Regional
Challenges prioritising aid
Tuesday 13 March 2018 | Published in Regional
VANUATU – Disaster authorities in Vanuatu say prioritising which communities to give aid to is proving a challenge after Cyclone Hola.
Tonga's parliament in disarray
Tuesday 13 March 2018 | Published in Regional
TONGA – Arrests made by Tonga police and the resignation of a cabinet minister have shaken up politics in Tonga.
Female jockeys taking over
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
The number of female jockeys in New Zealand is steadily rising, and expected to soon overtake the number of male jockeys.
'If you are a drug dealer, we're coming after you'
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – Five people have been arrested and hundreds and thousands of dollars in assets seized in a drug bust in Wellington.
TradeMe takeover vetoed
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
The Commerce Commission has refused another company takeover deal, this time with TradeMe.
New Zealand on alert for arrival of cyclone
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – Cyclone Hola is looking likely to hit New Zealand, and scientists say the tropical cyclone season is not over yet.
Jacinda Ardern conquers the Pacific
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – Jacinda Ardern has completed a whirlwind trip of the Pacific Islands, stopping in Samoa, Niue, Tonga and the Cook Islands.
Rumours of earthquake causing volcano to erupt are dispelled
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA –Rumours of a pending volcanic eruption is adding to the chaos in the earthquakes shaken highlands of Papua New Guinea.
Desperate victims threaten aid workers
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Aid workers and government officials have been threatened by people in Papua New Guinea who are angry at the slow delivery of emergency help.
Peter O'Neill: 'Stories of tragedy and loss are being repeated in village after village'
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – “The earth started to shift and shake violently.”
New Ireland quake downsized
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A large earthquake that struck in Papua New Guinea’s islands region this week has been revised downwards to magnitude 6.8.
$13.9m in backpay ordered
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
NORTHERN MARIANAS – Construction companies which built the Imperial Pacific Resort on Saipan have been ordered to pay $13.9 million in back wages and damages to thousands of Chinese construction workers.
Skipjack ruled 'sustainable'
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
PACIFIC – An independent adjudicator in New York has dismissed an objection to the re-certification of sustainable tuna fisheries controlled by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, or PNA.
Three politicians get suspended jail sentences
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
FRENCH POLYNESIA – The appeal court in French Polynesia has given suspended jail sentences to three politicians, including a former president, for abusing public funds.
Loyalty Islands in the firing line
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
NEW CALEDONIA – Tropical Cyclone Hola intensified into a category three system as it yesterday spiralled south towards New Caledonia after earlier passing over Vanuatu.
Nations rally to help Tonga's parliament
Monday 12 March 2018 | Published in Regional
TONGA – Parliaments throughout the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand with support from the United Nations, have rallied behind Tonga to ensure the March sitting of the nation’s Parliament.
Airport dog's death avoidable
Friday 9 March 2018 | Published in Regional
The fatal shooting of an aviation security dog that escaped onto Auckland Airport’s runway was avoidable, a report into the incident suggests. Grizz escaped from the Aviation Security (Avsec) compound at the airport in March last year.
'Bed tax' option not popular
Friday 9 March 2018 | Published in Regional
Wellington City council has moved to widen a proposed bed tax, as it looks for ways to fund economic and tourism growth in the city while keeping rates down.
Iwi radio needs more funds
Friday 9 March 2018 | Published in Regional
The 21 iwi radio stations that make up Te Whakaruruhau o Nga Irirangi Maori, or the Maori Radio Network, have told the Maori Affairs Select Committee that current government funding is only enough to get by, but not enough to thrive.
$10 extra pay if you ride a bike to work
Friday 9 March 2018 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – A Christchurch company is offering hard cash to employees who bike to work everyday in a bid to energise staff and move the city away from a reliance on cars.