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.
KIRIBATI – The Kiribati government has banned a New Zealand TV crew from reporting on the MV Butiraoi ferry disaster.
SAMOA – Samoa’s Health Minister has reported up to 80 per cent of deaths in Pacific countries can be attributable to non-communicable diseases.
KIRIBATI – The government of Kiribati says it does not want foreign journalists entering the country to report on the recent ferry disaster before the incident has been investigated.
PACIFIC – A volunteer doctor working in remote parts of the Pacific says there’s a big need for education about the role diet plays in combatting diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.
USA – The winner of a US$560 million lottery jackpot last month is suing state lottery officials in a bid to protect her anonymity.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Landowners from part of the Kokoda Track say they will stop tourists from undertaking the famous walk unless the Papua New Guinea government meets their demands.
KIRIBATI – Kiribati’s Marine Division says the sea search for passengers of the MV Butiroi has been suspended after the ferry sank over two weeks ago.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Some asylum seekers detained by Australia on Manus Island have been told they will have to leave Papua New Guinea.
NEW ZEALAND – Last year 52,964 claims were made to ACC for gym-related injuries, including 783 for fractures or dislocations, 177 for dental injuries and 13 for hernia.
TAIWAN – A magnitude-6.4 earthquake has struck near the coastal city of Hualien in Taiwan, the US Geological Survey (USGS) says, leaving two people dead, more than 100 injured and causing buildings including a hotel to collapse.
WORLD – Fears of another plunge in Wall Street shares proved unfounded on Tuesday after the Dow Jones shrugged off an initial 500-point drop to post early gains.
PALAU – The United States has announced plans to install radar systems in Palau, a move that will increase its monitoring ability in the western Pacific region recently rocked by threats from North Korea.
TONGA – Tongan athlete Pita Taufatofua says perseverance is the key in his ambitious bid to qualify for the Winter Olympics.
NEW ZEALAND – Tongans living in New Zealand say traditional family values will help sustain the language for future generations.
PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM – Nauru President Baron Waqa has indicated an $8000 visa fee for journalists will be waived when his country hosts the Pacific Islands Forum next year.
PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM – West Papua advocacy groups based in Australia and New Zealand have urged the Pacific Islands Forum to act decisively on West Papua.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – At least twenty people have died in election-related violence since vote counting began last month in Papua New Guinea’s Enga province.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Staff from the United States Department of Homeland Security have returned to Manus Island to interview refugees about resettlement in the US.
GUAM – Caught in the centre of a burgeoning military crisis, residents of the tiny Pacific island of Guam say the threat of a North Korean missile strike is nothing new despite the authorities distributing an advice sheet telling locals what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.
USA – For a while this week – among many things US President Donald Trump did and said to confound and confuse the watching world – was to have observers thinking he was tweeting in Samoan.