The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is not considering recruiting personnel from across the Pacific as talk continues of Australia doing so for its Defence Force (ADF).
In response to a question from The Australian at the National Press Club in Canberra about Australia’s plans to potentially recruit from the Pacific Islands into the ADF, Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said he “would like to see it happen”.
“Whether Australia does it or not depends on your own policies. We will not push it.”
RNZ Pacific asked the NZDF under the Official Information Act (OIA) for all correspondence sent and received regarding any discussion on recruiting from the Pacific, along with other related questions.
The OIA request was declined as the information did not exist.
“Defence Recruiting has not and is not considering deliberate recruiting action from across the Pacific,” the response from the NZDF said.
Australia Defence Association executive director Neil James said citizenship needed to be a prerequisite to Pacific recruitment.
Australian citizen
“Even a New Zealander serving in the Australian military has to become an Australian citizen,” James said.
“They can start off being an Australian resident, but they’ve got to be on the path to citizenship.
”They’ve got to be capable of getting permanent residency in Australia and citizenship.
“And then you’ve got to tackle the moral problem — it’s pretty hard to ask foreigners to fight for your country when your own people won’t do it.”
James said he thought people might be “jumping at hairs” at Rabuka’s comments.
Unlike Samoa’s acting prime minister, who has voiced concern over a brain drain, both Papua New Guinea and Fiji have made it clear they have people to spare.
Ross Thompson, a managing director at People In, the largest approved employer in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme, said if the recruitment drive does go ahead, PNG nationals would return home with a wider skill set.
‘Brain gain, not drain’
“This would be a brain gain, rather than be a drain on PNG.”
He’s spoken with people in PNG who welcome the proposal.
”PNG, its population is over 10 million . . . We’re proposing from PNG around 1000 could be recruited every year.”
Minister Rabuka joked Fiji could plug Australia’s personnel hole on its own.
“If it’s open [to recruiting Fijians] . . . [we will offer] the whole lot . . . 5000,” he said, while noting that Fiji was able to easily fill its quota under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.
“The villages are emptying out into the cities. What we would like to do is to reduce those who are ending up in settlements in the cities and not working, giving way to crime and becoming first victims to the sale of drugs and AIDS and HIV from frequently used or commonly used needles.”
Thompson was also a captain in the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers of the British Army and said he was proud to have served alongside Fijians.
Honour serving
“I had the honour to serve with a number of Fijians while deployed overseas; they’re fantastic soldiers.
“This is something that’s been going on since the Second World War and it’s a big part of the British Army.”
From a recruitment perspective, he said PNG and Fiji would be a good starting point before extending to any other Pacific nations.
”PNG has a strong history with the Australian Defence Force. There’s a number of programmes that are currently ongoing, on shared military exercises, there’s PNG officers that are serving in the ADF now, or on secondment to the ADF.
“So I think those two countries are definitely good to look up from a pilot perspective.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
On the last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior prior to its sinking by French secret agents in Auckland harbour on 10 July 1985 the ship had evacuated the entire population of 320 from Rongelap in the Marshall Islands.
After conducting dozens of above-ground nuclear explosions, the US government had left the population in conditions that suggested the islanders were being used as guinea pigs to gain knowledge of the effects of radiation.
Cancers, birth defects, and genetic damage ripped through the population; their former fisheries and land are contaminated to this day.
Denied adequate support from the US – they turned to Greenpeace with an SOS: help us leave our ancestral homeland; it is killing our people. The Rainbow Warrior answered the call.
Human lab rats or our brothers and sisters? Dr Merrill Eisenbud, a physicist in the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) famously said in 1956 of the Marshall Islanders: “While it is true that these people do not live, I might say, the way Westerners do, civilised people, it is nevertheless also true that they are more like us than the mice.”
Dr Eisenbud also opined that exposure “would provide valuable information on the effects of radiation on human beings.” That research continues to this day.
A half century of testing nuclear bombs Within a year of dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US moved part of its test programme to the central Pacific. Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was used for atmospheric explosions from 1946 with scant regard for the indigenous population.
In 1954, the Castle Bravo test exploded a 15-megaton bomb — one thousand times more deadly than the one dropped on Hiroshima. As a result, the population of Rongelap were exposed to 200 roentgens of radiation, considered life-threatening without medical intervention. And it was.
Part of the Marshall Islands, with Bikini Atoll and Rongelap in the top left. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz
Total US tests equaled more than 7000 Hiroshimas. The Clinton administration released the aptly-named Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE), report in January 1994 in which it acknowledged:
“What followed was a program by the US government — initially the Navy and then the AEC and its successor agencies — to provide medical care for the exposed population, while at the same time trying to learn as much as possible about the long-term biological effects of radiation exposure. The dual purpose of what is now a DOE medical program has led to a view by the Marshallese that they were being used as ‘guinea pigs’ in a ‘radiation experiment’.
This impression was reinforced by the fact that the islanders were deliberately left in place and then evacuated, having been heavily radiated. Three years later they were told it was “safe to return” despite the lead scientist calling Rongelap “by far the most contaminated place in the world”.
Significant compensation paid by the US to the Marshall Islands has proven inadequate given the scale of the contamination. To some degree, the US has also used money to achieve capture of elite interest groups and secure ongoing control of the islands.
Entrusted to the US, the Marshall Islanders were treated like the civilians of Nagasaki The US took the Marshall Islands from Japan in 1944. The only “right” it has to be there was granted by the United Nations which in 1947 established the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, to be administered by the United States.
What followed was an abuse of trust worse than rapists at a state care facility. Using the very powers entrusted to it to protect the Marshallese, the US instead used the islands as a nuclear laboratory — violating both the letter and spirit of international law.
Fellow white-dominated countries like Australia and New Zealand couldn’t have cared less and let the indigenous people be irradiated for decades.
The betrayal of trust by the US was comprehensive and remains so to this day:
Under Article 76 of the UN Charter, all trusteeship agreements carried obligations. The administering power was required to:
Promote the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the people
Protect the rights and well-being of the inhabitants
Help them advance toward self-government or independence.
Under Article VI, the United States solemnly pledged to “Protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources.” Very similar to sentiments in New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi. Within a few years the Americans were exploding the biggest nuclear bombs in history over the islands.
Within a year of the US assuming trusteeship of the islands, another pillar of international law came into effect: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) — which affirms the inherent dignity and equal rights of all humans. Exposing colonised peoples to extreme radiation for weapons testing is a racist affront to this.
America has a long history of making treaties and fine speeches and then exploiting indigenous peoples. Last year, I had the sobering experience of reading American military historian Peter Cozzens’ The Earth is Weeping, a history of the “Indian wars” for the American West.
The past is not dead: the Marshall Islands are a hive of bases, laboratories and missile testing; Americans are also incredibly busy attacking the population in Gaza today.
Eyes of Fire – the last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior Had the French not sunk the Rainbow Warrior after it reached Auckland from the Rongelap evacuation, it would have led a flotilla to protest nuclear testing at Moruroa in French Polynesia. So the bookends of this article are the abuse of defenceless people in the charge of one nuclear power — the US — and the abuse of New Zealand and the peoples of French Polynesia by another nuclear power — France.
Senator Jeton Anjain (left) of Rongelap and Greenpeace campaign coordinator Steve Sawyer on board the Rainbow Warrior . . . challenging the abuse of defenceless people under the charge of one nuclear power. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire
This incredible story, and much more, is the subject of David Robie’s outstanding book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, published by Little Island Press, which has been relaunched to mark the 40th anniversary of the French terrorist attack.
A new prologue by former prime minister Helen Clark and a preface by Greenpeace’s Bunny McDiarmid, along with an extensive postscript which bring us up to the present day, underline why the past is not dead; it’s with us right now.
Between them, France and the US have exploded more than 300 nuclear bombs in the Pacific. Few people are told this; few people know this.
Today, a matrix of issues combine — the ongoing effects of nuclear contamination, sea rise imperilling Pacific nations, colonialism still posing immense challenges to people in the Marshall Islands, Kanaky New Caledonia and in many parts of our region.
Unsung heroes Our media never ceases to share the pronouncements of European leaders and news from the US and Europe but the leaders and issues of the Pacific are seldom heard. The heroes of the antinuclear movement should be household names in Australia and New Zealand.
Vanuatu’s great leader Father Walter Lini; Oscar Temaru, Mayor, later President of French Polynesia; Senator Jeton Anjain, Darlene Keju-Johnson and so many others.
Do we know them? Have we heard their voices?
Jobod Silk, climate activist, said in a speech welcoming the Rainbow Warrior III to Majuro earlier this year: “Our crusade for nuclear justice intertwines with our fight against the tides.”
Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific . . . the Rainbow Warrior taking on board Rongelap islanders ready for their first of four relocation voyages to Mejatto island. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire
Former Tuvalu PM Enele Sapoaga castigated Australia for the AUKUS submarine deal which he said “was crafted in secret by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison with no public discussion.”
He challenged the bigger regional powers, particularly Australia and New Zealand, to remember that the existential threat faced by Pacific nations comes first from climate change, and reminded New Zealanders of the commitment to keeping the South Pacific nuclear-free.
Hinamoeura Cross, a Tahitian anti-nuclear activist and politician, said in a 2019 UN speech: “Today, the damage is done. My people are sick. For 30 years we were the mice in France’s laboratory.”
Until we learn their stories and know their names as well as we know those of Marco Rubio or Keir Starmer, we will remain strangers in our own lands.
The Pacific owes them, along with the people of Greenpeace, a huge debt. They put their bodies on the line to stop the aggressors. Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, killed by the French in 1985, was just one of many victims, one of many heroes.
A great way to honour the sacrifice of those who stood up for justice, who stood for peace and a nuclear-free Pacific, and who honoured our own national identity would be to buy David Robie’s excellent book.
You cannot sink a rainbow.
Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira being welcomed to Rongelap Atoll by a villager in May 1985 barely two months before he was killed by French secret agents during the sabotage of the Rainbow Warrior. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire
West Papuan independence advocate Octovianus Mote was in Aotearoa New Zealand late last year seeking support for independence for West Papua, which has been ruled by Indonesia for more than six decades.
Mote is vice-president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) and was hosted in New Zealand by the Green Party, which Mote said had always been a “hero” for West Papua.
He spoke at a West Papua seminar at the Māngere Mountain Education Centre and in this Talanoa TV segment he offers prayers for the West Papuan solidarity movement.
In a “blessing for peace and justice”, Octo Mote spoke of his hopes for the West Papuan struggle for independence at lunch at the Mount Albert home of New Zealand activist Maire Leadbeater in September 2024.
He gave a tribute to Leadbeater and the Whānau Community Centre and Hub’s Nik Naidu, saying:
“We remember those who cannot eat like us, especially those who oppressed . . . The 80,000 people in Papua who have had to flee their homes because of the Indonesian military operations.”
Video: Nik Naidu, Talanoa TV
Blessings by Octo Mote. Video: Talanoa TV
On Saturday, 12 July 2025 Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford will open the week-long Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) exhibition at the Ellen Melville Centre Women’s Pioneer Hall at 3pm.
Australian solidarity activists today marked the 27th anniversary of the Biak massacre in West Papua and have warned the human rights crisis in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian region is deteriorating.
No Indonesian security force member has ever been charged or brought to justice for the human rights abuses committed against peaceful West Papuan demonstrators.
According to Elsham Papua, a local human rights organisation, eight people were killed and a further 32 bodies were found near Biak in the following days. However, some human rights sources put the death toll at about 150.
“Twenty seven years later, the human rights situation in West Papua continues to deteriorate,” said Joe Collins of the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) in a statement today.
“West Papuan people continue to be arrested, intimidated and killed by the Indonesian security forces.
“There are ongoing clashes between the TPNPB [West Papua National Liberation Army] and the Indonesian security forces with casualties on both sides.
“As a result of these clashes, the Indonesian security forces carry out sweeps in the area, causing local people to flee in fear for their lives.
‘Bearing the brunt’
“It’s the internal refugees bearing the brunt of the conflict.”
According to the AWPA statement, 6 July 1998 marked the Biak massacre when the Indonesian security forces killed scores of people in Biak, West Papua.
The victims included women and children who had gathered for a peaceful rally. They were killed at the base of a water tower flying the Morning Star flag of independence.
The Citizens’ Tribunal . . . a people’s documentation and record of the Biak atrocities. Image: Citizens’ Tribunal
As the rally continued, many more people in the area joined in with numbers reaching up to about 500 people.
