More Top Stories
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
BRO CHECK campaign: ‘Reach out, you’re not alone’
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
3000 companies at risk due to Act oversight: Browne
23 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
Helmet safety concerns raised amid enforcement challenges
2 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
STI cases on the rise
2 September 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
Tapaitau appeal dismissed
17 July 2024
Challenging ‘rape culture’
8 July 2024
Pacific
Tahiti sailors win 2024 Regatta in Raro
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 PM Puna first Cook Islander elected to East-West Center Board
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.
Nauru seeks funding to build new port
NAURU – The president of Nauru, Baron Waqa, is meeting officials from the Asian Development Bank during an Australian visit in an effort to raise finance to build a new port on the island.
Refugee screening process underway
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Officials from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are now on Manus Island fingerprinting and photographing refugees as part of the US-Australia refugee deal.
Social media a platform for racism
FIJI – The director of Fiji’s Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission Ashwin Raj says it’s time to think about laws to regulate racist hate speech on social media.
Fiji and New Zealand in same sevens pool
HONG KONG – New Zealand Sevens coach Scott Waldrom says his team is fully aware of the challenge Fiji pose at this weekend’s Hong Kong tournament. The two old rivals are in the same pool, alongside Wales and Japan.
Forum nations look at regional finance facility
PACIFIC – A key matter before the Pacific Islands Forum economic ministers who are meeting in Suva this week is how to set up a regional finance facility.
Babies kept in prison with their mothers
SAMOA – The assistant commissioner of Samoa’s Prisons and Corrections Service has defended a decision to keep a mother and her two month-old-baby in prison.
Deportee refuses to leave
PAPUA NEW GUINEA– An asylum seeker detained by Australia on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island is reported to have resisted a second attempt to repatriate him to Lebanon.
Fewer Pacific migrants
NEW ZEALAND – Tighter immigration policies have led to significant falls in the number of approved migrants from Pacific countries over the last five years.
Samoa vs All Blacks likely
SAMOA – New Zealand Rugby has confirmed it is in discussions with the Samoan Union over the possibility of a test match to be played in Auckland in June.
Low key affair at medal ceremony
SAMOA – Samoa’s first Olympic medallist, Ele Opeloge, has finally been officially presented with her silver medal from the Olympics’ weightlifting competition held in Beijing nine years ago.
Samoans shocked by typhoid death
NEW ZEALAND – Distraught family members of a Samoan woman who died of typhoid last week say Auckland health officials did not tell them she had the disease.
New Caledonia detains more 'blue boats'
NEW CALEDONIA – Three more Vietnamese blue boats (pictured above) have been caught fishing illegally for beche de mer within New Caledonia’s waters.
Norfolk-Auckland air link to stay
NORFOLK ISLAND – When Air New Zealand ends its direct Auckland-Norfolk Island link in May, a company on the island will fill the void.
Hearing to confront drug use in high schools
AMERICAN SAMOA – High schools in American Samoa are confronting a growing problem of illegal drug use.
Missionaries thrown overboard by pirates
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Pirates in Papua New Guinea waters held up a boatload of people at knifepoint last week and left them adrift after stealing the boat’s engine.
666 writs give churches the jitters
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guinea’s electoral commissioner has been forced to reassure church leaders he is not asking the country’s Governor-General to evoke an apocalyptic biblical prophecy.
Detention camp film shot on cellphone
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Audiences around the world will soon have the chance to see what life is like inside one of Australia’s offshore detention centres.
Tonga casino moves closer
TONGA – A company looking to build a casino in Tonga has reportedly been given tentative approval from the government.
PNG offers dual citizenship
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa are among eight prescribed countries whose passport holders will be allowed to hold dual citizenship in Papua New Guinea.
Fiji Times offices searched
FIJI – The main office of one of Fiji’s main newspapers, the Fiji Times, was searched by police this week in connection with an ongoing sedition case.