Regional
Death of beauty queen shocks PNG
Wednesday 15 February 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guineans are in mourning after the shock death of a revered former Miss South Pacific PNG beauty pageant winner and a beloved community figure.
Resettlement interviews underway
Wednesday 15 February 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A team of contractors has arrived on Manus Island to begin interviews with refugees about resettlement in the United States.
Tongan skier's Olympic quest continues
Wednesday 15 February 2017 | Published in Regional
TONGA – Tongan skier Kasete Skeen will take another big step in his quest to reach the 2018 Winter Olympics, when he lines up in the giant slalom qualifying race at the World Alpine Ski Champs in St Moritz today.
Proa building skills honed in Kiwi shed
Wednesday 15 February 2017 | Published in Regional
A dark red shed is nestled inconspicuously between parched rolling hills on the edge of a shallow stream, its dribble of water slowly meandering its way through the golden countryside near Waihi,
Venue futures being planned ahead of Mini Games
Wednesday 15 February 2017 | Published in Regional
VANUATU –Plans for ongoing use of the venues being built for this year’s Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu are starting to take shape well ahead of their completion.
Helicopter pilot killed fighting New Zealand bush fires
Wednesday 15 February 2017 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – Bush fires blazing near Christchurch over the past two days have claimed the life of a helicopter pilot and caused heartache for local residents.
Asylum seekers plead for help
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Asylum seekers at Australia’s offshore detention centre on Manus Island are begging for help as Papua New Guinean and Australian authorities prepare to deport them.
Runaway refugee in PNG prison
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A district court in PNG has ordered Iranian refugee Loghman Sawari be moved from Port Moresby’s police cell to Bomana prison outside of the city until a decision is made on his bail application next week.
Papua New Guinea pageant winner murdered?
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guinea police say charges will be laid over the violent death of a former Miss PNG.
PACIFIC BRIEFS 14/2/2017
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
Inquest into asylum seeker’s death PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A coroner’s inquest into the death of an asylum seeker detained on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island has resumed in Australia. Hamid Khazaei, a 24-year-old from Iran, died in Brisbane in 2014 from blood poisoning caused by a small leg infection. Last year, the coroner heard Khazaei died a slow and agonising death caused by delays in transferring him to Brisbane. Doctors on Manus requested he be flown to Australia, but 36 hours later he was flown to Port Moresby where he suffered multiple heart attacks. Evidence given last year included that Khazaei was not given prescribed medication and the Manus medical clinic was dysfunctional. The coroner will hear evidence from ten witnesses including the former chief medical officer with the Immigration Department’s and staff from medical contractors. TONGA no CONFIDENCE vote next week TONGA – A vote of no confidence in Tonga’s government will be tabled in parliament next week. A notice of the motion was distributed by Speaker Lord Tu’ivakano in Tonga’s parliament just before the house closed yesterday. Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva was not in Parliament, but Lord Tu’ivakano said he may respond to the vote of no confidence between now and next Monday when the vote will be dealt with. Earlier Pohiva said he had the numbers to defeat the vote. Lord Tu’ivakano said the actual vote of no confidence will have to take place by the end of Monday, February 27. In Tonga a vote of no confidence may be tabled, only after 18 months has passed since a general election. Concerns at rising price of chicken TONGA – Concerns over the high price of chicken have been raised in Tonga’s parliament. A report from Ha’apai stated cartons of chicken were selling for as much asUS$27. Tongatapu MP Mateni Tapueluelu questioned who should take the blame for the high prices. The Minister of Revenue Tevita Lavemaau says the price of chicken is controlled by the government’s Competent Authority. Lavemaau says the only tax imposed on chicken is 40 seniti or 18 US cents per kilo so such goods should not be expensive. The Competent Authority says the retail price for chicken is just over US$1.80 and cartons vary from 19 to 23 dollars. The Minister of Justice Vuna Fa’otusia says it is important that members of the public raise price issues with the authority. Prosecutor alarmed at Flosse defence FRENCH POLYNESIA – The public prosecutor’s office in French Polynesia has taken issue with comments