NUKU’ALOFA, 07 NOVEMBER 2019 (AFP via PacNews)—An undersea volcanic eruption in the Tongan archipelago has sunk one island and created another three times larger, according to a report by geologists released Thursday. Taaniela Kula, of the Tonga Geological Service, said the new Lateiki island is estimated to be about 100 metres wide and 400 metres […]
Category: Pacific News
Posted inPacific News
Travellers should boycott Cook Islands over anti-gay law, Pacific leader says
AUCKLAND, 07 NOVEMBER 2019 (STUFF NZ)—A Pacific community advocate is urging people to boycott the Cook Islands after the nation went back on a promise to decriminalise homosexuality. Grey Lynn Business Association leader Soala Wilson, 59, said she was “disappointed” by the move, which came after pressure from church leaders in the Pacific nation. The […]
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Australian High Commissioner accused of ‘meddling’ in Tongan affairs
NUKU’ALOFA, 01 NOVEMBER 2019 (RNZ PACIFIC) — The Australian High Commissioner to Tonga has come under fire after calling for the death penalty to be abolished during a speech in Nuku’alofa. No-one has been executed in the Kingdom since 1982, and a de facto moratorium has been maintained since then. But it still remains an […]
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Boat with bullet hole washed up on Ulawa island in Solomon Islands laden with ‘huge’ load of cocaine, cannabis
HONIARA, 04 NOVEMBER 2019 (ISLAND SUN) —An aluminium boat laden with narcotics and scarred with bullet hole has washed up ashore at Rupo beach, Ulawa island, Makira-Ulawa province in Solomon Islands. Report reaching the paper says the shocked villagers, last Thursday, discovered the trashed boat with marijuana and white powder, which they believed to be […]
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Caution in Cook Islands as measles spreads like rash across the Pacific
RAROTONGA, 01 NOVEMBER 2019 (COOK ISLANDS NEWS) — Cook Islands Ministry of Health is on high alert as Tonga and Samoa report a spread of potentially fatal measles. More than 100 cases of suspected measles have been identified in Tonga, while Samoa waits for test results to confirm at least three diagnoses. This comes after […]
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Kiribati government loses majority in Parliament
TARAWA, 04 NOVEMBER 2019 (RNZ PACIFIC)—The Kiribati government has lost its majority in Parliament for the first time in three years. The opposition, which could use its numbers to call for fresh elections, has been strengthened by discontent over contentious relations with China. The House of Assembly opened today for the first time since Kiribati […]