Analysis: Here is a summary of significant articles published on ForeignAffairs.co.nz on July 24, 2025.
MIL-OSI Submissions: Sweet spot for daily steps is lower than often thought, new study finds
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jack McNamara, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology, University of East London Focus and blur. Your fitness tracker might be lying to you. That 10,000-step target flashing on your wrist? It didn’t come from decades of careful research. It came from a Japanese walking club and a marketing […]
MIL-Evening Report: UN’s highest court finds countries can be held legally responsible for emissions
By Jamie Tahana in The Hague for RNZ Pacific The United Nations’ highest court has found that countries can be held legally responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions, in a ruling highly anticipated by Pacific countries long frustrated with the pace of global action to address climate change. In a landmark opinion delivered yesterday in […]
MIL-Evening Report: Five arms, no heart and a global family: what DNA revealed about the weird deep-sea world of brittle stars
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim O’Hara, Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Museums Victoria Research Institute A brittle star of the species _Gorgonocephalus eucnemis_. Lagunatic Photo / Getty Images You may have read that the deep sea is a very different environment from the land and shallow water. There is no light, […]
MIL-Evening Report: Is sleeping a lot actually bad for your health? A sleep scientist explains
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Gupta, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Appleton Institute, HealthWise Research Group, CQUniversity Australia Walstrom, Susanne/Getty We’re constantly being reminded by news articles and social media posts that we should be getting more sleep. You probably don’t need to hear it again – not sleeping enough is bad […]
MIL-Evening Report: Birds use hidden black and white feathers to make themselves more colourful
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Griffith, Professor of Avian Behavioural Ecology, Macquarie University The green-headed tanager (_Tangara seledon_) has a hidden layer of plumage that is white underneath the orange feathers and black underneath the blue and green feathers. Daniel Field Birds are perhaps the most colourful group of animals, bringing […]
MIL-Evening Report: From grasslands to killing fields: why trees are bad news for one of Australia’s most stunning birds
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriel Crowley, Adjunct Associate Professor in Geography, University of Adelaide JJ Harrison/Wikimedia, CC BY Picture this. A small, rainbow-coloured chick emerges from its nest for the first time. It stretches its wings and prepares to take flight. But before the fledgling’s life in the wild has begun, […]
MIL-Evening Report: As seas rise and fish decline, this Fijian village is finding new ways to adapt
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Celia McMichael, Professor in Geography, The University of Melbourne Celia McMichael, CC BY-NC-ND In the village of Nagigi, Fiji, the ocean isn’t just a resource – it’s part of the community’s identity. But in recent years, villagers have seen the sea behave differently. Tides are pushing inland. […]
MIL-Evening Report: After 70 years, twisted gothic thriller The Night of the Hunter remains as disturbing and beguiling as ever
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben McCann, Associate Professor of French Studies, University of Adelaide United Artists/Getty Images In 1955, director Charles Laughton crafted one of the darkest, strangest fairytales ever to come out of Hollywood. The Night of the Hunter remains visually exquisite and profoundly unsettling. Shortly before Ben Harper is […]
MIL-OSI Analysis: How public development banks could narrow inequality gaps between the Global North and South
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Alicja Paulina Krubnik, PhD Candidate, Political Science, McMaster University The United Nations’ Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) recently concluded in Seville, Spain. It gathered global leaders from government, development, academia and civil society to discuss key barriers to sustainable development and shape collaborative efforts to […]
MIL-Evening Report: Almost a third of NZ households face energy hardship – reform has to go beyond cheaper off-peak power
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kimberley O’Sullivan, Senior Research Fellow, He Kainga Oranga – Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago Igor Suka/Getty Images The spotlight is again on New Zealand’s energy sector, with a group of industry bodies and independent retailers pushing for a market overhaul, saying the sector was […]
MIL-Evening Report: Immigration courts hiding the names of ICE lawyers goes against centuries of precedent and legal ethics requiring transparency in courts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University Some immigration courts have allowed ICE attorneys to conceal their names during proceedings. Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock via Getty Images Something unusual is happening in U.S. immigration courts. Government lawyers are […]
MIL-Evening Report: How the UK’s immigration system splits families apart – by design
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nando Sigona, Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham arda savasciogullari/Shutterstock The letter that arrived for eleven-year-old Guilherme in June 2025 was addressed personally to him. The UK Home Office was informing […]
MIL-Evening Report: 4.48 Psychosis revival: the play’s window into a mind on the edge is as brutal as ever
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Sidi, Associate Professor of Health Humanities, UCL Under bright lights, the audience looks at a bare stage on two planes. Below, a small stage is white and empty, occupied only by a table and two chairs. Above, a huge, slanted mirror reflects a bird’s-eye view of […]
MIL-Evening Report: Togo’s ‘Nana-Benz’: how cheap Chinese imports of African fabrics has hurt the famous women traders
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fidele B. Ebia, Postdoctoral fellow, Duke Africa Initiative, Duke University The manufacturing of African print textiles has shifted to China in the 21st century. While they are widely consumed in African countries – and symbolic of the continent – the rise of “made in China” has undermined […]
MIL-OSI Analysis: Immigration courts hiding the names of ICE lawyers goes against centuries of precedent and legal ethics requiring transparency in courts
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University Some immigration courts have allowed ICE attorneys to conceal their names during proceedings. Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock via Getty Images Something unusual is happening in U.S. immigration courts. Government lawyers are refusing […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Orlando Bloom tried to ‘clean’ his blood to get rid of microplastics – here’s what the science says
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rosa Busquets, Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Kingston University Tinseltown/Shutterstock When actor Orlando Bloom revealed recently that he’d undergone a procedure to have his blood “cleaned”, many people raised eyebrows. The Pirates of the Caribbean star had turned to a treatment known as apheresis […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Mysterious fossil may rewrite story of skin and feather evolution in reptiles
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Valentina Rossi, Postdoctoral researcher, Palaeontology, University College Cork A delicate, innocuous little fossil reptile known as Mirasaura grauvogeli – “Grauvogel’s wonder reptile” – is forcing a rethink about the evolution of skin and its appendages such as feathers and hair. These newly discovered fossils, from the Middle Triassic […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Trump takes lead role in Cold War Steve’s reimagining of Hogarth’s 18th-century satire, The Rake’s Progess
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rebecca Anne Barr, Associate Professor in English Literature, University of Cambridge A reimagining of the sixth cartoon in William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress depicting Trump pleading for divine assistance at a gambling den. Cold War Steve British satirist Cold War Steve has published a series of images based […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: How the UK’s immigration system splits families apart – by design
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nando Sigona, Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham arda savasciogullari/Shutterstock The letter that arrived for eleven-year-old Guilherme in June 2025 was addressed personally to him. The UK Home Office was informing him […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Trump’s budget cuts could shut down local news outlets and reduce reporting on emergencies
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Colleen Murrell, Chair of the Editorial Board, and Full Professor in Journalism, Dublin City University Donald Trump’s campaign against the “fake news” media continues largely unchecked, with a decision that is expected to reduce reporting and close down some local news stations around the US. This follows a […]