Regional
Pristine Pacific? Or great big rubbish dump
Tuesday 11 October 2016 | Published in Regional
PACIFIC – Not all trash ends up at the dump. An estimated eight million metric tons of plastic enters the oceans worldwide in a typical year.
Pacific Games preparations struggling
Tuesday 11 October 2016 | Published in Regional
TONGA – Tonga’s preparations to host the 2019 Pacific Games are late and in trouble,the Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva told the Tongan Parliament late last week.
'Greek tourists' stranded in Tonga
Tuesday 11 October 2016 | Published in Regional
TONGA – Seven Georgians who arrived in Tonga as tourists on September 22 with allegedly stolen Greek passports, were arrested on Friday and charged with dealing with forged documents.
Despite exercise, Samoans get fatter
Tuesday 11 October 2016 | Published in Regional
SAMOA – On a muggy day at Samoa’s Maninoa Beach, tired competitors in an ocean canoeing regatta take a break to let the kids expend some energy.
ABC Correspondent in PNG
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
I’m the only foreign journalist based in Papua New Guinea and I admire the sacrifices local journalists make for their jobs.
Ancient practices celebrate culture
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Some of Papua New Guinea’s most isolated villagers are being encouraged to celebrate their culture to balance the negative impacts of resource extraction and development.
'Bad things under the coconut trees'
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
SAMOA – Samoa’s Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, blames what he calls uneducated parents for the growing number of children hawking goods in Apia at night.
'No worries' over escaped prisoners
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
SAMOA – Members of the public in Samoa should not panic about escaped prisoners on the run. So says Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
Tongan gays push for law change
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
TONGA – For the first time, Tonga’s homosexual and transgender community will call on government leaders to revise legislation in order to protect LGBTI people in the deeply conservative Christian country.
Nauru indicted by UN committee
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
NAURU – The United Nations has delivered a blistering indictment of Nauru and Australia’s failure to help children in detention-like conditions, especially those driven to attempt suicide and self-harm. It slammed the Nauru’s “limited capacity” to investigate allegations of sexual assault of children and its failure to follow up complaints while also severely criticising the harsh living conditions inside Australian’s regional processing centres. The Age newspaper reports among the UN’s concerns were a lack of clean drinking water, poor sanitation, the absence of a dedicated paediatrician and the reported use of illegal corporal punishment against children at the camps. The UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child also found that Nauru has made no progress towards honouring a promise made last year to establish a human rights watchdog. The report identified “inhuman and degrading treatment, including physical, psychological and sexual abuse, against asylum seeking and refugee children”. The UN concluded that mental ill-health, including “feelings of hopeless and often suicidal ideation”, was exacerbated by prolonged uncertainty and poor living conditions inside the hot, humid camps. There were 410 people in detention on Nauru at the end of August, according to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The CRC issued its report based on hearings in Geneva, meetings with civil society groups, Nauru’s own submissions and a review of previously published literature. The committee urged Nauru and by extension, Australia to immediately remove asylum-seeking children and their families from the RPCs, and find “permanent, sustainable resettlement options” for recognised refugees, including reasonable access to employment. It also called on Nauru to ensure that staff working at the RPCs were adequately trained in the identification of vulnerable children and those at risk of self-harm, and to develop a system to ensure incidents of self-har
New Zealand child poverty of concern to UN
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND– The UN has said in a damning report that it is deeply concerned about New Zealand’s persistently high rates of child poverty.
Fiji's Ratu Joni laid to rest
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
FIJI – Fiji’s former vice president, the Roko Tui Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, has been buried on his home island of Bau.
Church stands by convicted rapist pastor
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
FIJI – A 75 year old leader and pastor of a breakaway church group in Fiji has been sentenced to 14 years 2 months imprisonment.
Therapeutic use of steroids claimed
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND– Former All Blacks Dan Carter and Joe Rokocoko both had therapeutic exemptions to use the steroids detected in their urine, according to their agents.
Access to healing water improved
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
FIJI – Access to a water source in a Tailevu village in Fiji that has been deemed miraculous has been upgraded by authorities.
Detention of refugee kids slammed
Monday 10 October 2016 | Published in Regional
UN report decries treatment of children on Nauru
Detention camp film projected on high commission
Friday 7 October 2016 | Published in Regional
AUSTRALIA – A guerrilla screening of secretly obtained film footage showing an unprecedented view of Australia’s offshore refugee detention camps was projected on to the outside of the Australian high commission in central London on Wednesday night.
Guam torn by church sex abuse allegations
Friday 7 October 2016 | Published in Regional
GUAM – Atop a lofty hill overlooking the ocean in the US territory of Guam, a residence for the governor and a ceremonial one for the archbishop sit together, a decades-old symbol of their seemingly equal power on an island where nearly everyone is Roman Catholic.
Free and equal Pacific promoted
Friday 7 October 2016 | Published in Regional
Pacific campaign launched against homophobia and transphobia
Nuclear arms lawsuit rejected
Friday 7 October 2016 | Published in Regional
Marshalls Islands’ bid fails in international court
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