The statement said that from July 2 that year, activists and local people started gathering beneath the water tower, singing songs and holding traditional dances.
“On July 6 the Indonesian security forces attacked the demonstrators, massacring scores of people,” said the statement.
Internally displaced
Human Rights Monitor reported in its June update that more than 97,721 people in West Papua were internally displaced as a result of armed conflict between Indonesian security forces and the TPNPB.
Human Rights Watch in a media statement in May 2025 reported that renewed fighting between the security forces and the TPNPB was threatening West Papua civilians.
“As the West Papuan people struggle for their right to self-determination, they face great challenges, from the ongoing human rights abuses to the destruction of their environment,” said Collins in the statement.
“However, support/knowledge for the West Papuan struggle continues to grow, particularly in the Pacific region,” he said.
“If some governments in the region are wavering in their support, the people of the Pacific are not.
Pacific support ‘unwavering’ Jakarta has been targeting Pacific leaders with aid in a bid to convince them to stop supporting the West Papuan struggle.
Civil society and church groups continue to raise awareness of the West Papuan situation at the UN and at international human rights conferences.
“The West Papuan people are not going to give up their struggle for self-determination,” Collins said.
“Time for the countries in the region, including Australia, to take the issue seriously. Raising the ongoing human rights abuses with Jakarta would be a small start”.
Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman today recalled New Zealand’s heyday as a Pacific nuclear free champion in the 1980s, and challenged the country to again become a leading voice for “peace and justice”, this time for the Palestinian people.
He told the weekly Palestinian solidarity rally in Auckland’s central Te Komititanga Square that it was time for New Zealand to take action and recognise the state of Palestine and impose sanctions on Israel over its Gaza atrocities.
“From 1946 to 1996, over 300 nuclear weapons were exploded across the Pacific and consistently the New Zealand government spoke out against it,” he said.
“It took cases to the International Court of Justice, supported by Australia and Fiji, against the nuclear testing across the Pacific.
“Aotearoa New Zealand was a voice for peace, it was a voice for justice, and when the French government bombed the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior here and killed Fernando Pereira, it spoke out and took action against France.”
New Zealand will this week be commemorating the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by French secret agents on 10 July 1985 and the killing of Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira.
Dawn vigil on Greenpeace III
Greenpeace plans a dawn vigil on board their current flagship Rainbow Warrior III at Halsey Wharf.
He spoke about the Gaza war crimes, saying it was time for New Zealand to take serious action to help end this 20 months of settler colonial genocide.
“There are millions of people [around the world] who are trying to end this colonial occupation of Palestinian land,” Norman said.
“And millions of people who are trying to stop people simply standing to get food who are hungry who are being shelled and killed by the Israeli military simply for the ‘crime’ of being born in the land that Israel wants to occupy.”
Rocket Lab . . . a target for protests this week against the Gaza genocide. Image: David Robie/APR
Norman’s message echoed an open letter that he wrote to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters earlier this week criticising the government for its “ongoing failure … to impose meaningful sanctions on Israel”.
He cited the recent UN Human Rights Office report that said the killing of hundreds of Palestinians by the Israeli military while trying to fetch food from the controversial new “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” aid hubs was a ‘likely war crime”.
“Israel’s ongoing blockade of aid to Gaza has placed over 2 million people on the precipice of famine. Malnutrition and starvation are rife,” he said.
Israel ‘weaponising aid’
“Israel is weaponising aid, using starvation as a tool of genocide and is now shooting at civilians trying to access the scraps of aid that are available.”
He said this was “catastrophic”, quoting Luxon’s own words, and the human suffering was “unacceptable”.
Labour MP for Te Atatu and disarmament spokesperson Phil Twyford also spoke at the rally and march today, saying the Labour Party was calling for sanctions and accountability.
He condemned the failure to hold “the people who have been enabling the genocide in Gaza”.
“It’s been going on for too long. Not just the last [20 months], but actually the last 77 years.
“And it is time the Western world snapped out of the spell that the Zionists have had on the Western imagination — at least on the political classes, government MPs, the policy makers in Western countries, who for so long have enabled, have stayed quiet in the face of the US who have armed and funded the genocide”
For the Palestinian solidarity movement in New Zealand it has been a big week with four politicians — including Prime Minister Luxon — and two business leaders, the chief executives of Rocket Lab and Rakon, who have been referred by the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation over allegations of complicity with the Israeli war crimes.
This unprecedented legal development has been largely ignored by the mainstream media.
On Friday, protesters picketed a Rocket Lab manufacturing site in Warkworth, the head office in Mount Wellington and the Māhia peninsula where satellites are launched.
GENEVA, Switzerland (5 July 2025) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) expresses deep concern over the Islamic Republic of Iran’s plan to forcibly deport hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and undocumented migrants. The lack of individual risk assessments, legal access, or due process constitutes a grave violation of international human rights standards and the principle of non-refoulement, a cornerstone of international refugee law. This action risks exacerbating the already critical humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
“We stand in full solidarity with the Afghan people and urge the Government of Iran to uphold its obligations under international human rights and refugee law. The looming threat of mass deportations is not only a humanitarian crisis in the making, it sets a dangerous precedent that risks normalizing unlawful and inhumane responses to displacement. We cannot, in good conscience, look away while the most vulnerable ones and those who fled persecution and discrimination are put at further risks back in Afghanistan”, said Mary Aileen Diaz-Bacalso, Executive Director, FORUM-ASIA
Mass Deportations Underway Ahead of 6 July Deadline
On 29 June 2025, Iranian authorities issued a final ultimatum: all undocumented Afghan nationals must leave the country voluntarily or face forced expulsion by the final deadline of 6 July. Since the escalation of tensions following the recent Israel-Iran conflict, the situation of Afghanistan’s refugees and asylum seekers in Iran has deteriorated.
The number of Afghan returnees from Iran has surged dramatically, increasing from approximately 5,000 returnees daily to nearly 30,000 individuals per day. Most of these returns are involuntary, with over 150,000 Afghans deported by Iranian authorities between May and early June 2025 alone.
Although the deportation plan is framed as “voluntary”, Afghan nationals in Iran are being denied their rights and access to asylum procedures, legal representation and support, or appeal mechanisms; they are extensively being deported under coercion, harassment, and abuse by Iranian police and the public.
Afghan returnees face serious risks under Taliban rule, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and targeted persecution of former government officials, civil society members, and minority groups. Long-term challenges such as widespread unemployment, insecurity, poverty, and psychosocial trauma compound their vulnerability. Vulnerable populations such as women, girls, and ethnic minorities, especially the Shia Hazara, continue to face systemic discrimination and violence. The UNHCR has clearly stated that Afghanistan remains unsafe for return due to ”pervasive insecurity, economic collapse, widespread repression, and lack of access to essential services”.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 29 million people in Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance in 2025. Returnees often arrive without documentation, shelter, or support, forced into overcrowded and under-resourced camps in provinces like Herat and Nimruz. In this context, returnees face imminent risks of torture, mistreatment, and death.
Iran’s Historic Role and Current Obligations
Over the past decades, Iran has had a long-standing role hosting millions of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers. However, in the face of ongoing pressures and recent Israel-Iran conflicts, the country faces a range of challenges. These do not justify mass expulsions that violate international obligations. Collective punishment of vulnerable populations undermines both human dignity and Iran’s longstanding role as a regional refuge and runs contrary to basic principles of humanity and human rights principles.
FORUM-ASIA’s Urgent Call for Action
In light of the 6 July deadline and escalating threats to Afghan migrants in Iran, FORUM-ASIA urgently calls on:
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to:
Immediately halt all forced deportations of Afghan refugees and migrants, including those without documentation.
Revoke the July 6 deportation deadline, which places thousands at risk of irreversible harm.
Ensure full access to fair asylum procedures, including individual risk assessments, legal representation, and appeal mechanisms.
Allow the UNHCR and humanitarian partners unrestricted access to monitor detention facilities and border regions and provide assistance.
To the international community, particularly regional actors and donor governments, to:
Urgently share responsibility by increasing humanitarian aid, resettlement options, and diplomatic efforts to protect Afghan refugees.
Support host countries like Iran in managing refugee populations, without resorting to coercive or unlawful practices.
**
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a network of 90 member organisations across 23 countries, mainly in Asia. Founded in 1991, FORUM-ASIA works to strengthen movements for human rights and sustainable development through research, advocacy, capacity development and solidarity actions in Asia and beyond. It has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and consultative relationship with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. The FORUM-ASIA Secretariat is based in Bangkok, with offices in Jakarta, Geneva and Kathmandu. www.forum-asia.org
Protesters against the Israeli genocide in Gaza and occupied West Bank targeted three business sites accused of being “complicit” in Aotearoa New Zealand today.
The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa’s “End Rocket Lab Genocide Complicity” themed protest picketed Rocket Lab’s New Zealand head office in Mt Wellington.
Simultaneously, protesters also picketed a site in Warkworth where Rocket Lab equipment is built and Mahia peninsula where satellites are launched.
In a statement on the PSNA website, it was revealed this week that the advocacy group’s lawyers have prepared a 103-page “indictment” against two business leaders, including the head of Rocket Lab, along with four politicians, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
They have been referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for investigation on an accusation of complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Rocket Lab chief executive Sir Peter Beck is one of the six people named in the legal brief.
“Rocket Lab has recently launched geospatial intelligence satellites for BlackSky Technology,” said PSNA co-chair John Minto in a statement.
High resolution images
“These satellites provide high resolution images to Israel which are very likely used to assist with striking civilians in Gaza. Sir Peter has proceeded with these launches in full knowledge of these circumstances”
A “Genocide Lab” protest against Rocket Lab in Mt Wellington today. Image: PSNA
“When governments and business leaders can’t even condemn a genocide then civil society groups must act.”
The other business leader named is Rakon Limited chief executive officer Dr Sinan Altug.
“Despite vast weapons transfers from the United States to Israel since the beginning of its war on Gaza, Rakon has continued with its longstanding supply of crystal oscillators to US arms manufacturers for use in guided missiles which are then available to Israel for the bombing of Gaza, as well as Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran with consequential massive loss of life,” Minto said.
“Rakon’s claims that it has no responsibility over how these ‘dual-use’ technologies are used are not credible.”
Rocket Lab and Rakon have in the past rejected claims over their responsibility.
Speakers at Mount Wellington included the Green Party spokesperson for foreign affairs Teanau Tuiono; Dr Arama Rata, a researcher and lecturer from Victoria University; and Sam Vincent, the legal team leader for the ICC referral.
Law academic Professor Jane Kelsey spoke at the Warkworth picket.
People on Guam are “disappointed” and “heartbroken” that radiation exposure compensation is not being extended to them, says the president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS), Robert Celestial.
He said they were disappointed for many reasons.
“Congress seems to not understand that we are no different than any state,” he told RNZ Pacific.
“We are human beings, we are affected in the same way they are. We are suffering the same way, we are greatly disappointed, heartbroken,” Celestial said.
The extension to the United States Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was part of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” passed by Congress on Friday (Thursday, Washington time).
Downwind compensation eligibility would extend to the entire states of Utah, Idaho and New Mexico, but Guam – which was included in an earlier version of the bill – was excluded.
All claimants are eligible for US$100,000.
Attempt at amendment
Guam Republican congressman James Moylan attempted to make an amendment to include Guam before the bill reached the House floor earlier in the week.
“Guam has become a forgotten casualty of the nuclear era,” Moylan told the House Rules Committee.
“Federal agencies have confirmed that our island received measurable radiation exposure as a result of US nuclear testing in the Pacific and yet, despite this clear evidence, Guam remains excluded from RECA, a program that was designed specifically to address the harm caused by our nation’s own policies.
“Guam is not asking for special treatment we are asking to be treated with dignity equal to the same recognition afforded to other downwind communities across our nation.”
Moylan said his constituents are dying from cancers linked to radiation exposure.
From 1946 to 1962, 67 nuclear bombs were detonated in the Marshall Islands, just under 2000 kilometres from Guam.
New Mexico Democratic congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández supported Moylan, who said it was “sad Guam and other communities were not included”.
Colorado, Montana excluded
The RECA extension also excluded Colorado and Montana; Idaho was also for a time but this was amended.
Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS) members at a gathering . . . “heartbroken” that radiation exposure compensation is not being extended to them. Image: RNZ Pacific/Eleisha Foon
Celestial said he had heard different rumours about why Guam was not included but nothing concrete.
