Fiji leader says media consultations ‘constructive’; Attorney-General defends Fiji draft media decree; Fiji’s Singapore-style media model ‘worrying’; Claims Fiji govt censorship affecting work of PINA; Princess Ashika report yet to be tabled in Tongan parliament; Pacific to benefit from Asia resurgence says World Bank; Solomons CINURA coalition to campaign as one.

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There has been a call for the entire Tongan cabinet to resign following the Commission of Inquiry report into last year’s ferry disaster, which criticises the government for buying an unsafe and unseaworthy vessel.

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As 2009 and the decade draws to a close, let’s now take a look back on a year which has seen some momentous events take place in this, our Pacific home. Bookended by the intractable political situation in Fiji and Papua New Guinea’s unchartered future with its new energy wealth, the year 2009 will instead be remembered for its deadly disasters.

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0500 TO 0530–Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat AM program of the Pacific quake and tsunami of September 30, 2009. This program went to air 68 minutes after the first wire flash of a quake off American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga.

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0530 TO 0600–Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat AM program of the Pacific quake and tsunami of September 30, 2009. This program went to air 68 minutes after the first wire flash of a quake off American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga.

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0600 TO 0630–Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat AM program of the Pacific quake and tsunami of September 30, 2009. This program went to air 68 minutes after the first wire flash of a quake off American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga.

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0630 TO 0700–Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat AM program of the Pacific quake and tsunami of September 30, 2009. This program went to air 68 minutes after the first wire flash of a quake off American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga.

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What happens when the world’s most famous Chinese movie star, Jackie Chan, inadvertedly belittles a large part of his ethnic audience? As the blogs and China’s widespread diaspora agree, they tell him to shut up and keep kicking the bad guys and not them.

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Many people consider the steppes of Kazakhstan as a largely desolate place - the large, flat plains that cover about half of the country being the home of shepherds, sheep and hot dry winds. But last year’s most awarded international film, Tulpan, has shown audiences worldwide that the most simple settings, and the most simple things in life, still hold the strongest bond.

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Australia’s Home Affairs Minister has continued to stress that this situation should not be politicised, wary of the political repercussions of this latest people trafficking incident. It all stems from several tragedies off Australia’s north coast in 2001, when the last large-scale arrival of asylum seekers occured - swinging whole elections.

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