Follow all the Super Rugby Pacific action at North Harbour Stadium, as the Hurricanes try to maintain their momentum atop the table against Moana Pasifika.

The competition leaders will be without first-string halfback Cam Roigard and first-five Ruben Love through injury, while several other frontliners are rested against their bottom-placed rivals.

Kickoff is at 7.05pm.

Moana Pasifika: 1. Malakai Hala-Ngatai, 2. Millennium Sanerivi, 3. Atu Moli, 4. Allan Craig, 5. Veikoso Poloniati, 6. Miracle Faiilagi (c), 7. Semisi Paea, 8. Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa, 9. Augustine Pulu, 10. William Havili, 11. Tuna Tuitama, 12. Faletoi Peni, 13. Solomon Alaimalo, 14. Israel Leota, 15. Glen Vaihu.

Bench: Mamoru Harada, Abraham Pole, Lolani Faleva, Jimmy Tupou, Sam Tuitupou Ah-Hing, Siaosi Nginingini, Jackson Garden-Bachop, Tevita Latu.

Hurricanes: 1. Pouri Rakete-Stones, 2. Vernon Bason, 3. Pasilio Tosi, 4. Caleb Delany, 5. Isaia Walker-Leawere, 6. Brad Shields, 7. Du’Plessis Kirifi (c), 8. Brayden Iose, 9. Ereatara Enari, 10. Lucas Cashmore, 11. Fehi Fineanganofo, 12. Jone Rova, 13. Billy Proctor, 14. Josh Moorby, 15. Callum Harkin.

Bench: Asafo Aumua, Xavier Numia, Siale Lauaki, Hugo Plummer, Devan Flanders, Jordi Viljoen, Bailyn Sullivan, Kini Naholo.

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The official 2026 FIFA World Cup song will be performed by Shakira.

The 49-year-old Colombian pop star unveiled a teaser of her official song on her Instagram account.

The song also featured Nigerian singer Burna Boy.

Shakira is among the world’s best-selling musicians and her hits include Whenever, Wherever and Hips Don’t Lie.

The video on her post is set at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium.

The track will officially be launched on 14 May.

It is Shakira’s second official World Cup song after Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) for the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Shakira’s country, Colombia, are playing at the 48-team tournament that runs from 11 June to 19 July.

New Zealand is in Group G with Belgium, Egypt and Iran.

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The scrap for playoff spots is well and truly on.

Super Rugby Pacific enters its 13th round and things are looking very good for New Zealand.

The top four spots are occupied by the Hurricanes, Blues, Chiefs, and Crusaders – with a diet of derbies on the menu in the coming month.

Australian sides which threatened to close the trans-Tasman divide have fallen off badly, the Brumbies in particular a shadow of their early season selves.

After blowing away the defending champions, the Hurricanes declared themselves favourites to break their decade long title drought, and get the chance to rotate their squad against the struggling Moana Pasifika, whose future remains in limbo.

The Chiefs head to Brisbane to meet a resurgent Reds outfit, while the Highlanders stuttering season hangs by a thread as they host the Waratahs in Dunedin.

The match of the round comes under the roof at Te Kaha, where to competition’s biggest rivals go to battle once again.

The Crusaders and Blues have waged some famous wars over thirty seasons, and the bad blood between the sides still runs deep.

Selection notes

The Blues have made the bold call to bench Beauden Barrett for their crucial clash in Christchurch.

Fresh off return from injury, Stephen Perofeta gets the nod at ten, with Dalton Papali’i, Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Bradley Slater all returning to action.

Taking on bottom of the table Moana, the Hurricanes have opted for seven changes, two of which were injury enforced.

The Canes will be without their star playmakers Cam Roigard and Ruben Love, with Ere Enari and Lucas Cashmore handed the reins for Albany. Clark Laidlaw has also switched his front row, while Jone Rova gets a rare start in the midfield with Jordie Barrett rested.

Taha Kemara is out for the Crusaders with Rivez Reihana to get the start at first five and Cooper Grant coming on to the pine.

Jamie Hannah replaces Tahlor Cahill at lock and Sevu Reece returns to the right wing for the red and blacks.

Anton Segner who will play his 50th for the Blues while All Black George Bower brings up a century of games for the Crusaders.

The Highlanders welcome back one of their top strike weapons in Caleb Tangitau, who has been missing due to a nasty knockout against the Blues.

Argentine Tomás Lavanini returns to the second row with livewire halfback Adam Lennox back in the number nine jersey.

Issac Hutchison gets another chance at fullback for the Chiefs, Kyle Brown and Kyren Taumoefolau making for a young and exciting backline.

Manu Samoa midfielder Faletoi Peni earns his first start at home for Moana Pasifika.

Injury ward

Highlanders fullback Finn Hurley is nursing a hamstring complaint and will sit out for at least another three weeks.

The Hurricanes have key players sidelined with Cam Roigard’s calf to keep him out of action for a month, however Ruben Love should be back next week.

The Blues are without some of their big boppers with Ben Ake and Marcel Renata missing, while halfback Taufa Funaki continues to recover from a shoulder injury,

The Chiefs are down a bit of firepower with All Blacks Samipeni Finau, Emoni Narawa and Leroy Carter not travelling to Brisbane.

Moana may have the worst rate of casualties as Jonathan Taumateine, Julian Savea, Lalomilo Lalomilo, Monu Moli, Ngani Laumape, Niko Jones, and Patrick Pellegrini all remain unavailable.

The Crusaders meanwhile eagerly still await the return of Will Jordan.

Key stats

Fehi Fineanganofo needs one more try to equal Ben Lam and Joe Roff’s season try scoring records of 16.

The Waratahs are on a 12-game losing streak in New Zealand.

Beauden Barrett has kicked on 44% of his total receipts, the highest percentage of any player.

Fraser McReight has hit 124 defensive rucks, at least 49 more than any other player in the competition

The Hurricanes have won six of seven against Moana.

Moana Pasifika are on a 10-game losing streak

Crusaders v Blues

Kickoff 7.05pm, Friday, 8 May

One NZ Stadium, Christchurch

Live blog updates on RNZ

Crusaders: 1. George Bower 2. Codie Taylor 3. Fletcher Newell 4. Antonio Shalfoon 5. Jamie Hannah 6. Ethan Blackadder 7. Leicester Fainga’anuku 8. Christian Lio-Willie 9. Noah Hotham 10. Rivez Reihana 11. Macca Springer 12. David Havili (c) 13. Dallas McLeod 14. Sevu Reece 15. Johnny McNicholl.

Bench: George Bell, Jack Sexton, Seb Calder, Tahlor Cahill, Dom Gardiner, Kyle Preston, Cooper Grant, Kurtis Macdonald.

“We need the crowd. If the red and black supporters can come along and be loud, it makes this a really difficult place to play. That’s something our boys feed off,” Crusaders coach Rob Penney said.

Blues: 1. Ofa Tu’ungafasi 2. Bradley Slater 3. Sam Matenga 4. Patrick Tuipulotu (c) 5. Sam Darry 6. Malachi Wrampling 7. Dalton Papali’i 8. Hoskins Sotutu 9. Sam Nock 10. Stephen Perofeta 11. Caleb Clarke 12. Pita Ahki 13. AJ Lam 14. Kade Banks 15. Zarn Sullivan.

Bench: James Mullan, Mason Tupaea, Flyn Yates, Laghlan McWhannell, Anton Segner, Finlay Christie, Beauden Barrett, Xavi Taele.

“They’re a side that prides themselves on their physicality and accuracy, and our focus has been on staying connected to ensure we are at our best for the full 80 minutes,” Blues coach Vern Cotter said.

