PAC - Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association articles from June 2003

PAC - Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association archives from June 2003

English weekly newspaper to close down after 23 years.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) - Papua New Guinea's first English weekly newspaper of 23 years standing will cease to exist at the end of this week when The Independent rolls off the press for the last time on Thursday. However, its...

Fiji troops to be stationed in Iraq as part of a post war stabilisation force.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) - Fijian troops are to be stationed in Iraq as part of a post war stabilisation force. They will be deployed in the Polish sector administered sector of Iraq alongside soldiers from Bulgaria, Denmark, the...

Adoption laws to be investigated by commission.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 APIA (Pacnews) - A special commission has been set up in Samoa to investigate the adoption of children to couples overseas. A member of the commission, Attorney General Brenda Heather Latu, says she's concerned about the large...

Targeting wealthy people with Debit Tax.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 PORT VILA (Pacnews) - Vanuatu's Opposition Leader's challenge that the Government should target the wealthy people with Debit Tax is out of context because Vanuatu has an Indirect Taxation System which makes it difficult to...

Mid-Pacific UAE rocket launch scheduled for June.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 PACIFIC (Pacnews) - A United Arab Emirate's communications satellite will be launched from a converted oil platform in the middle of the Pacific next month, Sea Launch said in a statement Friday. The San Diego-based Sea...

College seeks Pacific Gateway marketing study.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 SAIPAN (Pacnews) - The Northern Marianas College (NMC) Board in Saipan has yet to come up with a marketing study for its proposed Pacific Gateway programme, months after college authorities pushed for its immediate funding. ...

Visitors Increase.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 ALOFI (Pacnews) - Tourism is on the increase on Niue, according to the latest figures released by the government. The reason for the increase is the direct Polynesian Airlines 737-800 flight from Auckland to Niue on Saturday's...

Pacific economies 'a serious concern'.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) - The five-member Australian Senate Committee who left Papua New Guinea on Saturday see the lack of sustainable economies as a "serious concern" in PNG and the Pacific. They would like to see Australia...

Maneaba te Mauri Party pledge support for Tong.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 TARAWA (Pacnews) - Members of Kiribati's former ruling Maneaba te Mauri Party have thrown their support behind their leading presidential candidate, Dr. Harry Tong, BPA reports. At a party meeting on May 28, party members...

Polynesian Airlines is to return one of its two leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 APIA (Pacnews) - Samoa's Polynesian Airlines has decided to return one of its two leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft to save money after the worldwide downturn in air travel. Finance Minister, Misa Telefoni, said the problems faced...

Services for mudslide victims in American Samoa.
June 2, 2003... 023 JUNE 2003 PAGO PAGO (Pacnews) - A joint funeral of three of the four victims of the May 19th flooding and mudslides occurred at the weekend in the American Samoa capital, Pago Pago. This is believed to be the first time in recent memory...

Solomons get cyclone relief from Cyprus.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 HONIARA (Pacnews) - The Republic of Cyprus has donated more than $30,000 (US$4,086) towards the rehabilitation and reconstruction of cyclone stricken Tikopia and Anuta in Temotu Province in the Solomon Islands. The Republic's...

Volcanic haze covers Marianas, taints water.
June 2, 2003... 02 JUNE 2003 SAIPAN (Pacnews) - Anatahan's volcanic haze is now reducing visibility on Saipan and Tinian, prompting the Emergency Management Office to warn residents - especially boaters not equipped with navigation devices - to take extra...

Pacific Islanders target of conservation campaign.
June 9, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 PACIFIC (Pacnews) - Pacific Islanders are being told that despite their lack of "lilywhite legs, sandals and socks" they can still save the planet. A new campaign, Saving Paradise, aims to get Pacific Islanders in New Zealand...

Assembly approves another seat in Senate.
June 9, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 PAPEETE (Pacnews) - The French Polynesia assembly has endorsed a proposal to reform the French Senate. This includes an extra seat for the French Pacific territory, which is expected to be created in 2004. During the...

PM's green revolution offers huge tax breaks.
June 9, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) -- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, has announced measures expected to revolutionise the country's agriculture sector. Post Courier reports that in what some long term observers of the...

NZ, Australia send observer mission to Solomon Islands.
June 9, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 WELLINGTON (Pacnews) --- New Zealand officials are to join with Australia in a scoping mission to examine the law and order crisis in the Solomon Islands. New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff has announced the team...

