Miss Samoa, Latafale Auva’a, is the Miss Pacific Islands 2014 and 2015. The 21-year-old Ms. Auva’a was crowned by the outgoing Miss South Pacific, Teuira Napa, at Tuana’imato on December 20th last year where the pageant was held. The Otago University student overcame competition from seven other contestants to secure the title. And in doing…
So many women in Papua New Guinea have fled their villages because of allegations of witchcraft that it’s creating a refugee problem. That’s according to Ruth Kissam, youth coordinator for the Western Highlands provincial government. The case of four women in the Hewa language area of Enga province hit the headlines last week, when it…
THE Queen’s Young Leaders Discovery workshop will be hosted in Honiara on Monday next week. Two members from Comic Relief will arrive on Sunday to lead the workshop. The workshop will be held at the Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel. The Queen’s Young Leaders programme will be running grant schemes in six countries across the Commonwealth…
ABC: Lawyers for Papua New Guinea’s prime minister Peter O’Neill will question the jurisdiction of a tribunal set up to investigate allegations of misconduct in office. Mr O’Neill is accused of bypassing proper procedures to secure a $1.3 billion loan from the Australian branch of UBS Investment Bank to buy Oil Search shares for the…
RNZI: Official records in French Polynesia show that four political parties have ceased to be recognised because of a lack of accountability. The parties in question have lost their status because they failed to submit audited accounts. Among them are the Aia Api party of Emile Vernaudon, who played key roles in local politics and…
RNZI: Reports from New Caledonia say today’s planned presidential election has been deferred indefinitely as the deadlock within the dominant anti-independence camp continues. The newly-elected 11-member government is due to meet today and to be chaired by the caretaker president, Cynthia Ligeard, who was one of the two unsuccessful candidates in last week’s first…
NEIGHBOURING Fiji is bracing for a possibility of two tropical cyclones predicted to hit the Island nation between the November to April cyclone season with one possibly reaching category three. And there is a high probability that these cyclones will pass close to, or over, the northern and eastern parts of Fiji. This has been…
WELLINGTON, (XINHUA) — The southwest Pacific Ocean expects an average number of tropical cyclones to strike this season, but some small island nations will fare worst, according to a New Zealand government forecast on Wednesday. The average number of named tropical cyclones was 12.4 for the season, which runs from November to April and the…
ADVANCES in the business environment in several Pacific Island countries mark 2014 as a year of achievement for the Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI), says a recently launched report the progress of the regional technical assistance facility. PSDI, which focuses on improving the business environment by promoting investment, encouraging entrepreneurship, and easing constraints to…
SUSTAINABLE economic development in the region is vital to address social needs ranging from health and education, to environmental and cultural protection, says a report released by the Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative. In its seventh progress report for July 2013 — June 2014, PSDI said this could not occur without resources generated by private…