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.
Runaway refugee out on bail
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A Papua New Guinea court has granted bail to the refugee Loghman Sawari who was deported from Fiji nearly two weeks ago.
Offshore detention a 'crime against humanity'
AUSTRALIA – Australia’s network of offshore immigration detention centres could constitute a crime against humanity, according to a submission before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Official says centre will close by end of the year
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – The Manus Island immigration refugee detention centre is slated for closure by the end of 2017, a senior Australian government bureaucrat has told a court.
Castaway Mariner's story translated into Tongan
TONGA – After nearly half a century, the first Tongan translation of a classic 19th century book about the life of an English by who was adopted by a Tongan warlord, has been completed.
PACIFIC BRIEFS 16/2/2017
Retired bishop to face abuse charges NORTHERN MARIANAS – Sexual abuse charges have been filed against a retired Catholic bishop in the Northern Marianas, Tomas Camacho. He is being accused of sexual abuse by Guam resident Melvin Duenas in a lawsuit filed in the US District Court of Guam. Duenas claims that the sexual abuse started in 1971 when he was about 10 years old and the chief altar boy at St Joseph Catholic Church in Inarajan where Tomas Camacho served as a priest. He said it only stopped when he ran away from the rectory sometime in 1974 and 1975. The charges against Camacho include negligent supervision and breach of fiduciary duty. Last year, Guam’s Catholic community was rocked by several allegations of similar sexual abuse by then archbishop, Anthony Apuron. MCCULLY DISCUSSES POST RAMSI SECURITY SOLOMON ISLANDS – The New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully says his country has plans for how it can assist Solomon Islands when the Regional Assistance Mission, RAMSI, pulls out in July. The Australian-led RAMSI, to which New Zealand contributed significant numbers of soldiers, police and civil servants when ethnic strife dominated life in the Solomons in 2003, has been scaling down and will withdraw completely in just over four months. McCully is in Honiara for discussions on the post-RAMSI phase and says New Zealand is ready to make commitments to help ensure the ongoing security of the Solomons. But he says he is not yet able to reveal details. “There are still some further conversations to have with the authorities here,” he said. SHARK POACHERS TO FACE STIFF FINES KIRIBATI – Kiribati Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development has outlined the penalties for breaking the ban on shark fishing for commercial purposes. The ministry last year announced sharks could only be fished for consumption and not for re-sale. Under the Fisheries Act 2010 together with the Shark Sanctuary Regulation 2014, severe punishments and fines will be imposed on those who are found breaching these regulations. A fine of $US6000 or imprisonment for four months will be given to offenders while fishing boats will be fined US$7643 or impounded for six months for the same offence. Kiribati has set up a large shark sanctuary to help protect the species across an expanse of the central Pacific almost equal to the size of India. The Pew Charitable Trusts estimates 100 million sharks are killed each year by commercial fisheries. DENGUE PLAGUING PACIFIC ISLANDS VANUATU – The hospital on Vanuatu’s Tanna island has recorded 115 dengue cases. A hospital manager, who is also part of the Dengue Taskforce, says 435 people were tested for the mosquito-borne disease. He says of the 115 people who tested positive four were hospitalised. He says one patient suffered spontaneous bleeding. The number of dengue cases has also risen in neighbouring New Caledonia where an epidemic has been declared. A public health emergency has been declared in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea as a dengue outbreaks keeps worsening. The authorities say all neighbourhoods of the city are now affected and more personnel is being hired to try to eliminate breeding areas for mosquitos. CHURCH INVESTIGATORS ON WAY TO GUAM FIJI – The newly-appointed chair of Fiji’s electoral commission says maintaining transparency and ensuring the fairest possible elections are his biggest priorities. Suresh Chandra was appointed to the role last week, nearly a month after the three-year term of the previous commission expired. The commission is an independent constitutional body tasked with supervising the elections office, which is responsible for preparing the vote. After the 2014 elections, a multinational observer group recommended the commission increase its transparency. Chandra says that will be one of his key priorities.“We will make sure that the transparency is maintained and we need to see that the credibility of the process is maintained and the election procedures are followed.”
Death of beauty queen shocks PNG
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guineans are in mourning after the shock death of a revered former Miss South Pacific PNG beauty pageant winner and a beloved community figure.
Resettlement interviews underway
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A team of contractors has arrived on Manus Island to begin interviews with refugees about resettlement in the United States.
Tongan skier's Olympic quest continues
TONGA – Tongan skier Kasete Skeen will take another big step in his quest to reach the 2018 Winter Olympics, when he lines up in the giant slalom qualifying race at the World Alpine Ski Champs in St Moritz today.
Proa building skills honed in Kiwi shed
A dark red shed is nestled inconspicuously between parched rolling hills on the edge of a shallow stream, its dribble of water slowly meandering its way through the golden countryside near Waihi,
Venue futures being planned ahead of Mini Games
VANUATU –Plans for ongoing use of the venues being built for this year’s Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu are starting to take shape well ahead of their completion.
Helicopter pilot killed fighting New Zealand bush fires
NEW ZEALAND – Bush fires blazing near Christchurch over the past two days have claimed the life of a helicopter pilot and caused heartache for local residents.
