More Top Stories
‘Nothing to worry about’: Prime Minister Brown on China agreement
16 February 2025
‘Serious questions’: Opposition challenges China partnership
15 February 2025
No-confidence motion against PM and his Cabinet faces delays
15 February 2025
Ruta Mave: People’s Republic of China red flag
10 February 2025
No debt in China deal
8 February 2025
Thomas Wynne: Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?
8 February 2025
‘Paedophile’ gets 13 years in prison
22 January 2025
Thomas Wynne: Where were our leaders while children suffered?
25 January 2025
$541.7m tourism earnings
25 January 2025
Cook Islands passport proposal
6 January 2025
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
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Pacific
NZ looks forward to talks with Cook Islands govt
New Zealand has indicated to the Cook Islands Government that they are looking forward to discussions between relevant officials on their concerns related to the China / Cook Islands agreement.
Cook Islands seeking New Zealand expertise for Sovereign Wealth Fund
The Cook Islands government has taken further steps towards establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), with officials currently in New Zealand holding discussions with financial experts, Prime Minister Mark Brown told Parliament this week.
Death toll could be in hundreds
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – There is still no official death toll from Papua New Guinea’s 7.5 magnitude earthquake, but as accounts of the damage start to filter through fears are growing that it could be hundreds of dead rather than dozens.
Who gets to decide if Bridges is 'Maori enough?'
NEW ZEALAND – The National Party has elected its first Maori leader, Simon Bridges. And to make it even more significant, deputy leader Paula Bennett is also Maori.
National selects first Maori leader
NEW ZEALAND – Simon Bridges says he hopes Maori can be proud the National Party has elected their first Maori leader.
Still struggling after cyclone
TONGA – Two weeks after the category four cyclone scored a direct hit on the capital Nuku’alofa and the main island of Tongatapu, up to 50,000 people are still without power and a consistent supply of clean drinking water.
'Significant damage' after earthquake
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Reports of significant and widespread damage are slowly emerging from earthquake-hit central Papua New Guinea.
Months to reopen hill route
It could take months before the Takaka Hill Road resumes normal service, the Transport Agency says.
Peak track under scrutiny
Planning rules that allowed a controversial track to be built up the side of Te Mata Peak without notified consent will be scrutinised by Hastings District Council’s Maori committee this week.
Golfer killed by errant ball
A man has died days after being hit on the head by a golf ball.
State Highway One through Kaikoura closed again
NEW ZEALAND – State Highway One through Kaikoura is likely to remain closed until the end of the week.
60 Minutes interview leaves bad taste
NEW ZEALAND – New Zealanders have criticised an interview with their prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, as “creepy” and “sexist”.
Mould problem at Nauro RPC of 'epic proportions'
NAURU – A microbiologist contracted to assess the mould in the Nauru immigration centre says the contamination was “of epic proportions” and presented a serious health hazard to those in the camp.
Aftershocks continue to shake central PNG
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – People in central Papua New Guinea remain on edge with more than 20 powerful aftershocks rattling the region since Monday’s magnitude-7.5 earthquake.
Much of PNG isolated after quake
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – More than 30 people are believed to have been killed and whole villages buried by landslides in Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck yesterday.
Mayor wants more from Australia
PNG – The acting mayor of Lorengau says Australia should do more for the Manus Island town that’s hosting refugees it has detained in Papua New Guinea.
Refugees told to 'return with dignity'
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Refugees in Port Moresby have been told to voluntarily return to Manus Island with dignity – or be “compelled” to go back.
Around the Pacific
Valls favours staying French
Valls favours staying French
NEW CALEDONIA – A former French prime minister Manuel Valls says the French government should say before New Caledonia’s referendum what its preferred outcome is. Valls, who was in Noumea last week as the head of a French National Assembly delegation, was speaking at a public debate.
Corrupt officials making Tonga dysfunctional
TONGA – Some senior government officials in Tonga have abused foreign-funded projects, Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva has claimed.
Mould-infested tents a health hazard
NAURU – Four years after the Australian government was repeatedly warned the mould growing throughout Nauru’s regional processing centres was making people sick, refugee families, including young children, are still being forced to live under rotting canvas in Nauru.
More refugees sent back
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Thirteen more refugees detained in Papua New Guinea by Australia have been returned to Manus Island from Port Moresby.