Latest Pacific News

SUVA, Fiji --- An exciting and innovative new project is underway in Fiji that asks communities, teachers and media to share their thoughts on climate change. The project ...

GENEVA, Switzerland --- The prevalence of obstetric fistula – a preventable and treatable condition linked to women’s reproduction – among women and girls in developing countries is a ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The controversial and delayed Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Madang is a definite go-ahead, according to Commerce and Industry Minister Richard Maru.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---Papua New Guinea is enjoying solid economic growth and the future looks bright despite serious development challenges facing the country, Treasurer Don Polye told Parliament ...

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti --- The new French Polynesian government has decided to cut ministerial pays by ten percent to about US$7,300 a month.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- There are seven MPs left in the Opposition bench and leader Belden Namah says he is prepared to be a “one-man opposition” if all ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- An elderly woman accused of causing the death of a boy through sorcery was killed and thrown into an old pit toilet, according to ...

SUVA, Fiji ----An estimated $200 million ( US$108 million) to $300million (US$163 million) in dirty money has been circulating in the country for the past three years, the ...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands ---Pacific people must be allowed to live in dignity on their own islands instead of relocating due to climate change, says Cook Islands Parliament Speaker ...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands --- Displaced Pacific communities must retain ownership of their Exclusive-Economic Zones (EEZ) and fishing rights, a regional summit heard in the Cook Islands Thursday.

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands --- Displacementof populations is a traumatic experience which can affect communities for generations, says Cook Island Prime Minister Henry Puna.

YAREN, Nauru -- A Nauru MP Baron Waqa says there is hope next month’s general election will usher into parliament a host of new members capable of breaking ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Sorcery-related killings will attract the death penalty under amendments to the Criminal Code to be tabled in Papua New Guinea Parliament soon.

GENEVA, Switzerland ---- Lack of engagement and co-ordination between local authorities and communities in the Pacific on disaster risk reduction, is among a number of findings from a ...

YAREN, Nauru ---The tiny Pacific island nation that hosts an Australian immigration detention centre is going to the polls.

JAKARTA, Indonesia ----Indonesia has agreed to team up with neighboring Papua New Guinea (PNG) to explore potential oil and gas reserves in border areas as the former shifts ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- A Wellington-based academic says she doubts a report highlighting poverty among Pacific people in New Zealand will have any effect on migration to the ...

NORFOLK Island --- Norfolk Island’s Chief Minister Lisle Snell says the community has concerns about new relaxed immigration rules for Australians and New Zealanders.

SYDNEY, Australia --- THE UN refugee agency has taken Australia to task over a tough new policy that allows boat people who reach its mainland to be sent ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji's rime Minister of Fiji, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, says the government is not monitoring political activity but it is keeping an eye on anything that ...

GENEVA, Switzerland --- Inclusive approaches to disaster reduction is one of the issues coming out strongly from the three day global conference underway in the Swiss city of ...

GENEVA,Switzerland ---- Nauru’s head of disaster management office, Roy Harris wants more commitment from his government towards addressing disaster reduction risk in the Pacific Island nation.

A US study has found some American Samoan babies as young as 15 months are being classified as obese. According to an ABC report, the Brown University study ...

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Media reports about a largely Maori and Pacific islands youth gang operating in Melbourne's northwestern suburbs have been played down by police.

PARIS, France --- The resolution adopted today (Friday) by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on French Polynesia ignores the democratic choice made by the Polynesians and goes ...

The success of worldwide action has transformed our thinking on disease and development

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- New Zealand is preparing to increase its military presence in the South Pacific, in close collaboration with the Australian government. The moves further align ...

SUVA, Fiji ---Fiji's economy will be boosted if kava exports are opened up for pharmaceutical or medical purposes.

BRISBANE, Australia --- Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch is seeking to export 150,000 head of Australian cattle into Papua New Guinea (PNG) using a share of AusAID funding, ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---The Papua New Guinea Government has been called on to consider imposing the highest penalties on people involved in corporate fraud.

NADI, Fiji --- Papua New Guinea’s Trade Minister says he wants to see a common market established in the Melanesian Spearhead Group of nations before it is extended ...

WASHINGTON, USA ---The United States wants to continue a criminal data matching scheme for assessing risks of threats that it began with New Zealand in advance of the ...

WASHINGTON, USA --- New Zeland Foreign Minister offers US Secretary of State support if Israel-Palestine talks make eventual progress.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- A new-born baby buried alive, allegedly by its mother, has been rescued hours later in Honiara.

SUVA, Fiji ---Fiji’s National Federation Party (NFP)says it is ready for the elections scheduled for 2014 in that south pacific island nation.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- A controversial Papua New Guinean businessman has been charged with more fraud offences after returning from an extended stay in Australia.

APIA, Samoa --- Samoan Minister of Finance Faumuina Tiatia Liuga has acted illegally and the Attorney General should file charges against him.

SUVA, Fiji --- Sex workers in Fiji are not the drivers of HIV transmissions in Fiji.

GENEVA, Switzerland --- Most countries in the Pacific region have started taking concrete steps to address disaster and climate risks in an integrated manner.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Haroon Ali has been appointed the chief risk officer for the Bank South Pacific Group to replace Robin Fleming.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Airlines PNG (APNG) is investing heavily in safety, engineering, booking systems and customer services to support the increase in direct link services, chief executive ...

CANBERRA, Australia --- Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has endorsed gay marriage, changing his position on the issue.

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji has shown leadership and is clearly on the way to having 80 to 90 per cent of its energy needs generated from renewable sources.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The country’s first isolated maximum security prison will be built on Manus, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill told Parliament last Friday.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---The Solomon Islands Government has made history in the international front after its successful lead in bidding to decolonise Federate State of Micronesia went through ...

PAGOPAGO, American Samoa --- American Samoa’s Congressman, Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin, has told a group of graduates that they need to consider the political future of the territory and ...

SUVA, Fiji ---Fiji’s youth have a very important role to play in the 2014 parliamentary elections, says Attorney General and Elections Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---A hunt for millions of dollars in lost Japanese wartime gold worthy of a thriller movie plot is unfolding in the Solomon Islands.

GENEVA, Switzerland --- Niue, like other Pacific Island Countries, is already implementing an integrated approach to addressing disaster risk management and climate change.

GENEVA, Switzerland --- Informal consultations have begun here in Geneva to discuss the possible inclusion of disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the post 2015 development agenda framework.

NADI, Fiji --Officials from Papua New Guinea say they are considering withdrawing from free trade negotiations between Pacific Island countries and Australia and New Zealand.

SUVA, Fiji --- A regional dialogue for civil society organisations on conflict, peace, and security issues was held at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat from 6-10 May 2013.

SUVA, Fiji --- A regional dialogue for civil society organisations on conflict, peace, and security issues was held at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat from 6-10 May 2013.

KOROR, Palau ---President Remengesau welcomed the Palau Peer Review team to the Republic of Palau at his office in Koror on 16 May 2013, where he assured the ...

NEW YORK, USA ---The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday to place French Polynesia back on the UN list of territories that should be decolonized and requested ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- The Pacific community has stamped its mark firmly on New Zealand society. There are 20,000 more Niueans living here than in Niue.

SUVA, Fiji -- Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has officially received the second A330 aircraft from the Airbus outlet in Toulouse, France.

SUVA, Fiji --An understanding signed between a Fiji recruitment agency and individuals in Papua New Guinea has come under the spot light.

HAGATNA, Guam ---An estimated one in three Asian and Pacific Islanders are living with HIV and don't even know it. And with this weekend marking National Asian and ...

SUVA, Fiji --Fiji's Prime Minister said he would meet Beijing's leaders in China this month, a week after unveiling an official trip to Russia, as he looks beyond ...

GENEVA, Switzerland -- The United Nations human rights office has expressed serious concern over Papua New Guinea’s announcement that it will resume the death penalty more than half ...

CANBERRA, Australia --Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr has used his special powers to cancel the 457 visa issued by the Gillard government to an alleged crime boss wanted ...

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti --French Polynesia’s newly elected president, Gaston Flosse, has named an eight-member government, just hours after the assembly elected him for a fifth time in 29 years.

NEW YORK, USA --- The Argentine government has questioned the United Kingdom after its negative vote at the United Nations General Assembly “to place French Polynesia back on ...

NADI, Fiji (PACNEWS) ---- The Pacific ACP bloc remains optimistic that negotiations for their Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) can be concluded by the ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama announced from France today a banner year for Fiji's sugar cane industry.

NADI, Fiji --- Fiji stands to loose the most if Pacific members of the ACP bloc could not conclude their Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, ...

SUVA, Fiji --- The Pacific region’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union could be an important vehicle for sustainable development of our region. This is the ...

CANBERRA, Australia --- Australia and the United States should cooperate with China in areas that support Pacific Island priorities rather than building any new security or diplomatic arrangements ...

WASHINGTON, USA — Arctic Council Ministers from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation, and the United States yesterday called for taking action “as soon as possible” ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- PAPUA New Guinea and Queensland have signed a deal in Port Moresby on Tuesday to grow business links and opportunities between them. Prime Minister ...

SUVA, Fiji ---Suva — India will take part in a five-day meet in Fiji where local and international sugar researchers will share information on "erianthus", a sugar hybrid, ...

SUVA, Fiji --- About 40 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $50,000 were uprooted by (Fiji) police near Vatubalavu Village in Navosa on Tuesday. The raid ...

NUKUALOFA, Tonga --- Tongan police have appealed against a decision to discharge three of the six men accused of the manslaughter of a New Zealand police officer last ...

NUKUALOFA, Tonga --- Diabetes cannot be cured, Tonga's King Tupou VI said today and expressed concern that an increasing number of youth are being diagnosed with the disease ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Prime Minister Peter O’Neill yesterday assured hundreds of people who packed Port Moresby’s Sir John Guise Stadium that their “call to action” petition would ...

APIA, Samoa --- The Australian Government will provide an estimated WST103.8 million (A$45.8 million) in official development assistance to Samoa in 2013-14. The 2013-14 budget includes WST$10.2 million ...

APIA, Samoa --- It took the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) Caucus almost three hours to come up with a 10 to 9 votes for the Minister of ...

Today Tonga’s National ICT Day showcased the advent of high-speed internet in July, under the first phase of the Pacific Regional Connectivity Project supported by the World Bank ...

Current US tuna treaty negotiations have stalled because Pacific Islands Parties and the United States have failed to agree on various elements of a new treaty. The Pacific ...

MELBOURNE, Australia ---- Aid organisations working in the Pacific have expressed disappointment with Australia's aid commitment in its budget.

NEW YORK, USA --- The United Nations today warned that economic losses from disasters have spun out of control and called on the world’s business community to incorporate ...

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa --- The High Court in American Samoa is yet to schedule a status hearing in the $150 million lawsuit filed by Tapa’i Tervola against ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Tokuluma mine in Papua New Guinea's Central Province is likely to be taken over by OK Tedi Mining Limited.

MAJURO, Marshall Islands --- The UN children's fund UNICEF has joined the Marshallese Government in providing emergency assistance to the nation's severely drought-affected areas.**

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga --- Two Tongan policemen and another man accused of the manslaughter of a New Zealand police officer Kali Fungavaka, who died from injuries received in police ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's Correctional Services Commissioner, Martin Balthazar says investigations is underway into claims of security breaches at Bomana prison outside Port Moresby, saying ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia --- Controversial super yacht, The Phocea, has returned to New Caledonia just two days after setting sail for Thailand, following a reported problem with its ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- An independent environment audit into Solomon Islands Gold Ridge Tailings Dam recommends that the Gold Ridge Mining Limited (GRML) should shut down its operations, ...

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas --- Ex-convict Michael Anthony Jackson, who was convicted of kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old girl in the Northern Marianas has been slapped with a maximum ...

International airline Air Pacific – soon to be rebranded as Fiji Air – has been exposed as one of the world’s major carriers of shark fins into Hong ...

NADI, Fiji --- Fiji’s acting Prime Minister and Trade Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says Pacific ACP countries will not tolerate further extension to the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) negotiation ...

APIA, Samoa ---- Majority of Samoa’s ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) 36-member caucus want Minister of Finance, Faumuina Tiatia Liuga, removed from Cabinet.

NEW YORK, USA --- The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the appointment of Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo of Brazil as the next Director-General of ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji’s NGO Coalition on Human Rights has called for the respect for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) Fijians on the ...

