More Top Stories
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’s 12 sitting days sufficient for business: Clerk
24 September 2024
Parliament Clerk sparks outrage over deep sea mining statement
23 September 2024
Parliament’s 12 sitting days sufficient for business: Clerk
24 September 2024
Tapaitau and Charlie-Puna released to ‘family jobs’
21 September 2024
Police apprehend four juveniles in connection with motorcycle thefts
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
Diaspora dismayed over lack of Te Maeva Nui livestream
8 August 2024
Everyone is a winner, says Culture
7 August 2024
Local women outshine global peers in business leadership
8 August 2024
Housing crisis hits tourism industry
27 July 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Challenging ‘rape culture’
8 July 2024
Pacific
Roadshow not consultation
Non-government organisations are frustrated with the Cook Islands government seabed mineral consultations that are being held in New Zealand, calling for a 10-year moratorium to allow for independent research and capacity building within the Cook Islands.
USP Student body represents 14,000 students
The University of the South Pacific Students’ Association (USPSA) from 14 campuses spanning 12 member countries convened in Rarotonga yesterday representing the voice of 14,000 students.
PNG faces long road to recovery
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guinea faces a long road to recovery after the February 26 earthquake that hit the nation’s rugged highlands more than 10 days ago, with the death toll now believed to have climbed to more than 100.
Cyclone threatens Loyalty Islands
NEW CALEDONIA – People in New Caledonia’s Loyalty Island group are preparing for the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Hola.
Journalist puts focus on PNG's positive stories
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A journalist in Papua New Guinea has found there’s a need for stories about locals who have overcome the difficulties of life in their developing country.
The Pacific has a new sports hero
NEW ZEALAND – Star Black Caps cricketer Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor, known to most as Ross Taylor, says he would like the sport to promote him as a role model to Pacific Islanders.
'Spooked' locals point finger at Exxon
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – The earthquake in Papua New Guinea has sparked a backlash against the US energy giant ExxonMobil. Some ‘spooked’ locals blame Exxon’s $19 billion gas project of causing, or at least magnifying, the 7.5 magnitude quake and the series of intense aftershocks. While firmly denied by Exxon and debunked by geologists, the accusations suggest that the project known as PNG LNG has caused some sort of geological instability in the Highlands region. The concerns about the project – the country’s biggest revenue earner - are even being expressed at senior levels in the Papua New Guinea government. PNG’s Vice Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Manasseh Makiba, has said publicly that there should be an inquiry to respond to local concerns that “mother nature” was reacting to the ground disturbed by drilling. PNG’s Minister for Finance, James Marape, has also demanded answers from the company. “In a world of science and knowledge, I now demand answers from Exxon and my own government as to the cause of this unusual trend in Hela,” Marape posted on his private Facebook page. He is among many who have lit up social media in PNG, with blogs and Facebook posts pointing the finger at the oil and gas sector’s alleged contribution to the disaster. Around Exxon’s operation, communities remain fearful as the death toll climbs, with as many as 18 more killed by a 6.7 magnitude aftershock on Wednesday. Chris McKee, acting director of the Geohazards Management Division in Port Moresby, said there was no link between the project and seismic activity, which has included more than 120 quakes of magnitude 4.5 and greater in the week after the initial hit. Papua New Guinea straddles the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire. - PNC sources
Vanuatu avoids brunt of cyclone
VANUATU – Cyclone Hola has passed over the islands of the Vanuatu archipelago.
Victims still waiting for basic needs
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Quake-affected communities in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province are still in urgent need of basic supplies. It’s been 11 days since a magnitude 7.5 quake in Hela caused buildings to collapse and triggered mass landslides in the surrounding Highlands region. At least 76 people have died, according to local officials. Power is still out in much of Hela, and there’s a shortage of medical, water and shelter supplies for an estimated 150,000 people. The provincial police commander Thomas Levongo said supplies were expected to arrive soon. “Yes, I heard from the provincial administrator yesterday. He told me that medical supplies are on the way..” He said there were more injured people in need across Hela following a 6.7 aftershock in the early hours of this morning. Tari local Moses Komengi said there was an acute need for tents because people were too afraid to stay in their homes. “If the aftershocks continue, some of the houses might break. It’s already shakey so we don’t know. “If things happen then people might need shelters to stay out, because at this moment some who have cars are with their families to the open fields and they are staying in the cars.” - RNZI
Concerns over Nauru court
NAURU – A former Nauru chief justice has raised concerns at Nauru’s plans for its own court of appeal.
Cable deal makes progress
SOLOMON ISLANDS – Discussions on a multi-million dollar submarine cable connecting Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to Australia were progressed in Canberra last week.
Frustration growing in Highlands
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Frustrations are building among some residents in the earthquake-devastated Papua New Guinea of Hela, as aid is slow to come a week after a deadly earthquake.
Tonga – and then Rarotonga today
TONGA – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern touched down in Tonga yesterday afternoon on the third leg of her Pacific Mission.
Trade deal 'damaging'
PACIFIC – An analyst says New Zealand’s planned trade deal with the Pacific Island nations could be extremely damaging to their economies.
Pension rules under scrutiny
PACIFIC – The New Zealand government is looking at its pension rules to see if New Zealanders living in Niue and Cook Islands can access payments.
King 'out of town' on Chinese business
PACIFIC – Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in Beijing with Tonga’s King Tupou VI last Thursday where they agreed to further promote the strategic partnership between China and Tonga.
New Zealand treads softly in China's footsteps
PACIFIC – New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern says the main goal of her delegation’s visit to Tonga this week was to see how the kingdom and other Pacific Island nations are recovering from last month’s Cyclone Gita – but Ardern and her ministers may also be worried about another force that’s hit the region – China.
Campaign to save law camp
An Otago student has started a campaign to save a controversial camp for second-year law students.
Planned to go back in time
An anti-census campaigner in New Zealand was hoping to avoid yesterday’s compulsory national count by hiding in a TARDIS, it’s reported.
No option to be a pakeha in latest census
NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand’s introduction of an online census has caused consternation throughout with country, with the absence of an ethnic group choice, accessibility issues for the disabled and elderly, and fears that the nation’s most marginalised people won’t be counted.
Senior National MP hands in his notice
NEW ZEALAND – Steven Joyce summed up his time in politics with, “I like to get on and get things done” – and with his resignation decision, that is what he has done.
Missing dog 'Meg' found five weeks after car crash
NEW ZEALAND – Meg, a black labrador-huntaway cross, disappeared after a crash in which the car she was travelling in rolled on January 31 in Purakaunui, near Dunedin.