direct response to the challenge Tisza poses. The party emerged as a major contender following the 2024 European parliamentary elections.
Magyar is a former Fidesz member and the ex-husband of the former justice minister Judit Varga. He entered frontline politics in early 2024, distancing himself from the government following the presidential pardon scandal, which led to the resignation of both Varga and president Katalin Novák. He later released a recording of Varga referring to alleged interference in a major corruption case.
He has spent the past two years touring the country and building local Tisza organisations. In his speeches, streamed on social media, Magyar often responds within hours to government-related developments then returns to them in later appearances. Following allegations of intelligence interference targeting his party, he quickly incorporated the issue into his campaign.
Cost of living
This campaign is unfolding against a backdrop of difficult economic conditions. Inflation is high, living costs are rising, the economy is stagnant. Research shows that competitive authoritarian governments, like Orbán’s, use propaganda to shape media narratives and reduce the salience of economic problems for voters. Tisza, by contrast, has made living standards a central theme.
In the final weeks of the campaign, Magyar has emphasised the argument that Orbán’s government is aligned with Russia and highlighted concerns about election rigging as a basis to call for electoral reform. Orbán has struggled to push back on all counts and has found itself unable to shift the campaign agenda back towards security issues.
Former Orbán ally Peter Magyar has forced a real campaign in Hungary for the first time in a long time.EPA
Magyar’s party has also demonstrated its ability to connect to the public. On March 15, a key national holiday marking the 1848 Revolution, Tisza held a rally in Heroes’ Square, Budapest, rivalling the government’s own peace march. Sources vary on the scale of both events. Fidesz quoted the Hungarian Tourism Agency’s figures of 180,000 people at the government’s march, and 150,000 at Tisza’s. Politico quoted sources close to the opposition estimating their attendees numbering over 350,000.
In his speech at his march, Orbán again framed the election as a contest between peace and war, casting it as a decision between himself and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Magyar, however, used national symbols and historical references to present the vote as a decisive turning point in Hungary’s political direction.
For years, Fidesz shaped campaigns on its own terms, limiting uncertainty. The current campaign shows that this control can be disrupted: rather than responding to government attacks, the opposition has set the agenda by elevating issues that mobilise public attention, forcing the government into a more competitive mode of campaigning.
This election therefore presents the possibility of more than a routine change of government. It could mark a turning point for the political system. Whether or not such a shift materialises, the campaign demonstrates that even in constrained environments, ruling parties can be pushed into forms of competition more typical of democratic settings. Once this happens, structural advantages no longer compensate for the strategic demands of open contest.
The Deb is finally here. The film has been plagued by unresolved legal troubles and repeated delays. But here it is – and for the most part, it’s an enjoyable Australian comedy with characteristically crude humour, but aimed squarely at a young, female audience.
It’s a shame it’s not as good a musical as it is a comedy.
The Deb began life as a stage musical, as the first recipient of Rebel Wilson’s scholarship program for young, female-identifying comedy writers. Written by Australian comedy writer Hannah Reilly and musician Meg Washington, the musical was produced by the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) and enjoyed a successful season in 2022. Almost immediately, Wilson flagged her intent to adapt the stage show for film.
Set in the fictional, drought-ravaged town of Dunburn, The Deb is a loose riff on the fable of the the town mouse and the country mouse.
Wealthy, stylish, attractive and self-confident Maeve (Charlotte MacInnes, reprising her role from the stage production) is a Sydney private school student who, after being expelled from school for staging a political protest against the tyranny of the top shirt button, is dispatched to the country by her principal-slash-mother for some fresh country air and a change of perspective.
Her cousin and foil, Taylor Simpkins (Natalie Abbott), is an earnest, sweet, unpopular farm girl, desperate to find a date for the debutante ball. Politically, socially, and sexually, the two girls are a world apart.
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All about the women
Maeve is initially horrified at the tradition of the deb ball and what she sees as its backwards, patriarchal implications. Yet one of the film’s strengths is that it manages to make the clash between Maeve’s woke politics and the sensibilities of Dunburn’s residents for the most part funny, rather than painfully didactic.
As Maeve softens, she realises that traditions – even antiquated ones – are important rituals that connect communities together.
There’s a lot to like about the performances. The Deb is a proud member of a movement that I have previously termed the “female turn” in Australian musical theatre, recognising the viewership for musical theatre overwhelmingly skews young and female.
The film is unambiguously geared at this market. This is a film all about the women, and both MacInnes and Abbott deliver in spades.