“A lot of excuses were saying that it’s going to cost too much. You know, Guam is going to put a burden on finances.”
But Celestial said the cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office for Guam to be included was US$560 million while Idaho was $1.4 billion.
“[Money] can’t be the reason that Guam got kicked out because we’re the lowest on the totem pole for the amount of money it’s going to cost to get us through in the bill.”
Certain zip codes
The bill also extends to communities in certain zip codes in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska, who were exposed to nuclear waste.
Celestial said it’s taken those states 30 years to be recognised and expects Guam to be eventually paid.
He said Moylan would likely now submit a standalone bill with the other states that were not included.
If that fails, he said Guam could be included in nuclear compensation through the National Defense Authorization Act in December, which is for military financial support.
The RECA extension includes uranium workers employed from 1 January 1942 to 31 December 1990.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
We, the undersigned organisations, urgently call for the protection of the indigenous Molbog and Palaw’an communities of Bugsuk and Mariahangin Islands in Southern Palawan, Philippines. These communities are engaged in the defence of collective rights, which are being disregarded by the large-scale luxury ecotourism project developed by Bricktree Properties, a subsidiary of the Philippine multinational conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC). SMC has been displacing the Molbog and Palaw’an communities from their territories with State support.
For over a year, the Molbog Bugsuk community have faced armed intimidation, legal harassment, and systemic repression. Since April 2024, more than 80 armed personnel from JMV Security Services, allegedly contracted by Bricktree Properties, have been repeatedly deployed to the area. On 29 June 2024, community members formed a human barricade to block the landing of armed guards on Mariahangin Island. A shot was fired during the stand-off. No one was injured, but the event left deep psychological trauma in the communities. Despite urgent calls, local police initially refused to provide assistance, only acting after intervention from the Commission on Human Rights in Palawan.
Following the incident, the community has reported continuing harassment, armed surveillance, and restricted access to their fishing grounds, violations that strike at the heart of indigenous self-determination and food security. This corporate aggression has been accompanied by a troubling pattern of impunity and criminalisation.
On 15 May 2025, ten indigenous and non-indigenous human rights defenders, now known as the “Mariahangin 10,” were arrested and charged with grave coercion for peacefully blocking their territory to prevent the entry of the former Executive Director of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and personnel from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in June 2024. The blockade was carried out in response to concerns in the community that the NCIP-DAR group was attempting to bribe residents into relinquishing their ancestral lands for a proposed eco-luxury tourism project. Residents had also reportedly been warned by DAR staff of impending demolitions of their homes to make way for construction, prompting the community to assert their right to consultation and resist forced displacement. These arrests occurred several days before the detention of Oscar “Ka Ondo” Pelayo Jr., a respected Molbog community leader, on a revived illegal fishing charge from 2006. All individuals were released on temporary bail, but remain at risk of legal actions. Advocacy groups and legal experts widely regard these charges as trumped-up and retaliatory, and part of a broader strategy to divide, intimidate, exhaust, and silence indigenous communities defending their rights.
These incidents are not isolated, they reflect a deeply entrenched pattern of “development aggression” in the Philippines, where state-backed or state-tolerated corporate ventures systematically displace indigenous communities in the name of investment and progress.
The culture of profit-driven economic development and corporate impunity needs to end, and states and companies must adhere to international human rights standards and norms, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the UN Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, on the Right to Development, and on Human Rights Defenders.
We call on the Philippine government to:
Demand Immediate Cessation of Harassment: Call for the immediate withdrawal of all armed private security personnel from Molbog ancestral lands and waters, end to all forms of intimidation and harassment against community members, and drop all charges against the human rights defenders immediately and unconditionally.
Advocate for Legal Recognition and Justice: The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) must reinstate the Notice of Coverage for Bugsuk and Mariahangin, and expedite the processing and approval of the Molbog and Palaw’an Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) applications.
Ensure Accountability for Human Rights Violations: Initiate an impartial investigation into all reported human rights violations and abuses, including the arrests of community leaders on questionable charges, and hold all perpetrators, corporate as well as state actors, accountable.
Promote Genuine and Meaningful Consultations and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC): No development project should proceed on ancestral lands without obtaining free, prior, and informed consent of the affected indigenous communities, ensuring their full and effective participation in decision-making processes.
Support Indigenous-Led Sustainable Development: Ensure policies and programs that support and strengthen the Molbog Bugsuk community’s traditional livelihoods and cultural practices, recognising their inherent sustainability and their right to self-determination over their ancestral territory.
End development aggression and ensure corporate accountability: Fulfil your duty to regulate and oversee corporate activity by ending profit-driven development projects that violate human rights. Hold San Miguel Corporation and its subsidiaries accountable for repeated abuses against communities and human rights defenders, and take concrete steps to end the culture of corporate impunity.
Uphold international human rights obligations: Fully respect and implement international human rights standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. As duty-bearer, the government must ensure these standards are reflected in national policies, practices, and corporate oversight.
Author David Robie and Little Island Press are about to publish next week a 40th anniversary edition of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, a first-hand account of the relocation of the Rongelap people by Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior in 1985.
Dr Robie joined what turned out to be the ill-fated voyage of the Rainbow Warrior from Hawai’i across the Pacific, with its first stop in the Marshall Islands and the momentous evacuation of Rongelap Atoll.
After completing the evacuation of the 320 people of Rongelap from their unsafe nuclear test-affected home islands to Mejatto Island in Kwajalein Atoll, the Rainbow Warrior headed south via Kiribati and Vanuatu.
After a stop in New Zealand, it was scheduled to head to the French nuclear testing zone at Moruroa in French Polynesia to protest the then-ongoing atmospheric nuclear tests conducted by France for decades.
But French secret agents attached bombs to the hull of the Rainbow Warrior while it was tied up at a pier in Auckland. The bombs mortally damaged the Warrior and killed Greenpeace photographer Fernando Peirera, preventing the vessel from continuing its Pacific voyage.
The new edition of Eyes of Fire will be launched on July 10 in New Zealand.
“This edition has a small change of title, Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, and has an extra 30 pages, with a new prologue by former Prime Minister Helen Clark,” Dr Robie said in an email to the Journal.
“The core of the book is similar to earlier editions, but bookended by a lot of new material: Helen’s Prologue, Bunny McDiarmid’s updated Preface and a long Postscript 2025 by me with a lot more photographs, some in colour.”
Dr Robie added: “I hope this edition is doing justice to our humanitarian mission and the Rongelap people that we helped.”
He said the new edition is published by a small publisher that specialises in Pacific Island books, often in Pacific languages, Little Island Press.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, has called on countries to cut off all trade and financial ties with Israel — including a full arms embargo — and withdraw international support for what she termed an “economy of genocide”, reports Al Jazeera.
Albanese made the comments in a speech to the Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday as she presented her latest report, which named dozens of companies she said were involved in supporting Israeli repression and violence towards Palestinians.
“The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic,” she said. “Israel is responsible for one of the cruellest genocides in modern history.”
Nearly 57,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the war — now in its 22nd month — began, hundreds of thousands have been displaced multiple times, cities and towns have been razed, hospitals and schools targeted, and 85 percent of the besieged and bombarded enclave is now under Israeli military control, according to the UN.
Al Jazeera’s Federica Marsi reports that Albanese’s latest document names 48 corporate actors, including United States tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet Inc. — Google’s parent company — and Amazon.
“[Israel’s] forever-occupation has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and Big Tech — providing significant supply and demand, little oversight, and zero accountability — while investors and private and public institutions profit freely,” the report said.
“Companies are no longer merely implicated in occupation — they may be embedded in an economy of genocide,” it said, in a reference to Israel’s ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip.
In an expert opinion last year, Albanese said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel was committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The report stated that its findings illustrate “why Israel’s genocide continues”.
“Because it is lucrative for many,” it said.
Francesca Albanese v Israel’s lobby. Video: Al Jazeera
Military procurements Israel’s procurement of F-35 fighter jets is part of the world’s largest arms procurement programme, relying on at least 1600 companies across eight nations. It is led by US-based Lockheed Martin, but F-35 components are constructed globally.
Italian manufacturer Leonardo S.p.A is listed as a main contributor in the military sector, while Japan’s FANUC Corporation provides robotic machinery for weapons production lines.
The tech sector, meanwhile, has enabled the collection, storage and governmental use of biometric data on Palestinians, “supporting Israel’s discriminatory permit regime”, the report said.
Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon grant Israel “virtually government-wide access to their cloud and AI technologies”, enhancing its data processing and surveillance capacities.
The US tech company IBM has also been responsible for training military and intelligence personnel, as well as managing the central database of Israel’s Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) that stores the biometric data of Palestinians, the report said.
It found US software platform Palantir Technologies expanded its support to the Israeli military since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
The report said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the company provided automatic predictive policing technology used for automated decision-making in the battlefield, to process data and generate lists of targets including through artificial intelligence systems like “Lavender”, “Gospel” and “Where’s Daddy?”
Companies supporting Israel. Graphic: Al Jazeera/Creative CommonsOther companies identified in the report
The report also lists several companies developing civilian technologies that serve as “dual-use tools” for Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.These include Caterpillar, Leonardo-owned Rada Electronic Industries, South Korea’s HD Hyundai and Sweden’s Volvo Group, which provide heavy machinery for home demolitions and the development of illegal settlements in the West Bank.Rental platforms Booking and Airbnb also aid illegal settlements by listing properties and hotel rooms in Israeli-occupied territory.
The report named the US’s Drummond Company and Switzerland’s Glencore as the primary suppliers of coal for electricity to Israel, originating primarily from Colombia.
In the agriculture sector, Chinese Bright Dairy & Food is a majority owner of Tnuva, Israel’s largest food conglomerate, which benefits from land seized from Palestinians in Israel’s illegal outposts.
Netafim, a company providing drip irrigation technology that is 80-percent owned by Mexico’s Orbia Advance Corporation, provides infrastructure to exploit water resources in the occupied West Bank.
Treasury bonds have also played a critical role in funding the ongoing war on Gaza, according to the report, with some of the world’s largest banks, including France’s BNP Paribas and the UK’s Barclays, listed as having stepped in to allow Israel to contain the interest rate premium despite a credit downgrade.
Which are the main investors behind these companies? The report identified US multinational investment companies BlackRock and Vanguard as the main investors behind several listed companies.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is listed as the second largest institutional investor in Palantir (8.6 percent), Microsoft (7.8 percent), Amazon (6.6 percent), Alphabet (6.6 percent) and IBM (8.6 per cent), and the third largest in Lockheed Martin (7.2 percent) and Caterpillar (7.5 percent).
Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager, is the largest institutional investor in Caterpillar (9.8 percent), Chevron (8.9 percent) and Palantir (9.1 percent), and the second largest in Lockheed Martin (9.2 percent) and Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems (2 percent).
New Zealand referrals to the International Criminal Court
Meanwhile, the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa yesterday released a report saying that it was referring two New Zealand businessmen along with four politicians, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, to the International Criminal Court for investigation over alleged policies relating to Gaza.
The PSNA accused the six individuals of complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by “assisting Israel’s mass killing and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza”.
In a statement, PSNA co-chairs John Minto and Maher Nazzal said the referral “carefully outlines a case that these six individuals should be investigated” by the Office of the Prosecutor for their knowing contribution to Israel’s crimes in Gaza.
“The 103-page referral document was prepared by a legal team which has been working on the case for many months,” said Minto and Nazzal.
“It is legally robust and will provide the prosecutor of the ICC more than sufficient documentation to begin their investigation.”
Which NZ politicians and business leaders have been referred by the PSNA to the ICC? Image: NZH screenshot APR
After defence ministers representing their countries at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) were unable to adopt a joint statement at the end of their talks on June 26, several rumours regarding the meeting were viral on social media. One of the viral claims is that Russia signed a joint SCO statement supporting Pakistan. Another claim suggested that a closed-door meeting was carried out without India.
Formed in 2001, the SCO is a grouping of 10 countries including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. The defence ministers’ meeting took place in China’s Qingdao ahead of the upcoming annual summit.
On June 29, X user @TheDailyCPEC claimed that Russia had signed the joint SCO statement. At the time of this article being written, the post had a million views. (Archive)
BREAKING: Russia has officially signed the joint SCO statement, supporting Pakistan’s position over India. pic.twitter.com/GHGxmH5cA4
We also found an Instagram post, which made similar claims. The caption reads, “A high-level NSA meeting is scheduled among China, Iran, Russia, and Pakistan under the SCO framework, but India has not been invited.”
