Articles Search

NUKU‘ALOFA, Tonga (Radio Australia, Jan. 10) - In a departure from tradition, Tonga's opposition Human Rights and Democracy Movement is supporting the country's government over allegations of involvement in terrorism.

The ongoing issue of Tongan-registered ships being used for nefarious purposes has taken a new twist, with allegations that a fleet of fifteen ships flying the Tongan flag are in fact owned by Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

The pro-democracy movement, which is normally a fierce critic of the government, is now defending it.

The first allegations come from the Washington Post Newspaper, which quotes unnamed US Intelligence officials as saying that Osama Bin Laden terrorist Al Qaeda network is moving in the Mediterranean on Tongan flagged ships.

But the Tongan government last year announced that it was pulling out of the ship registration business.

As far as Pro Democracy Lopeti Senituli is concerned, people should stop criticizing...

NAURU, Nauru (Radio Australia, Jan. 10) - There is uncertainty surrounding the political future of the Micronesian island of Nauru.

All politicians have gone to ground, and no public servants are prepared to go on the record.

But what we do know is that the country has a new president, Bernard Dowiyogo, who has been sworn in to replace former President Rene Harris following a vote of no confidence on Wednesday.

There has been unrest over Harris’s decision to help out Canberra by accepting more than 1,000 asylum seekers in return for increased aid.

Nauru has a long tradition of government changing and Presidents being replaced at short notice.

The new President, Bernard Dowiyogo is a long standing politician and a former President.

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Department has acknowledged the fact that there is a new president in Nauru.

"The Australian government has praised Rene Harris for his cooperation in housing asylum seekers and...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National/PINA, Jan. 9) - Representatives of six German companies are to visit Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu to assess their potential for organic farming.

Papua New Guinea Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) acting managing director, Ivan Pomaleu, said the Germans arrive in early February.

The visit has been organized in conjunction with the Brussels-based Centre for the Development of Enterprise. This is part of the European Union-ACP (African, Caribbean, Pacific) aid, trade and development partnership.

Organic farming is a system of agriculture that encourages healthy soil and crops through such practices as nutrient recycling of organic matter, crop rotations, and proper tillage. It avoids synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Pomaleu said: "Organic food on shelves is increasing at a very high rate of about 15 percent per annum. In the next five years, it is estimated that organic food will constitute 25 per...

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Jan. 10) - Neten Kaselen, 54, stood outside the storage container parked at Jeff's Pirates Cove surrounded by what looked like a sea of children for one woman to navigate.

There are 14 people in all, living in a small, rebuilt, three-room teetering tin-and-wood shack in Agat. Most are of elementary school age, some her grandchildren, some her children; two are her young-adult daughters.

It was a hard life before Supertyphoon Pongsona hit the island, tearing her home to pieces, leaving her family to drag almost everything to the curb for the garbage trucks to devour. It's even harder now living in a house constructed from typhoon scrap metal and wood.

One daughter has a job. Neten is unemployed.

But some light broke in the clouds yesterday in the form of that storage container from Hawaii filled with supplies. The daughter of Jeff Pleadwell, who owns Jeff's Pirates Cove, helped lead a supply drive in Honolulu to help...