made against the judiciary which it says could amount to attempts to spread misinformation and exert political pressure. The statement was issued after last week’s trial of former president Gaston Flosse over the 2014 theft of US$70,000 worth of chinaware. His defence lawyers, who include his son-in-law, have claimed that Flosse is being hounded amid a fixation to sever his links with his voters. The prosecutor took Flosse to the appeal court because he wasn’t given a custodial sentence in the criminal court last year and is also asking the court to make him ineligible for public office for five years. The prosecutor says such punishment is necessary to stop the degradation of democracy in French Polynesia and to show corruption will not be tolerated with impunity. Church investigators on way to Guam GUAM – The Catholic Church on Guam says a group of investigators will soon arrive as part of the canonical trial of the island’s archbishop. The Archbishop, Anthony Apuron, is facing a Vatican trial after several former altar boys accused him of sexual assault in the 1970s, when he was a parish priest. The Pacific Daily News reported Archbishop Michael Byrnes – who will replace Archbishop Apuron when he retires, resigns or is removed – also announced tougher policies against sexual abuse that will include background checks for anyone working around children, required reporting to civil authorities any allegation involving abuse of minors and suspension of clergy if an accusation is deemed credible.
650 whales ashore in mass beachings
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – A new pod of 240 whales beached itself on a remote New Zealand beach at the weekend just hours after weary volunteers managed to re-float a different group of whales following an earlier mass stranding.
Swam flooded river while in labour
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
FIJI – A 33-year-old heavily pregnant woman who bravely swam across a flooded creek and was rescued by police while having contractions, is just glad she was delivered to the Lautoka Hospital “in the nick of time”.
Jail urged for president who stole the china
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
FRENCH POLYNESIA – The prosecution in French Polynesia has called for a one-year jail sentence for a former president Gaston Flosse for taking chinaware from the presidential palace.
No matter what, it's going to get wetter
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
Droughts and flooding rains are already more likely as climate change plays havoc with Pacific weather, writes a group of scientists from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Vanuatu scientist leaves inspirational legacy
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
NEW CALEDONIA – Dr Roger Malapa, the first ni-Vanuatu to graduate with a PhD in science who went on to become one of the Pacific’s most distinguished agricultural scientists, died in New Caledonia this week after a battle with cancer. He was 46.
Not speaking at Big Gay Out 'not a big issue'
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand’s Prime Minister says his past opposition to civil unions and gay marriage was not the reason he didn’t speak at the Big Gay Out in Auckland at the weekend.
Great weather for eeling
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
FIJI – At a time when most people secure their belongings and stay home, a group of people from settlements and villages close to Nadi Town in Fiji come out in numbers during heavy rainfall for an unconventional activity – catching eels. Semesa Lagi, 54, told the Fiji Times: “We come here every time the town is flooded. We have done this many times.” Lagi said heavy rain caused the eel population to escape from a nearby lake and swim down the streets into to the town area. “We always know this is the time to catch eels and we are joined by other villagers from Nawaka and other areas. “A lot of people have come to catch the eels this time and my family has managed to catch three buckets full so we have sent these home.” He said they planned to return to the spot if heavy rain continued this week. - Fiji Times
PACIFIC BRIEFS 13/2/2017
Tuesday 14 February 2017 | Published in Regional
Dengue claims life in New Caledonia NEW CALEDONIA – This year’s dengue epidemic in New Caledonia has claimed its first life A 25-year-old woman in the Noumea area died of dengue type 1 and authorities said she was not considered to be at special risk.
400 whales beached on remote spit
Sunday 12 February 2017 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – Rescuers were trying desperately yesterday to save scores of pilot whales after a mass stranding on a New Zealand beach thought to be the largest in decades.
Flooding across the Pacific
Sunday 12 February 2017 | Published in Regional
PACIFIC – Heavy rains continue to fall across the South Pacific, causing flooding from Papua New Guinea to Samoa.
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