According to several media reports, the SCO joint statement was not adopted because Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh refused to endorse it as it did not mention the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were shot dead by terrorists. India has blamed Pakistan for sheltering terrorist factions responsible for the attack. Pakistan has denied the allegations.
According to Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson from the Ministry of External Affairs, a joint statement was not adopted at the SCO. “Certain member countries could not reach consensus on certain issues, and hence, the document could not be finalised… India wanted concerns and terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country.”
We found no news reports mentioning any other country, such as Russia, signing the SCO document.
We then looked at the SCO charter available on the site of India’s Ministry of External Affairs. Article 16 on the procedures on taking decisions says that SCO decisions are taken by agreement without voting as long as no member objects. It says:
“The SCO bodies shall take decisions by agreement without vote and their decisions shall be considered adopted if no member State has raised objections during its consideration (consensus), except for the decisions on suspension of membership or expulsion from the Organization that shall be taken by “consensus minus one vote of the member State concerned.”
This meant that SCO statements are adopted by unanimous consensus. But to be sure, we also reached out to a journalist who has covered diplomatic and strategic affairs for over a decade to understand how countries adopt statements at the SCO. This journalist, who did not wish to be identified, clarified that the “signing” on the draft statement is only if all members agree to adopt it, which was not the case in this SCO defence ministers’ meeting. So, if one member state does not agree, there is no way that some member states sign the document and others do not. It is either adopted as a whole by all or it’s not, he reiterated.
So, the claim that Russia ‘signed’ the joint SCO statement supporting Pakistan’s position over India is not true.
Also, the SCO published a report on the defence ministers’ meet on June 26 in which Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh can also be seen among the representatives of the invited nations. This debunks the claim that there was a closed-door SCO meeting at which India was not invited.
To sum up, the viral claims that India was not invited to a closed-door SCO meeting or that Russia signed a joint SCO statement favouring Pakistan are baseless.
In an unprecedented legal move in Aotearoa New Zealand, a national Palestine solidarity advocacy group has filed a referral against the prime minister, three other ministers in the coalition government and two business leaders, alleging complicity with Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza.
The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) has accused the six individuals of complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by “assisting Israel’s mass killing and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza”.
The PSNA movement has led 90 consecutive weeks of protest at multiple locations across New Zealand in the country’s biggest humn rights campaign since the war began in October 2023.
In a statement, PSNA co-chairs John Minto and Maher Nazzal said the referral “carefully outlines a case that these six individuals should be investigated” by the Office of the Prosecutor for their knowing contribution to Israel’s crimes in Gaza.
“The 103-page referral document was prepared by a legal team which has been working on the case for many months,” said Minto and Nazzal.
“It is legally robust and will provide the prosecutor of the ICC more than sufficient documentation to begin their investigation.”
The six people named in the referral documentation are Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Minister for Defence and Space Judith Collins, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour, and businessmen Rocket Lab chief executive Sir Peter Beck and Rakon Limited chief executive Dr Sinan Altug.
Spy satellites
According to PSNA, Rocket Lab launches spy satellites from Māhia, which PSNA claims Israel uses go target civilians in Gaza, while Rakon exports military-grade crystal oscillators to the US “to be put in missiles which Israel can deploy in Gaza and elsewhere”.
“This is a grave step which we have not taken lightly,” Minto and Nazzal said.
PSNA co-chair John Minto … “This is a grave step which we have not taken lightly.” Image: PMC
“The government’s ongoing and meaningful support for Israel, despite its horrendous war crimes, is not only egregious to most New Zealanders, but is also criminal conduct under international law.”
The PSNA referral follows an open letter by one of the country’s largest environmental organisations two days ago that called on the government to impose sanctions on Israel amid mounting criticism in New Zealand over war crimes allegations against the state over its 20-month war.
Greenpeace’s sanctions open letter to NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Image: Greenpeace screeshot APR
Greenpeace Aotearoa’s executive director Dr Russel Norman, a former Green Party co-leader, said in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Luxon and Foreign Minister Peters that he was expressing grave concerns about the “ongoing genocide in Gaza being carried out by Israeli forces, and the ongoing failure of the New Zealand government to impose meaningful sanctions on Israel.”
Norman cited a statement by the UN Human Rights Office last week that “at least 410 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to fetch from controversial new aid hubs in Gaza”.
The office said this was “a likely war crime”.
‘Killing field’
He also cited Ha’aretz, a respected Israeli newspaper, quoting an Israeli soldier describing the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHC) aid hubs as a “killing field”.
PSNA co-chair Maher Nazzal . . . “This has brought shame on the whole country.” Image: APR
In March last year, Sydney law firm Birchgrove Legal referred a case to ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan consisting of 92 pages of documented evidence, alleging that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and several other high level local politicians were complicit in the Gaza genocide.
‘Letter of demand’
The New Zealand referral to the ICC followed a “letter of demand” issued to the government last year actions that a “reasonable government” would take to prevent and punish the crime of genocide, and the actions a government should take to avoid criminal complicity with Israel.
The ICC referral document from PSNA against the New Zealand coalition government individuals. Image: PSNA screenshot APR
“For 20 months these political and business leaders have supported Israel to commit crimes which have shocked the human conscience,” Minto and Nazzal said.
“This has brought shame on the whole country.”
It is understood that this is the first time that New Zealand political or business leaders have been referred to the ICC for investigation.
There were no immediate responses. However, a growing number of such cases are being filed around the world.
In July 2024, the UN’s highest global court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion declaring that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza and East Jerusalem, was illegal.
It called on Israel to halt all settlements and withdraw settlers from the territory. The court is also investigating Israel over a case brought by South Africa alleging genocide.
Immediately after killing Fernando Pereira and blowing up Greenpeace’s flagship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, several of the French agents went on a ski holiday in New Zealand’s South Island to celebrate.
Such was the contempt the French had for the Kiwis and the abilities of our police to pursue them. How wrong they were.
A new prologue by former prime minister Helen Clark and a preface by Greenpeace’s Bunny McDiarmid, along with an extensive postscript which bring us up to the present day, underline why the past is not dead; it’s with us right now.
Written by David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report, who spent 11 weeks on the final voyage of the Warrior, the book is the most remarkable piece of history I have read this year and one of those rare books that has the power to expand your mind and make your blood boil at the same time. I thought I knew a fair bit about the momentous events surrounding the attack — until I read Eyes of Fire.
Heroes of our age The book covers the history of Greenpeace action — from fighting the dumping of nuclear and other toxic waste in European waters, the Arctic and the Pacific, voyages to link besieged communities across the oceans, through to their epic struggles to halt whaling and save endangered marine colonies from predators.
The Rainbow Warrior’s very last voyage before the bombing was to evacuate the entire population of Rongelap atoll (about 320 people) in the Marshall Islands who had been exposed to US nuclear radiation for decades.
This article is the first of two in which I will explore themes that the book triggered for me.
Neither secret nor intelligent – the French secret intelligence service
Jean-Luc Kister was the DGSE (Direction-générale de la Sécurité extérieure) agent who placed the two bombs that ripped a massive hole in the hull of the Warrior on 10 July 1985. The ship quickly sank, trapping Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira inside.
Former colonel Kister was a member of a large team of elite agents sent to New Zealand. One had also infiltrated Greenpeace months before, some travelled through the country prior to the attack, drinking, rooting New Zealand women and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that led all the way to the Palais de l’Élysée where François Mitterrand, Socialist President of France, had personally given the order to bomb the famous peace vessel.
Robie aptly calls the French mission “Blundergate”. The stupidity, howling incompetence and moronic lack of a sound strategic rationale behind the attack were only matched by the mendacity, the imperial hauteur and the racist contempt that lies at the heart of French policy in the Pacific to this very day.
Thinking the Kiwi police would be no match for their élan, their savoir-faire and their panache, some of the killers hit the ski slopes to celebrate “Mission Accompli”. Others fled to Norfolk Island aboard a yacht, the Ouvéa.
Tracked there by the New Zealand police it was only with the assistance of our friends and allies, the Australians, that the agents were able to escape. Within days they sank their yacht at sea during a rendezvous with a French nuclear submarine and were evenually able to return to France for medals and promotions.
Two of the agents, however, were not so lucky. As everyone my age will recall, Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart, were nabbed after a lightning fast operation by New Zealand police.
With friends and allies like these, who needs enemies? We should recall that the French were our allies at the time. They decided, however, to stop the Rainbow Warrior from leading a flotilla of ships up to Moruroa Atoll in French Polynesia where yet another round of nuclear tests were scheduled. In other words: they bombed a peace ship to keep testing bombs.
By 1995, France had detonated 193 nuclear bombs in the South Pacific.
David Robie sees the bombing as “a desperate attempt by one of the last colonial powers in the Pacific to hang on to the vestiges of empire by blowing up a peace ship so it could continue despoiling Pacific islands for the sake of an independent nuclear force”.
The US, UK and Australia cold-shouldered New Zealand through this period and uttered not a word of condemnation against the French. Within two years we were frog-marched out of the ANZUS alliance with Australia and the US because of our ground-breaking nuclear-free legislation.
It was a blessing and the dawn of a period in which New Zealanders had an intense sense of national pride — a far cry from today when New Zealand politicians are being referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes associated with the Gaza genocide.
The French State invented the term ‘terrorism’ I studied French History at university in France and did a paper called “La France à la veille de révolution” (France on the eve of revolution). One of the chilling cultural memories is of the period from September 1793 to July 1794, which was known as La Terreur.
At the time the French state literally coined the term “terrorisme” — with the blade of the guillotine dropping on neck after neck as the state tried to consolidate power through terror. But, as Robie points out, quoting law professor Roger S. Clark, we tend to use the term today to refer almost exclusively to non-state actors.
With the US and Israel gunning down starving civilians in Gaza every day, with wave after wave of terror attacks being committed inside Iran and across the Middle East by Mossad, the CIA and MI6, we should amend this erroneous habit.
The DGSE team who attached limpet mines to the Rainbow Warrior did so as psychopathic servants of the French State. Eyes of Fire: “At the time, Prime Minister David Lange described the Rainbow Warrior attack as ‘nothing more than a sordid act of international state-backed terrorism’.”
Don’t get me wrong. I am not “anti-French”. I lived for years in France, had a French girlfriend, studied French history, language and literature. I even had friends in Wellington who worked at the French Embassy.
Curiously when I lived next to Premier House, the official residence of the prime minister, my other next door neighbour was a French agent who specialised in surveillance. Our houses backed onto Premier House. Quelle coïncidence. To his mild consternation I’d greet him with “Salut, mon espion favori.” (Hello, my favourite spy).
What I despise is French colonialism, French racism, and what the French call magouillage. I don’t know a good English word for it . . . it is a mix of shenanigans, duplicity, artful deception to achieve unscrupulous outcomes that can’t be publicly avowed. In brief: what the French attempted in Auckland in 1985.
Robie recounts in detail the lying, smokescreens and roadblocks that everyone from President Mitterrand through to junior officials put in the way of the New Zealand investigators. Mitterrand gave Prime Minister David Lange assurances that the culprits would be brought to justice. The French Embassy in Wellington claimed at the time: “In no way is France involved. The French government doesn’t deal with its opponents in such ways.”
It took years for the bombshell to explode that none other than Mitterrand himself had ordered the terrorist attack on New Zealand and Greenpeace!
We the people of the Pacific We, the people of the Pacific, owe a debt to Greenpeace and all those who were part of the Rainbow Warrior, including author David Robie. We must remember the crime and call it by its name: state terrorism.
The French attempted to escape justice, deny involvement and then welched on the terms of the agreement negotiated with the help of the United Nations secretary-general.
A great way to honour the sacrifice of those who stood up for justice, who stood for peace and a nuclear-free Pacific, and who honoured our own national identity would be to buy David Robie’s excellent book.
I’ll give the last word to former Prime Minister Helen Clark:
“This is the time for New Zealand to link with the many small and middle powers across regions who have a vision for a world characterised by solidarity and peace and which can rise to the occasion to combat the existential challenges it faces — including of nuclear weapons, climate change, and artificial intelligence. If our independent foreign policy is to mean anything in the mid-2020s, it must be based on concerted diplomacy for peace and sustainable development.”
You cannot sink a rainbow.
Eugene Doyle is a writer based in Wellington. He has written extensively on the Middle East, as well as peace and security issues in the Asia Pacific region. He contributes to Asia Pacific Report and Café Pacific, and hosts the public policy platform solidarity.co.nz
The Catholic Church has strongly warned against Papua New Guinea’s political rhetoric and push to declare the nation a Christian country, saying such a move threatens constitutional freedoms and risks dangerous implications for the country’s future.
