The state of people displaced by the volcano in Vanuatu is yet to be determined; The lack of psychiatric care outside PNG's Manus Island detention centre raises fears of more deaths; Indonesia has disputed the veracity of a West Papuan petition to the United Nations seeking self-determination; Niue announces a new marine sanctuary; Tuvalu language week celebrates for the fifth time in New Zealand with the focus on staying true to the culture; 15 of the 86 candidates who have put their names forward for Tonga's general elections on the 16th of November are women; Two NRL league stars are in a star-studded Tongan team named for the Rugby League World Cup.

Authorities in Vanuatu are evacuating the entire island of Ambae - about 11,000 people - as the island's volcano continues to erupt; A petition to the United Nations with the signatures of 1.8 million West Papuans seeking self-determination could be a watershed moment for the independence movement; the Pacific has presented a united front at the UN General Assembly in New York in calling for global action on climate change; the president of Bougainville, John Momis, says the Papua New Guinea prime minister, Peter O'Neill, is ill-informed and misleading in his statements on the region's independence referendum; Pacific people entering under the quota with aspirations for a brighter future can find NZ tough; Vatulele Island landowners want to remove the owner of the island's only but defunct resort removed; a retired Cook Islands accountant says the New Zealand government is out of order requiring Cook Islanders to forfeit their National Superannuation Fund savings if they accept New Zealand Super; the fate of the only Fijian childcare centre in New Zealand is up in the air as the Fijian community try to address the concerns that were found in the 2017 Education Review Office report; calls for a Papua New Guinea team to be included in the NRL boosted by Hunters success

Mixed feelings on Manus Island as 54 refugees are accepted for US resettlement; Several government departments in Papua New Guinea locked out of their offices because of unpaid rent;Australia is to allow more Pacific Island workers into the country under a new labour scheme; Child sex abuse scandal continues to plague Catholic church in Guam;Women in the Marshall Islands are being recruited for illegal US adoptions; Pasifika products feature this weekend in Auckland's Chocolate and Coffee show; And in Rugby League the PNG Hunters eye a maiden title in the Intrust Super Cup.

Papua New Guinea politics is reeling after the move by a main opposition party, the Pangu Pati, to join government; This year's Pacific Islands Forum Summit, held last week in Apia, was heavily influenced by a meeting of foreign ministers last month, which helped shape the agenda; Confrontation between media and Indonesian officials at the Pacific Island Forum Leaders summit in Apia last week turned sour when the topic of West Papua was brought up; The governor of Hawaii has signed into law a bill to generate enough funds to finish constructing Honolulu's elevated rail; The Lawyers for 19 Nauruans being prosecuted for protesting against the government are seeking help to cover costs; Kiribati health authorities say new research has revealed more needs to be done to teach people about cervical cancer as cultural barriers are preventing women from being screened; Samoans are getting outdoors to support a nationwide campaign to plant two million trees by 2020; A PNG coffee grower's introduction to the taste of his own coffee has revolutionised his business.

Reactions in Tonga to the king's dissolution of parliament; West Papuans petition the UN for a supervised independence vote; Call for Bougainvilleans to look at independence options; Manus financial settlement no protection from future harm; Pacific fisheries agency urges caution over new tuna data; NZ's Pasifika voters talk about election issues, and; Prominent Tongans on how their culture and language shapes their work.

Tongan's interim prime minister's ok with dissolution of Tongan parliament; Climate change, sustainable development, conservation and possibly West papua will be items on the agenda of a newly expanded Pacific Forum leaders summit line-up in Samoa next week; First Pasifika poet selected for prestigious NZ Poet Laureate award; Gay detainees fear for their lives and future if Australia close the detention centre on Manus Island; Fixing an ailing economy and a broken health system, as well as addressing corruption are among the stated priorities of Papua New Guinea's re-elected government; New Caledonia's FLNKS outlines its plan for independence.

Tonga's King Tuupou VI has dissolved parliament and called for fresh elections to be held by November 16th this year; As Yazaki winds down its operation in Samoa, a union is working to ensure employees receive all entitlements and new opportunities; Anti-nuclear and climate change activists have paid tribute to a man descirbed as a giant of history and an elegant climate warrior; A New Zealand Catholic lay missionary working in Papua New Guinea says he wants to raise concerns about the country's deportation process; The Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry is calling on the government to quickly resolve issues delaying the construction of a high speed internet cable for the country; Samoa's prime minister backs village councils in a move to stop direct foreign-owned competition with local small businesses; A virtual climate centre for the Pacific could be operating by the end of the year giving local weather forecasters easy access to regional information; A group of New Zealand-born Pacific artists are challenging stereotypes at an exhibition which opens in Hamilton this week.

More deaths in election related violence in Papua New Guinea; people on Guam rally for peace amid the tension between North Korea and the United Sattes; Pacific foreign ministers discuss building a collective foreign policy for the region; a suspended official from Tokelau speaks out about the atolls' controversial helicopter purchase; it's hoped wiping anti-gay laws from the Cook Islands lawbooks will encourage other Pacific islands to follow suit; the PNG government's called on to rein in illegal logging; Hawaiian experts stress quarantines are in place to stop a devastating tree disease from spreading round the region; tonnes of Second World War explosives removed in Palau.

Guam a pawn in US - North Korea confrontations - Academic; Manus detainees resist attempts to force them from camp; Resurfaced arrest warrant overshadows PNG PM's re-election; New Zealander who had been deported is now back at work in PNG; Uncertainty over New Caledonia Vale's nickel plant fuels fear of mass lay-offs; New Zealand examing PACER-Plus before final ratification; Samoa PM reflects on life as he promotes memoir.

The true success of the Pacific region's first ever peacekeeping intervention is now being tested in Solomon Islands as the country tries to chart a course for its future while trying to forget the ghosts of the past; Despite the emergence of a government in Papua New Guinea, questions remain over the legitimacy of the general election; A relative of villagers in Indonesia's Papua region caught up in a fatal police shooting says they're calling for the police to take responsibility for the incident; A former Nauru cabinet minister, who is one of 16 people facing charges over a protest, says the government's decision to have the case heard by an Australian judge vindicates their stand over interference in the judiciary; An Auditor-General's report in Fiji has raised eyebrows, not just because of the details of financial mismanagement, but for the reaction to subsequent media coverage; Honolulu moves to legislate against crossing the street while looking at a mobile electronic device; The European Union is undertaking discusssions in the Pacific on the replacement for the Cotonou Agreement with the African Caribbean and Pacific group of countries. The past week has been Cook Islands language week in New Zealand.