When the Flores and Velasco articles and posts whitewashing Israel’s genocidal policies in Gaza first came out a few days ago, I was waiting for people in the Philippine media to criticise and denounce them since they were so obviously hack pieces that did not meet the minimal standards of decent journalism.
I waited and waited, until I realised that there were no media people or organisations that were going to speak up.
I was not out to do an expose, but that’s what it effectively became. In my subsequent posts, I raised the question of what was the reason just two journalists were willing to challenge the stories.
Was it a case of circling the wagons to protect errant colleagues? Was it fear of ties with the Israeli state being exposed by the Israelis in retaliation? Was it fear of physical or political reprisals by the Israelis?
These may have played a part, but the deafening silence meant there was something bigger at work.
This morning I received a long text from a prominent media practitioner that provided the answer. It’s not fear. It’s actually worse: agreement with Zionist ideology and policies, including genocide.
That the person asked me not to divulge his name for fear of suffering retribution from his colleagues stunned me. OMG, is this how deep the rot is with our media? ? Here is his disconcerting revelation to me:
‘Most are prejudiced’ “Yes some are scared, but honestly most of them actually are prejudiced against Muslims and side with the Zionists anytime.
“Most believe in the US religious fascist Zionist narrative, and also cannot accept that the world has changed — that the US is no longer the unipower it was decades ago, and that Russia, China, India and BRICS are on the rise.
“And also, you should hear them talk about how Filipino Muslims should be wiped off the face of the earth.
“These are college graduates from UP [University of the Philippines], UST [University of Santo Tomas], Ateneo who studied media.
“Whenever I would voice empathy for the Muslim minority here, or Palestinians, I’d be called stupid. Same also because I refused to join in the corruption.
“Oh, and also they have the same prejudice against China and the Chinese and mistake the Japanese imperial army atrocities as something China did to us!
“Also this is not limited to media. I have batchmates from UP Diliman, medical doctors, lawyers, engineers who also have the same prejudices.”
He added: “Some of these journalists have won awards abroad.”
Walden Bello is a Filipino academic and analyst of Global South issues who was awarded Amnesty International Philippines’ Most Distinguished Defender of Human Rights Award in 2023. He has also served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
In an unprecedented international operation organised by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the global campaigning movement Avaaz, more than 250 news outlets from over 70 countries simultaneously blacked out their front pages and website homepages, and interrupt their broadcasting to condemn the murder of journalists by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
Together, these newsrooms — including Asia Pacific Report, Evening Report and Pacific Media Watch — have demanded an end to impunity for Israeli crimes against Gaza’s reporters, the emergency evacuation of reporters seeking to leave the Strip and that foreign press be granted independent access to the territory.
For the first time in recent history, newsrooms across the world have coordinated a large-scale editorial protest in solidarity with journalists in Gaza.
The front pages of print newspapers were published in black with a strong written message.
The Reporters Without Borders “blacked out” website home page today. Image: RSF screenshot APR
Television and radio stations interrupted their programmes to broadcast a joint statement.
Online media outlets blacked out their homepages or published a banner as a sign of solidarity.
Individual journalists have also joined the campaign and posted messages on their social media accounts.
About 220 journalists have been killed during Israel’s current war on Gaza since it began on 7 October 2023, according to RSF data.
However, independent analysis by Al Jazeera reveals that at least 278 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel over the past 22 months, including 10 from the network.
On the night of August 10 alone, the Israeli army killed six journalists in a targeted strike against Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif.
Al Jazeera’s “blacked out” for Gaza journalists website home page today. Image: AJ screenshot APR
Fifteen days later, on August 25, the Israeli army killed five journalists in two consecutive strikes.
Parallel to these killings, the Israeli army has barred foreign journalists from entering the Strip for nearly two years, leaving Palestinian journalists to cover the war while under fire.
“At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.,” said Thibaut Bruttin, director-general of RSF.
“This isn’t just a war against Gaza, it’s a war against journalism. Journalists are being targeted, killed and defamed. Without them, who will alert us to the famine?
Who will expose war crimes? Who will show us the genocides?
“Shame on our profession for silence.” Video: Al Jazeera
“Ten years after the unanimous adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2222, the whole world is witnessing the erosion of guarantees of international law for the protection of journalists.
“Solidarity from newsrooms and journalists around the world is essential. They should be thanked — this fraternity between reporters is what will save press freedom.
“Solidarity will save all freedoms.”
The “blacked out” home page of Asia Pacific Report today.
In line with the call launched by RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in June, the media outlets involved in this campaign are making four demands.
We demand the protection of Palestinian journalists and an end to the impunity for crimes perpetrated by the Israeli army against them in the Gaza Strip;
We demand the foreign press be granted independent access to the Gaza Strip;
We demand that governments across the world host Palestinian journalists seeking evacuation from Gaza; and
With the opening of the 80th UN General Assembly taking place in eight days, we demand strong action from the international community and call on the UN Security Council to stop the Israeli army’s crimes against Palestinian journalists
More than 250 media outlets in over 70 countries around the world prepared to join the operation on Monday, 1 September.
They include numerous daily newspapers and news websites: Mediapart (France), Al Jazeera (Qatar), The Independent (United Kingdom), +972 Magazine (Israel/Palestine), Local Call (Israel/Palestine), InfoLibre (Spain), Forbidden Stories (France), Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany), Der Freitag (Germany), RTVE (Spain), L’Humanité (France), The New Arab (United Kingdom), Daraj (Lebanon), New Bloom (Taiwan), Photon Media (Hong Kong), La Voix du Centre (Cameroon), Guinée Matin (Guinea), The Point (Gambia), L’Orient Le Jour (Lebanon), Media Today (South Korea), N1 (Serbia), KOHA (Kosovo), Public Interest Journalism Lab (Ukraine), Il Dubbio (Italy), Intercept Brasil (Brazil), Agência Pública (Brazil), Le Soir (Belgium), La Libre (Belgium), Le Desk (Morocco), Semanario Brecha (Uruguay), Asia Pacific Report, Evening Report and Stuff (New Zealand) and many others.
International media have been denied free access to the Gaza Strip since the war broke out.
A few selected outlets have embedded reporters with Israeli army units operating in Gaza under the condition of strict military censorship.
Israel has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Pacific Media Watch cooperates with Reporters Without Borders.
One of Asia Pacific Report editor David Robie’s “blacked out” social media pages today. APR screenshot
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has hinted that the country may “hold its first-ever referendum” following a landmark Supreme Court opinion aimed at amending the 2013 Constitution.
On Friday, the nation’s highest court ruled that thresholds for constitutional amendments should be lowered — requiring only a two-thirds majority in parliament and a simple majority of voters in a referendum.
The ruling followed a three-day hearing in August, after Rabuka’s Cabinet, in June, had sought clarification on making changes to parts of the Constitution.
Submissions came from the State, seven political parties, the Fiji Law Society, and the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission.
Rabuka said that the Supreme Court’s opinion established a “clear and democratic pathway” for his government’s constitutional reform efforts.
“This opinion provides clarity on matters of constitutional law and governance. It will now go before Cabinet for further deliberation, after which I, as Head of Government, will announce the way forward,” he said in a statement.
Fiji’s 2013 Constitution . . . the coalition’s “unwillingness to spell out the constitutional changes it was contemplating” has made Indo-Fijians “apprehensive”. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
However, the Fiji Labour Party, while welcoming the Supreme Court’s opinion, expressed concerns over the lowering of the current “75 percent double super majority requirement” to amend the constitution.
Fijians of Indian descent make up just over 32 percent of Fiji’s total population.
Indo-Fijians ‘particularly vulnerable’
Labour leader and former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that the Indo-Fijian community felt “particularly vulnerable” due to the nation’s race-based political tensions, which have resulted in four coups.
He noted that the coalition’s “unwillingness to spell out the constitutional changes it was contemplating” had made Indo-Fijians “apprehensive”.
“It is for this reason that Labour had submitted that constitutional changes should be left to political negotiations with a view to achieving consensus, and stability,” he added.
Fiji Labour Party’s Mahendra Chaudhry (facing camera) embraces Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka during a reconciliation church service in May 2023. Image: RNZ Pacific/Fiji govt
But Rabuka dismissed Chaudhry’s concerns on Monday, saying that his “argument does not stand”.
“In a referendum, every community is part of the decision. Indo-Fijians, like all other minority groups, vote as equal citizens,” he said.
He said that any government wanting to change the constitution would need support from the whole nation.
“This forces proposals to be fair, broad, and inclusive. Discriminatory ideas would never survive such a test.”
‘Generalised statements’ criticised
Rabuka said Chaudhry should refrain from making “generalised statements”, adding that he does not have the mandate to speak for all Indo-Fijians.
“Chaudhry says change should only come through political negotiations and consensus. But that usually means a few leaders making deals in closed rooms. That gives a small group of politicians’ veto power over the entire country, blocking needed changes and leaving Fiji stuck,” he said.
“A referendum is the opposite of backroom politics. It is open, transparent, and gives the final say to the people themselves. That is real democracy. That is what the Coalition Government welcomes entirely.”
While Rabuka’s People’s Alliance Party wanted the 2013 Constitution thrown out and replaced with the previous 1997 Constitution, he said the former Prime Minister should “move past the old style of politics and recognise that Fiji may now hold its first-ever referendum”.
“That would be a historic step, one that strengthens democracy for every community, not weakens it.
“As your Prime Minister, I give my assurance to all Fijians that this process belongs to you.”
When Voreqe Bainimarama walked out of Parliament after his government lost by a single vote on Christmas Eve in December 2022, he told reporters who swarmed around him in the capital, Suva: “This is democracy and this is my legacy [the] 2013 Constitution.”
Visibly shellshocked
His most trusted ally Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, looking visibly shellshocked at FijiFirst’s loss of power, said at the time: “We hope that the new government will adhere to the rule of law.”
Sayed-Khaiyum is widely viewed as the architect of the 2013 Constitution, although he disputes that claim.
Critics of the document, which is the country’s fourth constitution, argue that it was imposed by the Bainimarama administration
Meanwhile, the country’s chiefs want the 2013 Constitution gone. In May, the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) unanimously rejected the document as “restricting a lot of work for the iTaukei (indigenous Fijians)”.
Following the Supreme Court opinion, the head of of GCC told local media that the 2013 Constitution lacked cultural legitimacy and undermined Fiji’s democratic capacity.
An image of a drone light show, where the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with the text “Modi welcome to China”, was displayed along with a figure of a dancing woman, went viral on social media just before the Indian leader’s scheduled visit to China. Those sharing the image hailed it as an example of the supremacy of the Indian Prime Minister, who even made arch rival China ‘bow down’.
PM Modi arrived in China’s Tianjin on August 31 for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and was scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the event. The meeting is crucial as it comes days after US President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods, owing to its hefty purchases of Russian crude. Modi’s visit to China — his first in seven years — has sparked speculations that New Delhi and Beijing will try to ease tensions and bolster trade ties. Diplomatic ties between the two countries had been tense after the 202 Galwan Valley skirmishes that left many soldiers dead
X user Raushan Sinha (@MrSinha_), who has amplified communal misinformation several times in the past, shared the viral photo claiming these were “unbelievable times”. At the time this article was written, the post had 1.7 million views. (Archive)
Sagar Kumar (@KumaarSaagar), a journalist at Sudarshan News, also posted the viral image tagging US President Donald Trump. (Archive)
The video shows a drone show in Chongqing, China. At one point, the figure of a dancing woman (similar to the viral image) could be made out. However, we found no references to Modi, which made us suspect the viral photo may have been edited.
Taking cue from this, we ran a relevant keyword search on YouTube and came across this video, uploaded on July 22. The description says that a drone show, featuring more than 11,000 drones, was organised to celebrate Chongqing city’s 28th anniversary. We scanned through the video and located a similar figure of the dancing woman around the 0:38-minute timestamp.
Another keyword search on Facebook led us to a post by People’s Daily, a Chinese news agency, from April 21 where the same image of the dancing figurewas seen.
We also found a news report by Xinhua, China’s official state news agency, which said that the drone light show took place in the Nan’an District of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on April 19, 2025. The same image of the dancing woman also appears here.