Reds v Chiefs

Kickoff 9.35pm, Friday, 8 May

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Live blog updates on RNZ

Chiefs : 1. Ollie Norris 2. Tyrone Thompson 3. George Dyer 4. Josh Lord 5. Tupou Vaa’i 6. Simon Parker 7. Luke Jacobson (c) 8. Wallace Sititi 9. Xavier Roe 10. Damian McKenzie 11. Liam Coombes-Fabling 12. Quinn Tupaea 13. Kyle Brown 14. Kyren Taumoefolau 15. Isaac Hutchinson.

Bench: Samisoni Taukei’aho, Jared Proffit, Reuben O’Neill, Fiti Sa, Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Cortez Ratima, Josh Jacomb, Lalakai Foketi.

“They are a difficult opponent. they have a good identity around how they play. It’s going to be a tough battle, in the air, the challenge around the breadown,” Chiefs coach Jonno Gibbs said.

Highlanders v Waratahs

Kickoff 4.35pm, Saturday, 9 May

Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

Live blog updates on RNZ

Highlanders: 1. Ethan de Groot (co-c) 2. Jack Taylor 3. Angus Ta’avao 4. Tomas Lavanini 5. Mitch Dunshea 6. Te Kamaka Howden 7. Lucas Casey 8. Nikora Broughton 9. Adam Lennox 10. Cameron Millar 11. Jonah Lowe 12. Timoci Tavatavanawai (co-c) 13. Jona Nareki 14. Caleb Tangitau 15. Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens.

Bench: Soane Vikena, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Saula Ma’u, Oliver Haig, Sean Withy, Folau Fakatava, Taine Robinson, Xavier Tito-Harris.

“We’re not looking past the Waratahs, we need to get this perforamnce right, and then we’ll look at the table,” Highlanders coach David Kidwell said.

Moana Pasifika v Hurricanes

Kickoff 7.05pm, Saturday, 9 May

North Harbour Stadium, Auckland

Live blog updates on RNZ

Moana Pasifika: 1. Malakai Hala-Ngatai 2. Millennium Sanerivi 3. Atu Moli 4. Allan Craig 5. Veikoso Poloniati 6. Miracle Faiilagi (c) 7. Semisi Paea 8. Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa 9. Augustine Pulu 10. William Havili 11. Tuna Tuitama 12. Faletoi Peni 13. Solomon Alaimalo 14. Israel Leota 15. Glen Vaihu.

Bench: Mamoru Harada, Abraham Pole, Lolani Faleva, Jimmy Tupou, Sam Tuitupou Ah-Hing, Siaosi Nginingini, Jackson Garden-Bachop, Tevita Latu.

“We don’t want to go out on our backs, we want to make sure we’re walking proud in everything we do. That’s something we talk about a lot,” Moana Pasifika coach Fa’alogo Tana Umaga said.

Hurricanes: 1. Pouri Rakete-Stones 2. Vernon Bason 3. Pasilio Tosi 4. Caleb Delany 5. Isaia Walker-Leawere 6. Brad Shields 7. Du’Plessis Kirifi (c) 8. Brayden Iose 9. Ereatara Enari 10. Lucas Cashmore 11. Fehi Fineanganofo 12. Jone Rova 13. Billy Proctor 14. Josh Moorby 15. Callum Harkin.

Bench: Asafo Aumua, Xavier Numia, Siale Lauaki, Hugo Plummer, Devan Flanders, Jordi Viljoen, Bailyn Sullivan, Kini Naholo.

“Having picked up a few injuries in the Crusaders game, it’s an opportunity for the squad to use its depth, and we expect the boys who are coming in to play well,” Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Is New Zealand about to get its own version of a law that caused uproar in New South Wales, clashes in Sydney’s streets and that has now been thrown out?

The Law Society here is worried the Policing Amendment Bill which is making its way through Parliament with strong police backing will clamp down on political protest.

“It’s a clear parallel,” said Timothy Roberts, president of the New South Wales Council of Civil Liberties.

There is evidence behind the concern – the Independent Police Conduct Authority last year found police exhibited a lot of uncertainty and inconsistency about the limits of lawful protest and what the restrictions should be, and called for explicit laws to protect protesters’ rights.

But the government on Wednesday said: “Our police have a strong, long-standing track record of upholding civil liberties and human rights.”

Last month New South Wales’ top court threw out a law enacted after the Bondi Beach terror attack.

The public assembly restriction declaration or PARD scheme expanded police powers to restrict protests in certain areas.

In such a zone in Sydney in February, police clashed with people protesting the visit of Israel’s president.

The city’s mayor Clover Moore said, “Seeing the unrestrained force used to impose those demarcations was disturbing.”

Roberts said the new law had a lot to do with it.

“The police were completely inflexible. So they could have released the crowd to march on from the area peaceably. But because of the political pressure, the legislative framework, they didn’t.

“And that inflexibility led to some really serious violence,” Roberts told RNZ.

Like Roberts, Samantha Lee saw parallels between the PARD and the New Zealand bill. Lee is assistant principal lawyer at Redfern Legal Centre which is working to get criminal charges against Sydney protesters dismissed.

“What the court found is that this executive power is a breach of the constitution in terms of the political freedom of communication and that what it was really doing is stopping the right to protest,” Lee said.

“Protesting has a long history in Australia, as it does there in New Zealand. And the court did say a lot about that, that police should not remove a person’s ability to bring governments to account, even if they’re protesting against against matters that the police don’t like,” Lee said.

The NSW law was rushed in. The New Zealand bill was hurriedly drafted without public consultation.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he was open to feedback on any bill, “which is exactly why it goes through the select committee process so New Zealanders can have their say and ensure that it’s fit for purpose”.

The bill’s first part would expand police intelligence-gathering powers; its second part would expand their powers to declare areas off-limits ahead of time in case of imminent public disorder. It would extend the power beyond roads to many public places, and add an instant $1000 infringement fee for someone who entered or did not leave a zone, plus adding a new offence of failing to give police identifying details.

Most reporting has focused on the first part.

The Law Society is pushing the select committee to amend both parts of the bill.

“The difficulties in enforcement and the desirability of ‘closing’ a space are acknowledged, as is the prospect that disturbances may involve other areas (parks etc, other public spaces such as river beds) which are not roads,” it said.

“Against this, however, there are also valid concerns regarding the risks of undue expansion, in that political protests involving disorder may lead to closure of roads and accessible places, and thus prohibitions on entry and potential arrests.”

The bill made “vague” references to “public safety objectives” that could trigger closure, risking “creep in their use into the field of legitimate protest”, the society said.

Paul Rishworth KC helped write its submission.

“It needs to be reconsidered as to how it all applies to public protest,” Rishworth said.

“An example would be that if a protest of some sort is happening or is planned for the following day, and there is either actual counter-protest or the threat of counter-protest, that might be seen as producing disorder or likely to produce disorder, then that might be a reason for closing it down.”

There were existing powers police had to deal with boy racers, he added.

The bill was not a direct parallel with PARD but was in the same universe, and at the very least should be amended to require regular reporting back by police on how they were using the new powers, Rishworth said.

Also, the Law Society wanted preconditions on closures to be added, and the infringement offences removed since the offence of obstruction already existed.

However, Police Association president Steve Watt rejected that part two went too far.

“What it’s aimed to do is increase public safety around those public places where disorder and other events like boy racers might tend to congregate,” said Watt.

“The police are, you know, extremely well-versed when it comes to lawful protests from members of the public.

“I can’t see police using this law as a method of shutting down lawful protests.”

Mitchell said the bill as a whole was about “reinstating police’s ability to lawfully collect and record information to keep communities safe, not introducing new powers”.

“I’ve seen the concerns raised and will consider any sensible changes which improve clarity, but my focus is on restoring the tools police need to keep Kiwis safe.”

Police consulted about part one of the bill with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, but not about part two.

The bill’s regulatory impact statement talked about police working through the issues as they implemented it.

Last year, after a two-year investigation, the Independent Police Conduct Authority found both the law, and police practices and understanding, were lacking around protesters’ rights.

