Samoa

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi told KHJ News that his government was still not clear on the details except that nine criminals were due to be deported to Samoa.

But he believed that the issue of non-Samoan citizens was all part of the usual bullying tactics by major nations like the United States.

"Those kind of people must not be deported to Samoa. If they are not citizens of Samoa they should be sent to the country of citizenship," he said.

Having said that, Tuilaepa said his government would work at resettling all deportees when they arrive.

In his news conference Tuilaepa said the time has now come for the law to take over.

He said an agreement was reached in 1983 between families in the path of the airport runway and government to relocate inland for their safety.

The government agreed to offer 44 acres in return for the families vacating 22 acres they were living on at the time.

He says instead of the 44 acres the government gave a total of 67 acres which all the families have been using and benefiting from.

The credentials ceremony took place at the Office of the Head of State in Motootua.

 The High Commissioner is the UK Government’s representative in a Commonwealth nation.

They are responsible for the direction and work of the High Commission and its Deputy High Commissions and/or Consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, and visa and consular services.

Ms. Clarke began her career as a House of Commons Group Coordinator at the All Party Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group from 2000-2001.

This comes after police filed an additional charge of causing grievous bodily harm which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

The president was also charged with one count of assault, armed with a dangerous weapon and actual bodily harm.

A district Court hearing today was called at 9am - an hour earlier than the usual start time.

Our correspondent said this was to avoid the media, and lawyers have questioned why the judiciary was giving special treatment to the judge's case.

The director of the Samoa Returnees Charitable Trust said it aimed to help the deportees re-integrate into society.

Since the NGO was set up in 2011, a total of 144 deportees have been helped, mostly from New Zealand and the US.

Faafetai Koria said most had been convicted of sexual offending and assaults and were unfamiliar with Samoan culture and protocols.

He said the Trust's mandate was to help them find jobs and try to reduce the stigma of being a convict.

One of the aims of the training is to build and enhance the participants’ capacity to produce open pollinated seeds so that they can help train other farmers.

The Principal Advisory Officer at Crops Division, Tommy Tuuamalii presented some of the challenges faced by the ministry.

Tuuamalii said one challenges is the lack of a standard procedure to effectively produce good quality seeds.

Farmers use hybrid seeds and there is also a limited availability of seeds after a cyclone or natural disasters.

The Samoa Observer reports under the name "SerendiCoco Samoa", the venture will see a commitment to export 3,000 tonnes of coconut oil from Samoa to supply the U.S. manufacturer.

The move will also help over 1,000 locals to become organically certified and fair trade farmers.

Until now, Pacific Oil primarily supplied Europe but was subjected to unstable global prices for coconut oil.

Pacific Oil's Director, Fanene Samau Sefo, said they expected their first shipment to go out at the end of this month, after 18 months of preparation work.

The match will take place the same weekend as State of Origin Game Two and players like Andrew Fifita will have a big decision to make in terms of who they play for that weekend.

NSW captain Boyd Cordner said he won't push Fifita into playing for the Blues this year, with the prop still being the undecided on his representative future.

Earlier Fifita's Cronulla team-mate Paul Gallen had urged him to make a decision sooner rather than later to aid NSW coach Brad Fittler's preparations for the series.

Fifita has said he could leave it until Origin week to decide.

The Pacific Climate Change Centre is a first for the Pacific region and will coordinate climate change initiatives in the region, providing a shared resource for further collaboration between 21 island nations and territories including Tonga, Fiji, America Samoa, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Nauru and French Polynesia.

The Samoa Observer reported Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi saying his government would not bow to demands by families from Satapuala village for more compensation to relocate.

The families were given till the end of last month to leave but have not done so.

In an apparent agreement Tuilaepa claimed was signed more than 20 years ago with the village of Satapuala, government swapped 64 acres of land for the 22 acres needed for the airport extension.