Pacific news in brief for 2 February

Pacific news in brief for 2 February

A round-up of news from around the region, including PNG's government defending the use of force to evict residents of an informal settlement.

PNG govt defends using tear gas, force to evict illegal settlers in capital

RNZ Pacific Papua New Guinea’s government has defended the use of force to evict residents of an informal settlement in the capital Port Moresby. Police used tear gas to move people out of the Two-Mile settlement last week, while heavy machinery was used to tear down homes and two people were killed in clashes. Acting Prime Minister John Rosso said the forced eviction was necessary to protect law-abiding citiizens from long-running criminal acti…