Pacific Beat ABC News

The Fijian Drua have won just once away from  home in their first three seasons, but older and wiser now, coach Mick Byrne believes they can find a way past the Blues in the last eight.

Papua New Guinea opposition MPs are infuriated after their motion of no confidence against Prime Minister James Marape, was disallowed from progressing because of a "paper work error".

Nauru's former President Baron Waqa was welcomed this week as the new head of the Pacific Islands Forum. Waqa's appointment as Secretary General looks to heal a rift between Forum member nations and Micronesian countries who walked out of the body in 2021, following the appointment of Henry Puna. Waqa's appointment means an early exit for Puna who  misses a second term in office.

This week Samoa marks 62 years of independence. Celebrations haven been scaled down from previous years, following a decision by Government to only hold grand celebrations every five years.

One of Australia's biggest diplomatic efforts to develop closer relations with the Pacific starts today with the opening of the Pacific Engagement Visa. It will allows 3,000 Pacific Islanders to permanently settle in Australia every year. 

Humanitarian aid has begun flowing into Enga province with a number of Australian and New Zealand aid teams set to arrive in the disaster zone today. Among the task force arriving are geological experts from Australia and New Zealand, who will conduct a study of the disaster zone. It comes as authorities raise questions over the death toll with local government officials disputing figures put out by the national government.