Regional
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — As the demand for electric car batteries and smartphones grows, mining companies are turning their attention to the deep sea, where precious metals such as nickel and cobalt can be found in potato-size nodules sitting on the ocean floor.
Beneath the Pacific Ocean...
WASHINGTON — The US government has granted tariff exclusions for smartphones, computers and other electronics imported largely from China, sparing them from President Donald Trump's steep 125 percent reciprocal duties.
In a notice to shippers, the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CPB)...
WASHINGTON — People familiar with the matter revealed that US President Trump's administration is drafting an executive order that will allow exploration of metal mineral deposits on the Pacific Ocean floor in an effort to counter China's dominance in the battery metal mineral and rare earth supply...
Atafu, TOKELAU — In Tokelau, school kids have been rushing home for their favorite activity of the day: turtle time.
Five-year-old Ilisapesi Sakalia (Pesi) loved her sea turtle friends, "Popo" and "Uto".
'Popo' means husked coconut, and 'Uto' means a coconut sprout.
"It's teaching them to look...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A Samoan man was arrested in Washington County, Utah after allegedly charging thousands of dollars for a fake vacation rental in Hawaii.
Matthew Liutai Tanuvasa, 32 allegedly charged a victim $3,616 for an Airbnb rental in Hauʻula, Hawaii, that turned out to be a local...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Attorneys in the Sia Figiel murder case have been warned they will not be given any more adjournments and the trial will proceed as scheduled in August this year.
Samoa Supreme Court Justice Fepuleai Ameperosa Roma said many opportunities have been given to the defense...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A Samoan man, Lelei LeLaulu, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
He is a development entrepreneur working at the confluence of climate change, tourism, food security and renewable energy.
The Samoa Observer reported his career spans journalism, global...
Honolulu,HAWAII — In order for their sovereignty to be recognized internationally, Indigenous Pacific peoples had to adopt the nation-state structure created by imperial powers, conform to geographic boundaries carved by their colonizers, and enter a global economic order that prizes extractive...
Suva, FIJI — Fiji's Ministry of Health has confirmed a secondary school student in the Western Division on the main island of Viti Levu has died of dengue fever.
A medical team conducted its investigation and awareness at the deceased's school, Xavier College in Ba, and also at his home.
The...
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND — A Samoan national has been sentenced to four years imprisonment after pleading guilty to 12 representative charges relating to a migrant exploitation scheme.
The individual, who has interim name suppression, pleaded guilty at the Auckland District Court yesterday to five...