CCF seeks stronger civil society participation in Media Council.
June 9, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) - The Fiji-based Citizens' Constitutional Forum (CCF) has called for a major shake-up of the Fiji Media Council's representation as part of its submissions over the controversial media legislation. But while it...

Tonga Royals in danger of world censure.
June 9, 2003... NUKU'ALOFA, TONGA - Bending before the chilly wind of change is rarely countenanced by those accustomed to ruling in the warmest and most alluring of conditions, says a New Zealand newspaper editorial on Tonga's political situation. "They...

Two brothers contest Kiribati's presidency.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) --- Two brothers are among the three candidates contesting Kiribati's presidency. Dr Harry Tong has been nominated by the ruling Maurin Maneaba Party and his younger brother, Anote Tong has been supported by the...

Church calls on politicians to stop using Christ's name in vain.
June 10, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) - The Anglican Church in Fiji has called on all religious denominations in the country to stop using Christ's name for political and personal gain. The church's Diocese of Polynesia based in Suva has called on all...

Tonga prepares for a royal wedding.
June 10, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 NUKUA'LOFA (Pacnews) - Tonga comes alive today when King Taufa'ahau Tupou's eldest granddaughter, a diplomat, marries the only son of a Tongan noble in the country's largest church in the capital, Nuku'alofa. Reports from...

Palau scouted by Survivor series crew.
June 10, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 KOROR (Pacnews) - Palau is atop the short list of locations being considered for the next season of America's popular television series "Survivor," local officials reported this week. A scout team from the reality-TV show is...

Guadalcanal refugees straining village resources.
June 10, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 HONIARA (Pacnews) - A former Isatabu Freedom Movement (IMF) commander for Tangarare, a coastal village on Guadalcanal, is calling on the Solomon Islands Government to stop the influx of refugees from the Weathercoast into...

Bush declares American Samoa a disaster area.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 PAGO PAGO (Pacnews) - United States President George Bush has declared American Samoa a federal disaster area following the flooding and landslides in the territory last month. Four people were killed, many were left homeless...

Striking workers protest against French government pension reform.
June 10, 2003... 09 JUNE 2003 PAPEETE (Pacnews) - An inter-union demonstration attracting between four to seven thousand protestors demonstrated through the streets of downtown Papeete last Friday (06 June), criticising the French government's proposed pension...

10 JUNE 2003 HONIARA (Pacnews) - A former Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare has cautioned the government against allowing armed peacekeepers to be deployed from Australia and New Zealand.
June 10, 2003... The proposal is one option to be assessed by a delegation due in Honiara today. Mr Sogavare, MP for East Choiseul, says Solomon Islands still suffers from ethnic tension, caused by years of negligence, and decades of unfair and selective...

Miner given notice.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) - Landowners at Papua New Guinea's largest gold mine, Porgera, have demanded for explanations on the mine management's delay in acting on some of their proposals. Members of the Lower Porgera Landowners...

A new four-star hotel proposed for Samoa.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 APIA (Pacnews) - The Samoan Government has committed 50 acres of government land near the Faleolo International Airport to build a new four-star 140-room hotel. La'auli Alan Grey, who heads the legendary Aggie Greys Hotel in...

Black pearl price in French Polynesia plummets.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 PAPEETE (Pacnews) ---- Black pearl prices in French Polynesia have registered a massive fall at the United Pearl Producer's fair in Papeete. The president of the Poe Rava Nui Company, Alfred Martin, says the price per gram has...

Four more charged in Pitcairn sex abuse.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 MELBOURNE (Pacnews) --- Prosecutors in New Zealand have now charged a total of 13 men from Pitcairn Island with sex offences, including rape. Four more men were charged last week before a special sitting of an Auckland court....

UNESCO NZ urges Pacific to lobby Tonga over planned constitutional change.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 WELLINGTON (Pacnews) - The National Commission for the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in New Zealand is urging governments in the Pacific to speak out against the Tonga government's plans to...

Central Bank Governor to stand down.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 HONIARA (Pacnews) - The much-admired Governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands, Ric Hou, has signalled his intention to stand down when his current term of office ends in August. It was perhaps the biggest bombshell in a...

