Category: World News

Source: Radio New Zealand

More than forty firefighters in New South Wales have been working to extinguish a number of yacht fires in a marina.

Fire and Rescue NSW said the incident was reported just before 3.30am (local time) on Friday.

It said four people were assessed by paramedics for smoke inhalation but did not need to be taken to hospital.

Police and the Port Authority were also at the scene.

MOSMAN – FRNSW , Port Authority and NSW Police working to extinguish a number of vessels on fire in the marina on the western side of the Spit Bridge. Called in just before 3:30am. pic.twitter.com/nBwcWcRPNy

— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) January 8, 2026

According to Sydney Morning Herald, NSW Police said the fire started on one vessel before spreading and destroying another three.

It said four people were onboard the vessel where the fire originated from but managed to escape.

The Sydney Morning Herald said the fire was not currently being treated as suspicious.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Research commissioned by Greenpeace, showing that deep sea mining in the Cook Islands is unlikely to make any money, is being rejected by the country’s government.

The research, performed by Trytten Consulting Services in October last year, reviewed the economic potential of polymetallic nodules in the Cook Islands’ seabed.

It looked at the likelihood of generating profit through the two main ways of seabed nodule recovery – dredging and picking – both of which are yet to be used on a commercial mining scale.

Taking into account available market data, the analysis found it was more likely than not that the ultimate economic return for Cook Islands nodules would be negative.

“Although it is possible that an economic collection and processing system could be derived, analysis of the projected plans by two leading proponents, coupled with analysis of the available market structure suggest that it is more likely than not that the ultimate economic return for Cook Islands nodules would be negative,” the research stated.

The Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority has estimated there are 6.7 billion tonnes of wet polymetallic nodules in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

These contain minerals like cobalt and nickel, used in a range of products including smartphones, electric batteries, and weapons.

Prime Minister Mark Brown has billed the developing industry as a potential stream for generational prosperity, however the prospect of deep sea mining in the country’s waters has divided Cook Islanders – locally and abroad.

In 2022, Brown’s government issued exploration licenses to three deep sea mining companies – one of which is part-owned by the Cook Islands government.

These exploratory licenses were due to end in February 2027, but in November the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (SMBA) extended the licenses for another five years.

The longer exploration licence period effectively pushed out the decision regarding commercial deep sea mining in the country’s EEZ until at least 2032.

“As the licence holders have not yet completed their approved plans of work, they will be required to apply for renewal of their exploration licences for a further five-year period if they wish to continue,” SMBA commissioner Beverly Stacey-Ataera told Cook Islands News at the time.

Edward Herman, director of partnerships and cooperation at SMBA, said the government understands from the companies which have exploration licenses that “eventual commercial development has a real chance of being economic”.

He noted the companies were making “real, major investments” and that the government wanted any research to be “independently checked”.

“Our current licence holders were vetted for technical competency, and they almost certainly know more than anyone else about the potential cost versus revenue of their projects, given their specific insight and work done in their exploration scope,” Herman said.

“The level of studies required by the Cook Islands government are based on international standards resulting from decades of project development and learnings from thousands of projects both onshore and offshore.

“Nonetheless, before any minerals harvesting could be licenced, Government has a requirement for a much more detailed and complete report, than that of Greenpeace’s, which will be independently checked.”

Juressa Lee, Greenpeace Aotearoa seabed mining campaigner, reiterated the need to carefully examine the business-case and environmental risks of deep sea mining in Cook Islands.

“Scientific warnings are crystal clear: deep sea mining will damage the oceans and harm biodiversity,” she said.

“Millions of people across the world, including people in the Cook Islands, are concerned about the threats posed by this industry. When you add the major financial risks, it’s hard to understand why anyone is still pushing this industry at all.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A vigil is being held in Minnesota after a woman was shot and killed by an immigration officer.

The woman’s death has caused outrage by local leaders in the US while President Donald Trump claims the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officer acted in self defence.

According to CNN, thousands of Minnesota residents and activists are attending the vigil.

Flowers have been perched in the snow and candles lit near where the 37-year-old woman was killed.

CNN has named the woman as Renee Nicole Good.

“Say it once. Say it twice. We will not put up with ICE,” CNN reported the attendees chanting. It said some signs being held said “Killer ICE off our streets”.

