In Brief: Priest shot in heart in payback killing

A Papua New Guinea bishop is calling for more police intervention after a priest was killed in a payback killing between warring tribes in Central Province Father Garry Maria Inau was shot close-range in the heart when he was leaving his parish in Kunimaipa Valley of Goilala district on Sunday last week.

Priest shot in heart in payback killing

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A Papua New Guinea bishop is calling for more police intervention after a priest was killed in a payback killing between warring tribes in Central Province Father Garry Maria Inau was shot close-range in the heart when he was leaving his parish in Kunimaipa Valley of Goilala district on Sunday last week. The Bishop of Bereina, Rochus Tatamai, says pay-back killings have been occurring in the district since 2011. He says Father Inau became a victim because he had been seen with another local church minister, who has been accused of involvement in a 2011 murder. Bishop Tatamai says Father Inau, who was from the district and was ordained there nine months ago, had been trying to reconcile the two groups. He says the government must intervene now to reduce tribal tensions.

Flood victims holding up schooling

SOLOMON ISLANDS – The Chairman of the Honiara City Council’s Education Committee, Eric Tema, says he needs national government guidance on what to do with flood victims who are still taking refuge in schools. He says that six weeks after the flooding disaster students at Mbokonavera and Panatina schools are still not able to resume classes because victims continue to occupy the facility. Tema says while his committee feels sympathy for the flood victims, they are also worried about the students’ education because their parents or guardians have already paid fees for the first semester of 2014. Tema says following the passing of a new council ordinance, flood victims whose homes were destroyed will not yet be allowed yet to start rebuilding houses.

Survey shows school bullying on rise

NORTHERN MARIANAS – Nearly a fifth of public high school students in the Northern Marianas say they were bullied at school last year. The results of the 2013 Youth Risk Behaviour Survey show an increase in the number of students engaging in sex and bullying. 19.7 per cent of students say they experienced being bullied on school property during the past 12 months compared to 18.5 percent during the 2011 survey. The Public School System conducts the survey every two years among middle high and high school students in public schools. It is designed to find out the prevalence of risky behaviour among students like tobacco, alcohol and other drug use, sexual behaviour and dietary habits.

To attend UN decolonisation meeting

AMERICAN SAMOA – The executive assistant of American Samoa’s governor and a Fono leader have been asked to attend a United Nations seminar on decolonisation later this month in Fiji. The Pacific Regional Seminar for the Eradication of Colonialism is being hosted by the committee in charge of implementing the UN’s declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries. The committee will hear the views of non-self governing territories, experts and other stakeholders in the decolonisation process to try and identify policy approaches that can be pursued. American Samoa and the United States have been asking to be removed from the list for years, but the territory still remains on the list alongside Guam, the Northern Marianas, Tokelau, French Polynesia and New Caledonia.

Media barred from final submissions

TONGA – The Tonga Supreme Court has suppressed media coverage of the final submission made by legal counsel for five police officers charged over the death of a New Zealand police officer. Kali Fungavaka died in hospital after being assaulted while in police custody in August 2012. Final submissions in the trial of the five officers on manslaughter charges began yesterday after a series of delays last week due to illness. Radio Tonga reports Justice Charles Cato’s reasons for excluding the media have not been made public. The trial of a sixth man accused over the killing, a civilian, is set to begin next week.