Poverty taking hold in struggling Marshalls.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 MAJURO (Pacnews) - Poverty is gripping the Marshall Islands, a fact attested to by government officials and a just-released Asian Development Bank (ADB) study. Mariana Variety reports that poverty is not the same in the...

Traffic fumes raise asthma risk in children.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 PORT VILA (Pacnews) - Vanuatu police will organise an operation to stop vehicles with excessive exhaust emissions from operating. Although police have yet to decide the operation dates, they have advised drivers and vehicle...

French National Assembly begins amendment debate on overseas economic development bill.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 PAPEETE (Pacnews) - The French National Assembly has begun a debate on an overseas economic development bill to propose 300 amendments, 10 of which were submitted by Tahiti's two deputies. The amendment debate began on June 6,...

Tonga report talks of royal instability, fears of conflict.
June 10, 2003... A brutally frank briefing paper on Tonga to Foreign Minister Phil Goff canvases concerns about corruption, royal instability, armed conflict and the influence of China. The confidential report obtained by the New Zealand Herald was written...

US seeks Fiji support at the International Criminal Court.
June 10, 2003... 10 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) - The Fiji government has denied it would be in breach of its international obligations if it goes ahead with a deal with the United States. The US has approached Fiji to sign an Article 98 agreement that would...

Samoa defends Tongan monarchy system.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 APIA (Pacnews) --- Samoa's Prime Minister says Tonga should be allowed to handle its own affairs He was reacting to calls by the New Zealand based office of UNESCO that Pacific governments should speak out against the Tongan...

Nauru cancels 140 offshore banking licenses.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 HONOLULU (Pacnews) --- The Nauru Government has reportedly told members of the Asia Pacific Working Group that it no longer has ties with offshore banking, a busy industry on the tiny island that drew concerns after the Sept. 11,...

Cook Islands confident of removal from OECD money laundering blacklist.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 RAROTONGA (Pacnews) --- Cook Islands Offshore Financial Services head, Mathilde Uhrle says the new Banking Act aimed at curbing money laundering would help Cook Islands comply with international guidelines. "The Banking Act...

Maladina set to appear in PNG court for K5.6 million (US$1.5 million) misappropriation.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) --- The former chairman of Papua New Guinea's National Provident Fund, Jimmy Maladina says he has an open airline ticket to return and face charges involving more than K5.6 million (US$1.5 million). Mr...

Papua activists face jail term.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 JAYAPURA (Pacnews) --- Six activists in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua are facing up to 18 months in jail for holding a protest against the authorities, a report said today. The activists in the western district of...

Six men shot dead in the Weathercoast region.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 HONIARA (Pacnews) --- Police in Solomon Islands have confirmed reports that six men were shot dead in the Weathercoast region. Police Media Officer, Charles Lemoa has confirmed to national radio, SIBC that the six men died...

Palau faces an economic crisis, Senate told.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 KOROR (Pacnews) --- " The government is facing a financial crisis (and) we cannot continue to hide or deny it," according to a joint resolution adopted by the House of Delegates. Delegate Augustine Mesebeluu, who introduced the...

Anger over plans to change airport name.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) --- A proposal to rename Solomon Islands international airport after Japan's national flower has angered United States Marines, who say the "revisionist history" dishonours Americans who fought and died for the...

Samoan Parliament approves national dress code.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 APIA (Pacnews) --- The recently approved national elei wear is allowed in Parliament, Speaker of the House Toleafoa Faafisi has ruled. But the ruling is only for "strangers" to Parliament and not members and officers. A...

Credit Corp in Fiji booms.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) --- Credit Corporation's Fiji business enjoyed a strong improvement in activity last year with pre-tax profits shooting to over F$1 million compared (US$500,000) with F$58,966 (US$26,000) the previous year....

Decision on Niu FM expected today.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003 AUCKLAND (Pacnews) --- The immediate future of the Pacific radio station in New Zealand, Niu FM rests in the hands of a High Court judge who will decide today if the Pacific Island radio station should be taken off air. The...

A feature from the Marianas Variety.
June 16, 2003... 16 JUNE 2003, MAJURO --- In response to reports of illegal shark fishing at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, two internationally known photographers whose work has increased Bikini's global visibility this week expressed strong concern to...

