Pacific Beat

For the first time in Fiji, a local community has gained legal recognition for a marine conservation area, designed to protect customary fishing rights.

New Zealand health officials are concerned about a recent outbreak of typhoid in Samoa.

We may be well into the new millennium, but relics of the 20th century War in the Pacific are still being found in the CNMI.

French Polynesia's President, Gaston Flosse, has been lobbying the French Parliament in Paris this week, proposing five amendments to a bill that will give new powers to France's overseas territories.

The APEC summit held in Mexico this week, has prompted renewed interest in a single Asia-Pacific currency.

Royal Tongan Airlines is spreading its wings in the region - its new international service takes to the skies on November 26.

Tonga's tourist industry is breathing a sigh of relief now that the government has repealed its decision to ban the practice of swimming with whales.

Australian businessmen in Fiji had some explaining to do recently, following recent accusations they were sending profits back home, without investing in local communities.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands says a police investigation into the operations of a questionable charity is moving too slowly.

In American Samoa, voters go to the polls on November 5th, to elect members of their local House of Representatives, as well as a new Congressional Representative to Washington.

Kiribati Police have confirmed they will be seizing election pamphlets belonging to the opposition leader, Dr Harry Tong.

In New Caledonia, the business sector has thrown its weight behind a proposal to introduce the Euro, the European currency, into the territory.

The business environment in Tonga is about to undergo the biggest change it has seen in a century.

An ongoing dispute between indigenous landowners and the Fijian government has intensified as the government starts harvesting mahogany forests worth millions of dollars around the country.

Tonga's new anti-terrorism legislation could be used to suppress political dissent.

Beer drinkers of the Pacific may soon be facing some stiff competition.

Papua New Guinea's government may be on a collision course with the World Bank over the issue of forestry.

In Solomon Islands, the hunt for rebel warlord Harold Keke continues to gain momentum, as police pour more resources into patrolling the country's troubled Weather Coast region.

Kiribati goes to the polls on November 29th.