NADI, Fiji ---- The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) signed a memorandum of understanding on 14 May 2013.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Solomon Islands tuna industry is growing and the Ministry of Fisheries is committed to enure the country's tuna resources are sustainable, says the Fisheries ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- A 19-year-old Indonesian man is receiving treatment for gunshot wounds after he alleged five PNG military soldiers allegedly opened fire on him and two ...

JAYAPURA, Indonesia --- Four workers have been pulled alive from a tunnel which caved in at a mine in remote eastern Indonesia but police said around 30 were ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- Samoa's opposition is calling for the Minister of Finance to be sacked after revelations he spent $ST600,000 ($318,000) refurbishing his office.

CANBERRA, Australia --- The Australian budget makes cuts to spending in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

YAREN, Nauru --- For the third consecutive week the Nauru Parliament has not been able to undertake any business because it has lacked a quorum.

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji's acting Prime Minister and Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the Pacific Island nation is exercising its sovereign right to decide on a nominee of ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji Airways has been crowned top choice among the amazing six airlines of the Pacific Rim that have made it into top 10 this year ...

MELBOURNE, Australia ----- While Australian and US officials are still given the South Pacific's floral welcomes, it's clear that China is now the region's most valued guest, writes ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- Kava can be used as a natural treatment by those suffering from anxiety.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- India requires the support of small growing countries like Papua New Guinea to further develop its nation and people.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- A two-day Papua New Guinea/Queensland Business Cooperation Group (BCG)meeting gets underway in Port Moresby today.

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa ---- A bank customer in American Samoa is suing the ANZ Bank for over US$150 million in damages from what she claims are bad ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Solomon Island's first female acting police chief, Junita Matanga has denied reports the departure of former Commissioner John Lansley has caused a split in ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- The US Navy has says its strengthening relationship with the Pacific with the visit of the Secretary of Navy to Tonga.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's National Executive Council (NEC) has thrown out a request by six highlands provinces to be exempted from directly electing their Local ...

MELBOURNE, Australia --- Fiji's travel restrictions have led to a delay in the sitting of Tuvalu's Supreme Court.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Almost all of the 22 provinces in the country are preparing for a nationwide ‘Haus Krai or House of Mourning, today aimed at bringing ...

CANBERRA, Australia --- Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Fiji is "diminished" by its refusal to accept Australia's new diplomatic envoy.

A decade of sustained upward trends in the market value of metals found in seabed mineral deposits and considerable advances made in subsea technologies have reignited interest for ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji and other Pacific islands should not worry about its population ageing facing advanced economies, says Australia’s Griffith University Professor Ross Guest.

BEIJING, China --- A delegation of political and media figures from the Pacific Islands paid a visit to the offices of China.org.cn, a Beijing-based multi-language Internet news portal.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu --- Vanuatu Prime Minister Moana Carcasses says he is prepared to have the media in the country deal with the matter regarding journalist Gratien Tiona.

LONDON, England ---- Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have broken through a symbolic mark.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu ---- Ni-Vanuatu students studying in overseas tertiary institutions funded by government have been warned to pass their enrolled courses or face an immediate recall back ...

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti --- The new President of French Polynesia is to be elected at the end of this week.

BUKA, PNG --- The Buka District Court in Bougainville has been issuing more Interim Protection Orders (IPOs) in recent times than previously.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Australia is universally opposed to the death penalty but a decision by the O’Neill-Dion government and Parliament to implement the death penalty in PNG ...

Honiara, May 13 --– Local tuna boat operators targeting albacore in the South Pacific are under threat of being pushed out of operation altogether due to the steady ...

TARAWA, Kiribati ---- The Pacific Plan Review consulted Kiribati stakeholders last week, meeting politicians, senior government officials, the Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Kiribati Association of ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG -- IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Australian government will support Papua New Guinea’s private sector to establish Women in Business ...

SYDNEY, Australia ---- The 2013 Defence White Paper, which defines the Australian government’s strategic military orientation, codifies its unconditional support for the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia. The ...

SUVA, Fiji --- The Fiji/Papua New Guinea Business Council has begun looking at trade logistics between the two countries.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu -- Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Moana Carcasses has sacked the Finance Minister Willie Jimmy amid reports the veteran politician was in talks with the opposition about ...

POHNPEI, FSM --- The opening session of the 18th Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) convened Saturday and reshuffled the leadership of the national legislative body.

CANBERRA, Australia --- The federal government has transferred more Vietnamese asylum seekers to its detention centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

AUCKLAND, NZ --- A baby boy born in Auckland has become the second-in-line to the Tongan throne.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Papua New Guinea's Opposition Leader Belden Namah says he's pleased with his meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji's Elections Ministry will start a campaign from today to encourage people to register in the third round of Electronic Voter Registrations.

PORT MORESBY, PNG -- Australia has agreed to help Papua New Guinea improve its policing as the two close neighbours aim to broaden their relationship to accommodate a ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- Multi Olympic and world discus champion Valerie Adams is the special guest when the Pacific Showcase returns to The Cloud on Saturday February 2.

NEW YORK, USA --- In an increasingly interconnected world where trillions of dollars worth of goods and services are traded annually, the rabidly expanding market for low-carbon and ...

TARAWA, Kiribati --- A new library for the children of Kiribati has opened its doors this week.

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas --- Due to the overwhelming growth in the number of visitors from Russia, the government is now thinking of opening a tourism office there, with ...

APIA, Samoa ---Officials in a Chinese company given a casino licence in Samoa have been accused of corruption.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- New Zealand Government will increase the number of trades training places for Maori and Pasifika trades from 600 to 3,000 places, spending NZD$43 million ...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu --- The Vanuatu Police Commission (VPC) has promoted and appointed two Deputy Police Commissioners.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Acting Commissioner of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF), Junita Matanga has denied reports in media that the departure of former Commissioner John ...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands ---— On an atoll in the western Pacific that most people have never heard of, trees are falling into the lagoon, roads are washing out, ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Immigration New Zealand is rejecting claims it has breached the rights of overstayers to legal advice before being deported.

YAREN, Nauru --- As a poltical stalemate continues on Nauru there are reports from the island that the President is considering declaring a state of emergency.

PORT MORESBY, PNG -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard will not visit the Manus Island processing centre during her visit to Papua New Guinea this week, but the ...

CAIRNS, Australia --An alleged crime boss wanted in Papua New Guinea over the theft of AUD$30 million has used a 457 visa issued by the Australian government to ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Prime Minister Julia Gillard has paid tribute to Australia and Papua New Guinea's (PNG) abiding friendship, as she highlighted some significant challenges during her ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG -- The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) will soon be engaged with the Fiji Military Forces in overseas peacekeeping operations and training programs.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- An officer from Israeli Agri industry company, the LR Group is in Milne Bay province on a fact finding mission.

PAPE'ETE, French Polynesia --- A senior member of the incoming French Polynesian assembly majority says there will be large public housing projects amid efforts to revive the economy.

WELLINGTON, NZ -- Boeing is ahead of schedule in reaching what Air New Zealand says is a major milestone in building the airline's 787-9 Dreamliner.

WELLINGTON, NZ -- Global warming might be killing off many species of coral as the world's oceans acidify, but the future for biodiversity in coral reefs might not ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Disaster management officials in Solomon Islands are welcoming the opportunity to test new tsunami warning products tomorrow as part of a region-wide drill called ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- An Australian study will examine why Papua New Guinea mothers are 80 times more likely to die in childbirth than mothers in Australia.

PORT MORESBY, PNG-- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has announced that a special meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) approved callout and immediate deployment of ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG (POST COURIER) --- Mobile phones can be deadly like what happened in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands province, when a young woman was brutally mutilated and ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The conviction of a Solomon Islands MP for misusing public funds is seen as sending a strong message to other members of parliament

CANBERAA, Australia --- Australian Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop says Labor hasn't focused as much on Papua New Guinea as it should have.

CANBERRA, Australia --- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she wants to modernise Australia's relationship with Papua New Guinea during a visit to Port Moresby.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu -- The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation says there is only one member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group left to lobby over its membership ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The efforts of staff and EMTV newsroom team in the last few months had paid off with a successful transition into a program.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Solomon Islands need to strengthen its internal mechanism to closely monitor the flow of foreign investment into the country.

SYDNEY, Australia ---- The Cook Islands Tourism Roadshow showcased a growing destination that is committed to developing opportunities for its “most important market” - Australia.

NADI, Fiji ---- Investment officials sounded a bit sceptical of using social media as a promotional tool after they were given a snapshot on the final day of ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- With growing public debate over the delay, and the subsequent unofficial release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) report in Solomon Islands, local ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG--- Health training institutions need manpower and resources to provide quality training to midwives, president of the PNG Midwifery Society, Dr Nancy Buasi, says.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Solomon Islands foreign office is working on arrangements to return the two I-Kiribati fishermen who drifted to the Solomon Islands after surviving the ocean ...

AHAU, Rotuma--- Fiji’s furthest flung island Rotuma is poised to start exporting food and water to Tuvalu and other countries in the northern Pacific.

NATADOLA, Fiji --- Papua New Guinea's Minister for Finance James Marape Tuesday urged members of the G77 and China to work together to achieve their development goals.

GENEVA, Switzerland --- Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo has won the race to become the next head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the first candidate from the BRIC club ...

Samoa has become the first Forum Island Country to ratify the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) Trade in Services (TIS) Protocol.

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti --- The leader of French Polynesia’s Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party, Gaston Flosse, says he will try to stop the decolonisation bid at the UN in New York ...

YAREN, Nauru --- The Parliament of Nauru still lacks enough members attending the sittings to enable a continuation of parliamentary business notably the second dissolution advice made by ...

NATADOLA, Fiji --- Fiji’s chairmanship of the largest voting bloc within the United Nations, the G77, was commended today by the Solomon Islands.

NATADOLA, Fiji --- The effects of climate change, poverty, resource depletion and gender equality dominated the first session of talks at the Group of 77 countries High Level ...

NATADOLA, Fiji --- Kiribati has expressed its desire to take up membership of the G77 to strengthen its position on the global stage.

PORT MORESBY, PNG -- The international aid agency Oxfam says the flooding situation in Papua New Guinea's East Sepik province has now reached crisis point.

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands --- A Cook Islands MP who wants the country's party hopping law declared unconstitutional will have his case heard in July.

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti --- The leader of French Polynesia’s Union For Democracy says it lost yesterday’s territorial election because of the economic crisis.

SUVA, Fiji -- The Under-Secretary of the United Nations Dr Babatunde Osotimehin says the UN is positive about Fiji’s elections in 2014

MAJURO, Marshall Islands -- A state of disaster has now been declared in the Marshall Islands as a prolonged severe drought in the far north islands worsens, putting ...

NATADOLA, Fiji -- Fiji's Prime Minister and current chair of the Group of 77 Frank Bainimarama has spoken about the need to change the development system of the ...

GENEVA, Switzerland ---- Recognising that all of us have the obligation to do our part to combat climate change, organisers of the 4th United Nations Global Conference for ...

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti --- The deputy leader of French Polynesia’a Tahoeraa Huiraatira says the party’s success in the territorial election is in part due the weak performance of the ...

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa --- American Samoan Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga spoke briefly about the territory’s “political status” with the United States at last week’s cabinet meeting saying ...

CANBERRA, Australia --- The Australian Government has announced it will provide $US100,000 for the emergency supply of desalination units in Marshall Islands as the country struggles with an ...

NATADOLA, Fiji --- Fiji’s Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama urged representatives from 15 countries gathered at the Group of 77 meeting currently underway in Natadola to work together ...

NADI, Fiji --- The South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) hopes a two day capacity building workshop in Nadi, Fiji will help investment promotion agencies and investment units contribute ...

HONOLULU, Hawaii --- A group of Hawaii fishermen is asking the federal government to remove northern Pacific humpback whales from the endangered species list, saying the population has ...

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti --- French Polynesia is expecting the results of an election for a new 57-member assembly.

SUVA, Fiji -- Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama Monday received his Vanuatu counterpart, Prime Minister Moana Kalosil Carcasses.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's National Executive Council (NEC) has revoked the appointment of Lucy Bogari as acting secretary for Foreign Affairs and appointed William Dihm ...

SUVA, Fiji --- No dates have been finalised on when Fiji will go to the polls next year.

NEW YORK, USA ---Delegates from more than 160 countries have agreed on a set of climate change policy measures as part of an ongoing United Nations-led effort to ...

