Polio outbreak declared in Papua New Guinea
Legal aid groups in Timor Leste are calling for the country's president to reject a proposal to pardon an American, former priest who's been convicted of abusing young children.
Timor Opposition MP Nurima Alkatari says the government's proposal for a pardon for Richard Daschbach show a lack of empathy for his victims.
Domestic violence and gender violence is an epidemic in the Pacific affecting women from all works of life, including leaders. One prominent Fijian MP is calling for change after being the subject of cyber bullying and harassment.
The World Health Organisation has declared a polio out break in Papua New Guinea after two children were diagnosed with the disease.
The victim of a horrific bashing in Vanuatu says he was shocked, confused and re-traumatised by the Vanuatu President's decision to reduce his attackers' sentences.
In Tonga King Tupou VI has urged leaders to uphold truth and justice as Parliament wound up its business.
As Pacific countries prepare for next months' United Nations Oceans Summit in France Vanuatu is leading the charge calling for greater action to protect the world's oceans.
The players from Papua New Guinea's leading women's soccer team, Hekari United, will be on a mission this weekend when they play Auckland United in the OFC Women's Champions League final in Tahiti.
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SBS Australia
12 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Son of Norway's crown princess charged with rape and domestic violence
The son of Norway's crown princess has been charged with rape, domestic violence, assault and other crimes following a year-long police investigation, a prosecutor said. Marius Borg Høiby, 28, son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit and stepson to Crown Prince Haakon, is expected to stand trial early next year and could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of the most serious charges, the prosecutor said. Høiby denies the most serious accusations against him, but plans to plead guilty to some lesser charges in court when the trial starts, his lawyer Petar Sekulic told Reuters news agency. "He does not agree with the claims regarding rape and domestic violence," Sekulic said of his client. Høiby does not have a royal title and is outside the line of royal succession. "It is up to the courts to hear this case and to reach a decision," the royal palace said in a statement. Police in November 2024 held Høiby in detention for one week as part of the investigation. He was charged on Tuesday AEST with 32 criminal offences, including one count of rape with sexual intercourse and three counts of rape without intercourse, some of which he filmed on his telephone, the prosecution said. "It's up to the judges to decide if he is guilty," prosecutor Sturla Henriksboe told a press conference. Police in August last year named Høiby as a suspect in a physical assault against a woman with whom he had been in a relationship. Høiby, in a statement to the media at the time, admitted to causing bodily harm to the woman while he was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol and of damaging her apartment. Høiby said he regretted his acts. Høiby is Mette-Marit's son from a relationship before her marriage in 2001 to Haakon, Norway's future king. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, or visit . In an emergency, call 000.
ABC News
14 hours ago
- ABC News
Details of 'toxic' relationship before attempted murder-suicide laid bare at coronial inquest
The Northern Territory coroner has heard a young mother "was crying out to police" for help in the lead-up to a horrific attempted murder-suicide in Darwin two years ago. Warning: This story contains graphic details of intimate partner violence. NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage is investigating the circumstances of the death of Ralph Donald, who took his own life in the front yard of his house in Millner on October 3, 2023 after shooting his former partner Eileen Gibbons. Ms Gibbons was seriously injured in the attack but survived. In a packed court room on Monday, Donald's family was brought to tears as the details of that afternoon two years ago were laid bare on the first day of the inquest. In her opening statement, counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer told the court in the weeks before the tragedy, the 35-year-old had been "spiralling" over his recent break-up with Ms Gibbons and feeling "isolated and distressed". Ms Gibbons said that although Donald was a heavy drinker with anger issues and had become increasingly controlling and "toxic" — including locking her in the house — he had "never laid a hand on her" and she did not believe he ever would. But on the evening of October 3, 2023, while Ms Gibbons was visiting her former partner's house to retrieve items for their 11-month-old daughter, Donald walked into the front yard with one of his three rifles and shot Ms Gibbons in the stomach, before taking his own life. "He got