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.
FIJI – Pacific countries working together on international arbitration reform is the aim of discussions this week in Fiji.
FIJI – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says the limits imposed on journalists in Fiji are “highly worrying.’’
SAMOA – Families in Samoa who have had their houses severely affected by the flash floods says building materials is a huge demand post Cyclone Gita.
PACIFIC – Aid is on it way to Tonga. A RNZAF C130 Hercules aircraft carrying 12 tonnes of emergency relief supplies departed for Tonga yesterday.
FIJI – Fiji’s Red Cross has grave concerns for people on the Southern Lau islands of Ono-i-Lau and Vatoa, after communications went down.
TONGA – Disaster assessment teams in Tonga say water, shelter and food are the immediate needs for people still reeling from the destruction brought by Tropical Cyclone Gita.
New Zealand’s Housing Minister Phil Twyford has released a “sobering” stocktake on housing which has found homelessness was worse than thought and there was a growing “floating” population of people in insecure housing.
The New Zealand MetService issued a severe weather warning with heavy rain forecast in Northland at midday yesterday.
TONGA – Tropical cyclone Gita hit Tonga overnight as a category four storm and the most intense to hit the country in 60 years.
SAMOA – Some parts of Samoa are still under water following Tropical Cyclone Gita as emergency services struggle to clear roads and put back power on.
HAWAI‘I – A bill to ban the sale and distribution of plastic straws in the US state of Hawaii is gathering support.
SAMOA – With a number of Pacific countries banning plastic bags in response to the pollution in the ocean, Samoa continues to face a dilemma on how to manage its waste.
SAMOA – Samoa is in recovery mode after Cyclone Gita ravaged the island nation and now the storm system has Tonga in its sights.
SAMOA – Cyclone Gita is hitting Samoa and American Samoa with strong winds and torrential rains, and authorities are warning people to stay indoors.
TONGA – He did it again.
KIRIBATI – New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is planning to look at wider distribution of emergency locator beacons in Kiribati in the wake of last month’s ferry disaster.
AUSTRALIA – Australia has been ordered to bring a young girl from the Nauru detention centre to Australia for urgent psychiatric treatment, with warnings she could take her own life without intervention.
FRENCH POLYNESIA – The French Polynesian president Edouard Fritch says he wants a study to be carried out to see if the French nuclear weapons tests caused genetic mutations.
AMERICAN SAMOA – Some families in American Samoa have had to evacuate their homes due to flooding amid severe weather in the territory.
KIRIBATI – The director of Kiribati Maritime agency says there is a lot of sadness and anger in Kiribati as the country remembers the more than 80 victims of last month’s ferry disaster.