Fresh help for Bougainville.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 AUST/NZ (Pacnews) - New Zealand and Australia are establishing a new international presence on Bougainville to ease the island through the final delicate stages of the peace process. The Bougainville transition team will...

Tahitian university students head for export marketing trip.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 PAPEETE (Pacnews) - Four Tahitian university students will soon leave on a marketing studies trip to Australia and New Zealand to explore the markets for French Polynesia exports. In New Zealand, Christelle Faatoa will explore...

PM to recall parliament.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 FUNAFUTI (Pacnews) - After a long delay, Tuvalu's Prime Minister Safatu Sapoanga says he is almost ready to recall parliament to elect a Speaker and swear in two new members. In May this year, Mr Sapoanga's government was...

FMF denies return of coup guns.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) - The Fiji Military Forces (FMF) has denied a statement that all weapons used in the 2000 civilian coup in Fiji's Parliament have been returned. FMF spokesman, Warrant Officer II, Neumi Leweni, told PACNEWS there...

Landowners bugging MPLA.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 SAIPAN (Pacnews) - The Public Lands Authority in Northwern Marianas (MPLA) gets an average of 10-15 complaints a day from landowners whose lands have long been taken by the government but have not been paid yet. "We're...

TEXAS ARCHAEOLOGISTS RETURN TO ANCIENT PAGO PAGO SITE.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003, PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA - US archaeologists from Texas A&M University at Galveston have returned for a second year to continue excavations at the historic site of A'asu at Massacre Bay, a major archaeological site to determine...

Solomon Islands plea for Anzac Special Forces.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 HONIARA (Pacnews) - The Solomon Islands have requested the urgent deployment of Anzac Special Forces to the country's remote Weathercoast, where up to 10 people are reported to have been killed over the weekend. News of the...

Pacific Economic Ministers mull over increased support for USP.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 MAJURO (Pacnews) - An agreement in principle to increase funding to the Fiji-based University of the South Pacific was reached during informal discussions among Pacific island finance ministers meeting in the Marshall Islands...

Call for mine funds to stay.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) - Papua New Guinea's Minister for Finance, Bart Philemon, wants some of the long-term funds from PNG Sustainable Development Program Ltd (PNGSDP) invested in the country. PNG SDP Ltd, the programme...

Audio Visual Commission considers three film projects.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) - The Fiji Audio Visual Commission has three movie making projects under consideration, which are reported to be together worth over 100-million US dollars. The announcement has come after a weekend seminar,...

Lomas joins Samoa Observer.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 APIA (Pacnews) - Peter Lomas, former editor of Islands Business magazine and former training co-ordinator of Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) has joined the Samoa Observer newspaper. He will become part of the...

French Navy frigate leaves Tahiti for reunion.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 PAPEETE (Pacnews) - After six months of maintenance and repairs in Papeete, the French Navy frigate "Floreal" will leave French Polynesia on June 25 for a reunion in the Indian Ocean. Tahiti Presse reports that as the ship...

FORUM REGIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE URGED TO BE MORE PRO-ACTIVE.
June 17, 2003... NADI, FIJI - The 16-member Pacific Islands Forum has been asked to be more pro-active in their efforts to address political, economic and social instability in the region. The call by the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum...

Supreme Court to rule on multiparty cabinet case tomorrow.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) --- Fiji's predominantly indigenous Fijian cabinet will know tomorrow if it has to include members of the Indian-dominated Fiji Labour Party. The Supreme Court is to hand down its ruling on an appeal by the...

Students demand overdue allowances.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 HONIARA (Pacnews) - Students of Solomon Islands' top tertiary institute, the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE), are calling on government to pay them their legal allowances. A number of students have confirmed...

Government warned against Kina facility rate increase.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) - Papua New Guinea's Central Bank has for the third time in recent months issued a warning after an increase in the Kina Facility Rate (KFR) from 15 percent to 16 percent. It urged the government to...

Government to increase indigenous participation in media.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) - The Fiji Government is assessing opportunities where it can allow an increase indigenous Fijian and Rotuman participation in media ownership, Minister for Information and Media Relations, Simione Kaitani said. ...

Vanuatu chiefs call for pardon of mutineers.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 PORT VILA (Pacnews) - Traditional chiefs on the Vanuatu island of Tanna have called for a presidential pardon for four former senior police officers who were jailed after being convicted of mutiny. The four are former Vanuatu...