CNN said speakers said the actions of ICE officers were unacceptable and a “direct result of a what they called militarized state with no accountability”.

They called for the officer responsible for Good’s death to face charges, CNN reported.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Cook Islands says a US sanctioned oil tanker is falsely using their country’s identifiers to evade capture.

The Bertha, which flew under the Cooks flag for almost nine months in 2024, is among at least 16 vessels that have reportedly attempted to evade US blockades in Venezuela.

The New York Times reported the Bertha, under the false name of Ekta, has been located by US authorities in the Carribean, but has yet to be captured.

Others have either been captured, or have spoofed (turned off) their signals to evade tracking, the NYT reported.

A major American naval blockade on Venezuela’s energy exports was introduced last month.

The Bertha was sanctioned for transportation of Iranian crude oil in December 2024, less than a month after it was deregistered by Maritime Cook Islands in November.

“It appears that Bertha is continuing to use Cook Islands identifiers (MMSI 518999103 and Call Sign E5U5084) in her Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmissions.” the authority said in a statement today.

This deceptive practice enables the vessel to show falsely as being registered with the Cook Islands on commercial tracking platforms.”

Numerous Cooks-flagged ships have been identified with Russia’s “shadow fleet” of vessels illicitly trading in Russian and Iranian crude oil.

Maritime Cook Islands said vessels within the “shadow fleet” are usually deceptive in their location signalling through Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmissions. This typically includes spoofing locations and broadcasting false vessel identities.

MarineTraffic.com, which lists the Bertha under the Cooks flag, reported the vessels last location near the Gulf of Guinea on December 23rd.

The Cook Islands Maritime Authority has been approached for further comment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Christine Rovi of PMN

A major genetic study has revealed how Pacific people helped move pigs across the ocean for thousands of years, shaping island life, culture, and ecosystems from Southeast Asia to Polynesia.

The study, published in the journal Science, looked at the DNA of more than 700 pigs, including living animals and archaeological remains.

By comparing their genomes, researchers were able to track where pigs came from, when they arrived on different islands, and how they mixed with local pig species.

The research was led by Professor Laurent Frantz from Queen Mary University of London and Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Dr David Stanton from Cardiff University, and Professor Greger Larson from the University of Oxford.

Scientists from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vanuatu were also part of the team.

For a long time, scientists believed many animals could not cross a major natural divide known as the Wallace Line, which separates Asian wildlife from Australasian species.

While animals such as monkeys and leopards remained on the Asian side, pigs were found on both sides of the boundary.

The new study shows this did not happen naturally. Instead, people carried pigs with them as they travelled and settled across islands.

Early Pacific journeys

The earliest movements may have happened as far back as 50,000 years ago when people living in Sulawesi, known for some of the world’s oldest cave art, moved warty pigs to nearby islands such as Timor.

The pigs may have been taken along to provide food for future hunting. Around 4000 years ago, pig movements increased quickly as early farming communities expanded into the Pacific.

From a Polynesian archaeology perspective, the findings support long-held knowledge that Pacific voyagers travelled with food systems, not just people, and that pigs reflect careful planning and adaptation as communities settled new islands.

Researchers say these journeys started from Taiwan, moved through the Philippines and eastern Indonesia, and continued into Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and remote Polynesia.

Researchers at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre say pigs hold deep cultural value there and were intentionally brought by ancestors than arriving by chance as invasive animals.

Stanton, the lead author, says the research shows how human movement across the Pacific reshaped animal populations over time.

“This research reveals what happens when people transport animals enormous distances, across one of the world’s most fundamental natural boundaries,” he says. “These movements led to pigs with a melting pot of ancestries.”

Mixing with local species

The study also found that many pigs escaped or were released and became wild.

In some places like the Komodo Islands, pigs introduced in different periods interbred. These hybrid pigs are now an important food source for the endangered Komodo dragon.

European pigs were also introduced during the colonial period, adding another layer to the region’s complex history.

Larson says pigs were ready to spread once people helped them reach new islands. “When people have lent a hand, pigs were all too willing to spread out on newly colonised islands in South East Asia and into the Pacific,” he says.

“By sequencing the genomes of ancient and more recent populations, we’ve been able to link those movements to specific human populations in both space and time.”

Big questions for Pacific conservation

The findings raise difficult questions for conservation. Today, pigs are seen very differently across the Pacific.