POHNPHEI, FSM --- The FSM Office of Statistics, Budget and Economic Management, Overseas Development Assistance and Compact Management transmitted the Compact Trust Fund Committee’s recently released fiscal year ...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands --- The government power utility in the Marshall Islands has launched an aggressive campaign against illegal power use in the nation’s capital.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu ---- A Vanuatu opposition MP, Charlot Salwai says the government’s decision to fire the Reserve Bank Governor should be reversed or it will cost the ...

SYDNEY, Australian --- Pre-European history could be taught at some Pacific universities for the first time ever if plans devised by local history academics come to pass.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The Papua New Guinea prime minister wants a reduction in the mountain of paperwork his people face when they try to visit Australia.

SUVA, Fiji --- The Fiji Transnational Crime Unit will start monitoring the movement of Chinese immigrants in the country, its leader, Savenaca Tuivaga said.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- Australia wants to further ramp up military cooperation with New Zealand in the South Pacific as problems compound across the island states.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- New Zealand Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman has returned from an inaugural meeting of South Pacific Defence ministers, a new regional grouping driven by Australia.

SUVA, Fiji --- The G77 high-level panel meeting which commences in Fiji on Tuesday will discuss creative ways in which the 132 developing countries can engage and cooperate.

SUVA, Fiji --- Former Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare says the Solomon Islands is satisfied that Fiji is on the right track to democracy.

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji’s Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama hopes to have a new constitution by June.

YAREN, Nauru ---- The president of Nauru is considering legal action to force the speaker of parliament to dissolve the institution and allow the country to go to ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard will visit Papua New Guinea, a PNG government source told The National newspaper.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Senior officials from Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have concluded the 3rd round of bilateral negotiations on the Investment Promotion Protection Agreement (IPPA) ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOS) came away delighted from initial contact and discussions with the visiting Melanesian Spearhead Group Eminent Persons Group in Suva Wednesday.

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji's Registrar for Political Parties, Mohammed Saneem, announced today that the National Federation Party (NFP), the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) and the Social Democratic Liberal ...

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga --- Military representatives from Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, France, Chile and Tonga are holding a meeting to discuss defence and security in the South ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's Attorney General and Justice Minister Kerenga Kua has told Indonesia that an extradition treaty should be ready for signing next month.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- It’s been claimed in Solomon Islands that its Prime Minister, Gordon Darcy Lilo acted unlawfully when he delayed the release of the controversial Truth ...

HAGATNA, Guam --- With food waste on Guam totaling nearly 17,000 tons a year, capturing and converting 100 percent of this into livestock feed, and utilizing the funds ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Solomon Islands and Australia have agreed to enhance their relationship for development at today's partnership talks in Honiara.

PAPEETE, Tahiti --- Campaigning is nearing its end in French Polynesia for this weekend’s second round of the territorial election.

BONN, Germany --- Fiji's permanent secretary for foreign affairs, Amena Yauvoli has chaired the first meeting of the Group of 77 and China at the climate change intersessional ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The women of Papua New Guinea will take to the streets in two weeks time to voice their anger and frustration at the lack ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji’s Attorney General and Minister for Election Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the focus is now on the compilation of the country’s new constitution.

SUVA, Fiji --- The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) vision should be geared towards securing a healthy, wealthy and prosperous region, says Papua New Guinea High Commissioner to Fiji, ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Solomon Islands Commissioner of Inland Revenue Mark Bell has announced the launch of Inland Revenue’s Tax Compliance Focus for 2013 to 2015.

JAYAPURA, Indonesia --- There are reports from Indonesia’s Papua that at least two demonstrators were killed by security forces in one of a number of rallies across the ...

NEW DELHI, India --- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) have today signed two loans that will help boost electricity access rates ...

BANGKOK, Thailand --- Thailand is trying to build business links and trade pacts with Pacific Island nations to feed its growing industrial sector with raw materials and energy.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The Catholic Church strongly opposes the death penalty and prefers life imprisonment as an alternative punishment for perpetrators of serious crimes.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's National Executive Council (NEC) yesterday approved a legislative action plan to address rising community concerns about high levels of violent crimes ...

PARIS, France --- Vijay Singh has been cleared of doping by the PGA Tour despite admitting using a banned substance.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- Until Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird's outburst against Sri Lanka's "appalling" record on human rights and democratic accountability last week, it's a fair bet ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Fijian company Flour Mills Fiji (FMF) Ltd is looking at increasing the size of its products in the PNG market after the two governments ...

MELBOURNE, Australia ---- The Rio-Tinto mine that sparked the civil war on Papua New Guinea's island of Bougainville is economically viable and could be re-opened in as little ...

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas --- The agency that controls airports in the Northern Marianas says it is worried about how increased military activity on the island of Tinian could ...

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga --- The Tonga Defense Services and the New Zealand Defense Force have strengthened their relationship today with the signing of a treaty agreement between Prime Minister, ...

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga --- The Tonga Defense Services and the New Zealand Defense Force have strengthened their relationship today with the signing of a treaty agreement between Prime Minister, ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- Apathy from Pacific Island media in New Zealand could see the end of an organisation formed to support them.

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas ---- The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas health centre is in need of 13 doctors.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has expressed concern over threats by Hela Governor Anderson Agiru to stall the PNG LNG project over claims of unresolved ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has expressed concern over threats by Hela Governor Anderson Agiru to stall the PNG LNG project over claims of unresolved ...

NEW YORK, USA --- A G77 High-level Panel of Eminent Personalities will convene in Natadola, Fiji, on 7-9 May 2013 to discuss what additional measures should be adopted ...

YAREN, Nauru --- A Nauru MP allied with the President Sprent Dabwido says the new Speaker, Godfrey Thoma, is acting unconstitutionally in not dissolving Parliament.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has declared war on the escalating law and order situation which in recent weeks had brought great ...

APIA, Samoa --- Development of community-based milkfish farming in Tonga will be given a boost through a project under the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme.

SYDNEY, Australia --- In September 2012 a 36 year old man from the nation of Kiribati applied for refugee status with the government of New Zealand to avoid ...

MISSOURI, USA --- Micronesians have come to the United States in larger numbers since 1986. Most settle in nearby Pacific islands, like Guam or Hawaii. But a few ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Solomon Airlines has advised that it’s Airbus aircraft, H4-BUS will be ferried to Manila again to undergo maintenance, which was scheduled to start last ...

BONN, Germany ---- The latest round of climate talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), kicked off in Bonn on Monday, against a background of ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia --- New Caledonia President Harold Martin, who has just returned from France, met this week with the Pacific Plan Review team to share his views ...

ABU DHABI, UAE ---- Tonga has been re-elected for a second term as member of the International Renewable Energy Agency Council (IRENA).

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The chief executive of the group, Forum Solomon Islands International, is asking who will be liable for the consequences of the leaking of a ...

MELBOURNE, Australia --- A federal Labor backbencher has broken ranks and called for Australia to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka later this ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The Papua New Guinea Government has declared Sandaun or West Sepik province “a disease area” following the detection of the contagious Newcastle bird disease ...

It’s no mean task to address the collective Pacific Islands’ $1billion trade imbalance with New Zealand.

GENEVA, Switzerland --- There are just two weeks to go before 3,000 people arrive in Geneva to attend the largest-ever event staged by the United Nations to discuss ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- A recent gathering of leaders from around the region at New Zealand’s parliament has drawn attention to the idea of a regional parliament in ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- After ten years of working towards peace and reconciliation in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, following a five-year civil conflict known as ...

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga --- Tonga's first small wind turbine project is expected to start operation in mid-May at Nakolo village, in a Tonga Power Ltd project that aims to ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- British and United States coastguard officials have organised a search for a British man who fell off a yacht in the north Pacific.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The Papua New Guinea Government is studying a report into the current boycott of classes at the University of Natural Resource and Environment, Popondetta ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's Community Development Minister Loujaya Toni has come under stinging criticism over her suggestions to allow low risk prisoners to have sex ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The Chairman of the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Father Sam Ata says the public release of the Truth and Reconciliation Final ...

CANBERRA, Australia --- A doctor who worked at the Manus Island detention centre has said the experience made him ''ashamed to be an Australian''.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's deputy Opposition Leader Sam Basil says the nation is attracting bad publicity around the world over its lack of interest in ...

TOKYO, Japan --- Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe has presided over a ceremony marking a new national day he says he hopes will restore Japanese national pride.

SUVA, Fiji ---- The prospects for Fiji Fashion Week in 2013 are in serious doubt because of a lack of support from sponsors even after financial contribution from ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The AusAID Director General, Peter Baxter will visit Honiara next week for the annual Solomon Islands-Australia Partnership for Development Talks.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Landowners of the Panguna Mine in Central Bougainville have reaffirmed their stand that they want the mine to be reopened.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Taiwan has pledged to introduce new crop varieties and seed production to Solomon Islands.

BANGKOK, Thailand --- Thailand’s leading energy explorer is considering an investment plan in Papua New Guinea although the company has conceded that more time is needed before a ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The Solomon Islands and regional media family today mourns the sudden death of the national broadcaster's news editor, Walter nalangu.

MELBOURNE, Australia --- A maritime conservation group is calling on all Pacific countries to ban shark fishing, several days after New Caledonia announced it's outlawing the practice.

BRISBANE, Australia --- The last possessions of a fake Tahitian prince jailed for stealing more than $16 million from Queensland Health have gone under the hammer.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Giving low risk prisoners access to their wives will enable them to release their sexual frustrations and decrease Papua New Guinea’s sex crimes, says ...

PAPEETE, Tahiti --- The leader of French Polynesia’s Porinetia Ora party has urged his backers to support the Tahoeraa Huiraatira of Gaston Flosse in next week’s run-off election ...

LONDON, England ---- Documents released for public view show that Britain’s foreign minister was advised to evacuate people from Kiribati and Tuvalu in the last years of the ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- The much awaited report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in Solomon Islands has been released unofficially by the editor of the report, ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- A national day of mourning, a haus krai (house of mourning), will be held on May 15 to highlight the violence and suffering of ...

MSC certification has landed Fiji Albacore Tuna on the European stage: In a world-first, international seafood supplier Anova Seafood brings the first MSC labeled tuna from Fiji to ...

MANILA, Philippines ---- Takehiko Nakao has been unanimously elected President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) by its Board of Governors.

LONDON, England --- It's now 10 years since forces led by the United States invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam Hussein. The reason for the invasion was made clear: ...

BRUSSELS, Belgium ---- Speaking at the European Tuna conference in Brussels, Maurice Brownjohn, announced that the PNA had been awarded MSC Chain of Custody certification for the PNA ...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands --- Cooks Islands pensioners are pitting themselves against the government over tax laws surrounding their collection of New Zealand superannuation.

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa --- The Lolo Administration in American Samoa is “exploring” all options to bring down airfares for travel between Honolulu and Pago Pago.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- South Pacific SP) Brewery New look Niugini Ice beer launched recently will hit the shelves of bottle shops, canteens to black market soon.

APIA, Samoa ---- A direct funding agreement for over 15 million tala ($A6.75m) for post-Cylone Evan support was signed between Governments of Samoa and Australia in Apia this ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser's bid to head the World Trade Organisation has failed.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The resource rich province of Hela in Papua New Guinea is sitting on a time bomb unless the National Government intervenes and takes immediate ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The resource rich province of Hela in Papua New Guinea is sitting on a time bomb unless the National Government intervenes and takes immediate ...

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas --- During then-Governor Benigno Fitial’s seven-year administration, he and his wife spent US$368,178 on travel and expenses based on the Department of Finance’s official calculation ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- Thousands marched through the gates of the Auckland Domain and to the cenotaph outside the city's museum today - lit up in the colour ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea Treasurer, Don Polye says it's a shame for the country not to have used allocated funds from the World Bank for ...

PAPEETE, Tahiti --- The three French Polynesian parties qualified for next month’s run-off in the territorial election say they have retained the same candidates for the May 05 ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia --- The government of New Caledonia said Wednesday it had decided to ban fishing of sharks, which are being decimated to feed growing demand for ...

APIA, Samoa --- Police in Samoa have arrested a businessman for the importation of methamphetamine after the discovery of the drugs in a large container from the United ...

SYDNEY, Australia --- An Australian lawyer acting for 10 asylum seekers charged with rioting at the Nauru detention centre has challenged the legality of their detention in the ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Students from Papua New Guinea's University of Natural Resources and Environment's Popondetta campus will continue to boycott classes despite a notice from the administration ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- United States says it's concerned with the high incidence of gender base violence in Papua New Guinea.