A side-by-side comparison made it amply clear that the original image (on the left) was edited with Modi’s face and the welcome text added to it.
Thus, we were able to conclude that viral image of the drone show with text welcoming Indian PM Modi ahead of the SCO summit was edited or digitally altered. The actual photo dates back to April 19, 2025, and is from a drone light show in Chongqing, much before PM Modi’s visit to China.
Today, 1 September 2025, is being marked as a Black Monday following the latest deadly strikes by the Israeli army against journalists in the Gaza Strip as part of a worldwide action by the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders and the community politics organisation Avaaz.
On August 25, one of these strikes targeted a building in the al-Nasser medical complex in central Gaza, a known workplace for reporters, killing five journalists and staff members of local and international media outlets such as Reuters and the Associated Press.
Two weeks earlier, on the night of August 10, an Israeli strike killed six reporters, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who was the intended target.
According to RSF data, more than 210 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip in nearly 23 months of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory.
At least 56 of them were intentionally targeted by the Israeli army or killed while doing their job. This ongoing massacre of Palestinian journalists requires a large-scale operation highly visible to the general public.
With this unprecedented mobilisation planned for today, RSF renews its call for urgent protection for Palestinian media professionals in the Gaza Strip, a demand endorsed by over 200 media outlets and organisations in June.
Independent access
The NGO also calls for foreign press to be granted independent access to the Strip, which Israeli authorities have so far denied.
“The Israeli army killed five journalists in two strikes on Monday, August 25. Just two weeks earlier, it similarly killed six journalists in a single strike,” said Thibaut Bruttin, executive director of RSF.
“Since 7 October 2023, more than 210 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
“We reject this deadly new norm, which week after week brings new crimes against Palestinian journalists that go unpunished. We say it loud and clear: at the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.
“More than 150 media outlets worldwide have joined together for a major operation on Monday, 1 September, at the call of RSF and Avaaz.
“This campaign calls on world leaders to do their duty: stop the Israeli army from committing these crimes against journalists, resume the evacuation of the journalists who wish to leave Gaza, and ensure the foreign press has independent access to the Palestinian territory.
More than 150 media outlets in over 50 countries aretaking part in the operation on Monday, 1 September.
They include numerous daily newspapers and news websites: Mediapart (France), Al Jazeera (Qatar), The Independent (United Kingdom), +972 Magazine (Israel/Palestine), Local Call (Israel/Palestine), InfoLibre (Spain), Forbidden Stories (France), Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany), Der Freitag (Germany), RTVE (Spain), L’Humanité (France), The New Arab (United Kingdom), Daraj (Lebanon), New Bloom (Taiwan), Photon Media (Hong Kong), La Voix du Centre (Cameroon), Guinée Matin (Guinea), The Point (Gambia), L’Orient Le Jour (Lebanon), Media Today (South Korea), N1 (Serbia), KOHA (Kosovo), Public Interest Journalism Lab (Ukraine), Il Dubbio (Italy), Intercept Brasil (Brazil), Agência Pública (Brazil), Le Soir (Belgium), La Libre (Belgium), Le Desk (Morocco), Semanario Brecha (Uruguay), Asia Pacific Report (New Zealand) and many others.
Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.
Those events attracted 50,000 to 300,000 protesters.
The Auckland march is being organised by Aotearoa for Palestine, a coalition of Palestinians and tangata whenua. They want the government to sanction Israel for what they say is a genocide being carried out in Gaza.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Auckland Harbour Bridge . . . following on from recent protest marches that walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge in Australia. Image: RNZ/Tom Kitchin
West Papuan civil society and solidarity networks are calling for urgent action over a brutal Indonesian security forces crackdown that has led to a wave of arrests and political repression.
Protests erupted in Sorong, in the western part of the Melanesian territory, on Wednesday over the transfer of 4 political prisoners out of the territory.
One man, Michael Walerubun, 28, was seriously injured when police shot him in the abdomen, said activists.
The transferred prisoners, Abraham Goram Gaman, Nikson May, Piter Robaha, and Maxi Sangkek, are facing “treason” charges, which are commonly used by Indonesian authorities against independence supporters in West Papua.
The four men were arrested on April 28 after they requested “peace talks” in the city of Sorong.
Transferring political prisoners to other islands in the Indonesian archipelago separates them from families and support networks, and is a common tactic used by Indonesian authorities.
The umbrella group Pro-Democracy Papuan People’s Solidarity called for the community to protest against the four prisoners’ removal on Monday, August 25, that continued for three days.
Enforced relocation
Heavy-handed police attempts to disperse the protest, and the enforced relocation of all the prisoners despite community opposition, led to an escalation.
Several spontaneous protest actions followed, with tyres set ablaze and government buildings attacked, including the governor’s private residence.
Police have arbitrarily arrested 17 people, alleging involvement with property damage during the protests. Footage shows police discharging firearms, and armoured vehicles on patrol, through the afternoon and into the night in Sorong city and was continuing this weekend.
Women leader and former political prisoner Sayang Mandabayan has also been targeted.
She was accused by authorities as the so-called “organiser” of protests that followed the August 25 action.
Sayang Mandabayan’s home was attacked at around 4pm by heavily armed police officers who surrounded the building and shouted her name, demanding she present herself for arrest.
Police broke down door
Police then broke down the front door and attempted to force their way into the family’s home.
Sayang’s mother and pregnant niece refused them entry, blocking in the doorway and demanding they leave, said a statement from the Merdeka West Papua Support Network.
After a standoff of almost an hour, police arrested Sayang’s husband, Yan Manggaprouw, who remained in custody with 16 other members of the pro-democracy solidarity.
The attack on Sayang Mandabayan’s home, and the arrest of her husband, marks a further escalation in the range of repressive tactics commonly used against West Papuan human rights defenders.
“This is a deliberate campaign to criminalise political leadership, intimidate women defenders, and silence West Papua’s democratic voices,” Australia-based West Papuan rights advocate Ronny Kareni said.
“In West Papua talking about peace is seen as treason. These raids, transfers, and arrests are not isolated. They are part of a long-standing pattern of state systemic violence designed to crush West Papua’s movement for justice.
“Leaders like Sayang Mandabayan are not criminals — they are voices of democracy that the Pacific must defend.”
The timing of the crackdown comes just before the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders’ Meeting in the Solomon Islands on September 8-12.
Manokwari, since 2am this morning.
West Papuans are protesting against the transfer of four political prisoners to outside West Papua. pic.twitter.com/kP8RgEgnpC
A former New Zealand politician says there is a sense of relief in Samoa following snap general election day.
Aupito William Sio is in Samoa to vote and support the communities he has responsibilities for as a chief.
Aupito, the Pacific General Assembly Council of Chiefs chair, told RNZ Pacific, from a busy cafe in Samoa yesterday morning, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off.
“Thank goodness it’s over. For a while, the general public, outside of the Apia township, just felt like we can’t wait to cast our vote and make the decision for these politicians,” he said.
“There was a sense of fatigue throughout the campaigning period, but now I think there’s huge relief.”
Finally, the people have spoken and a decision has been made, Aupito added.
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa on Samoa’s general election day on Friday. Image: RNZ/Mark Papalii
Doing the maths Preliminary election results show Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt’s FAST Party in the lead and Tuilaepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi’s HRPP trailing behind.
FAST is the same party that won last time with Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa at the helm.
While the preliminary results provide a “good indication,” Aupito said there are still special votes to be added and women candidates to be considered.
Preliminary results from Friday night show FAST on 30, HRPP with 14, SUP had three and IND sat at four as of midday Saturday.
Last election was much tighter but for now, FAST is on track to win by a solid margin.
With the gap between the winner and those who have lost according to unofficial results significant, Aupito thinks there is a good indication as to the outcome.
Quota system for women
Samoa also has a quota system for women. They must have a minimum of six women in Parliament.
“So, if two women MPs have made this round. It’s likely that four women candidates who did not win in their seats but who still had the highest votes would be added on to the 51 seats,” Aupito said
The women’s seats will not be considered until all court challenges are settled, the election office said.
Traditionally, there have been challenges from losing candidates, who might challenge the winning candidates for something that may have occurred that is not in alignment with the laws during the campaign period.
There is a rule though in Samoa where the losing candidate cannot challenge the vote in court unless they have 50 percent of the winning vote, Aupito explained.
“I am hopeful that the rest of the politicians would see that the people have spoken,” Aupito said.
“The preliminary results give you a clear indication that FAST won the popular vote, and perhaps just to allow them to go through, set themselves up as the new government, while these minor challenges might occur behind the scenes, but very rarely have we seen any significant changes after the preliminary results.”
Pre-polling officially kicked off in Samoa on Wednesday, 27 August 2025. Image: RNZ Pacific/Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai
What next? Official results will be tallied from Monday with an announcement expected next Friday, Samoa’s electoral commissioner Toleafoa Tuiafelolo Alexander Stanley told the media on Friday evening.
“Everything ran smoothly today [Friday], there weren’t any issues apart from one,” Toleafoa explained.
People were transporting voters which was not allowed, so the matter had been referred to the police, he said.
Leadership transition Aupito described how a transition of leadership began back in 2021. The HRPP had been in government for 40 plus years.
“In fact, the prime minister had been the prime minister for 23 years, and now he has continued to remain as the leader of the HRPP and has kept HRPP relevant in the hearts and minds of the population,” he said.
Even in the strength of being a senior politician, was also seen as a weakness as a transitional generational shift began back in 2021.
For the first time ever, ordinary Samoan citizens in the villages made a big statement about what their expectations about leadership were.
“Clearly, they’ve spoken loud and clear,” Aupito said.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
I am alarmed by reports that Filipino journalists were flown in by the Israeli government to participate in what is essentially a whitewashing campaign for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
By attempting to divert attention from the massacre of Palestinian civilians to “the Old City’s labyrinthine alleys,” Flores acts as an apologist for war crimes, akin to writing a travel blog about Nazi Germany.
In a Facebook post, Flores further parrots Israel’s propaganda by highlighting how the brutal IDF employs both men and women to carry out atrocities, a cynical weaponisation of “feminism.”
Even more repulsive is the piece from the Daily Tribune about “Gaza’s Fake Famine” from Vernon Velasco. It is a parody of a story, overly simplifying the famine of Gaza to a matter of food truck logistics, and uncritically quoting an IDF Officer.
Fittingly, the article contains three photos of shipping containers but not a single photo of a human being.
This runs counter to facts laid out by UN officials, including Joyce Msuya, the UN’s Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who points out how half a million people face “starvation, destitution, and death”.
‘Moral failure’ over Gaza
A study published in the prestigious medical journal Lancet points to the “moral failure” as 1-2 million people live in the most extreme food insecurity level (phase 5 or catastrophe famine) according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
“By attempting to divert attention from the massacre of Palestinian civilians to ‘the Old City’s labyrinthine alleys,’ Flores acts as an apologist for war crimes, akin to writing a travel blog about Nazi Germany.” Image: TPS “Life” screenshot APR
This famine unfolds as shameless journalists make food vlogs kilometres away.
The facts are clear. At least 63,000 people have been killed and 150,000 injured, with women and children making up a significant portion of the casualties. The UN has also reported that nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s population (around 1.9 million people) has been displaced.
Widespread destruction has left over 70 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure destroyed, including more than 94 percent of hospitals either damaged or destroyed. No amount of narrative spin or “complexity” can sanitise this genocide.
As we celebrate National Press Freedom Day, I implore friends in the press to not fall for the lies of the murderous Zionist regime.
It would be tragic for journalists to provide cover for a regime that has murdered at least 240 of their peers.
Filipino journalists must shed the unhealthy culture of silence and non-intervention, and not hesitate to criticise errant colleagues.
They must make it clear that these recipients of Zionist gold are a disgrace to Philippine journalism. The Philippine government must look into the activities of the Israeli Embassy and their manipulation of local media narratives to sanitise their genocide.
Filipino journalists must stand in solidarity with their slain colleagues abroad, not with their killers.
