Article – BusinessDesk

25/07/11 Executive sport summary – An overview of the major sporting events – Results, key moments and talking points – Everything you need to know to foot it at the water cooler this week. Read more »

REGION-WIDE NEWS:

Pacific Media Centre: YouTube channel’s latest videos

West Papua crisis

Exclusive: Al Jazeera footage of Indonesia crackdown against Papuans seeking independence – 6 killed.

Pacific Forum meets rugby

Pacific Media Centre’s Christopher Chang and Alexander Winkler check out the 42nd Pacific Islands Forum traps in Auckland as rugby fever began to take hold last month.

Runaway ex-colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara at the Papatoetoe Town Hall, Auckland, on Saturday night. Photo: Alex Perrottet/PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Alex Perrottet of Pacific Media Watch

Fiji political fugitive Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara is departing New Zealand for Tonga today, and plans to make a whirlwind tour to the US and around the Pacific over the next month to promote his “pro-democracy” cause.

The former lieutenant-colonel and a key officer in the 2006 military coup accused by human rights activists of being responsible for torture in the regime – allegations he denies – expects to visit Samoa, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

And he will return to Auckland for the Pacific Islands Forum in early September. Read more »

Press Release – TVNZ

PM won’t rule out reform of Pharmac as part of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations: will only do deal “in New Zealand’s best interests” but “everybody puts everything on the table” Read more »

Press Release – Heather Roy’s Diary

TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY Truth, they say, is stranger than fiction. The Israeli spy fiasco that has led the news for the past few days is a plot Le Carre might be tempted to write, or perhaps more likely, not even have entertained for its incompetence. Read more »

Press Release – New Zealand Labour Party

Phil GOFF Labour Leader 23 July 2011 MEDIA STATEMENT Fond farewell to Hon Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan Labour Leader Phil Goff has expressed his deepest condolences to the family of Hon Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan. “Whetu was a long serving Labour MP and the first female … Read more »

PNG's acting Prime Minister Sam Abal .... attacks Murdoch-owned Post-Courier for attempt at "regime change". Photo: PINA

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By the PMC news desk and agencies

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has come under fire from one of the furthest flung corners of his media empire this week, with Papua New Guinea’s acting prime minister accusing one of the media baron’s papers of trying to oust him, reports Agence France-Presse.

Acting PM Sam Abal said he was closely watching developments on the far side of the globe in London, where Murdoch’s News Corporation is under intense scrutiny over phone voicemail hacking by the now-defunct News of the World.

The scandal forced Murdoch to close the tabloid and prompted the resignation of several top executives while two of Britain’s most senior police have now quit over their handling of investigations into the issue. Read more »

Press Release – Te Mana Akonga

Māori students are saddened by the passing of Dame Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan ONZ and pay tribute to the significant legacy she has left in education and society. Read more »

Press Release – The Maori Party

Dame Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan was an illustrious stateswoman who left a formidable legacy for Maori women” said Te Tai Tonga MP, Rahui Katene. Read more »

Sisters in Islam speaker Ratna Osman and AUT University senior lecturer Dr Camille Nakhid, a board member of co-host Pacific Media Centre, at last night's seminar. Photo: Del Abcede/PMC

Pacific Scoop
Report – By Yvonne Brill

Mainstream and traditional interpretations of sharia law can and should be changed to ensure equality and justice for all Muslims, says a Muslim women’s rights activist.

Speaking at a Muslim Women’s Rights are Human Rights public forum organised by the Umma Trust in association with the Pacific Media Centre at AUT University last night, Ratna Osman called for a progressive interpretation of Islam that recognised women’s rights.

She also appealed for the acceptance of  “the concept of family as a place of security, harmony, support and personal growth for all members”. Read more »