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New Zealand’s fuel distribution network is continuing to show signs of increasing operational strain as tanker movements become more concentrated around key ports while several regional terminals remain without confirmed incoming shipments. Exclusive report for elocal by Dave Trotter · The latest NZ Fuel Watch interim shipping charts, updated Friday May 8, reveal only five new fuel vessels currently entering the national distribution cycle this…

A German economist writing satire about New Zealand sounds like the opening line of a bad joke. · The joke gets longer when you learn the plot: two Martian auditors land in the Wairarapa expecting humanity at its best, are promptly fined for parking without consent, and proceed on a reluctant tiki tour of the country in the company of a Wellington bureaucrat named Ben, who has quietly decided his career is over and he may as well help them. What…

The Free Speech Union (FSU) has welcomed the Government’s decision to disestablish the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA), describing the move as a major reversal of what it calls years of regulatory overreach into online speech. By elocal staff · In a media release issued on May 6, Free Speech Union Chief Executive Jillaine Heather said the Government had made “the right call” by abandoning the BSA model and instead investigating voluntary…

Migrants applying for New Zealand citizenship will soon be required to pass a new multiple-choice citizenship test under a government initiative expected to take effect in late 2027. By RNZ Parliamentary reporters · The proposed test will require applicants to demonstrate knowledge of what the government describes as the “responsibilities and privileges” of being a New Zealand citizen. Topics are expected to include democratic principles, the…

‘Did Rubio just say the US in Iran wants to go back to where it was?’ – Rick Sanchez‘They’ll call you anti-American, a panic and they’ll throw the lob insults at you for even asking that question.’ · In this episode of RT’s ‘Sanchez Effect’ US policies face real heat. Not only from Rick Sanchez but also Clayton Morris, who is the host of ‘Redacted’ on YouTube and a former prominent Fox News anchor. · Rick expresses his disappointment in…

The two-day ceasefire announced by Russia ahead of Victory Day celebrations on May 8-9 has officially gone into effect. The Russian Defense Ministry has reiterated warnings that any attempt by Ukraine to disrupt events in Moscow would trigger a large-scale retaliatory strike on central Kiev. According to a statement issued Thursday, Russian forces will suspend all frontline combat operations and halt long-range strikes into Ukrainian territory…

Russia doubles down on its warning to Kiev stating the city will be hit if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Russia’s World War Two ‘Victory Day’ commemorations. · Moscow urges civilians and foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital. Powerful blasts rock Beirut as the IDF launches a new wave of attacks on the Lebanese capital. Israel's Prime Minister claims the country's forces targeted and killed a Hezbollah commander. · And with talks…

By Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club · “A new world order must be built to ensure economic justice and equal political security for all nations. An end to the arms race is an essential prerequisite for the establishment of such an order.” · This year marks the 40th anniversary of…

There is something deeply unsettling in the tone of the EU’s current strategic debate. What is presented as prudence increasingly resembles panic. What is framed as “strategic autonomy” often sounds like something else entirely: a loss of confidence, a surge of ideological hostility, and a willingness among declining liberal elites to flirt with the most destructive weapons ever created. By Ladislav Zemánek, non-resident research fellow at…

Ukraine’s most popular format for political content recently seems to be reading aloud invective-laden transcripts of Vladimir Zelensky’s closest political allies scheming about stealing in Russian. The ‘Mindich tapes’ could have serious ramifications for the government, as they purport to implicate Zelensky in unabashed corruption. The root of the escalating graft scandal lies in an investigation that Western-backed Ukrainian law enforcement…