Dateline Pacific evening edition for 18 October 2016

An academic specialising in West Papua says Pacific Islands peoples are taking the lead on issues of decolonisation within the region, and that it's beginning to make an impact on the geopolitic; There are concerns the independence and effectiveness of Tonga's first Anti-Corruption commissioner could be affected by government proposals; A major national broadband transmission network planned for Papua New Guinea, to be built by Chinese company Huawei, is set to significantly increase the country's connectivity, but there are hopes that PNG is being cautious with the level of expenditure and borrowing that is entailed in entering this arrangement; the human rights organisation, Amnesty Internnational, says refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru face a deliberate and systematic regime of neglect and cruelty; Papua New Guinea's struggle to contain sorcery-related violence is being linked to a lack of development for the majority rural population. While PNG scrapped the Sorcery Act three years ago in a move to criminalise such attacks, it's proving hard to change mindsets.