Regional
'The Rock' honours his 'uncle'
Thursday 14 January 2016 | Published in Regional
LOS ANGELES – Professional wrestling superstar Dwayne Douglas Johnson also known by his ring name The Rock has surprised his ‘uncle’ – Tonga ‘Uli’uli Fifita – with a tricked-out Ford F-150 truck that retails for around US$58,000.
Samoa's PM gets his 'wisdom from the devil'
Thursday 14 January 2016 | Published in Regional
APIA – Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi should step down.
Average detention time now 450 days
Thursday 14 January 2016 | Published in Regional
CANBERRA – The time asylum seekers spend in Australian immigration detention centres has hit a record high at an average of almost 450 days per person.
Grass houses may be answer for the homeless
Wednesday 13 January 2016 | Published in Regional
HONOLULU – Hawai‘i lawmakers are considering a unique solution to the local housing crisis – they want to make it possible for people to live in traditional Hawaiian grass huts.
New Zealand can't take refugees from Nauru
Wednesday 13 January 2016 | Published in Regional
WELLINGTON – New Zealand has confirmed it is unable to accept refugees from Nauru and Manus Island this year, citing reluctance from the Australian Government.
Anti-gay outburst 'breached the law'
Wednesday 13 January 2016 | Published in Regional
SUVA – A lawyer in Fiji who has been advocating against human rights abuses says the Prime Minister has breached the constitution and the law over his anti-gay marriage remarks.
YouTube used to debunk sorcery
Wednesday 13 January 2016 | Published in Regional
WABAG – A senior police officer in Papua New Guinea’s Enga province has used social media to combat sorcery-related violence by appearing with an alleged victim to demonstrate that he is alive and well.
Drug-resistant TB spreading in PNG
Wednesday 13 January 2016 | Published in Regional
DARU – Health experts are worried a new superbug may be festering on Australia’s doorstep, as a drug-resistant tuberculosis outbreak in the northern Torres Strait continues to worsen.
Racist law should be removed
Tuesday 12 January 2016 | Published in Regional
WELLINGTON – The New Zealand government is to look into whether parts of a historic law described as “New Zealand’s most racist” should be struck off the books, Regulatory Reform Minister Steven Joyce says. The Maori Community Development Act, passed in 1962 and currently under review by Te Puni Kokiri, allows Maori wardens to order bars to stop serving “drunk and quarrelsome” Maori – and also makes it illegal to serve alcohol at a gathering of Maori without a permit. Wellington lawyer Graeme Edgeler, who specialises in electoral law, wrote a blog post encouraging MPs to repeal what he described as “New Zealand’s most racist law”. Joyce said the offending parts of the law were “exactly the sort of stuff” he was targeting as part of the Statutes Repeal Bill unveiled last October, which would see more than 10 per cent of New Zealand’s laws taken off the books to clear out unused legislation and make the law more accessible to Kiwis. “From what I saw, it sounded like something that seriously needs to be removed from the statute books.” Joyce said he was sure the government would take a look at the issue, although its potential inclusion in the repeal bill would depend on whether that would delay the legislation. Consultation on a draft of the repeal bill was completed in December, with “dramatic changes” unlikely. - Stuff
Tuna boats stuck in port
Tuesday 12 January 2016 | Published in Regional
SAN DIEGO – The United States’ State Department has been forced to intervene after San Diego tuna boats were locked out of the Pacific for failing to honour a payment deal.
Kiribati visit planned
Tuesday 12 January 2016 | Published in Regional
WELLINGTON – A team of MPs from New Zealand’s opposition Labour Party will visit Tuvalu and Kiribati next month to see first-hand how the countries are dealing with the effects of climate change.
Kiribati's Fiji land buy questioned
Tuesday 12 January 2016 | Published in Regional
pacific viewpoint By James Ellsmoor and Zachary Rosen The Republic of Kiribati – comprised of 32 atolls that are on average just a few metres above the ocean – may almost entirely disappear in the coming decades as sea levels rise due to climate change.
Vanuatu escapes cyclone damage
Tuesday 12 January 2016 | Published in Regional
PORT VILA – Vanuatu has escaped virtually unscathed after Tropical Cyclone Ula took a more southerly track and picked up speed as it head away from the archipelago’s southern islands.
Fiji media told not to promote discord
Tuesday 12 January 2016 | Published in Regional
SUVA – Fiji’s Media Industry Development Authority says the media organisations should not publish or broadcast material in a form likely to promote discord, but are free to report matters of national interest.
Four swept to death by rogue waves
Tuesday 12 January 2016 | Published in Regional
KIRITIMATI – Four people have reportedly been killed on Kiribati’s Christmas Island, in the Central Pacific, the result of wild seas kicked up by Cyclone Ula, one of the longest-running tropical storms ever.
No reply to grieving family
Monday 11 January 2016 | Published in Regional
SUVA – The family of a man in Fiji who died in an accident in Suva in October last year are still pleading with the authorities for an update on their request to waive immunity for South African diplomat Theodorus Mostert.
Hawai'i's last sugar plantation to close
Monday 11 January 2016 | Published in Regional
HONOLULU – Hawaii’s last sugar plantation will wind down by the end of this year, its owner has announced.
End of sugar a watershed moment
Monday 11 January 2016 | Published in Regional
HONOLULU – The owners of Hawaii’s last sugar plantation say they’re getting out of the sugar-growing business.
Attempt to revive torture inquiry
Monday 11 January 2016 | Published in Regional
SUVA – Fiji’s opposition whip says he will try and get a parliamentary committee to again look into allegations of torture by security forces.
Labour union inquiry now likely
Monday 11 January 2016 | Published in Regional
SUVA – A Fiji trade union leader says an International Labour Organisation commission of inquiry is more likely now that talks have stalled.
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