This is a film about – and for – women.John Platt/Rialto Distribution
The male characters, like the salt-of-the-earth Rick (Taylor’s father and the town’s mayor, played by Shane Jacobsen) and Maeve’s dreamy love interest Dusty (Costa D’Angelo), are peripheral at best.
Wilson’s on-brand performance as Janette, a hairdresser whose claim to fame is having waxed Hugh Jackman’s “back, sack and crack”, delivers exactly the broad comedy that the project’s funders, who made her appearance on screen a condition of their investment, were presumably looking for. Wilson’s two onscreen daughters deserve special mention. Stevie Jean, who plays teenage mean-girl Annabelle, has one of the best voices in the cast, while Scarlett Crabtree’s Kid Koala is a comic highlight.
The trouble with the music
The strong performances are not enough to override the film’s central problem: that, devastatingly for a musical, the music is the weakest link.
The Deb doesn’t manage to settle on either a sonic or choreographic language that supports the deeply Australian narrative, humour, aesthetic and landscape underpinning it.
Individually, there are some great, catchy songs – but the score as a whole does not cohere. Stylistically, the influence of Fangirls and Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical is apparent, but the creators of The Deb seem to have misunderstood that in both these cases, there were more sophisticated dramaturgical underpinnings connecting genre, story and character than are evident here.
There are some great, catchy songs – but the score as a whole does not cohere.John Platt/Rialto Distribution
While songs can perform a multitude of different functions in musical theatre, in The Deb they mostly do not push the plot forward.
The film itself implicitly concedes this: as the plot heats up, there is a long, songless stretch where all the important things happen without music. To my mind, this was an admission by the filmmakers that the music is subsidiary to the action; a soundtrack, rather than an integrated, essential part of the storytelling.
Genuine warmth
My husband grew up in a country town akin to Dunburn, and I had the great pleasure of watching the film with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, both of whom had actually attended their own debutante balls (my husband abandoned us after the first song, reinforcing my view about the film’s audience).
The three women who remained found many pleasurable, laugh-out-loud moments of quintessentially Australian humour in the film. It exhibits a genuine warmth for Australian regional towns, and the people who live there. It’s a welcome message for a nation that, as the current polling for One Nation indicates, continues to experience a city/country divide.
It’s a pity it doesn’t have a winning, iconic song to bind us together and do what musicals do best – send us out into our communities, armed with songs to share.
Pharmac said people might receive smaller supplies than usual “to ensure everyone can continue to access this important treatment”.IGOR STEVANOVIC / SCIENCE PHOTO
A national shortage of progesterone pills has left perimenopausal and menopausal women unable to collect their full prescriptions.
Pharmac on its website said an increase in demand and long lead times to manufacture the product meant there was limited supply of the Utrogestan-branded capsules.
One woman, who did not want to be named, told RNZ she had been given eight tablets by her pharmacist to get her through the next few days, but he was unable to fulfill her entire script.
She said the medication helped her with poor sleep, mood regulation and heavy periods, and expected going without it would have a direct impact “pretty quickly”.
Pharmac said people might receive smaller supplies than usual “to ensure everyone can continue to access this important treatment”.
It said multiple shipments were arriving between March and mid-May 2026.
“It will take time for this stock to reach pharmacies around New Zealand.”
The medication was not included in Pharmac’s list of shortages caused by the conflict in the Middle East – the only one listed currently was isosorbide mononitrate, used to prevent chest pain, and for which a substitute was available.
Judge Ema Aitken will appear before the panel, after allegedly disrupting a function at Auckland’s exclusive Northern Club in 2024.RNZ Composite
A judicial conduct panel has found the actions of Judge Ema Aitken during an event at Auckland’s Northern Club in 2024 doesn’t justify her being removed.
The panel found her actions were a “serious breach of comity” but “fell short of the high threshold of ‘misbehaviour’ necessary to warrant consideration of her removal”.
Judge Aitken was accused of yelling at New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, and calling him a liar.
She denied yelling, and claimed she didn’t recognise Peters and didn’t know it was a political event.
Judge Aitken will remain an acting district court judge until her warrant expires in February.
More to come…
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
– Proposed cuts would see more than 100 job losses overall
Māori development agency Te Puni Kōkiri would be further gutted by a proposal to axe 27 roles to meet Government spending reductions contained in change proposals recently released to staff.
The proposal to cut 45 roles and establish 18, would impact the Health and Safety, Māori Capability, Information Systems, and Property and Finance functions.
The proposed cuts would come on top of earlier job losses, which have seen more than 75 full time equivalent roles lost at Te Puni Kōkiri.
Jack McDonald, Te Kaihautū Māori for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi, said the cumulative job cuts would decimate Te Puni Kōkiri.