Speaking before the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Communication on Tuesday at Rapopo during the ongoing Regional Parliamentary Inquiry into the Standard and Integrity of Journalism in Papua New Guinea, Archbishop Rochus Tatamai of the Rabaul Archdiocese delivered a firm but thoughtful reflection on the issue, voicing the Catholic Church’s opposition to the notion of a legally enshrined Christian nation.
“When talking about freedom of media and PNG, a Christian country, we must be clear,” said Archbishop Tatamai. “The claim that PNG is a Christian country is not supported by law.
“The Catholic Church disagrees with this. It conflicts with our Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.”
The archbishop’s remarks were part of a broader presentation on the influence of evolving technology on church authority, but he took the opportunity to confront what he called one of the major topics in PNG today.
He raised concerns about the legal, social, and theological implications of attempting to legislate Christianity into state law, stating that politicians were not theologians and risked entering spiritual territory without the understanding to handle it responsibly.
“If we declare PNG a Christian nation,” he asked, “whose version of Christianity are we referring to? We’re not all the same.”
Legal obligation
He warned of a future where attending church could become a legal obligation, not a matter of faith.
“If PNG is supposedly a Christian nation, police could walk into your village and tell you: it’s not just a sin to skip church on Sunday, it’s illegal and get you arrested.’ That’s how dangerous this path could be.”
Archbishop Tatamai also referenced the Chief Justice, who had recently stated that if PNG were truly a Christian nation, then principles like honesty would become enforceable laws: “You should not steal. And if you do, you’re not only sinning you’re breaking the law.”
But the archbishop warned that such a conflation of morality and legality opens up deep conflicts.
“History has shown us the dangers of blurring the line between church and state. Blood has been spilled over this in other parts of the world. Are we ready for that?”
He stressed that the founding fathers of PNG had been wise to embed freedom of religion and conscience into the Constitution, ensuring that the state remained neutral in matters of faith.
“Now, we risk undoing their vision by imposing a national religion,” he said.
Challenged Parliament
The archbishop also challenged Parliament and national leaders to think beyond symbolism.
“Yes, Parliament can pass declarations. Yes, politicians can make the numbers. But have they truly thought through the implications and applications of these decisions?”
He concluded his presentation with a sharp warning against hypocrisy and selective morality under a Christian state:
“You cannot use Christianity as a legal framework and continue with corruption. You cannot justify wrongdoing and expect forgiveness simply because now, in a confessional state, sin becomes crime and crime must have consequences.”
Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.
In July 1985, Australia’s Pacific territory of Norfolk Island (pop. 2188) became the centre of a real life international spy thriller.
Four French agents sailed there on board the Ouvéa, a yacht from Kanaky New Caledonia, after bombing the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland, killing Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira.
The Rainbow Warrior was the flagship for a protest flotilla due to travel to Moruroa atoll to challenge French nuclear tests.
Australian police took them into custody on behalf of their New Zealand counterparts but then, bafflingly, allowed them to sail away, never to face justice.
On the 40th anniversary of the bombing (10 July 2025), award-winning journalist Richard Baker goes on an adventure from Paris to the Pacific to get the real story – and ultimately uncover the role that Australia played in the global headline-making affair.
The programme includes an interview with Pacific journalist David Robie, author of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior. David’s article about this episode is published at Declassified Australia here.
On June 16, amid the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran, Iranian state TV journalist Sahar Emami’s live broadcast had to be cut short. Israel had attacked the studio of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in Tehran, where Emami was hosting her show. However, within minutes, she returned to complete her programme despite the adversities. The moment cemented her popularity and resilience on social media. Soon after, her X account @iamSaharEmami became very active. Many on social media began flocking to it for updates on the ground situation in Iran.
The account, with her image, identified her as a journalist and the “Iranian voice for truth,” “sharing real stories from the ground”. Created in October 2023, the account gathered nearly 200,000 followers after the video of her TV appearance amid the bombing in Tehran went viral. Below is a screenshot of her account when her follower count was steadily increasing.
However, Alt News found that this account, which appears authentic, impersonates the Iranian state TV anchor.
But even before Emami’s video statement, several things about the user made us suspect that this was an impostor. Here’s how we identified it.
Identifying an Impersonator
Below are some pointers that raised doubts:
Old posts deleted: The account was created in October 2023, yet the first post by this account visible right now is as recent as June 18, 2025. This seemed highly unlikely. Since we had tracked the user for some time, we knew that there were older posts that were deleted. Fortunately, we took screenshots of the deleted posts with their original publication dates. Click to view slideshow.
Abusive language: We found some posts in which abusive language was used, that too in Hindi.
Posts: The first post from this account, available now, is from June 18. Here, the user draws parallels between Israel and the Nazi regime. Again, it seemed like content shared by troll accounts, not journalists.
4. Location:Before the account had as many followers, we noticed that the location was mentioned as Georgia, USA. It was later changed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
5. Misinformation: In several posts, the user had shared and amplified false, AI-generated, and misleading information, unlikely to be done by a journalist. We have embedded some examples below. (Archives 1, 2, 3)
On June 22, 2025, the account had also amplified misinformation that the US used Indian airspace to strike Iran during operation Midnight Hammer. (Archive)
CONFIRMED: Indian airspace was used by U.S. forces to strike Iran.
New Delhi’s quiet complicity now places it on the wrong side of history.
Iran will not forget. pic.twitter.com/cuuIeKKjXw
The account had shared posts quoting Pakistani media channels, which had also alleged that the US used Indian airspace to strike down Iranian nuclear plants.
One of the posts claiming the US used India’s airspace to strike was further amplified by Hamid Mir, a journalist from Pakistan who has also shared misinformation in the past.
The joint chief of staff for the US military, General Dan Caine, said during a press briefing on June 22 that the jets used in the operation, which included B-2 Spirit bombers, required refueling as they crossed the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The below map shows the route used and nowhere includes the Indian airspace.
The same day, India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) also refuted claims that India’s airspace was used by the US for operation Midnight Hammer.
Several social media accounts have claimed that Indian Airspace was used by the United States to launch aircrafts against Iran during Operation #MidnightHammer#PIBFactCheck
6. Attempt at establishing credibility with the same image: We noticed that the user shared images of Sahar Emami from her viral video with compelling captions to establish credibility. No other images or videos from other broadcasts were used. (Archive)
We’re not afraid of death.
We’re afraid of dishonor.
You can’t break us —
We’ll stand tall till the end. pic.twitter.com/JYF07lA09X
7. Pakistan-related posts: The account had also amplified some pro-Pakistan posts, especially those in favour of jailed leader Imran Khan. For instance, in one post dated June 18, 2025, the account advocates for former Pakistan PM Khan’s release. “Agreatleaderisunjustlyinjail, the caption of the post says. The video in the post has a woman lauding Iran for standing up to Israel and urging fellow Pakistani citizens bring back Imran Khan. Referring to Khan as a “charismatic leader,” she calls his leadership “the need of the hour” and condemns Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir.
ایک عظیم لیڈر ناحق جیل میں ہے، جبکہ ایک نااہل اور کمزور شخص 24 کروڑ عوام پر مسلط ہے۔ ہم ہر روز نئے بہانے تلاش کرتے ہیں۔
اگر آپ گھروں سے باہر نہ آئے تو نہ خان کی جدوجہد کامیاب ہوگی، نہ پاکستان حقیقی آزادی پائے گا۔ pic.twitter.com/u6Up0tLQzj
The account also shared a video by Pakistani senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri.
آج دنیا میں جو جنگ چھڑی ہے، وہ صرف زمین، وسائل یا اقتدار کی لڑائی نہیں، بلکہ یہ حق اور باطل کے دو متضاد نظاموں کا تصادم ہے۔ مغرب اور سامراجی قوتیں اس نظام سے لرزہ براندام ہیں جو ظلم کے آگے جھکنے سے انکار کرتا ہے، جو مظلوم کا ساتھ دیتا ہے، اور جو استعماری غلبے کو للکارتا ہے۔ حقیقت… pic.twitter.com/Pf0V1543zj
These indicators helped us identify this as an impersonator account. However, to a lay social media user, these clues may not occur immediately. To make matters worse, the profile also has a blue tick or a verified badge. The badge, was once a marker of authenticity, now offers little assurance that an account truly represents a public figure or credible source, since it can be paid for.
Such “verified” impersonator and troll accounts also signal a larger problem with X’s policy, which states that a verified badge serves as an indicator that an account is in “public interest” and is “authentic.” In practice, however, it has helped dubious accounts amplify misinformation and blurred the line between credible and non-credible sources of information.
On June 16, amid the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran, Iranian state TV journalist Sahar Emami’s live broadcast had to be cut short. Israel had attacked the studio of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in Tehran, where Emami was hosting her show. However, within minutes, she returned to complete her programme despite the adversities. The moment cemented her popularity and resilience on social media. Soon after, her X account @iamSaharEmami became very active. Many on social media began flocking to it for updates on the ground situation in Iran.
The account, with her image, identified her as a journalist and the “Iranian voice for truth,” “sharing real stories from the ground”. Created in October 2023, the account gathered nearly 200,000 followers after the video of her TV appearance amid the bombing in Tehran went viral. Below is a screenshot of her account when her follower count was steadily increasing.
However, Alt News found that this account, which appears authentic, impersonates the Iranian state TV anchor.
But even before Emami’s video statement, several things about the user made us suspect that this was an impostor. Here’s how we identified it.
Identifying an Impersonator
Below are some pointers that raised doubts:
Old posts deleted: The account was created in October 2023, yet the first post by this account visible right now is as recent as June 18, 2025. This seemed highly unlikely. Since we had tracked the user for some time, we knew that there were older posts that were deleted. Fortunately, we took screenshots of the deleted posts with their original publication dates. Click to view slideshow.
Abusive language: We found some posts in which abusive language was used, that too in Hindi.
Posts: The first post from this account, available now, is from June 18. Here, the user draws parallels between Israel and the Nazi regime. Again, it seemed like content shared by troll accounts, not journalists.
4. Location:Before the account had as many followers, we noticed that the location was mentioned as Georgia, USA. It was later changed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
5. Misinformation: In several posts, the user had shared and amplified false, AI-generated, and misleading information, unlikely to be done by a journalist. We have embedded some examples below. (Archives 1, 2, 3)
On June 22, 2025, the account had also amplified misinformation that the US used Indian airspace to strike Iran during operation Midnight Hammer. (Archive)
CONFIRMED: Indian airspace was used by U.S. forces to strike Iran.
New Delhi’s quiet complicity now places it on the wrong side of history.
Iran will not forget. pic.twitter.com/cuuIeKKjXw
The account had shared posts quoting Pakistani media channels, which had also alleged that the US used Indian airspace to strike down Iranian nuclear plants.
One of the posts claiming the US used India’s airspace to strike was further amplified by Hamid Mir, a journalist from Pakistan who has also shared misinformation in the past.
The joint chief of staff for the US military, General Dan Caine, said during a press briefing on June 22 that the jets used in the operation, which included B-2 Spirit bombers, required refueling as they crossed the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The below map shows the route used and nowhere includes the Indian airspace.
The same day, India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) also refuted claims that India’s airspace was used by the US for operation Midnight Hammer.
Several social media accounts have claimed that Indian Airspace was used by the United States to launch aircrafts against Iran during Operation #MidnightHammer#PIBFactCheck
6. Attempt at establishing credibility with the same image: We noticed that the user shared images of Sahar Emami from her viral video with compelling captions to establish credibility. No other images or videos from other broadcasts were used. (Archive)
We’re not afraid of death.
We’re afraid of dishonor.
You can’t break us —
We’ll stand tall till the end. pic.twitter.com/JYF07lA09X
7. Pakistan-related posts: The account had also amplified some pro-Pakistan posts, especially those in favour of jailed leader Imran Khan. For instance, in one post dated June 18, 2025, the account advocates for former Pakistan PM Khan’s release. “Agreatleaderisunjustlyinjail, the caption of the post says. The video in the post has a woman lauding Iran for standing up to Israel and urging fellow Pakistani citizens bring back Imran Khan. Referring to Khan as a “charismatic leader,” she calls his leadership “the need of the hour” and condemns Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir.
