More Top Stories
‘Nothing to worry about’: Prime Minister Brown on China agreement
16 February 2025
‘Serious questions’: Opposition challenges China partnership
15 February 2025
No-confidence motion against PM and his Cabinet faces delays
15 February 2025
Ruta Mave: People’s Republic of China red flag
10 February 2025
No debt in China deal
8 February 2025
Thomas Wynne: Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?
8 February 2025
‘Paedophile’ gets 13 years in prison
22 January 2025
Thomas Wynne: Where were our leaders while children suffered?
25 January 2025
$541.7m tourism earnings
25 January 2025
Cook Islands passport proposal
6 January 2025
Top cop position advertised
7 December 2024
Police need numbers and bigger budget
9 December 2024
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
10 December 2024
Solid and Hazardous Waste Bill referred to Parliament committee
10 December 2024
DPM defends CIIC finance and travel policies
6 December 2024
Cook Islands has its first mosque
14 November 2024
CI Muslim opens up about her faith and journey
16 November 2024
RAC to address mosque legality
19 November 2024
I don’t expect much change: PM Brown on US Elections
6 November 2024
Fifth weekly Sydney flight to Rarotonga announced
23 October 2024
CIIC directors seek $350,000 in damages over defamatory claims
21 October 2024
Man found guilty of rape, burglary
24 September 2024
Tenants face water bill burden
8 October 2024
Concerns over Minister’s role in inmate work releases: PAC
5 October 2024
Tourism contribution set to surpass half-billion dollar mark
25 September 2024
Parliament Clerk sparks outrage over deep sea mining statement
23 September 2024
Deep sea dilemma: Cook Islanders weigh the cost of mineral riches
21 September 2024
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
Cook Islands deep sea mining poll sparks controversy
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Features
Film Raro2 casting call open to all ages
Fearless Cook Islands heroes and heroines of all ages are encouraged to audition for Film Raro2 who are back in Rarotonga looking for a cast of characters.
Seventeen composers for Mire Atu
Cook Islands composers are prepared to take centre stage this month in the prestigious Tauranga Vananga/Ministry of Cultural Development Te Pae Tai Nui Mire Atu original Māori song composers competition.
Junior dancers dazzle at the domes
Eleven junior dancers beat stage fright to put on memorable performances in the opening National Dancer of the Year event.
Casting the Net far and wide
The future of the Cook Islands internet looks reliable, fast and cheap. But it can feel far off. Slow internet frustration is still very much alive and well. So where are we and where are we headed?
Online learning – no noodles needed
Learning can take many forms – visual, verbal, physical or social. Everyone learns differently and whatever your personality, there is something for everyone.
GOING LOCAL: Remedies for healthy living
More than a year on from the start of Covid, Nane Herman Purea from Aitutaki remains smiling. That old saying ‘laughter is the best medicine’ resonates when you’re in her company and one can’t help but be drawn in to her infectious laughter. Journalist Melina Etches met her during her recent trip to Aitutaki.
Passionate performances pay tribute to the arrival of Christianity
The Rarotonga Schools Culture Festival wrapped up on Wednesday night with raving performances from all teams.
Using theatre to approach tough topics
Bringing the voices of young Pasifika women to the forefront is a passion of 22-year-old Cook Islands scriptwriter and actor.
Wings and ‘whirlybirds’ over Mangaia
In 1945 the ariki of Mangaia offered New Zealand land for an airstrip. In the same year, the ending of the Second World war released thousands of ex-pilots and surplus aircraft to service remote air-routes around the world. While other countries took advantage, another 30 years would pass before commercial aircraft landed on Mangaia. By Rod Dixon
CHURCH TALK: A message of hope
This article is dedicated to two great men that have passed this week from the Vaka Puaikura. Beresford Henry “Black” Heather and John Glassie Mateara, who was a regular contributor to this column. These were great life influencers to many people and had many followers.
Reminiscing about Manihiki, the Islands of Pearls
Those who’ve had a chance to visit Manihiki begin dreaming about returning as soon as they leave. But for Manihikians who leave their island home for opportunities abroad, returning is sometimes an obligation.
‘Just get on a boat and go!’
Master boat builder Teokotai ‘Tango’ Herman has been in the business for some 40 years and has built many boats but none bigger than the new Air Rarotonga aluminium catamaran he is currently working on.
Aitutaki experience: An Easter getaway to paradise
Since moving to Rarotonga from New Zealand earlier in the year, journalist Caleb Fotheringham and his schoolteacher wife Jess have been hearing a lot about Aitutaki. During the Easter break they travelled to the Southern Group island to find out what the hype was all about.
CHURCH TALK: The extent of God’s amazing love
God’s amazing love was the main talking point at the recent ‘National Thanksgiving Prayer Service’ held last weekend. It was an opportunity to not only encourage our nation and also reflect on God’s goodness and mercies throughout the cyclone season, writes Pastor Eric Toleafoa.
We’re away, home again in September
The Pacific Golden Plover or Tōrea is our most common Alaskan migrant. It is conspicuous on large grassy areas during the summer and most are now in their dramatic breeding plumage and ready to depart for Alaska. By Gerald McCormack of Natural Heritage Trust.
Tracing back Marsters family lineage
Caroline Akakaingaro Raea, nee Marsters, was unaware that a collection of her Marsters family photos ever existed, until her 70th birthday. And to her surprise these photos were located in the very library that her daughter Taputukura Raea works in, the National Library of New Zealand.
Are Taunga of Araura - 'We invest our Ariki in our traditional procedures'
The investiture of the second Tamatoa Ariki was held last week, just over a month after Taraota Tom was invested with the title on the island of Aitutaki. House of Ariki, the parliamentary body composed of Cook Islands high chiefs, refused to attend both investitures because of the "ongoing dispute over the title". But the sub chiefs backing the newly-crowned Tamatoa Ariki Teao Tangaroa say they will decide the legitimate holder.
Palmerston remembers Prince Philip's 1971 visit
The people of Palmerston Island took a day off from work yesterday to pay respect to the late Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Covid mass testing lab won't be ready when country 'opens for business'
Prime Minister Mark Brown's date for a two-way travel bubble on May 1 will come before the country has a rapid Covid-19 testing system.
He is the way, the truth and the life
To believe the gospel is to put faith in Him who is himself the Gospel, and faith in Christ is faith in God, writes Reverend Vaka Ngaro of Cook Islands Christian Church.
Mutiny on the Vaka? The story of unescorted Mangaian sea voyage
Almost 30 years ago, a Mangaian vaka set sail for Rarotonga with no electronic or navigational aids, no captain and no escort vessel. The vaka was ‘missing’ for two days and a night and mounting concerns for the crew’s safety sparked an air and sea search. Here the vaka’s navigator, the late Ma’ara Peraua, and crew member Maire Kareroa record their memories of the voyage, while extracts from Rod Dixon’s 1992 diary describe reactions on the ground in Mangaia.
Aitutaki plans major celebration to mark 200 years of Christianity
Religion is one of the strong foundations of the Cook Islands culture. Christianity arrived here in 1821 and played a major part in shaping the future of this country and its people.
