Pacific Beat

Sir Michael Somare, retires from politics. Ele Opologe becomes the first Samoan to receive an Olympic medal. Students at the University of Papua New Guinea voice their dismay at the imposition of a new graduation fee.

PNG's treasurer under fire after admitting that the country's economy is in trouble, while putting his hat in the ring to be Prime Minister. And, Fears for the future of Rakiraki in Fijj, after the town's main employer, the Penang Sugar Mill closes down.

Papua New Guinea's Treasurer says the economy has "fallen off a cliff" because of the government's policies. Audiences around the world to soon have the chance to see what life is like inside one of Australia's offshore detention centres.

A Papua New Guinean businessman found guilty of misappropriating more than six million kina. And, after Solomon Islands maritime officials intercept three blue boats from Vietnam, and arrest 43 crewmen, the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency wants to extend its mandate and step up efforts to shut illegal fishing down.

An end to Vanuatu's long-running airport upgrade saga with a Chinese company awarded the 47-million dollar contract. PNG's Prime Minister seeks to reassure landowners after admitting they've lost out under controversial leasing laws.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill defends holding a watered-down inquiry into the Manumanu naval base land scandal in Port Moresby and after PNG's parliament is adjourned for the second day in a row because too few MPs turned up, leading to a demand from deputy opposition leader Sam Basil to put an end to long lunch breaks.

A Fiji businessman offers to save the Penang sugar mill in Rakiraki. A Papua New Guinean businessman has been found guilty of misappropriating more than six million kina.

Cyclone Debbie downgraded, but it's not over yet for the people of north Queensland with homes damaged, power lines down and crops wiped out as the monster storm carves a path inland and we talk to the scientists onboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's ship, the Okeanos Explorer, who're on a 'dive of discovery', deep under protected waters off Kiribati.

Scientists get their first look at the deep sea off Kiribati and they're stunned by what they're seeing and a business owner in Port Moresby whose shop was one of those destroyed by the fire at the Boroko mall calls for improvements to the PNG Fire Service.

Frightened north Queenslanders hiding in their homes as Cyclone Debbie crosses the coast near Airlie Beach, and revelations emerge that faulty gear and insufficient water supply left PNG firefighters ill-equipped to deal with Friday's shopping centre blaze.