ایک عظیم لیڈر ناحق جیل میں ہے، جبکہ ایک نااہل اور کمزور شخص 24 کروڑ عوام پر مسلط ہے۔ ہم ہر روز نئے بہانے تلاش کرتے ہیں۔
اگر آپ گھروں سے باہر نہ آئے تو نہ خان کی جدوجہد کامیاب ہوگی، نہ پاکستان حقیقی آزادی پائے گا۔ pic.twitter.com/u6Up0tLQzj
The account also shared a video by Pakistani senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri.
آج دنیا میں جو جنگ چھڑی ہے، وہ صرف زمین، وسائل یا اقتدار کی لڑائی نہیں، بلکہ یہ حق اور باطل کے دو متضاد نظاموں کا تصادم ہے۔ مغرب اور سامراجی قوتیں اس نظام سے لرزہ براندام ہیں جو ظلم کے آگے جھکنے سے انکار کرتا ہے، جو مظلوم کا ساتھ دیتا ہے، اور جو استعماری غلبے کو للکارتا ہے۔ حقیقت… pic.twitter.com/Pf0V1543zj
These indicators helped us identify this as an impersonator account. However, to a lay social media user, these clues may not occur immediately. To make matters worse, the profile also has a blue tick or a verified badge. The badge, was once a marker of authenticity, now offers little assurance that an account truly represents a public figure or credible source, since it can be paid for.
Such “verified” impersonator and troll accounts also signal a larger problem with X’s policy, which states that a verified badge serves as an indicator that an account is in “public interest” and is “authentic.” In practice, however, it has helped dubious accounts amplify misinformation and blurred the line between credible and non-credible sources of information.
A 55-second-long clip, purportedly showing a Dalit labourer with his hands tied and his head being shaved against his will as a crowd laughs at his plight, is viral on social media. In the second half of the clip, the man is seen speaking to the media, narrating the ordeal he was subjected to. He says his head was forcibly shaved as an act of humiliation because he refused a job, and he was then paraded in that state.
X user Navratn Lal Yadav (@NavrtnYadav) shared the clip on June 29 with a caption in Hindi that translates to: “Now if a Yadav, Lodhi, or Dalit refuses to work as a labourer, their head is shaved, they are hung upside down and made to drink water, paraded through the entire village—this is the Taliban-like punishment of the BJP government. There is no definition for what happened in Jhansi; under the protection of the government of the dominant people, their courage is emboldened. PDA will change the government in 2027”. So far, this post has received over 163,000 views and has been retweeted nearly 2,000 times. (Archive)
यादव , लोधी अब दलित अगर मजदूरी से मना कर देगा तो उसका सर गंजा कर दिया उल्टा लटका के पानी पिलाया पूरे गाँव मे घुमाया ये तालिबानी सजा है भाजपा सरकार की कोई नहीं परिभाषा झाँसी में जो क्रत्य हुईं प्रभुत्ववादी लोगों के सरकार के संरक्षण में जो होसले बुंलन्द है PDA 2027 में सरकार बदलेगा pic.twitter.com/mMyMFKKyCb
Several other users shared the same clip, claiming that the victim belongs to the Dalit community and the perpetrators are from a dominant caste. Below are a few instances.
We noticed that the Jhansi police clarified, under some of the recent posts carrying the viral clip, that the video is eight months old and that both parties are from the same community.
To know more about the incident, we broke down the viral video into several keyframes and ran a reverse image search on a few of them. This led us to a report by Aaj Tak from October 25, 2024, which carried a screengrab from the viral clip. The headline of the article said: ‘A young man was punished for not preparing fodder for the buffalo, his head was shaved and he was hung from a tree with his hands and legs tied’.
The report mentioned that the victim, 45-year-old Baba Kabutra, was tortured by four men, who have been referred to as bullies, from the Takori village in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. According to the report, one of the assailants was pressuring the victim to move from the Padri village to Takori to prepare fodder and clean dung of his cattle. When the victim declined the job, four men—Vijay, Nakul, Shatrughan and Kallu—dragged him from his workplace, shoved him into a car and took him to Takori village where they shaved his head, paraded him through the village, beat him up with his hands and feet tied and hung him upside down from a tree.
A case had been registered at the Sipri Bazar police station after the video of the victim’s head being shaven went viral on social media. The report, however, made no mention of the victim or the assailant’s castes.
We then came across a report by Hindustan Times, also from October 25, 2024. Quoting the station officer of Sipri Bazar police station, the report mentioned that both the accused and the victim belonged to the same caste.
A video statement by superintendent of police, Gyanendra Kumar Singh, shared on Jhansi Police’s official X account on October 26, 2024 made it clear that the victim was “Baba Kabutra”, a resident of Padri village, and the assailants, three of whom had been arrested, were also from the Kabutra community.
सोशल मीडिया के माध्यम से प्राप्त वीडियो के सम्बन्ध में थाना सीपरी बाजार पर सुसगंत धाराओं में अभियोग पंजीकृत कर घटना से सम्बन्धित तीन अभियुक्तों को गिरफ्तार कर अग्रेतर कार्यवाही की जा रही है । इस सम्बन्ध में पुलिस अधीक्षक नगर की बाइट pic.twitter.com/ETmqBsufaf
To sum up, the viral clip is from October 2024, and is not an instance of caste-based violence. The victim and the assailants are from the same community.
A Tongan cybersecurity expert says the country’s health data hack is a “wake-up call” for the whole region.
Siosaia Vaipuna, a former director of Tonga’s cybersecurity agency, spoke to RNZ Pacific in the wake of the June 15 cyberattack on the country’s Health Ministry.
Vaipuna said Tonga and other Pacific nations were vulnerable to data breaches due to the lack of awareness and cybersecurity systems in the region.
“There’s increasing digital connectivity in the region, and we’re sort of . . . the newcomers to the internet,” he said.
“I think the connectivity is moving faster than the online safety awareness activity [and] that makes not just Tonga, but the Pacific more vulnerable and targeted.”
Since the data breach, the Tongan government has said “a small amount” of information from the attack was published online. This included confidential information, it said in a statement.
Reporting on the attack has also attributed the breach to the group Inc Ransomware.
Vaipuna said the group was well-known and had previously focused on targeting organisations in Europe and the US.
New Zealand attack
However, earlier this month, it targeted the Waiwhetū health organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand. That attack reportedly included the theft of patient consent forms and education and training data.
“This type of criminal group usually employs a double-extortion tactic,” Vaipuna said.
It could encrypt data and then demand money to decrypt, he said.
“The other ransom is where they are demanding payment so that they don’t release the information that they hold to the public or sell it on to other cybercriminals.”
In the current Tonga cyberattack, media reports say that Inc Ransomware wanted a ransom of US$1 million for the information it accessed. The Tongan government has said it has not paid anything.
Vaipuna said more needed to be done to raise awareness in the region around cybersecurity and online safety systems, particularly among government departments.
“I think this is a wake-up call. The cyberattacks are not just happening in movies or on the news or somewhere else, they are actually happening right on our doorstep and impacting on our people.
Extra vigilance warning
“And the right attention and resources should rightfully be allocated to the organisations and to teams that are tasked with dealing with cybersecurity matters.”
The Tongan government has also warned people to be extra vigilant when online.
It said more information accessed in the cyberattack may be published online, and that may include patient information and medical records.
“Our biggest concern is for vulnerable groups of people who are most acutely impacted by information breaches of this kind,” the government said.
It said that it would contact these people directly.
The country’s ongoing response was also being aided by experts from Australia’s special cyberattack team.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
When advocates and defenders of a nuclear-free Pacific condemned the AUKUS military pact two years ago and warned New Zealand that the agreement would make the world “more dangerous”, a key speaker was Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua.
He was among leading participants at a Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) movement teachers’ wānanga, which launched a petition against the pact with one of the “elders” among the activists, Hilda Halkyard-Harawira (Te Moana Nui a Kiwa), symbolically adding the first signature.
Speaking about the petition declaration in a ceremony on the steps of the Auckland Museum marking the 10 July 1985 bombing of the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior, Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua explained that the AUKUS agreement was a military pact between Australia-UK-US that was centred on Canberra’s acquisition of nuclear propelled submarines.
Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua and the NFIP petition has been featured in a new video report by Nik Naidu as part of a “Legends of NFIP” series by Talanoa TV of the Whanau Community Centre and Hub.
In the new weekly political podcast, The Bradbury Group, last night presenter Martyn Bradbury talked with visiting Palestinian journalist Dr Yousef Aljamal.
They assess the current situation in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and what New Zealand should be doing.
As Bradbury, publisher of The Daily Blog, notes, “Fourth Estate public broadcasting is dying — The Bradbury Group will fight back.”
Gaza crisis and Iran tensions. Video: The Bradbury Group/Radio Waatea
Also in last night’s programme was featured a View From A Far Podcast Special Middle East Report with former intelligence analyst Dr Paul Buchanan and international affairs commentator Selwyn Manning on what will happen next in Iran.
Martyn Bradbury talks to Dr Paul Buchanan (left) and Selwyn Manning on the Iran crisis and the future. Image: Asia Pacific Report
Political Panel:
Māori Party president John Tamihere,
NZ Herald columnist Simon Wilson
NZCTU economist Craig Renney
Topics:
– The Legacy of Tarsh Kemp
– New coward punch and first responder assault laws — virtue signalling or meaningful policy?
– Cost of living crisis and the failing economy
Israel’s weaponisation of starvation is how genocides always end.
I covered the insidious effects of orchestrated starvation in the Guatemalan Highlands during the genocidal campaign of General Efraín Ríos Montt, the famine in southern Sudan that left a quarter of a million dead — I walked past the frail and skeletal corpses of families lining roadsides — and later during the war in Bosnia when Serbs cut off food supplies to enclaves such as Srebrencia and Goražde.
Starvation was weaponised by the Ottoman Empire to decimate the Armenians. It was used to kill millions of Ukrainians in the Holodomor in 1932 and 1933.
It was employed by the Nazis against the Jews in the ghettos in the Second World War. German soldiers used food, as Israel does, like bait. They offered three kilograms of bread and one kilogram of marmalade to lure desperate families in the Warsaw Ghetto onto transports to the death camps.
“There were times when hundreds of people had to wait in line for several days to be ‘deported,’” Marek Edelman writes in The Ghetto Fights. “The number of people anxious to obtain the three kilograms of bread was such that the transports, now leaving twice daily with 12,000 people, could not accommodate them all.”
And when crowds became unruly, as in Gaza, the German troops fired deadly volleys that ripped through emaciated husks of women, children and the elderly.
This tactic is as old as warfare itself.
Ordered to shoot
The report in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz that Israeli soldiers are ordered to shoot into crowds of Palestinians at aid hubs, with 580 killed and 4,216 wounded, is not a surprise. It is the predictable denouement of the genocide, the inevitable conclusion to a campaign of mass extermination.
Israel, with its targeted assassinations of at least 1400 health care workers, hundreds of United Nations (UN) workers, journalists, police and even poets and academics, its obliteration of multi-story apartment blocks wiping out dozens of families, its shelling of designated “humanitarian zones” where Palestinians huddle under tents, tarps or in the open air, its systematic targeting of UN food distribution centers, bakeries and aid convoys or its sadistic sniper fire that guns down children, long ago illustrated that Palestinians are regarded as vermin worthy only of annihilation.
The blockade of food and humanitarian aid, imposed on Gaza since March 2, is reducing Palestinians to abject dependence. To eat, they must crawl towards their killers and beg. Humiliated, terrified, desperate for a few scraps of food, they are stripped of dignity, autonomy and agency. This is by intent.
Yousef al-Ajouri, 40, explained to Middle East Eye his nightmarish journey to one of four aid hubs set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The hubs are not designed to meet the needs of the Palestinians, who once relied on 400 aid distribution sites, but to lure them from northern Gaza to the south.
Israel, which on Sunday again ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, is steadily expanding its annexation of the coastal strip. Palestinians are corralled like livestock into narrow metal chutes at distribution points which are overseen by heavily armed mercenaries. They receive, if they are one of the fortunate few, a small box of food.
Al-Ajouri, who before the genocide was a taxi driver, lives with his wife, seven children and his mother and father in a tent in al-Saraya, near the middle of Gaza City. He set out to an aid hub at Salah al-Din Road near the Netzarim corridor, to find some food for his children, who he said cry constantly “because of how hungry they are.”
On the advice of his neighbour in the tent next to him, he dressed in loose clothing “so that I could run and be agile.” He carried a bag for canned and packaged goods because the crush of the crowds meant “no one was able to carry the boxes the aid came in.”