Walden Bello is a Filipino academic and analyst of Global South issues who was awarded Amnesty International Philippines’ Most Distinguished Defender of Human Rights Award in 2023. He has also served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
The dominant issue going into the next election in Bougainville next week is not much different from the last election five years ago.
The autonomous Papua New Guinea region goes to the polls on September 4.
In 2020, there were strong expectations Bougainville would soon be independent, given the result of an overwhelming referendum for independence just months earlier.
That has not happened yet, and Port Moresby has yet to concede much ground.
PNG prime Minister James Marape (second left) and Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama (right) during the joint moderations talks in Port Moresby on 17 March 2025. Image: Autonomous Bougainville Government/RNZ
Most recently, at Burnham in Christchurch in June, little progress was made, as Massey University academic Dr Anna Powles points out.
“Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape referred to Burnham as a spiritual home of the Bougainville peace process,” she said.
“And yet, on the other hand, you have the Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama saying very clearly that independence was non-negotiable, and setting out a number of terms, including the fact that Bougainville was to become independent by the 1st of September 2027.
“If Papua New Guinea did not ratify that, Bougainville would make a unilateral declaration of independence.”
Seven candidates standing
There are seven people standing for the presidency, including long-time MP in the PNG national Parliament, Joe Lera.
He said everyone wants independence, but he wants to see a more conciliatory tone from the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG).
“Now, what the current government is doing is they are going outside the [Bougainville] Peace Agreement, and they are trying to shortcut based on the [referendum] result. But the Peace Agreement does not say independence will be given to us based on the result,” Lera said.
“What it says is, after we know the result, the two governments must continue to dialogue, consult each other and find ways of how to improve the economy, the law and order issues, the development issues.
“When we fix those, the nation-building pillars, we can then apply for the ratification to take place.”
However, Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama has no intention of deviating from the path he has been following.
“It gives us the opportunity whether the national government likes it or not,” he told RNZ Pacific this week.
“It is a national constitution guarantee of the framework of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, and that is how I’m saying to them, whether we come into consultation, we have different views.
“At least it is the constitutional guaranteed process set in by the National Constitution.”
Bougainville’s incumbent President Ishmael Toroama . . . “It is the constitutional guaranteed process set by the National Constitution.” Image: Autonomous Bougainville Government/RNZ
Achieving sovereignty as soon as possible is the driving force for the man who has been leading Bougainville’s campaign, the Independence Implementation Minister Ezekiel Masatt.
He said the signing of the Melanesian Agreement at Burnham was pivotal.
“We must obtain political independence in order to have some sovereign powers, in order to make some strategic economic decisions,” he said.
“Now, given the Melanesian Agreement where Bougainville can achieve some sovereign powers I think that is a great start in the right direction.”
Masatt is standing in the Tonsu electorate in North Bougainville.
Bougainville’s Independence Implementation Minister Ezekiel Masatt . . . “I think that [the Melanesian Agreement] is a great start in the right direction.” Photo: PINA
Former army officer Thomas Raivet is running for a second time. He is confident that he and his New Bougainville Party colleagues, Nick Peniai and Joe Lera, can be a formidable presence given the impact of preference votes.
“We believe that we can make a difference, because for the last five years, nothing has really happened here and and maybe five years ago, and maybe you go back 10 years, nothing has really happened for us,” Raivet said.
“I see this as an opportunity just to be part of the development of new Bougainville.”
Sam Kauona, who once led the Bougainville Revolutionary Army alongside Ishmael Toroama, is another presidential candidate.
He has run before but says this time he will win because of the Toroama governmment failure to bring independence.
“Because the government, for the last five years, did not achieve what Bougainvilleans, what we, wanted. They were concentrating on one option only. That’s why it wasted the last five years, and we did not achieve anything.”
The vote in Bougainville is being held over just one day for the first time, with results anticipated within a week.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
A 25-second clip, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appears to say that Mahatma Gandhi created the Indian Constitution, is viral on social media. In the video, he is heard saying, “Who created the Constitution? Gandhiji gave his life, created the Constitution”. It is being shared by social media users with sarcastic remarks against the Opposition leader.
Alt News has not embedded the video in the story since it contains an expletive, but it can be accessed here.
X user Deepak Sharma (@SonOfBharat7) posted the clip on August 23 with a caption in Hindi that translates to: “The Constitution was made by Gandhi Ji – Rahul Gandhi. Listen up, Congress Bhimto…don’t ask again. Your master has already told you ”. At the time of writing this report, this post had nearly 70,000 views and was reposted 1,900 times. (Archive)
Readers should also note that user @SonOfBharat7 has amplified misinformation several times in the past.
Another X user, @TheBahubali_IND, also shared the video with the same caption. This user’s post received over 133,000 views and was reposted 3,800 times at the time of writing this. (Archive)
Fact Check
It is widely known that India’s Constitution was drafted by a Constituent Assembly headed by Dalit leader Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar. To verify whether Rahul Gandhi said that Mahatma Gandhi drafted the Constitution, we broke down the viral clip into multiple keyframes and did a reverse image search on some of them.
This led us to a YouTube video posted on Rahul Gandhi’s official channel on August 21, 2025. The 22:25-minute-long video titled “LIVE: Voter Adhikar Yatra | Munger | Bihar” shows the Congress leader in the same attire as in the viral clip. Here, he is seen delivering a speech in Bihar’s Munger. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav can also be seen in the background.
At the 19:59-minute mark of the video, the bit that is now viral begins. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha is heard saying, “Who created the Constitution? Ambedkar ji gave his whole life and created the Constitution. Gandhiji gave his life and created the Constitution. This vote theft is an attack on the Constitution… Each and every citizen should be aware that this Constitution keeps you safe; this is your voice that Narendra Modi and Adani are trying to suppress. They want to destroy Ambedkar ji’s Constitution. We will never let it (the Constitution) get wiped out…”
However, in the viral clip, the line “Ambedkarji gave his whole life and created the Constitution” in the beginning is clipped. In the longer version, Gandhi clearly mentions Dr B R Ambedkar’s name before Mahatma Gandhi. He reiterates the same again later.
Thus, the viral video where Rahul Gandhi is heard saying it was Mahatma Gandhi who created the Indian Constitution has been clipped. The Congress leader mentions Ambedkar and later Gandhi.
A major row erupted after a viral video showed a man using indecent language for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother at the Opposition bloc’s Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar’s Darbhanga on August 27, 2025. The accused, Mohammad Rizvi, a resident of Singhwara locality in Darbhanga, was arrested by the Bihar police on August 29.
However, soon after this, several social media users claimed that the person arrested was, in fact, affiliated with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Showing a picture of Rizvi after his arrest and another one, allegedly of him, in the presence of BJP leaders, users suggested that the BJP made up the entire fiasco.
X user @DrNimoYadav shared the images with the claims on August 29. The post received over 93,000 views before it was deleted. (Archive)
Another user, @MahuaMoitraFans, also posted the images with the claims but deleted it later. (Archive)
At a glance, it wasn’t clear that the persons in the images (wearing a BJP sash and wearing a white vest after being arrested) were identical or the same. To be sure, we ran a reverse image search on the picture, allegedly of the accused Mohammad Rizvi with BJP members. This led us to a Facebook post by a user named Nek Mohammad Rizvi, shared on July 18.
We checked the profile and found that the person was a BJP worker from Kotma, Madhya Pradesh. On August 29, he posted a clarification that false rumours were being spread about him. He also highlighted the users who had spread these falsehoods.
In a video statement later, he alleged that misinformation was being shared to malign him and the BJP using images from his social media profile.
The same day, Darbhanga Police also shared that a 20-year-old Bihar youth, Mohammad Rizvi, alias Raja was arrested and charged under sections 196, 296, 152, 353(2), 356(1), 356(2), 3(5) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita and section 67 of the IT Act.
Thus, claims alleging that a man arrested from Darbhanga for using abusive language towards PM Modi during an Opposition rally is from the BJP are false and baseless. Social media users misidentified and misled others by using the image of a BJP member from Kotwa, MP, and linking it to the accused.
With the nationwide rollout of 20% ethanol-blended petrol (E20) becoming a matter debate in various circles, a new trend was seen on social media, in which influencers with millions of followers were making and posting videos enumerating the benefits of ethanol-blended petrol.
The points made in these videos are similar — such as the environmental benefits of ethanol-blended petrol and how farmers can profit from it. This indicates a coordinated effort to amplify the government’s message. Several prominent influencers, such as Abhishek Malhan alias Fukra Insaan, Mahesh Keshwala alias Thagesh, Indrani Vishwas, Tayyab Alam, Geetanjali Chauhan, Neha Nagar, Akanksha Ahuja, Varsha Dahiya, Ankur Agarwal, Rajan Arora, Arun Kushwah alias Chhote Mian, RJ Naveed, RJ Praveen, RJ Karishma, RJ Shonali, have been a part of this campaign.
Some of these videos can be watched here:
Alt News noticed that many of these videos had views in lakhs and crores. For example, Abhishek Malhan’s video has been viewed more than 1.15 crore times, while Ankur Agarwal’s video had 40 lakh views. Similarly, Rajan Arora’s video has 31 lakh and RJ Karishma’s video more than 19 lakh views. Below we have presented the data of 30 influencers who have participated in the publicity to give the readers a sense of the reach of this campaign.
As mentioned earlier, in our analysis of videos posted on the same topic by influencers with millions of followers, we found several common points being made, such as how it can reduce pollution and benefit farmers. And all the influencers used the same hashtags. Apart from this, all these videos were posted using Instagram’s collab feature. The collaborators included official accounts of Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the Union petroleum and natural gas ministry, BPCL, HPCL and IOCL.
Readers should note that for the collab feature to work, the post has to be approved by the respective user. In this case, all these reels were approved for collab by the official accounts of the aforementioned minister, Union ministry and the oil companies.
While influencers like Arun Kushwah and RJ Karishma used hashtags to indicate that their posts were advertorial, and Neha Nagar used Instagram’s ‘Paid Partnership’ label, most influencers did not disclose in their captions or videos that their video was part of an advertisement campaign.
The Race Monkey: Influencer who Said No to Being a Part of the Campaign
Something noteworthy came to light when we closely looked at the influencer page, The Race Monkey. This Instagram account that shares content related to car, bike, automotive reviews, etc., posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp message from a social media influencer agency. In the message, the agency inquires about a possible brand collaboration with them regarding 20% ethanol-blended petrol. The sender of the message asks for @theracemonkey’s professional charges for posting content based on the subject. According to The Race Monkey’s Instagram post, they declined the offer.
In an Instagram story, the user also questioned the notion that the use of ethanol was beneficial. “The common man is bearing the cost of damage to the vehicle and the pocket. As a consumer driven automobile portal, we said a big No to spreading misinformation”, they said.
Speaking to Alt News, Ishaan Bhardwaj, who is also the editor of the portal, TheRaceMonkey.com, said, “On the 14th of August, I received a phone call from a woman named Simran who said she worked with an agency called Hextech Media, which was a social media influencer agency doing paid campaigns for various brands. She told me about this campaign on E20 Fuel and how it benefitted the farmers and the environment. I asked her to share the details on message to which she was a little hesitant but later on she did. After reading through the campaign, I was clear that this was to mislead people into believing that E20 was good for the vehicles sold in India by giving references of farmer welfare and environmental protection… Further, I called them to check on their budget on the campaign to understand how big the numbers were. They asked me to give me a number and I said Rs.20 lakh, to which they said they won’t be able to give more than 15 lakh…”
Bhardwaj, who is considered an expert in matters related to the automobile industry, said, “There have been internal communications among the Automotive Components Manufacturers Association (ACMA), the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas and the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) to make E20 fuel mandatory across the country.”
