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. An Australian think tank is calling for a Pacific mission to return to the autonomous Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville to ensure there is no re-emergence of violence.
2. The Fiji government's claim that next year's promised elections will be Fiji's first truly democractic elections ever held is being rubbished by critics who say the regime is trying to re-write history.
3. Traditional leaders in the Cook Islands say there has been poor consultation with landowners on a multi-million dollar water infrastructure project in Rarotonga.
4. Family Planning says better contraceptive services in Kiribati could save the country millions of dollars in addition to improving sexual and reproductive health.
5. Papua New Guinea police hope further interrogation of a recaptured prisoner will shed more light on the fate of five scientists who disappeared off West New Britain more than 2 years ago.
6. A Pacific media expert says the Australian Associated Press, or AAP, closing is Papua New Guinea bureau may result in more parachute journalism and less informed stories on the region.
7. Pensioners in the Cook Islands say they will keep up the pressure on the Cook Islands government not to have their New Zealand-paid pensions back taxed.
8. The Niue government has begun renovating three abandoned houses as part of plans to create more accommodation for an expected growth in visitor numbers.