Massive crowds
He left at about 9 pm with five other men “including an engineer and a teacher,” and “children aged 10 and 12.” They did not take the official route designated by the Israeli army. The massive crowds converging on the aid point along the official route ensure that most never get close enough to receive food.
Instead, they walked in the darkness in areas exposed to Israeli gunfire, often having to crawl to avoid being seen.
“As I crawled, I looked over, and to my surprise, saw several women and elderly people taking the same treacherous route as us,” he explained. “At one point, there was a barrage of live gunfire all around me. We hid behind a destroyed building. Anyone who moved or made a noticeable motion was immediately shot by snipers.
“Next to me was a tall, light-haired young man using the flashlight on his phone to guide him. The others yelled at him to turn it off. Seconds later, he was shot. He collapsed to the ground and lay there bleeding, but no one could help or move him. He died within minutes.”
He passed six bodies along the route who had been shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
Al-Ajouri reached the hub at 2 am, the designated time for aid distribution. He saw a green light turned on ahead of him which signaled that aid was about to be distributed. Thousands began to run towards the light, pushing, shoving and trampling each other. He fought his way through the crowd until he reached the aid.
“I started feeling around for the aid boxes and grabbed a bag that felt like rice,” he said. “But just as I did, someone else snatched it from my hands. I tried to hold on, but he threatened to stab me with his knife. Most people there were carrying knives, either to defend themselves or to steal from others.
Boxes were emptied
“Eventually, I managed to grab four cans of beans, a kilogram of bulgur, and half a kilogram of pasta. Within moments, the boxes were empty. Most of the people there, including women, children and the elderly, got nothing. Some begged others to share. But no one could afford to give up what they managed to get.”
The US contractors and Israeli soldiers overseeing the mayhem laughed and pointed their weapons at the crowd. Some filmed with their phones.
“Minutes later, red smoke grenades were thrown into the air,” he remembered. “Someone told me that it was the signal to evacuate the area. After that, heavy gunfire began. Me, Khalil and a few others headed to al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat because our friend Wael had injured his hand during the journey.
“I was shocked by what I saw at the hospital. There were at least 35 martyrs lying dead on the ground in one of the rooms. A doctor told me they had all been brought in that same day. They were each shot in the head or chest while queuing near the aid center. Their families were waiting for them to come home with food and ingredients. Now, they were corpses.”
The organisation has also contracted anti-Hamas drug-smuggling gangs to provide security at aid sites.
As Chris Gunness, a former spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) told Al Jazeera, GHF is “aid washing,” a way to mask the reality that “people are being starved into submission.”
Disregarded ICC ruling
Israel, along with the US and European countries that provide weapons to sustain the genocide, have chosen to disregard the January 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which demanded immediate protection for civilians in Gaza and widespread provision of humanitarian assistance.
“It’s a killing field” says a headline in the Ha’aretz newspaper. Image: Ha’aretz screenshot APR
“The distribution centers typically open for just one hour each morning,” Haaretz writes. “According to officers and soldiers who served in their areas, the IDF fires at people who arrive before opening hours to prevent them from approaching, or again after the centers close, to disperse them. Since some of the shooting incidents occurred at night — ahead of the opening — it’s possible that some civilians couldn’t see the boundaries of the designated area.”
“It’s a killing field,” one soldier told Ha’aretz. “Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They’re treated like a hostile force — no crowd-control measures, no tear gas — just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. Then, once the center opens, the shooting stops, and they know they can approach. Our form of communication is gunfire.”
“We open fire early in the morning if someone tries to get in line from a few hundred meters away, and sometimes we just charge at them from close range. But there’s no danger to the forces,” the soldier explained, “I’m not aware of a single instance of return fire. There’s no enemy, no weapons.”
He said the deployment at the aid sites is known as “Operation Salted Fish,” a reference to the Israeli name for the children’s game “Red light, green light.” The game was featured in the first episode of the South Korean dystopian thriller Squid Game, in which financially desperate people are killed as they battle each other for money.
Civilian infrastructure obliterated
Israel has obliterated the civilian and humanitarian infrastructure in Gaza. It has reduced Palestinians, half a million of whom face starvation, into desperate herds. The goal is to break Palestinians, to make them malleable and entice them to leave Gaza, never to return.
There is talk from the Trump White House about a ceasefire. But don’t be fooled. Israel has nothing left to destroy. Its saturation bombing over 20 months has reduced Gaza to a moonscape. Gaza is uninhabitable, a toxic wilderness where Palestinians, living amid broken slabs of concrete and pools of raw sewage, lack food and clean water, fuel, shelter, electricity, medicine and an infrastructure to survive.
The final impediment to the annexation of Gaza are the Palestinians themselves. They are the primary target. Starvation is the weapon of choice.
Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent for 15 years for The New York Times, where he served as the Middle East bureau chief and Balkan bureau chief for the paper. He is the host of show “The Chris Hedges Report”. This article is republished from his X account.
A video showing a man climbing a street lamp and removing American flags is being widely circulated on social media. Shared after Zohran Mamdani’s win in the mayoral primary for New York City, the footage is being shared with claims that Muslims in the city are taking down US flags.
On June 26, 2025, X user @iAnonPatriot shared the video with the claim. (Archive)
To check the authenticity of the video and claims, we ran a reverse image search on one of the keyframes from the clip and landed on a YouTube video. This video, which is the same as the viral clip, was uploaded on November 12, 2023, and the caption reads, “DISGUSTING! Pro Palestine protester ripping down American flags in NYC.”
We also came across the same video in an X post from November 11, 2023. The caption said that a Palestinian activist ‘desecrated’ the American flag on Veterans Day.
WATCH: Palestinian activist desecrates American flags on Veterans Day
We also found some news articles from around that time on protests by pro-Palestine demonstrators in which access to the Grand Central terminal was temporarily blocked. A report by Fox News from November 11, 2023, featured a similar video of someone taking down flags from a lamppost. The caption of the video said, “Pro-Palestinian protester arrested after tearing down American flags in New York City”.
Thus, the viral video has been shared with misleading communal claims after Zohran Mamdani’s win as the Democratic nominee for New York City’s mayoral race. It is from a 2023 pro-Palestine demonstration.
The Micronesian Islands Forum cranks up with officials meetings this week in Majuro, with the official opening for top leadership from the islands tomorrow morning.
Marshall Islands leaders are being joined at this summit by their counterparts from Kiribati, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau.
“At this year’s Leaders Forum, I hope we can make meaningful progress on resolving airline connectivity issues — particularly in Micronesia — so our region remains connected and one step ahead,” President Hilda Heine said on the eve of this subregional summit.
The Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have been negotiating with Nauru Airlines over the past two years to extend the current island hopper service with a link to Honolulu.
“Equally important,” said President Heine, “the Forum offers a vital platform to strengthen regional solidarity and build common ground on key issues such as climate, ocean health, security, trade, and other pressing challenges.
“Ultimately, our shared purpose must be to work together in support of the communities we represent.”
Monday and Tuesday featured official-level meetings at the International Conference Center in Majuro. Tomorrow will be the official opening of the Forum and will feature statements from each of the islands represented.
Handing over chair
Outgoing Micronesian Island Forum chair Guam Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero is expected to hand over the chair post to President Heine tomorrow morning.
Other top island leaders expected to attend the summit: FSM President Wesley Simina, Kiribati President Taneti Maamau, Nauru Deputy Speaker Isabela Dageago, Palau Minister Steven Victor, Chuuk Governor Alexander Narruhn, Pohnpei Governor Stevenson Joseph, Kosrae Governor Tulensa Palik, Yap Acting Governor Francis Itimai, and CNMI Lieutenant-Governor David Apatang.
Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa is also expected to participate.
Pretty much every subject of interest to the Pacific Islands will be on the table for discussions, including presentations on education, health and transportation. The latter will include a presentation by the Marshall Islands Aviation Task Force that has been meeting extensively with Nauru Airlines.
In addition, Pacific Ocean Commissioner Dr Filimon Manoni will deliver a presentation, gender equality will be on the table, as will updates on the SPC and Secretariat of the Pacific Region Environment Programme North Pacific offices, and the United Nations multi-country office.
The Micronesia Challenge environmental programme will get focus during a luncheon for the leaders hosted by the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority on Thursday at its new headquarters annex.
Bank presentations
Pacific Island Development Bank and the Bank of Guam will make presentations, as will the recently established Pacific Center for Island Security.
A special night market at the Marshall Islands Resort parking lot will be featured Wednesday evening.
Friday will feature a leaders retreat on Bokanbotin, a small resort island on Majuro Atoll’s north shore. While the leaders gather, other Forum participants will join a picnic or fishing tournament.
Friday evening is to feature the closing event to include the launching of the Marshall Islands’ Green Growth Initiative and the signing of the Micronesian Island Forum communique.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
A video, little more than a minute long, is viral on social media. It shows at least five injured men, their clothes stained with blood. Voices in the background suggest the presence of more people in the room. Children are also visible – among them, a wounded, dazed girl being attended to by a woman, and two children whose dresses are soaked in blood.
Users on social media have alleged that the viral video shows an influential Muslim family from Delhi’s Yamuna Vihar. Allegedly, the men in the video had protested the use of loudspeakers that were being used on the occasion of a religious program by a Hindu family in their lane. Users have suggested that this culminated in them being brutally beaten up by the Hindu family.
यह हाजी का परिवार यमुना विहार में मस्जिद के पास में रहता है घर में सब लोग पहलवान रहे है अच्छी खासी दबंगई इनकी इलाके में है इनकी गली में एक हिन्दू के घर कुछ धार्मिक कार्यक्रम चल रहा था जनाब वहां Loudspeaker बंद करवाने पहुंच गए और फिर हिन्दुओ ने बहुत शांति से इन शांतिदूतो को समझाया… pic.twitter.com/c8G3PfHwuJ
— Nadeem Shaikh (@SanataniMuslim_) June 22, 2025 
X user (@geetappoo) also posted the video. At the time of this article being written, the post has garnered more than 8 lakh views. (Archive)
यह हाजी का परिवार यमुना विहार में मस्जिद के पास में रहता है घर में सब लोग पहलवान हैं अच्छी खासी दबंगई इनकी इलाके में है इनकी गली में एक हिन्दू के घर कुछ धार्मिक कार्यक्रम चल रहा था जनाब वहां लाउडस्पीकर बंद करवाने पहुंच गए और फिर हिन्दुओ ने बहुत शांति से इन शांतिदूतो को समझाया…… pic.twitter.com/4GGOpRi44X
To verify the authenticity of the claims, we broke down the video into several keyframes. A reverse image search on one of these led us to a video on Instagram – which is the same as the one that recently went viral. We noticed that the video was uploaded on June 14, 2021.
The caption states: “Armed Hindutva mob, led by Vipin, attacked Muslim family at midnight in Delhi’s Yamuna Vihar injuring 14 people including 3 females. They called them Pakistanis and used other anti-Muslim slurs. This is second time family faced violence since Feb 2020.”
Taking cue from this, we ran a keyword search on Google, and came across a news report by The Indian Express, from June 15, 2021. The report states that ‘local residents from different communities’, in Delhi’s Yamuna Vihar area, had gotten into a heated clash over the opening of a gate in the area, on June 14.
According to the report, a resident from a nearby area, named Vipin Kumar, had tried accessing the gate late at night. Having found it locked, Kumar broke into an altercation with the security guard. At this juncture, another local resident, identified as Mohd. Yasin, along with some family members, intervened and reportedly rebuked Kumar. They allegedly assaulted him as well. In response, Kumar called his relatives to the spot, leading to a scuffle between the two groups. Several individuals from both sides sustained injuries during the altercation.
Moreover, we found an X post, from the official handle of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, of North East Delhi (@DCPNEastDelhi).
A criminal case has been registered regarding Yamuna Vihar incident and legal action initiated.
We request people to neither share nor promote inflammatory posts with twisted facts being circulated on social media with an intention to disturb our communal harmony.
— DCP North East Delhi (@DCPNEastDelhi) June 13, 2021
From this, it is evident that the incident was not communal in nature. The viral video, which is actually from 2021, has been amplified on social media with misleading claims, alleging that a Muslim family has been beaten up by a Hindu family for protesting the use of loudspeakers in a religious ceremony. On investigating, Alt News found that such claims are baseless.
The NGO Coalition on Human Rights in Fiji (NGOCHR) has called on Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka as the new chair of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to “uphold justice, stability and security” for Kanaky New Caledonia and West Papua.