“These proposed cuts would mean the overall loss of more than 100 roles, about 21% of the workforce, further gutting the Crown’s ability to meet their Te Tiriti obligations and deliver improved outcomes for Māori,” said McDonald.
“Te Puni Kōkiri leads critically important work including advising government on kaupapa Māori and Māori/Crown relations. The hollowing out of the agency is part and parcel of the Government’s extreme anti-Māori agenda.
“This Government has slashed Māori and Te Tiriti focused roles, teams, and programmes, and the role of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori in the public service has been undermined,” McDonald said.
“These senseless cuts will mean the work of supporting Ministers and senior leaders will fall on already stretched staff. This mahi is often unseen and unpaid and will increase the risks of burnout and increased stress for staff.
“Axing two Māori capability roles that support Te Puni Kōkiri kaimahi strengthening their te reo Māori and tikanga Māori will hamper the organisation’s ability to engage effectively with Te Ao Māori, which is critical to the work of Te Puni Kōkiri.
“Te Puni Kōkiri has a proud tradition over decades in ensuring that public services deliver for Māori. It is very disappointing that its legacy is being undermined,” McDonald said.
Some examples of Government cuts to Māori capability
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahiis Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
ASB is preparing to support customers who may be affected by the forecast cyclone expected to impact parts of the North Island this weekend.
Targeted support will be offered to any weather impacted customers on a case-by-case basis, with options including:
Deferring home loan repayments for up to three months or interest only for three months.
Immediate consideration of requests for emergency credit card limit increases.
Tailored solutions for eligible ASB business and rural customers including access to working capital of up to $100,000.
ASB Executive General Manager Personal Banking Adam Boyd says the bank is ready to respond quickly to customer needs.
“With Cyclone Vaianu forecast to bring severe weather, we want customers to know support is available if they need it.
“Our teams are prepared to help and can work with customers to find practical solutions that suit their situation.”
To discuss support options, personal customers should call ASB’s contact centre on 0800 803 804. Alternatively, customers can email hardship@asb.co.nz. Affected ASB business and rural customers should speak to their relationship manager or call 0800 272 287.
Asia Pacific holds the largest share of ranked markets on the Index for the first time in more than a decade, claiming 10 out of 25 spots.
Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea and India see leaps in ranking as Thailand and Malaysia re-enter the top 25.
Technological and innovation capabilities emerges as the most important factor shaping investment decisions.
Industrial policy is now critical in investment decisions, with 84 percent of investors citing it as extremely or very important.
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 10 April 2026 – Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council today released the 2026 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index (FDICI), an annual survey of global business executives that ranks markets most likely to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) over the next three years. The 2026 Index sees Asia Pacific (APAC) claiming the largest share of the ranked markets (10 out of 25) for the first time in more than a decade, amid a global investment environment shaped by intensifying geopolitical tensions, expanding industrial policy, and accelerating technological competition.
The survey, conducted in January 2026 among more than 500 senior executives from leading corporations worldwide, shows that companies remain committed to international investment despite mounting uncertainty. Eighty-eight percent of respondents say they plan to increase foreign direct investment over the next three years, signaling sustained confidence in long-term global opportunities.
The United States and Canada retain their first and second positions on the Index. Japan rises to third, and China (including Hong Kong) climbs to fourth. Singapore (8th), South Korea (11th) and India (22nd) post gains as Thailand (20th) and Malaysia (21st) re-enter the top 25 list after three and 12 years respectively— reflecting a strong showing from APAC.
“The APAC region emerges as a winner as investors recalibrate how they make decisions in a more turbulent operating environment,” said Shigeru Sekinada, Region Chair, Asia Pacific at Kearney. “The technological capability, economic growth potential, and geopolitical relevance offered by the top-ranking APAC markets make them choice FDI destinations among a business community that is both actively pursuing emerging opportunities and attentive to mounting complexities and risks.”
Middle powers and emerging markets attract renewed investor interest
Most APAC markets in the top 25 list saw improvements in rankings, but none as remarkable as Singapore, which rose from 15th to 8th place. This leap can be attributed to the city-state’s reputation as a hub for R&D and innovation, supported by tax incentives, research grants, and partnerships. One third (34 percent) of investors in the survey cite Singapore’s technological innovation as the strongest reason to invest there, followed by its economic performance (30 percent), driven by expansions in biomedical manufacturing and electronics, and sustained AI-driven semiconductor and server related growth.
Singapore’s significant gain in this year’s Index, alongside those of markets like Saudi Arabia, reflects the rise of “middle powers”—markets that are neither great powers nor small states but still exercise meaningful influence in international politics and generally abide by global rules and norms.