Explaining the entire scheme of things further, he stated, “In 2020, manufacturers globally had announced that they would switch to fully electric mobility by 2030. But then the pandemic happened. Because of the world-wide economic decline, electric car sales slumped and lately has reduced to a few thousands a year, model on model. Electric cars depreciate to half their value in 2-3 years too so it becomes a less economically viable purchase for anyone. And majority of the consumers for EVs is the middle class. Tis also contributed to sales going down considerably. ”
This, Bhardwaj explained, led to auto manufacturers re-think their strategy and go back to largely manufacturing petrol and diesel cars. “In India however, there was a major challenge. With no subsidies and high investments made by car and component manufacturers to setup their EV ecosystem, it became challenging for them to keep up with low sales month-on-month. Hence, earlier this month, the push for making E20 fuel compulsory across the country. Not as an option, but as a mandate for all fuel pump owners to follow.”
Elaborating on who benefits from this, Bhardwaj further said, “This push or an unnecessary compulsion has been done for the boost that component manufacturers will get, since original equipment manufacturers will now launch kits that will cost a bomb to convert old cars to E20 compliant ones. Union MoRTH minister Nitin Gadkari gets a huge chunk of margins since most of the refineries and corn farming is done under his family’s name. So, it’s a win-win situation of the government and ACMA which will be squeezing a huge chunk of money out of people’s pockets.”
Alt News reached out to Hextech Media regarding this matter. This article will be updated once we get a response.
Motorcycle Trails
Another influencer named Motorcycle Trails also shared a similar experience on Instagram. He was also approached by a social media influencer agency to create content on E20 ethanol-blended petrol and was asked about his professional charge for creating content related to that campaign.
In an Instagram post, Motorcycle Trails says that he has explained in a video on YouTube why ethanol blended petrol is harmful for old vehicles. He refused the offer saying that he would not be a part of any such collaboration with any agency that would try to change or influence his views on this issue.
We have reached out to Motorcycle Trails for more information. This article will be updated if we get a response from him.
Content Matches Govt Press Release Language
It is interesting to note that there is a lot of similarity between the official government communication on ethanol-blended petrol and the brand collab messages received from influencer agencies.
For instance, a message sent to The Race Monkey via WhatsApp from the agency briefly shared the idea of the brand collab. The message uses the phrase “RESPONSE TO CONCERNS ON 20% BLENDING OF ETHANOL IN PETROL AND BEYOND” . This phrase was also the title of the press release issued by the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas on August 12 in which they responded to the concerns of the people on blending 20 percent ethanol in petrol. The same phrase was present with minor changes in the message received by Motorcycle Trails from the agency. This indicates that the government is systematically using influencer marketing to communicate its agenda to the public and set the desired narrative.
Questions Remain
The use of influencers to communicate messages to the public and effectively set a narrative also marks a shift from traditional advertising and public relations strategies. Some key questions that remain to be answered are as follows:
What is the likely budget of the campaign?
Although the total budget of this entire campaign has not been made public yet, The Race Monkey, which has has 1.5 lakh followers, was offered Rs 15 lakh for a post by the social media influencer agency. From this, one can have an idea on the total budget for the campaign, given many influencers with crores of followers have made videos on this.
Is ethanol-blended petrol a new development?
In 2014, only 1.5% ethanol was added to petrol but it reached 20% by 2025. On 24 July 2025, Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri claimed that ethanol production had increased from 38 crore liters in 2014 to 661.1 crore liters by June 2025. This has helped India save about Rs 1.36 lakh crore in foreign currency by reducing its dependence on imported crude oil.
In 2018, Nitin Gadkari had claimed that ethanol blending could reduce the price of petrol to Rs 55 per liter and diesel to Rs 50 per liter. He argued that ethanol made from sugarcane and corn was cheaper than petrol and this would benefit consumers. As on the date of this article being published, a retail consumer in Kolkata has to shell out Rs 105.41 per litre for petrol, Rs 92.02 for diesel.
Samoa’s electoral commissioner Toleafoa Tuiafelolo Alexander Stanley told the media the official count kicks off on Monday then next Friday is when official results are expected.
The election, described as the most unpredictable in Samoa’s history, had no clear favourite going in given the governing party had split into two factions, leading to the collapse of caretaker Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s minority government.
Unofficial results showed Fiame’s former FAST Party in the lead and HRPP not far behind as of last night.
Preliminary election results are still trickling in for Samoa’s snap election.
Fiame’s newly established SUP Party was trailing behind both.
Electoral Commissioner’s update Results will only be made official when the Head of State issues the writ.
Prepolling and special votes will be counted today.
Voter turnout was not able to be determined as of last night.
There were more than 100,000 eligible voters expected to take part in election 2025.
Toleafoa said counting was done manually.
Preliminary election results are still trickling in for Samoa’s 2025 snap election. Image: RNZ/Mark Papalii
A mini server has been used to resolve issues that cropped up in the last election.
“O Le fa’aogaga o Le channel, ma Le mea lea e Ta’u o Le Mac box it’s really a mini server o Le solution lea ga fai lea e sao ai faafikauli lea ga Kupu I Le paloka 2021 e le’i iai se Mac box, faamoemoe ā I numbers foi ga le, ga faamoemoe I le kalagoa ai,” Toleafoa told the media late last night.
His words have been translated: “The use of the channel and this thing called Mac box it’s really mini server for the solution from what happened in 2021 there was no Mac box we relied on numbers manually to communicate”.
“No one can vote twice. For example, if someone voted in one constituency and then went to another the service would pick it up and flag it.
“That is why it will take a week [next week] to fully count,” Toleafoa said.
Voting is compulsory in Samoa and the Electoral Commission has said people in line at close of polling were allowed to vote.
However, they had warned anyone registered to vote who did not cast their ballot would face penalties.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
RNZ Pacific reporter Grace Fiavaai at election headquarters in Samoa. Image: RNZ/Mark Papalii
Chances are, anyone whose family is dying of starvation would not be looking for New Zealand to have a prolonged debate over how they deserve to be defined.
Yet a delay in making even the symbolic gestures seems to be all that we have to offer, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians continue to be systematically starved to death by Israel.
Could be wrong, but I doubt whether anyone in Gaza is waiting anxiously for news that New Zealand government has finally, finally come to the conclusion that Palestine deserves to be recognised as state.
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So far, 147 out of 193 UN member states reached that conclusion ahead of us. Some of the last holdouts — Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Australia — have already said they will do so next month.
So far, none of that diplomatic shuffling of the deck has stopped the Gaza genocide. Only significant economic and diplomatic sanctions and an extensive arms embargo (one that includes military-related software) can force Israel to cease and desist.
You don’t need to recognise statehood before taking those kind of steps. Last week, Germany — which does not recognise the state of Palestine — imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel that forbids sales of any weaponry that might be used to kill Palestinians in Gaza. Not much, but a start — given that (after the US) Germany has been the main foreign arms supplier to the IDF.
Meanwhile, the Luxon government has yet to make up its mind on Palestinian statehood. Our government repeatedly insists that this recognition is “complex.” Really? By saying so, we are embarrassing ourselves on the world stage.
Trying to appease Americans
While we still furrow our brows about Palestinian statehood, 76 percent of the UN’s member nations have already figured it out. Surely, our hesitation can’t be because we are as mentally challenged as we are claiming to be.
The more likely explanation is that we are trying to appease the Americans, in the hope of winning a trade concession. Our government must be gambling that an angry Donald Trump will punish Australia for its decision on Palestine, by lifting its tariff rate, thereby erasing the 5 percent advantage over us that Australian exporters currently enjoy.
By keeping our heads down on Palestine, we seem to be hoping we will win brownie points with Trump, at the expense of our ANZAC mates.
This isn’t mere conspiracy talk. Already, the Trump administration is putting pressure on France over its imminent decision to recognise Palestine statehood. A few days ago, Le Monde reported that the US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner — yes, Ivana Trump’s father-in-law — blundered into France’s domestic politics by writing a letter of complaint to French president Emmanuel Marcon.
In it, Kushner claimed that France wasn’t doing enough to combat anti-Semitism:
“Public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France,” [Kushner] wrote.
“In today’s world, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism – plain and simple.”
Breaking every civilised rule
Simple-minded is more like it. People who oppose the criminal atrocities being committed in Gaza (and on the West Bank) by the Zionist government of Israel are not doing so on the basis of racial prejudice. They’re doing so because Israel is breaking every rule of a civilised society.
Any number of UN conventions and international laws forbid the targeting of civilian populations, homes, schools, ambulances and hospitals . . . not to mention the deliberate killing of hundreds of medical staff, journalists, aid workers etc.
Not to mention imposing a famine on a captive population. Day after day, the genocide continues.
For Kushner to claim the global revulsion at Israel’s actions in Gaza is motivated by racism is revealing. To Israel’s apologists within Israel, and in the US (and New Zealand) only Israeli lives really matter.
Footnote: New Zealand continues to bang on about our support for the “two state” solution. Exactly where is the land on which Christopher Luxon thinks a viable Palestinian state can be built, and what makes him think Israel would ever allow it to happen?
Thirty years ago, Israeli settlement expansion fatally undermined the Oslo framework for a Palestinian state situated alongside Israel.
Since then, the fabled “two state solution” has become the tooth fairy of international politics. It gives politicians something to say when they have nothing to say.
“Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu has ‘lost the plot’ and has condemned attacks on Gaza.
“It is among the strongest language the New Zealand leader has used against Netanyahu and comes amid reports of intense aerial attacks on Gaza after Israel’s decision to launch a fresh military operation.”
These are the opening two paragraphs of The New Zealand Herald coverage by political reporter Jamie Ensor of Prime Minister Luxon’s public declaration that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had lost the plot.
His comment was in the context of the Israeli government’ genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and their increasing persecution on the Israeli occupied West Bank (August 13): Netanyahu lost the plot says Luxon.
Spectrum of NZ government’s response to genocide The New Zealand government’s response to this ethnic cleansing by genocide strategy in Gaza has ranged on a spectrum between pathetically weak to callous disregard.
Previously I’ve described this spectrum as between limp and deplorable; both have their own validity.
Consequently, the many New Zealanders who were appalled by this response might have been somewhat relieved by Luxon’s frankness.
Perhaps a long overdue change of direction towards humanitarianism? In the interests of confusion avoidance this is a rhetorical question.
However, there is a big problem with Luxon’s conclusion. Quite simply, he is wrong; there is a plot and it is based on a perverse biblical origin.
Why NZ Prime Minister Luxon got it wrong. Video: RNZ
Just over three weeks from the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack across the border in the Israeli occupied former Palestinian land, Netanyahu made the following broadcast, including on You Tube (October 30): Netanyahu’s biblical justification.
The ‘”war criminal” is explicit that there is a plot behind the ethnic cleansing through genocide strategy in Gaza. It is a dogmatically blood thirsty and historically inaccurate biblical centred plot.
In his own words:
“You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible — and we do remember. And we are fighting — our brave troops and combatants who are now in Gaza, or around Gaza, and in all other regions in Israel, are joining this chain of Jewish heroes — a chain that started 3000 years ago, from Joshua until the heroes of the Six-Day War in 1948 [sic], the 1973 October War, and all other wars in this country.
“Our heroic troops — they have only one supreme goal: to completely defeat the murderous enemy and to guarantee our existence in this country.”
Netanyahu was referring to the Book of 1 Samuel (Chapter 15, Verse 3) which states:
“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
Samuel was a prophet through who the Jewish God Yahweh commanded one Saul to conduct a total war of annihilation against the Amalekites.
The Amalekites were a biblical nation who, so biblical history goes, had attacked the Israelites during their “Exodus” from Egypt.
From apartheid to ethnic cleansing to recognition of Palestine Previously I have published four posts on the Gaza genocide. The first (March 15) discussed it in the context of the apartheid in the South Africa of the past and apartheid as continuing defining feature in Israel since its creation in 1948: When apartheid met Zionism.
From Netanyahu to Zelda In the context of the truer number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza, my fourth previous post (July 2) was more directly closer to the theme of this post: How to biblically justify 400,000 Palestinian deaths.
I quoted a genocide supporter going by the name of “Zelda” justifying Israel’s war in similar vein to Bejamin Netanyahu:
“Gaza belongs to Israel! This is not just a political claim; it is a sacred, unbreakable decree from Almighty God Himself. If any government from around the world recognises Palestine, the United States needs to declare it part of the Axis of Evil
“The land was promised by divine covenant to the people of Israel, chosen by God to be His light in the darkness. No enemy, no terrorist, no foreign power can wrest it away. Those who reject this truth stand against God’s will and will face His judgment.