MELBOURNE, Australia --- A strong magnitude 6.4 earthquake has hit Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, but no tsunami warning has been issued and there have been no immediate ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have given the thumbs up to Papua New Guinea as one of the emerging market economies ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- Tongan Parliamentarians watched and listened attentively during a visit to an apple business in New Zealand’s Wairarapa.

BRISBANE, Australia --- An Australian navy commander and his male partner sexually abused four boys on a tiny Pacific Ocean island nation 16 years ago, a court has ...

APIA, Samoa --- The president of the Samoa Fa’afafine Association, So’oalo Roger Stanley, says Samoa won’t adopt a law approving same-sex marriage.

SYDNEY, Australia -- Greenpeace activists have reportedly boarded a coal ship leaving Australia as part of a protest demanding an end to the expansion of coal exports that ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- Tonga’s 28 year old Speaker, Lord Fakafanua supports gender equality and believes “there is a need for more women representation in Parliament”. b

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Australian Governor General Quentin Bryce has laid a flower at the grave of the first Australian fighter killed in World War I during her ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Twenty more foreigners have been apprehended by the Papua New Guinea Immigration Task Force Team as operation “O Rise” continues in Lae city.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The Autonomous Region of Bougainville stands ready to become an independent state. That has been obvious since the day the PNG Parliament approved the ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ---- Returning to the burial place of New Zealand soldiers in the Pacific will be especially poignant for Rob McLean who lost three friends there.

NADI, Fiji --- U.S Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu Frankie Reed opened a three-day regional workshop today on combating human trafficking and child sex tourism.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ----- The government minister behind major land reform in Vanuatu says the country’s indigenous peoples must retain title over their customary lands, and the displacement ...

MELBOURNE, Australia ---- Australian biosecurity officials say they are closely monitoring a new bird flu outbreak in China, but remain alert and not alarmed.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia ---- Malaysia is in the grip of its closest election campaign in the 56 years since independence. The poll must be held by the end ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Solomon Islands National Referral Hospital (NRH) is running out of blood and is urging the public to donate voluntarily to cater for the demand ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Bougainville is yet to show it can generate its own revenue before becoming independent, president John Momis says.

SUVA, Fiji --- The proposed Fiji Labour Party has been given more time to respond to impersonation allegations by some of their field officers.

PAPEETE, Tahiti --- Political parties in French Polynesia are analysing the results of yesterday’s first round of the territorial election as they have less than two days to ...

YAREN, Nauru --- The fractious Nauru parliament met briefly this morning but could not consider any business because a new Speaker was not elected.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---- Rising sea levels, falling fish stocks and more extreme storms have proven destructive and deadly, Pacific leaders told a Wellington forum at the weekend.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- An international agency that monitors government corruption says the Solomon Islands Government is behaving irresponsibly with its budget.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ---- Fewer New Zealanders are leaving for Australia, with 1200 more arrivals from all countries than long-term departures in March.

TOKYO, Japan ---- Japan has been accepted into a proposed Pacific regional free trade bloc.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Investment opportunities in Papua New Guinea was the flavour of the week at the various business-related conferences in Port Moresby but deteriorating infrastructure continues ...

Minerals, such as rare earth metals, are increasingly becoming an important commodity in a resource-constrained world economy. As a result new frontiers both onshore and offshore, to the ...

Minerals, such as rare earth metals, are increasingly becoming an important commodity in a resource-constrained world economy. As a result new frontiers both onshore and offshore, to the ...

HAGTNA, Guam ---- The estimated $85.4 billion in federal budget cuts this fiscal year translates to about an $85 million drop in cash flow for Guam, but the ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Solomon Islands is keen to bolster its relationship with Great Britain after 35 years of Independence.

DARWIN, Australia ---- The United States Ambassador to Australia has greeted the second rotation of Marines that flew into Darwin last night for a six-month deployment.

NOUMEA, New Caledonia ---- A minor explosion has occurred at New Caledonia’s new Koniambo nickel plant as the first quantity of nickel was being produced.

LONDON, England ---- A collection of threatened coral and clams has found a new home in Hull after being confiscated by the UK Border Agency.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- People in Honiara have been encouraged to join in the upcoming celebrations marking the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Silver Jubilee in Honiara.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce will visit Papua New Guinea this week to participate in various ANZAC Day celebrations.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- A Papua New Guinea court has jailed a man for 30 years for killing his aunt he accused of practising sorcery.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ---- A Samoan cabinet minister has called on New Zealand to make it easier for Pacific people to migrate to the country, but Deputy Prime ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- More police reinforcements including Correctional Service officers are being sent to Karkar Island in Madang to help catch suspects involved in last week's sexual ...

NEW YORK, USA --- Growth in Asia-Pacific remains subdued due to the impact of persistent weaknesses and uncertainties in the developed economies, the United Nations reported today, urging ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- New Zealand High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Mark Ramsden and Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)Director General, James Movick have signed an agreement worth ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand --- A New Zealand judge has found Pike River Coal Limited guilty on all nine health and safety charges laid over the 2010 mine disaster ...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu --- Air Vanuatu’s deputy chief executive Officer Jean Paul Virelala has been dismissed for gross misconduct.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The Solomon Islands Government says it hopes to have tough new anti-tobacco laws in place by the end of May to coincide with World ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The Government of Papua New Guinea has opened its investment doors to Fiji.

SHEPPARTON, Australia --- A group of 14 suspected illegal farm workers has been detained after a raid near Shepparton in Victoria.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The chairman of Solomon Islands Parliamentary Entitlements Commission, Johnson Siapu says the increase in entitlements of Members of Parliament is the result of careful ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---- The New Zealand Opposition Labour Party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Phil Goff, says there would be real benefits from a Pacific parliament.

LONDON, England --- Declassified secret documents show how Britain and France were prepared to land military forces in Vanuatu in 1975 to prevent ethnic unrest.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Papua New Guinea's grant of more than $A20 million for Fiji to hold democratic elections is in line with an agreed regional approach to ...

MELBOURNE, Australia ---- Australian gay couples are planning to cross the Tasman to wed after New Zealand's parliament voted to legalise same-sex marriage.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Anti-corruption Network Solomon Islands has called on the parliamentary Entitlements Commission to immediately revoke the huge increase in entitlements for members of parliament.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- All firearms stolen from the police registry headquarters in Port Moresby early Monday morning have been recovered.

BEIJING, China ----China's defense ministry made a thinly veiled attack on the United States on Tuesday for increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific by ramping up its military presence ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says he is angered by the murder of an Australian tourist in Mt Hagen.

SUVA, Fiji --- A former prime minister of Fiji, Mahendra Chaudhry, says the regime’s draft constitution should be to put to a referendum.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---Vodafone Fiji will take over management of PNG mobile phone carrier BeMobile, as the nations' leaders announced closer economic ties.

SUVA, Fiji ---- Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O’ Neill has Tuesday announced that PNG will provide K50million (FJD$40.36million) to assist Fiji prepare for elections in 2014.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Fiji has been offered the top post of Director-General in the Pacific group of African, Caribbean Pacific group of States (PACP) Secretariat.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- An Australian politician is spearheading efforts to get a dying Solomon Islands girl to Australia for urgent hospital treatment.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Aids transmission through rape can be prevented if victims are taken straight to the family support centre at the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- The Papua New Guinea Opposition has welcomed the Prime Minister’s determination to fast-track the passing of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Bill and ...

NADI, Fiji ---Fiji's President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau opened a regional consultation on HIV and AIDS in Nadi today.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---Fiji and Papua New Guinea have agreed to hold annual or biennial meetings on bilateral issues.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---The government of Papua New Guinea will continue to push for Fiji’s memberships in all organisations.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu --- A dormant plan to only allow ni-Vanuatu to operate retail and wholesale businesses in Vanuatu is to be implemented by the new government as ...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands ---- The Cook Islands Ministry of Marine Resources is planning to introduce a self-imposed total allowable catch on tuna caught from longline fishing after the ...

NEW YORK, USA ----A United Nations nutrition report released today shows that progress has been made in recent years in addressing stunting in children, and calls for increased ...

ROME, Italy ---With climate change affecting agricultural productivity and growing populations demanding more food, it will be crucial for countries to preserve and share genetic resources to ensure ...

NEW DELHI, India ---Primary production and processing in such sectors as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining, oil and gas exploration and utilities cost the world economy $7.3 trillion a ...

SUVA, Fiji --- A professor from University of Hawaii believes Fijians have an opportunity to recognize the potential contributions that movie-making can make to the economy.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, has told Australian business leaders he is determined to transform his country's economy.

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu ---Pay television subscribers in Tuvalu will have to pay almost five times more to continue receiving prime television programmes after Sky Pacific decided to shift its ...

PYONGYANG, North Korea --- North Korea is celebrating the 101st anniversary of its founder's birth with no signs of tension easing on the peninsula after it rejected talks ...

NORFOLK ISLANDS --- The chief minister of Norfolk Island, Lisle Snell, says the community wants assurances from Canberra there will be more clarity in changes to the way ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guineans have allowed imported processed foods to dominate their diets with serious consequences, especially of obesity and increasing rates and fatalities from ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---World Vision CEO Tim Costello is calling for more young Australians to visit Papua New Guinea to improve relations between the two countries.

SANTA CRUZ, USA -- New computer modeling indicates low-lying Pacific Islands may be underwater sooner than expected, the U.S. Geological Survey finds.

CANBERRA, Australia ---Australia's immigration department says its asylum seeker processing centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island is cramped, lacks proper amenities and needs an urgent upgrade.

SUVA, Fiji --- The Fiji government says the draft constitution, written by the Yash Ghai led Constitution Commission, did not capture the views of the majority of people ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---Reaffirming the strong relations between Fiji and Papua New Guinea is the expected outcome this week as Fijian Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama led a ...

Honiara, Solomon Islands—Global UK-based telecommunications giant Vodafone will inch closer to its market ambitions in the motherlode of the Pacific mobile and data market with a historic deal ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia ---The South Pacific Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) commits to partnership with Pacific Disability Forum.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ---Pacific women are amongst the 600 women dying of breast cancer in New Zealand every year, where early detection is the best protection.

BRUSSELS, Belgium --- The 3rd Meeting of ACP Ministers of Education was opened last Wednesday, 10th April 2013 at the ACP House in Brussels under the theme “Reflecting ...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu ---- The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat Eminent Persons Group (EPG) was convened in Port Vila, Vanuatu from 10-12 April 2013 for a briefing before ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- The Solomon Islands Government is encouraging both local and foreign companies doing business under the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Trade Agreement to showcase their ...

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga ---- Tonga's Fisheries Sector is to be exempted from the 15 percent Consumption Tax on sales, the Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano told a gathering in Nuku'alofa.

TOKYO, Japan --- The United States and Japan have opened the door to new nuclear talks with North Korea if the saber-rattling country lowered tensions and honoured past ...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu ---A New Zealand businessman in Vanuatu has been caught up in an international custody battle over two children who he claims his Japanese wife has ...

YAREN, Nauru --- Nauru’s president Sprent Dabwido has withdrawn his notice, which he submitted to the speaker of Parliament on the 1st of March, advising that parliament be ...

SUVA, Fiji ---Ministers from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) expressed concern about the Fiji government’s recent actions Friday and stressed elections scheduled to be held next year must ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- The deadline for submissions on Fiji's draft constitution has been extended by four days.

Pay television subscribers in Tuvalu will have to pay almost five times more to continue receiving prime television programmes after Sky Pacific decided to shift its transmission satellite.

CANBERRA, Australia --- The Advisory Board of the Australian Government's ten year initiative to improve the conditions of women across the Pacific has held its first meeting in ...

APIA, Samoa --- Samoa’s Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, says Pacific island countries can do more with less, by making better use of new ideas.

NOUMEA, New Caledonia --- New Caledonia’s huge Koniambo nickel plant has been fired up to produce its first metal.

NOUMEA, New Caledonia --- New Caledonia’s huge Koniambo nickel plant has been fired up to produce its first metal.

CANBERRA, Australia ---Australia should embrace the Pacific Island nations in a regional economic structure based loosely on the European Union, says former Defence chief Peter Cosgrove.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Solomon Islands Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo has withdrawn the Prime Minister's Pension and Benefits bill 2013 on the floor of parliament.

NEW YORK, USA ---The State of Kuwait and the Republic of Nauru have established bilateral diplomatic relations with aim of promoting the friendship and mutual cooperation between the ...

