Opinion

Kata: Potatoe Fries

LETTERS: Lost in the mountains

Dear Editor, glad to read that the two persons who got lost up in the highlands did indeed get out safely the next day and without too much drama for the Police, and Search and Rescue.

Kata: Petrol

LETTERS: ‘We need competition’

Dear Editor, speaking as someone who has been to the Cooks 20 plus times, including a few weeks ago, it currently costs me US$698 (about NZ$1126) to fly return Seattle to Tahiti on the new Air Tahiti Nui nonstop.

Kata: New Sport

OPINION: Combining disease surveillance and climate modelling to pre-empt future pandemics

Within less than three years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared two public health emergencies of international concern: Covid-19 in February 2020 and monkeypox in July 2022. At the same time, extreme weather events are being reported continuously across the world and are expected to become more frequent and intense, writes Arindam Basu, Associate Professor, Epidemiology and Environmental Health, University of Canterbury.

LETTERS: Medicinal cannabis industry

Dear Editor, in your Saturday paper it was really underwhelming to read that Chamber of Commerce chief executive Rebecca Tavioni was touting the French Polynesia top three products – fish(tuna), black pearls, and vanilla to be incorporated into the Cook Islands economy.

Kata: Weather

OPINION: Recognising opportunities

Opportunities seldom come when you are most ready, organised or feeling comfortable or sane. Opportunities have the tendency to come at the most inopportune moment.

OPINION: Everything whale be alright

The death of a baby whale in Aitutaki lagoon this week, despite the concerted efforts of locals to save it, reminds us all of just how vulnerable these gentle giants are.

Kata: Petitions

LETTERS: Tourism and direct flights

Dear Editor, with no direct flights, unfortunately tourists will just go to other destinations which is a shame as the Cook Islands are such a beautiful place.

Kata: Judge, Jury and Jailer

LETTERS: ‘Airlines are struggling too’

Dear Editor, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that obviously all airlines would have made a huge loss in the last two years because of this “unplanned” pandemic!

Overfishing – a global problem with significant consequences in the Pacific

The Pacific Ocean, and all its sustainable meaning, connection, and opportunity for Pacific peoples, is under severe threat.

Kata: Police

LETTERS: ‘Our failing Police Service’

Dear Editor, as the busiest working criminal bar lawyer in the country, I have witnessed the decline in the conduct and efficiency of the Police Service in the past 10 years.

Kata: Tax Department

LETTERS: International travel challenges

Dear Editor, have just done the flight from Sydney via Auckland to Rarotonga and it was the worst time we have done this – a whole day wasted sitting at the airport.

PET TALK: Pain management for dogs and cats

It can be the easiest thing to notice at the extreme. Whimpering, screaming, howling. Or it can be the opposite. Silent, depressed, guarded, aggressive. And because it is so out of character, it stands out, writes Dr Michael Baer of Te Are Manu Vet Clinic.