In some places, they are sacred, spiritually important or central to culture. In others, they are pests, while in some islands, pigs have been present for so long that they are treated almost as native species.

Pacific scholars say the findings question Western ideas of what is considered “native”, showing that animals present for thousands of years are now part of Pacific landscapes and history.

Frantz says the research helps uncover layers of human activity across the region and challenges simple conservation labels.

“It is very exciting that we can use ancient DNA from pigs to peel back layers of human activity across this megabiodiverse region,” he says.

“The big question now is, at what point do we consider something native? What if people introduced species tens of thousands of years ago? Are these worth conservation efforts?”

Pacific conservation practitioners say pigs highlight ongoing challenges in the region, where their cultural importance must be balanced against real environmental damage.

The researchers say future conservation efforts in the Pacific will need to respect culture, history, and community knowledge instead of relying only on traditional definitions of “native and invasive species.

–PMN

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

More than 3,000 people from U.S. territories have signed a petition opposing proposed deep seabed mining in waters near the Mariana Islands and American Samoa, warning of irreversible environmental damage and the exclusion of Indigenous communities from decision-making.

In a letter addressed to Guam Senator Therese M. Terlaje, the petition’s authors said the federal government was pursuing mining proposals without the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous peoples who would be most affected.

They argued the plans highlight the limited political power of residents in US territories, where local voices were often sidelined in decisions that directly affect land, ocean, and livelihoods.

The petition claims deep sea mining is incompatible with a healthy marine environment and threatens biodiversity, cultural heritage, and traditional ocean stewardship.

It adds, Pacific Islander communities depend on the ocean for their survival and identity, and that the permanent extraction of seabed minerals would amount to a one-time loss of resources that have existed “since the dawn of time,” especially as climate change accelerates environmental pressures.

Drawing parallels with past extractive industries in both the Pacific and the Caribbean, the signatories said such activities have brought long-term environmental harm while undermining self-determination and Indigenous governance.

They are calling on the US government to immediately halt any plans for deep seabed mining in the Marianas and American Samoa and to commit to inclusive, community-led decision-making.

The petition also questions why island communities continue to bear the risks of resource extraction for the global energy transition, while investments to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels remain limited.

Organizers said they would continue collecting signatures until the public comment period closes on 12 January and plan to formally submit the petition on the deadline.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The inner circle of Tonga’s legislative assembly has been confirmed, with new prime minister Lord Fakafanua announcing his selection of cabinet ministers on Monday afternoon.

Fakafanua will take on the police, fire and emergency services portfolios for his government, as well as disaster management, climate change and communications.

He has named Dr Viliami Latu as his deputy. Among his portfolios are justice and economic development.

Crown Prince Tupouto’a Ulukalala returns as the minister in charge of foreign affairs and defence. He has been appointed from outside of parliament, which is permitted under Tonga’s constitution.

Former prime minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni is also back at the decision-making table as fourth in the cabinet line-up. He has picked up the health and public enterprises portfolios.

Dr Taniela Fusimalohi, who was former prime minister Dr ‘Aisake Eke’s deputy prime minister, has also made it into cabinet as Minister for Lands, Survey, Planning and Natural Resources.

King Tupou VI has already appointed Fakafanua’s ministers to cabinet, according to Monday’s Tonga parliament announcement. This is a formal process enshrined in Tonga’s constitution.

The appointment of the King’s son, the Crown Prince, to parliament increases the size of the size of the legislative assembly, which has a base of 26 elected representatives from the general election. According to the constitution, up to four ministers can be appointed to Cabinet from outside parliament.

The only woman elected to Tonga’s parliament, Fane Fituafe, has also been named as a cabinet minister. Fituafe, who is a new MP, takes on a range of portfolios including women, social affairs and employment.

Monday’s cabinet announcement concludes the parliamentary election process that began with Tonga’s general election voting day on 20 November last year.

Twenty-six representatives (17 peoples’ representatives and nine nobles’ representatives) were elected by voters on that day – making up the country’s legislative assembly or parliament.

Following this, the group then conducted a vote for prime minister on 15 December, with Fakafanua winning over his predecessor Dr ‘Aisake Eke 16 votes to 10. Fakafanua was then formally appointed by the King to the office of prime minister, in keeping with Tonga’s constitution.

