Regional
Asylum seeker fears death in deported
Friday 7 April 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Manus Island refugee says the asylum seeker resisting deportation to Lebanon fears for his life if he’s sent home without money.
Sexy starfish tricked by pheromones
Friday 7 April 2017 | Published in Regional
AUSTRALIA – A starfish considered a key threat to the Pacific’s coral reefs could be thwarted by harnessing its own sex drive, scientists say.
Amnesty asks how was money spent?
Friday 7 April 2017 | Published in Regional
AUSTRALIA – Billions of dollars’ worth of contracts for offshore processing centres on remote Pacific islands should be made public, Amnesty International says.
Nauru seeks funding to build new port
Thursday 6 April 2017 | Published in Regional
NAURU – The president of Nauru, Baron Waqa, is meeting officials from the Asian Development Bank during an Australian visit in an effort to raise finance to build a new port on the island.
Refugee screening process underway
Thursday 6 April 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Officials from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are now on Manus Island fingerprinting and photographing refugees as part of the US-Australia refugee deal.
Social media a platform for racism
Thursday 6 April 2017 | Published in Regional
FIJI – The director of Fiji’s Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission Ashwin Raj says it’s time to think about laws to regulate racist hate speech on social media.
Fiji and New Zealand in same sevens pool
Thursday 6 April 2017 | Published in Regional
HONG KONG – New Zealand Sevens coach Scott Waldrom says his team is fully aware of the challenge Fiji pose at this weekend’s Hong Kong tournament. The two old rivals are in the same pool, alongside Wales and Japan.
Forum nations look at regional finance facility
Thursday 6 April 2017 | Published in Regional
PACIFIC – A key matter before the Pacific Islands Forum economic ministers who are meeting in Suva this week is how to set up a regional finance facility.
Babies kept in prison with their mothers
Thursday 6 April 2017 | Published in Regional
SAMOA – The assistant commissioner of Samoa’s Prisons and Corrections Service has defended a decision to keep a mother and her two month-old-baby in prison.
Deportee refuses to leave
Wednesday 5 April 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA– An asylum seeker detained by Australia on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island is reported to have resisted a second attempt to repatriate him to Lebanon.
Fewer Pacific migrants
Wednesday 5 April 2017 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – Tighter immigration policies have led to significant falls in the number of approved migrants from Pacific countries over the last five years.
Samoa vs All Blacks likely
Wednesday 5 April 2017 | Published in Regional
SAMOA – New Zealand Rugby has confirmed it is in discussions with the Samoan Union over the possibility of a test match to be played in Auckland in June.
Low key affair at medal ceremony
Wednesday 5 April 2017 | Published in Regional
SAMOA – Samoa’s first Olympic medallist, Ele Opeloge, has finally been officially presented with her silver medal from the Olympics’ weightlifting competition held in Beijing nine years ago.
Samoans shocked by typhoid death
Wednesday 5 April 2017 | Published in Regional
NEW ZEALAND – Distraught family members of a Samoan woman who died of typhoid last week say Auckland health officials did not tell them she had the disease.
New Caledonia detains more 'blue boats'
Tuesday 4 April 2017 | Published in Regional
NEW CALEDONIA – Three more Vietnamese blue boats (pictured above) have been caught fishing illegally for beche de mer within New Caledonia’s waters.
Norfolk-Auckland air link to stay
Tuesday 4 April 2017 | Published in Regional
NORFOLK ISLAND – When Air New Zealand ends its direct Auckland-Norfolk Island link in May, a company on the island will fill the void.
Hearing to confront drug use in high schools
Tuesday 4 April 2017 | Published in Regional
AMERICAN SAMOA – High schools in American Samoa are confronting a growing problem of illegal drug use.
Missionaries thrown overboard by pirates
Tuesday 4 April 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Pirates in Papua New Guinea waters held up a boatload of people at knifepoint last week and left them adrift after stealing the boat’s engine.
666 writs give churches the jitters
Tuesday 4 April 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guinea’s electoral commissioner has been forced to reassure church leaders he is not asking the country’s Governor-General to evoke an apocalyptic biblical prophecy.
Detention camp film shot on cellphone
Tuesday 4 April 2017 | Published in Regional
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Audiences around the world will soon have the chance to see what life is like inside one of Australia’s offshore detention centres.