“If Palestinians want aid and peace, they must recognise Israel’s God-given right and leave Gaza forever. Only under God’s blessing can this land flourish, and all who defy His plan will be cast down.”
From Zelda to Alfred On July 4, I received the following email from a reader called Alfred. In his words (be warned, at the very least this is a mind-boggling read):
“Accidentally I came across your blog on ‘How To Justify 400,000 Palestinian Deaths In Gaza: Ask ‘Zelda’ (Thursday, 3 July 2025). It was an interesting read.
With all due respect, I would like to place before you my ‘two cents’
Consider this history Mr Ian:
1) Before the modern state of Israel there was the British mandate, Not a Palestinian state.
2) Before the British mandate there was the Ottoman empire, Not a Palestinian state.
3) Before the Ottoman empire there was the Islamic mamluk sultanate of Egypt, Not a Palestinian state.
4)Before the Islamic mamluk sultanate of Egypt there was the Ayyubid dynasty, Not a Palestinian state. Godfrey of Bouillon conquered it in 1099.
5) Before the Ayyubid dynasty there was the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, Not a Palestinian state.
6) Before the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem there was the Fatimid caliphate, Not a Palestinian state.
7) Before the Fatimid caliphate there was the byzantine empire, Not a Palestinian state. 8. Before the Byzantine empire there was the Roman empire, Not a Palestinian state.
9) Before the Roman empire there was the Hasmonaean dynasty, Not a Palestinian state. 10) Before the Hasmonean dynasty there was the Seleucid empire, Not a Palestinian state.
11) Before the Seleucid empire there was the empire of Alexander the 3rd of Macedon, Not a Palestinian state.
12) Before the empire of Alexander, the 3rd of Macedon there was the Persian empire, Not a Palestinian state.
13) Before the Persian empire there was the Babylonian empire, Not a Palestinian state.
14) Before the Babylonian empire there was the kingdoms of Israel and Judea, Not a Palestinian state.
15) Before the kingdoms of Israel and Judea there was the kingdom of Israel, Not a Palestinian state.
16) Before the kingdom of Israel there was the theocracy of the 12 tribes of Israel, Not a Palestinian state.
17) Before the theocracy of the 12 tribes of Israel there was the individual state of Canaan, Not a Palestinian state.
In fact, in that corner of the earth there was everything but a Palestinian state!
Interesting history isn’t it?
Yes, I agree with Zelda’s statement that …
‘The land was promised by divine covenant to the people of Israel, chosen by God to be His light in the darkness.’
Mr Ian, if you go back to the Bible to read the Old Testament history, we see that God declares time and again that they (Israelites) are His chosen people, and He will bring them back to land of Israel. (Which has started to happen, as you observe world events). He also condemns His own chosen that if they turn away from Him, he will turn away His face. And that was what He did to the 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. They were wiped out. And the sort of genocide that we see today in Gaza, was prevalent in that time, when Gentile nations were even wiped out if they stood between the Israelites and the ‘promised land’ (Israel). Even the lives of His own chosen people were not valuable to Him, and was at stake (holocaust recently) when they turned away from Him, as those many of their enemies (or opponents)!
8000-year-old history is repeating itself now in Gaza, I believe.
Alfred
Mapping the success of Zionist ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
The views of both Zelda and Alfred are not off the planet in terms of supporting Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through genocide.
They are thoroughly consistent with Netanyahu’s well-thought out plot. Both are part of his “echo chamber”.
Who has really lost the plot?
The genocide towards Palestinians will not end in Gaza. All the evidence is that Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are next.
Gaza the precursor to West Bank Palestinians.
There the ethnic cleansing is continuing in the form of persecution and repression, including imprisonment (hostage-taking by another name).
But it is escalating and, unless there is a change in direction, it is only a matter of time before persecution and repression morph into genocide.
Benjamin Netanyahu has not lost the plot. However, Christopher Luxon has. His criticism of Netanyahu is a flimsy attempt to avoid doing what a humanitarian government with a “plot” should do. This includes:
Recognising the Palestinian Territories as an official independent state;
Sanctioning Israeli Defence Force (IDF) visitors;
Close the Israel Embassy;
Impose trade and bilateral sanctions; and
Suspend Israel from the United Nations.
Ian Powell is a progressive health, labour market and political “no-frills” forensic commentator in New Zealand. A former senior doctors union leader for more than 30 years, he blogs at Second Opinion and Political Bytes, where this article was first published. Republished with the author’s permission.
A West Papuan independence advocate has accused Indonesia of “continuing to murder children” while escalating its military operations across the Melanesian region.
United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda says West Papua faces two connected crimes — ecocide and genocide.
Two schoolchildren were killed by the occupying military in the build up to Indonesian Independence Day this month on August 17, Wenda said in a statement yesterday.
He said security forces had killed a 14-year-old girl in Puncak Jaya, while 13-year-old Martinus Tebai was slain in Dogiyai a week earlier on August 10 after soldiers opened fire on a group of youngsters.
“These killings are the inevitable result of the intensified militarisation that has taken place in West Papua since the election of the war criminal Prabowo [Subianto, as President, last year], Wenda said.
Thousands of additional troops have been deployed to “terrorise West Papua”, while the new administration had also created an independent military command for all five newly created West Papuan provinces, “reinforcing the military infrastucture across our land”, he said.
Violence linked to forest destruction
Increased violence and displacement in the cities and villages was inseparable from increased destruction in the forest, Wenda said.
Soldiers were being sent to Merauke, Dogiyai, and Intan Jaya in order to protect Indonesia’s investment in these regions, he said.
“We are crying out to the world, over and over again, screaming that Indonesia is ripping apart our ancestral forest, endangering the entire planet in the process,” Wenda said.
The Merauke sugarcane and rice plantation was the “most destructive deforestation project in history — it will more than double Indonesia’s CO2 emissions”.
A mother farewells her son in West Papua, alleged to have been slain by Indonesian troops. Image: ULMWP
Wenda asked what it would take for the global environmental movement to take a stand?
Indonesia has shown just how fragile its grip on West Papua really is,” he said.
Forced flag raising
“After the ULMWP declared that no West Papuan should celebrate Indonesian Independence Day, soldiers went across the country forcing civilians to raise the Indonesian flag.
“Indonesia is desperate. Even as they increase their violence, they know their occupation will eventually end.
“We remember what happened in East Timor, where the worst violence took place in the dying days of the occupation.
“West Papuans have always spoken with one voice in demanding independence. We never accepted Indonesia, we never raised the Red and White flag – we had our own flag, our own anthem, our own Independence Day.”
West Papua
Unrest in Sorong has continued for a third consecutive day. At least 19 people have been arrested, and one person was shot.
Similar unrest erupted today in Manokwari, as anger spreads over the transfer of four political prisoners out of West Papua. pic.twitter.com/zFkUU9Ateo
Voting commenced in Samoa’s general election today, with more than 100,000 eligible voters heading to the polls to decide the country’s next government.
A total of 187 candidates will contest 50 seats in Parliament, representing six political parties and 46 independents. The governing FAST Party leads the field with 58 candidates, followed closely by the HRPP with 50.
Caretaker Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s Samoa United Party has 26 candidates, while the Samoa Labour Party has five.
Some Samoan voters expressed happiness at being able to exercise their right to vote, while others said they prayed for God to bless the election. Image: RNZ/Mark Papalii
The Electoral Office says over 400 polling stations have been set up, and some 1300 polling officials and around 500 police officers are on duty to maintain order.
On the eve of voting, the villages were calm, with councils gathering for evening prayers to pray for election day.
The RNZ Pacific team on the ground spoke to voters who cast their votes this morning.
Some expressed happiness at being able to exercise their right to vote, while others were quite patriotic and said they prayed for God to bless the election.
One voter said they just wanted the election to be over.
Polling closes at 3pm local time (2pm NZT).
Polling closes in Samoa at 3pm local time today. Image: RNZ/Mark Papalii
Meanwhile, the first seat has been declared after early voting ended on Wednesday.
The Office of the Electoral Commission announced Leatinuu Wayne So’oialo as the holder of the Faleata 2 seat.
This is following an earlier Supreme Court decision to disqualify the other nominated candidates due to ineligibility, meaning the electoral constituancy of Faleata 2 is being marked as uncontested.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has ended an extended seven-day visit to New Caledonia with mixed feelings.
On one hand, he said he was confident his “Bougival deal” for New Caledonia’s future is now “more advanced” after three sittings of a “drafting committee” made up of local politicians.
On the other hand, despite his efforts and a three-hour meeting on Tuesday before he returned to Paris, he could not convince the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) — the main component of the pro-independence camp — to join the “Bougival” process.
The FLNKS recently warned against any attempt to “force” an agreement they were not part of, raising concerns about possible unrest similar to the riots that broke out in May 2024, causing 14 deaths and more than 2 billion euros (about NZ$3.8 billion) in material damage.
The unrest has crystallised around a constitutional reform bill that sought to change the rules of eligibility for voters at local provincial elections. The bill prompted fears among the Kanak community that it was seeking to “dissolve” indigenous votes.
But despite the FLNKS snub, all the other pro-independence and pro-France parties took part in the committee sessions, which are now believed to have produced a Constitutional Reform Bill.
That bill is due to be tabled in both France’s parliament chambers (the National Assembly and the Senate) and later before a special meeting of both houses (a “Congress” — a joint meeting of both Houses of Parliament).
Valls still upbeat
Speaking to local reporters just before leaving the French Pacific territory on Tuesday, Valls remained upbeat and adamant that despite the FLNKS snub, the Bougival process is now “better seated”.
“When I arrived in New Caledonia one week ago, many were wondering what would become of the Bougival accord we signed. Some said it was still-born. Today I’m going back with the feeling that the accord is comforted and that we have made considerable advances,” he said.
“Gone” . . . the vanishing French and New Caledonian flags symbolising partnership on the New Caledonian driving licence. Image: NC 1ère TV
He pointed out that non-political players, such as the Great Traditional Indigenous Chiefs Customary Senate and the Economic and Social Council, also joined some of the “drafting” sessions to convey their respective input.
Valls hailed a “spirit of responsibility” and a “will to implement” the Bougival document, despite a more than three-hour meeting with a new delegation from FLNKS just hours before his departure on Tuesday.
The FLNKS still opposes the Bougival text their negotiators had initially signed, that was later denounced following pressure from their militant base, invoking a profound “incompatibility” of the text with the movement’s “full sovereignty” and “decolonisation” goals.
Also demands for this process to be completed before the next French Presidential elections, currently scheduled for April-May 2027.
The Bougival deal signed on July 12 near Paris was initially agreed to by all of New Caledonia’s political parties represented at the local parliament, the Congress. However, it was later denounced and rejected “in block” by the FLNKS.
Door ‘remains open’
Valls consistently stressed that his door “remains open” to the FLNKS throughout his week-long stay in New Caledonia. This was his fourth trip to the territory since he was appointed to the post by French Prime Minister François Bayrou in December 2024.
Manuel Valls (right, standing) and his team met a FLNKS delegation on 26 August 2025. Image: RNZ Pacific
He pointed out that non-political players, such as the (Great Traditional Indigenous Chiefs) Customary Senate and the Economic and Social Council, also had joined some of the “drafting” sessions to convey their input.
In a statement after meeting with Valls, the FLNKS reiterated its categorical rejection” of the Bougival process while at the same time saying it was “ready to build an agreement on independence with all [political] partners”.
“I will continue working with them and I also invite FLNKS to discuss with the other political parties. I don’t want to strike a deal without the FLNKS, or against the FLNKS,” he told local public broadcaster NC 1ère on Tuesday.
He said the Bougival document was still in a “decolonisation process”.
‘Fresh talks’ in Paris Valls repeated his open-door policy and told local media that he did not rule out meeting FLNKS president Christian Téin in Paris for “fresh talks” in the “next few days”.
Téin was released from jail mid-June 2025, but he remains barred from returning to New Caledonia as part of judicial controls imposed on him, pending his trial on criminal-related charges over the May 2024 riots.