The King also appointed Lord Vaea as the speaker of the new parliament, and Lord Tu’iha’angana as his deputy. Both speaker positions can only be held by nobles’ representatives.

Cabinet lineup:

1. Lord Fakafanua

Prime Minister

Minister for Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Communications and Climate Change (MEIDECC)

Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, and Prisons

2. Dr Viliami Latu

Deputy Prime Minister

Minister for Justice

Minister for Trade and Economic Development

3. Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala

Minister for His Majesty’s Diplomatic Services

Minister for His Majesty’s Armed Forces

4. Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni

Minister for Public Enterprises

Minister for Health

5. Lataifaingata’a Tangimana

Minister for Finance & National Planning

6. Semisi Sika

Minister for Tourism

Minister for Infrastructure

7. Dr Taniela Fusimalohi

Minister for Lands, Survey, Planning and Natural Resources

8. Dr Mo’ale ‘Otunuku

Minister for Education and Training

9. Sevenitini Toumo’ua

Minister for Customs and Inland Revenue

10. Viliami Sisifa

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forests

Minister for Fisheries

11. Fane Fituafe

Minister for Internal Affairs, Employment, Women, Social Protection, Youth and Sports.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Aaron Blake, CNN

Analysis – On 2 November, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that land strikes in Venezuela would require the approval of Congress. She said that if Trump “were to authorise some activity on land, then it’s war, then [we’d need] Congress”.

Days later, Trump administration officials privately told members of Congress much the same thing – that they lacked the legal justification to support attacks against any land targets in Venezuela.

Just two months later, though, the Trump administration has done what it previously indicated it couldn’t.

It launched what Trump called a “large scale strike against Venezuela” and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, to face charges. And it launched this regime change effort without the approval of Congress.

(Trump in November claimed he didn’t need congressional authorisation for land action, but it clearly wasn’t the consensus view in the administration.)

It appears the mission is, for now, limited to removing Maduro. But as Trump noted, it did involve striking inside the country – the same circumstance some in the administration previously indicated required authorization that it didn’t have. CNN reported back in early November that the administration was seeking a new legal opinion from the Justice Department for such strikes.

And Trump in a news conference Saturday spoke repeatedly about not just arresting Maduro, but also running Venezuela and taking over its oil – comments that could certainly be understood to suggest this was about more than arresting Maduro.

Legally dubious strikes inside another country – even ones narrowly tailored at removing a foreign leaders – are hardly unheard of in recent American history. But even in that context, this one is remarkable.

Shifting justifications

That’s because the Trump administration has taken remarkably little care to offer a consistent set of justifications or a legal framework for the attack. And it doesn’t even appear to have notified Congress ahead of time, which is generally the bare minimum in such circumstances.

A full explanation of the claimed justification has yet to be issued, but the early signs are characteristically confusing.

Republican Sen Mike Lee of Utah said shortly after the strikes that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him the attack was needed to, in Lee’s words, “protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant” against Maduro.

“This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect US personnel from an actual or imminent attack,” said Lee, a frequent critic of unauthorized foreign military action.

Hours later, Vice President JD Vance echoed that line.

“And PSA for everyone saying this was ‘illegal’: Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narcoterrorism,” Vance said on X. “You don’t get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas.”

At a later news conference, Rubio echoed the line that the military had been supporting “a law enforcement function”.

But there are many people living in other countries that are under indictment in the United States; it is not the US government’s usual course to launch strikes on foreign countries to bring them to justice.

The administration also hadn’t previously indicated that military force could be legally used for this reason.

Initially, Trump threatened land strikes inside Venezuela to target drug traffickers – this despite Venezuela being an apparently somewhat small player in the drug-trafficking game.

Later, the administration suggested strikes might be needed because Venezuela sent bad people into the United States.

And then, after initially downplaying the role of oil in the US pressure campaign against Venezuela and Maduro, Trump said he aimed to reclaim “the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us”.

The signals were confusing enough that even the hawkish Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in mid-December indicated the administration lacked “clarity” in its messaging.

“I want clarity right here,” Graham said. “President Trump is saying his days are numbered. That seems to me that he’s gotta go. If it’s the goal of taking him out because he’s a threat to our country, then say it. And what happens next? Don’t you think most people want to know that?”

