Tagata o te Moana. 2013-10-19. 17:30-18:00.

A weekly wrap-up of news, issues and current affairs from the Pacific. The programme is broadcast nationwide every Saturday evening on Radio New Zealand National and is produced by the newsroom of Radio New Zealand International. The following rundown is supplied from the broadcaster’s news system:

1. Fiji's Media Industry Development Authority, or MIDA, has restricted international media from conducting workshops locally on issues including media freedom, democracy, human rights and the election without first seeking the Authority's approval.

2. The New Zealand foreign minister, Murray McCully, has defended a US$5 million commitment to a three-year community policing programme in eastern Indonesia, including Papua and West Papua.

3. The European Union has again ruled out resuming its bilateral aid programme with Fiji until after the elections promised by the regime for next September.

4. Workers' representatives are criticising a proposed national minimum wage in Fiji as below the poverty line for workers.

5. The opening of the first Muslim prayer room in French Polynesia has caused an uproar, with a political party questioning whether the new imam was allowed to that.

6. WWF is helping communities in Solomon Islands' Western Province to get legal protection for four marine areas of significance.

7. A former Chief of Police in Niue, Superintendent Ross Ardern, has been appointed as New Zealand's High Commissioner to Niue.