Pacific News Briefs: Fiji police seize more meth
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Police in Fiji have seized one ton of methamphetamine, some of it in kava bags.
It was the second major methamphetamine bust in Fiji in a week. More than three tons of the drug was seized on 14 January, and remains under 24-hour surveillance, police said earlier.
The drug had been found in both crystal and powder form, stored in more than 300 containers of different sizes, Fiji's Assistant Commissioner of Police Mesake Waqa said.
About 1.1 tons was uncovered. Some was concealed in kava packets labeled as with made in Fiji, while some was in boxes of tile adhesive.
A 37-year-old businessman from Nadi was in custody in connection to the discovery.
(RNZ Pacific)
HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SAMOA & AM SAMOA NAMED
Mr Will Robinson has been named as Australia’s next High Commissioner to the Independent State of Samoa. The High Commissioner to Samoa is also accredited to American Samoa.
Australia has a strong and longstanding partnership with Samoa, guided by the Australia-Samoa Bilateral Partnership Arrangement (Ole Fala Folasia I Lo Ta Va – The Map that Guides Us) signed by both Prime Ministers in 2023.
“Our partnership with Samoa is underpinned by our shared values and membership of the Pacific Islands Forum. We are working together to deliver our shared interests in a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific.
“We are building on our shared history of community and cultural connections, through enhanced cooperation in sport, security, climate and disaster resilience, development and mobility.
“Our development partnership supports Samoa’s ambitions, including through the Pacific Australia Labor Mobility scheme.”
Mr Robinson is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Director, Investment Team, Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific. He has previously served overseas in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.
(Australia High Commission)
NEW STUDY ON TONGA VOLCANO
A new study has comprehensively mapped the immediate after effects of the 15 January 2022 volcano eruption of Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha'apai, highlighting the risks of similar events.
The study, published in Nature Communications, is part of the joint international project, the NIWA-Nippon Foundation Tonga Eruption Seabed Mapping Project (TESMaP), which includes 13 partners from Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said the eruption was the biggest atmospheric explosion recorded on Earth in more than 100 years, displacing almost 10km3 of seafloor, and generating a tsunami that sent shockwaves around the world.
Following the eruption, scientists from NIWA set sail on RV Tangaroa for a month-long voyage to collect geological data, video footage, seabed imagery and water column samples.
Using this information, they were able to show the far-reaching ocean impacts of such a large eruption, including the widespread loss of seafloor life.
They worked with the Department of Geology in Nuku'alofa, led by the Head Geologist and now the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources, Geology and Survey, chief executive Taaniela Kula.
Kula said ongoing studies and research will continue as they and their overseas partners continue to learn from "a one of a kind eruption" that has held the world of volcanology in awe.
"It's the first of its kind to be recognized by the volcanology community - confirming that it's a new kind of volcano eruption," he told RNZ Pacific.
He said no one in the volcanology community had witnessed or had ever heard of such an eruption, blowing up from the seafloor and going beyond the atmosphere into the mesosphere, 58km above sea level.
Kula and the government of Tonga want the study to continue so that the country and its people can be prepared for what could happen in the future.
NIWA biogeochemist and lead author of the study Dr Sarah Seabrook said that there is still much to be learned about the 22 mapped volcanoes in the Kingdom of Tonga, along with hundreds more along the Tonga-Tofua-Kermadec Arc, and numerous others worldwide.
"Future monitoring, of both the volcanic edifice itself and the surrounding seafloor and habitats, is necessary to robustly determine the resilience and recovery of both human and natural systems to major submarine eruptions. It will also help more broadly assess the risks posed by the many similar submerged volcanoes that exist worldwide."
(RNZ Pacific)
STABBING IN APIA
A 50-year-old taxi driver in Samoa was critically injured after being reportedly stabbed in a brutal assault.
The severity of his injuries underscores the grave nature of the violence within the community, raising alarming questions about public safety.
(BNN News)
INT’L MISS GLOBAL BEAUTY CONTEST
A young Samoan woman has been named first runner-up in the international Miss Global beauty competition.
In a display of talent, poise and cultural pride, Haylani Pearl Kuruppu just missed out on the top spot; with the title of Miss Global going to Miss Puerto Rico.
This achievement is a historic moment for the small Pacific nation of Samoa, as it is the first time the country has achieved a top-tier position on an international beauty contest stage.
Kuruppu is of Samoan descent on her mother’s side and has Sri Lankan roots through her father. She is a former Miss Samoa and was named Miss Samoa Global late last year ahead of this latest competition.
Her title is different to that held by current Miss Samoa Moemoana Schwenke, who is representing Samoa at the Miss Pacific Islands pageant being held for the first time in Nauru.
Samoans all around the world — including many fans in New Zealand — stayed up to watch the pageant in the early hours of this morning in support of Kuruppu.
This year’s contest was held in Vietnam.
(RNZ Samoa)
COOK ISLANDS PUSHES FOR CALENDAR CHANGE
Te Tuhi Kelly, leader of the Progressive Party of the Cook Islands, has now been joined by Cook Islands businessman Mike Pero in pushing for calendar changes.
"The Cook Islands' greatest trading partner is New Zealand but we only have a working week of three days where both are aligned," Pero told Cook Islands News.
"This means inefficiencies and inconveniences at both ends. Some locals on the island having to attend matters, meetings and conversations on Sunday here.
"At the other end of the week Friday here is Saturday in New Zealand and Australia, so again a challenge and a fiscal cost."
Pero wants to push the country a day forward to align with New Zealand and Australia, saying it would be a marketing opportunity for tourism, making the Cook Islands "the first place in the world to see the new day, ahead of Samoa and New Zealand."
"I've tried to see any downside in aligning the Cooks with New Zealand and Australia but I cannot.
"I am suggesting the day goes forward and the time of the day here in Rarotonga remains unchanged, making the Cook Islands the first place in the world to see the new day, ahead of Samoa, ahead of New Zealand.
"This privilege, of being first in the world, I am sure would be a marketing opportunity for Cook Island Tourism; I welcome further comments from others both here and New Zealand, and in particular the properties, tourism and the airlines."
"This is an ongoing discussion that needs to be had."
However, the financial benefits were obvious.
Pero concurred, adding, beyond commerce, the tourist from New Zealand and Australia, typically between 10 and 40 per cent of guests, were having booking issues, not understanding they were crossing the dateline.
"If there was a change, I guess it could happen any time of the year once Parliament decides to proceed, and if it does happen, I'd suggest a mid-year date to change the calendars, and not January 1 when everyone is on holiday here and abroad."
(Cook Island News)