Sailors from Tahiti edged over Rarotonga, proving to be very competitive taking out first place in both the Lasers and the Optimist classes, winning the 2024 sailing challenge overall trophy.
Former Cook Islands prime minister and secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna, has been confirmed as the first Cook Islander appointed to the East-West Center Board of Governors based in Honolulu, Hawaii.
HEALTHCARE CONTRACTOR LEAVES MANUS
FIJI – An arch critic of the Bainimarama government in Fiji says its reasons for not allowing him to leave if he visits Fiji are highly questionable.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Anti-corruption police investigating Papua New Guinea’s National Statistical Office have reportedly been unable to find the acting national statistician.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – United States security and military investigators have flown to Papua New Guinea to investigate the death of a special forces soldier in diplomatic accommodation.
FIJI – The United Nations is investigating senior staff based in Fiji over allegations of sexual misconduct.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guinea’s prime minister has taken a lead from US President Donald Trump, dismissing as “fake news” a report that claims its liquefied natural gas project is failing to deliver a promised economic boom to his people.
VANUATU – The Council of Chiefs on Vanuatu’s Santo island has reportedly agreed to resettle 11,000 people from volcanically active Ambae.
NEW ZEALAND – The Rotuman language is listed on the Unesco’s list of endangered languages as “vulnerable”.
FRENCH POLYNESIA – There are claims of foul play in French Polynesia’s territorial election which have prompted calls to cancel last month’s first round on one island.
A giant sinkhole has opened up on a farm near Rotorua following Sunday’s record breaking rainfall in the region.
Former prime minister Bill English has been appointed to the board of Australian retail giant Wesfarmers.
Road workers have uncovered what’s thought to be parts of a pre-European Maori waka on a motorway project north of Auckland.
NEW ZEALAND – The country’s leading banks have been ordered to prove they are not ripping off their customers like their Australian counterparts have been doing.
NEW ZEALAND – Victoria University of Wellington is considering dropping the ‘Victoria’ from its name to avoid confusion with other institutions.
NEW ZEALAND – Holidaymakers may be sleeping in campervans contaminated with the toxic chemicals used to make methamphetamine.
NEW ZEALAND – Methamphetamine has become so endemic in New Zealand there are now reports of primary-age children taking the drug to school.
FIJI – A former opposition MP is one of two men who have been jailed for more than two years after being convicted of sedition in Fiji.
FIRES PUTTING FIJI’S ECONOMY AT RISK
VANUATU – The parents of a six-year-old girl who was abducted, raped and murdered in Vanuatu last week are calling for the death penalty to be introduced.
SAMOA – Samoa’s Minister of Prisons says plans are being drawn up to build a new prison on the big island of Savai‘i.