At the time, Téin was the leader of a CCAT (field action coordinating cell) to mount a protest campaign against a Constitutional reform bill that was eventually scrapped.
The CCAT was set up late 2023 by one of the main components of the FLNKS, Union Calédonienne.
While he was serving a pre-trial jail term, in August 2024, Téin was elected president in absentia of the FLNKS.
As for FLNKS’s demand that they and no other party should be the sole representatives of the pro-independence movement, Valls said this was “impossible”.
“New Caledonia’s society is not only [made up of] FLNKS. There still exists a space for discussion, the opportunity has to be seized because New Caledonia’s society is waiting for an agreement”.
However, some political parties (including moderates such as Eveil Océanien (Pacific Islanders’ Awakening) and pro-France Calédonie Ensemble have expressed concern on the value of the Bougival process if it was to be pushed through despite the FLNKS non-participation.
Other pro-independent parties, the PALIKA (Kanak Liberation Party) and the UPM (Union Progressiste en Mélanésie), have distanced themselves from the FLNKS coalition they used to belong to.
They remain committed to their signature and are now working along the Bougival lines.
‘There won’t be another May 13’ Valls said the the situation is different now because an agreement exists, adding that the Bougival deal “is a comprehensive accord, not just on the electoral rules”.
On possible fresh unrest, the former prime minister said “this time, [the French State will not be taken by surprise. There won’t be another 13 May”.
He stressed during his visit that some 20 units (over 2000) of law enforcement personnel (gendarmerie, police) remain posted in New Caledonia.
“And there will be more if necessary”, Valls assured.
When the May 2024 riots broke out, the law enforcement numbers were significantly lower and it took several days before reinforcements from Paris eventually arrived in New Caledonia to restore law and order.
Very tight schedule The Constitutional Reform Bill would cover a large spectrum of issues, including the creation, for the first time in France, of a “State of New Caledonia”, as well as a dual France/New Caledonia citizenship, all within the French Constitutional framework.
Two other documents — an organic law and a fundamental law (a de facto constitution) — are also being prepared for New Caledonia.
The organic law could come into force some time mid-October, if approved, and it would effectively postpone New Caledonia’s crucial provincial election to June 2026.
The plan was to have the freshly-produced text scrutinised by the French State Council, then approved by the French Cabinet on September 17.
Before the end of 2025, it would then be tabled before the French National Assembly, then the Senate, then the French special Congress sitting.
And before 28 February 2026, the same text would finally be put to the vote by way of a referendum for the people of New Caledonia.
French government to fall again? Meanwhile, Valls is now facing another unfavourable political context: the announcement, on Monday, by his Prime Minister François Bayrou, to challenge France’s National Assembly MPs in a risky motion of confidence.
This, he said, was in direct relation to his Appropriation Bill (budget), which contains planned sweeping cuts of about 44 billion euros (NZ$87.4 billion) to tackle the “danger” of France further plunging into “over-indebtment”.
If the motion, tabled to be voted on September 8, reveals more defiance than confidence, then Bayrou and his cabinet (including Valls) fall.
In the face of urgent initial plans to have New Caledonia’s texts urgently tabled before French Parliament, Bayrou’s confidence vote is highly likely to further complicate New Caledonia’s political negotiations.
Pro-France leader and former French cabinet member Sonia Backès, who is also the leader of local pro-France Les Loyalistes party, however told local media she remained confident and that even if the Bayrou government fell on September 8, “there would still be a continuity”.
“But if this was to be followed by a dissolution of Parliament and snap elections, then, very clearly, this would impact on the whole New Caledonian process”, she said.
“The Bougival agreement will be implemented,” Valls said.
“And those who think that the fall of the French government would entail delays on its implementation schedule are mistaken, notwithstanding my personal situation which is not very important.
“I will keep a watch on New Caledonia’s interests.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
About 120 journalists, film makers, actors, media workers and academics have today called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and two senior cabinet ministers in an open letter to “act decisively” to protect Gaza journalists and a free press.
“These are principles to which New Zealand has always laid claim and which are now under grave threat in Gaza and the West Bank,” the signatories said in the letter about Israel’s war on Gaza.
The plea was addressed to Luxon, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith.
Among the signatories are many well known media personalities such as filmmaker Gemma Gracewood, actor Lucy Lawless, film director Kim Webby, broadcaster Alison Mau, and comedian and documentarian Te Radar, and journalist Mereana Hond.
The letter also calls on the government to urgently condemn the killing of 13 Palestinian journalists and media workers this month as the death toll in the 22-month war has reached almost 63,000 — more than 18,000 of them children.
Global protests against the war and the forced starvation in the besieged enclave have been growing steadily over the past few weeks with more than 500,000 people taking part in Israel last week.
Commitment to safety
The letter urged Luxon and the government to:
1. Publicly reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to the safety of journalists worldwide and make clear this protection applies in every conflict zone, including Gaza.
2. Reiterate the Media Freedom Coalition call for access for international press, ensuring safety, aid and crucial reporting are guaranteed; paired with New Zealand’s existing call for a ceasefire and safe humanitarian access corridors.
3. Back international action already underway, by publicly affirming support for ICC investigations into attacks on journalists anywhere in the world, and by advocating that the United Nations adopt an international convention for the safety of journalists and media workers so that states parties meet their obligations under international law.
4. Formally confirm that New Zealand’s free press and human rights principles apply to Palestinian journalists and media workers, as they do to all others.
The letter said these measures were “consistent with New Zealand’s values, our history of independent foreign policy, and the rules-based international order we have always claimed to champion, and for which our very future as a country is reliant upon”.
It added: “They do not require us to choose sides and they uphold the principle that a free press and those who embody it must never be targeted for doing their jobs.”
Condemn the killings
The recent deaths brought the number of Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to at least 219 at the time of writing, said the letter.
“Many more are injured and missing. Many of those killed were clearly identified as members of the press. Some were killed alongside their families,” it said.
The letter called on the government to urgently condemn the killings of:
● Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, along with freelance journalist Mohammad Al-Khalidi and freelance cameraman Momen Aliwa, who were targeted and killed in, or as a result of, an August 10 airstrike on their tent in Gaza City.
● Correspondents Hussam al-Masri, Hatem Khaled, Mariam Abu Daqqa, Mohammad Salama, Ahmed Abu Azi and Moaz Abu Taha, all killed in a strike on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis on August 25.
● Journalist and academic Hassan Douhan, killed in Khan Younis on August 25.
“From Malcolm Ross to Margaret Moth, Peter Arnett to Mike McRoberts, New Zealand has a proud history of war correspondents. The same international laws that have protected them are meant to protect all journalists, wherever they work,” said the letter.
“Today, those protections are being violated with impunity.
“Our media colleagues are being murdered, and we have a duty to speak up.”
As journalists, editors, producers, writers, documentary-makers, media workers and storytellers, said the letter, “we believe in the essential role of a free press.
“These killings are in violation of international rules-based order, including humanitarian law, and are intended to erase witnesses to the truth itself. These media professionals are doing their jobs under extremely challenging conditions, and are civilians worthy of protection under human rights laws.
“This is not only a matter of professional solidarity, this is a matter of principle. Journalists are civilians. They are witnesses to history. They deserve the same protection anywhere in the world.”
“We urge you to lead, knowing you have the voices of Aotearoa’s storytellers and history-keepers standing with you.”
The recent internal report on RNZ’s performance, variously described as “scathing” and “blunt” in news coverage, caused considerable debate about the state broadcaster’s performance and priorities — not all of it fair or well informed.
The report makes several operational recommendations, including addressing RNZ National’s declining audience share by targeting the 50+ age demographic and moving key programme productions from Wellington to Auckland.
But RNZ’s diminishing linear radio audience has to be understood in the context of its overall expansion of audience reach online, and audience trends across the radio sector in general.
Total audience engagement with RNZ content on third-party platforms (including social media, YouTube and content-sharing partners who are permitted to republish RNZ material) now exceeds the reach of its radio audience.
There has also been a steady but significant decline in the daily reach of linear radio overall. NZ On Air audience research shows that in 2014, 67 percent of New Zealanders listened to linear broadcast radio every day. A decade later, this had dropped to 42 percent.
RNZ National’s share of the total 15+ audience peaked at 12 percent in 2021, following the initial pandemic period. By 2024, this had declined to 7 percent, having been overtaken by Newstalk ZB on 8 percent (also down from 9 percent in 2021).
But using comparative audience reach and ratings data to gauge the performance of a public service media operator does not capture the quality or diversity of audience engagement, or the extent to which its charter obligations are being met.
Nor do audience data reflect the positive structural role RNZ plays in supporting other media through its content-sharing model, the Local Democracy Reporting scheme or its RNZ Pacific service.
Clashing priorities Data provided by RNZ show the decline in RNZ National’s audience to be primarily in the 60+ age groups. How much that reflects recent efforts to appeal to a more diverse demographic through changed programming formats is unclear.
The RNZ report also suggests staff are uncertain about what audiences their programmes are aiming at. If so, this could explain the departure of some older listeners.
But that doesn’t necessarily support the report’s conclusion that RNZ National should stick to its radio knitting and double down on the 50+ audience, especially in Auckland, to compete with Newstalk ZB.
In fact, prioritising the 50+ audience at the expense of a broader appeal might reinforce RNZ’s brand image as a legacy service for older listeners — a prospect its commercial rivals would doubtless welcome.
Between 2007 and 2017, RNZ was subject to a funding freeze and was pressured by successive National-led governments to justify any claim for future increases with evidence of improved performance. Its Queenstown, Tauranga and Palmerston North offices all closed during this period of austerity.
In the 2017 budget, RNZ eventually received an extra NZ$11.4 million over four years. Its statement of intent that year acknowledged funding increases were premised on achieving a wider audience and that budgets needed to make “operational expenditure available for new online initiatives and updated technology”.
Given that expanding the online arm of RNZ would affect investment in its radio service, it would be surprising if operational priorities didn’t sometimes clash. While commercial broadcasters prioritise their most lucrative demographics, public service operators have the perennial challenge of providing something for everyone.
The risk of pleasing no one The online reach of RNZ’s website and app is now comparable to the reach of its linear broadcasts. Critics might frame that as under-performance on the radio side, but it also shows audience reach has grown beyond the older-skewing linear radio demographic.
According to RNZ’s 2024 audience research, 80 percent of New Zealanders engage with its content every month. Meanwhile, amid growing concern about declining trust in news, RNZ ranked top in the 2025 JMAD survey on trust in media.
None of this supports the narrative of a failing legacy operator that has lost its way.
Some of the issues raised in the RNZ report may simply reflect the reality of modern media management: maintaining the character, quality and demographic appeal of existing radio services while trying to reach broader demographics on new platforms.
RNZ’s charter obliges it to serve a diverse range of audiences, something the data show it achieves with a broad cross-section across all platforms.
If it were to now prioritise the 50+ or even 60+ radio audience at the expense of expanding online services and audience diversification, there would likely be more criticism and calls for further defunding from the broadcaster’s political and commercial enemies.
Rather like the moral of Aesop’s fable about the man, the boy and the donkey, if RNZ is expected to please everyone, it runs the risk of pleasing no one.
The President of Bougainville, Ishmael Toroama, says he is not feeling the pressure as he seeks a second five-year term in office.
Bougainville goes to the polls next Thursday, September 4, with 404 candidates vying for 46 seats in the Parliament of the autonomous Papua New Guinea region.
Toroama is being challenged by six others — all men.
He spoke with RNZ Pacific as he continues campaigning in Central Bougainville.
Ishamel Toroama in his younger days. Image: FB/Ishmael Toroama/RNZ Pacific
Don Wiseman: Last time you and I spoke before an election, you had just been ushering a rock band around Bougainville. It’s a very different situation for you this time round.
Ishmael Toroama: Yes, indeed, it’s a totally different situation. But you know, principle never changes. Principles of everything, in terms of whatever we do, remain the same. But it changes as environment changes.
DW: What are your key planks going into this election? What are the most important things that you’re telling people?