Asylum seekers plead for help
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Asylum seekers at Australia’s offshore detention centre on Manus Island are begging for help as Papua New Guinean and Australian authorities prepare to deport them.
Runaway refugee in PNG prison
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A district court in PNG has ordered Iranian refugee Loghman Sawari be moved from Port Moresby’s police cell to Bomana prison outside of the city until a decision is made on his bail application next week.
Papua New Guinea pageant winner murdered?
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Papua New Guinea police say charges will be laid over the violent death of a former Miss PNG.
PACIFIC BRIEFS 14/2/2017
Inquest into asylum seeker’s death PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A coroner’s inquest into the death of an asylum seeker detained on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island has resumed in Australia. Hamid Khazaei, a 24-year-old from Iran, died in Brisbane in 2014 from blood poisoning caused by a small leg infection. Last year, the coroner heard Khazaei died a slow and agonising death caused by delays in transferring him to Brisbane. Doctors on Manus requested he be flown to Australia, but 36 hours later he was flown to Port Moresby where he suffered multiple heart attacks. Evidence given last year included that Khazaei was not given prescribed medication and the Manus medical clinic was dysfunctional. The coroner will hear evidence from ten witnesses including the former chief medical officer with the Immigration Department’s and staff from medical contractors. TONGA no CONFIDENCE vote next week TONGA – A vote of no confidence in Tonga’s government will be tabled in parliament next week. A notice of the motion was distributed by Speaker Lord Tu’ivakano in Tonga’s parliament just before the house closed yesterday. Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva was not in Parliament, but Lord Tu’ivakano said he may respond to the vote of no confidence between now and next Monday when the vote will be dealt with. Earlier Pohiva said he had the numbers to defeat the vote. Lord Tu’ivakano said the actual vote of no confidence will have to take place by the end of Monday, February 27. In Tonga a vote of no confidence may be tabled, only after 18 months has passed since a general election. Concerns at rising price of chicken TONGA – Concerns over the high price of chicken have been raised in Tonga’s parliament. A report from Ha’apai stated cartons of chicken were selling for as much asUS$27. Tongatapu MP Mateni Tapueluelu questioned who should take the blame for the high prices. The Minister of Revenue Tevita Lavemaau says the price of chicken is controlled by the government’s Competent Authority. Lavemaau says the only tax imposed on chicken is 40 seniti or 18 US cents per kilo so such goods should not be expensive. The Competent Authority says the retail price for chicken is just over US$1.80 and cartons vary from 19 to 23 dollars. The Minister of Justice Vuna Fa’otusia says it is important that members of the public raise price issues with the authority. Prosecutor alarmed at Flosse defence FRENCH POLYNESIA – The public prosecutor’s office in French Polynesia has taken issue with comments made against the judiciary which it says could amount to attempts to spread misinformation and exert political pressure. The statement was issued after last week’s trial of former president Gaston Flosse over the 2014 theft of US$70,000 worth of chinaware. His defence lawyers, who include his son-in-law, have claimed that Flosse is being hounded amid a fixation to sever his links with his voters. The prosecutor took Flosse to the appeal court because he wasn’t given a custodial sentence in the criminal court last year and is also asking the court to make him ineligible for public office for five years. The prosecutor says such punishment is necessary to stop the degradation of democracy in French Polynesia and to show corruption will not be tolerated with impunity. Church investigators on way to Guam GUAM – The Catholic Church on Guam says a group of investigators will soon arrive as part of the canonical trial of the island’s archbishop. The Archbishop, Anthony Apuron, is facing a Vatican trial after several former altar boys accused him of sexual assault in the 1970s, when he was a parish priest. The Pacific Daily News reported Archbishop Michael Byrnes – who will replace Archbishop Apuron when he retires, resigns or is removed – also announced tougher policies against sexual abuse that will include background checks for anyone working around children, required reporting to civil authorities any allegation involving abuse of minors and suspension of clergy if an accusation is deemed credible.
650 whales ashore in mass beachings
NEW ZEALAND – A new pod of 240 whales beached itself on a remote New Zealand beach at the weekend just hours after weary volunteers managed to re-float a different group of whales following an earlier mass stranding.
Swam flooded river while in labour
FIJI – A 33-year-old heavily pregnant woman who bravely swam across a flooded creek and was rescued by police while having contractions, is just glad she was delivered to the Lautoka Hospital “in the nick of time”.
Jail urged for president who stole the china
FRENCH POLYNESIA – The prosecution in French Polynesia has called for a one-year jail sentence for a former president Gaston Flosse for taking chinaware from the presidential palace.
No matter what, it's going to get wetter
Droughts and flooding rains are already more likely as climate change plays havoc with Pacific weather, writes a group of scientists from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Vanuatu scientist leaves inspirational legacy
NEW CALEDONIA – Dr Roger Malapa, the first ni-Vanuatu to graduate with a PhD in science who went on to become one of the Pacific’s most distinguished agricultural scientists, died in New Caledonia this week after a battle with cancer. He was 46.