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New Zealand’s economy is sending sharply mixed signals. The Reserve Bank has lifted the Official Cash Rate to 2.75 percent as inflation remains elevated, while soaring fuel import costs have driven a 9 percent fall in the terms of trade even as exports remain strong and construction finally begins to recover. eLocal Report: Based on Kiwibank Economics’ First View — Moving on up. Interest rates, construction, and bonds, published 7 September…

New Zealand’s two largest political parties have both fallen below 30 percent in the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll, while support has shifted sharply towards the Greens and ACT. Despite National’s decline, the current National-ACT-NZ First coalition would still retain a parliamentary majority on the poll’s projected seats. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by RNZ Digital reporters for RNZ. · New Zealand’s political landscape is showing…

Tracy Lynch’s 'Proof Over Power' argues that accountability begins with evidence, not authority. Through 'We Review the Crown', she examines council and court disputes where legal language, procedure, service, accounting and questions of authority can leave ordinary people struggling for clear answers. Her approach is simple: ask for the document, establish the authority, verify the evidence and insist the rules apply both ways. I stepped into…

Hakyung Lee remains sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering her two young children, but the Court of Appeal has reduced the minimum period she must serve before becoming eligible for parole. The judges found a “stark” disparity between Lee’s sentence and that imposed on Lauren Dickason, concluding the difference could not be justified under sentencing principles. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by Ric Stevens for the New Zealand Herald,…

National says widening access to 5 percent-deposit mortgages will help thousands more New Zealanders into their first homes. But viewed through eLocal’s Hollowing Out of New Zealand investigation, the policy raises a more fundamental question: does helping households take on larger mortgages actually create national wealth — or does it reinforce the financial system that helped make housing unaffordable in the first place? eLocal Report: Based…

Dr Robert Malone argues that soaring rates of reported mental-health problems among women may reflect something broader than an epidemic of psychiatric disease. Drawing together surveys on diagnosis, life satisfaction, loneliness and global mental-health burden, he asks whether modern culture and the medical system itself is increasingly turning ordinary human distress into pathology. eLocal Report: Based on commentary and research presented by…

Remarks by Vladimir Zelensky about Ukrainian drone operations making Russian airspace increasingly difficult for civilian aviation have triggered an angry response in Moscow. Russian commentators describe the warning as a threat to civilian aviation, although one expert argues Zelensky was predicting disruption from mass drone raids rather than threatening to attack passenger aircraft directly INR Report: Based on reporting and expert…

Donald Trump says Washington will seek repayment from Europe for billions of dollars spent supporting Ukraine under Joe Biden. But the scale of US assistance cited by Trump is disputed, and he has not explained which countries would pay, how much they would owe, or what legal mechanism could make a retrospective claim possible. INR Report: Based on reporting by RT HERE · US President Donald Trump has reopened one of the most contentious…

Donald Trump's special envoys arrive in Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin in a fresh bid to resolve the Ukraine conflict. Ukraine's anti-corruption agency exposes an alleged fraud and money-laundering scheme involving allies of Vladimir Zelensky, with five arrests made. A Philippine court lifts an arrest order on Vice President Sara Duterte after she posts bail. And as Germany's AfD eyes its first local election victory, we examine its…

Bessent explains Wall Street, the financial press, and Democrats keep being proved wrong—contrasting Canada’s job losses with a blowout U.S. jobs report, calling out FT/WSJ panic, and framing a Red Queen economy that must outrun debt, China, and skills gaps. By Barbara Boyd · Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tells Steve Bannon that critics in Wall Street, the financial press, and Democrats keep being proved wrong, contrasting Canada’s job…