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga ---Two Tongan policemen and a prisoner have been committed to Supreme Court trial over the manslaughter of New Zealand police officer Kali Fungavaka last year, the ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --A new report on human trafficking in PNG has found adults and children are being pushed into sexual exploitation, forced labour and domestic servitude.

SUVA, Fiji ----Representatives of the group known as the United Front for a Democratic Fiji has proposed for the reinstatement of the Yash Ghai Commission’s draft constitution.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's cabinet has rejected a proposal by the nation's registrar of political parties that would force small parliamentary parties to amalgamate with ...

SUVA, Fiji -- Fiji’s Electoral Commission will be set up once the new Constitution is in place.

HONG KONG, China --- Rising private consumption and stronger intraregional trade will spur a pickup in growth in developing Asia in 2013 and 2014, as economic activity in ...

MANILA, Philippines --- Growth in several of the smaller Pacific island economies is expected to accelerate in 2013 and 2014, despite softening growth in the Pacific region as ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Solomon Islands Ministry of Culture and Tourism has launched its 'Measuring Tourism in the Solomon Islands' project.

NELSON, New Zealand --- Pacific Island workers are fast becoming the glue keeping the region's pipfruit harvest together. And some growers want to see the number of Recognised ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji's official tourism body is boycotting an event aimed at luring Australians to the Pacific, claiming it may instead encourage holidaymakers away from Fiji.

PORT MORESBY, PNG -- Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea Deborah Stokes says there is a special relationship between both countries, despite growing Asian influence in PNG.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Political parties, which win less than five seats following a general election, will be required to amalgamate with larger parties under revised laws presented ...

SUVA, Fiji ---A new report on Fiji's inter-ethnic relations says decrees and constitutional clauses for equality are not enough to force change in the country.

HAGATNA, Guam ---- Almost 100 U.S army personnel will deploy to Guam in coming weeks as the Pentagon moves one of its missile defense systems designed to knock ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---- Concerns that move to ban psychoactive substances may affect cultural ceremonies.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---- New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully will this week chair the first meeting of Pacific leaders on Fiji since the Fijian military-led government ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG--- All paper banknotes in circulation in the country will be withdrawn by the Bank of PNG by June 2013, after which they will not be ...

SUVA, Fiji ---At church, at the dinner table, at work or at school, we are surrounded by HIV prevention messages, and many of us have heard the common ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG----Bank of PNG deputy governor Benny Popoitai is confident that the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) will be up and running before first LNG exports next year.

WELLINGTON, NZ---More asylum seekers disillusioned with Australia will target New Zealand, experts say, after refugees which landed there claimed they were bound for our shores.

CANBERRA, Australia --- A West Papuan man convicted of killing his de facto wife while on a protection visa has been given another chance to stay in Australia.

SEOUL, South Korea--- South Korea has raised its surveillance of North Korea after the reclusive state moved one or more long-range missiles in readiness for a possible launch, ...

SUVA, Fiji--- Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama has defended his government’s position on the transfer of land in Momi.

SUVA, Fiji ---- Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama refutes claims that the draft Constitution gives too much power to the next Prime Minister.

APIA, Samoa ---- Pacific Agriculture Ministers meet in Apia, Samoa this week to discuss a five year programme for farming and fisheries.

NOUMEA, New Caledonia---- The integration of women with disabilities in the 2015 development agenda is weak in the Pacific region says Ms Bridget Leduc, Gender Advisor of the ...

BEIJING, China ---- Prime Minister Julia Gillard has personally driven negotiations to secure an unprecedented agreement with China to hold an annual round of formal leaders discussions.

YALE, USA ---- Terrestrial species on low-lying islands and coastal regions are vulnerable to sea level rise due to climate-change, the most vulnerable species being endemics with limited ...

SUVA, Nadi---- Papaya export to Australia has been reopened. And Fiji is expected to send around two tonnes of papaya worth $24,000 a week to Australia from this ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands--- Solomon Island Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo has paid tribute to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who died on Monday describing her as the ...

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga ---- Thousands have expressed outrage on social media this week after a video emerged showing teenage students in Tonga being beaten with a four-foot stick.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- The proposed peaceful demonstration by the Solomon Islands National Teacher’s Association (SINTA) has been postponed following a meeting with the Commissioner of Police in ...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands ---- The Marshall Islands continues to struggle in its effort to reduce high rates of tuberculosis and Hansen’s Disease.

PYONGYANG, North Korea --- North Korea threatened “thermo-nuclear war” on Tuesday as it warned foreigners to leave South Korea to avoid harm in the event of war.

MELBOURNE, Australia --- Big four bank ANZ has this morning pledged to lend AUD$1 billion to new businesses over the next year.

BUKA, Bougainville --- Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) announced yesterday that it is ready to re-open the Panguna mine in Bougainville at its annual general meeting (AGM).

AUCKLAND, NZ--- School board of trustee elections are on the horizon and Pacific Island parents are being encouraged to get in the running.

TOKYO, Japan -- The United States and Japan on Friday announced plans for basing troops in Okinawa that will result in Marines from there being moved to Hawaii ...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands --- Authorities in the Cook Islands say the country’s regulatory framework for offshore trusts is better than in most places in the world.

ISTANBUL, Turkey---- Fiji’s Minister for Fisheries and Forests Inia Seruiratu this week delivered a statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China at the tenth session ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Special Secretary to the Solomon Islands Prime Minister Dr Philip Tagini says the National Coalition for Reform and Advancement (NCRA) vows to end political ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---– The Australian Federal Police (AFP) will continue to support the PNG police, AFP assistant commissioner Mandy Newton says.

PORT MORESBY, PNG---- The killing of two women suspected of sorcery in South Bougainville last week has triggered more support for the death penalty to be implemented in ...

SUVA, Fiji --- The provision of effective care for women in need of maternal health services was boosted this week with the handing over of emergency obstetric care ...

SEOUL, Korea --- After a series of escalating threats, North Korea has moved a missile with “considerable range” to its east coast, South Korea's defence minister says.

SUVA, Fiji ---- National observers will now have a clear guideline on the monitoring, control and surveillance of licensed long line fishing boats in Fiji.

SINGAPORE, Singapore --- Moody's Investors Service says that the Fijian government's B1 foreign currency and local currency bond ratings reflect Moody's methodological assessment of its low level of ...

CANBERRA, Australia --- Australian Government advisor and refugee expert Paris Aristotle says the Manus Island processing centre should be shut down if the recommended safeguards cannot be put ...

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas --- The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)has a contingency plan in case North Korea attacks the Marianas region and war breaks out on the ...

MELBOURNE, Australia --- An Australian expatriate has pleaded guilty to trying to illegally export components used in the manufacture of ammunition into Papua New Guinea.

SUVA, Fiji ---- Fiji's draft Constitution has a lot of mechanisms to prevent future coups in Fiji, says Attorney General and Minister for Elections, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

SYDNEY, Australia ---- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday demanded that Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama keep his pledge to hold free and fair elections next year.

SUVA, Fiji --- Accountability and Transparency Commission will be set up by the Fiji government in the next three months.

The Commerce Commission of Fiji (CCOF) is charged with fostering competition in the Fiji economy and discouraging non-competitive behaviour or the abuse of "substantial market power".

At least 3000 people will be descending on Samoa’s shores next year, and the sheer number makes it the biggest ever conference that will be hosted in this ...

CHICAGO, USA ---Nineteenth Century tools made from sharks' teeth suggest that two species of shark used to populate the Central Pacific but are no longer present.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Twenty four people were killed Wednesday at Murip village in the Baiyer district of Western Highlands when the bus they were travelling in ran ...

ALL communities must treat the environment with respect or face the reality of its destruction, says Fiji’s President, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.

GENEVA, Switzerland --- The United Nations health agency today called on countries to intensify efforts to prevent and control hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, which affects ...

SIGATOKA, Fiji -- Poaching of Marine Protected Areas is a concern to coastal village communities.

APIA, Samoa ---- On Thursday 4 April 2013, Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development, and Neroni Tuiloma Slade, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary and Regional ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Central Bank Governor Loi Bakani WEdnesday painted a rosy picture of PNG’s economy despite projections for growth to slow down from 9.2% to 4% ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- Fiji’s former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase who was released from prison yesterday is calling on all Fijians to make their submissions on the new draft ...

CANBERRA, Australia ---- The Australian Federal Government has flown a group of Vietnamese asylum seekers to Manus Island, declaring the move will act as a warning to others ...

SIGATOKA, Fiji ---Women played an integral part in the success of environmental conservation projects in Fiji's Northern Division.

Parties to the Nauru Agreement Director Dr Transform Aqorau has been nominated and selected to join a select panel on oceans.

SEOUL, Korea --- North Korea has moved what appears to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Thursday, quoting ...

LONDON, England --- The body's own “training manual” for successfully attacking HIV has been recorded by scientists and it is hoped it can be used to design vaccines.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The Minister of Police, National Security and Correctional Services Chris Laore says the Police Bill will contribute to creating a balanced and sustainable economy ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The Papua New Guinea Law Society is cracking down on non-admitted foreign lawyers practising in the country.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- A Papua New Guinea Government minister, speaking as a private citizen, has said it is time PNG made a bold stand for the independence ...

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu --- Tuvalu’s Prime Minister has dismissed criticism that government ministers spend too much time abroad.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Six women and a man accused of sorcery were tortured and burnt as Easter sacrifices to eradicate the practice in Merep village in Nipa ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji’s Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama is concerned that some individuals and non-government organisations are trying to misrepresent and mislead the public about the draft ...

SIGATOKA, Fiji ---Fiji’s Department of Environment lags behind in balancing, enforcing and monitoring the environmental trade-offs of the pace of national social and economic development, says President Ratu ...

SIGATOKA, Fiji --- Religious leaders have been challenged to involve young people in discussions on important social issues such as the environment and extractive industries.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Teachers in the Solomon Islands say they will not resume classes until their pay dispute is resolved.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ---- Air Pacific's new Airbus A330 made its maiden commercial flight to New Zealand Tuesday, offering plane enthusiasts a preview of the airline's refreshed branding.

BALI, Indonesia --- Australia has appealed to other countries in the region to consider establishing refugee processing centres similar to those already in place on Nauru and Manus ...

HAGATNA, Guam --- A former Guam senator says people on the Pacific island are concerned by North Korean threats against the United States territory, but not alarmed.

SIGATOKA, Fiji --- Seawalls are not an option to stop rising sea levels and villagers threatened by climate change must be relocated, religious leaders have been told.

SEAWALLS are not an option to stop rising sea levels and villagers threatened by climate change must be relocated, religious leaders have been told.

APIA, Samoa ---- Tokelau is looking to increase penalties for illegal fishing in its exclusive economic zone.

SIGATOKA, Fiji --- Double standards by key organizations and pressure from big investors pose a major threat to the environment, religious leaders were told at a stewardship summit ...

SIGATOKA, Fiji --- Church leaders have failed to step up to the challenge of climate change, says Taholo Kami, Regional Director for Oceania Program of the International Union ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- The Solomon Islands Government is to approach the New Zealand Government about engaging its defence force if there are future uprisings.

HONIARA,Solomon Islands - With seven out of ten Solomon Islanders under the age of 29 and the working-age population set to increase by 30 per cent in the ...

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat with support from the European Union funded Pacific Integration Technical Assistance Programme (PITAP) has commissioned a project to assist the Pacific ACP States ...

NEW YORK, USA --- The United Nations disarmament chief today urged Member States to build confidence and trust with each other by establishing and strengthening global norms on ...

SUVA, Fiji --- The Castaway Island Resort has successfully bounced back from the $6million (US$3.3 million) loss incurred by Tropical Cyclone Evan in December.

SUVA, Fiji --- The Biosecurity Authority of Fiji has warned that the country could face losses of up to $21million (US$11.7 million) in export earnings if the spread ...

PAGOPAGO, American Samoa --- The world's first airline to charge passengers by their weight rather than per seat says the policy has helped to raise obesity awareness and ...

SYDNEY, Australia ---- Everyone sitting on an aircraft carrying a passenger infected with measles is at risk of contracting the disease - not just those sitting closest to ...

SEOUL, Korea --- South Korea’s president has instructed her country’s military to respond to any North Korean provocation, in a warning to Pyongyang that will further escalate tensions ...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands --- The Cook Islands community has united to combat a problem many feel is dominating the country - youth crime.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- The drought in New Zealand could cause food inflation in a number of Pacific countries.

APIA ,Samoa ---- The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Wu Hongbo is leading a UN planning mission to Samoa to prepare for the 2014 Third ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- The Acting Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, Glenn Miles told a gathering of Australia Award scholars that people to people connection is very important.

