Kiribati's flag of independence.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Taberannang Korauaba.

Pacific Island Affairs Minister, Georgina te Heuheu, watched a little bit drama on Saturday during the Kiribati independence celebration in Orewa, north of Auckland.

A member of a Kiribati Waikato community group jumped to the centre of the hall challenging a member of another group to a fight with guests and people watching it helplessly. Read more »

Alisha Lewis has been awarded the TVNZ Diversity Journalism Scholarship to study a BCS at AUT University.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Thakur Ranjit Singh.

Alisha Lewis is a worthy recipient of TVNZ Journalism Diversity Scholarship, which is run annually in conjunction with AUT University’s Journalism School. She is grateful for the award which has allowed her to pursue her dreams and ambition in journalism.

“I always loved writing and was interested in journalism. While at Epsom Girls High School, I was a literary leader, organised literary events and started the school newspaper there. I had a class in writing for publication in transactional and creative writing. I had interest in both the forms and had entered competitions. Once I took this course, this fuelled my passion for journalism,“ Alisha Lewis said. Read more »

The Rainbow Warrior lists heavily at Marsden Wharf in Auckland Harbour after the bombing by French secret service agents. July, 1985. (Photo courtesy of Greenpeace.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

Greenpeace New Zealand and its international counterparts are commemorating the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior at Marsden Wharf, Auckland Harbour.

Late in the night, 25 years ago, French secret agents attached two bombs beneath the Rainbow Warrior’s waterline. The bombs later exploded, blowing a huge hole int he vessel’s steel hull, and destroying its propellor shaft. Read more »

Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Josephine Latu.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has shifted ground on Tuesday’s announcement floating the idea of an Australian refugee processing post to be set up in East Timor.

The announcement had been met with serious doubts from the Timorese public and political camps.

Fretilin MP JoséTeixeira said it was highly unlikely any plans for a Timorese refugee post would materialise. Read more »

More Co-operative Times: An Australian Defence and a Fijian recon soldier keep a lookout in East Timor. (Photo courtesy of Australian Defence. By WO2 Gary Ramage.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report by Thakur Ranjit Singh.

The Fiji military government has raised concerns about the standard of reporting on Fiji in the New Zealand and Australian media, which have been accused of publishing wrong, incorrect, misleading and malicious news on Fiji.

Speaking to the Fiji Sun newspaper yesterday (7 July), Military leader and Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, called on the Australian Government not to interfere with the internal affairs of Fiji. This comes in the wake of a reported comment by an Australian Foreign Affairs official whose statements were published in the News Limited owned newspaper The Australian. Read more »

The Fiji Times has pulled out of PINA, amid criticisms that PINA has not spoken out enough against Fiji's military regime's media decree.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Stanley Simpson, in Fiji.

The Fiji Times newspaper has withdrawn its membership of the Pacific Islands News Association, saying it is no longer appropriate to continue as a member.

In a letter to the PINA President Moses Stevens, Fiji Times editor Netani
Rika says they understand that the organization faces difficulties in working out how to deal with the situation in Fiji.

However Rika writes that the course of action taken by PINA on the situation in Fiji is not in the best interest of the Fiji Times.

The Fiji Times writes that PINA’s stand does not support the fundamental
principles of the media – which they believe are fundamental to society. Read more »

The Earth Rights report alleges Chevron and other energy companies are making large profits while Burma uses the gas and energy they produce to develop nuclear weapons technologies.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

A report has been published which states Burma’s military junta is being indirectly assisted by Chevron and other multinational energy companies to develop nuclear weapons.

The Earth Rights report also argues that the companies Total, Chevron, and PTTEP have failed to inform their shareholders that they are generating profit in association with the Junta. The report presents new evidence on the revenues generated by the Yadana project for the Burmese military regime. Read more »

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

Less than a week after Indonesia’s National Police vowed to sue Jakarta-based Tempo media, the magazine had three molotov cocktails thrown at its office.

The Police threatened to sue Tempo after stating the magazine’s cover was offensive. Tempo had published a special investigation stating several top police officers were corrupt and had received significant wealth totaling millions through illegal means. Read more »

Flash-Back: In July 2003 in Townsville, Australia, leaders of the Pacific's largest states signed a non-agression pact that paved the way for Australia and Pacific troops to enter Solomon Islands to restore security and democratic order. RAMSI became the child of this pact. (Photo by Selwyn Manning, courtesy of Scoop.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

Tonga and Samoa have been officially thanked by the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) for the two nations’ commitment toward rebuilding the Solomon Islands since 2003.

RAMSI issued a statement this week noting the hundreds of Samoans and Tongans who have helped make the Solomons more stable since civil unrest, murder and violence between sectarian inter-island groups and militia drove the Melanesian state to its knees in the years leading up to 2003. Read more »

Supporters of an independent West Papua risk imprisonment and death simply by raising the Morning Star flag. (Photo, PMC.)

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Neles Tebay.

On Friday, June 17 2010, the indigenous Papuans – through the Papuan Provincial Legislative Council (DPRP) – handed symbolically back to the Indonesian Government, law 21/2001 on Special Autonomy. It should be understood as an element in the ongoing discussions about dialogue between the Indonesian government and the Papuans.

It should neither be dismissed as an irrational act, nor should it lead to the conclusion that referendum and independence are the ultimate goals. It is a cry to be taken seriously: the Papuans are waiting for dialogue to produce a negotiated solution. Read more »