Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Beauty pageants remain an important part of cultural and social life in many Pacific Island countries, although their significance vary across the region.

Pageants such as Miss Pacific Islands, Miss Samoa, Miss Heilala (Tonga), Miss Hibiscus (Fiji) and Miss Cook Islands, provide young Pacific women with a platform to advocate on issues they are passionate about.

Three Pacific women are celebrating major beauty pageant victories – domestically and internationally — after being crowned over the weekend.

Tiare Henry-Anguna, who represented the Cook Islands, was crowned Miss World Oceania 2026 after reaching the Top 20 at the 73rd Miss World competition in Vietnam.

Henry-Anguna was among 111 contestants who spent a month competing in various categories. The overall winner was Dominican Republic's Johierry Mola, with the six continental queens announced alongside her.

In Samoa, Poumau Astesclanalesusi Ah Lam Tiufea Va'a was crowned the new Miss Samoa.

This year's pageant saw eight contestants in the running for the national title under the theme "Ua Tālā Measina", or Opening Samoa's cultural treasures.

On the night, Tiufea Va'a also won the Best Sarong and Best Siva Samoa categories.

Her family isn’t new to pageantry, with her older sister Philomena Tiufea Va'a finishing as second runner-up in the Miss Samoa 2011 pageant and her other sister Barbara Tiufea Va'a crowned Miss Samoa Fa'afafine in 2018.

After being crowned, Tiufea Va'a told local reporters that she is looking forward to serving Samoa. She will be vying for the Miss Pacific Islands title, which will take place in Samoa early next year.

In Fiji, Sala Korosaya took out the Miss Hibiscus title.

The 23-year-old, who is studying law and commerce at the University of the South Pacific, emerged as the winner out of 11 contestants at the 70th Hibiscus Festival in Suva.

Speaking to the crowd, Korosaya said she initially didn't feel good enough to compete in the pageant.

Miss Hibiscus will represent Suva City in the upcoming Miss Fiji pageant, to be held later in the year.

OTHER TITLEHOLDERS

Across the Pacific, other national queens have also been crowned.

In Tonga, Silia Sitoafa Matelau was crowned Miss Heilala 2026-27 in July.

Leia Diard was crowned Miss Tahiti 2026 in June, while American Samoa crowned Tilomai Tauilili as its new national queen in June.

The regional Miss Pacific Islands crown is currently held by Fiji's Ailava Samuels, who was crowned in February.

(RNZ Pacific)

IMPACTS ON PACIFIC

The World Meteorological OrganiZation (WMO) says the intensifying El Niño phase will bring exceptionally warm tropical Pacific Ocean conditions in the coming months.

In its latest update, the WMO says El Niño is already causing disruption and devastation from droughts and floods in various parts of thre world including the Pacific, and is expected to peak towards the end of this year, with climate impacts continuing well into 2027.

A number of Pacific countries have been experiencing severe drought conditions as a result of the weather pattern.

Data released by the WMO shows a significant build up of smoke from Indonesian forest fires, including in South Papua province, has crossed borders into neighbouring countries including Papua New Guinea and Malaysia.

As the WMO advises regional countries to pay extra heed to weather forecasts and services, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a warning.

He said the science leaves no room for doubt that the planet is in uncharted waters, and that those waters are heating up.

Guterres said sea surface temperatures are rising, stressing that the world is in the danger zone of extreme weather.

"The race now is between rising risks and our commitment to take climate action and protect people. We must win that race," he said.

(RNZ PACIFIC)

CHINA SEABED MINERAL SUPPORT

As the United States steps up its engagement, China has reaffirmed its support for the Cook Islands' seabed mineral exploration through continued custom training programs and ocean research surveys.

China reaffirmed its commitment, highlighting ongoing training programs, as the United States prepares to base a scientist in-country to work with the Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA).

Last month, Dr Erik Noble, the assistant secretary of Oceans and Atmosphere at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), announced that a US Embassy Science Fellow would be based in the Cook Islands, strengthening the scientific relationship between the two countries, building on information gathered during the expedition of the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer

The US scientist Dr Nicole Bartlett of NOAA - an Embassy Science Fellow (ESF) will be based in Rarotonga, starting this November, to provide "technical scientific expertise" as the nation continues its deep-sea mineral exploration phase, the US Embassy in New Zealand had earlier confirmed.