DILLI, East Timor ---- The final group of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members who'd been stationed in East Timor have returned to Australia.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- The High Court in Solomon Islands has sentenced a Vietnamese national to four and a half years in prison for unlawful wounding of a ...

SUVA, Fiji --- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat on Wednesday assured Fiji of its support during Fiji's tenure as chair of the United Nations ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- Any amendments to Fiji’s new constitution will have to be approved by majority of the registered voters and parliament.

NOUMEA, New Caledonia --- At its annual meeting last week, the spokesperson for the Front de Libération Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS), Victor Tututgoro was unanimously elected to be ...

The first Migrant Resource Center (MRC) in the entire Pacific region was dedicated on the 26th of March at its Kolonia location in Pohnpei as a joint effort ...

MELBOURNE, Australia ---- Indonesia's experience with moving from dictatorship towards democracy might have useful lessons for Fiji.

MELBOURNE, Australia --- The authorisation has been granted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) with one condition, related to flights between Australia and New Zealand.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Papua New Guinea and Thailand have moved to strengthen business partnership between the two countries.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- A Papua New Guinean non-government organisation is calling for online signatures to protect historic caves in East Sepik province from mining exploration.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- The president of Solomon Islands National Teachers Association (SINTA), Samson Faisi is urging teachers in Honiara not to return to work despite calls made ...

SAIPAN, Norhtern Marianas ---- CNMI Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) says “progress is being made” on a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration bill in Congress that is expected to ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Early last Friday morning, eight 10-seater police vehicles loaded with drunk policemen from Chimbu Province, trespassed former Chuave MP, Jim Nomane’s yard in Goroka, ...

SUVA, Fiji --- New trial dates were set yesterday for the case against four senior Methodist Church ministers in Fiji facing charges of organising and participating in an ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says he will resign as army commander to contest the 2014 elections.

SUVA, Fiji--- Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been approached by a group of people to lead their soon-to-be formed proposed political party in the 2014 elections.

AUCKLAND, NZ---- The Cook Islands Prime Minister, Henry Puna has called for a stronger, unified effort by the Pacific to break its dependency on fossil fuels.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The Japanese government has been given the assurance that the PNG LNG project is on schedule with the first sale of gas by next ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has agreed to grant natural gas concessions to the Thai private sector during talks with his Thai ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the draft Constitution spells the way forward for a new Fiji.

HAGTNA, Guam --- A Guam senator is urging the island's government to advise people on what to do in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.

HAGTNA, Guam --- A Guam senator is urging the island's government to advise people on what to do in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.

BRUSSELS, Belgium ---- As the future existence of the 80 member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group is now being mapped out by the Group Council of Ministers, ...

SYDNEY, Australia --- The Asian Development Bank says economic growth in the Pacific slowed in 2012 and is expected to slow further in 2013.

TOKYO, Japan ----- Japan has signed away K125 million (US$58.2 million) as loan to Papua New Guinea to help its Ramu Power improve the overall capacity of its ...

BRUSSELS, Belgium --- Former Samoan Financial secretary and member of the ACP Eminent Person Group (EPG) says the re-invention of the group should be responsive to the challenges ...

BRUSSELS, Belgium ----- Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo has been elected chair of the ACP Eminent Persons Group (ACP).

BRUSSELS, Belgium ----- Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo has been elected chair of the ACP Eminent Persons Group (ACP).

AUCKLAND, NZ ---- A European Union Commissioner says moving to renewable energy will give the Pacific Islands a stronger moral mandate to pressure larger countries to follow suit ...

MELBOURNE, Australia ---- Twenty people have been arrested and $8.2 million worth of drugs seized in a crackdown on drugs being imported via the international mail system.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands---- Solomon Islands Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo has re-assured the Republic of China’s visiting deputy Foreign Minister, Shin Ting, of Solomon Islands unwavering support to ...

WELLINGTON, NZ --- New Zealand Prime Minister John Key will lead one of the country's largest ever prime ministerial delegations abroad when he travels to China next week ...

NEW YORK, USA —The Republic of Nauru, current Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), announced at a recent plenary meeting of Ambassadors from AOSIS countries ...

SYDNEY, Australia ---- An interesting comment has appeared from the BBC concerning this week’s failed leadership challenge against Australian Prime Minister Gillard.

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas --- The Northern Marianas has marked the 37th year of its political relationship with the United States, but Gov. Eloy S. Inos and other officials ...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands --- People of the Republic of the Marshall Islands now have a clear picture of child protection issues thanks to the first child protection study ...

ALOFI, Niue ---- The chair of the Niue Tourism Board, Teresa Scott, says an additional flight to Niue, starting next month, has prompted some new businesses to set ...

BRUSSELS, Switzerland ---- The ACP/LDC Sugar Suppliers to the EU express deep disappointment with the EU Agriculture Council’s proposal to extend the Single Common Market Organisation for sugar ...

TOKYO, Japan ---- Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has told investors in Tokyo that his country is well placed to become a strategic supplier of Japan's ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Gold Ridge Mining Company (GRML) workers in Solomon Islands denied access to the mine site on Friday after landowners armed with knives and sticks ...

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga ---- The Tongan Parliament has over-spent its budget by 7% and it can't afford to pay staff who work overtime, revealed the Speaker of the House, ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Solomon Islands Ministry of Education is encouraging teachers to return to work today while responsible authorities sort out their salary payments.

SUVA, Fiji ---- The president of the proposed National Federation Party in Fiji says he is happy a draft constitution has been released.

National air carrier Solomon Airlines has won the top award at Solomon Islands’ inaugural Business Excellence Awards at Honiara’s Heritage Park Hotel complex on Saturday night.

The sole Polynesian constitutional monarch, King Tupou VI and his spouse Queen Nanasipau’u Taku’aho completed their first State Visit to neighbouring New Zealand on 28 February 2013.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu --- Vanuatu’s former minister of finance in the Sato Kilman government, Moana Carcasses Kalosil, is the country’s new Prime Minister.

SUVA, Fiji ---- The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has announced the appointment of Inoke Ratukalou from Fiji as its new Director of the Land Resources Division.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- An inquiry will soon be conducted into the joint venture investments between the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and two other business organisations.

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas ---- Smokers, drinkers, and those who love soft drinks may see increases in the price of cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, and sodas with a new proposal ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Solomon Islands diplomats serving in overseas mission will soon see changes in their job descriptions.

BANGKOK, Thailand ---- Thai premier on Thursday left Bangkok to visit New Zealand and Papua New Guinea during March 21- 25 to strengthen bilateral relations, according to the ...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu --- The Vanuatu opposition leader, Edward Natapei claims the Speaker contravened the standing orders of parliament when he did not allow an immediate vote for ...

CANBERRA, Australia --- Richard Marles says his role as Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs has been the 'great honour' of his professional life, after resigning from ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama released the draft document in Suva, Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines--- Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice President Stephen Groff will lead an ADB delegation to the Pacific Energy Summit, to be held in Auckland on 25-26 March, ...

The United Nations presented today the first findings from an unprecedented global conversation through which people from all over the world have been invited to help Member States ...

SUVA, Fiji---- For the first time in Fiji, three government ministries have worked together to publish a glossary of climate change terms, translated into the iTaukei vernacular language.

PARIS, France----French police have raided the Paris home of IMF chief Christine Lagarde in connection with a probe into her handling of a high-profile scandal when she was ...

BUKA, PNG --- More than 5,000 people in the Rorovana Village of Central Bougainville are in dire need of food supplies.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The Police Bill 2013 aims to develop a legislation that will provide a solid foundation in strengthening the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force operational ...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu ---- Vanuatu’s Parliament is set to debate another motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Sato Kilman on Thursday.

DILI, East Timor – Infrastructure improvements and private sector development to drive inclusive economic growth in Timor-Leste will be the main focus for Shane Rosenthal, the new Resident ...

WASHINGTON, USA --- The World Bank today launched a new four-year strategy for Timor-Leste, following discussions by the Boards of Directors of the Bank and IFC. The new ...

WASHINGTON, USA --- The World Bank launched its first Country Partnership Strategy with the Government of the Marshall Islands, beginning its support to strengthen the Pacific Island nation’s ...

SUVA, FIJI --- New Zealand companies injected $342million (US$191 million) into the local economy from 2005 to 2010, adding mileage to its third spot ranking as one of ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG--- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neil has announced that Treasurer Don Polye will be acting Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- As part of RAMSI’s transition, the withdrawal of the Participating Police Force (PPF) from the police post at Lofung in the Shortland Islands is ...

SUVA, Fiji --- The Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit suspects people from Fiji may be involved in human trafficking abroad.

SUVA, Fiji --- It wouldn’t have been right for Fiji not to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group when it did in 1996, says then Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

SUVA, Fiji ---- The manager of the Pacific Heritage Hub has called on the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) countries Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) needs a ‘roadmap’ to guide its work for the next 25 years and beyond.

NADI, FIJI --- Flood affected families in Nadi who benefitted from Fiji’s first cash-for-work project to recover from the devastating effects of the twin floods of early 2012, ...

SUVA, FIJI ---A senior officer in Fiji's military disputes the results of a recent study showing many Fijians want a smaller army with no political role. Lieutenant Colonel ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Volunteers from Fiji have expressed their appreciation to the Fijian and Nauruan Governments through the Public Service Commission (PSC) for the opportunity to serve in ...

NADI, Fiji--- Solomon Islands Finance Minister Ric Hou says he expects mining to take over from logging as his country's economic mainstay.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The dengue fever outbreak in Solomon Islands impacts heavily on the country’s tourism industry.

NADI, Fiji ----- The arrival of Air Pacific’s new A330-200 Airbus will enable Fiji to expand and sustain its connections to countries with a high number of out-bound ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji and other Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) countries need to build better relations and share knowledge amongst each other, says National Employment Centre chief executive ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Shortland Islands’ leaders have accused the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands and its Participating Police Force for leaving the Western border.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Thousands of people are now displaced and thousands of Kina worth of property destroyed after police rampaged through a community in Lihir a few ...

BRISBANE, Australia, ---- A man who led a playboy lifestyle while claiming to be a Tahitian prince was jailed Tuesday for 14 years for stealing AUD$16 million (nearly ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- A senior officer in Fiji's military has rejected any criticism in a recent study indicating many Fijians want a smaller army with no political role.

An organization that has represented the rights and voices of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Pacific for over a decade is closing.

PARIS, France ---It is possible to help make basic education universal by 2015, despite a global funding gap which increased to US$26 billion from US$16 billion during the ...

NADI, Fiji --- The Pacific region can take appropriate actions to advance human development, as outlined in the 2013 Human Development Report—The Rise of the South: Human Progress ...

KOROR, Palau --- Ahmat Abdulahad can’t help but laugh at the irony of his predicament.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Papua New Guinea Trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Richard Maru has announced that the National Government, through the Department of Trade, Commerce and Industry ...

NUKUNONU, Tokelau --- NZ-administered Tokelau is looking for tenders to design and construct a new ship for the tiny islands.

HAGATNA, Guam, ---- A prisoner housed at the Department of Corrections costs more than US$35,000 in taxpayer money per year. For the average population of 600 inmates and ...

BUKA, PNG ---Arawa-based self-styled Me’ekamui general Chris Uma has bluntly told the Post Courier news paper that Panguna Mine is non-negotiable till after referendum and Independence.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---Tongan overstayers who had their criminal records wiped by Tongan Police have been deported from New Zealand.

CANBERRA, Australia ----- An Australian immigration inquiry has found that 18 criminals from Tonga have fraudulently obtained Australian visas.

SUVA, Fiji ---- The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) should focus its energy and limited resources on a few things it can do well, says former PNG Prime Minister, ...

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu ---No date has been set for a by-election for the vacant Nukufetau Island seat on Tuvalu.

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas -- Microbes are thriving in surprising numbers at the deepest spot in the oceans, the 11,000-metre (36,000 ft) Mariana Trench in the Pacific, despite crushing ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- A Minister in Papua New Guinea government was on Saturday arrested and charged with bribery and corruption in relation to last year’s national elections.

SUVA, Fiji ---- Papua New Guinea’s founding Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare has challenged the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to change the label of being an ‘arc of ...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands --- The Marshall Islands cabinet endorsed new 10-year terms for Supreme Court and High Court chief justices, and a resolution confirming them was approved by ...

KOROR, Palau -- Palau's president has proposed banning all commercial fishing in the Pacific nation's waters to create one of the world's largest marine reserves, covering an area ...

