More Top Stories
Solar power battery repairs ‘could take up to 12 months’
15 April 2024
Police shortage leads to drop in checkpoints
9 April 2024
Sarakura declared new Penrhyn MP
16 March 2024
Govt says $1.3m invested in Lady Samoa charter
22 February 2024
Mass milkfish die-off in Penrhyn raises concerns
3 April 2024
Regulator defends Starlink users
9 April 2024
Aitutaki’s heritage preserved in new anthology
4 January 2024
Avatiu Eels retain Nines title
8 January 2024
Beddoes crowned top athlete
8 January 2024
NRL player Dargan dies in Aitutaki motorcycle crash
24 December 2023
‘Please heed the signs’: resident makes plea to tourists
20 December 2023
Cook Islands set to play in new World Series
10 October 2023
Corruption report exposes ‘bribe and sexual favours’
17 January 2023
Corruption in the Cook Islands?
21 January 2023
Moana target 2025 World Cup
11 November 2022
National
Five months prison for Aitutaki indecent assault, other charges
A man who was convicted for 12 separate offences including indecent assault has been sentenced to five months imprisonment.
Probation for repeat offender
The fourth accused in a Nikao brawl incident on January 28 this year has been sentenced to 12 months’ probation.
Teachers sought for 2013 influx of new staff
Another influx of new teachers is expected to the Cook Islands next year, with the Ministry of Education currently advertising for positions available for 2013. A range of positions are to be filled, with a large number of these at Tereora College. The college is seeking applicants for a deputy principal position, head of faculty […]
Questions over prisoner's mental health
The chief justice is worried about sex offender Japhet Manuel’s mental state and the probability of continued offending on his release from prison if he does not receive medical treatment. Chief Justice Tom Weston yesterday sentenced Manuel to three and a half years in prison for six offences – including the indecent assault of a […]
Sex offender jailed
Serial sex offender Japhet Manuel was sentenced yesterday to three and a half years in prison. Chief Justice Tom Weston sent him to prison for six offences committed over four days in March, including sexually assaulting a sleeping pregnant woman. Manuel’s offending spree started on March 14, when he walked onto a woman’s property and […]
The last straw
Aucklander Nick Diggle has had a rough few months. First his yacht, Bonny, was stolen by suspected paedophile David Peppiatt last December as he fled New Zealand before his trial. Then Diggle discovered Bonny had been found on January 4 drifting 20 nautical miles from Rarotonga, after Peppiatt mysteriously disappeared. Now he has to pay […]
Police too busy to return money
Police Commissioner Maara Tetava says the investigation into the theft of $20,000 from police custody by police officers is still ongoing. He apologised yesterday for not providing more information, saying he was ”very busy“ with the Forum security operations. The commissioner, along with Minister of Police Teariki Heather, flew to a week-long conference in the […]
'We don't speed'
Motorcade coordinator Robert Graham claims the motorcade carrying foreign leaders around the Forum does not speed – despite the public alleging otherwise. Volunteer drivers, who practised for weeks, were trained to observe strict traffic regulations and all speed limits. ”We don’t speed,“ says Graham, before saying he has been ”sacking guys every day“ for that […]
Internet on lockdown
Telecom Cook Islands is confident their wireless network is coping with the rigours of the Pacific Islands Forum despite a network outage in the lead-up to the event. One of the broadband remote access routers failed completely last Wednesday night that affected broadband customers throughout the island. There have also been complaints of minor outages […]
PACP supports Fiji
Tokelau Premier Toke Talagi has backed Fiji’s return to being involved in Pacific division of the African, Carribean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). Formed in 1975, the ACP comprises 80 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific that are separated into seven areas. Aside from the Caribbean and Pacific groups, the other five […]
USP campus extensions unveiled
University of the South Pacific’s vice chancellor Rajesh Chandra vowed to ”transform“ the institution at the official opening of the new extensions to the local campus on Monday afternoon. Construction of an administration area, computer laboratory, lecture room and student kitchen by contractor Landholdings Ltd in March was completed within five months. AUSAid provided funding […]
'No such thing as exploratory fishing'
Confident that the Cook Islands ”will do the right thing“, Marshall Islands politician Tony deBrum is congratulating government ”in advance“ for legislating a shark sanctuary. The member of parliament for Kwajalein has been vocal about shark protection in his country, which banned shark finning in October last year. DeBrum, who is in Rarotonga for the […]
Celebrating Moana Nui O Kiva
Conservation International this week hosted a dinner to celebrate the Pacific Oceanscape and those who are party to it. Prime Minister Henry Puna welcomed conservationists, voyagers and regional decision-makers to a seaside function on Monday night. ”The well-known Pacific philosopher and writer Epeli Hau’ofa defined who we are as Pacific Islanders – he said, and […]
New pact opens up regional trade
Following months of deliberation and seven rounds of negotiations, Pacific ACP leaders yesterday signed the PICTA trade in services protocol. ”This will be a significant step towards facilitating regional integration and unlocking potential benefits of regional trade in services,“ Forum Secretariat secretary-general Tuiloma Neroni Slade said. The agreement engenders the liberalisation of services in travel, […]
PNG accepts deep sea mining talks
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says his government’s options are open and he welcomes an open and transparent discussion on the sea bed mining amidst opposition by international, regional and national NGOs, environmental groupings and other stakeholders. Speaking in Rarotonga, O’Neill said, ”We welcome any contributions the Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and other […]
Deep sea mining framework unveiled
A regional legislative and regulatory framework for deep-sea minerals exploration and exploitation was unveiled yesterday, and some non-government organisations are highly concerned about its impact. Deputy Prime Minister Tom Marsters, whose portfolios include deep-sea minerals, spoke at the launch yesterday, noting that Pacific leaders endorsed the framework in Cairns in 2009. He said the framework […]
Last leaders arrive
Except for star of the show Hillary Clinton, the last of the foreign leaders to arrive for the Pacific Leaders Forum this week flew into Rarotonga yesterday. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key arrived in an RNZAF plane at around 1 yesterday afternoon. Also on-board were Kiribati President Anote Tong, Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister Ham […]
Reward: $12,500
Local businessman Bill Doherty is increasing the reward offered for the return of his safe – to $12,500. On August 4, a Saturday night, the Landholdings Ltd office at Panama was broken into and a locked safe stolen. To speed up the police investigation, Doherty offered $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction […]
'Same people, same nation'
French Polynesia president Oscar Temaru is hopeful that Rapa Nui, Hawai’i and Aotearoa Maori will be formally accepted into the Polynesian Leaders Group by week’s end. ”We fully support (them),“ Temaru said yesterday. ”Maori, Hawaiian, we are all the same people, looking for freedom.“ He attended the Polynesian Leaders Group (PLG) meeting on Saturday, at […]
No asylum ban
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says there is no restriction on foreign journalists entering the country and they are free to travel there anytime. Clarifying recent media reports that a ban had been placed on foreign media by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Rimbink Pato, O’Neill said yesterday there was no […]
ADB not here to 'babysit'
The Asian Development Bank has opened an office in the Cooks – to make sure its development assistance does not ”fall down the cracks“. Yesterday morning, Asian Development Bank (ADB) vice-president Stephen Groff officially opened the branch development coordination office, located in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management building in Avarua. Two local staff […]
Spouses out and about Rarotonga
The opportunity to meet some of the women from Vaka Takitumu was just part of the spouses programme that took place yesterday. Akaiti Puna, alongside spouses of Cook Islands Members of Parliament, spent the day hosting spouses of Pacific leaders. The group travelled to various destinations across the island, including Rarotonga Hospital, the BCI Stadium […]
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