Meanwhile, emerging markets remain dynamic and increasingly interconnected with global investment flows. China ranks as the top market on the Emerging Markets Index for the third consecutive year. Thailand and Malaysia (6th and 7th on the Emerging Markets Index) post some of the largest gains in the rankings while Vietnam (16th) rises three spots.Investor sentiment toward emerging markets has improved modestly year over year, suggesting that companies are increasingly looking beyond traditional investment hubs as they expand supply chains and pursue growth opportunities across a broader set of emerging markets.
Innovation drives investment decisions
Technological and innovation capabilities rank as the most important factor influencing where companies choose to invest, surpassing traditional considerations such as regulatory efficiency and domestic economic performance. As investment in artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and data-driven technologies accelerates worldwide, markets with strong innovation ecosystems are increasingly viewed as the most attractive destinations for long-term investment.
Investors cite technological innovation as the strongest or tied strongest reason to invest in 10 of the 25 markets on the Index, including Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan (China).
Geopolitical risk and industrial policy reshape the investment landscape
Executives remain alert to rising global risks even as investment intentions remain strong. Geopolitical tensions rank as the most likely development over the next year (36 percent), followed by commodity price increases and political instability in developed markets (30 percent).
“Geopolitical instability and rising commodity prices have proven to be major factors impacting global business this year, as reflected in the current Middle East conflict. Supply chain resilience, diversification of energy sources and government policies will be crucial for markets to maintain their attractiveness in the eyes of investors in the medium term,” said Sekinada.
At the same time, industrial policy is playing an increasingly central role in shaping investment decisions. According to the survey, 84 percent of investors globally say industrial policy is extremely or very important in determining where they invest, and 57 percent believe it has a positive impact on their company’s business performance. APAC investors show strong support for infrastructure development and subsidies as the most effective industrial policy tools, with 88 percent of investors in the region viewing infrastructure-focused industrial policy as favorable, and 80 percent saying the same for subsidies.
About the 2026 Kearney FDI Confidence Index®
The 2026 Kearney FDI Confidence Index® is constructed using primary data from a proprietary survey of 507 senior executives of the world’s leading corporations. The survey was conducted in January 2026. Respondents include C-level executives and regional and business leaders. All participating companies have annual revenues of $500 million or more. The companies are headquartered in 30 countries and span all sectors.
The Index is calculated as a weighted average of the number of high, medium, and low responses to questions on the likelihood of making a direct investment in a select market over the next three years.
Index values are based on responses only from companies headquartered in foreign markets. For example, the Index value for the United States was calculated without responses from US-headquartered investors. Higher Index values indicate more attractive investment targets.
All economic growth figures presented in the report are the latest estimates and forecasts available from Oxford Economics unless otherwise noted. Other secondary sources include investment promotion agencies, central banks, ministries of finance and trade, relevant news media, and other major data sources.
Legislation which strengthens trespass laws to make them more effective and practical for businesses has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says.
“This government is committed to fixing the basics in law and order, and building a future where all New Zealanders can feel safe in their communities. One basic function that needs fixing, is the ability for a business owner to trespass somebody and stop them from returning.
“The Trespass Act is not working effectively in a modern-day urban retail environment. Retailers are rightly very concerned about offenders engaging in criminal behaviour such as theft, and then just returning with impunity to do it all over again.
“These laws have remained virtually unchanged since the 1980s, when its focus was the removal of people from places like farms and private dwellings. They do not work for areas where the public freely enters, such as malls, busy shops, dairies and supermarkets. This legislation changes that.”
The Bill amends the Trespass Act by:
Increasing the maximum trespass period from two years to three years.
Allow businesses, such as franchises, to trespass individuals from multiple locations.
Increase the maximum fine for anyone refusing to leave when asked, or returning when trespassed from $1,000 to $2,000.
Increase the maximum fine for anyone refusing to give their name and address when requested, or giving false information, from $500 to $1,000.
The Bill will also close a loophole where people can avoid being trespassed by threatening the occupier, or simply walking away before they can be informed.
Under the Bill, a person will be ‘deemed’ to know they have been trespassed in retail and hospitality spaces, when the occupier has clear evidence of an attempt being made.
The panel which inquired into alleged conduct by Judge Ema Aitken has found her removal is not justified, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says.
“The Judicial Conduct Panel has found that Judge Aitken’s actions were a serious breach of comity. Comity requires each branch of Government – the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature – to act with mutual restraint and respect towards the others.
“However, the Panel considered the Judge’s conduct fell short of the high threshold of ‘misbehaviour’ necessary to warrant consideration of her removal. Therefore, Judge Aitken will remain an Acting District Court Judge until her warrant expires in February 2027.
