Tess McClure

Jan 2, 2024 | theguardian.com | Tess McClure |Andrew McGregor

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: Demand for ‘healing’ crystals is soaring – but many are mined in deadly conditions in one of the world’s poorest countries. And there is little evidence that this billion-dollar industry is cleaning up its act.

Oct 5, 2023 | brnw.ch | Tess McClure |fan zhang |Adam G. Testro |Su Kah Goh

Meta Platforms, Inc. 3Learn more about this providerlastExternalReferrerDetects how the user reached the website by registering their last URL-address. Expiry: PersistentType: HTMLlastExternalReferrerTimeDetects how the user reached the website by registering their last URL-address. Expiry: PersistentType: HTML_fbpUsed by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real time bidding from third party advertisers.

Sep 29, 2023 | theguardian.com | Tess McClure |Eva Corlett

As New Zealand’s election approaches, there is a swing away from the major parties in favour of smaller groupings on the political fringes that could end up deciding the direction of the next government. Support for parties at the centre of New Zealand politics has dropped to its lowest point in two decades with Labour on 27% and National on 34.5%, according to the September Guardian Essential poll.

Sep 22, 2023 | theguardian.com | Tess McClure

“Four times in New Zealand history, there’s been quite significant turning points,” says David Seymour. He takes a miniature chocolate bar from the bowl in front of him and twirls it on the table, listing them off: the Treaty of Waitangi, marking the beginning of the nation. New Zealand granting universal suffrage, the first country in the world to do so. The creation of the current, party-based political system. And the free-market reforms brought in by the Labour government in the 1980s.

Sep 10, 2023 | theguardian.com | Tess McClure

In the middle of the night, nine-year-old Elizabeth Bell sprints through the narrow bush tracks of Maud Island, racing toward the nearest ridgeline. The darkness beyond her is almost total. There is no ambient glow from distant city street lights: the island is a 1.2 sq mile (3.2 sq km) uninhabited speck covered with forest, off the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island.