Northern Marianas given the all-clear after Super Typhoon Yutu. Fiji's Sitiveni Rabuka has been acquitted of electoral fraud. French Polynesia's leader Pouvanaa a Oopa has conviction squashed. Fiji to use UN seat for climate justice, children's rights and gender equality. New Zealand government defends 15 million dollars to PNG for APEC.

Ouvea voters ponder New Caledonia independence vote; Greater autonomy for Bougainville still to be defined; Call for transparency in PNG government luxury car deals; NZ's Pacific Minister wants to formalise relationship with Maori; New report details illegal logging in Solomon Islands; Vanuatu and NZ parole boards meet for exchange of ideas; Nauru 19 believe government still operating "blacklist'.

Temperature rise threatens the very fabric of Pacific communities; a medical charity is kicked off Nauru; the UN revisits French Polynesia's decolonisation push; Niue's Premier blames New Zealand for his governments shoody book keeping; and the push for France to be held accountable for its nuclear test legacy.

Passenger on plane that crashed off Chuuk wants answers; Indonesia hits out at Vanuatu at the UN over West Papua; Importance of indigenous views on climate change stressed; Aid advocates dismiss "leeches" comment; Papua New Guinea's polio outbreak has claimed its first fatality; NZ Pacific arts trust sees board reshuffle as victims speak out; NZ MPs support gender progress in Melanesian parliaments; Leaked documents illustrate Fiji coup moves; Tuvalu heritage on show in Auckland gallery.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs says the importance of the Pacific to New Zealand's security and well-being should not be underestimated; The Pacific Islands have continued to draw the world's attention to their plight from climate change at the United Nations General Assembly this week; An investigation into allegations of corruption in Tokelau has been prevented by a backlog of unaudited government accounts; The non-government group, Jubilee Australia, wants Bougainvilleans to discard any plans to re-start the Panguna mine, which was at the centre of the civil war; The royal visit to Fiji next month has raised eyebrows coming within weeks of Fiji's general election; A delegation from the regional technical organisation the SPC or Pacific Community, has traveled to Germany with the hope of sparking a biogas inittiatives in the region; A medical trial in Solomon Islands has found it's possible to safely treat large populations for trachoma and scabies simultaneously, and; Enormous funding demands could trip up a proposed Pacific-based Super Rugby team before it gets off the ground.

Northern Marianas appeals court ruling for US Navy relocation in the region... Samoa Supreme Court judge speaks out against reinstating corporal punishment in schools... Migrant factory workers in South Auckland claim exploitation by Sistema... West Papua urges New Caledonia's indigenous to vote for indepence.. And an Australian lawyer welcomes permanent stay on charges for protesters in Nauru.

The leaders of the 18 Pacific countries and territories that make up the Forum ended their summit in Nauru by signing a major commitment on regional security; Journalists who attended the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru have been criticised for focusing on refugees; The Papua New Guinea and Bougainville governments can't agree just what question to ask in the Bougainville referendum on possible independence; Pasifika university scholars are burdened with 'invisible cultural labour' says a New Zealand academic; The American based Samoan actor, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, has announced he's been cast to play Hawaii's King Kamehameha in an upcoming Hollywood film; Students at an Auckland school are hoping to help turn the declining rate of Tongan Language speakers in New Zealand; The head of a team aiming to desex and microchip 800 dogs on Rarotonga over the next four months, says it will help make the dog population on the island much more manageable; and the dynamic relationships between the people of the Pacific underpin a major new art exhibition opening in London this month.

What does the future hold for the evacuees of Vanuatu's volcanic Ambae Island?; The Australian appointed to run Fiji's police force in the wake of the 2000 coup, has died after a battle with bowel cancer. A former senior Fiji diplomat says he was well respected in the country but his time there was tumultuous, leading to the illness which overcame him; Problem gambling advocates in New Zealand are calling for electronic gaming machines to be eliminated in vulnerable communities like South Auckland; Thirty centuries of Samoan tattooing have been chronicled in a new book 'Tatau' released last month; Tahiti awaits sign-off for South Pacific's biggest tourism project; A candidate in last year's Papua New Guinea general election says there is still a need for reserved parliament seats for women, and; Youth revitilise traditional Polynesian wayfinding skills sailing an Auckland to Norfolk voyage.

New Zealand's first Pacific Pharmacists' Association has launched with support from PHARMAC, the New Zealand government's drug-funding agency; the South Pacific is a key focus for a new fellowship established to help convey previously untold histories from New Zealand and the region; a South Auckland teacher is using the stories of Pacific heroes to help lift learning and achievement rates for Pacific kids in New Zealand; the conversation surrounding the possible independence of Chuuk from the Federated States of Micronesia has heated up, with the local US Ambassador and a former president warning of dire consequences if it happens; Helen Clark is urging political parties in Solomon Islands to support women planning to contest both the national and provincial elections next year; an art exhibition in Auckland is tackling the big issues facing Pacific communities, including colonisation, stigmatisation and the modern identity; business operators on Norfolk Island say the territory is still reeling from the imposition of the Australian national wage award system two months ago.

Many rural communities in Papua New Guinea's Highlands region remain traumatised and in need of help nearly six months on from a major earthquake; There is ongoing mystery surrounding a church in Fiji , labelled a cult and accused of slavery; Facebook, in a protracted battle to keep its users safe from abuse, is investigating the case of a Samoan woman who claims she received death threats; Pacific islands are being urged to consider following Hawaii and ban certain sunscreens to protect their coral reefs; The watchdog group, Transparency Solomon Islands has publicised a list of the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been given to MPs through the Constituency Development Fund; A new initiative plans to use rugby to help prevent violence against women and promote gender equality in the Pacific.