Members of the Brothers of the Church of Melanesia came together on the week end to remember and honour their founder, Ini Kopuria. Solomon Star West Guadalcanal stringer John Toki reported that more than 30 members of the Melanesian Brothers, Selwyn College students and members of the surrounding communities participated in the program. The Melanesian Brotherhood Read more
Earlier in the year, in Guam, a same gender couple launched legal action after being refused a marriage licence. Loretta M. Pangelinan and Kathleen M. Aguero, both 28, sued after the registrar refused them a license because Guam law defines marriage as a union between two people of the opposite sex. The Attorney-General said a Read more
Josephine Getsi, in Peit constituency, has become the first woman to win an open seat since Bougainville first held elections under its autonomy arrangements ten years ago. Getsi says her success is an important symbol for all Bougainvillean women. She was competing against 11 men and did particularly well through the second preference votes re-allocated Read more
In his address for the celebration of Samoa’s 53rd Independence anniversary this year, His Highness the Head of State, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi said Independence is a goal that demands the ability to conquer one’s impulses. Tamasese is a former Prime Minister and longtime Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition in Samoa. His own family Read more
A petition has been presented to the Tonga parliament backing the government’s efforts to ratify the United Nation’s Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW. Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki, the director of the Women’s and Children’s Crisis Centre, stated in an interview with Radio New Zealand that there are plenty of people who Read more
The Catholic Church believes it is unlikely there will be a referendum on whether Tonga should ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In an interview on Radio Australia Father Seluini Akauola said opposition to ratifying CEDAW is very strong. Akauola said the suggestion that there should Read more
“The Abbott Government is erecting an iron curtain of secrecy over what is happening and what has happened in Australia’s immigration detention system,” says barrister and spokesperson for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Greg Barns. “The Australian Border Force Act, supported by the ALP and opposed only by the Greens, effectively turns the Department of Immigration Read more
“If such a thing as hell exists, it would be very similar to Nauru,” a 23-year-old Tamil asylum-seeker told ABC Television last week, after slashing her body in a failed suicide attempt. Written submissions to the Australian Senate Committee inquiry told of rape and sexual assault, of children self-harming, of guards trading hot water and drugs for Read more
With a few exceptions, Archdiocese of Agana schools and parishes appeared to have escaped major damage from the recent typhoon that struck Guam. Typhoon Dolphin struck the island May 15 with recorded winds of up to 105 miles per hour. The only damage so far reported is Saint Francis Catholic School. The elementary through middle Read more
More than 500 former students of St Thomas Primary and St Thomas High schools marched through Lautoka, in Fiji, on Saturday to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the primary and 40th anniversary of the high school. The celebration began with a mass at 7am before the march through town at 9.30am, which was led by Read more