Pacific Beat

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill wants Australia to help him boost PNG's profile in Asia.

The Papua New Guinea Government has declared Sandaun province a disease area after confirming the contagious Newcastle bird disease is killing chickens in the PNG-Indonesia border villages.

Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr has announced that his government will provide 100,000 dollars for the emergency supply of desalination units for the Marshall Islands, following continued severe droughts which have severely reduced agricultural capacity and risk endangering local lives.

Evidence from data collected by Ghost Nets Australia indicates that thousands of discarded fishing nets are travelling through the Pacific and the rest of the world's oceans, they're invisible, can't be tracked and cause ecological damage by catching fish and other sea creatures.

The former Bishop of Malaita in Solomon Islands, Terry Brown says true reconciliation can only happen when people know the facts of the issue.

Some islands in the northern atolls of the Marshall Islands have totally run out of water because of an extended drought.

The northern atolls of Marshall Islands are reporting severe drought conditions, with almost 4,000 people without drinking water.

World Press Freedom Day was marked last week but one Marianas journalist has suddenly found that Freedom of Speech and Media freedom guaranteed by the US Constitution are not all they're crack up to be.

Police in Solomon Islands have threatened to stage a 14-day "sit-in" protest if the government fails to appoint a new police commissioner within the next three months.

Politics in Vanuatu is suddenly different and a lot of that is down to the new Prime Minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil.

In Papua New Guinea there's been a mixed response to the Prime Minister's move to implement the death penalty for convicted murderers.

Cook Islands is set to pick up an extra $14 million after it won the right to double the fishing days available to an American Samoan based purse seiner.

The Brumbies remain on top of the Super Rugby standings despite going down 30 points to 23 to the Crusaders in Canberra at the weekend.

In the Glasgow Rugby Sevens, Fiji has had a disappointing tournament - going down 15-12 to England in the quarter finals before a shock 22-7 loss to the United States in the plate semi-final.

Auckland City took a massive stride toward their third consecutive OFC Champions League final after thrashing nine man Ba 6- in Port Vila over the weekend.

In Golf, New Zealand's Pieter Zwart has won the PNG Open after shooting 66 in the final round to beat Australian Lincoln Tighe.

There's an ambitious plan in Fiji to form a national women's Aussie Rules Football team.

Fiji's three remaining political parties have been officially registered.