It called for explicit legislation to protect them.

“Without such a legislative regime, the preservation of fundamental rights is likely to come under increasing threat,” it said.

Documents attached to the policing bill did not mention the IPCA investigation. The authority declined to comment while the bill was before Parliament.

The bill sees the IPCA and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as the main watchdogs over how police used it.

However, the authority recently told MPs it lacked resources, and the Commissioner has put out several statements opposing the bill, saying the level of oversight was inadequate.

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• OECD says NZ economy recovering slowly, faces Iran conflict based challenges to growth and inflation
• Poor productivity, high debt, weak investment hold back growth
• Tax changes needed for retirement savings; boost needed for capital markets
• Electricity sector needs to break reliance on gas
• Quicker and deeper digitisation of health sector needed

New Zealand needs to reform the pension and electricity sectors, expand and strengthen capital markets, and speed up digitisation of the health sector, according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In its latest report on New Zealand it said the economy is recovering, but the Middle East conflict would delay growth and stoke a near term spike in inflation, while the economy also faced long standing challenges from low productivity, high public debt, and too little investment in key sectors and companies.

Growth of 1.4 percent was forecast for this year, rising to 2.3 percent in 2027, while inflation was expected to hit a high of 3.4 percent this year before falling back into the 1-3 percent target zone.

“Heightened uncertainty and higher energy prices weigh on real incomes, confidence and domestic demand,” the OECD report said.

“Inflation will rise in 2026 due to higher energy and transport costs before gradually easing toward the 2 percent midpoint, reflecting spare capacity and easing tradeables inflation pressures.

“Although considerable uncertainty surrounds the timing and magnitude of this adjustment, given the risk of further shocks.”

The OECD had a message for the Reserve Bank (RBNZ).

“Our advice is for monetary policy to remain focused on the medium-term price stability while looking through the temporary first round effects of the energy price shock,” OECD director Luiz de Mello said.

The report said the RBNZ’s monetary policy mandate should be held unchanged for five year periods to “reinforce the RBNZ’s strong operational independence and credibility”.

Raise superannuation age, change taxes

The OECD joined other international agencies in calling for the age of eligibility for superannuation to be raised by indexing it to life expectancy, with measures to take account of different ethnicities and work backgrounds.

It also called for a reversal of the taxation of retirement savings from the current charge on contributions and investment earnings but tax exempt withdrawals.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said there were no plans to raise the eligibility age for NZ super, and rejected the call for tax changes as a big hit on government finances.

“We are trying to get the books back in balance so radical tax reforms that require a deficit on the government books are not something we are exploring right now.”

Other OECD suggestions included measures to improve capital markets, including government financial support, to allow small and medium sized firms to look at listing on the stock exchange and being able to raise finance in New Zealand.

Willis took a swipe at the major local banks that there was nothing stopping them now to lend more money to small firms and the challenge was for them to do it.

Reform the electricity sector

The OECD report also called for changes to the electricity sector to break its reliance on costly natural gas which has underpinned high prices.

“Affordability will remain elusive without breaking the gas-electricity price link by scaling non-gas long-duration firming, expanding demand response and strengthening competition.”

It said there should be a mandatory firming and flexibility market with likely a minority investment from the government in independent-led, long-duration non-gas firming generation.

Firming is the provision of immediate reserve electricity when renewable supplies decline. In New Zealand that has been done largely through burning gas and coal.

The OECD said the proposal to import liquified natural gas (LNG) should be seen only as a short term option.

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LOS ANGELES, US – Newsaktuell – 7 May 2026 – The newly released 2026 Berggruen Governance Index (BGI) paints a mixed picture of global governance heading into a future of mounting shocks, finding widespread gains in public-goods provision from 2000 to 2023 even as democratic accountability edged down and state capacity showed little overall improvement.

The BGI, presented Wednesday by an international group of governance scholars, analyses measurable benchmarks of democratic accountability across 145 countries.

On a 100-point scale, the global score for democratic accountability slipped slightly from 65 in 2000 to 64 in 2023, the most recent data used in the project. The wave of democratisation observed in the closing decades of the last century has stalled in the last 15 years. Democratic accountability fell in 54 countries while it improved in 48 countries.

Yet the BGI — a collaborative project of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Berlin’s Hertie School and the Berggruen Institute, a think tank headquartered in Los Angeles — captures remarkably widespread growth in provision of public goods.

Encompassing healthcare, education, infrastructure, environmental sustainability and conditions to foster employment and rising prosperity, public goods improved in 135 of the countries studied, while declining slightly in just four. The global average jumped from 58 to 69 points from 2000 to 2023.

The third component of what the BGI authors refer to as the “governance triangle” is state capacity, defined as the ability to tax, borrow and spend, control territory, operate scrupulous, competent bureaucracies and administer predictable rule of law. The index finds the global average ticking up from 48 to 49 points; 56 countries had increased state capacity while 57 declined.

“What does it tell us about the world ahead?” Prof. Helmut K. Anheier, a Luskin School sociologist and BGI principal investigator, asked during the public release of the 2026 BGI on the UCLA campus.

“Countries are not really improving in their governance performance in significant ways. … We’re not really having forward-looking investment in governance capacity. There is considerable inertia.”

The largest improvements across all three BGI components occurred in Gambia, which the report groups with “low-capacity developing states.” These states score low across the board, particularly in the provision of public goods. This cluster constitutes the poorest countries with the least developed economies, which face the most serious challenges.

“They have the greatest exposure to likely future crises, whether it’s global warming, whether it’s a new pandemic, whether it’s another financial crisis, whether it’s the impact of AI,” Anheier said. “And they have the least capacity to respond to it.”

Bhutan, Georgia, Iraq and Tunisia — which make up the remaining top five countries with the largest improvements in the BGI — are classified as “capacity-constrained states.” They tend to be middle-income with struggling democracies. These countries score higher across the board than the low-capacity developing states, but their state capacity tends to lag compared to public goods and democratic accountability.

The capacity-constrained states risk falling into “a cycle that erodes the institutions they have built,” Anheier said.

“Consolidated democratic states”, a cluster of most of the world’s richest countries, which score highly in all three BGI components, have to confront domestic complacency. Further, in the United States and some others, “political dysfunction” is leaving mounting problems unaddressed and risking erosion of state capacity, Anheier said.

At the other end of the spectrum, the country with the farthest fall on the BGI since 2000 is Nicaragua. Second from last is Venezuela, followed by Hong Kong, Hungary and Turkey. The rest of the bottom 10 are Russia, Iran, Poland, El Salvador and Belarus.

Since 2023, which is the last year of data available for the study, Poland and Hungary have both seen government changes via election, despite serious democratic backsliding. Both had fallen out of the group of “consolidated democratic states” by 2023 and moved into the capacity constrained cluster.

The other eight countries at the bottom of the list are all places that once had some semblance of competitive elections, but by now have little or no remaining pretense of democracy. They are grouped by the authors among the “authoritarian and hybrid states”, which have by far the lowest democratic accountability but outperform even some struggling democracies in delivering public goods.

These regimes have tended toward faster economic growth in the period observed. But that seeming prosperity, typically fueled by extractive industries or overreliance on exports, masks “serious institutional weaknesses in these countries, including divided elites,” Anheier said.

Relatively few countries — 21 of the 145 — changed enough for better or worse to be classified in a new group by the end of the 23-year study period.

“Movement between them is rare, but this is largely what we should expect,” said Stella Ghervas, a UCLA historian on a panel of experts who discussed the BGI findings Wednesday. “Government systems are not created in a moment. They evolve over long periods of time.”

Local conditions shaping governance in each country can rarely be quickly reset through political will or even external shocks, Joseph C. Saraceno, a Luskin School data scientist and BGI co-author, said Wednesday.