In a statement today after last week’s MSG leaders’ summit in Suva, the coalition also warned over Indonesia’s “chequebook diplomacy” as an obstacle for the self-determination aspirations of Melanesian peoples not yet independent.
Indonesia is a controversial associate member of the MSG in what is widely seen in the region as a “complication” for the regional Melanesian body.
The statement said that with Rabuka’s “extensive experience as a seasoned statesman in the Pacific, we hope that this second chapter will chart a different course, one rooted in genuine commitment to uphold justice, stability and security for all our Melanesian brothers and sisters in Kanaky New Caledonia and West Papua”.
The coalition said the summit’s theme, “A peaceful and prosperous Melanesia”, served as a reminder that even after several decades of regional bilaterals, “our Melanesian leaders have made little to no progress in fulfilling its purpose in the region — to support the independence and sovereignty of all Melanesians”.
“Fiji, as incoming chair, inherits the unfinished work of the MSG. As rightly stated by the late great Father Walter Lini, ‘We will not be free until all of Melanesia is free”, the statement said.
“The challenges for Fiji’s chair to meet the goals of the MSG are complex and made more complicated by the inclusion of Indonesia as an associate member in 2015.
‘Indonesia active repression’
“Indonesia plays an active role in the ongoing repression of West Papuans in their desire for independence. Their associate member status provides a particular obstacle for Fiji as chair in furthering the self-determination goals of the MSG.”
Complicating matters further was the asymmetry in the relationship between Indonesia and the rest of the MSG members, the statement said.
“As a donor government and emerging economic power, Indonesia’s ‘chequebook and cultural diplomacy’ continues to wield significant influence across the region.
“Its status as an associate member of the MSG raises serious concerns about whether it is appropriate, as this pathway risks further marginalising the voices of our West Papuan sisters and brothers.”
This defeated the “whole purpose of the MSG: ‘Excelling together towards a progressive and prosperous Melanesia’.”
The coalition acknowledged Rabuka’s longstanding commitment to the people of Kanaky New Caledonia. A relationship and shared journey that had been forged since 1989.
‘Stark reminder’
The pro-independence riots of May 2024 served as a “stark reminder that much work remains to be done to realise the full aspirations of the Kanak people”.
As the Pacific awaited a “hopeful and favourable outcome” from the Troika Plus mission to Kanaky New Caledonia, the coalition said that it trusted Rabuka to “carry forward the voices, struggles, dreams and enduring aspirations of the people of Kanaky New Caledonia”.
The statement called on Rabuka as the new chair of MSG to:
Ensure the core founding values, and mission of the MSG are upheld;
Re-evaluate Indonesia’s appropriateness as an associate member of the MSG; and
Elevate discussions on West Papua and Kanaky New Caledonia at the MSG level and through discussions at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders.
The Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) represents the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (chair), Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, Citizens’ Constitutional Forum, femLINKpacific, Social Empowerment and Education Program, and Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality Fiji. Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) is an observer.
The Fiji government is spending big on this year’s budget.
The country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, unveiled a FJ$4.8 billion (about NZ$3.5 billion) spending package, complete with cost of living measures and fiscal stimulus, to the Fijian Parliament on Friday.
This is about F$280 million more than last year, with the deficit widening to around $886 million.
Dr Prasad told Parliament that his government had guided the country to a better economic position than where he found it.
“When we came into office we were in a precarious economic crossroad . . . our first priority was to restore macroeconomic stability, rebuild trust in policymaking institutions, and chart a path towards sustainable and inclusive growth.”
The 2025/2026 budget consisted of a spending increase across almost every area, with education, the largest area of spending, up $69 million to $847 million overall.
The health sector received $611.6 million, the Fijian Roads Authority $388 million, and the Police force $240.3 million, all increases.
A package of cost of living measures costing the government $800 million has also been announced. This includes a value-added tax (VAT) cut from 15 percent to 12.5 percent on goods and services.
Various import duties, which firms pay for goods from overseas, have been cut, such as chicken pieces and parts (from 42 to 15 percent) and frozen fish (from 15 to 0 percent).
A subsidy to reduce bus fares by 10 percent was announced, alongside a 3 percent increase in salaries for civil servants, both beginning in August.
Drastic international conditions In a news conference, Dr Prasad said that responding to difficult global economic shocks was the primary rationale behind the budget.
“This is probably one of the most uncertain global economic environments that we have gone through. There has been no resolution on the tariffs by the United States and the number of countries, big or small,” he said.
“We have never had this kind of interest in Fiji from overseas investors or diaspora, and we are doing a lot more work to get our diaspora to come back.”
When asked why the VAT was cut, reducing government revenue and widening the deficit, Dr Prasad said there was a need to encourage consumer spending.
“If the Middle East crisis deepens and oil prices go up, the first thing that will be affected will be the supply chain . . . prices could go up, people could be affected more.”
On building resilience from global shocks, Dr Prasad said the budget would reduce Fiji’s reliance on tourism, remittances, and international supply chains, by building domestic industry.
“It kills two birds in one [stone]. It addresses any big shock we might get . . . plus it also helps the people who would be affected.”
In their Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank projected economic growth of 2.6 percent in 2025, after a slump from 7.5 percent in 2023 to 3.8 percent in 2024.
Senior World Bank economist Ekaterine Vashakmadze told RNZ that Fiji was an interesting case.
“Fiji is one of the countries that suffered the sharpest shock [post-covid] . . . because tourism stopped.”
“On the other hand, Fiji was one of the first countries in the Pacific to recover fully in terms of the output to pre-pandemic level.”
Deficit too high — opposition Opposition members have hit out at the government over the scale of the spend, and whether it would translate into outcomes.
Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj, in a statement to local media outlet Duavata News, referred to the larger deficit as “deeply troubling”.
“The current trajectory is concerning, and the government must change its fiscal strategy to one that is truly sustainable.”
“The way the budget is being presented, it’s like the government is trying to show that in one year Fiji will become a developed country.”
MP Ketal Lal on social media called the budget “a desperate cloak for scandal” designed to appeal to voters ahead of elections in 2026.
“This is what happens when a government governs by pressure instead of principle. The people have been crying out for years. The Opposition has consistently raised concerns about the crushing cost of living but they only act when it becomes politically necessary. And even then, it’s never enough.”
He also pointed out, regarding the 3 percent increase in civil servants salaries, that someone earning $30,000 a year would only see a pay increase of $900 per year.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Tahiti will mark Matari’i as a national public holiday for the first time in November, following in the footsteps of Matariki in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Matari’i refers to the same star cluster as Matariki. And for Tahitians, November 20 will mark the start of Matari’i i ni’a — the “season of abundance” — which lasts for six months to be followed by Matari’i i raro, the “season of scarcity”.
Te Māreikura Whakataka-Brightwell is a New Zealand artist who was born in Tahiti and raised in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, Gisborne, with whakapapa links to both countries. He spoke to RNZ’s Matariki programme from the island of Moorea.
His father was the master carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell, and his grandfather was the renowned Tahitian navigator Francis Puara Cowan.
In Tahiti, there has been a series of cultural revival practices, and with the support of the likes of Professor Rangi Mātāmua, there is hope to bring these practices out into the public arena, he said.
The people of Tahiti had always lived in accordance with Matari’i i ni’a and Matari’i i raro, with six months of abundance and six months of scarcity, he said.
“Bringing that back into the public space is good to sort of recognise the ancestral practice of not only Matariki in terms of the abundance but also giving more credence to our tūpuna kōrero and mātauranga tuku iho.”
Little controversy
Whakataka-Brightwell said there had been a little controversy around the new holiday as it replaced another public holiday, Internal Autonomy Day, on June 29, which marked the French annexation of Tahiti.
But he said a lot of people in Tahiti liked the shift towards having local practices represented in a holiday.
There would be several public celebrations organised for the inaugural public holiday but most people on the islands would be holding more intimate ceremonies at home, he said.
“A lot of people already had practices of celebrating Matariki which was more about now marking the season of abundance, so I think at a whānau level people will continue to do that, I think this will be a little bit more of an incentive for everything else to align to those sorts of celebrations.”
Many of the traditions surrounding Matari’i related to the Arioi clan, whose ranks included artists, priests, navigators and diplomats who would celebrate the rituals of Matari’i, he said.
“Tahiti is an island of artists, it’s an island of rejuvenation, so I’m pretty sure they’ll be doing a lot of that and basing some of those traditions on the Arioi traditions.”
Whakataka-Brightwell encouraged anyone with Māori heritage to make the pilgrimage to Tahiti at some point in their lives, as the place where many of the waka that carried Māori ancestors were launched.
“I’ve always been a firm believer of particular people with whakapapa Māori to come back, hoki mai ki te whenua o Tahiti roa, Tahiti pāmamao.
“Those connections still exist, I mean, people still have the same last names as people in Aotearoa, and it’s not very far away, so I would encourage everybody to explore their own connections but also hoki mai ki te whenua (return to the land).”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark has warned the country needs to maintain its nuclear-free policy as a “fundamental tenet” of its independent foreign policy in the face of gathering global storm clouds.
Writing in a new book being published next week, she says “nuclear war is an existential threat to humanity. Far from receding, the threat of use of nuclear weapons is ever present.
Writing before the US surprise attack with B-2 stealth bombers and “bunker-buster” bombs on three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, Clark says “the Middle East is a tinder box with the failure of the Iran nuclear deal and with Israel widely believed to possess nuclear weapons”.
The Doomsday Clock references the Ukraine war theatre where “use of nuclear weapons has been floated by Russia”.
Also, the arms control architecture for Europe is unravelling, leaving the continent much less secure. India and Pakistan both have nuclear arsenals, she says.
“North Korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons capacity.”
‘Serious ramifications’
Clark, who was also United Nations Development Programme administrator from 2009 to 2017, a member of The Elders group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, and is an advocate for multilateralism and nuclear disarmament, says an outright military conflict between China and the United States “would be one between two nuclear powers with serious ramifications for East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and far beyond.”
She advises New Zealand to be wary of Australia’s decision to enter a nuclear submarine purchase programme with the United States.
“There has been much speculation about a potential Pillar Two of the AUKUS agreement which would see others in the region become partners in the development of advanced weaponry,” Clark says.
“This is occurring in the context of rising tensions between the United States and China.
“Many of us share the view that New Zealand should be a voice for de-escalation, not for enthusiastic expansion of nuclear submarine fleets in the Pacific and the development
of more lethal weaponry.”
Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior . . . publication July 2025. Image: Little Island Press
In the face of the “current global turbulence, New Zealand needs to reemphasise the principles and values which drove its nuclear-free legislation and its advocacy for a nuclear-free South Pacific and global nuclear disarmament.
Clark says that the years 1985 – the Rainbow Warrior was bombed by French secret agents on 10 July 1985 — and 1986 were critical years in the lead up to New Zealand’s nuclear-free legislation in 1987.
“New Zealanders were clear – we did not want to be defended by nuclear weapons. We wanted our country to be a force for diplomacy and for dialogue, not for warmongering.”
Chronicles humanitarian voyage
The book Eyes of Fire chronicles the humanitarian voyage by the Greenpeace flagship to the Marshall Islands to relocate 320 Rongelap Islanders who were suffering serious community health consequences from the US nuclear tests in the 1950s.
The author, Dr David Robie, founder of the Pacific Media Centre at Auckland University of Technology, was the only journalist on board the Rainbow Warrior in the weeks leading up to the bombing.
His book recounts the voyage and nuclear colonialism, and the transition to climate justice as the major challenge facing the Pacific, although the “Indo-Pacific” rivalries between the US, France and China mean that geopolitical tensions are recalling the Cold War era in the Pacific.
Dr Robie is also critical of Indonesian colonialism in the Melanesian region of the Pacific, arguing that a just-outcome for Jakarta-ruled West Papua and also the French territories of Kanaky New Caledonia and “French” Polynesia are vital for peace and stability in the region.
Greenpeace executive director Dr Russel Norman is launching Eyes of Fire at the Ellen Melville Centre Pioneer Women’s Hall at 6pm on the bombing anniversary day, July 10, following a memorial vigil in the morning on board the current flagship Rainbow Warrior III.
![[AL Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/INTERACTIVE-UN-ISRAEL-COMPANIES-1-1751388779.png?w=770&resize=770%2C962&quality=80)
BREAKING: Russia has officially signed the joint SCO statement, supporting Pakistan’s position over India. 
This claim is FAKE
(@iAnonPatriot) 
(@KatieDaviscourt) 
