Regional
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...
Suva, FIJI — The 32 percent tariff that will be imposed by the United States on all Fiji imports will have negative impacts on American consumers and farmers, one of the country's biggest kava exporters stated on Friday.
Wakanavu Kava director Saimon Lomaloma told RNZ Pacific that the tariffs...
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND — Over the past four days, 11,000 student performers lit up the ASB Polyfest stage, rain or shine, while behind the scenes, a strong plea for government support resounded.
This time, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was there to hear it firsthand.
Luxon's visit to Polyfest...
Honolulu, HAWAII — Solomon Kahoʻohalahala steadied himself on the double-hulled voyaging canoe called Hōkūleʻa as a 15-foot swell rose and the vessel took off under the midday sun. He had been paddling since dawn along the south shore of Molokaʻi, and his arms were tired. As the canoe reached the...

![Turtle in the care of young Filomena Fatia and Paulina Fatia. [Photo: Supplied/ Elena Pasilio] Sonic, A young turtle](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/sonic_copy.jpg?itok=FE2atBwL)
![Court documents from Orrin G. Hatch United States Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah said the victim “discovered [Tanuvasa] had on going cases for fraud out of Northern Utah” before the trip Orrin G. Hatch United States Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/orrin_g._hatch_united_states_courthouse_.jpg?itok=zwBoahUs)

![Lelei LeLaulu, who has been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, was a member of the team that organized the series of summits and global conferences in the 1990s known as the "Development Continuum" which defined the global agenda for the succeeding decade through the Millennium Development Goals. [courtesy photo via RNZ Pacific] Lelei LeLaulu](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/lelei_lelaulu_jpg.jpeg?itok=EnQq0UOt)
![Deep-sea mining technology is ready for approval from international bodies, but the debate on the ethics of the practice continues. [Photo: Seatools] seabed mining](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/mining_in_deep_sea_copy.jpg?itok=hSn6ZYx1)


![Saimon Lomaloma, back left in white t-shirt, the owner of Wakanavu Kava in Fiji, says the 32 percent tariff means members of the Fijian disapora will have to opt to purchase other kava imports from Vanuatu, Solomons and Tonga, which would be cheaper than the Fiji kava. [Photo: Wakanavu Kava] Saimon Lomaloma and others with kava](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/kava_woes_fiji.jpg?itok=pR5VoLqN)
![From left: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, ASB Polyfest Chair Steven Hargreaves, and National MP Greg Fleming as Festival Director Seiuli Terri Leo-Mauu speaks on Polyfest’s legacy and supporting youth. [Photo: LDR / Mary Afemata] r Luxon, ASB Polyfest Chair Steven Hargreaves, and National MP Greg Fleming](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/polyfest_copy.jpg?itok=OYHFFeEB)
![The perception that the large deep-sea plains in the central Pacific are uniformly flat and only sparsely populated has persisted until the present day. As researchers from the European MiningImpact project found out: The ecological diversity down there is enormous, especially where many manganese nodules cover the seabed. (Editor’s Note: American Samoa under a Lemanu Administration Executive Order has a moratorium on deepsea mining — extracting, or removal of minerals.) [photo: ROV KIEL 6000/GEOMAR] NODULE HABITATS](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/life_on_nodule_habitats.png?itok=R3PxEBeT)