YAREN, Nauru -- Nauru’s Supreme Court has declared the speaker of parliament Ludwig Scotty’s dissolution of the assembly null and void, cancelling the election planned for 06 April.

SUVA, Fiji ----Papua New Guinea’s first and longest-serving prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, says their stance on Fiji remains the same – they support Fiji’s leadership.

This month Ministry of Health representatives and stakeholders from across the region will come together to determine the future direction of the response to HIV and other sexually ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Another gruesome sorcery-related killing, has been reported in the Papua New Guinea’s province of Madang.

MAJURO, Marshall Islands ---- A Majuro-based long line fishing boat has had its fishing license suspended after it was caught with shark fins on board last week by ...

YAREN, Nauru ----The Supreme Court in Nauru is expected to make a judgement on whether the country's Parliament will have to reconvene.

BEIJING, China --- China’s nominal state parliament on Thursday appointed Communist Party leader Xi Jinping as the nation's president to succeed Hu Jintao.

SUVA, Fiji ---- The Pacific's peak geoscience advisory body has been accused of assisting United States aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in negotiations for Fiji's new draft decree on ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- A Papua New Guinea (PNG) study released today calls for condoms to be made more widely available in prisons.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---Thirty days after a remote region of Solomon Islands was hit by an earthquake and tsunami, permanent housing and sanitation still pose a challenge.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Papua New Guinea's Defence Force says a draft of its White Paper is scheduled to be presented to the government by the end of ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- The Leadership Code Commission in Solomon Islands could consider the sexual misconduct complaint against the Prime Minister as early as next week, following the ...

SUVA, Fiji --- High Court Judge, Justice Anjala Wati has dismissed the proposed Fiji Labour Party’s case against the Registration of Political Parties Decree.

The public readily engage in a heated debate on politics, while ignoring changes silently taking place in something as mundane as the "public availability of information". Yet the ...

They say the value of a community cannot be measured until it is put under pressure, and the last month has shown that the Solomon Islands community is ...

MANILLA, Philippines ---Nearly two thirds of people in the Asia-Pacific region have no clean, piped water at home despite the region's strong economic growth, according to a major ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia ---From 08 to 12 March, representatives of the French Pacific territories met to discuss one of the most significant natural hazards for their territories, i.e. ...

GENEVA, Switzerland ----Corruption kills by siphoning money from humanitarian and development projects, the top United Nations human rights official today said, urging a coordinated human-rights based approach among ...

SYDNEY, Australia ---- There's a common view around, even in Australia where after all these years people really should know better, that mining is merely about digging stuff ...

YAP, FSM ---- The people of Yap, a flyspeck of an island in the western Pacific, learned long ago how to make money the hard way: They carved ...

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas ---- There's no arguing with official numbers.

SUVA, Fiji --- Co-operation between Fiji and Tuvalu on fisheries issues will be further developed.

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga ---- Two Tongan Lords, including the current Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga and a former Speaker, have pending court cases at the Nuku'alofa ...

SUVA, Fiji ----- Fiji's Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Climate Change Unit has sought the assistance of the media to educate Fijians on issues pertaining to climate ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- New Zealand Parliament has moved a step closer to legalising gay marriage after a resounding vote in support of the law change.

CANBERRA, Australia ----The Australian Greens say Australia should join the United Nations and New Zealand in taking a stronger stand on the beating and torture of prisoners in ...

VATICAN CITY, Rome ---Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina has been elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church, and said ...

APIA, Samoa --- Samoan police and customs are investigating who imported a consignment of over 900 cartons of whiskey which was smuggled into the country with false documents.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- A lack of tertiary institutions and vocational training schools for Papua New Guineans living in border regions has forced students to seek education in ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says the government will continue to stimulate the growth of the economy through infrastructure development.

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau has officially renamed the container vessel Reef Nauru, the Mana.

MELBOURNE, Australia --- A global campaign is underway to persuade former British colonies to scrap any remaining laws making homosexuality illegal.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- A former Member of Solomon Islands Parliament for Central Honiara Constituency has died.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Health authorities in Solomon Islands have declared a state of emergency Tuesday, as the dengue fever outbreak takes its toll.

BOSTON, USA---- The United State's top military official in the Pacific says the biggest long term security threat in the region is climate change.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu --- Vanuatu’s opposition has deposited a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister Sato Kilman with the Office of the Speaker of Parliament.

LONDON, England --- The Queen has signed a new charter enshrining the Commonwealth’s values and pledging a commitment to equal rights.

A verbal warfare is developing between the Pacific Network on Globilization (PANG) and regional organisation SOPAC over its role in the drafting of the controversial new laws on ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Tahiti self-determination

NEW YORK, USA--- “I know what it means to lose your house, to be looted. To look a child in the eye and say, 'If they come for ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Developing and reforming online/electronic business registries in the Pacific Islands is essential if the region wants to build a vibrant, efficient private sector, delegates ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia-----A paper published in Nature Climate Change today (Monday 11 March) explores the challenges Pacific nations face to maintain the benefits of their fish resources as ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Solomon Islands Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo has successfully negotiated an agreement between disputing landowning groups in the Munda region who signed a deal ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ---- The Solomon Islands Government is inviting New Zealand Businesses to consider investing in Solomon Islands in view of the country’s huge investment opportunities and ...

SYDNEY, Australia --- A leading Papua New Guinea judge says Australia could help PNG stop the sorcery-related torture and killing of women.

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji’s Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama says no one condones prisoner brutality, but he stands by his men as they do a job "for you ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Fiji needs new political parties with new leadership, Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama says as the country prepares for the 2014 General Election.

NADI, Fiji ---- The Fiji government is looking forward to the appointment of a Climate Change Advisor to strengthen the MSG secretariat’s role in addressing this issue.

MAJURO, Marshall Islands ----In response to Kiribati breaking ranks from an eight-member western Pacific fisheries bloc in 2012, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement have issued a strong ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ----Reverend Francois Pihaatae was elected General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) in an overwhelming victory in Honiara Saturday.

SUVA, Fiji ----The Fijian government has already prepared a draft constitution that will be presented to the Constituent Assembly.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---- Solomon Islands Foreign Minister,Clay Forau Soalaoi,has commended the New Zealand Government for the establishment of the Recognized Seasonal Employment Scheme (RSE), which is now ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG---- The Papua New Guinea government’s political will to improve the public welfare and investment climate should boost the confidence level in the economy, ANZ Bank’s ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ----GlobalFund has made an interim grant allocation of US$13 million (K27.6 million) to PNG for the transition period from 2013 to 2014 for the national ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands---Larger Pacific island churches must pay more attention to the threat of climate change and resource use and assist smaller communities which are directly threatened by ...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands --- Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna will be leading a Pacific Islands Forum Mission to New Caledonia next week under a mandate to assist ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- Fiji's acting Permanent secretary for Justice, Mere Vuniwaqa, has resigned for personal reasons.

SUVA, Fiji---- Reports have surfaced that the region’s premier political body the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is employing two senior officers with expired work visas in Fiji.

YAREN, Nauru (RNZI) --- A Nauru Government spokesperson says the speaker of parliament may have set a dangerous precedent if he does not reconvene the House.

NADI, Fiji (MINFO) ---- Fiji has called on the European Union (EU) to meet the June deadline established by the Pacific ACP to conclude its comprehensive Economic Partnership ...

SUVA, Fiji --- Just days after a graphic video of prisoners being severely beaten, Fiji police have ordered a ban on a street march planned for the capital, ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands -- Clerk of the Solomon Islands parliament Taeasi Sanga has been honoured for services to the country during a life-long career in the national parliament.

SUVA, Fiji ---- Sixty-two new HIV/AIDS cases were confirmed in Fiji last year, bringing the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS since 1989 to 482.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand --- New Zealand's Opposition has criticised a United Nations body for allowing a Syrian government representative to be able to pass judgement on how the ...

KOROR, Palau ---- The Royal Prince of Monaco Prince Albert II will visit the Republic of Palau next week as part of his Pacific tour, reports Oceania TV.

TARAWA, Kiribati ---The President of Kiribati, Anote Tong says he is embarrassed that his country's passports were sold to suspected arms dealers from North Korea.

NEW YORK, USA --- The importance of strong laws against sexual, domestic and other gender violence was highlighted today as members of parliaments from around the world gathered ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Church leaders must address the dangerous trends which threaten plant species and the environment, says Tongan theologian Reverend Doctor Tevita Havea.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Conflict will be a threat to regional stability in this century if steps are not taken to understand the root causes of injustice, aggression ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ----- Unemployment, landlessness and the failure of the institution of marriage have been described as emerging threats to regional instability.

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (RADIO AUSTRALIA) ---- A new report by the Asian Development Bank says Tonga is facing increasing pressure to create jobs for out-of-work youth, with only 26 ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia ---- Early figures for the 2012 show the Pacific tuna catch is likely to be bigger than ever before.

SUVA, Fiji ---- Former Director of Public Prosecutions and first female High Court judge Nazhat Shameem has been named Fiji’s very first Goodwill Ambassador for Women.

KOROR, Palau ---- A team of munitions disposal experts from Japan is in Palau to remove unexploded bombs lying dormant since World War Two.

NEW YORK, USA ---- The Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) have told world leaders there should be more focus on the economic empowerment of women.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ----As Australia attempts to fully restore diplomatic ties with Fiji, the New Zealand Government has confirmed it also wants to appoint a permanent high commissioner ...

YAREN, Nauru ----The Supreme Court in Nauru has indefinitely overturned an order by the speaker to dissolve the country's parliament.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands -- Clerk of the Solomon Islands parliament Taiasi Sanga has been honoured for services to the country during a life-long career in the national parliament.

NEW YORK, USA --- Today on International Women’s Day I join every individual who believes that change is possible. We are guided by a founding principle of the ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ----Papua New Guinea's first female judge Justice Catherine Davani will be among dignitaries in the capital of South Australia Adelaide today to join celebrations this ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia --Fisheries representatives reacted with dismay to the news that training programmes in Pacific fisheries may be axed.

SYDNEY, Australia - Women face greater odds in achieving equal political representation in the Pacific Islands than in any other region of the world, holding just three percent ...

PAGOPAGO, American Samoa ---- American Samoan Congressman Faleomavaega Eni has sought the help of the U.S Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco to intervene into the proposed withdrawal ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- PNG Forest Products (PNGFP) managing director Tony Honey says the company is growing “very fast” and is diversifying into other areas, including mining and ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG---- Oil Search Ltd is worth more than US$10 billion after 20 years of operations in Papua New Guinea, managing director Peter Botten said.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- The Solomon Islands government has lifted a three-year ban on harvesting and exporting of beche-de-mer products.

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Monuments along the country’s international land border with Indonesia are deteriorating, Department of Western national agency coordinator Richard Aria says.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Solomon Islands health authorities have confirmed more than 150 cases of dengue fever in the capital.

SUVA, Fiji ---- The continuous heavy rain in the West has affected land preparation and farming and this could result in a spike in vegetable and root crop ...

SUVA, Fiji ---- A tropical disturbance which is located far West of Fiji is expected to move Eastwards towards the country and affect the entire group later today.

SUVA, Fiji ----- The Fijian Government says it has not decided on the date of the arrival of Australia’s top diplomat to be based in Suva.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---The Pacific Conference of Churches has accepted a report on the state of the regional body’s finances.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands----Christians must fight against the structural injustices like racism, patriarchy and discrimination against women.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ----The entry of a new player and an increasingly assertive stance on consumer rights protection by Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) telecommunications regulator bode well for ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Religious leaders in the Pacific must speak out on mining and other issues which have an impact on the lives of the people.

NEW YORK, USA --- The United States thinks the United Nations has a drinking problem.

TAIPEI, Taiwan ----Taiwan's diplomatic ally Tuvalu will open an embassy in Taipei next week, a move expected to boost bilateral ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

YAREN, Nauru---- The minister responsible for the asylum seeker regional processing centre on Nauru, Dominic Tabuna, says business opportunities spawned by the camp are being fairly shared on ...

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti -- The heads of seven Polynesian parliaments have arrived in Tahiti at the invitation of the president of French Polynesia’s territorial assembly, Jacqui Drollet, who wants ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ----Amnesty International says video appearing to show the vicious beating of two Fijian prisoners is just one of several cases it is aware of.

SUVA, Fiji --- Economic empowerment is this year’s National Council of Women’s International Women’s Day celebrations focus says NCW general secretary, Fay Volatabu.