Despite the focus on the law enforcement operation on Saturday, Trump at the news conference said the United States would now participate in running Venezuela, at least temporarily. And he repeatedly spoke about its oil.

“We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure,” Trump said, adding at another point: “We’re going to run the country right.”

And even if the administration had offered a more consistent justification, that doesn’t mean it would be an appropriate one.

A controversial 1989 memo

The most recent major example of using the US military for regime change is, of course, the war in Iraq. That war was authorized by Congress in 2002. The broader war on terror was authorized by Congress in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks.

Since then, administrations have sought to justify several military actions in the Middle East using those authorisations – sometimes dubiously. But Venezuela is in an entirely different theater.

While many have compared the effort in Venezuela to Iraq, the better comparison – and one the administration apparently intends to make – is Panama in 1989.

Like in Venezuela, Panama’s leader at the time, Manuel Noriega, was under US indictment, including for drug-trafficking. And like in Venezuela, the operation was less a large-scale war than a narrowly tailored effort to remove the leader from power.

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 1980 had concluded that the FBI didn’t have the authority to apprehend and abduct a foreign national to face justice. But George HW Bush administration’s OLC quietly reversed that in the summer of 1989.

A memo written by William P. Barr, who would later become attorney general in that Bush administration and Trump’s first administration, said a president had “inherent constitutional authority” to order the FBI to take people into custody in foreign countries, even if it violated international law to do so.

That memo was soon used to justify the operation to remove Noriega. (As it happens, Noriega was captured the same day Maduro was: January 3,1990.)

But that memo remains controversial to this day. It’s also an extraordinarily broad grant of authority, potentially allowing US military force anywhere.

And the situation in Venezuela could differ in that it’s a larger country that could prove tougher to control with its leader in foreign custody. It also has significant oil wealth, meaning other countries could take an interest in what happens there next. (China has called the attack a “blatant use of force against a sovereign state.”)

In both the news conference and an interview with Fox News on Saturday morning, Trump invoked the possibility of further military option, reinforcing that this could be about more than just arresting Maduro.

That also means the questions about Trump’s legal authorities could again be tested – just as he’s already tested them with his legally dubious strikes on alleged drug boats and other actions in the region.

What’s clear is that Trump is seeking to yet again test the limits of his authority as president – and Americans’ tolerance for it. But this time he’s doing it on one of the biggest stages yet. And the story of his stretching of the law certainly isn’t over.

– CNN

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Venezuelan woman living in New Zealand says her family and friends in Venezuela are happy – but anxious – about the move by the United States to capture the Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

Ari Ruiz and her sister Katherine Halkett have both lived in New Zealand for more than 10 years.

Ruiz said she rang her parents in Venezuela this morning to tell them the news, and her mother broke into happy tears.

Ruiz said her parents hoped this will be the first step towards change for the country.

“There has also been a lot of uncertainty about what comes next,” said Katherine Halkett.

“I think that is where a lot of the anxiety comes from, but the mood in Venezuela, of most Venezuelans, is of happiness and hope. The attacks started at about 8 o’clock (pm) New Zealand time, and we haven’t stopped watching the news since and it very scary.”

Halkett said their parents are in Barquisimeto – about five hours drive from Caracas where the attacks were – and knew nothing of the attacks until their phone call.

Other friends and family members who live in Caracas had a very different experience.

“None of them were in any danger at any point, but there were loud noises, windows shaken by the explosion, and smoke. Very scary of course.”

Halkett said America’s reasons for the attack may be complicated, but she said people who say it was all about oil did not understand the situation in Venezuela.

“To all the people in New Zealand, from the comfort of their couches with all their human rights, I tell them that we in Venezuela have not had access to the petroleum money from the Venezuelan government for many years.

“They have given away our petrol to Iran, to Cuba, to Russia, to China. So for them now to be worried about our petrol when we haven’t had our petrol for many years.

“That’s why Venezuelans are not really worried about that.”

Halkett said people in New Zealand were worried about what will happen with the petrol, but not the torture, state violence and political detainees.

Halkett said about 90 percent of the population lived in poverty, with about half the population in extreme poverty.

“My mum’s pension is $US4 a month, and box of 20 eggs is $US10, so people are dying,” said Ruiz. “People don’t have access to food.”

Ruiz said their family and friends say the streets have been very quiet, and it felt as if everyone was waiting to see what will happen next.

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