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Pacific
Fears for families as Vanuatu reels from deadly earthquake
The devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Vanuatu on Monday, claiming the lives of at least 14 people and injuring more than 200, has sent shockwaves around the world, with Ni-Vanuatuans residing in Rarotonga praying for the safety of their loved ones at home.
Emotional groundbreaking for Fale Niue
The Niue Community and Friends Inc, Society were overwhelmed to finally host their Groundbreaking ceremony for their Fale Niue Kūki ʻĀirani hostel in Tupapa.
Political changes were within the law
TONGA – A former prime minister has hit back at allegations made last week by Tonga’s current prime minister that political reforms were made in 2010 without the approval of parliament.
Medical teams deployed to Ambae
VANUATU – Medical emergency teams have for the first time been deployed to the Ambae volcano disaster.
13,000 islanders need to be resettled
VANUATU – The active volcano on Vanuatu’s Ambae island has once again begun spewing out ash and harmful smoke, and Vanuatu’s government is now looking into acquiring land to permanently resettle the island’s 13,000 residents.
Chinese base in Vanuatu 'ridiculous'
VANUATU – A Chinese embassy spokesman has said the idea that China is planning to establish a military base in Vanuatu is “ridiculous”.
Body of missing man found
FIJI – The body of a man missing in Fiji’s recent flooding since last weekend has been found.
Superpowers recognise Vanuatu's importance
Reports this week that Vanuatu was to be the site of a Chinese military base caught most in Vanuatu by surprise.
Son of Philip the demi-god given chiefly title
VANAUTU – Last week Prince Charles touched down in Vanuatu on a side trip from his visit to Australia for the Commonwealth Games, but unfortunately he might not have been the British prince that some of the islanders had been hoping for. It is his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who is regarded in a very spiritual way to a community of Tanna islanders. When he visited in 1974 many believed Philip was a reincarnation of an ancient warrior. Philip, the husband of the Queen of England, may hold a string of grand titles but for the small community, deep in the rainforests on the southwestern part of the island of Tanna, he is regarded as a an demi-god. “For them Philip is a tabu man – human but possessing qualities and powers that make him sacred,” Matthew Baylis, the British author of Man Belong Mrs Queen: My Adventures with the Philip Worshippers, who spent time living with the villagers, told the ABC. He said the people have a special relationship with the Duke of Edinburgh that is more complex than simple worship. “The closest parallel I can think of is the way we treat our war dead,” Baylis said. “We honour them, remember them, hold ceremonies for them, but we’re not actually worshipping them.” A group of people living around Yaohnanen village on Tanna have an ancient legend, describing a band of warriors who left the island to fight a war to protect and preserve their culture. The leader of the warrior group vowed to one day return with a rich, powerful – and white wife. In 1974, the British Royal family visited Vanuatu – then known as New Hebrides – as part of a tour of the Commonwealth. While he and Queen Elizabeth did not visit the isolated community, it is said that Prince Philip handed a symbolic white pig to a Tanna man in the country’s capital, Port Vila. It is believed that from that gesture the Tanna people formed a strong bond with Prince Philip, believing him to be a physical representation of the ancient warrior leader returning home with his wife. According to Kirk Huffman, a research associate at the Australian Museum in Sydney and honorary curator of the National Museum of Vanuatu, it’s a link they are very serious about. “On Tanna, traditional spiritual belief systems are a 24/7 situation,” Huffman told the ABC.
Highlands rocked by new quake
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Emergency response teams are being flown by helicopter to a remote part of Papua New Guinea – a region already struggling to recover from a magnitude-7.5 quake which hit in February.
Cyclone Keni drenches Fiji's west
FIJI – Fiji’s meteorological service says Cyclone Keni was a category two storm but expected to intensify further as it moves closest to Fiji at around midday yesterday.
Another cyclone bears down on Fiji
FIJI – With rivers still raging, thousands still in temporary shelters, and streets and farmland caked in silt and mud after Cyclone Josie little more than a week ago, residents in Fiji’s sodden west are now being warned to be prepare for the arrival of yet another cyclone.
First medal for the Solomons
SOLOMON ISLANDS – Solomon Islands won its first ever Commonwealth Games medal on a historic night on the Gold Coast.
Water and sanitation the top priority
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – World Vision Papua New Guinea is assisting 5000 people with water and sanitation following February’s magnitude 7.5 earthquake in the Highlands.
Ban overturned but too late for Games
SAMOA – Samoan weightlifter Iuniarra Sipaia has been cleared of any wrongdoing after mistakenly taking a banned substance.
Homeless children live in toilets
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Urban migration is leading to an increase in the number of homeless children in Papua New Guinea capital.
China diplomats accused of squatting
FRENCH POLYNESIA – China’s diplomats in French Polynesia are accused of illegally occupying premises in Tahiti.
Water needed in cyclone hit West
FIJI – There is an acute and widespread need for water in Fiji’s west following the weekend’s dousing by Cyclone Josie.
Tragic tales emerge from Fiji's floods
FIJI – The death toll in Fiji now stands at five as survivors relate their stories of loved ones who were swept away by raging floodwaters during Cyclone Josie on Sunday.
Road repairs to cost millions
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – The earthquake repair bill for roads in Papua New Guinea’s Enga, Southern Highlands and Hela provinces is expected to be more than US$12 million, according to PNG’s Works Secretary David Wereh.
Islands are in 'fight for survival'
FIJI – Fiji’s prime minister has said the Pacific island nation is in “a fight for survival” as climate change brings “almost constant” deadly cyclones to Pacific islands.
2018 Pacific Music Awards finalists named
NEW ZEALAND – Newcomers and previous winners have been announced as finalists for the 2018 Pacific Music Awards.