“Despite all the talk of major transformations happening in global affairs, the underlying configuration of governance simply doesn’t appear to change very much,” Saraceno said. “We use the term inertia to describe this reoccurring pattern. In other words, the structures of global governance are resistant to movement as the conditions beneath them are quite sticky: political economies, demographics, resource endowments. These are deeply layered, and they push each country toward the world that it already inhabits.”

But the challenges lurking around the world may not wait for the slow and difficult processes of political change and development to catch up.

“With the few exceptions of those countries in the consolidated democratic world,” Anheier said, “the great majority of the countries in the world is ill-prepared for the future.”

The full report, ‘ 2026 Berggruen Governance Index – The Four Worlds of Governance’, can be viewed and downloaded from the website of the UCLA’s Luskin School.

Frank Fuhrig, DNA

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Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced a new round of sanctions targeting malicious cyber actors and others supporting Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.  

Today’s sanctions package designates 20 individuals and entities. Among them are actors supporting the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare tactics, by enabling Russian cybercrime activity that supports the war, and the dissemination of anti-Ukraine propaganda aimed at legitimising Moscow’s illegal aggression.  

“Those who mis-use online platforms to support Russia’s war against Ukraine will face real consequences, including sanctions,” Mr Peters says. 

New Zealand is also introducing sanctions against an alternative payment provider whose service is used widely for the evasion of sanctions against Russia.  

“We are targeting the payment infrastructure that has helped enable Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Mr Peters says. 

The sanctions announced today also target those contributing to Russia’s military-industrial complex, and actors from the DPRK and Iran who are providing support to the Russian military.  

Since the Russia Sanctions Act came into force in March 2022, New Zealand has imposed sanctions on more than 2000 individuals, entities, and vessels, alongside a range of trade measures. This is New Zealand’s 35th round of Russia sanctions.  

More information about sanctions, travel bans, and export controls against Russia, as well as diplomatic, military and economic support to Ukraine, can be found on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website here. 

MIL OSI

Dubai-based airline Emirates says it has restored 96 percent of its global network, although its Auckland service continues to operate at a reduced level.

The airline faced significant disruption as the United Arab Emirates came under attack by Iranian drones and missiles, leading to the closure of Dubai International Airport.

The airline said it was travelling at 75 percent of its pre-Iran war capacity.

Emirates was operating its Dubai-Auckland direct service four days a week, compared to daily flights before the war.

Its Dubai-Sydney-Christchurch service continues to operate daily.

Emirates was yet to say when it would increase its Auckland service back to pre-war levels, with the current schedule published to the end of May.

The airline said customers booked from April 2 would be allowed one free date change across all cabin classes, and could also hold a fare for 24 hours at no cost.

Prior to the war, Dubai International Airport was the second busiest in the world, carrying 95.2 million passengers in 2025.

However, passenger traffic had dropped significantly this year according to the government of Dubai media office.

The airport saw 18.6 million passengers in the first quarter, down nearly 21 percent from a year ago, and passenger traffic in March was 2.5 million, down almost 66 percent.

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Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has welcomed the appointment of Ambassador Clare Kelly as Chair of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) General Council. 

It is only the second time a New Zealander has chaired the General Council, which is the highest-level WTO decision-making body in Geneva. 

“Ms Kelly brings deep trade and foreign policy expertise and experience to this job. Her appointment adds to New Zealand’s strong track record of contributing to an organisation that has well served our interests as a small, export driven economy,” Mr McClay says.

“As Chair of the General Council, Ms Kelly will focus on finding a way forward after the disappointing outcomes at the 14th Ministerial Conference of the WTO.

“She will be working hard to reach consensus on proposals to reform the WTO and to extend the WTO-wide prohibition on the imposition of tariffs on digital trade flows.”

Ms Kelly has served as New Zealand’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO in Geneva since February 2022.

She previously served as Assistant Secretary of the Trade and Economic Group at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and as New Zealand’s Ambassador to Mexico.

Ms Kelly will serve in the position for one year. She takes over from Ambassador Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel of Saudi Arabia.

MIL OSI

An economist is warning the unemployment rate is likely to get worse in the coming months and could reach up to 6 percent due to the Iran War.

The unemployment rate eased to 5.3 percent in the three months ended March, down slightly from the previous quarter.

A total of 163,000 people were unemployed, a fall of 2000 on the previous quarter but 7000 higher than a year ago.

Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr said Wednesday’s data was “very outdated”, and the full impact of the fuel crisis would be felt in the second or third quarter of this year.

Kiwibank was forecasting unemployment to reach 5.5 per cent, Kerr said, but there was a chance it could reach 5.8 or 6 percent if conditions didn’t improve.

“We are hearing of [construction] projects being post-poned, we are hearing of projects being cancelled, we are hearing of forestry crews being stood down because it’s too expensive to cut-down trees at the moment.”

He expected both surging air fares and flight cancellations in the wake of the Iran War to dent the tourism industry, including the regions, which had recently been performing well due to a strong export market.

“Tourism is the one we don’t hear a lot about. It was our largest exporter prior to Covid, more than dairy. Now dairy’s our number one.

“New Zealand’s got such a large tourism sector, so for that to be falling back, it’s a big negative for large parts of the country.”

Kerr noted the numbers of people who were employed but needed to work more hours – the underutilisation rate – which was stubborn at 12.9 per cent.

That wasn’t a good sign, he said.

“Businesses, they cut hours before they cut heads…so you’ve got a workforce, you’ve trained them, in many cases you’ve worked with them for years, and a crisis hits – you cut their hours before you cut their jobs…that’s where the slack shows up first.”

ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley told Midday Report said he expected the unemployment rate to reach 5.5 percent and would briefly stall the employment growth evident at the beginning of this year.

Bay of Plenty unemployment rate ‘surprising’ – mayor

Auckland, Wellington and the Bay of Plenty had the highest unemployment rates in the latest figures, between 6 and 7 percent.

Bay of Plenty’s unemployment rate had increased to 7.1 percent in the March quarter, from 5.7 percent in the previous quarter.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said she was “very surprised” to see the Bay of Plenty’s unemployment rate rise, and would be looking into why it had increased.

“I know that as a region we are actually doing quite well, and I hear from businesses that they are seeking employees as well – so again [I’m] very surprised.”

She said it was concerning to hear families could be struggling.

Some conference and business events in Rotorua were looking at postponing due to the effect of fuel costs, Tapsell said, but in general, tourism in the city was “booming”, and domestic flights hadn’t been cut.

But Tauranga chamber of commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said tourism in the Eastern Bay of Plenty had been “patchy”, forestry was “doing it tough”, as well as some manufacturers exposed to the domestic market.

He cited Ballance Agri-Nutrients decision to end manufacturing operations in Mount Maunganui, and cut 60 jobs, as one example.

“Hospitality has been somewhat contracting due to reasonably tough summer periods,” Cowley said.

Auckland and Wellington’s unemployment rates remain high – Auckland’s increasing from 6.4 to 6.6 percent in the March quarter, and Wellington’s from 5.8 to 6.3 percent.

Kerr said Wellington had been in a “very dark place” over the last couple of years, due to public sector job cuts.

He said surveys consistently showed Wellington businesses were “downbeat”, and Auckland, “not that much better”.

He compared that to Canterbury where unemployment rates were 4.4 percent in the March quarter – up from 3.7 percent in the previous quarter – but the region was generally performing better than the North Island cities.

“I think Auckland and Wellington, they need to do something to drag themselves out of this funk that they’re in.”

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said in any economic recovery, unemployment was the last thing to recover.

“You’re seeing that it is in the cities that that recovery has taken the longest to turn around. What we do see is the signs are there that the recovery is starting to latch on in those cities.”

Willis said some businesses had been expanding, selling more and creating more jobs.

“What we need to do is give them every chance of continuing that in the months ahead, notwithstanding the events in the Middle East.”

Labour’s Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said the statistics were “nothing to sing about,” even though the headline figure had come down.

