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.
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.
PACIFIC – A joint New Zealand Herald and World Vision effort to raise money for those living in the remote Pacific has brought in more than double its initial target.
NEW ZEALAND – Samoan health officials have issued a health alert, warning anyone who has been to Auckland in the past three weeks to get tested for typhoid.
GUAM – The Governor of Guam, Eddie Calvo, has withdrawn his support for the build-up of United States military forces in the US territory.
NEW ZEALAND – Tighter immigration policies have led to significant falls in the number of approved Pacific migrants to New Zealand over the past five years.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A Papua New Guinea NGO says poverty is a prominent factor in ongoing sorcery-related attacks and killings.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guinea’s former prime minister Sir Michael Somare was given a standing ovation this week as he gave his farewell speech to parliament.
VANUATU – A female award-winning travel consultant and journalist was in her hotel room on the outskirts of Port Vila while asleep in the early hours of the morning when an intruder entered her room.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Manus Island refugee says the asylum seeker resisting deportation to Lebanon fears for his life if he’s sent home without money.
AUSTRALIA – A starfish considered a key threat to the Pacific’s coral reefs could be thwarted by harnessing its own sex drive, scientists say.
AUSTRALIA – Billions of dollars’ worth of contracts for offshore processing centres on remote Pacific islands should be made public, Amnesty International says.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 – 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.
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.