Neu: 2001-10-14 Contents of this issue:
1. Double Kiddie Killing 2. Break Monopolies 3. King Seriously Ill ======================================================================== October 14th, 2001 1. Double Kiddie Killing: A 23-year-old man Ludovic Lolo of Lifou Island New Caledonia's is being held in custody in Noum�a on two charges of murder. Lolo's arrest followed the gruesome murder of two children aged five and three in the early hours of Saturday. Local police say the killings followed a domestic altercation and the children appear to have been stabbed to death. Islanders are in a state of shock after the killings. Evangelist Church leader on Lifou Island, Daniel Caihe the children were.mutilated and he was shocked that such an incident had taken place in his parish.(Oceania Flash/SPC) 2. Break Monopolies: Pacific Islands Governments have been urged to liberalise the telecommunications sector, breaking up monopolies and introducing competition. The call comes in a strategic plan for the development of new media (online journalism) produced during a workshop at the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) convention in Madang. Participants said the Internet is largely untapped as an educational resource in the Pacific Islands. The top media managers and editors from around the region taking part added: "Compared to the rest of the world, access to the new media in the Pacific is expensive, slow and unreliable. "Breaking up monopolies and introducing competition should improve services and reduce costs for users." The participants also urged governments to include computer literacy in their education master plans.(PINA Nius On Line). 3. King Seriously Ill: The family of Tonga's ailing King are gathering at his bedside in Auckland as he fights what are believed to be deadly heart problems reports the NZ Herald. King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV came to New Zealand two weeks ago for medical checks and was meant to fly back to Tonga on Thursday, but was instead rushed to hospital. Doctors at the unnamed hospital said there was nothing they could do for the 82-year-old, who has retired to the royal family's Auckland home, Atalanga, in Epsom. A source in the Tongan community said three of the King's children were already at his bedside. The fourth, eldest son and heir Crown Prince Tupouto'a, was to arrive from Asia last night. Queen Halaevalu Mata'aho is expected to arrive in Auckland today to be near her husband, said the NZ Herald. The editor of the Auckland-based Taimi o Tonga and Pasifika Times newspaper, Kalafi Moala, said the King was so ill he was unable to travel. A worker at Atalanga had told him the King was close to death. Mr Moala said Tongans were shocked to hear of the illness because King Tupou was a fitness freak and had shed a lot of weight in recent years. Just last Sunday, he had preached at a Tongan church in Mangere. King Tupou came to power in 1965 after his mother, Queen Salote, died from cancer at Atalanga. __END__