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga ---- From March 11-15, the Kingdom of Tonga is to host a regional workshop on “Law and Contract Negotiations for Deep Sea Minerals” in Nuku’alofa, on ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the Coastal Community Adaptation Project (C-CAP), a new five-year project that will build the resilience of ...

BANGKOK, Thailand --- Sharks have become the underdog of the oceans. They reproduce slowly and are being targeted for their fins and caught accidentally in the hunt for ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says he wants to improve all services throughout the country after 37 years of neglect to impact ...

HOBART, Australia --- Japan's whaling fleet has turned around and is heading back into the Southern Ocean, according to anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd.

PORT MORESBY,PNG --- Papua New Guinea deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika dismissed an election petition against the Treasurer and Kandep MP Don Pomb Polye Monday for non-compliance of ...

PORT MORESBY,PNG --- Papua New Guinea deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika dismissed an election petition against the Treasurer and Kandep MP Don Pomb Polye Monday for non-compliance of ...

PORT MORESBY,PNG --- Papua New Guinea deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika dismissed an election petition against the Treasurer and Kandep MP Don Pomb Polye Monday for non-compliance of ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Transparency International PNG found the 2012 elections “unacceptable” and questions whether the “will of the people was truly expressed”.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ----- Disaster officials in Solomon Islands say heavy rain has delayed aid efforts for villages affect by the earthquake and tsunami which hit nearly a ...

Observer training programme could be axed, fisheries meeting heard

PAPE’ETE, Tahiti --- An anti-nuclear rally is being planned in French Polynesia on Saturday.

CANBERRA, Australia ---- The Australian federal government’s top legal adviser has told Australian Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs she cannot visit Nauru and Manus Island to assess and ...

YAREN, Nauru --- The Nauru government has scotched criticism it is in disarray and incapable of processing asylum seekers waiting on the island to have their refugee status ...

SUMMIT COUNTY, USA — An idyllic tropical lagoon threatened by pollution from a tuna cannery is a Pacific Ocean biodiversity hotspot, according to researchers from Nova Southeastern University, ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- The Uniting Church has asked for forgiveness for the divisions and pain it has caused Pacific communities in the past.

GENEVA, Switzerland ---- United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has tasked Ray Chambers, who has served as his Special Envoy for Malaria since 2008, with promoting and securing ...

GENEVA, Switzerland ----- Human rights are vital for achieving the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which world leaders have pledged to attain by 2015, ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia ---- Fisheries are very important for the Pacific region. Not only are they one of the most important sources of income for many countries in ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Governments must work with churches in key areas for the benefit of the people, says Solomon Islands Deputy Prime Minister, Mannaseh Maelanga.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The Papua New Guinea government will legislate to ensure free education is compulsory, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says.

SUVA, Fiji ---- The head of the University of the South Pacific says Kiribati will be the first to benefit from an upgrade to tertiary education planned for ...

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga ---- The New Zealand-owned company which operates Tonga's sole domestic airline has pulled out of scheduled services and from Monday will only provide charter services in ...

SUVA, Fiji---- The Methodist Church of Fiji is hoping to hold its Annual General Meeting with its fundraising this year.

CANBERRA, Australia ---- Australia’s summer may have been the hottest on record but it's the long-term trends that matter, not figures for one season, the country's opposition environment ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Churches in the country fear there will be more deaths in sorcery-related crimes if the government does not pass a sorcery act soon.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ----- Churches must take active roles in the fight against gender-based violence, a regional workshop was told

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- A tight race appears to be forming for the position of general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches.

BRISBANE, Australia --- Tuna are vital to the ecology and economy of the Pacific, and maintaining their stocks at a sustainable level exercises the minds of thousands of ...

KOROR, Palau ---- The Bopha Relief Committee has put infrastructure relief efforts on hold pending the completion of homes for typhoon victims in the eastern side of Babeldaob, ...

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga --- ProComm Services, a new Help Line-Call Centre for telecommunications services in Tonga was officially launched by Princess Angelika Thursday at the Tungi Collonade, Nuku'alofa.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---- Air New Zealand will consider extending its trans-Tasman alliance with Virgin Australia to include the Pacific Islands when it reapplies to regulators late this ...

**PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The winner of a PNG media anti-corruption award says online media has the potential to inform and mobilise PNG's people.

VATICAN CITY, Rome ----- -- Benedict XVI's nearly eight-year papacy has ended, a transition to “pope emeritus” he marked at 8 p.m. Thursday in the papal summer retreat ...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ----- As New Zealand moves a step closer to legalising gay marriage, a Samoan church minister in Auckland has said most Pacific Island-New Zealanders are ...

CANBERRA, Australia --- Fiji government is making some progress in its efforts to restore democracy, says Australian Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr.

LYON, France----- International criminal police organisation Interpol has held its first ever meeting to address illegal fishing, in a bid to curtail the multi-billion dollar black market.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands --- Pacific governments will hear a call for island leaders to review forms of governance and development in the region at an assembly of church ...

PAPE’ETE, Tahiti ----- The world's coral reefs could be in trouble by the end of the century, or much sooner if nothing is done to curb carbon emissions, ...

NOUMEA, New Caledonia -- New Caledonia’s SLN mining company says a complaint has been lodged with police after its mining site in Thio was vandalised on Sunday.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ---- While many Chinese visitors delayed travel to New Zealand last month the number of American tourists rose apparently because of the Hobbit movie, Tourism ...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu ----- More than 70 delegates to the Pacific Conference of Churches 10th General Assembly were stranded in Vanuatu for five hours Tuesday after engine problems ...

SUVA, Fiji---- Fiji underlined its commitment to put an end to gender-based violence by signing a global ‘Commit’ campaign Wednesday becoming the first of 27 countries to do ...

HAGATNA, Guam--- The US Department of Agriculture will drop mice laced with a sedative deadly to brown tree snakes around the island's Andersen Air Force Base over the ...

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga---- Prisoners are expected to recount what they saw when a New Zealand police officer was allegedly beaten at a Tongan police station.

PORT MORESBY, PNG---- An international consortium of scientists say they have collected 1.5 million specimens of wildlife in an unprecedented mission to document the biological treasures of Papua ...

SUVA, Fiji ----- Fiji’s presence and contribution towards the efforts International Criminal Police Organization’s (INTERPOL) in the region was praised by the Secretary General of INTERPOL Ronal Noble.

CANBERRA, Australia--- Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young says the Australian government must not use Nauru’s political situation as an excuse for delaying the processing of asylum seekers ...

SUVA, Fiji---- Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Korean NGO, ‘World Zero Tuberculosis (TB) Movement’ will implement the project on the capacity building of TB control services ...

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas ------ An Australian team of archaeologists have uncovered evidence of human burials and early human settlement in the Northern Marianas.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- Safety and security of air travellers are compromised at major airports throughout PNG, according to a confidential brief.

PORT MORESBY, PNG ---- The PNG LNG project operated by Esso Highlands Ltd was 75% complete at the end of last year and is on target for first ...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ----- Pasture work at two major cattle farms in Malaita and Western Provinces is underway as the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock works on developing ...

PAPE’ETE, Tahiti --- French Polynesia’s administrative court has ordered the French state to pay compensation to a former inmate for being jailed in inhuman conditions.

SUVA, Fiji ----- There is major concern over the continuing high rate of suicides in Fiji, particularly by young people.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands ---- Solomon Islands Health authorities in collaboration with the World health Organization (WHO) are working closely on strategic plans to prevent any increase of dengue ...

Police investigations into the mv Rabaul Queen disaster will find out exactly how many people went missing and how many were on board, the director for Criminal Investigative ...

The portability of the New Zealand pension/super for qualifying Cook Islanders is topping the agenda of the Prime Minister Henry Puna when the Cook Islands sits down with ...

Japan's fisheries minister says his country will never stop hunting whales, despite fierce criticism from other nations and violent clashes at sea with militant conservationists.

Former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander Sam Kaona has warned Australia not to meddle in Bougainville affairs.

The Forum Secretariat is currently coordinating a review of The Pacific Plan, while the MSG Secretariat is coordinating a review of the Melanesian Spearhead Group to chart a ...

SYDNEY, Australia (AAP) - Australia will lose its political and strategic influence in Fiji if it doesn't restore good relations as soon as possible, the Pacific nation's former ...

Air Pacific, Fiji’s national carrier soon to be flying as ‘Fiji Airways’ has announced that following the conclusion of a highly competitive bidding process, it had selected two ...

SUVA, Fiji (RADIO AUSTRALIA) --- The Fijian Government has missed a self-imposed deadline to present its new draft constitution.

SUVA, Fiji (FIJI LIVE) ---- Fiji's military as an institution will not support any political party even if Prime Minister and Army Commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama decides to ...

RAROTONGA, Cook Islands (RADIO AUSTRALIA) --- Cook Islands MP, Norman George, has criticised his country's prime minister for being soft on Fiji's government.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (FAIRFAX NZ) -- An attempt in Auckland to save one of the world's last great fisheries is on the verge of failing, environmentalists claim.

SUVA, Fiji (FIJI LIVE) ---- Former United People’s Party President Mick Beddoes is intending to apply for a membership with the newly proposed Social Democratic Liberal Party (SDL).

PAPE’ETE, Tahiti (RADIO AUSTRALIA) ---- Police in French Polynesia are investigating a series of arson attacks on Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands.

TASMANIA, Australia (RADIO AUSTRALIA) --- A new study by Australia's peak scientific body the CSIRO shows that fish around the world are shrinking in size.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (RADIO AUSTRALIA) ---- Solomon Islands' tourism minister, Samuel Manetoali, says his government will step in to resolve a dispute around dolphin slaughtering on one of ...

HAGATNA, Guam (MARIANAS VARIETY) --- Guam Memorial Hospital may have lost a considerable amount of money due to a “software glitch” that left more than US$1.9 million in ...

SUVA, Fiji (FWCC) --- A national survey of women in Fiji has found that more than three in five (64% of women) who had ever been in a ...

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu (UNDP) --- Tuvalu is looking to trade to achieve some of its key development objectives, including alleviating poverty. The Tuvalu Government is seeking to achieve this ...

SUVA, Fiji (USP) -- A special function to mark the one-year partnership extension for the year 2013 between the University of the South Pacific and Australia was held ...

SUVA, Fiji (FIJI TIMES) ---- The Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority has confirmed the importation of drugs and other contraband through Suva's wharves.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (RNZI) ---- The office of Vanuatu’s Prime Minister says the diplomatic status of Pascal Ahn Quan Saken is a matter for the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (MATANGI TONGA) ---- Gloria Guttenbeil Pole'o was appointed as the Clerk of the House effective on Monday 28 January 2013, the Office of the Legislative Assembly ...

CANBERRA, Australia (THE NATIONAL TIMES) --- Australian former foreign minister Alexander Downer has rejected speculation he will seek to fill the vacancy created by South Australian opposition leader ...

CANBERRA, Australia (SMH) ---- A Japanese whaling fleet ship is again being warned out of Australian waters, aggravating a diplomatic dispute with Tokyo.

PORT MORESBY, PNG (THE NATIONAL) ---- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says he will not be pushed by either BHP or PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP) ...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (PACNEWS) --- The Chief Registrar of Vanuatu’s Supreme Court, John Obed Alilee has clarified that no ruling will be made today on the case against ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG (THE NATIONAL) ---- Papua New Guinea Opposition leader Belden Namah has issued a stern warning to MPs to reject the extension of the government’s grace ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG (THE NATIONAL) ---- Papua New Guinea deputy Prime Minister Leo Dion’s recent trip to Vanuatu to attend the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Melanesian Spearhead ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG (THE NATIONAL) ---- The Manus asylum seekers centre will face its first legal test in a PNG court on Feb 12.

PAPE’ETE, Tahiti (RNZI) --- A new political group has been formed in French Polynesia incorporating the To Tatou Aia and the leaders of several small parties in the ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG (THE NATIONAL) ---- Bogus farmers swindled up to K300 million (US$143 million) from the National Agriculture Development Plan fund from 2009 to 2011, Papua New ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG (THE NATIONAL) ---- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says there are good opportunities along the border areas to develop relations between Indonesia and ...

PORT MORESBY, PNG (THE NATIONAL) --- POMIO MP Paul Tiensten has called on the government and the people to support deep sea mining in the New Britain waters.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (FAIRFAX NZ) ---- The continuing slaughter of dolphins in the Solomon Islands is set to hit the troubled nation's struggling tourism industry.