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The Free Speech Union is writing to the Chair of the University of Otago Council this week, asking what steps the Council will take after a recent community email from Vice-Chancellor Hon Grant Robertson took an institutional position on a contested political issue. In an email to the Otago community, the Vice-Chancellor described the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill as "unnecessary and disturbing" at a personal level.…

New Zealand's fuel and energy security challenges continue to generate strong debate, and recent discussions within the NZ Fuel Watch community highlight growing public concern about the country's long-term resilience. The conversation began with a seemingly simple question from Karl regarding the tanker Hafnia Falcon. Observing the vessel repeatedly moving between ports, Karl wondered whether the ship was delivering fuel or collecting…

New Zealand borrowers may not have seen the last of rising interest rates. · In its latest economic outlook, Kiwibank's economists have warned that the Reserve Bank is now signalling a much more aggressive stance toward inflation than previously expected, with the possibility of Official Cash Rate (OCR) increases beginning as early as July. By elocal Business Desk · The warning comes as households continue to grapple with elevated living costs,…

The Senate's blocking of Trump's agenda is driven by donor networks, centered on Oracle's Larry Ellison and his ties to Tony Blair, whose Institute spent years building the case for an Iran regime-change war. By Barbara Boyd · Barbara Boyd argues the Senate’s repeated blocking of Donald Trump’s agenda is driven less by narrow Republican margins than by powerful donor networks, focusing on Oracle founder Larry Ellison and his ties to Tony Blair.…

As China doubles down on its economic presence in Africa, the relationship is entering a new phase that goes beyond bricks and mortar. By Jackson Okata, an award-winning independent journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya, whose work has been published by CNN, The Guardian, Reuters, China Dialogue, Openly, AllAfrica, Mongabay, Inter Press Service, Zenger News, and Al Jazeera English · The Beijing Action Plan 2025-2027 includes support for 30…

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has condemned the French seizure of an oil tanker in international waters as “borderline piracy.” Paris had hailed the move as the enforcement of anti-Russian sanctions. The crude oil tanker Tago was boarded by French commandos in the Atlantic, with support from the UK and other countries, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday while presenting footage of the raid. · Macron claimed the vessel posed…

The UK authorities have denied The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur entry into the country days ahead of two events where he was due to speak, apparently over his repeated criticism of Israel. Uygur’s nephew, Hasan Piker, who is a left-wing political streamer in his own right, has said his British visa has also been revoked “at the behest of Israel.” On multiple occasions over the past few years, pro-Palestinian activists have accused the UK’s…

The General Court of the European Union has registered a Central Bank of Russia lawsuit against the European Parliament and the EU Council over the bloc’s €90 billion ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine. · The filing contests an EU mechanism adopted in February that allows proceeds from frozen Russian sovereign assets held in Europe to be used to repay a joint loan to Kiev, the central bank said. · Kiev’s Western backers froze about $300 billion in…

Breaking news on RT - Iranian media reports say Tehran has suspended negotiations with Washington in response to Israeli aggression in Lebanon. · It also follows another round of tit-for-tat strikes overnight between Iran and the US. As IDF bombs come crashing down, the death toll in Lebanon ratchets up. That's as the Israeli PM orders an attack on the capital city Beirut, despite the so-called ceasefire. · As Norway rips up a huge missile…

By Andrew Korybko · The announcement in late April that France and Poland will carry out regular nuclear drills, which analysts reasonably believe are aimed against Russia (specifically Kaliningrad and Belarus), represented the first application of what French President Emmanuel Macron has termed “forward deterrence”. It followed his speech earlier in the year where he introduced this concept, essentially the expansion of France’s nuclear…