Cook Islands

Beddoes finished first in the 1500 metres with a time of 4 minutes 3.31 seconds.

He also won the 800 metres title yesterday.

Papua New Guinea’s Messach Fred came in second clocking a time of 4 minutes 6.90 seconds while Fiji’s Petero Veitaqomaki finished in third with a time of 4 minutes 7.10 seconds.

Swimming is one of 19 sports at the Pacific Games where athletes must hold a passport for the country they are representing (NZ passport for Cook Islands) and have lived there for at least five years.

Papua New Guinea challenged the eligibility of Bede Aitu, Kirsten Fisher-Marsters, Malcolm Richardson and Noah Vilisoni-Heather, who all grew up in New Zealand.

The Cook Islands Olympic Committee immediately withdrew three of the swimmers while the evidence of residency provided for the fourth was deemed insufficient by the Pacific Games Disputes Tribunal.

Of these cases, one was a visitor from French Polynesia with dengue type 3, while the others were dengue type 1.

The ministry said authorities have diagnosed four probable dengue cases this week, one of whom recently arrived from Fiji.

It is reminding the public keep home and work environments clean and to safely dispose of water-retaining containers; to avoid mosquito bites by covering up, using repellents and screen doors, and to see a doctor if fever, pain behind the eyes, or muscle aches develop.

The New Zealand Herald quoted a worker from an adjacent resort saying the fire started at about 5pm and was contained by volunteer firefighters.

The resort sits on a private islet within Aitutaki.

Preliminary results are expected to be all in by 10 o'clock tonight local time.

When Prime Minister Henry Puna announced the June 14 date for the general elections less than two months ago, there was a general feeling of relief that there would be only a short lead-up time to polling day.

Long campaign periods have been known to place the small communities in the Cook Islands under considerable pressure as party politics plays a major role in the lives of many.

The meeting ran until the early hours of Friday morning despite being scheduled to finish on Thursday afternoon,

Nations were forced to make concessions to reach a deal.

Parties to the Nauru Agreement chief executive Ludwig Kumoru said the Cook Islands was disappointed with a lack of allocated fishing days in the high seas.

He said next year the commission would focus on enforcing the high seas but the negotiation of a new Tropical Tuna agreement had a successful outcome.

Last night's win was the fifth consecutive win for the team, who have made a return to international netball after a two-year hiatus.

The Cook Islands will now play Swaziland in tonight's final, who they beat 54-44 earlier in the week.

Photo: Netball Singapore Cook Islands beating Swaziland who they will now play in Final. 

It was estimated repairs would cost about $US170,000 and MP Tama Tuavera said the government should assist the Cook Islands Voyaging Society to pay for it.

He said Te Marumaruatua, the double hulled canoe which has been traditionally navigated thousands of nautical miles around the Pacific, has served the country honourably and brought pride to the Cook Islands.

He said the canoe was a national treasure that belongs to the people of the Cooks which the government has a duty to help save.

The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains more than 13.4 million documents mostly from the offshore law firm Appleby.

The papers also contained details from the corporate registries of the Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu as well as 15 other registries, mostly in the Caribbean.

The papers covered the period from 1950 to 2016.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is investigating the files along with a network of journalists around the world.

Mrs Iro began her career in health as a nurse before going to become the Cook Islands senior health official and the first woman to hold the post.

In making the appointment, the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nurses are central to achieving universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.

He said Ms Iro will keep that perspective front and centre at the WHO.

The appointment fulfils a commitment Dr Ghebreyesus made when he became director-general to appoint a nurse to his senior team.