Vanuatu - police
Photo: RNZ Pacific/Hilaire Bule
Vanuatu's Commissioner of Police has been suspended for an alleged incident at a casino.
Colonel Robson Iavro's suspension comes following the recommendation of the Police Service Commission.
He has been accused of threatening two French tourists at Club 21 Casino in Port Vila.
The Daily Post said in suspending the Commissioner, the President, Nikenike Vurobaravu, had appointed Astrophile Nwele Acting Commissioner.
New Caledonia - MSG
The Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat has restated its support for New Caledonia's pro-independence FLNKS movement in its negotiations with France.
The FLNKS refuses to recognise the result of the third and final independence referendum as the legitimate outcome of the decolonisation process of New Caledonia.
The Director-General of the Secretariat told a seminar in Indonesia last week the circumstances and manner in which the third referendum was conducted in 2021, at the height of covid-19 challenges, leaves much to be desired.
Leonard Louma said the Secretariat supported the Kanaks' call for New Caledonia "to be released from the shackles of colonialism".
Guam - typhoon
Guam Power Authority clearing trees and from powerlines after Typhoon Mawar in May 2023. Photo: Guam Power Authority
A third of households now have electricity restored in Guam, following typhoon Mawar.
A government spokesperson said the power authority will continue to first put resources into returning power to critical services, like healthcare and water systems.
The spokesperson said the next phase will be to get customers reconnected, which will continue into next week.
The water system in the south of the islands is running at a reduced capacity and a precautionary boil notice is still in effect.
Solomon Islands - churches
The Solomon Islands government, through the local MP, has invested almost $US80,000 to support the work of churches in Marovo constituency.
The money comes from the Constituency Development Fund and has purchased eight boat outboard motors.
Recipients of the outboard motors include five Seventh Day Adventist Districts and three United Church circuits in Marovo.
Samoa - honours list
Fifteen people have been recognised in the Samoa Honours and Awards for their outstanding service to the country.
This is the first time the biannual awards have been presented in six years, and were held as part of the closing ceremony for the 60th Independence Celebrations.
The awards also cover Samoa's diaspora who have contributed to the development of the country.
Former Head of State, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Efi, was awarded with the country's highest civil honour for services to the country which included being Prime Minister from 1976 to 1982, and Head of State from 2007 until 2017.
Samoa - anniversary
Samoa has wrapped up its year-long celebrations of 60 years of independence.
A school parade and flag raising ceremony marked the occasion at the historically significant village of Lepea, just outside of Apia.
Lepea is where Samoa's first Prime Minister Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II, is buried.
His daughter and the current Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa marked the ceremony with a speech, in which she commended the nation for the celebration.
New Caledonia - trial
Five leaders of the Caledonia Together party will face trial in December over the alleged abuse of public funds between 2014 and 2019.
The accused include the party leader and former New Caledonian president Philippe Gomes and Philippe Michel, who was the president of the Southern Province at the time.
According to the AFP news agency, the indictment is based on findings that demonstrate the existence of a vast system of fictitious jobs linked to the Wallisian and Futunian community for the benefit of the Caledonia Together party.
It is alleged that about 40 people, including customary chiefs, were employed and remunerated by the Southern Province and the Congress for functions never or little exercised.
Gomes had already been implicated in a similar case in 2009, but the affair was eventually dismissed.
