You are here

Home › 2003 › February 2003 ›

Articles Search

Search results

Mon
03
Feb

SOLOMONS MINISTER TAKES UNANNOUNCED TRIP

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 02/03/2003 - 00:00

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (PFnet News/SIBC) - Solomon Islands Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza has taken an unannounced trip to South Korea this morning.

While the Prime Minister's trip was not announced, it is believed he went on a mission to take delivery of ten fishing boats that are being presented to the Solomon Islands as gifts.

However, sources revealed to the SIBC that the fishing boats were ready to be dumped and described as redundant boats.

Interested individuals in getting the boats are understood to be under the requirement of applying through the Minister of Fisheries, with one Government Minister confirming to the national broadcaster of interest in getting a boat.

He said that the boats would need major repairs to be seaworthy.

February 3, 2003

+ continue reading
Mon
03
Feb

MARSHALLS CHIEF JUSTICE RESIGNS UNDER CLOUD

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 02/03/2003 - 00:00

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Pacific Islands Report, Feb. 3) – Former Marshall Islands Chief Justice Allen P. Fields reportedly has resigned after pleading no contest to charges of sex solicitation in California.

According to Yokwe Online, a Marshall Islands web publication, Fields resigned Jan. 27 after criminal charges against him were made public about two weeks ago. He is said to have left the islands after an attorney made his plea in Sacramento on Friday.

The Sacramento Bee reports that Fields, a longtime resident of Sacramento and retired justice of the Superior Court of Sacramento, was fined $100 and put on three years probation.

The 71-year-old chief justice was arrested Jan. 6 in a Sacramento park by undercover police posing as male prostitutes. He was charged for indecent exposure and soliciting sex.

Meanwhile, theft charges are still pending against another Marshalls justice, Judge Charles Henry. Charges of travel-related theft and fraud were...

+ continue reading
Mon
03
Feb

SAMOAN GROUP PROTESTS RAINFOREST CLEARING

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 02/03/2003 - 00:00

APIA, Samoa (RNZI, Feb. 3) - The youth caucus of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement has expressed its opposition to the clearing of 3,000 acres of rainforest to build a township in Samoa.

The government has bought forest near the village of Salelologa on the island of Savai’I, although the sale price has led to a court case, which is yet to be resolved.

The pledge supported by the youth caucus said the conference was concerned with preserving the Pacific environment and resources for future generations.

February 3, 2003

Radio New Zealand International: www.rnzi.com. 

+ continue reading
Mon
03
Feb

WAR WITH IRAQ: MEDIA'S 'HINGE MOMENT'

Submitted by piradmin on Mon, 02/03/2003 - 00:00

In this report:

HONOLULU (Feb. 3) -- The "24/7 media culture" that dominates TV news today will be tested if the United States goes to war with Iraq, an associate editor and op-ed columnist for The New York Times said in Honolulu.

"This is a hinge moment in history but also for the news media," said Frank Rich in a recent talk co-sponsored by the East-West Center Media Program, the Honolulu Community Media Council and the Society of Professional Journalists. "The media will be tested," he said, adding that he was unsure how the story would be handled in a "24/7 format."

Rich said there have been tremendous changes in the news culture since the 1991 Gulf War with the development of round-the-clock TV news coverage. Fox News, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN and Internet have changed the way news is gathered, presented and defined.

What he called today's "mediathon" is dominated by one story at a time that is "souped up with technology" and relies on logos, theme music...

+ continue reading
Tue
04
Feb

BIG WAVES SMASH PORT VILA STOREFRONTS

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/04/2003 - 00:00

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (PINA, Feb. 3) - Waterfront businesses here are cleaning up and doing repairs after big sea swells from Cyclone Beni pounded ashore, smashing into them.

Well-known hotels, restaurants and bars, such as the Rossi, Iririki Island, Erakor, and the Sea View, were damaged when the swells smashed into buildings.

The big sea swells were generated as Cyclone Beni, which developed in the southern Solomons, passed to the west of Vanuatu’s main islands heading southeast.

The swells pounding ashore in the Port Vila area and filled rooms with water, stone and sand.

No lives were reported lost. But reports said a resident from Blacksands received injuries while trying to save his property when his home was swept into the sea.

Residents of Mele village experienced damage to their graveyard, which was said to be covered with sea water.

After battering Rennell and Bellona in the southern Solomons and generating big sea swells as it moved...

