More Top Stories
Cook Islands has its first mosque
14 November 2024
CI Muslim opens up about her faith and journey
16 November 2024
RAC to address mosque legality
19 November 2024
I don’t expect much change: PM Brown on US Elections
6 November 2024
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
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
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
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 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
Challenging ‘rape culture’
8 July 2024
Pacific
Roadshow not consultation
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.
USP Student body represents 14,000 students
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.
Festive joy moves south
THE SOUTHERN group islands are getting plenty of joy from this festive season following an influx of visitors, including tourists, to their shores this month.
New Zealand vote seen as 'declaration of war'
NEW ZEALAND – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly told New Zealand’s foreign minister that support for a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement-building in the occupied territories would be viewed as a “declaration of war”.
Bodies of bus crash victims on way home
TONGA – The bodies of the two Tongan victims killed in a bus crash in Gisborne on Christmas eve will be returned to Tonga on Saturday.
Asylum seekers hold peaceful protest
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Detainees on Manus Island are demanding answers about the death of a refugee as advocates call for a royal commission into medical care at Australia’s offshore detention centres.
Pleas for treatment were ignored
Unwell refugee’s friends wrote letter asking for medical intervention a week before he died
Samoa's Olympic silver is official
Eight years after Beijing, Ele Opeloge’s Olympic success is recognised
Refugee death 'hard to believe'
Medical facilities on Manus Island need attention
Deluge delivers worst flooding in decades
FIJI – Rakiraki Town residents have dubbed the recent flooding as the worst in more than a decade.
Fijians facing a muddy Christmas
FIJI – Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama is calling on every Fijian to share the Christmas spirit through helping those that are in need and those that were affected by Tropical Cyclone Winston and this week’s severe flooding from tropical depression TD04F.
Airliner hijackers surrender
MALTA – The hijacking of a Libyan plane has ended peacefully after armed men who seized control surrendered in Malta.
Ebola vaccine being fast tracked
Trials in West Africa prove 100 per cent effective
Berlin attacker shot dead
GERMANY – The Berlin market attacker, Anis Amri, has been shot dead by police in Milan.
Tonga welcomes 2000 Chinese tourists on board cruise ship
TONGA – Around 2000 Chinese tourists visited Nuku‘alofa on Friday last week on the Italian cruise ship Costa Atlantica, which began its journey from China.
Fiji land laws imposed on foreign owners
FIJI – A Fiji economics professor says the imposition of retrospective laws on foreign landowners sends a signal that Fiji is not a safe place to invest.
Earthquake aid co-ordination needed
SOLOMON ISLANDS – Shelter, health and education are the priority areas for authorities responding to recent quakes in Solomon Islands.
Seismic volatility a part of life in PNG
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – There have been no reports of significant damage or casualties from a big earthquake in Papua New Guinea on Saturday night.
Stranded on flooded river island
FIJI – About 1000 villagers stranded on their island in Fiji’s Rewa river delta say they are running out of food after six days of constant rain and rising floodwaters. The villagers said the river water had flooded homes, crops were under water and they have no means to get to their jobs in nearby Nausori and Suva. Bale Bulimaivale of Muana Village on Toga Island said the community was running out of food and sanitary supplies. “People are worried because they might lose their job, their security and their safety. The livestock, people’s lives are all in danger because the water levels continues to rise. It has not receded yet.” The three villages on Toga Island are connected to the mainland via a culvert which is now flooded, and there is no boat to get out. “It’s been hard for us. The main crops like cassava and yam are under water.” She said the villagers were managing with the few basic items they have. “We were caught off guard and now we don’t have any transport to buy food.” The villagers could move to the double-storey village hall, but were busy securing their homes and livestock, Bulimaivale said. She had not heard of any help coming yet but she said she thought they could hold out for another three days. The government said assessment teams were being deployed across Fiji to ascertain the extent of damage and the government had urged people along the banks of the Rewa River to move to higher ground. The National Disaster Management Office’s Akapusi Tuifagalele said until the weather cleared, it was still too early to ascertain the full extent of damage. “But by looking at things it seems that, you know, we are not as bad as what has happened during Winston or any other disaster where it cost us millions of dollars, but it’s more of a wait and see.” The flooding and landslides caused extensive damage to infrastructure and crops, particularly in the northern and central areas and parts of the western divisions. The worst-affected towns were Nausori, Rakiraki, Ba, and the northern island of Qamea, where a slip hit houses, a school and a health centre. On Viti Levu, parts of the main Kings and Queens roads were closed, and power and water supplies had been affected in some areas. - RNZI
Flooding chaos continues in Fiji
Opposition calls for disaster zone declarations
School's $700,000 trip to Hawai'i questioned by audit office
NEW ZEALAND –An audit has questioned a NZ$700,000 trip to Hawai‘i by an entire New Zealand school.
Landslide takes house, almost takes wife
FIJI – A Fijian man defied danger and bravely pulled his wife to safety as a landslide destroyed their house on Thursday.