Tuila’epa in NZ for treatment

Days after being airlifted by the New Zealand Government for medical treatment in Auckland, aides of Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuila’epa Lupesoli’ai Sa’ilele Malielegaoi (pictured) were still

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PINA shreds charity status for limited company

Fijian media dominates Pacific body At least three members of the board of directors of the new look Pacific Islands News Association Limited will have to be Fiji residents, the regional media body has confirmed.

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Tukuitonga at the helm New boss of SPC sets out to fine-tune the Pacific

New boss of SPC sets out to fine-tune the Pacific’s largest organisation With three out of four deaths in the Pacific today caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the islands’ most immediate concern is

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April, a time to learn more about Asbestos

This month we commemorate Global Asbestos Awareness Week to raise awareness of an insidious and slow killer – the substance known as “asbestos”. Asbestos, which occurs naturally as a silky white

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New constitution is the key, says Fiji’s new military chief

Bainimarama makes way for career soldier Mosese Tikoitoga The new head of Fiji’s military Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga says the country’s new constitution should stay if there is to be no more coups in

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Cooks opt for satellite telecom network

Could the Cook Islands become the next Bangalore of the Pacific? They do have the right technology to begin with but comparative telecommunication prices could prove to be the difference between being a technological

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Mosese Tikoitoga Leadership change in Fiji

Leadership change in Fiji’s Military A young Fijian man who marched in as a private in the Republic of the Fiji Military Forces more than 30 years ago is now head of Fiji’s 4,000-strong force. Brigadier

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PNG coffee has a c rack at niche market with US$30m package

As exotic gourmet coffee from Papua New Guinea ticked all boxes in an international ranking last month, the World Bank began preparing a US$30 million rescue package to rejuvenate the country’s ailing coffee

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UN sends mission to New Caledonia

Debates over electoral rolls and alliances The United Nations has sent a delegation to New Caledonia in the lead up to crucial municipal and provincial elections as supporters and opponents of independence joust over

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Imported Item – 2015-07-22 01:15:53

Un-Announced boarding’s of 69 fishing vessels, confiscation and torching of fishing tenders and gear and citings of 6 more boats were the highlights of the recently completed annual Rai Balang maritime

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French Navy seized Chinese fishing boat

Maritime border dispute flares up again Sea border dispute between Vanuatu and New Caledonia has resulted in the arrest and conviction of a Chinese boat captain and members of his crew. New Caledonian maritime

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Tonga gets $10m

The World Bank will give approximately US$10 million to support Tonga’s reconstruction and repair of houses for hundreds of families in Ha’apai whose homes were badly damaged or destroyed by Tropical Cyclone

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Judicial shake-up in Nauru

Opposition MPs decry deportations Nauru’s Opposition has described the treatment of two of its highest judicial officers in the land as contempt for the rule of law. Opposition leader Mathew Batsiua alleged that

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Selling the Pacific dream

Would you believe that out of the over 900 million international tourist arrivals registered by the United Nations' World Tourism Council in 2012, only 1.6 million visited the shores of 16 Pacific Islands countries

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Give preference to local fishing fleets

Pacific Islands governments have a responsibility to control tuna fishing in their waters, and should be giving preference to local fishing fleets instead of granting more licences to foreign fishing vessels. Parties

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Toyota joins Holden exodus

Only two months after Holden pulled out of manufacturing cars in Australia,

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Climate ‘line in the sand’

“The 2007 IPCC report was rather a gamechanger in terms of people’s view of climate change,” says Dr Arthur Webb. His office is stacked high with maps of the Pacific, charts and technical reports.

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From Mexico to the Marshalls

Castaway survives 14-month Pacific ordeal Late in 2012, El Salvadorian fisherman Jose Salvador Alvarenga and his Mexican companion Ezequiel Cordoba left southern Mexico in a 24-foot boat for a day of shark fishing. They

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At 60, legacy of Bravo still reverberates

MUnresolved issues remain to be resolved March 1 is a national holiday in the Marshall Islands marking the day the Bravo hydrogen bomb was exploded at Bikini Atoll, spewing radioactive fallout on islands around the

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Dual citizenship

Govt hopes to raise over US$98m The creation of dual citizenship in Vanuatu through constitutional change has created two fiercely opposing camps in a debate that refuses to die. In one corner are the purists, led by

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New benchmarks for Australian aid

Bishop announces ODA cuts and reviews As Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop joined members of the Pacific Islands Forum Ministerial Contact Group (MCG) in Suva last month, she highlighted Australia’s new

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Fiji back from the cold?

FiMCG anticipates Fiji’s full Forum participation Fiji is coming back in from the cold. Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama’s announcement that he would step down as military commander on February 28, then on

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PM Lilo on a cleanup footing

But will he have the time to complete the job? As his nation prepares for the national general election later this year, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo, is a man whose leadership is under siege. And he

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Why I was sacked: Pokajam

Members of the PNA (Parties to the Nauru Agreement) meet in Honiara on March 5-14 to discuss a number of important issues pertaining to their success. For instance what to do with the US$93 million—and that is how

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