Samoa

Talamua Media reported a press release, from the Office of the Clerk, informed media all video and still cameras are prohibited inside the new Maota Fono during parliament sessions.

The new arrangement comes after the new parliament building was opened last week.

Tuilaepa told Talamua he was not aware of the ban, saying he would have stopped the notice if he'd known.

He expressed surprise at not seeing any journalists in parliament.

The MMR programme was halted last July following the death of two infants after they received the vaccination.

Two nurses have been charged with their manslaughter.

The World Health Organisation's representative to Samoa Rasul Baghirov said they will step-up the programme and aim to have all eligible children vaccinated by the end of April.

The potential for the measles outbreak in New Zealand to spread to Samoa has created an extra sense of urgency according to Dr Baghirov.

Restoring confidence in the programme remains a hurdle, he said.

The Minister for Commerce, Industry and Labour, Lautafi Selafi Purcell told Newsline Samoa that his intentions are serious.

He said the government would not condone infidelity that would cause social upheavals at home.

He said there was only one end for any infidelity while on the scheme and that was a one-way ticket home.

Since the scheme started, acts of infidelity have been immortalised, albeit humorously, in song but it has taken on a more serious tone after formal complaints from spouses reached the ear of the prime minister.

The Legislative Office informed local media of the new protocols before parliament resumed today.

It said the media could have access to video and photos of the sittings taken by designated staff.

But the Journalists Association of Samoa has warned against the move, describing it as a form of censorship.

Journalists have also expressed disappointment that the new parliament house has no media gallery as originally planned.

The association has urged the speaker, Leaupepe Toleafoa Faafisi, to reconsider the new protocols.

V1Samoa reported that this raised the ire of Chief Justice Patu TIavasue Falefatu Sapolu who asked the nurses if they still wanted lawyer Lefau Harry Schuster to represent them.

He said the court had the authority to make a change in their legal representative if needed.

The nurses, Leuatogi Te'o and Luse Emo Tauvale, told the Supreme Court they still wanted the former parliamentarian to represent them.

The office will serve as a regional hub for the development institution’s work across the region.

The new regional hub will be integral to the World Bank Group’s delivery of more than one billion Fiji dollars’ worth of projects across six countries (Fiji, Nauru, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu) in a wide range of sectors including transport, aviation, information and communications technology, education, disaster resilience, fisheries, health and education, among others.

In a statement, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said, “That this happened to a close friend and neighbour in our Pacific region, again, is deplorable and unacceptable.”

“On behalf of my Government and people of Samoa, I convey to the Prime Minister of New Zealand and her Government and people of New Zealand our profound feelings of sorrow and sympathy, and our committed solidarity and support. To the families and friends of those whose lives were taken without warning – we extend our warm and heartfelt condolences.”

Christophe Dabin is the General Secretary of the National French and Sporting Olympic Committee (CNOSF) of New Caledonia and knows this well.

He also understands the value of his team staying together in the Games Village at the Methodist Church Compound at Faleula at the XVI Pacific Games in July.

Any team who stays together, will win together,” he says.

This was also the philosophy of the Pacific Games Office in choosing the location and bringing the Games slogan, One in Spirit, into reality.

A Grant Contract Signing Ceremony for the project was held at the office of the Embassy of Japan in Apia.

The project is funded through Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Project (GGP) scheme.

The Signing Ceremony was hosted by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Samoa, Maugaoleatuolo Shinya Aoki, and it was well attended by the Member of Parliament Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi as well as the President and members of the Faleata College Committee.

Talalelei Pauga is accused of making a false declaration on a passenger arrival card when he entered the country in January

The Samoa Observer said the 41-year-old appeared before District Court Judge, Leota Raymond Schuster, for mention.

The judge ordered the defendant to surrender his passport, and adjourned the case to mid-May.

Mr Pauga threw a pig's head at Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi in Brisbane last year.