“If you scratch a little bit deeper, that’s 163,000 people who are out of work, and the unemployment levels being higher in Auckland now than it was 11 years ago, higher in Wellington than it was 12 years ago.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

HUALIEN, TAIWAN – Media OutReach Newswire – 6 May 2026 – The “Pacific Ocean International Festival of Rock Balancing and Arts” officially kicked off May 1st at the Qixingtan Scenic Area in Hualien. The event brings together renowned artists from Sweden, Spain, Iraq, Japan, and Turkey, collaborating with local Taiwanese creators. Through traditional rock balancing and interdisciplinary artistic concepts, the festival fosters a cross-cultural dialogue along the Pacific coastline, showcasing vibrant creative energy.

Centered on public participation, the festival features a diverse range of activities, including international art exhibitions, professional rock balancing competitions, family-friendly experiences, local markets, and hands-on workshops. Visitors are invited to engage directly with nature and create their own rock artworks. A photography contest encourages participants to capture the diverse beauty of rock stacks under varying light conditions and perspectives, while a short video competition invites creative visual storytelling.

During the preparation phase, the organizers established a strategic partnership with Scotland’s European Land Art Festival and received its official endorsement. This collaboration aims to develop Hualien into a key Asian hub for international competitions, strengthening connections with Europe and the United States.

The opening ceremony featured a unique musical performance inspired by rocks, presented by Professor Lin Tze-ying and students from Taipei National University of the Arts, alongside local Hualien students. Their performance blended the region’s distinctive natural soundscape with its rich cultural heritage.

Running through June 30, the festival transforms Qixingtan Scenic Area into a two-month outdoor art venue, inviting both domestic and international visitors to experience the enchanting intersection of art and nature between the mountains and the sea.

Hashtag: #Hualien

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Costa Rica has become the thirteenth member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, with New Zealand exports to the Central American nation set to benefit from next year.

It becomes the second nation to accede to the CPTPP outside the original membership, following the United Kingdom.

Entry isn’t expected until the second half of 2027, but trade minister Todd McClay said it meant over 94 percent of New Zealand’s exports to Costa Rica would be duty-free from day one, and 99 percent within ten years.

“The continued expansion of the CPTPP is important for growing New Zealand’s preferential access to markets, as well as in response to increased challenges to the rules-based trade system,” he said.

Along with New Zealand, the other members of the agreement are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Australian trade minister Don Farrell said members of the CPTPP demonstrated they could “meet, implement and adhere to the rules and standards of the Agreement, and have a demonstrated track record of complying with trade commitments.”

China, Taiwan, Ecuador, Uruguay, Ukraine, Indonesia, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, and Cambodia have all applied to join the agreement.

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Data released today by Stats NZ on unemployment shows that all is not well in the labour market says Sandra Grey, President of the Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi.

“163,000 people are unemployed, 29,000 more than two years ago. 406,000 people are underutilised – meaning that they want more work but can’t get it. That’s up 51,000 in two years.

“New Zealand now has a higher unemployment rate than the UK, the USA, or Australia.”

Grey says, “Getting a pay rise that meets the cost of living is proving a real problem for working people. According to the Labour Cost Index, 44% of Kiwi workers got no pay rise at all, and 73% of workers got a pay rise less than inflation. That means the majority of workers are falling further behind.”

Young people are being hit hardest in this labour market. “17.3% of 15–24-year-olds are unemployed. The seasonally adjusted NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) rate was at its highest level since December 2009.”

The Māori unemployment rate (11.5%) is more than twice the national rate, and its higher again for Pacific Peoples (11.9%).

“And it’s likely to get worse from here. These figures pre-date the impact of the Iran/US conflict, and most forecasters expect higher unemployment, slower wage growth, and a weakening economy in the months ahead,” says Grey.

“This month’s Budget is the Government’s opportunity to change direction – to invest in New Zealand and the people who keep it running, not impose further cuts. Today’s figures are a warning. Without a change of course, things will get worse and Kiwis will rightly take to the ballot box to vote for a country that works for working people.”

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• Reserve Bank warns of heightened uncertainty due to Iran war
• Economic recovery expected to be “somewhat slower”
• Financial institutions well-placed to support economy

Risks to financial stability have increased due to the Middle East conflict, with a bleaker outlook for the economy, potentially making it harder for borrowers to service debt.

In its half-yearly Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) stressed the country’s financial system remained resilient, and the banking system was well-placed to support customers even if conditions worsened.

The RBNZ said the longer the Iran war continued, the greater the risks to global financial stability, with New Zealand already feeling “significant economic effects”.

Governor Anna Breman said high diesel prices were having the biggest effect on the transport and logistics sectors, as well as primary industries, including forestry and fishing.

“While economic growth had been recovering prior to the conflict, we are now likely to see a somewhat slower recovery, affecting job growth and debt servicing,” Dr Breman said.

The RBNZ said banks had strong capital and funding buffers, meaning they were not only “well-placed” to help struggling customers, but also manage stresses in offshore funding markets.

It said stress testing results showed banks’ ability to withstand significant economic shocks, including geopolitical events like the Middle East conflict.

The RBNZ expected the impact on insurers to be limited, noting health insurers have raised premiums and adjusted policies following several years of high claims costs.

The RBNZ said it was working on a stress test of life and health insurers.

Fuel prices close to their highest levels in 50 years

Unsurprisingly, the RBNZ said higher oil prices will increase costs for firms, including those already facing weak demand.

“Prices for these important inputs are now close to their highest levels in the past 50 years after adjusting for inflation,” the RBNZ said in its report.

It warned that in addition to increased costs for firms, higher oil prices will reduce consumers’ spending power.

“Higher near-term CPI [consumer price index] inflation due to the conflict will reduce real wages,” the RBNZ said.

“While it seems unlikely at this stage that the impact on real wages will be as large as it was over 2021/22, even a small decline in spending power could create financial hardship for some households given the existing cost-of-living pressures.”

Meanwhile, low profitability in recent years meant firms were in a “more vulnerable position”.

“Business deposits were elevated after the pandemic, given fiscal support and the strong economic recovery,” it said.

“However, over the past three years, business deposits, particularly for smaller firms, have declined as a share of GDP [gross domestic product].”

The RBNZ said mortgage arrears have also declined from the recent peak as the economy improved, with non-performing loans at around 0.6 percent of lending.

However, it said arrears and non-performing loans remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.

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A leading economist says businesses could exploit the war in the Middle East to raise prices even when not directly related to the fuel crisis.

Petrol price surges have seen 91 routinely above $3 a litre and KiwiRail this week announced an increase on the fuel surcharge for freight on the Interislander ferry. Internationally, shipping company Maersk announced its own 27 percent fuel surcharge.

The Reserve Bank has warned that the fuel and transport costs would likely push inflation above 4 percent in the June quarter.

Westpac economist Kelly Eckhold told Nine to Noon on Wednesday businesses find it easier to lift prices when inflation is becoming widespread.

“[Many price hikes] you can shape back to fuel quite quickly. And in those cases, firms are taking their approach of imposing surcharges. So they’re saying, ‘Well, we’re going to put the price up by this amount’. It’s reflecting this increase in the oil or the refined fuels price.

“And then they say, ‘When those prices come down, we’ll remove that’. So that’s pretty transparent, isn’t it? And then that’s the sort of pricing behaviour that I don’t think the Reserve Bank or anyone would be very surprised by.”

But in other cases, Eckhold explained, prices are unlikely to drop when the price of fuel normalises – particularly if they cannot be linked directly back to the cost of fuel.

“When the services prices start to increase, for example, my Spotify subscription or your Sky subscription, et cetera, you’re very unlikely to see those prices fall back.

“What’s more likely is that is the price, that’s the base price that you’ll pay in the future. And the best you might hope for is that if costs rise less quickly in the future, then maybe the next increase that you see could be delayed for a period of time.

