Stories by RNZ Pacific

OFC qualifier matches will be played in Fiji and Vanuatu starting on Thursday. Audio

A round-up of news in brief from around the region, including French Polynesian delegations in New York this week to attend the United Nation's decolonisation meetings.

Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu made comments in response to an MP, who is a descendant of blackbirded Pacific Islanders, which rights groups say were "racially charged" and "evil".

The PNG government says the National Media Development Policy aims to promote, uphold and support principles of freedom of expression and information in the country.

Outspoken former Malaita province premier Daniel Suidani said: "I am going to fight the charges".

The Vanuatu Supreme Court has approved the implementation of the Deed of Compromise which Ernst & Young Australia said is a positive outcome for the airline and its creditors.

Fijian peacekeepers in the Middle East are "well, safe and in high morale" amid escalated tensions in the region, the country's acting home affairs minister says.

The Prime Minister said when PNG turns 70 in 2045 it needs to have broken free of the constraints of being a low-income nation to a high-income economy.

Navunikabi villagers in Namosi on the main island of Viti Levu are protesting Sitiveni Rabuka government's proposal to construct a hydro dam.

Former New Zealand Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae is in Port Moresby this week to meet with the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister and the Bougainville President.

"We sustainably manage our forests, land and sea, because our livelihood depends on them," Prime Minister James Marape told world leaders in New York less than a week ago.

Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said the opening of the embassy "has built a bridge of friendship that shortens the distance between our two countries".

Paific Island leaders have wrapped up the 79th Session of the UNGA reinforcing their message to global leaders that the world needs to act urgently to combat the climate crisis.

Former secretary general to parliament, Mary Chapman, who spent over 4 decades in the civil service wants "somebody to put their foot down" on MPs behaviour.

Mase Mahonri Schwalger has been charged with multiple serious offences, including unlawful sexual connection, attempted sexual violation, sexual conduct with a person under 16.

George Maggi is denying that the former deputy prime minister, jailed in March for fraud, is receiving special treatment after being hired by family on a prison work scheme.

Uduch Sengebau Senior told world leaders that the global response to the climate crisis "is a matter of life and death" and "science, conservation, and the well-being of people" must be prioritised.

Ratu Viliame Katonivere has told the United Nations that cultivating a culture of peace is now more urgent than ever.

Speaking on the second day of the UNGA in New York, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine said that "the world's oceans are too fragile to turn into a speculative experiment".

This is the assurance given by the military chief Ratu Jone Kalouniwai following the presidential pardon of the main instigator of the May 2000 coup and the leader of the November 2000 mutiny. Audio

NASA also said this amount of rise will occur regardless of whether greenhouse gas emissions change in the coming years. Audio

The economic prospects of the Pacific are primarily determined by PNG and Fiji, collectively accounting for 90 percent of the subregion's GDP. Audio

"Our states, maritime zones, and rights remain intact under international law, no matter the rising seas; we are here to stay." Audio

The Fiji Corrections Service said the two prisoners, who were employed in the facility's kitchen, were temporary removed from their duties following a dispute over the handling of food supplies.

The report by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research details nine factors that are crucial for regulating the planet's ability to sustain life.