Cook Islands

Samoa seal final qualifying berth for netball's World Youth Cup

Having lost their opening two matches of the tournament, Samoa won three straight to join Fiji and the Cook Islands as the top three teams in the Pacific.

Cook Islands, Fiji impress in Oceania Youth Netball Qualifiers

 The Baby Black Pearls prevailed 42-37 and Coach John Glassie said, with five countries vying for three spots in Botswana next year, it sets them up well for the rest of the tournament.

"They're older and a little bit more mature so we knew we were going in for a tough game. If we win two out of the next three games that potentially puts us in the top two, which is where we want to finish - that automatic qualifier," he said.

Cook Islands take top spot

Cook Islands position has been helped in part by rivals Tonga and Samoa playing out a 1-1 draw to claim just one of the three available points in their encounter.

Following their opener on Monday Cook Islands coach Richard Anderson spoke of his team’s need to show their best selves on the pitch and he says today’s first half was reminiscent of that nervy first match.

“I certainly wasn’t elated with the first half,” he says.

Cooks opposition MPs seek EU lobbying over 'bad' fish deal

The government is set to sign a deal with the EU that would allow Spanish vessels to fish in its exclusive economic zone for at least eight years.

About 4,000 people have signed a petition against the move.

The opposition's finance and economy spokesman, James Beer, has written to Sweden's minister for International Development Cooperation, Isabella Lovin, to lobby the EU.

Ms Lovin is a former member of the EU parliament and experienced in fisheries.

Push to criminalise marital rape intensifies in the Cooks

RNZi reports currently, Cook Islands law does not recognise marital rape as a crime.

There are however, proposed Crimes Act amendments which include changes to make marital rape a criminal offence.

Cyclone Victor passing between Cooks and Niue

There's an active convergence zone slowly moving around the Cook Islands, with Palmerston to continue to experience winds up to 100 kilometres per hour.

A gale warning remains in place for Palmerston and a strong wind warning for the rest of the Cooks.

Cyclone Victor to be Category Four by Monday, as Cook Islanders hit by winds

The atoll has been on high alert as the cyclone, upgraded to category 3 on Sunday and centred several hundred kilometres away, moved slowly towards it.

Winds close to the centre are about 115 km/h. The Fiji Meteorological Service says the cyclone is intensifying and the wind strength will increase to 150 km/h.

Cook Islands atoll starts to feel cyclone Victor

The category two cyclone currently has winds of 90 kilometres an hour at its centre as it moves south-southwest past the northern atolls at about three kilometres an hour.

Palmerston is closest to the cyclone's path, and a resident, William Rowe, says every warning has Victor inching closer to the atoll.

Cyclone warning issued for Northern Cooks

The Fiji Met services says a tropical disturbance, which has been hovering over the northern Cook Islands over the last few days, has developed into a tropical cyclone.

It says cyclone Victor, a category two system, is moving southwest at nine kilometres an hour, and that close to the centre the cyclone is expected to have average winds of 92 kilometers an hour.

Teams receive Cook Islands welcome

The welcoming ceremony was attended by players from New Zealand, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga and hosts Cook Islands and along with CIFA President Lee Harmon, Cook Islands Minister of Youth and Sports Albert Nicholas and CISNOC President Hugh Graham who took time from their busy schedules to assist in making it a memorable occasion for the visitors.