“That sort of inflation, I think, is less comfortable for central banks and the sort of inflation that they’re really all looking out for to gauge just how much… they have to increase interest rates by.”

The next official cash rate (OCR) update from the Reserve Bank is due on 27 May. The bank uses the OCR to increase or decrease the cost of borrowing – the former decreases spending and aims to curb inflation, while the latter does the opposite.

Eckhold did not believe the OCR would need to rise as much as it did following Covid-19, when it peaked at 5.5 percent in 2023.

“The conditions are a bit different. I mean, there we had a big supply shock coming from the Covid disruptions themselves, and then the onset of the Russian war, combined with very expensive fiscal and military policy. And that second set of factors isn’t really present right now, at least not in New Zealand.”

It could take a few more months to see the full impact of the Iran war on the economy here, Eckhold said.

“Fertiliser is a good example where we produce some fertiliser here, but a lot of it is actually imported. We got a little bit lucky in the fertiliser game because we had imported a lot of our needs for the next six months before the shock hit.

“The questions are going to arise about what happens after that period, and prices are lifting because global prices have gone up over 100 percent. An imbalance increased their prices yesterday by about 10 or 15 percent, starting to reflect that.

“But all through the rest of the supply chain, particularly think about plastics. So pretty much everything you buy comes in some kind of plastic container. That stuff is directly an offshoot of the naphtha market, which is a part of the oil distillation process. And those are the sort of price increases that are going to become really prominent, broad, but also come at quite a bit of a lag as that filters through the global supply chains.”

That delay could prompt the Reserve Bank to get ahead of any possible inflation, he said. The OCR was currently at 2.25 percent.

“They will probably realise that with this increase in headline inflation, that inflation expectations are likely to rise. And they’ll be trying to gauge how long this increase in inflation is going to last. And there, the news hasn’t been very good, because forecasts of the gulf war ending within a few weeks have consistently been disappointed.”

Whatever happens, it was likely New Zealand’s economy was in for a “tough time”, particularly through winter, with increased petrol costs slashing spending in retail and hospitality.

“I think the housing market is one that just won’t do very well in this environment, because we’re probably looking at a rising unemployment rate. Disposable incomes are being cut here by the cost shock. Confidence is also really low, and confidence is quite important for that.

“The other thing is to think about is the tourism market as well, because the costs of coming to New Zealand are probably getting more expensive and uncertain…

“New Zealand Incorporated has taken a big income loss here because we’re basically paying an extra, say, $6 or $7 or $8 billion a year for our refined fuels than we did in the previous year. When I look at that, that’s two-thirds of the dairy industry that we just lost in terms of income. And the government, the Reserve Bank, no one can give that back to us.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The All Whites will play Haiti for the first time as one of their lead-up matches to the FIFA World Cup.

The New Zealanders take on the Caribbean side, who are ranked 83rd in the world, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 3 June.

The match is just four days before the All Whites play England in their second warm-up game before their opening World Cup fixture against Iran nine days later.

The All Whites are ranked 85th in the world, while England are fourth.

Haiti are playing in the World Cup for the first time in 52 years, with their sole appearance being in West Germany in 1974. They qualified for this year’s Cup in dramatic fashion, needing to win their final two games and have other matches go their way. They will play Scotland, Brazil, and Morocco in their pool games.

“Since the draw, we have been working to lock in two games against fellow FIFA World Cup opposition to put us in the best place to perform at the tournament, and the combination of facing Haiti and England, both in Florida, is something we feel does exactly that,” All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley said in a statement.

“Haiti are a good side and are ranked at a similar level to us, so we feel that provides a perfect test as we get ready to kick off against Iran in LA.

“Having both games in Florida is hugely beneficial as it means we don’t lose any of our preparation time with travel days, and the players can properly rest and recover between matches.

“It is great to finally confirm the full schedule, and I know that the staff and the players can’t wait to get on the plane and get going.”

The All Whites will travel to their World Cup base camp in San Diego after the England match.

Their 26-player squad is expected to be announced within the next two weeks.

Upcoming Fixtures (NZT):

3 June

v Haiti, 12pm

Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

7 June 2026

v England, 8am

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida.

16 June 2026

World Cup

v Iran, 1pm

Los Angeles Stadium, Los Angeles.

22 June 2026

v Egypt, 1pm

BC Place, Vancouver.

27 June 2026

v Belgium, 3pm

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Explainer – New Zealand has signed a deal with Singapore that will ensure exports of essential supplies like food and fuel keep flowing, even during a crisis.

A bit like the one we’re facing now.

While it was inked this week, negotiations concluded last year, and Singapore has kept the fuel coming since the outbreak of the war on Iran.

Neither Christopher Luxon nor his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong would have known just how handy that deal was going to become back in October.

It’s a pretty simple equation, crisis or no crisis: New Zealand needs fuel, Singapore supplies fuel. Singapore needs food, New Zealand supplies food.

With no refinery in New Zealand since the closure of Marsden Point, we’ve had to rely on importing refined fuel from elsewhere. Singapore has supplied around a third of that.

The background

New Zealand and Singapore have a longstanding trade relationship.

In the year to June 2025, two-way trade was worth $11.07 billion.

The two countries signed a free trade agreement (the New Zealand-Singapore Closer Economic Partnership, or CEP) all the way back in 2000.

In April 2020, they committed to a declaration on trade in essential goods, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

That declaration ensured neither New Zealand nor Singapore would impose export restrictions like tariffs on 120 essential goods like various foods, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment.

While the declaration was non-binding, in 2022 former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and former Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong established a supply chain working group to build on those commitments and spirit of cooperation.

In October 2024, Cabinet agreed to launch negotiations, and a year later the Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies (AOTES) was agreed to.

Were we at risk of fuel being cut off?

Singapore has made it clear it was hardly going to turn the tap off anyway, given the relationship and how much it runs counter to our general trade philosophies.

New Zealand farmers are pretty reliant on diesel, in order to produce the food that is then exported to Singapore.

So there was never much of a motivation for Singapore or New Zealand to all of a sudden become more protectionist.

But now it’s in writing, with legal obligations, and sitting within the CEP.

“Unlike the declaration, the AOTES is a binding, treaty level agreement and is not responding to an immediate supply shock but helping both of our countries prepare for future crises,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials wrote in a national interest analysis.

Countries can use a critical shortages exception under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), but this new deal is “novel,” officials said, because it prevents that from happening.

Not that New Zealand has ever used that exception. To the best of their knowledge, officials couldn’t find an example.

So, even if Singapore experiences a supply shock, it still can’t apply that shortages exception, which gives New Zealand more certainty.

But what if the worst happens?

If we’re talking about the absolute worst of the worst of situations, like a nuclear apocalypse which wipes out all of our crops, or the island where Singapore’s refineries are based all of a sudden sinks into the sea, then yes, sure, Singapore and New Zealand could technically circumvent the agreement.

The countries can still use other provisions or exceptions in the GATT or their World Trade Organisation agreements, so they can still impose export controls for “reasons such as national security threats, the protection of human, plant and animal health, public morals, or the regulation of classification, grading or marketing of commodities in international trade.”

That’s where a rapid review clause comes in, meaning both parties can call an emergency meeting to discuss adding or removing goods to or from the list.

Singapore and New Zealand have also promised to share information with each other in the event of a significant or imminent supply chain disruption, such as the predicted impact on their economy or national security, or how long it may last.

There is a provision within Singapore and New Zealand’s CEP which allows Singapore to adopt “any measure” to address critical shortages of essential imports.

So, if there’s a supply chain crisis, Singapore could use the provision within the CEP to prove an exemption from the AOTES.

But, officials said, the threshold was high, as the “relevant goods need to be listed as essential in Singapore’s domestic law, the critical shortages need to give rise to major difficulties for Singapore, and the measure should not be used to arbitrarily discriminate against New Zealand or to impose a disguised restriction on trade.”

