Samoa

The training aimed at ensuring consistent compliance and effective enforcement of environmental and natural resource management policies and legislations in Samoa.

 These policies support the sustainable management of Samoa's natural capital for the benefit of current and future generations.

SPREP's Deputy Director General, Mr Roger Cornforth said the difficulty SPREP faces is assessing whether there is compliance and where there is non-compliance, is there an efficient and effective way for rectifying or punishing non-compliance?"

The court was told that the man impregnated his daughter three times between 2010 and 2013.

The victim, the eighth of the man's children, was only 17 years old when the abuse began.

He will be sentenced next Monday.

The commission has finished hearing testimony and a report is to be presented to parliament.

New Zealand based commissioner Tagaloatele Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop said people had been saying old family values of fa'asamoa have weakened and it's now time to go back to old traditions like evening family prayers.

"The nation has spoken if you like and said very very loudly that enough is enough. So if we want to protect and celebrate the beauty of the fa'asamoa then we really have to do something now."

Tuila'epa was flown to New Zealand by air ambulance two weeks ago.

There's been little detail about the state of health of the long serving leader.

According to RNZI, people have been kept in the dark since Tuila'epa was admitted to intensive care at Samoa's national hospital in Apia at the beginning of this month.

The only statement from the government through the first secretary said there is nothing to worry about, the prime minister is doing well in New Zealand and he is sending his love and his best wishes to everyone in Samoa.

The victim, who was the eighth of 11 children, was 17-years-old at the time of the first assault.

She gave birth to three children by her father in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

RNZI reports the police summary of facts said the defendant had committed the offences when he was drunk.

The prosecution is recommending a jail sentence of 25 years.

The court will pass sentence on Monday next week.

Police are refusing to give details of the incident but the newspaper reported the incident happened at Vaiusu village on the outskirts of the capital Apia.

The police said charges will be laid shortly.

Requested by the Samoa Immigration Office, the training is designed to ensure the proper handling of asylum seekers upon arrival at Pacific Island countries.

Samoa's acting prime minister, Papaliitele Niko Lee Hang, said the course would help Pacific states better understand UN refugee conventions.

He said it would also enable authorities to adopt best practices when dealing with stateless people.

"Gone are the days when we would say these are the problems of the western world and they will never reach our shores," Papaliitele said.

His co-defendants include two other directors and an employee of the Nonu juice company as well as his wife.

The trial is scheduled for July next year.

It comes after their defence lawyer entered a not guilty plea against 233 criminal charges.

The former minister is facing 161 charges including obtaining and causing loss by deception, theft and forgery.

The former president of the Journalist Association of Samoa, Apulu Lance Polu is facing 51 charges, while the other director Martin Schwalger is only charged with one count of forgery.

Manufactured in Fiji, and available at the Agriculture Stores nation-wide, the Pacific Feed Fish Pellets claim to produce tilapia that are faster-growing, plumper, and more tasty.

There are over 50 registered tilapia farmers around the country, with the majority of farmers relying on lau pele, cabbage and cassava leaves for fish feed.

According to Dr. Timothy Pickering, ‎Aquaculture Advisor at Secretariat of the Pacific Community, tilapia fish fed on vegetable diets tend to grow much slower. This results in undersized fish, with bland tasting meat.

American Samoa's director of agriculture Filifa'atali Mike Fuiava said he has met with counterparts in Samoa to explain the new rules, but needed more time to explain the requirements to others in the territory.

He said only then, the ban on taro from Samoa can be lifted.

The director said the new conditions are precautionary measures to assure food safety.

RNZI reports the ban began in May due to an unidentified disease that was causing taro roots to rot before they mature.