More Top Stories
Top cop position advertised
7 December 2024
Police need numbers and bigger budget
9 December 2024
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
10 December 2024
Solid and Hazardous Waste Bill referred to Parliament committee
10 December 2024
DPM defends CIIC finance and travel policies
6 December 2024
Cook Islands has its first mosque
14 November 2024
CI Muslim opens up about her faith and journey
16 November 2024
RAC to address mosque legality
19 November 2024
I don’t expect much change: PM Brown on US Elections
6 November 2024
Fifth weekly Sydney flight to Rarotonga announced
23 October 2024
CIIC directors seek $350,000 in damages over defamatory claims
21 October 2024
Man found guilty of rape, burglary
24 September 2024
Tenants face water bill burden
8 October 2024
Concerns over Minister’s role in inmate work releases: PAC
5 October 2024
Tourism contribution set to surpass half-billion dollar mark
25 September 2024
Parliament Clerk sparks outrage over deep sea mining statement
23 September 2024
Deep sea dilemma: Cook Islanders weigh the cost of mineral riches
21 September 2024
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
Cook Islands deep sea mining poll sparks controversy
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Rising seas, rising costs: Climate impacts on Cook Islands economy
2 September 2024
Inflation eases but concerns remain
31 August 2024
Prime Minister defends $659,000 MPs travel bill
23 August 2024
Taxpayers foot $659,000 bill for MPs travel and allowance
22 August 2024
Corruption report exposes ‘bribe and sexual favours’
17 January 2023
PM Brown eager to hand over Forum chair role to Tonga
13 August 2024
ICI explains road works delay in front of old Sheraton site
10 August 2024
Housing crisis hits tourism industry
27 July 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Challenging ‘rape culture’
8 July 2024
Opinion
Ruta Mave: A call for peace and justice this Christmas
It is the eve of Christmas eve, where shopping for last minute Santa presents, food and drinks intensity is creeping to stratospheric proportions, writes Ruta Mave.
Letter: Passport proposal
Dear Editor, It was with disbelief that most New Zealanders watched on the evening Television 1 News, Sunday night (NZ time), the story about your Prime Minister, Mark Brown, intention to make a break from New Zealand.
Letter: Cook Islands passport - personal ambition or national interest?
Dear Editor, Here’s my observation of this focus on the Cook Islands Passport, designed I might add, to draw attention away from seabed mining.
Virtues in Paradise: The best present you can give
Christmas is nearly here, and there is so much to do – preparing for visiting family, finding gifts for the children, serving the church, writes Linda Kavelin-Popov.
Coconut trees, too much of a good thing
Coconut trees are often called the ‘Tree of Life’ in the Cook Islands and other Pacific islands because every part of the tree is useful. But too many coconut trees can be a problem.
Thomas Wynne: Recognising the signs of spiritual manipulation
Should any religion be free to travel like a vine as it pleases? Or should we learn to discern between something that bears good fruit and something that chokes, kills, and destroys? Thomas Tarurongo Wynne writes.
Church Talk: The 2024 festive season and what it truly means
The festive season is a time of celebration, family gatherings, and joy. For many in the Cook Islands, this period is about reconnecting with loved ones, sharing meals, and participating in cultural and spiritual traditions, writes Pastor Eric Toleafoa from the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Pet Talk: Keeping your pets cool and comfortable this summer Christmas
The holiday season is a time of joy, family, and festivity, but for pet owners, it can bring unique challenges, writes Dr Rose Hasegawa, medical director Te Are Manu Vet Clinic.
Te Tuhi Kelly: Religion raises its ugly side again
As we are all aware, the Government has set up a select committee and have asked for public submissions on a proposal to make the Cook Islands an exclusive Christian nation, writes Te Tuhi Kelly, leader of the Progressive Party.
Ruta Mave: The ‘hypocrisy’ of a Christian state
Hypocrisy is alive and well in the unofficial Christian state of Crook Islands, writes Ruta Mave.
Thomas Wynne: A history of faith in the Cook Islands
The journey of faith and religion in the Cook Islands – from Tangaroa to Rongo, from Christianity to Pentecostalism – has always been marked by resistance, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.
Te Ipukarea Society: Composting workshop teaches sustainable living
Te Ipukarea Society participated in a hands-on composting workshop hosted by New Zealand consultant Chris Purchas at the Papaaroa Mission House last Friday.
Letter: Embrace religious diversity
Dear Editor, I am a local hard-core atheist. I have lived in fear many years here for speaking out against Christianly for fear of persecution but I think it’s time to face my fears and speak out about my concerns, with this potential religious restrictions reform. I will not give up and take this message where ever it has to go.
Letter: ‘The Church of Us’
Charles Carlson’s thoughtful letter of 3rd December on what he calls, “ … harmful ideologies that threaten personal rights, national security, and the well-being of our people”, cites for example, “some teachings condone child marriages, with girls as young as six being married off under religious justification.
Letters: Brothers in arms
Dear Editor, As a proud Cook Islander and New Zealand citizen, I’ve often wondered why our people are not yet actively integrated into the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF).
Smokies
Now with all that fantastic God sent rain over the weekend, Rarotonga should have lots and lots of water stored up in the water intake tanks … those 10 x 2 million + litre storage tanks (totalling at least 20 million litres of water) would have been full within a few hours with those massive downpours so no doubt the public can be reassured by TTV that the immediate water drama is over, and we have plenty of water stored for the upcoming Christmas period.
What is a heathy relationship?
‘It Starts with Me’ is the theme of this year’s White Ribbon Campaign, promoting healthy, non-violent relationships. Te Punanga Ora'anga Matutu (Te POM), a men’s support and well-being centre, is supporting the 16 days of activism for the White Ribbon campaign, writes Te POM’s Rowena Manning.
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
National Human Rights Day is observed annually around the world on December 10. It commemorates the anniversary of one of the world’s most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The Cook Islands Ombudsman Office celebrates this International Human Rights Day by recognising what is being done to uphold the state obligations and continue to oversee what is yet to be achieved, writes Ombudsman Niki Rattle.
Letter: Ruta’s column
Dear Editor, I only know of the Cook Island News via the roving opinion pieces by Ruth Mave.
Letter: ‘Akamanako o’onu - think deeply!
Dear Editor, Reflection after reading ‘Deep-sea promotion, not consultation’, Monday, 25 November.
Ruta Mave: White ribbon day is now
Anger is a sign of guilt. If you ask your partner if they are cheating on you and they explode in anger yelling, accusations and blaming you as having a problem without a definite reply, it’s often because they are guilty, writes Ruth Mave.
Letter:
Dear Editor. The Government and TTV says, “it will bill the registered owners of the connection". What connection? Rarotonga has never had registered water connections before! How is the connection identified? Please, tell us.