Monthly Archives: January 2017
President Trump – best and worst case scenarios over next four years
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pack into downtown Washington today for a women's march in opposition to newly inaugurated President Donald...
‘Stop killing Melanesians’ Vanuatu plea to Canberra over West Papua
Archival footage from ABC News on Australian SAS training of Indonesian special forces in 2010 republished on the Special Forces News channel on YouTube...
Tess Newton Cain: We need a new law about kava … or do we?
OPINION: By Tess Newton Cain in Port Vila
There have been a couple of stories recently in Vanuatu about kava exports and one of the...
Santo kava farmers fear ‘silent killer’ investor threat to their production
By Glenda Willie in Port Vila
Vanuatu kava farmers on Espiritu Santo have expressed great fear of losing their production businesses in the wake of...
New data dispels Vanuatu reports of ‘tainted’ kava fears
By Dan McGarry in Port Vila
In response to last weekend’s reports of complaints about allegedly "tainted" kava, Vanuatu-based exporter Peter Colmar has provided clear...
Fifita new education minister in Tongan cabinet shake-up
The Tongan government has announced reassignment of ministerial posts to two of its ministries.
Penisimani Fifita has been moved from the Ministry of Internal Affairs...
RNZ features student docos on love, health, tapu and Pacific reflections
By Laura Williams
Exploring what it’s like to look for love as a 40-something-year-old woman, a grandfather recovering from a stroke, a Pacific grandmother's recollections,...
Despite Trump, 2017 should be another top year for global wind
ANALYSIS: By Steve Sawyer
Looking back at 2016, it’s easier to come up with a list of bad things that happened than good: Brexit,...
Audit finds Canberra spent $1b on offshore detention without authorisation
By Kerrie Armstrong
An independent audit has slammed the Australian Department of Immigration's running of the Nauru and Manus Island detention centres, saying department officials...
Timorese have had a Timor Sea treaty win but could still lose big-time
ANALYSIS: By Frank Brennan
Without any media fanfare, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop published a statement on 9 January 2017 announcing that Australia and Timor-Leste...
China coal plant building at crossroads amid carbon pricing reforms
China is currently building more coal plants than it needs and in doing so is misallocating capital at an unprecedented rate.
As of July 2016,...
HSBC accused of being ‘dirty banker’ financing palm oil forest destruction
This undercover footage by Greenpeace shows bulldozers destroying Indonesian rainforest. HSBC, one of the biggest banks in the world, is accused of lending millions...
Indonesia and Japan agree to step up maritime security, plan rail link
Indonesia and Japan have agreed to step up maritime security and start discussions on a major railway project to link Jakarta and Surabaya in...
‘No one can stop me’, says Duterte on possible martial law in Philippines
Al Jazeera's Jamela Alingogan reports from Manila on a game-changing president marking six months in office. Video: AJ YouTube
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has said...
Flashback: Honouring independent journalist and film maker Mark Worth
Land of the Morning Star ... the 2004 documentary on West Papua made by Mark Worth.
From Pacific Media Watch / Australians for a Free...
Endangered – the frontline journalism of outrage
War Reporters, a short video launched by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last year to honour journalists facing "danger zones". Its release coincided with the...
Biman Prasad: COP23 presidency — facing the gravity of the task for Fiji
ANALYSIS: By Professor Biman Prasad
It has been interesting to read about Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama's intentions on COP23 (Conference of Parties 23) in...
Muslims pledge support for Catholics in new Indonesian blasphemy case
By Ryan Dagur in Jakarta
Muslim activists have joined growing calls for a hardline Muslim cleric to be charged with blasphemy for insulting Christianity.
Rizieq...
Concern growing in Indonesia over Rohingya ‘genocide’ crisis
By Ryan Dagur and Katharina R. Lestari in Jakarta
There is rising concern in majority Muslim Indonesia that the treatment being meted out to ethnic...
Vanuatu company accused of exporting kava ‘trash’ throws industry in turmoil
By Len Garae in Port Vila
The writing is on the wall for the fate of Peter Colmar’s kava exporting company, Sarami Plantation, now that...
Cartoons: Malcolm Evans on inside the New Zealand Herald editorial office
Malcolm Evans is one of New Zealand's best political cartoonists who was dumped from his New Zealand Herald contract for daring to suggest Israel...
David Robie: Florida airport shootings – few basic questions being raised
Surveillance footage of the accused guman Esteban Santiago opening fire at Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida last Friday. Video: TMZ website
ANALYSIS: By David Robie
Just...