‘Political independence’
IT: It’s what my government has done in the last five years.
I am telling them, firstly, of the political independence. Political independence has been agreed by the national constitution of Papua New Guinea, amendment on part 14, which gives the people of Bougainville the right to vote for independence referendum.
As our leaders at that time, while they were negotiating with late Kabui [first Bougainville President Joseph Kabui], they told the Papua New Guinea government that if you cannot change your constitution, then we will no longer sign a peace agreement that creates that opportunity for Papua New Guinea and Bougainville.
So what I’m telling them is it has been guaranteed by the national constitution, which created the amendment of part 14, the Organic Law on Peace Building, Bougainville Peace Agreement and the Constitution of the Autonomous Bougainville Government.
In all consultation, national constitution guarantees us to even the consultation, even through the definition of independence, which most Bougainvilleans have voted for, which has been defined by the national government, saying that it is a separate state apart from the state of Papua New Guinea.
And the United Nations must also verify that, and that is the definition which national government has given to the people of Bougainville before the actual voting happened. If you closely look at all consultation, the Bougainville Peace Agreement says after the referendum vote made by the people, the two governments will consult over the result.
What I’m telling my people is that as your fifth president in the fourth House of Representatives, we have made a consultation at Kokopo, Wabag, and in Moresby we signed the Era Kone Covenant. And latest is the Melanesian Relationship Agreement [signed at Burnham, New Zealand, in June this year].
Constitutional guarantee
Having said in order that constitutional guarantee as a guarantor guarantees the people’s right to vote for independence, that is what I’m telling them.
DW: Yes but you’re not carrying Port Moresby with you on this. Are you? You guys are not very much closer to resolution of this problem than you were five years ago.
IT: Well, that is in line with the consultation process. Whatever they say to me, I see that. It has been amended of the national constitution, then it gives us the opportunity whether the national government likes it or not.
It is a national constitution guarantee or the framework of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, and that is how I’m saying to them, whether we come into consultation, we have different views.
At least it is the constitutional guaranteed process censored by the National Constitution.
A young Ishmael Toroama as a commander in the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). Image: FB/Ishmael Toroama/RNZ Pacific
DW: There are people, including some running against you in this election, who are saying that your approach through these negotiations has been too strident, that you go into these meetings making bold statements beforehand and there’s no room to move, that you’re not giving room for negotiation.
Defining result
IT: If you look at all the consultation that we have consulted. You will look at the consultation which I am saying we are consulting over the result. The Bougainville Peace Agreement says that the consultation should be over the result.
And what is the result? It is the 97.7 percent and who has defined the 97.7 percent — it is the national government of Papua New Guinea.
I understand where they’re coming from, because if you want to retain a political power, you can make all sorts of arguments trying to say that President Toroama has not left room, [made] political spaces available.
But if you closely look at what the Bougainville Peace Agreement says, we are consulting over the result, whether these presidents or candidates are saying that I haven’t made a room.
You just look at every space that we have gone into. And a consultation, as per the Bougainville Peace Agreement, is over the result.
What is the result? It is the independence which people voted — 97.7 percent. We cannot deny the people’s power moving into the referendum saying that we want to govern ourselves. So yes, people’s power.
DW: Except you’re overlooking that that referendum is a non-binding referendum?
Where is it non-binding? IT: Can you specifically say to me, can you give me a clause within the Bougainville Peace Agreement that it says it is a non-binding.
I’m asking you, you will not find any non-binding clause within the framework of the Peace Agreement. It has been cultivated in there by people that want to drive us away from the exact opposition of the people.
There is no clause within the political peace agreement that says non-binding. There is no clause.
DW: We’re here now, just a week out from the election. How will you go?
IT: I’m the kind of man that has process. They voted me for the last five years. And if the people wish to put me [back], the decision, the power to put people, it is democracy. They will vote for me.
If not, they can choose another president. I don’t get too much pressure, but because it has been described within the constitution of the autonomous government that a president can serve two terms, so that’s why I am running.
But I’m not in a pressure mood. I am all right.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Pre-polling has kicked off in Samoa today, with around 1700 people expected to cast their votes ahead of Friday’s polling day.
At the Tuana’imato Sports Complex in the capital, Apia, the atmosphere was upbeat as special voters began arriving.
Special voters include those from Savai’i, the largest island in Samoa. There are no polling booths open on Wednesday in Savai’i, so all voters from there have to come to Upolu to cast their votes.
Five constituencies have been through the polling booths at Tuana’imato to vote. Voters are being called in by election officials according to their constituency.
Families are on hand to assist elderly relatives and members of the disabled community, making sure they can exercise their right to vote.
The country’s Electoral Commissioner, Toleafoa Tuiafelolo Alexander Stanley, said pre-polling was open only to those who had been pre-approved, including the elderly, disabled, and others unable to vote on Friday.
Pre-polling under way in Samoa. Image: RNZ Pacific/Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The grim facts should speak for themselves. Since 7 October 2023, Israel has deliberately killed an unprecedented number of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
Those brave individuals are smeared as Hamas operatives and terrorists by Israel and its supporters.
But the real story behind this, beyond just Western racism and dehumanisation towards Arab reporters who don’t work for the corporate media in London or New York, is an Israeli military strategy to deliberately (and falsely) link Gazan journalists to Hamas.
“The Israeli military has operated a special unit called the ‘Legitimization Cell,’ tasked with gathering intelligence from Gaza that can bolster Israel’s image in the international media, according to three intelligence sources who spoke to +972 Magazine and Local Call and confirmed the unit’s existence.
“Established after October 7, the unit sought information on Hamas’ use of schools and hospitals for military purposes, and on failed rocket launches by armed Palestinian groups that harmed civilians in the enclave.
“It has also been assigned to identify Gaza-based journalists it could portray as undercover Hamas operatives, in an effort to blunt growing global outrage over Israel’s killing of reporters — the latest of whom was Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, killed in an Israeli airstrike this past week [august 10].
According to the sources, the Legitimisation Cell’s motivation was not security, but public relations. Driven by anger that Gaza-based reporters were “smearing [Israel’s] name in front of the world,” its members were eager to find a journalist they could link to Hamas and mark as a target, one source said.
As a journalist who’s visited and reported in Gaza since 2009, here’s a short film I made after my first trip, Palestinian journalists are some of the most heroic individuals on the planet. They have to navigate both Israeli attacks and threats and Western contempt for their craft.
I stand in solidarity with them. And so should you.
After the Israeli murder of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif on August 10, I spoke to Al Jazeera English about him and Israel’s deadly campaign:
Antony Loewenstein speaking on Al Jazeera English on 11 August 2025. Video: AJ
Antony Loewenstein interviewed by Al Jazeera on 11 August 2025. Video: AJ
News graveyards – how dangers to journalists endanger the world. Image: Antony Loewenstein Substack
Republished from the Substack of Antony Lowenstein, author of The Palestine Laboratory, with permission.
Türkiye Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has told the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Riyadh that Israel should be suspended from the crucial meeting of the UN General Assembly next month, for its “genocidal aggression”.
PSNA co-chair John Minto said in a statement that New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters would have to take a stand on this issue.
“Cabinet should give him clear instructions to vote against Israeli war crimes and support Palestinian rights,” he said.
“Suspension of Israel will have a lot of backing from many countries horrified with the starvation and carnage in Gaza, and they want to do something effective, instead of just recognising Palestine as a state.
“Even if the US vetoes such a move in the Security Council, there is a precedent going back to 1974 when South Africa was suspended from the General Assembly because it practised apartheid.
“The General Assembly suspended a member then, and New Zealand should back such a move now.”
Original condition
Minto said Israel’s original condition in 1948 for joining the UN was that it allowed the 750,000 Palestinians it had expelled from Palestine to create Israel to return home.
“Israel won’t even talk about its obligations to let Palestinians return, and certainly never had any intention of allowing them to go home. Israel should pay a price for that, along with punishment for its genocide,” he said.
Minto said the escalation of the Israeli assault on Gaza called for immediate international action without waiting wait until the General Assembly debate next month.
“The Israeli ambassador in Wellington should be told to leave right now, because his government is openly committing war crimes.”
“We’ve just seen a famine declared in Gaza City. Aid is totally insufficient and deliberately so,” Minto said.
“Israel has called up its military reservists for the major assault it’s conducting on Gaza City to drive nearly a million of its inhabitants out.
“Israel’s latest dumping ground of choice is South Sudan, even though its government says it doesn’t want to have expelled Palestinians turn up there.”
“And we’ve had the news that Israel has once again killed journalists, who work for international news agencies, such as Reuters, Al Jazeera and NBC.”
“Netanyahu says it was a mistake. Who believes that?”
An Al Jazeera journalist who has documented Israel’s trail of atrocities for almost the past two years has condemned Western news agencies covering the war on Gaza as treating Palestinian reporters like “robots”.
“You see how Palestinian journalists are treated. There’s no protection when they are alive,” Hind Khoudary told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“And after they are killed, no one even mentions them.”
She said today was a “very, very angry morning” after five journalists were killed yesterday among at least 21 people, including medical workers, at al-Nasser Medical Centre in Khan Younis in a “double tap” strike by the Israeli military.
The slain news professionals have been named as Hossam al-Masri, a freelance photographer for the Reuters news agency; Mariam Abu Daqqa, freelance journalist for The Independent and the Associated Press (AP); Moaz Abu Taha, correspondent for the American broadcasting network NBC; Mohamad Salama, press photographer for Al Jazeera; and Ahmed Abu Aziz, freelance journalist working for Middle East Eye and the Tunisian radio station Diwan FM, who died later from his injuries.
“Palestinian journalists do not know how to mourn their five colleagues and there’s a wave of anger at the international news agencies.
“Many news outlets [that the killed journalists worked for] did not even mention their contributors. The Reuters news agency did not mention in their headline their cameraman who had been working for them for months.
“In their article, they simply described him as a Reuters ‘contractor’.
‘Not mentioned’
As for Moaz Abu Taha [another journalist killed in the Nasser medical centre attack], not a single news organisation that he was working for said he was working for them,” she said.
A moment just after the second strike hit the journalists at the al-Nasser Medical Centre in southern Gaza yesterday. Image: Reporters Without Borders
“Palestinian journalists have been risking their lives for 23 months now, and after they are killed, they are not even mentioned in headlines.
“In the end, they are mentioned as ‘contractors’, as ‘freelancers’ – while, when they were alive, they were working 24/7 to produce, fix and document for these news outlets.
“This is how most Palestinian journalists feel — that we’re just being used as robots to report on what’s going on because there are no foreign journalists.
“We get killed and then everyone forgets about us.”
Gaza’s silenced voices. Video: Al Jazeera
RSF ‘fiercely condemns’ killings
The Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) “fiercely condemned” the latest killings, saying they came after the murder of Khaled al-Madhoun on Saturday, 23 August 23.
This was a toll of six journalists killed in two days. It follows the killing of six other journalists two weeks ago on August 10.
According to RSF information, all were deliberately targeted. RSF again called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to “end this massacre of journalists”.
Thibaut Bruttin, director-general of RSF, said: How far will the Israeli armed forces go in their gradual effort to eliminate information coming from Gaza? How long will they continue to defy international humanitarian law?
“The protection of journalists is guaranteed by international law, yet more than 200 of them have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza over the past two years.
“Ten years after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2222, which protects journalists in times of conflict, the Israeli army is flouting its application.
“RSF calls for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to ensure this resolution is finally respected, and that concrete measures are taken to end impunity for crimes against journalists, protect Palestinian journalists, and open access to the Gaza Strip to all reporters.”
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary . . . reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. Image: AJ screenshot APR
‘Suicide drone’
According to Al Jazeera, the first strike on the live broadcast post that killed Hossam al-Masri was carried out using a loitering munition — also known as a “suicide drone” — typically equipped with a camera and an explosive charge.
A Reuters article also confirmed the death of its contractor, Hussam al-Masri.
The second strike 8 minutes later targeted the hospital yet again after rescue teams and journalists had arrived.
The Al-Nasser complex is a well-known gathering place for displaced journalists in Gaza who, since October 2023, have been living in tents around the hospital to access information on injured and deceased patients, as well as available facilities.
