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Local

Keenan’s future as Police chief to be decided by end of April

A decision on Police Commissioner Turepu James Keenan’s term renewal is pending next month as an investigation is underway into a complaint filed against him to the Ombudsman.


The monumental task of fixing our land laws

The Cook Islands Ministry of Justice is reforming land laws to deal with issues like absentee landowners and fragmented ownership, but the proposals are facing criticism for not being clear and for not respecting traditional customs.

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Business

Rarotonga residents left in the dark about soaring bills

Rarotonga residents are questioning the island’s power supplier Te Aponga Uira (TAU) on the logic behind the alleged increased costs of power bills.

Health

TMO issues water safety advice amidst crypto concerns in NZ

The Cook Islands has reported no cases of cryptosporidium, a waterborne parasite causing diarrhoea, despite a rise in cases in New Zealand.

National

Court

Retired judge shares expertise with Cook Islands Justices of the Peace

Retired judge John Adams from Aotearoa New Zealand is facilitating this week’s orientation workshop for three Justices of the Peace (JPs) from the Pa Enua (one from Aitutaki and two from Atiu).


Local

Cook Islands to seek rebate on New Zealand tyre levy

The Cook Islands government will approach New Zealand regarding a newly imposed tyre levy, seeking an exemption or rebate similar to VAT exemption on exports.

Sports

Rugby league

Sea Eagles and Panthers soar

The Ngatangiia Matavera Sea Eagles and Tupapa Panthers won their respective premier men’s matches in week one of round two Cook Islands Rugby League Rarotonga 13s competition.


Golf

Underdogs triumph in Pairs Classics

Underdogs rose to the occasion and claimed victory in the 2023/24 Rarotonga Golf Club Pairs Classics tournament, which concluded last Saturday at the Nikao golf course.

Sports

Tight battles and try-saving tackles

There are two more games left for this third round of the 2024 Touch Rugby Competition before the teams’ progress to playoffs.

Football

Avatiu FC bows out of OFC Women’s Champions League without a win

Hekari United have confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the OFC Women’s Champions League in the Solomon Islands with an impressive 5-0 victory over Cook Islands’ Avatiu FC in wet conditions in Honiara over the weekend.

Opinion

Letters to the Editor

Letter: The roadway that disappeared

Kia orana. Can anyone out there assist with info and photographs? Back in about 1984/85, there was a major construction of a roadway, more or less across from the Police Station today, and going across in the direction of the Boiler.

Opinion

Pet Talk: How to get rid of fleas on your pet

Fleas can cause a lot of problems for dogs and cats, but there are treatments available to help control them, writes Dr Rose Hasegawa, medical director Te Are Manu.

Editorials

Ruta Mave: Are we eating ourselves to death?

In the Pacific, large people denoted wealth to eat and store fat for times of famine from cyclones. In European societies poor women were fat while, husbands were thin. But rich men were fat and rich wives thin. Now rich or poor everyone is fat, writes Ruta Mave.


Editorials

Thomas Wynne: Proxy voting- Is MP travel more important than Parliament?

To proxy or not to proxy is the question being discussed at vaka meetings as Government has decided on a course where proxy votes, or votes counted when absent, will be included when Parliament sits, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.

Features

Local

Rarotonga gears up for St. Patrick’s Day

The members of the Irish community in Rarotonga and their supporters will celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day to be observed tomorrow.


Church Talk

Church Talk: Bear with one another in love

While women and children are suffering in the war zones today, do we find our own women at peace or do we have wars happening in our own backyards? Bishop Paul Donoghue of the Catholic Church writes.

Features

Cook Islander credits NZ Defence Force for turning life around, encourages youth to join

Cook Islander Tom Harrison Junior is counting his blessings, saying that joining the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) got him moving forward in his career and life.

Church Talk

Church talk: God can help us in hard times

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? ‘Why?’ is one of the most asked questions in life. It is simple and direct, yet we do not always get a stringboard answer, writes Kayla Kaimarama-Willie of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Features

Turning illness into inspiration, Upokoina’s story of resilience

Upokoina Bishop-Cuthers, a Cook Islands woman who battled cancer, created her own homeware brand CuBis Creations to inspire others and support her family.

Pacific

Regional

Electoral Amendment Bill: Samoa will not be governed by outsiders

Samoa’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries La'auli Leuatea Schmidt says the country would not be ruled by outsiders, should a change to the electoral act go through.

New Zealand

Leader was an ‘extraordinary man’, widow says at funeral

The late Green Party MP Fa'anānā Efeso Collins has been remembered by his widow as an "extraordinary man" at a service in South Auckland.

Fiji

Fiji court grants bail to 13 people charged in relation to 4800kg meth bust

A Fiji court has granted bail to 13 people charged in relation to the seizure of almost five tonnes of methamphetamine.

Fiji

Tabuya calls on party to ‘stand for fairness’ after being stripped of deputy leadership

Fiji's Minister for Women and Children Lynda Tabuya is calling on The People's Alliance Party to "stand for fairness and justice" after it stripped her of her deputy leadership following allegations of a sex and drug scandal. The People's Alliance Party (PAP) announced earlier this week that Ms Tabuya had been removed over the allegations, which date back to August last year.


New Zealand

NZ Minister sets ‘long-term’ house price target of 3 to 5 times household incomes

The new housing minister has set a target of having homes costing just three to five times household incomes - well below what they are now in most of New Zealand.

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