“I would like to thank all those who participated in this assessment and the panel members for their service. Judicial conduct panels are an important mechanism to maintaining trust and confidence in the judiciary.
Police were working out what happened, treating the death as a homicide.
A post-mortem examination was underway, and a scene guard remained in place at the property.
An RNZ reporter on the scene on Thursday said there were armed officers there, and people in white forensics suits taking photos of items on the grass berm.
A tent had been set up across the footpath and part of the street, and another marquee was erected on a property’s front garden.
E-bikes are one way commuters are getting around. (File photo)RNZ / Richard Tindiller
Electric mobility devices like e-scooters and e-bikes are proving popular as more people look to beat anxiety over fuel supply questions.
As petrol prices conitnue to rise, TradeMe data shows searches for e-scooters had jumped 68 percent compared to this time last year.
Electric scooter shop owner Jen Hobbs said the devices were already popular among students.
“They’re everywhere. Young kids on the footpath going to and from school on these little scooters, and sometimes you see kids on big powerful scooters too, and I’m equivocal about that.”
But in Australia, one state had expressed concerns over teenagers zipping around too fast on the devices, endangering themselves and those around them.
A Queensland parliamentary inquiry recommended tighter rules around using e-mobility devices, including an age limit, and a learner’s driver’s license.
University of Melbourne researcher Milad Haghani said the recommendations would work well as a short-term solution.
“But from the standpoint of policy makers, you have to understand that they need to come up with quick policy lines that would fix the problem in the short term until we can figure out how to stop the infiltration of illegal and high-speed e-bikes and e-scooters into our streets.”
Dr Milad Haghani is a researcher at University of Melbourne, he supports banning under 16s from e-bikes and e-scooters in Queensland.Supplied/Milad Haghani
He said it’s a policy that can be viewed in the same “spirit” as the latest ban on social media.
“Can young kids benefit from accessing social media to some degrees as well if they use it responsibly? Yes, but the Australian policymaker has decided that the potential for harm is much greater than any benefit and as such has moved on to restrict the access.”
In New Zealand, concerns were also growing as data revealed young people were well represented in statistics on e-scooter related injuries.
In 2022, about 40 percent of new e-scooter related ACC claims were from those under 25-years-old. This grew to 47 percent last year.
Part of the rise was being driven by claims for 10 to 14-year-olds, which tripled during that time.
While Haghani believed a ban on under 16-year-olds would be fair, University of Queensland researcher Dorina Pojani thought even a temporary ban would impact some families too much.
“My own research focuses quite a lot on gender, and I found that mothers are often overburdened by the need to chauffeur children from activities to activity. Fathers do, but often these kinds of things are done by mothers. And having children be able to travel independently would be a huge thing for families.”
Dr Dorina Pojani from the University of Queensland doesn’t support banning under 16s from e-bikes and e-scooters.Supplied / Dorina Pojani
She did not support an age limit but believed teaching younger riders about road rules could help.
Hobbs said the appropriate age should depend on the child. For example, a 10-year-old with good spatial awareness could be trusted with an e-scooter that could go as fast as 30kph, but for other children they needed to be older.
“It is, of course, a good idea for the riders to have some training about how to be considerate of others. I think a sensible distinction is that if you don’t have a driver’s license, then you should not be operating any vehicle on the road.”
Anyone without a license could ride on the footpath or cycle lane instead, she said.
Hobbs wanted to see a policy that focused on rider behaviour.
“I think the speed limit on the footpath should be 15 kilometers per hour. I think the rule should be that you have to dismount around pedestrians. And I think the speed limit on all roads should apply. If the rule is there, then it can be enforced.”
Maurice Wells, from the Electric Bike Team, said neither rules would keep his children safe.
“I would absolutely have mixed feelings about putting them on an e-bike. My main concern about when they should ride an e-bike is not based on their exact age. It’s based on their skills at controlling a bike and it’s based on the environment in which they’re riding.”
Maurice Wells, from the Electric Bike Shop, thinks a driver’s license is not the best way to keep young riders safe on the road.Supplied
He said licensing would be difficult to enforce, and would not keep children safe on the road.
“That’s not to say people don’t have to know the road rules, but I think when you are a vulnerable road user on a bicycle or a scooter you have an in-built incentive or motivation to understand how the road rules work.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 10 April 2026 – With warmer conditions expected in the coming weeks, Singapore’s heat and humidity could contribute to increased fatigue and reduced mental clarity among urbanites balancing long commutes and high-pressure work.
