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Lusibaea claims amnesty from crimes

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Solomon Times, Jan. 3, 2010) – In Solomon Islands, Charles Ashley of ANA Legal Services has revealed that he, on behalf of his high profile client Jimmy Lusibaea, is suing the Director of the Public Prosecutions (DPP), in a separate civil case.

Mr. Ashley says that he is suing the DPP on the grounds that Lusibaea's whole case from the laying of charges, prosecution and conviction is a breach of the Amnesty Act Provisions and the Constitution Amendment in 2001.

Last week he applied for Lusibaea's release while waiting for the case to come before the High Court but was refused in a decision handed down Thursday this week.

Mr. Ashley says that under Section 91(4) of the Constitution Amendment in 2001, amnesty or immunity from prosecution is granted to a person for criminal acts done before 15 October 2000.

Mr. Ashley says that the former North Malaita Member of Parliament committed the...

Governor reports overspending, lower revenue

By Haidee V. Eugenio SAIPAN, CNMI (Saipan Tribune, Jan. 4, 2011) – A day after submitting his written State of the Commonwealth report, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial also gave the Legislature a more detailed annual financial report showing that the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) government overspent more than US$16 million because of excess personnel costs at the Departments of Public Safety and Public Health, among other things, as well as actual revenue that's US$2 million lower than projected in Fiscal Year 2010.

The overspending and lower revenue resulted in a deficit of US$18.586 million in Fiscal Year 2010, which he mentioned in passing in his Dec. 30 State of the Commonwealth report.

"This condition was attributed to US$2,318,800 less in revenue collections than estimated and US$16,267,504 in excess expenditures over appropriations contained in P.L. 16-32," Fitial said in his Dec. 31 financial...

News Release

Greenpeace international Amsterdam

January 1, 2011

Greenpeace welcomes the entry into force today of a vast marine conservation area in the West and Central Pacific. In an attempt to rescue the region's declining bigeye and yellowfin tuna stocks, the no-take zone bans purse seine fishing from 4.5 million km2 over five areas of international waters of the Pacific.

The area under protection has been demarked by eight tuna rich Pacific Island Countries, known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement ( PNA ), and it will be enforced through licensing agreements granted to tuna fishing vessels.

"We congratulate the PNA for their vision in protecting our Pacific from wasteful purse seine fishing. This is an historic moment for the Pacific, its marine life and its people's futures," said Lagi Toribau, Greenpeace Australia Pacific oceans campaigner. "For years, these countries have tried to protect their tuna through political means at the...

Quick action saved everyone’s life

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Jan. 4, 2011) – Those on board a supply ship that sank on New Year’s eve night in Marshall Islands are crediting the captain for their survival.

17 people, including crew, construction workers and a mother and her ten year old son were in the water in winter conditions for 12 hours on a makeshift raft.

The vessel is a landing craft with bow doors that open to allow cargo to be driven out.

It was this area that started to leak and the crew could not pump out water fast enough.

Our Correspondent in Marshall Islands, Giff Johnson, has more on the efforts to save the vessel:

"They saw that they were starting to go down and even considered trying to start one of the bulldozers that was on and bulldozing off a lot of the construction materials to lighten up the vessel. But things were apparently moving so quickly, remember this was four in the morning, so...