Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama on a road to where? (Photo by Selwyn Manning, courtesy of Scoop.co.nz.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

Fiji’s military leader Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has invited Pacific leaders to Fiji to take part in a conference titled “Engaging Fiji” – but New Zealand will not attend.

Only days after Bainimarama accused New Zealand and Australia of meddling in Melanesian politics, his government issued a Pacific-wide invite, stating: “Prime Minister Commodore Bainimarama has invited leaders of Pacific Island countries to participate in ‘Engaging Fiji Meeting’ to be held in Fiji. The meeting will take place at the Inter Continental Resort in Natadola on July 22 – 23.” Read more »

PINA has had a turbulent year with several key members resigning. Recently, the Fiji Times pulled out citing dissatisfaction at how PINA has not spoken out enough against Fiji's military regime's media decree.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Stanley Simpson in Suva.

The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) will ask Fiji media to host the 2011 Pacific Media Summit if Cook Islands withdraws from organising the event.

The resolution was passed at a PINA board meeting held by teleconference on July 8.

At the meeting, the PINA board accepted the resignation of former vice-president John Woods, editor of the Cook Island News.

Woods, as the vice-president, was the main contact in the Cook Islands for the organising of the 2011 summit. However, he is now involved in setting up a
rival organisation to PINA after expressing concern at PINA’s stand over Fiji politics. Read more »

Fijian American teen Hosanna Kabakoro competes in Miss Teen USA pageant on July 24. (Photo supplied.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Josephine Latu.

After witnessing 30 machete-armed men raid her home during the Fiji coup in 2000, an eight-year old Hosanna Kabakoro relocated with her family from Naweni village in Cakaudrove to the northwestern state of Idaho, USA, almost 10,000km away.

“For a long time, it was horrible,” Kabakoro, now 18, says of her experience.

She adds that the man responsible for the takeover of their land is still living in her childhood home today and authorities have failed to resolve the issue: “We are left not being able to return to the home we worked so hard to build.” Read more »

Tonga's Ministry of Information and Communications, 'Eseta Fusitu'a. (Photo by MIC Tonga (www.mic.gov.to)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Tevita Motulalo.

By her own admission on national television, the Minister of Information and Communication Hon. ‘Eseta Fusitu‘a, said she is looking at imposing restrictive regulation on the country’s newspapers.

This is despite the sensitive issue of Freedom of Speech and of the Press being one of extreme importance when Tonga steps up to become more democratic in its structure.

Currently, the Government has tight control of only the broadcasting media, from licensing, to content, to spectrum – under regulation through the Communications Act amongst other legislations. Read more »

Press Release:
Aids Foundation of New Zealand.

Miss Tara, the 2010‐2011 Miss Galaxy Queen, was crowned at the largest annual pageant in Tonga on Friday 9 July 2010. The pageant kicked off on Saturday 3 July with a spectacular condom parade and attracted crowds of approximately 2000 people each night.

The Miss Galaxy Queen pageant showcases the social, creative and educational skills of Leitis in a colourful extravaganza of performance and fun. The Tonga Leitis’ Association (TLA), which organises Miss Galaxy, defines Leitis as an inclusive term for transgender, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Read more »

Press Release:
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes the successful mediation of a dispute between Indonesia’s police forces and Tempo magazine by the country’s Press Council.

The June 28 issue of Tempo featured an illustration showing a uniformed policeman with piggy banks on its cover, for the story “Fat Bank Accounts of Police Officers”, on alleged suspicious bank accounts held by several high-ranking police officers.

The caricature prompted Indonesia’s police headquarters to file criminal defamation charges against the magazine with the Police Criminal Unit, an institution under the authority of the national police.

“The IFJ is pleased that mediation between the two parties by the Indonesian Press Council, an action recommended by our affiliate, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), has resulted in a successful outcome for all involved,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“It was regrettable that police did not first follow procedures stipulated under Press Law No. 40/1999, which allows for right of reply or to file a complaint with the Indonesian Press Council,” Park said.

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 125 countries.

Refuge? What Refuge? In 2002 56 Sri Lankans (pictured above) were believed to be sailing for New Zealand where they intended to claim asylum. (Photo issued by the New Zealand Government, and courtesy of Scoop.co.nz.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Josephine Latu.

The Timor Leste parliament has voted against any proposal to build a refugee processing centre on its shores for asylum seekers heading to Australia.

AFP reports that the 34 parliamentarians (out of a 66 seat House) voted unanimously on Monday to “firmly reject any plan to set up a refugee detention centre in East Timor”. Read more »

Monday night, Radio Fiji reported Australia’s foreign affairs minister Stephen Smith (pictured left, with NZ foreign minister Murray McCully) admitted Australia had indeed been lobbying against the meeting. (Photo by Selwyn Manning, courtesy Scoop.co.nz.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Thakur Ranjit Singh.

Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has accused Australia and New Zealand of working behind the scenes to derail the upcoming Melanesian Spearhead Group meeting scheduled at Natadola Resort, Nadi on 22 and 23 July, 2010.

This comes in the wake of deferment of the scheduled meeting by the Chair of MSG, the Vanuatu Prime Minister Edward Natapei. The deferment is attributed to what Natapei calls an “impasse over Fiji’s hosting and chairmanship of the event needed to be resolved.’ Fiji Sun reported. Read more »

SHIMBIRO, SOMALIA - NOVEMBER 2007 Somali refugees look back anxiously as they try to locate friends and relatives left behind on Shimbiro Beach as they board smugglers' boats departing for Yemen. Their fate is sealed. Only eleven of the people who took this boat were ever to reach Yemen alive. (Photo © Alixandra Fazzina/NOOR, courtesy of UNHCR)

Press Release: UNHCR.

GENEVA, 9 July 2010 – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today announced the winner of its annual Nansen Refugee Award, British photo-journalist Alixandra Fazzina. Ms. Fazzina was chosen for her tireless dedication to uncovering and portraying the overlooked human consequences of war.

Over the last ten years Alixandra Fazzina has tirelessly documented the plight of the uprooted through distinctive and moving photo reportages.

Alixandra Fazzina’s work has taken her to Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia to cover human tragedies often neglected by mainstream media. Read more »

National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri has denied his officers are corrupt nor involved with attacks on Tempo Magazine's offices, or a brutal attack on anti-corruption campaigner, Tama Satrya Langkun. (Photo courtesy of Jakarta Globe.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

Update: IFJ Commends resolution in Indonesia Police/Tempo dispute.

Indonesia’s National Police has issued criminal defamation charges against Tempo Magazine after the publication of a major investigation alleging some of the nation’s top police officers were corrupt.

Tempo’s July 28 cover story revealed several top police officers had amassed great wealth. The magazine cited evidence showing their private bank accounts contained millions of dollars. It questioned how this could be so on Police salaries. Read more »