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The Public Service Association (PSA) says further job cuts at Te Puni Kōkiri the Ministry of Māori Development would gut the Crown’s ability to meet Te Tiriti obligations.
The PSA said staff had recently received a change proposal which would cut 45 roles and establish 18 to meet government spending reductions.
If it proceeds 27 roles will be cut, impacting the ministry’s people capability and culture, Māori capability, health and safety, information systems, and property and finance functions.
PSA kaihautū Māori Jack McDonald said the cumulative job cuts would decimate Te Puni Kōkiri.
“These proposed cuts would mean the overall loss of more than 100 roles, about 21 percent of the workforce, further gutting the Crown’s ability to meet their Te Tiriti obligations and deliver improved outcomes for Māori.”
In a statement to RNZ, Te Puni Kōkiri said it was consulting with kaimahi on proposed organisational changes, and no final decisions had been made.
“We recognise that this is a challenging time for our people. Our priority is to ensure kaimahi are kept informed, supported, and have the opportunity to engage meaningfully in the consultation process.
“We are committed to a fair and transparent process and will carefully consider all feedback before any decisions are finalised. We will take the time to carefully consider all feedback before any decisions are made.”
McDonald said Te Puni Kōkiri led critically important work, including advising government on kaupapa Māori and Māori/Crown relations.
“These senseless cuts will mean the work of supporting ministers and senior leaders will fall on already stretched staff. This mahi is often unseen and unpaid and will increase the risks of burnout and increased stress for staff.
“Axing Māori capability roles that support Te Puni Kōkiri kaimahi strengthening their te reo Māori and tikanga Māori will hamper the organisation’s ability to engage effectively with te ao Māori, which is critical to the work of Te Puni Kōkiri.
“Te Puni Kōkiri has a proud tradition over decades in ensuring that public services deliver for Māori. It is very disappointing that its legacy is being undermined.”
The PSA said the final decision would be announced at the end of April.
The review was announced following an Official Information Act (OIA) request by RNZ about procurement practices at the agency.
In the OIA the SIA provided a table setting out all contracts with a value of over $100,000 that were initiated or maintained between January 2025 and March 2026.
The 13 contracts, which combined are worth nearly $7m, included work by Datacom, Potentia Wellington Limited, Chapman Tripp, Olympus Consulting Limited, First Stanza Limited, Deloitte Limited, Likemind Limited, Audit New Zealand and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Following further questions from RNZ, a SIA spokesperson said on Wednesday that internal procurement processes “including requirements for managing and declaring conflicts of interest, are being considered as part of the broader review of all contracts with a value exceeding $100,000”.
The SIA earlier said that 10 of the contracts related to work within the scope of the Deputy Chief Executive – Strategy and Performance and/or the Deputy Chief Executive – Technology, Transformation and Enabling Services roles.
“While this includes all contracts within those functional areas, not all of the contracts listed involved work commissioned or directed by the former Deputy Chief Executive.”
Lawyers acting for Reiri told RNZ on Friday she had no prior personal connection to providers that were contracted by SIA and therefore no conflicts to declare.
The lawyers earlier said that Reiri was not aware of any allegations relating to financial and procurement irregularities concerning herself or any other person.
“To the extent there are any allegations of this nature, these are false and denied.”
As part of the OIA RNZ also asked for a copy of all briefings, correspondence and reports in relation to investigations into Reiri.
“SIA has identified 63 documents within scope of your request. These documents relate to employment related processes and the internal consideration of allegations, including terms of reference, correspondence, and one email relating to alleged financial and procurement matters.
“The documents concern sensitive employment and internal matters and contain personal information. It is necessary for SIA to be able to manage employment issues and assess allegations effectively, including by enabling staff and other parties to communicate freely and candidly in the course of such processes.”
In an earlier OIA released to RNZ, the SIA confirmed there had been two employment investigations over the last 12 months.
“I am also able to confirm that there has been one investigation in response to four formal reports of bullying and harassment. In the interest of privacy, we cannot provide a breakdown as to what each allegation was concerning.”
RNZ understands the investigation, which is ongoing, relates to Reiri.
“As a responsible employer, SIA takes these matters seriously and all complaints are investigated and followed through to the end. We have robust policies and procedures to manage disclosure of any allegations including protected disclosures (speak safe) and bullying and harassment policies, which provide informal and formal options for staff to raise concerns of serious wrongdoing and bullying and harassment.”
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The Oceania Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament has been thrown into sudden disruption, with key semi-final matches in Hamilton rescheduled due to the looming threat of Cyclone Vaianu.