+ continue reading
Tue
04
Feb

ONLINE UNIVERSITY SCOUTING PACIFIC NEEDS

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/04/2003 - 00:00

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Feb. 4) - Representatives of one of the pioneers in distance education programs in the United States are on island to gather information on the needs of students in the Pacific region.

Jason Schrott, regional director for Asia-Pacific of University of Phoenix Online, said they are here to meet with officials of the CNMI Scholarship Office and Northern Marianas College to explain how local students can use their services.

"Our trip to Saipan is mainly to understand the market. By doing so, we are meeting with NMC and the Scholarship Office. Just sort of information gathering," he said.

University of Phoenix Online was launched in 1989 for working adults unable to attend classroom-based classes but are eager to enhance their educational background.

Today, the university serves over 50,000 students online, Schrott said.

University of Phoenix Online, offers at least 11 undergraduate programs which include associate of...

+ continue reading
Tue
04
Feb

BANK OF GUAM MENDS RELATIONS WITH CNMI

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/04/2003 - 00:00

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Feb. 3) - Bank of Guam Chairman and President Anthony A. Leon Guerrero acknowledged that past "legal problems" may have affected the company’s ties with the CNMI government, but he assured that the banking institution is "committed to assist" the Northern Marianas.

Leon Guerrero told Variety in an interview that it was "unfortunate" that the $19 million proposed loan of the CNMI government, which was supposed to be used to pay tax refunds and rebates, may have affected their bank-client relations.

"Its legality was an issue. (But) we are in the same community, the same family, and whatever we can resolve as a community together we are willing to provide assistance," Leon Guerrero said in a phone interview.

He said the bank is ready to make a "major infusion" into the local economy.

He confirmed that the bank’s board has approved the $20 million loan that the CNMI government will use to pay land compensation claims.

...

+ continue reading
Tue
04
Feb

HOWARD: IRAQ WAR WON’T HURT REGIONAL RELATIONS

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/04/2003 - 00:00

MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Feb. 4) - Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, says any conflict in Iraq should not affect regional relations in Southeast Asia.

Howard will next week visit the United States, Britain and Indonesia for talks on the mounting Iraq crisis.

The Prime Minister says he wants to thank President Megwati Sukarnoputri for Indonesia's effective investigation of the Bali bombing in October.

Howard says relations with Muslim countries in the region should not be affected if a war in Iraq goes ahead.

"I'm not entertaining a concern about the impact in the war against terror. The very trigger for my visit there to thank her for the way in which they have reacted to the Bali outrage is an indication that they are very determined. And I want to recognize that determination. I want to work with them."

February 4, 2003

For additional reports from Radio Australia, go to PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT News/Information Links:...

+ continue reading
Tue
04
Feb

CHARGES OF RACISM SHOW RIFT IN FIJI POLITICS

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/04/2003 - 00:00

MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Feb. 4) - The Fiji Labor Party has denied there is a rift among its members following accusations against leader and deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhary.

Party member John Ali has accused Chaudhary of causing racial division among indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians.

The Fiji Labor Party is the sole representative of the Indo-Fijian population in parliament.

Fiji Labour Party senior member Pratap Chand has denied there is a rift within the party, but he says the accusations of John Ali are better resolved with party leader Mahendra Chaudhary.

Chand refused to give further comment on the matter saying its between Ali and Chaudhary. Ali has accused Chaudhary of being responsible for the current political problems in Fiji. He says Chaudhary's arrogance is pulling the country back from resolving major national issues and he goes further to allege that the attitude of Chaudhary is causing racial division among the...

+ continue reading
Tue
04
Feb

TAHITI EYES COMMON MARKET IN PACIFIC

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/04/2003 - 00:00

PAPEETE, Tahiti (Tahitipresse, Feb. 3) - Tahiti’s government appears interested in a regional project to create a common market among Pacific Islands Forum countries, even though French Polynesia remains only a Forum observer.

Tahiti’s interest was stimulated by the visit of Robert Scollay, head of the Asia Institute in Auckland and an economic expert. His visit to Tahiti from Jan. 22-24 was on behalf of the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) being prepared as a sort of regional common market for Pacific island nations.

PICTA asked Scollay to visit Tahiti to study French Polynesia’s economic situation, the state of its trade relations with neighboring countries, its links with the European Community and the possibility of trade relations with South Pacific countries as part of the eventual PICTA.

That agreement would allow for Forum members to enter into a free-trade system.

PICTA is to be implemented over a 10-year period after its...

+ continue reading

Pages

Filter by date created:

Filter by article category: