For These Veterans, ‘Free’ Health Care Is a 5-Hour Flight Away
(The New York Times)
Distance and neglect mean that citizens of three Pacific Island nations, eligible to serve in the U.S. military, find it hard to make use of the health benefits they have earned.
In the Pacific, a “Dumping Ground” for Priests Accused or Convicted of Abuse (The New York Times)
Over a decades-long period, more than 30 Catholic priests and missionaries moved to remote island nations after they had allegedly abused children in the West, or had been found to do so.
$59 Million, Gone: How Bikini Atoll Leaders Blew Through U.S. Trust Fund (The New York Times)
The Trump administration lifted spending limits on a $59 million fund for descendants of nuclear survivors. Six years later, the money is gone.
North & South – How a pair of wily New Zealand diplomats outfoxed the Iranian regime and helped the CIA rescue six U.S. diplomats trapped in Tehran.
1843 Magazine – Mad Max in paradise: New Caledonia in turmoil
North & South – Jacinda Ardern's chief of staff is the most powerful man in the country. Raj Nahna eschews the spotlight but, despite his best efforts, it somehow finds him.
The New York Times – New Zealand vowed to rid itself of most imported predators. Now some people are asking if that goal is feasible, or worth the cost.
North & South – Private contractors in foreign war zones are coming home with deep trauma. What, if anything, should we do about it?
The New York Times – One in five rugby players in New Zealand are now women, and their numbers are rising. But persistent stereotypes are proving hard to dismantle.
The New York Times – As a weed choked a New Zealand lake, a tribe's surprising and ancient solution has added to academia's fiery debate over Indigenous knowledge.
The New York Times – A series of defeats by New Zealand’s All Blacks has led to a humbling drop in the world rankings, and concern that the team might not have what it takes to bounce back this time.
The New York Times – The kiwi has hatched eggs in the wild in the Wellington area for the first time in living memory.
The New York Times – France has sent troops to quell violence in New Caledonia, where Paris is seen as backtracking on promises of self-determination.
The New York Times – New problems in New Zealand like inflation and gang violence and old problems like unaffordable housing have sent her polling numbers to new lows as an election looms next year.
The New York Times – Below the waters of the Cook Islands lie minerals used to power electric cars. Extracting them could bring riches, but many say it’s a bad idea.
The New York Times – The proposal has angered many of Japan’s neighbors, particularly those with the most direct experience of unexpected exposure to dangerous levels of radiation.
The Guardian – ‘Is it to satisfy you or to satisfy us?’ Why New Zealand’s Pacific colony doesn’t want independence.
The New York Times – An occupation in New Zealand's capital demonstrates the dangerous influence that American disinformation is having on otherwise stable democracies.
The New York Times – Tāne Mahuta, an ancient tree named after the god of forests in Māori mythology, is threatened by the slow creep of an incurable disease.
The New York Times – America's move to recognize the Cook Islands as a sovereign state shows how the U.S.-China competition is realigning Pacific politics.
The Washington Post – Marshallese leaders know who to thank for a sudden $700m windfall from America, their former colonizer. "It's because of China. We're not naive."
The New York Times – Welcome to Little Kiwi, N.Y.C: Young New Zealanders are once again venturing back out into the world.
North & South – How the fight to clear the name of accused pedophile Peter Ellis is transforming New Zealand law.
The Guardian – New Zealand’s once all-powerful farmers split amid anger over Ardern climate policy.
North & South – How the internet is convincing Kiwis that buying drugs is as safe and convenient as online shopping.
The New York Times – New Zealanders are anxious as they learn to live with the pandemic-related risk that has been a fact of life elsewhere for two years.
The New York Times – Divisions over homosexuality have proved intractable both on a global level and inside even liberal-leaning countries like New Zealand.
The New York Times – The Moriori, whose history of peaceful isolation was shattered, fight to establish themselves as a thriving people alongside Māori.
The New York Times – It’s surprising how hard it is for New Zealanders to make themselves understood in America.
Slate – Almost Every Powerful Economist We Have Went to 1 of 6 Schools. That’s Not Great! New research shows how narrow the field of American economics has become.
The Washington Post – How a Chinese couple used bribes and elaborate deceptions to try create a crypto-themed tax haven in the ashes of American nuclear testing.
The Nation – Kiribati's attempted deportation of an Australian-born judge shows how the decolonizing world’s reliance on foreign-born judges threatens nascent democracies.