Tournament organisers have brought Sunday’s fixtures forward by 24 hours as severe weather warnings blanket the North Island, with heavy rain and damaging winds forecast to intensify over the weekend.
Officials said the decision was made to ensure the safety of participants and fans attending the games.
The Oceania semi-finals between the Football Ferns and Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) and American Samoa were originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Hamilton.
They will now be played Saturday, with PNG playing American Samoa at midday and New Zealand playing Fiji at 4pm.
The winner of those games will meet in Albany on Wednesday, with a place at the 2027 World Cup up for grabs.
The loser of the Oceania final will head to the inter-confederation play-offs.
In a bid to accommodate fans affected by the late change, organisers have made the matches free to attend. Supporters will not need to book tickets in advance and can simply arrive at the stadium on the day. All tickets purchased for the original Sunday fixtures will be refunded.
Lisa Jones, general manager competitions and international events at New Zealand Football, said the organisation supported the decision by OFC.
“From the advice we have been given, we strongly feel this is the best option to allow the fixtures to be played and to ensure the safety of everyone attending the matches.
“With a considerable number of people looking to attend the games, this is a decision we wanted made as early as possible to ensure we didn’t have people travelling in potentially dangerous conditions.
“We now look forward to two great semi-finals being played on Saturday ahead of next week’s final in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.”
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Parker, Adjunct Professor, Defence and Security Institute, The University of Western Australia; UNSW Sydney
Wednesday’s ceasefire announcement by President Donald Trump, linked to Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, prompted immediate optimism shipping would quickly resume. It didn’t.
The following morning, traffic remained minimal. A handful of vessels, largely linked to Iran, made the transit. But most of the ships waiting in the Gulf stayed put. Iran announced shortly afterwards that it would effectively close the strait because of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.
The reality is the strait was never closed. Framing the issue as “open” or “closed” misses the point.
Ships are not being physically blocked. They are being deterred.
Over recent weeks, Iran has demonstrated both the capability and intent to target commercial shipping. Attacks and credible threats against vessels have driven daily transits down from around 130 to just a handful. Until that risk changes, ships will not return in meaningful numbers.
So what can be done to turn this around?
Both walking and talking
The ceasefire declarations have added to the uncertainty rather than resolved it.
Tehran’s messaging has been more ambiguous, including references to requiring vessels to inform Iranian authorities before transiting.
Some interpret this as a precursor to attempts to exert control over the waterway through a toll.
This ambiguity matters. Shipping is a commercial activity driven by risk calculations. Operators and crews will not move on the basis of political statements, particularly when recent experience suggests those statements may not hold.
In practice, restoring traffic through the strait will likely occur in two phases.
The first is reducing the threat. That can occur through military means, diplomacy, or a combination of both, but it must materially degrade Iran’s ability and willingness to target shipping.
The second is reassurance.
Even if Iran’s attacks on civilian shipping stop as a result of the ceasefire, shipping will not immediately return. Confidence has been shaken and will take time to rebuild.
A credible reassurance effort would include limited naval escorts, at least initially. It’s notable the US did not move immediately to demonstrate confidence in the ceasefire by escorting US flagged and crewed commercial vessels out of the Gulf.
That would have sent a clear signal to industry, helped restore confidence in transits and undercut subsequent Iranian claims that ships require approval from its armed forces.
Given Iran’s interest in maintaining the ceasefire, it would have been unlikely to challenge ships under US naval protection. The US hesitation has instead created space for Iran to entrench its position, pushing vessels closer to its coastline and reinforcing its ability to shape how the strait is used.
An effective reassurance campaign would also involve a broader international presence to provide surveillance, information-sharing and rapid response capability. The international community should move quickly to establish this. Its very establishment would help restore confidence in transits.
We have seen this model before. The International Maritime Security Construct, established in 2019 following Iranian attacks in the Gulf of Oman, focused on transparency, coordination and reassurance rather than large-scale convoy operations.
I served as the construct’s Director of Plans in 2020. A similar, but more effective, approach is likely to be required again. It is not a silver bullet, but reassurance is layered, and this would at least provide the clarity and communication shippers need.
Diplomacy will also matter. Clear, coordinated messaging from the international community, backed by explicit economic consequences for any renewed attacks on merchant shipping, will be essential to rebuilding confidence.
The question of tolls
There has also been speculation about whether Iran might seek to impose a toll on vessels transiting the strait.
The legal position here is clear. The Strait of Hormuz is an international strait under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Ships enjoy the right of transit passage through the strait. Charging vessels for passage would cut directly against that principle and set a dangerous precedent for other strategic waterways.
