NZ aid boost welcomed in Pacific; At the same time as an academic outlines fears of aid "securitisation" in the region; The Tapura Huiraatira party wins a resounding victory in French Polynesia; Macron wants to balance China's influence in the Pacific; Moves are afoot to refocus maritime aid spend in the Pacific; We hear more about how violence is hampering aid delivery to quake affected communities in PNG; And Rotuman makes its official debut on the Pacific language week calendar.

French president tours New Caledonia on three-day visit; Media in crisis - Pacific press freedom under the spotlight; Veterans still push for recognition, 60 years after British nuclear tests; PNG govt defends LNG project following damning report; Spotlight on workplace harrassment after UN agency suspends Fiji senior staff; Parents of six year old murder victim call for death penalty; NZ military man's body repatriated from American Samoa; Sport: Delays dent Manu Samoa World Cup hopes; Pacific youth have a distinct advance to excel in tech.

An Australian priest has used Anzac Day to highlight the plight of refugees and asylum seekers held in detention centres in Nauru and Manus Island;The Vanuatu Government says it has received a number of offers of land to accommodate Ambae Islanders forced to move by the latest volcanic eruption; Pacific leaders have joined an ambitious commitment to eliminate malaria from the Asia-Pacific by 2030; A film documenting the journey of Micronesian soldiers in the US military raises awareness about the challenges they face on their return home; The managing director of the Fiji magazine Islands Business believes a police case against him was designed purely to intimidate; Contrasts between Vanuatu's Melanesian people and their Polynesian languages has given rise to a new theory on Pacific settlement and an Auckland summit hopes to get more Pacific people inspired to pursue a career in tech.

The evacuation of residents on the ash-covered Vanuatu island of Ambae is finally getting underway, as food supplies dwindle and disease starts to spread; new developments announced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting underline a move by the British government to re-engage with the Pacific; voters in French Polynesia will go to the polls on 22nd April to elect a new 57-member territorial assembly; A family in Fiji's cyclone hit west has next to nothing left after a small creek swelled into a raging torrent during this month's back-to-back cyclones and heavy rain; Fifteen months ago the then New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully sparked an uproar when he revealed the Tokelau government had bought two helicopters; new Pacific parliamentarians have been in Wellington, New Zealand to gain insights into effectively navigating the Westminster system of government in their respective nations; Samoa believes a strong performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games can be a launching pad for sport in the country.

A woman and her son survived Fiji's treacherous floods this week floating on a bed as it rose to within inches of the ceiling in their home; The death toll from Fiji's two weeks of nightmare weather rose to ten this week after the body of a missing man was found in a river near the town of Tavua in northern Viti Levu; There is a furore in Australia over concerns China is aiming to make a huge wharf it has built at Luganville in Vanuatu a naval base; No help from authorities in Tahiti for a woman wronged by China's diplomatic mission; The Marshall Islands is on track to see a record number of women seeking court intervention in domestic violence cases; Pacific leaders elected to run for the Commonwealth Youth Council elections want more awareness of the opportunity in the region; The Pacific's "monumentous" 2018 Commonwealth Games looks set to continue on the Gold Coast, and; People have paid their last respects at the state funeral for former Samoan MP, Tuiloma Pule Lameko Gae'e in Samoa.

Fiji is hit by severe flooding and more could be on the way; World Vision focuses on water sanitation in the aftermath of February's massive earthquake in PNG; Nauru is accused of using the judiciary to persecute opponents; The fight to ban child brides continues in American Samoa; NZ abuse inquiry seeking Pacific community input; Developed nation status beckons for the Cooks; PNG's Morea Baru disappointed by Games silver; A young Tongan playwright debuts powerful theatre piece.

People in PNG's East New Britain are shaken awake by a big quake; Residents of Ambae in Vanuatu fearful as Volcano continues to belch fire and ash; PNG's Foreign minister underlines regional leadership ahead of APEC summit; UN children's agency spreads hygiene message in Fiji after meningitis outbreak; And veteran French Polynesian leader Gaston Flosse is again left out of Tahiti election lists; Cook Islands tourism reviews its policies on sexual harassment after damning report; Tonga's Education Minister remains adamant that girls should not play rugby or box; And NZ and Fiji mark 50 years since the closure of the Laucala Bay airforce base.

Almost four weeks since a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Papua New Guinea's Highlands, the response effort is picking up pace; Vanuatu's disaster authorities are in emergency mode again amid intensified rumblings from the Ambae volcano; Indonesia's place in the Melanesian Spearhead Group has come under scrutiny from regional leaders; an expedition off the Solomon Islands coast has found the wreck of American World War 2 ship, the USS Juneau; Samoa's coconut oil farmers celebrate US soap company deal; Tahiti's Flosse fails in bid to stand in next month's election, and; Pasifika Festival at Western Springs in Auckland is on this weekend and the organisers have aimed to improve connection with villages within the event and their Pacific communities.

PNG shifts into full relief mode after as Police confirm 125 deaths and 35,000 displaced by Highlands quake nearly three weeks ago; Vanuatu's deputy prime minister avoids jail time; Pacific artists call on New Zealand funding agency to address needs of community; New Zealand's Foreign Minister says, the new government is going to put its money where its mouth is in terms of aid to the Pacific and the climate change minister says Pacific leaders have made clear New Zealand needs to step up its action against climate change; Tensions are rising in Temotu as an Australian miner's licences to prospect and operate in the Solomon Islands' province approach their expiry date; Solomon Islanders collaborate with NZ tertiary institute to improve local aquaculture and food security efforts, and; Tonga is the first country in the Pacific to open a Family Protection Legal Aid centre specifically to help people going through domestic violence.

PNG's quake affected communities still in urgent need of aid and assistance; Vanuatu struggles to review cyclone hola damage; Fiji's Citizens' Constitutional Forum says Fiji's history means it's important to clarify whether the country has new statistics on its ethnic make-up; A human rights activist has expressed frustration at redactions inreports by New Zealand dipomats about their visits to Indonesia's Papua region; The Nauru government is delighted with its plans for a Court of Appeal but one of the island's former chief justices has some reservations; Pacific countries sit well behind the the UN's target for women's participation in decision making processes and its desired parliamentary membership of 30 percent; Niue auctions off ukeleles to raise money for education on the eve of their renowned ukelele festival.