Canadian photojournalist Valerie Zink has resigned after eight years with Reuters, criticising the news agency’s stance on Gaza as a “betrayal of journalists” and accusing it of “justifying and enabling” the killing of 245 journalists in the Palestinian enclave.
“At this point it’s become impossible for me to maintain a relationship with Reuters given its role in justifying and enabling the systematic assassination of 245 journalists in Gaza,” Zink said today via the US social media company X.
Zink said she worked as a Reuters stringer for eight years, with her photos published by many outlets, including The New York Times, Al Jazeera, and others worldwide.
She criticised Reuters’ reporting after the killing of Anas al-Sharif and an Al Jazeera crew in Gaza on August 10, accusing the agency of amplifying Israel’s “entirely baseless claim” that al-Sharif was a Hamas operative, which was “one of countless lies that media outlets like Reuters have dutifully repeated and dignified,” she said.
“I have valued the work that I brought to Reuters over the past eight years, but at this point I can’t conceive of wearing this press pass with anything but deep shame and grief,” Zink said.
Zink also emphasised that the agency’s willingness to “perpetuate Israel’s propaganda” had not spared their own reporters from Israel’s genocide.
“I don’t know what it means to begin to honour the courage and sacrifice of journalists in Gaza, the bravest and best to ever live, but going forward I will direct whatever contributions I have to offer with that front of mind,” Zink highlighted, reflecting on the courage of Gaza’s journalists.
“I owe my colleagues in Palestine at least this much, and so much more,” she added.
I can’t in good conscience continue to work for Reuters given their betrayal of journalists in Gaza and culpability in the assassination of 245 our colleagues. pic.twitter.com/WO6tjHqDIU
‘Double tap’ strike
Referring to the killing of six more journalists, including Reuters cameraman Hossam Al-Masri, in Israel’s Monday attack on the al-Nasser hospital in Gaza, Zink said: “It was what’s known as a ‘double tap’ strike, in which Israel bombs a civilian target like a school or hospital; waits for medics, rescue teams, and journalists to arrive; and then strikes again.”
Zink underlined that Western media was directly culpable for creating the conditions for these events, quoting Jeremy Scahill of Drop Down News, who said major outlets — from The New York Times to Reuters — had served as “a conveyor belt for Israeli propaganda,” sanitising war crimes, dehumanising victims, and abandoning both their colleagues and their commitment to true and ethical reporting.
She said Western media outlets, by “repeating Israel’s genocidal fabrications without determining if they have any credibility” and abandoning basic journalistic responsibility, have enabled the killing of more journalists in Gaza in two years than in major global conflicts combined, while also contributing to the suffering of the population.
The new fatalities among the media personnel in Gaza brought the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023 to 246.
Israel has killed more than 62,700 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its war on the enclave.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou’s surprise announcement yesterday that he will call for a parliamentary confidence vote in his government is set to further complicate protracted talks in New Caledonia on the French territory’s political future.
The announcement comes as French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has extended his stay in New Caledonia, where he has supervised a “drafting committee” to translate a “Bougival Accord” signed in July to set the path for major political reforms for New Caledonia.
In a surprise and “risky” announcement yesterday, Bayrou said a confidence vote in his government would take place on September 8.
He said this was in direct relation to his budget, which contains planned sweeping cuts of around 44 billion euros (NZ$87.6 billion) to tackle the “danger” of France plunging further into “over-indebtedness”.
“Yes it’s risky, but it’s even riskier not to do anything,” he told a press conference.
According to article 49.1 of the French Constitution, if a majority of parties votes in defiance, then Bayou and his minority government automatically fall.
Reacting to the announcement, parties ranging from far right, far left to the Greens have already indicated they would express defiance towards Bayrou and his cabinet.
‘End of the government’
Far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party chief Jordan Bardella said Bayrou, by calling for the vote, had effectively announced “the end of his government”.
Radical left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) also said the vote would mark the end of the government.
This will place the Socialist MPs, whose votes could make the difference, in a crucial position.
Socialist party spokesman MP Arthur Delaporte, deplored Bayrou for remaining “deaf to the demands of the French” and appeared to remain “quite stubborn”.
“I don’t see how we could vote the confidence,” Delaporte told reporters.
To further compound the situation in France, a national “block everything” strike has been called on September 12, with the active support and backing from the far left parties and a number of trade unions.
Valls is still in New Caledonia, after he extended his stay twice and is now set to fly back to Paris later today.
Bid for FLNKS talks
The extension was an attempt to resume talks with the pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front), which has attended none of the three sessions of the “drafting committee” on August 21, 23 and 35.
French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls . . . at New Caledonia’s drafting committee meeting launched at the French High Commission. Image: Photo: Haut-commissariat de la République en Nouvelle-Calédonie/RNZ Pacific
Talks within the committee were reported to be not only legal (with the help of a team of French high officials, including constitutionalists, but also highly political.
Valls announced a last-ditch session today with FLNKS before he flies back to Paris.
All of the other parties, both pro-independence and pro-France, took part in the committee sessions, which is now believed to have produced a Constitutional reform Bill that was to be tabled at both France’s Parliament chambers (the National Assembly and the Senate) and later before a special meeting of both houses (a “Congress”).
The Constitutional Bill would cover a large spectrum of issues, including the creation, for the first time in France, of a “State of New Caledonia”, as well as a dual France/New Caledonia citizenship.
Two other documents, an organic law and a fundamental law (a de facto constitution) are also being prepared for New Caledonia.
The Bougival deal signed on July 12 near Paris was initially agreed to by all of New Caledonia’s political parties represented at the local Parliament, the Congress.
Rejected ‘in block’
But it was later denounced and rejected “in block” by the FLNKS.
Valls has consistently stressed that his door “remains open” to the FLNKS.
Several local parties across the political chessboard (including the Wallisian-based Eveil Océanien and moderate pro-France Calédonie Ensemble) have already expressed doubts as to whether the implementation of the Bougival deal could carry any value if they had taken place without the FLNKS.
In the face of urgent initial plans to have New Caledonia’s texts urgently tabled before French Parliament, Bayrou’s confidence challenge is highly likely to further complicate New Caledonia’s political negotiations.
The plan was to have the freshly-produced text scrutinised by the French State Council, then approved by the French Cabinet on September 17.
Before the end of 2025, it would then be tabled before the French National Assembly, then the Senate, then the French special Congress sitting.
And before 28 February 2026, the same text would finally be put to the vote by way of a referendum for the people of New Caledonia.
Pro-France leader and former French cabinet member Sonia Backès however told local media she remained confident that even if the Bayrou government fell on September 8, “there would still be a continuity”.
“But if this was to be followed by a dissolution of Parliament (and snap elections), then, very clearly, this would impact on the whole (New Caledonian) process,” she said.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Fire engulfed the Marshall Islands Nitijela (Parliament building) just after midnight on last night with firefighters risking their lives as they battled the blaze early today in a bid to save the complex.
“Sometime around midnight or shortly after this morning, the Parliament building in Majuro caught fire, started burning,” RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in the Marshall Islands Giff Johnson said.
“The fire department here is pretty nonexistent, except for an airport fire fighting team, which was called in, but they weren’t able to get there for over an hour.”
Marshall Islands firefighters try to contain the fire. Image: Chewy Lin Photo & Film/Chewy Lin/RNZ Pacific
Johnson said the building was completely engulfed by the time the fire truck arrived on site.
He said the Parliament chamber and offices, the library and all the archives, “have been all destroyed”.
“Everything’s wiped out. All the records are gone,” he said.
“A lot of the structure, which is concrete, is still standing, but it’s now noontime (Tuesday, NZT), and it’s still smoking. Firefighters are still on site, trying to quell it.
‘Alternative plans’
“The building is no longer usable, and already, alternative plans are being talked about, about where they’re going to hold Parliament, because Parliament is actually in session right now.
“Fortunately, the fire started late overnight so no indication that anybody was harmed.”
Johnson said the Marshall Islands did not have much capacity in firefighting and fire inspection processes, making it difficult to determine the cause of the fire.
He said a lot of entities in the Marshall Islands did not have back-ups and it would take people weeks to figure out what they had lost and what they could access.
“From purely a records point of view, and just getting their system back up and running, it’s going to be a while because everything has been digitised at the Parliament, and it’s a really complicated situation.”
Nitjela up in flames. Image: Chewy Lin Photo & Film/Chewy Lin
The Marshall Islands Cabinet was holding an emergency meeting and was expected to make a statement later today.
A media studies analyst has condemned the latest deadly attack by Israel on journalists in Gaza and challenged Western media over the carnage, asking “where is the outrage” and international solidarity?
Four journalists were reported to have been assassinated among 20 people killed in the air strike on the al-Nasser Medical Centre in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
The others killed were first responders and medical staff, said the Gaza Health Ministry.
Dr Mohamad Elmasry, media studies professor at Qatar’s Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera in an interview he was “at a loss for words” over the latest attack.
“Israel has been at war with journalism and journalists from the very beginning of the war,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera. “They’re not hiding it. They’re very open about this.
“But the question that I have is, where are the international journalists?
‘Where is Western media?’
“Where is The New York Times? Where is CNN? Where are the major mainstream Western news outlets?
“Because when Charlie Hebdo [a French satirical magazine based in Paris] journalists were killed in 2015, that caused global outrage for months.
“It was a major story in every single Western news outlet. And I applauded journalists for coming to the aid of their colleagues. But now, where is the outrage?”
The Gaza Media Office said the death toll of Palestinian journalists in Gaza had risen to 246 and identified latest casualties as:
Hossam al-Masri – photojournalist with Reuters news agency
Mohammed Salama – photojournalist with Al Jazeera
Mariam Abu Daqa – journalist with several media outlets including The Independent Arabic and US news agency Associated Press
Moaz Abu Taha – journalist with NBC network
In a statement when announcing that the death toll from the al-Nasser hospital attack had risen to 20, the Gaza Health Ministry said:
“The [Israeli] occupation forces’ targeting of the hospital today and the killing of medical personnel, journalists, and civil defence personnel is a continuation of the systematic destruction of the health system and the continuation of genocide.
“It is a message of defiance to the entire world and to all values of humanity and justice.”
‘Killed in line of duty’
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, posted on X after the Israeli strikes killed the journalists and members of Gaza’s civil defence:
“Rescuers killed in line of duty. Scenes like this unfold every moment in Gaza, often unseen, largely undocumented,” she wrote.
“I beg states: how much more must be witnessed before you act to stop this carnage?
“Break the blockade. Impose an arms embargo. Impose sanctions.”
Her remarks came after she shared a video appearing to show a second Israeli air strike during a live broadcast on Al-Ghad TV — just minutes after the first attack on al-Nasser hospital.
Albanese later gave an interview, renewing her call for sanctions on Israel.
BREAKINGRescuers killed in line of duty.
Scenes like this unfold every moment in Gaza, often unseen, largely undocumented. I beg STATES: how much more must be witnessed before you act to stop this carnage? Break the blockade Impose an Arms Embargo Impose Sanctions. https://t.co/FgMvIyYem0
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) August 25, 2025
One of Al Jazeera’s reporters described working with hospitals as a base.
Deprived of electricity, internet
Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in Gaza, said: “I’m one of the Palestinian journalists reporting from hospitals.
“We are in a two-year war where we have been deprived of electricity and internet, so Palestinian journalists are using these services at hospitals to continue reporting.
“We are also following news of wounded Palestinians, funerals, and malnutrition cases, as these are always transferred to hospitals.
“That is why Palestinian journalists are making hospitals their base and end up being attacked.”
The Australian author of The Palestine Laboratory, Antony Loewenstein, being interviewed by Al Jazeera from Sydney. Image: AJ screenshot APR
– Rahul Gandhi. Listen up, Congress Bhimto…don’t ask again. Your master has already told you 
”. At the time of writing this report, this post had nearly 70,000 views and was reposted 1,900 times. (
Why NZ Prime Minister Luxon got it wrong. Video: RNZ
Mapping the success of Zionist ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
BREAKING
Break the blockade