China's ambassador to the Cook Islands, Dr Wang Xiaolong in a recent visit, was asked whether China would also consider stationing a scientist in the Cook Islands.

Dr Wang told Cook Islands News, "I understand the basing of a US scientist is largely for capacity building purposes, and we have been doing capacity building exercises together with these Cook Islands sites as well for some time.

He said China is currently running a custom-designed training program for 20 Cook Islanders, aimed at building local capacity and in-house expertise for seabed mineral exploration and development.

"We've put together this custom-designed training program for them to help them build up the capacity and to develop in-house, in-situ expertise so that you could have the best knowledge to help you make the best plans to ensure the best processes to maximize benefits for Cook Islands once you decide to take the step on exploration and development of those resources," Dr Wang added.

Around October last year, Dr Wang said China had the first voyage of the scientific survey ship, Chinese ocean research vessel, RV Da Yang Hao, "which helped to collect data doing the preliminary and foundational survey for seabed conditions, the environment, as well as those data in relation to seabed minerals."

He said the idea is to support the efforts of the Cook Islands Government to explore and develop those resources to support the long-term sustainable development of the Cook Islands as a nation.

"Of course we would want to do it in a way that would be agreed with the Cook Islands on one side, to serve Cook Islands' priorities, and at the same time in that process ensure that we'll adequately protect the environment so that the process would be sustainable, not only in the economic sense, but also in terms of the environmental soundness."

Dr Wang added that they are working on another voyage, another survey ship with the Cook Government and relevant authorities, "hopefully that will take place within the course of this year."

The Cook Islands is increasingly drawing international interest for its seabed minerals, with both China and the US stepping up engagement through capacity building and scientific cooperation.

The United States and New Zealand, and the Cook Islands recently announced the co-funded NZ$101 million project for Penrhyn port where US Deputy Secretary of State Landau stated that the project builds on the Critical Minerals Framework signed earlier this year.

HPD DRONE ASSISTED ARREST

The Honolulu Police Department released footage from its first drone-assisted arrest.

In a video posted to social media Sunday, the department showcased how its new Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program was used to arrest three suspects in a recent crime spree.

On Wednesday, the drone tracked vehicles and suspects in HPD’s Crime Reduction Unit’s (CRU) investigation.

Police said the suspects were connected to a car break-in, burglary, auto theft and robbery while inside.

The department said they tracked stolen Apple AirPods and linked the location to the suspect’s vehicle, a black Chevy Spark.

CRU requested DFR’s assistance to track the suspects and provided real-time support.

The vehicle stopped near Loʻi Kalo Mini Park. Two fled on foot and were quickly detained, including the one with the stolen AirPods. DFR located the third suspect hiding near the Palama Street off-ramp.

The department said the investigation is ongoing.

(Hawaii News Now)

FIRES BLAZE AS SAMOA DRIES

A fire broke out in the Vaitele area, just five days after an earlier blaze in Tuanaimato, as El Niño brings an increased risk of prolonged dry conditions and wildfires across Samoa.

The fire broke out in dry grass at Vaitele on Tuesday morning, between the CCK building and Vailima Breweries opposite Coin Save, prompting a response from the Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority (SFESA).

The Samoa Observer was at the scene around midday, not long after it had been extinguished, with smoke still visible. 

A Coin Save security guard, who did not want to be named, said the fire was noticed shortly before 11 a.m., and his supervisor immediately contacted the fire service. 

He said grass in the area had become extremely dry and was worried the strong winds would reignite the fire if it was not fully extinguished.

The Vaitele fire follows another blaze five days earlier at the Faleata golf course. 

Environmentalist and Samoa Conservation Society board member Afia James Atherton said the current dry and windy conditions were making open fires particularly dangerous.

“Parts of Samoa are currently experiencing dry and windy conditions caused by a strong but natural El Niño weather pattern, made worse by human-induced climate change,” he said. 

“The El Niño is predicted to strengthen, meaning dry conditions are likely to continue for some time."

“During this dry period open fires are very risky, especially with strong winds, and should be actively discouraged to avoid fires spreading and getting out of control.”

The warning comes as Samoa continues to experience dry conditions associated with El Niño. 

(Samoa Observer)