approximately 2 metres from her and said, 'do you want to die' while holding up the firearm," Dr Dwyer said. She said Ms Gibbons, fearing for her life, had turned to run away, but fell to the ground. Donald's mother had been watering plants in the garden, and his brother Charles, on hearing the gunshot, ran out. "Seeing that she was bleeding from the stomach area … in what is an act of enormous bravery, Charles then stood between Eileen and [Donald]," Ms Dwyer said. "He didn't think [Donald] would shoot him when he saw [Donald] beginning to reload the firearm. Dr Dwyer said Ms Gibbons was seriously wounded in the attack and still struggled with her injuries. Ms Gibbons gave evidence on the first day of the inquest via video link from Ireland. The coroner heard she had come to Australia from Ireland in her twenties, with a degree in social work, seeking adventure and a "new life". In 2019, she was working as a case worker at the Salvation Army when Donald joined her program to tackle his alcohol problem. Ms Gibbons told the court the attraction was immediate and she quickly requested to be taken off his case. Soon after she left the job, they started a relationship. Ms Gibbons told the court there had been red flags from the beginning, but after their baby was born in 2022, the relationship took a turn. "It was toxic," she said. "He was quite stressed … he didn't have coping skills." The coroner heard Donald was working as a tyre fitter and was beginning an apprenticeship at the time of his death. However, Ms Gibbons said the couple were under significant financial stress, with their mortgage having risen three times, and that things "really escalated in the last year". The coroner heard that in the six months leading up to the incident, police were called five times in response to reports Donald was stalking her, locking her inside the house and preventing her from leaving. Another report was made by Donald himself, and his brother also made one when an argument broke out between the couple. The court heard NT police officers followed up on the calls a number of times and offered further referral support, but failed to see the warning signs. One police officer who assisted Ms Gibbons in 2023, who cannot be named due to a suppression order, testified that while she told him about Donald's aggressive and controlling behaviour he did not identify any immediate red flags. He said because there was no history of physical violence, a domestic violence order was not applicable at the time. However, the officer told the court that after undertaking Prevent, Assist, Respond training (PARt) — an educational program that discusses coercive control — he had a better understanding of the signs, and in hindsight would have done things differently. Over the next two weeks, the NT coroner will probe two separate cases of intimate partner violence deaths that fall outside the usual statistics, including that of Donald. This is the first domestic violence inquest to be held since Ms Armitage handed down her findings and recommendations in November from a landmark inquest into the deaths of four Aboriginal women. The NT has the highest rates of domestic, family and sexual violence in the country, and among the highest rates in the world, with the rate of intimate partner homicide seven times that of the national average. On Monday, Dr Dwyer told the court that in the two years since the inquest started, 13 more women had died by intimate partner violence. Dr Dwyer also told the court the way domestic and family violence deaths were currently being recorded "may shield us from the true numbers". The NT coroner's office uses a nationally-recognised definition of domestic violence deaths, which only includes cases where the victim was killed by a current or former partner. Dr Dwyer said that definition excluded many other scenarios, including Donald's death, and should be changed to "capture the true nature of the problem". The inquest into Donald's death is expected to run until Friday and hear from police officers, family members and domestic violence service workers.
ABC News
15 hours ago
- ABC News
Royal commission releasing findings into domestic, family and sexual violence
The findings from South Australia's landmark Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence are being released nine months after the first public hearings were held, and amid expectations of sweeping changes to address abuse. Late last year, commissioner and former senator Natasha Stott Despoja described the prevalence of domestic violence as an "epidemic". At the first public hearing in November 2024, she said she wanted to "present findings next year that will hopefully change and save lives". During the months since, more than 300 people made written submissions to the inquiry, which was called at the end of 2023 following the deaths of six South Australians from alleged family and domestic violence. Ms Stott Despoja's findings were handed down last week to SA governor Frances Adamson, and this morning are being publicly unveiled.