There are early signs Iran is testing the boundaries. Reports of radio calls warning vessels they require approval to transit, and suggestions that ships should notify Iranian authorities before transiting, point to an attempt to exert greater control over the strait.
That should be resisted.
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Allowing a toll, or even limited restrictions, to take hold in the Strait of Hormuz would have far-reaching consequences, undermining the central principle of maritime trade: freedom of navigation. Regardless of Donald Trump’s flippant comments, the international community is unlikely to accept any enduring Iranian toll system.
If Iran attempts to pursue one, it should face clear economic consequences, including sanctions.
Questions remain about whether mines have been laid in or near the strait. Even the suggestion adds to uncertainty and reinforces the need for a coordinated international response, including transparent assessments of the threat environment.
A clear, public assessment from the international community on whether the strait has in fact been mined would go a long way. It should be an early priority for any coalition effort.
The bottom line
Ultimately, shipping will return to the Strait of Hormuz not when it is declared open, but when it is assessed to be safe enough.
That will require a sustained period without attacks, a visible international effort to secure the waterway, and clear signalling that the rules governing international straits will be upheld.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priyanka Dhopade, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The four Artemis II astronauts who looped around the Moon this week are expected to splash down soon. NASA’s grand mission spells a return to human deep-space travel, with renewed interest in building a long-term Moon base.
The images captured by the crew are spectacular, offering a view from the far side of the Moon with Earth hovering low on the horizon.
They are another reminder of technical achievement and human ambition. But in the background, decisions about what happens next and who benefits are already taking shape.
While there have always been legal tensions around ownership, access and control of space, in 2026 they no longer seem like abstract concepts.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty declares space “the province of all mankind”, barring countries from claiming ownership. Yet newer frameworks like the United States’ Artemis Accords introduce concepts such as exclusive “safety zones” around lunar activities, which could include mining of water or helium-3.
Space law expert Cassandra Steer views this as an example of the US “trying to carve out a loophole”. Legal scholar Michael Byers and space archaeologist Alice Gorman further note that even well-intentioned mechanisms can become tools for asserting control in a domain that is meant to remain shared.
This tension between cooperation and competition, shared benefit and private gain, is neither accidental nor new. It reflects fundamentally different ways of imagining the future of space.
So, is this new lunar era going to be one marked by countries’ collective stewardship of what lies beyond Earth – or yet another space race?
4 futures for the final frontier
Our latest research charts these competing visions for space across four different trajectories.
Some countries treat space as a frontier to be claimed and exploited, echoing earlier eras of terrestrial expansion. Others see it as a resource to fuel economic growth on Earth, prioritising rapid development over long-term sustainability.
A third vision imagines space as an escape hatch: a place to build new societies as Earth becomes less habitable. And finally, a smaller but emerging perspective views Earth and space as strongly interconnected, requiring stewardship across both domains.
These scenarios are already playing out in current policy and practice.
At the same time, geopolitical competition is intensifying.
Artemis II might be framed as an international mission, but it also reflects strategic positioning – particularly as major powers like the US and China race towards their lunar ambitions.
Lunar ambition: the Artemis II flight control team in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA
A sense of possibility
Within this increasingly contested landscape, Indigenous worldviews offer a fundamentally different way of imagining space: not as a frontier apart from Earth, but as part of a shared living system.
Our research, using a method known as “causal layered analysis” developed by Pakistani-born Australian political scientist Sohail Inayatullah, shows these tensions reflect deeper competing assumptions about what space is for.
Depending on who is making the rules, it becomes either a marketplace, a lifeline, a refuge or an ecosystem.
Artemis II brings those differences into sharp relief. The decisions being made now about regulation, access and governance will shape the future of space activity for decades.
We argue for a shift towards an “Earth-space sustainability” model, one that treats Earth and space as interconnected rather than separate domains.
That means setting shared sustainability goals and involving Indigenous peoples in co-governance, bringing values of reciprocity, shared responsibility and long-term stewardship into decision making.
These principles need to be embedded in institutions as well as rhetoric.
Co-governance frameworks that bring together governments, industry and Indigenous communities – alongside enforceable standards and tools such as the Space Sustainability Rating – offer one path towards more responsible stewardship.
This is not the easiest route for countries to take. It challenges powerful economic incentives and geopolitical rivalries. But the alternatives – unchecked competition and environmental degradation – are worse.
The return to the Moon offers a sense of possibility. It is natural to be captivated by the engineering, the scale and the ambition of it. But the more consequential story lies beneath.
As humans circle the Moon once again, the question is no longer whether we can go back, but how we choose to behave when we get there.
The author acknowledges the contribution of Ronda Geise who led this research as part of her masters degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Auckland.
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