Palau measure would protect turtles.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 KOROR (Pacnews) - A bill introduced in Palau's House of Delegates would impose a moratorium on the taking of sea turtles of any size for five years and green sea turtles for 20 years. The bill, which also proposes to increase...

Samoa A beats Tonga in weekend challenge.
June 17, 2003... 17 JUNE 2003 APIA (Pacnews) - The Samoa A rugby team beat Tonga A (28-17) in the curtain raiser game before the test between Tonga and Ireland at Teufaiva Park in Nuku'alofa at the weekend. The Samoa A forward pack dominated the game in the...

Forum backs calls for log seizure.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) - The Papua New Guinea Eco-Forestry Forum has given its support to calls for logs from the Kiunga-Aiambak logging project to be seized and the proceeds given back to the landowners. "Everyone knows that...

Royal Tongan Airlines flies under its own flag.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 NUKUA'LOFA (Pacnews) - Royal Tongan Airlines, Tonga's national airline, has announced that it is moving from its wet lease agreement with Royal Brunei Airlines to a dry lease. Royal Tongan Airlines leases a Boeing 757 aircraft...

American Samoa and Tonga to establish maritime boundaries.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 PAGO PAGO (Pacnews) - Fishing rights in the Polynesian island nations of American Samoa, Tonga and Samoa are now nearing establishment, following talks between Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin and Tonga's Prime Minister, Prince...

Tourists survive horrific Aitutaki reef excursion.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 RAROTONGA (Pacnews) - A group of tourists are lucky to be alive after they were thrown on to a reef and trapped under their boat near Cook Islands' Aitutaki reef after a dolphin watching expedition went terribly wrong. CI News...

Marine base investigates slaughter of sea birds.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 HONOLULU (Pacnews) - About 30 sea birds apparently were shot to death within Hawaii's Ulupa'u Wildlife Management Area at Marine Corps Base in Kane'ohe. Honolulu Advertiser reports that the dead birds were discovered last...

US and Guam on Compact compromise.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 WASHINGTON (Pacnews) - The US Department of Interior should be able to write-off debts from Guam to help offset the costs of migration to the island from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau, Delegate...

Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation (PIAF) launched in Fiji.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 PACIFIC (Pacnews) - Fiji's Prime Minister at the weekend launched the Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation (PIAF) in the capital, Suva's Ratu Sukuna Park. PIAF, a regional NGO dealing with support networks for Pacific Islanders...

Greek Forces find 680 metric tons of explosives on Marshall-bound ship.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 ATHENS (Pacnews) - Greek officials have reported that their special forces found 680 tonnes of explosives on board a Comoros flagged ship owned by a Marshall Islands-registered company named Alpha Shipping. Greece's Merchant...

Court rules against publisher over Provident Fund payments.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 PORT VILA (Pacnews) - A court in Vanuatu has found the publisher of the Port Vila Presse guilty of failing to make required contributions to the National Provident Fund on behalf of the newspaper's staff. Mark Lowen was found...

Prominent academic joins Hawaii's East-West Centre.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 HONIARA (Pacnews) - Solomon Islands scholar and former University of the South Pacific lecturer, Dr Tarcicus Tara Kabutaulaka, has been appointed to the East-West Center's Pacific Islands Development Program, in Honolulu, Hawaii....

Cabinet Ministers attend international conference in US.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 USA (Pacnews) - Two of Fiji's Cabinet Ministers are in the US attending a ministerial-level international conference and exposition on Agricultural Science and Technology. Minister for Agriculture Jonetani Galuinadi and Minister...

Solomon Islands to pay fine for last minute cancellation.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 SUVA (Pacnews) --- Solomon Islands will face a FJ$8,000 (US$4,000) fine for a last minute withdrawal of six sports from the South Pacific Games. Last week, the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) announced...

US keeping an eye on China and Taiwan for their Pacific interests.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 HONOLULU (Pacnews) ---- The United States Government is keeping an eye on the continuing battle by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) to woo diplomatic favour in the Pacific. In an interview with...

War hero is new Governor-General of Australia.
June 23, 2003... 23 JUNE 2003 SYDNEY (Pacnews) - A war hero and former SAS officer was yesterday appointed Australia's new Governor-General, replacing Peter Hollingworth who resigned in disgrace last month. Major-General Michael Jeffery, 65, who was...