Tonga

The Walk Free report identifies cases of forced labour, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and forced marriage in the Pacific.

The report, Murky waters: A qualitative assessment of modern slavery in the Pacific region, said exploitation was fuelled by widespread poverty, migration, and the abuse of cultural practices.

The inaugural meeting of a Pacific Islands Digital Citizenship and Safety Advisory Group included Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia.

The new education programme to launch this year, will use Facebook's 'We Think Digital' to start a tailored education campaign relevant for local communities. 

Facebook's director of policy Mia Garlick said Pacific communities were spending more time online and there had been an increase in the use of social media platforms following the rise of Covid-19 incidence.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said upon arrival the travelers must spend 14 days in Fijian government quarantine facilities and then pass a COVID-19 test to enter society, both at their own cost or the cost of their respective government.

“As our risk assessments evolve, we may expand this arrangement to Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, “Mr Bainimarama said in a briefing in Suva today (Sunday).

This is the first time the airline has reconfigured its ATR aircraft for freight operations. The freighter service carried 3.8 tonnes of cargo from Nadi to Port Vila and 1.9 tonnes on the return sector on Sunday. Outbound freight included medical supplies, while the outbound carried a number of consolidated items, including coffee and mail.

The report, 'Predicting the impacts of mining of deep sea polymetallic nodules in the Pacific Ocean', is a fusion of more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific and other articles.

Compiled in conjunction with the Deep Sea Mining Campaign, it said there was a lack of certainty around the proposed methods of companies seeking exploration licenses in the Pacific.

But the campaign's coordinator, Helen Rosenbaum, said researchers found the risk of serious environmental damage was high.

The 21-year-old was the 114th overall pick and played defensive tackle at Utah. His 4-year contract is reportedly worth $3.41 million, including a signing bonus of $773,000.

Before turning his hand full-time to American football, Fotu was a talented rugby player who represented the USA Schools team as a teenager. He ultimately chose the educational and career opportunities afforded to him by the American sport.

They are helping the three Pacific countries battered by Cyclone Harold last week, Vanuatu, Tonga, and Fiji.

But the executive director of the Council of International Development, Josie Pagani, said that during the lockdown the charities aren't able to fundraise and the public can't donate.

She said the international aid charities typically get about two thirds of their revenue from public donations.

Cyclone Harold, the worst to hit Vanuatu since deadly Cyclone Pam in 2015, has wrecked around 70 percent of the buildings in Luganville, and much of the vegetation.

According to the Director of the Public Health Division of the Pacific Community (SPC) Paula Vivili, only five countries currently are able to offer in-country testing.

These countries are Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea

For unions like Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, commercial viability was already challenging and with USA Rugby filing for bankruptcy along with larger rugby nations facing serious financial worries, Pacific clubs and unions were becoming concerned for their future.

The CEO of Samoa Rugby, Faleomavaega Vincent Fepulea'i, said he was seeking financial support from World Rugby.

American Samoa was to host the inter-governmental meeting involving eight Polynesian members in April.

Originally the territory was to host the event in July 2019 but Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga asked Tuvalu, which hosted the Pacific Forum meeting, to host the PLG alongside the forum.

Lolo had said the territory would step up and host the meeting in January 2020 instead.

However, because of the Samoan measles epidemic, the governor then postponed the meeting until April.