So why is fuel still so expensive?

While the deal reduces New Zealand’s risk of fuel shortages, it doesn’t reduce our exposure to prices.

The AOTES ensures both countries continue to “expedite and facilitate” the flow of supplies, and prevents them from imposing export restrictions.

It does not “cut across” the role of the private sector in the production or management of supply chains, and there’s no regulation within the agreement for the private sector.

It also doesn’t mean New Zealand or Singapore have to commit to procurement, or guarantee the supply of goods.

New Zealand importers still have to pay the market rate for the fuel, and that inevitably gets passed on to consumers.

Singapore’s refineries have had to adapt to process sweeter crude than they’re used to, and sourcing it from elsewhere has also brought in extra costs.

The fuel companies can source it. They can refine it. They can transport it. But it’s still going to cost us, especially if that supply gets more constrained.

That’s why, even though the fuel is still coming into New Zealand, we’re still seeing those prices at the pump.

Both Wong and Luxon have been bleak in their assessments of the fuel crisis, with neither thinking it’s going to end any time soon.

What else is in there?

Food and fuel are the headline items, mainly because they’re the most pressing things the respective countries would need in a crisis.

The lists can be changed, but only if both parties agree to the edits.

New Zealand’s list includes petroleum and oils (other than crude, which we wouldn’t need anyway without a refinery), hydrocarbons, medications, vaccines, polymers, medical equipment, and building materials like steel and glass insulation.

Officials on the New Zealand side said the list was chosen to reflect what New Zealand already imported from Singapore, as well as “whether New Zealand could or could not stand-up production of the specific good in the times of crisis, how substitutable the good is, and whether we can easily source the good from elsewhere.”

Singapore’s list is almost entirely food: meats, vegetables, legumes, fruits, dairy, grains.

Coal is also on Singapore’s list, as are photographic cameras, for some reason.

Is it really a world first?

The “first of its kind” definition is technically true.

Australia concluded negotiations on a similar economic resilience deal with Singapore last month, committing to keep supplying Singapore with liquefied natural gas while Singapore promised to keep supplying Australia with refined fuel.

But even though New Zealand’s deal has only just been signed now, it has been locked in for longer.

Luxon has used that to rebuff criticisms that he should have got on a plane to Singapore sooner. The deal was agreed to in October, Singapore promised to abide by it in-principle once the war started, there was no rush.

“We didn’t need to, because the Australians didn’t have what we have. They probably still haven’t got what we have. We put this in place in October, Prime Minister Wong and I are good friends, and we agreed that we would work to this and formally sign it on this visit. So it’s served us incredibly well. We haven’t needed to go sooner as a result of this,” he told RNZ ahead of the trip.

Can we expect others to join in?

Luxon is pointing to the deal as an example of smaller countries innovating and modernising trade architecture, rather than responding to the United States’ tariffs with a tit-for-tat protectionism.

Both he and Wong have expressed openness to other countries wanting to join in.

Singapore and New Zealand’s deal had an advantage because they came from a running start, and had identified the products each other wanted, but both prime ministers have said others can sign up, as long as they can meet the same standards, guarantees, and commitments.

In July, New Zealand will chair a meeting with 15 other like-minded economies such as Malaysia, Switzerland, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates, and Luxon has said it’s possible some of those countries may want to give it a go.

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PSNA has demanded the government follow through its demands that Israel complies with international law, after New Zealanders were captured in international waters in the Mediterranean and beaten by the Israeli military.

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa Spokesperson Rinad Tamimi says the New Zealand government was very explicit in its recent warnings to Israel that New Zealand did not expect a repeat of Israeli forces brutally capturing New Zealanders in international waters while they were trying to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

“Anyone who has seen the pictures of Invercargill resident Julien Blondel’s face or the reports of Jay O’Connor suffering from concussion and a likely broken rib will know that once more Israel has called the New Zealand government’s bluff.”

“The Global Sumud Aid Flotilla’s sole intention is to deliver aid to Palestinians still under Israeli attack and starvation in Gaza,” Rinad Tamimi says.

“The world is looking at the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Iran.  But the situation for Palestinians in Gaza is no less dire than when the ceasefire there was meant to have started last October but Israel continues its daily killing of mainly women and children”

“The volume of food is insufficient and lacking nutrition.  It is incredibly expensive.  Promised tents haven’t arrived.  Medicine has run out. Reconstruction hasn’t started. Israel is still expanding its Yellow-Line no-go zone.”

Rinad Tamimi says she knows the New Zealand government has already proved it doesn’t care about Palestinians in Gaza.  But she says our government cannot avoid its responsibility to protect New Zealanders going about lawful business.  

“The government can’t simply opt out of its duties to its citizens by telling them it’s too dangerous to try helping Palestinians in Gaza.”

“Israel has killed people on flotillas before.  It has captured New Zealanders and brutalised them previously.  Now it has done it again.”

Rinad Tamimi says the least step New Zealand can do is issue a formal rebuke by calling-in the Israeli ambassador.

“The ambassador has been informed of our government’s stated concerns, and New Zealand’s bluff has been called.”

“The ambassador should be expelled as far as I’m concerned.  But if it was good enough for John Key’s government to reprimand Israel through a formal rebuke, then why can’t Winston Peters do at least the same.”

Rinad Tamimi
National Spokesperson
PSNA

MIL OSI

An instructor on a fatal Whangārei Boys’ High caving trip has described how the group faced a stark, life-or-death choice as a flash flood swept through the cave – stay put on top of a rockfall, or try to swim to the exit.

The man, whose name is suppressed, told a Coroner’s inquest in Whangārei on Tuesday there was no discussion of which option to take.

As the “tail-end Charlie” at the rear of the group, he had no choice but to follow the trip leader and the boys, who had already entered the water and were being swept rapidly downstream.

Under cross examination, however, the man said he agreed with the decision.

That was because there was no way of knowing how high the flood would rise, and whether even the highest point would stay above water.

The man, who was highly experienced in outdoor education but not qualified in caving, told the court he had helped guide another school group through the same cave the previous day.

On that day the water at the entrance to the cave was marginally deeper and murkier than usual.

The following day the water was slightly deeper still, but not enough to make him concerned.

He had asked the organisers whether the trip was still going ahead, given the orange heavy rain warning in place for Northland.

They told him they had shortened the trip and limited it to one cave, which they believed at that time did not flood, instead of the usual three.

The man checked the rain radar for himself and saw a heavy rain band over Kaitāia that was moving only slowly south.

He had seen a similar rain band the week before that had brought no rain to Whangārei.

The man said the group explored the cave’s upper chamber and observed glow-worms before noticing more water than usual in one of the passages.

One of the men – he could not remember who – said “we’d better get out of here”.

When they returned to the rockfall, where the upper and lower passages met, he was surprised to see how much the water had risen.

The water level had gone up so much he was struggling to recognise where they were.

At that point their only options were to enter the water and swim to the exit, or stay on top of the rockfall and wait for the water to recede.

However, the trip leader had already entered the water and was being swept downstream towards the exit, followed by the boys, so he followed.

He was asked by one of the lawyers why he believed that was the right decision, even though there was no discussion – not at the time, and not beforehand via an emergency plan.

“I thought there was too much uncertainty regarding whether the remainder of the cave, even the high points, would actually remain safe and dry,” he said.

Once he entered the water, he found it was deeper and faster than he expected.

It was mostly over head-height and turbulent in places, pulling the boys under and leaving them scrambling for space and air.

As he came around the final corner before the exit he heard boys shouting frantically and saw what he recognised as a sieve, where the water was being forced through small gaps in the rocks.

The force of the water pouring through the sieve was sucking boys under and pulling them towards the right-hand side of the cave mouth, where it was impossible to get out.

