Yearly Archives: 2021
Health officials detect 83 covid-19 cases at controversial Papuan Games
By Desi Purnamawati and Uyu Liman in Jakarta
Eighty-three covid-19 cases have been reported during the Indonesian National Games (PON-XX) being held in Papua as...
NZ able to ‘surge’ covid ICU capacity by risking planned care, says minister
RNZ News
Some in New Zealand's health industry fear that the ICU system will not cope if the delta outbreak escalates, but Health Minister Andrew...
Ardern says NZ at one of covid’s ‘most challenging moments’ – 35 new cases
RNZ News
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Waikato shows that New Zealand's tried and true method of stamping out the covid-19 virus is working.
There were...
NZ covid-19 case numbers could soon pass 100 a day, warns modeller
By Rowan Quinn, RNZ News health correspondent
Auckland's daily covid-19 case numbers could reach triple figures by the end of the month, warns a New...
Samoa Observer: Pandora Papers show tax reform vital, but not just for Samoa
EDITORIAL: By the Samoa Observer editorial board
How strange that an Australian should have emerged as the face of Samoa in the Pandora Papers...
60 new covid cases in NZ as regions scramble over positive visits
RNZ News
New Zealand's Ministry of Health today announced 60 new community cases of covid-19, the most in nearly six weeks, while Northland and the...
Activists say Jokowi’s West Papua visit only to bolster image – no benefits
By Agus Pabika in Jayapura
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's visit to Papua last weekend to officially open Indonesia's National Games (PON XX) and officiate a...
Rappler’s Maria Ressa, Russia’s Dmitry Muratov win 2021 Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 announced in Oslo today. Video: Rappler livestream
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk
Rappler chief executive Maria Ressa of the Philippines and...
Northland added to NZ’s alert level 3 tonight over ‘uncooperative’ case
RNZ News
Northland will move to alert level 3 restrictions from 11:59pm tonight, New Zealand's Covid-19 Response Minister has confirmed.
Minister Chris Hipkins held a briefing...
Scott Waide: Memo to our younger people – go out to rural PNG and...
COMMENT: By Scott Waide
Senior EMTV journalist and bureau chief Scott Waide in Papua New Guinea's second city Lae this week called time on his...
Medical Council has ‘zero tolerance’ for NZ anti-vax advice – 44 new cases
RNZ News
Twenty three complaints regarding New Zealand doctors spreading anti-vaccination misinformation have been made to the Medical Council as the group says it has...
‘Get vaccinated before it gets you’ plea from PNG anti-vaxxer champ
PNG Post-Courier
Phyonna Silikara Gangloff is a champion Papua New Guinean squash player.
Fit and healthy, the 37-year-old mother of two lived a normal life until...
Bainimarama’s covid bragging rebuked as ‘shameful and despicable’ by Prasad
Asia Pacific Report newsdesk
Fiji's opposition National Federation Party has blamed 1150 pandemic deaths on the Bainimarama government’s "shameful and despicable" ego-driven leadership.
“Stop bragging and...
Stuff’s independent covid-19 fact guide – ‘The whole truth’
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk
Those most at-risk of serious illness or death from covid-19 are frequently targeted with misinformation, reports Stuff.
Produced by Stuff in partnership...
Panguna campaigner Theonila Matbob wins award over Rio Tinto challenge
By Evan Schuurman
Bougainville community leader and MP Theonila Roka Matbob has received the Gwynne Skinner Human Rights Award in recognition of her outstanding work...
Effective NZ vaccination campaigns ‘must include’ Māori, Pacific leaders
By Rowan Quinn, RNZ health correspondent
The calls for New Zealanders to get vaccinated are becoming more urgent by the day as covid-19 embeds itself...
Police arrest spectator at Papua Games for wearing Morning Star T-shirt
By Maria Baru in Sorong, West Papua
Brother Frater Anton Syufi of the Papua's Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) has been arrested by the Jayapura...
NZ’s covid-zero strategy may be past its use-by date, but it still has a...
ANALYSIS: By Michael Plank, University of Canterbury
The announcement this week that New Zealand will introduce a vaccination certificate by November is welcome news. Whether...
Gavin Ellis: Lockdown musings over media lessons from a pandemic
COMMENTARY: By Gavin Ellis of Knightly Views
It appears we are a nation of selfish malcontents for whom enough is never enough.
That is one of...
Indonesian Games ‘held on bones of Papuans’, accuses Benny Wenda
Asia Pacific Report newsdesk
The interim president of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) has accused Indonesia of holding its 20th National Games...
NZ plans national covid ‘action day’ push to boost vaccinated numbers
RNZ News
New Zealanders need to pitch in for a final push to get as many people vaccinated as possible, says the Covid-19 Response Minister...
Thousands of youth get jab at NZ Pasifika community event
RNZ Pacific
A youth-led Pasifika mass vaccination event in Auckland has immunised 7000 people over the past four days.
Pacific health provider South Seas' youth group...