A State of Emergency remains in place on the Vanuatu island of Ambae until the 26th September 2018 following an increase in volcanic activity in late July; The Bishop of Mendi says Southern Highlanders are showing great resilience after February's major earthquake in Papua New Guinea's Highlands; More than three quarters of sexual crimes against children in Papua New Guinea's capital never make it to trial because of problems gathering evidence; A nurse in Samoa is facing criminal charges including one of negligence after two babies died last month; The nineteen Nauru men facing charges over an anti-government protest will have to wait until September 13th to find out if they are free; A new funding push by the United States into the Indo-Pacific region is being labelled as late to the party and amounting to little in dollar terms; And As New Caledonia approaches a referendum on independence from France, regional support for it gaining full sovereignty has faded away.

A book written in detention by a refugee on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island is a work of art before being an act of resistance, the author says; An Australian human rights lawyer has grave concerns that continued interference by immigration officials in the medical care of Nauru and Manus detainees could result in the death of a child; Indonesia's government has dismissed a claim by the West Papuan independence movement that it is interfering in politics of Pacific Island countries. This comes amid ongoing calls for human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papua region, and West Papuan self-determination aspirations, to be addressed by the international community; The Maohi Protestant Church wants Te Reo Maohi recognised as an official language of French Polynesia; The struggle for a tourist village high on the slopes of an erupting Hawaiian volcano; The Solomon Islands parliament has passed the country's first anti-corruption legislation but there are fears it may be too weak; Pacific people encourage more collaboration with other ethnic communities on issues facing South Auckland, and; Sport - Samoa sevens player Gordon Langkilde faces extended wait in San Francisco following World Cup altercation.

A new state of emergency is declared in Vanuatu as people prepare to evacuate Ambae; A high likelihood medical error was to blame for the deaths of two infants in Samoa following their MMR vaccinations; Pacific voice aims to drive global climate concensus; Anti-corruption group cautiously welcomes Solomons legislation; How Christianity spread rapidly across the Pacific; US should help Pacific counter China influence - academic; NZ and China neighbours in Samoa waterfront buildup; Efforts to unite Pacific businesses in New Zealand and across the region.

A WHO vaccine expert asks Samoans to continue with immunisations for their children despite infant deaths; Aid sent to Vanuatu's Ambae as fresh volcanic activity hits; We look back at one of the Pacific's worst natural disasters that struck 20 years ago; NZ's aid efforts come under scrutiny; Renewed calls for an evacuation of the Nauru and Manus asylum seeker camps; We visit a Sikh Temple in South Auckland that's breaking down cultural barriers; Tonga's shirtless star aims for a third Olympic sport.

Investigations into the deaths of two Samoa infants just hours after they had been immunised for measles, mumps and rubella are continuing ; A security analyst says the recent discovery of significant hauls of cocaine in Fiji and Tonga will have barely dented the supply being smuggled across the Pacific; Vanuatu's ground breaking ban on single-use plastics began this month and environmental campaigners including the government are setting their sights on new targets; Kiribati ancestral artefacts dating back a century are on display as part of language week celebrations in New Zealand; Since the recent launch of a national violence prevention programme in New Zealand, the number of Pasifika people reaching out for help has been on the rise; A kindergarten in Porirua fighting to save Pacific languages has won a prestigious prime minister's award for engagement and service to its community.

A documentary aimed at creating awareness about the effects of climate change on nations has triggered a political debate in Kiribati; Pacific Media Alliance says a ban imposed by Nauru on ABC journalists attending the Forum summit is a worrying development; Three new MPs sworn in, and Cook Islands Party forms a government by the narrowest margin; The world's largest maritime military exercise, RIMPAC, gets underway in the Pacific but without China; Papua New Guinea has seen a dramatic surge in cases of Malaria but a new drug under review could be an ally in the fight against the disease; Refugees exiled to Manus Island and Nauru by Australia have a new champion in the form of a boxer fighting on their behalf; An environmental campaigner in Vanuatu has set her sights on a new target now the once ubiquitous plastic bag is a thing of the past in the country, and; Hundreds of South Auckland youth are uniting in a movement to change negative perceptions about their community.

A Niuean woman from South Auckland says the New Zealand health system disadvantages Pacific people; a phone helpline for women experiencing violence in Papua New Guinea says thousands have used the service but the problem continues to affect nearly every woman in the country at some point during her lifetime; an economist in Fiji says one off grants in the Fiji budget are look good policies which won't address people's concerns about the high cost of living; Samoa will become the latest country to ban all single-use plastics from January; a Samoan artist is creating Polynesian designs and tattoos using just four computer keyboard characters; Pacific Dance Festival in Auckland grows to include new works.

We hear that sugar taxes are starting to work for the Pacific; Political and tribal violence compounds struggles in PNG's quake-hit Highlands; A PNG domestic violence helpline says the issue is widespread; Fears that Nauru's government is lurching towards authoritarianism; The WHO says thousands are affected by dengue outbreaks in Pacific; Rarotonga gets a new mobile health clinic servicing

Papua New Guinea's government has declared a state of emergency in Southern Highlands province after supporters of losing candidates in the regional election went on a rampage in the provincial capital; A look at the impact of 40 years of Fijian participation in the UN's peacekeeping forces and militarism on Fijian society; There are calls for a formal system to help the descendants of blackbirded Pacific Islanders find their relatives; The largest church in Samoa has locked horns with the Prime Minister over a new law that requires church ministers to pay tax; Pacific community reaction subdued to the government's budget at a post budget breakfast in Auckland; One of the most prolific writers in New Zealand has produced an account of the crafty schemers in the early days of European settlement in the region.

Doctors and nurses in Papua New Guinea call for help as hospital stocks run out; Hawaii's Kilauea volcano continues to cause havoc; Cook Islanders vote next week in the general election; RSE workers from Solomon Islands seen as vital for a New Zealand orchard; Fiji's successes at COP23 are tempered by slow pace of talks; Pasifika entrepreneurs in New Zealand are calling for more initiatives to get their people into business; Pitcairners hope for the return of a cannon from HMS Bounty up for auction this weekend.