Regional
Apia, SAMOA — Samoa’s new Prime Minister, Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa has announced that Parliament will reconvene as early Wednesday after Cabinet Ministers moved into their offices on Tuesday (Samoa time).
Samoa's newly appointed Speaker of Parliament, Papali'i Li'o Ta'eu-Masipau was officially welcomed...
Honolulu, HAWAII — As the number of new COVID infections surge in Hawaii, daily vaccination numbers are going in the opposite direction.
On Friday, two of Oahu’s largest vaccination sites were mostly empty.
There were no lines at the Queen’s Medical Center’s Blaisdell Center vaccination clinic. The...
Apia, SAMOA — Samoa's new FAST Party government has got down to work this morning, meeting with the heads of government departments, more than 100 days after it had won the election.
FAST MPs were forced to swear themselves in because the Head of State had barred them from entering Parliament.
The...
Apia, SAMOA — More than 500 people are estimated to have taken part in a march in support of the Samoan Judiciary and calling for an end to the current political stand-off between two political parties.
The Samoa Observer reports the march was organized by So'o'au Va'a and Maylynn Brown and...
Apia, SAMOA — Samoa is looking at lowering the minimum age of people eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine.
Director General of Health Leausa Take Naseri said a surplus of vaccines has led the Ministry to consider a minimum age of 12 to get vaccinated.
The New Zealand government has offered to supply...
Apia, SAMOA — A Samoan academic in New Zealand says one positive amid the political crisis in Apia is the strength of traditional systems and structures.
Both the election winner FAST party and the caretaker HRPP continue to battle it out in the courts for the right to rule.
Meanwhile, electoral...
Apia, SAMOA — Samoa's professional legal body has firmly admonished the Head of State for his role in delaying parliament from convening.
The Samoa Law Society, in its submission to Friday's Court of Appeal hearing to expedite an end to the country's Constitutional and electoral crisis, was clear...
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A legal ruling in Texas is opening the door to mandatory vaccinations in Hawaii, according to Hawaii’s attorney general.
A federal judge allowed a Houston hospital to fire workers who refused to be vaccinated. The attorney general said that means the state can also...
Apia, SAMOA — At Friday’s sitting of the Samoa Court of Appeal to decide on the Supreme Court ruling on the legality of the ad-hoc swearing in of Faatuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Party, the Court reserved its decision and Chief Justice Satiu set a date by which it would be delivered.
The...
Santa Fe, NEW MEXICO — Former U.S. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico is being nominated by President Joe Biden to become the next United States ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper is reporting.
The appointment requires passage by the U.S. Senate, where Udall is...



![FAST leaders, Fiame Naomi Mataafa and Laauli Leuatea Schmidt and the FAST cabinet met yesterday and are planning its first actions once it formally assumes power. [SN file photo] Fiame Naomi Mataafa and Laauli Leuatea Schmidt](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/fast_leaders_2.jpg?itok=sJv704CQ)
![More than 500 people assembled in the name of ending the nation's political stalemate. [photo: Anetone Sagaga / RNZ Pacific] Demonstrators in Apia this week](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/samoa_march.jpg?itok=SNc-z5A7)




![The decision being appealed is a Supreme Court judgment of 28 June 2021 that declared a tent swearing-in of elected FAST members unconstitutional and unlawful because the Head of State was not present. [photo: screenshot via Samoa Global News] Samoa parliament building with tents](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/samoa_parliament_with_tents.jpeg?itok=_ef5ZmVN)
![Former U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. [AP file photo/Andrew Harnik] Tom Udall, D-N.M](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/tom_udallweb.jpg?itok=yUmswERN)