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Fiji - Fiji not undermining Pacific Islands Forum: Bainimarama Fiji has no intention of undermining the Pacific Islands Forum says leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama.


Cook Islands - Cook Islands minister says parliament sitting no threat to PM The Cook Islands parliament is preparing to sit for the first time since the beginning of the year to pass its latest budget.


Palau - Palau pushes Australia to take Uighurs Palau President Johnson Toribiong says he will press Australia to take in former Guantanamo detainees from the Chinese Muslim Uighur minority who want to quit their temporary refuge in the Pacific.v


American Samoa - Call to stop weapons smuggling to American Samoa The Commissioner of Public Safety in American Samoa is calling for action to stop the smuggling of weapons into the territory.


New Zealand - New Zealand lifts interest rates New Zealand's central bank raised the official interest rate for the second time in less than two months on Thursday but admitted the prospects for economic recovery had deteriorated.


Fiji - Fiji retirees broke Retirees are turning to the Social Welfare Department for assistance after using up their retirement funds from the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF).


USA - Lack of funding threatens the future of HIV drug therapy in the developing world Ten years ago, many experts thought you couldn't bring antiretroviral therapy to people with AIDS in poor countries. The drugs cost too much, there weren't enough doctors, the patients wouldn't take the medicines correctly, and the risk of creating a resistant virus was too high.


Pacific - Pacific Islands Trade: A year's worth of bad outcomes Despite being launched only a year ago by Pacific leaders, the negotiations on the Pacific trade agreement known as PACER-Plus are slipping away from the Islands. The bureaucratic forces and power politics of the region's bigger neighbours are already shaping the agenda and outcomes of negotiations in a direction different to the developmental aspirations of the Pacific.


Tonga - Tonga commits troops to Afghanistan to create jobs The Pacific kingdom of Tonga has agreed to send troops to Afghanistan, saying “it looks safer than Iraq” and that the fight against the Taliban will provide much needed jobs.


Fiji - Fiji meet, a good reflection for Forum: Kiribati President Tong Kiribati President Anote Tong says the ‘Engaging with Pacific’ meeting has brought to the fore the underlying roles and objectives that the Pacific Islands Forum needs to play in terms of development in the region.