Category: Pacific News

SYDNEY (AAP) — Between Australia and New Zealand sits a chain of underwater volcanoes that are home to an abundance of fish, ancient corals and other marine life. Known as Lord Howe Rise, the vast underwater landscape largely exists outside state maritime boundaries, beneath the high seas. That makes the ecologically rich habitat fair game […]

By Samoa reporter Adel Fruean and Kyle Evans In short:  (ABC-Australia) After failing to pass the annual budget in parliament this morning, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa has triggered an early election in Samoa.  It came after a long-winded political impasse involving a former colleague, turned political adversary, who is facing criminal charges.  What’s next? Samoa will head […]

APIA (SPREP) — “Voices of the Pacific”, a film which spotlights the profound impact of plastic waste, sourced from foreign countries and choking our Ocean’s arteries, earned widespread applause from Pacific countries following its world premiere at Apollo Cinemas in Samoa, Wednesday night. Directed by Paul Donnelly and produced by April Howard of Rollingball Productions, […]

NEW YORK (THE ATOLL NEWS) — The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has appointed Samoa legal expert Vui Gemma Nelson as Ocean Adviser, under the Chairmanship of Palau. AOSIS, established in 1990, represents the interests of 39 small island and low-lying coastal developing states in international climate, sustainable development, and ocean negotiations. Though small […]

WAPPINGERS FALLS/PORT MORESBY (AP) — As the World War II bomber Heaven Can Wait was hit by enemy fire off the Pacific island of New Guinea on 11 March 1944, the co-pilot managed a final salute to flyers in an adjacent plane before crashing into the water. All 11 men aboard were killed. Their remains, […]

TARAWA (ABC PACIFIC) — A government minister in Kiribati is worried that the amount of kava being imported and consumed is threatening the country’s development and peoples’ way of life. The concern was sparked by a Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper report saying Kiribati was the number one export destination for Vanuatu-grown kava. Last year, Kiribati […]