Pacific Beat

In tomorrow's Australian budget some of the big cost blow outs are likely to be in immigration, as asylum seeker boats continue to arrive in record numbers.

The IRB World Sevens Series is over for another season, with the final tournament being played in England over the weekend.

In NRL, the Canberra Raiders beat the Newcastle Knights 44-14 at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

The two finalists in the new look OFC Champions League have been decided, and, as widely expected, the match will be an New Zealand affair.

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill have signed the new Joint Declaration for a new Papua New Guinea-Australia Partnership.

The Marshalls Islands has declared a state of disaster in the island nation's North due to the prolonged drought.

Immigration New Zealand has strongly denied breaching the legal rights of two Tongan overstayers.

Demonstrations about violence against women in Papua New Guinea are to be held in Australian cities next week.

The Education Department in Papua New Guinea is cracking down on payments to school teachers.

Papua New Guinea's anger over stringent visa requirements for PNG citizens visiting Australia has bubbled to the surface at a state dinner in Port Moresby for prime minister Julia Gillard.

There's hope in Solomon Islands that the worst of the country's dengue outbreak is now over.

Three million babies die every year in their first month of life.

There'll be an annular solar eclipse, over many parts of Australia, and the Pacific today.

In Tonga, five newly installed tsunami warning sirens will be tested today in Nuku'alofa and in the Hihifo villages of Afaa and Talafoou.

One of the Solomon Islands' main airports and a major hub for tourists has closed, and will be for the next three months.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group can only get stronger as a sub-regional group.

The final round of the IRB World Sevens Series is being played in London this weekend.

In AFL, Essendon takes on Geelong at Etihad Stadium this weekend in a top-of-the-table clash.