By chimneying, or placing his hands and feet against the cave walls, he was able to make his way towards the exit, where the trip leader had braced himself against the flow and was lifting boys out of the water.

He said the trip leader had saved several lives that day.

The man said until that day he did not know Karnin Petera, the 15-year-old who died, but had since felt a deep connection with him.

Addressing Karnin and his whānau, he said: “He often reminds me to appreciate this life and do important things … I hold all my kids tighter now, and I thank you Karnin for that.”

He urged the young men who were in the cave to talk about the tragedy, often, with those they trusted.

He said he had never received an apology from Whangārei Boys’ High School, or been asked for his views about the changes needed in outdoor education.

The inquest, before Coroner Alexander Ho, is expected to continue for at least two more days.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Overall commodity prices have been dragged down by a 7.5 percent drop in overall dairy prices with strong global supply keeping the sector under pressure.

The ANZ World Commodity Price Index fell 0.8 percent in April over March, with better prices for most commodities, other than dairy.

“Dairy prices are in a period of high volatility, especially butter,” the report says.

Still, there had been stand-out increases in other sectors with forestry prices up 7.1 percent, partially reflecting higher production and transportation costs.

Aluminium rose 6.3 percent on March, and 51 percent up on the year earlier, after a large aluminium smelter in the United Arab Emirates was damaged in late March, tightening global supplies.

The meat and fibre index rose 0.2 percent over March to another record level, while horticultural was little changed.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

A teacher on a fatal school caving trip says he didn’t consider waiting out a flood in a higher passage because at that time he believed the safest option was to get out of the cave.

The teacher, who was cross-examined on Tuesday in an inquest into the 2023 Abbey Caves tragedy in Whangārei, said when he decided to cut the trip short the main risk was that the students could roll their ankles in the knee-deep water.

At the time – based on his many visits to Organ Cave, including after heavy rain – he didn’t believe flash flooding was a risk.

He knew the two other caves in the area, Middle Cave and Ivy Cave, did flood.

The teacher said there was light drizzle as the Year 11 group entered the cave, but the colour and level of the water at the entrance was normal for the time of year.

He noticed the water rising – he put it at “2 to 3 inches” – and decided the safest thing to do was to exit the cave, regroup outside, have some food, and go back in to continue exploring an area known as The Squeeze if conditions allowed.

If they had decided to wait in the upper passage, the group had limited light, no food, and no idea of how long they would have to wait.

The teacher was also aware heavy rain was forecast that afternoon.

He said it was only when the group passed an area called The Rockfall and got close to the exit that the water started rising with alarming speed.

He described the water as going from knee deep to neck deep in a period of, at most, two minutes – but possibly as little as 30 seconds.

The teacher told the court he still could not understand why the water rose so quickly, and said he had not seen anything like it in all his years of caving.

He had thought about it often and wondered whether part of the cave had been blocked by debris, or if a blockage upstream had suddenly burst.

“It almost came in like a wave, which is not what caves do … That’s still a mystery to me.”

Ellie Harrison, lawyer for the family of Karnin Petera, the 15-year-old who died, quizzed the teacher about why he did not consider staying in the upper passage.

The teacher said he had hopped into the water to check the level in the main passage and found it was only knee-deep.

Had the flash flood hit minutes earlier, they would have stayed in the upper passage, he said.

Harrison also asked about the group’s lack of emergency communication.

She said Karnin’s father, Andre Petera, had called the school twice to raise concerns about flooding in Whangārei city, but the receptionist had “brushed him off”.

Even if the receptionist had tried to pass on those concerns, there was no way of contacting the group because there was no cellphone coverage beyond the Abbey Caves car park.

The lack of another form of communication had also caused a delay in raising the alarm, with some of the boys having to run to a nearby house to call 111, she said.

However, the teacher said having a satellite phone would have made little difference, because it was only a short distance uphill to reach cellphone coverage.

In any case, he would not have had a chance to make a satellite call because he was still inside the cave rescuing students when the alarm was raised.

The second adult on the trip would to start giving his evidence this afternoon.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

A teacher on a fatal school caving trip says he didn’t consider waiting out a flood in a higher passage because at that time he believed the safest option was to get out of the cave.

The teacher, who was cross-examined on Tuesday in an inquest into the 2023 Abbey Caves tragedy in Whangārei, said when he decided to cut the trip short the main risk was that the students could roll their ankles in the knee-deep water.

At the time – based on his many visits to Organ Cave, including after heavy rain – he didn’t believe flash flooding was a risk.

He knew the two other caves in the area, Middle Cave and Ivy Cave, did flood.

The teacher said there was light drizzle as the Year 11 group entered the cave, but the colour and level of the water at the entrance was normal for the time of year.

He noticed the water rising – he put it at “2 to 3 inches” – and decided the safest thing to do was to exit the cave, regroup outside, have some food, and go back in to continue exploring an area known as The Squeeze if conditions allowed.

If they had decided to wait in the upper passage, the group had limited light, no food, and no idea of how long they would have to wait.

The teacher was also aware heavy rain was forecast that afternoon.

He said it was only when the group passed an area called The Rockfall and got close to the exit that the water started rising with alarming speed.

He described the water as going from knee deep to neck deep in a period of, at most, two minutes – but possibly as little as 30 seconds.

The teacher told the court he still could not understand why the water rose so quickly, and said he had not seen anything like it in all his years of caving.

He had thought about it often and wondered whether part of the cave had been blocked by debris, or if a blockage upstream had suddenly burst.

“It almost came in like a wave, which is not what caves do … That’s still a mystery to me.”

Ellie Harrison, lawyer for the family of Karnin Petera, the 15-year-old who died, quizzed the teacher about why he did not consider staying in the upper passage.

The teacher said he had hopped into the water to check the level in the main passage and found it was only knee-deep.

Had the flash flood hit minutes earlier, they would have stayed in the upper passage, he said.

Harrison also asked about the group’s lack of emergency communication.

She said Karnin’s father, Andre Petera, had called the school twice to raise concerns about flooding in Whangārei city, but the receptionist had “brushed him off”.

Even if the receptionist had tried to pass on those concerns, there was no way of contacting the group because there was no cellphone coverage beyond the Abbey Caves car park.

The lack of another form of communication had also caused a delay in raising the alarm, with some of the boys having to run to a nearby house to call 111, she said.

However, the teacher said having a satellite phone would have made little difference, because it was only a short distance uphill to reach cellphone coverage.

In any case, he would not have had a chance to make a satellite call because he was still inside the cave rescuing students when the alarm was raised.

The second adult on the trip would to start giving his evidence this afternoon.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has condemned the latest attacks on the United Arab Emirates, saying Iran has violated its ceasefire.

In a social media post, Peters said the attack was unhelpful for peace negotiations.

New Zealand condemns Iran’s latest attacks on the United Arab Emirates.
 
Iran’s actions violate the ceasefire and are unhelpful for peace negotiations.
 
We reiterate the urgent need for de-escalation. Iran must honour its commitment to the ceasefire and respect international…

— Winston Peters (@NewZealandMFA) May 4, 2026

“New Zealand condemns Iran’s latest attacks on the United Arab Emirates. Iran’s actions violate the ceasefire and are unhelpful for peace negotiations,” the post said.

“We reiterate the urgent need for de-escalation. Iran must honour its commitment to the ceasefire and respect international law, including the protections afforded to civilians and civilian infrastructure.

“We urge Iran to prioritise political agreement on a permanent solution to end this crisis. The conflict will not be resolved through drones and missiles.”

BBC reported the strike caused a fire at the oil port of Fujairah, and came alongside attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz as the United States seeks to guide ships through it and out of the Persian Gulf.

US President Donald Trump said the United States had also struck seven Iranian ‘fast boats’ in the strait.

He has warned Iranian forces would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they attempted to target US ships in the Strait or the Gulf.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand