A charity focused on providing eye care in the Pacific hopes collaboration will help to combat the broader threat of non-communicable diseases in the region; the latest life expectancy world rankings show Fiji has the highest death rate from diabetes in the world with 188 of 100,000 fatalities being attributed to the disease; Pacific Trade and Invest says businesses are often forgotten about when disaster strikes with the focus on families and communities but they are endeavouring to do something about it; maternal mortality rates in Papua New Guinea appear to have worsened over the past five years with the risk of dying during childbirth now estimated at 1 in 120 women; Papua New Guinea's emergency controller says the response to February's Highlands earthquake is mostly shifting from a focus on relief to recovery; one of the experts speaking at this week's New Zealand Emergency Management Conference has had a lot of experience helping Fiji improve its systems to cope with disaster; one of the key aims of Samoan Language week, which is being held in New Zealand, is instilling a sense of identity and pride in young Samoans living there.

The High Court in Fiji has ruled that the Fiji Times newspaper, its publisher, two editors and a letter writer are not guilty of sedition; the Solomon Islands government says its official position on West Papua won't be made until after provincial consultations; it's less that 13 months from a referendum in Bougainville that could see the region voting to leave Papua New Guinea; Vanuatu's National Disaster office says only about ten per cent of the population are expected to take up the government's offer of help to evacuate the volcanic island of Ambae; Work expected to start on huge Chinese fish farm on French Polynesia's Hao atoll; a refugee suicide on Manus Island this week follows a report that claims healthcare services in Australian offshore detention have been reduced; as politicians trade barbs and verbal blows ahead of an election in the Cook Islands, a youth advocacy group says more needs to be done to engage the country's future leaders. renowned Samoa music group wins Lifetime Achievement Award in New Zealand.

New Zealand's associate finance minister, Shane Jones, says closely failed states in the Pacific have become gateways for shipping methamphetamine and other drugs into this country, but his comments have not gone down universally well in Tonga, a country he singled out for the problem; An academic who was part of a Nobel Prize-winning campaign for a treaty against nuclear weapons says more needs to be done to help those dealing with the lingering effects of nuclear weapons testing; Questions are being asked about the level of commitment the New Zealand government is showing to the mental health of its Pasifika community; Fiji's government is seeking expressions of interest from international private hospital operators to help it upgrade and operate the Ba and Lautoka hospitals; Amnesty International says Australia has drastically reduced healthcare for refugees it detains in Papua New Guinea; A Tongan New Zealand member of parliament is vowing to fight on to have MP's oaths of allegiance to the crown recognised in their mother tongues; The New Zealand government has commissioned a feasibility study on establishing a Super Rugby team in the Pacific.

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.