Photo: USGS
Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii continues to erupt
According to the US Geological Survey, lava flow is said to have reduced greatly as of Thursday morning local time.
The lava flows have extended no further than 4km from the volcanic vent.
As of 5.30am Thursday local time, the flow stalled about 2.8km from the Daniel K. Inouye Highway.
The lava flow is now inactive for most of its lower length.
Unity over pandemics needed across the region
Samoa's Minister of Labour says the Pacific region needs to work together in times when a pandemic like Covid-19 hits the region.
Speaking at the International Labour Organisation's Asia-Pacific meeting in Singapore, Leatinu'u Faumuinā Wayne So'oialo, said it was critical for the region to consolidate specific needs and priorities, so these are brought to light when engaging in Asia-Pacific dialogue.
He told the meeting, as a smaller groups of island states, it can be easy for Pacific states to get lost in the discussion.
So'oialo said countries like Samoa were forced to look inwards and focus on recovery and building domestic markets.
Eateries condemned for failing to deal with cockroaches
Public complaints about eating establishments have resulted in the American Samoa Department of Health's Environmental Health Services to
conduct site inspections.
Samoa News reports health inspectors closed down three businesses last week, including two fast-food restaurants, following inspections.
The businesses have since reopened after addressing the health violations.
Environmental Health Services Division director Aileen Solaita said it's like a new norm that cockroaches are found and the owners carry on with their operation without eliminating the bugs.
Pandemic resulted in loss of workers' rights, say unionist
A Fiji Trades Union representative says the Covid pandemic caused the stifling of workers' rights globally.
Fiji Trades Union Congress Secretary-General, Felix Anthony, made the comments at the International Labour Organisation's 17th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting.
He said during the pandemic many governments failed to implement and enforce labour laws, and on the contrary, Governments imposed laws which actually weakened worker rights.
Anthony said workers were at the forefront to provide care and medical assistance, and labour courts failed to address workers' predicaments of dealing with the virus and mass job terminations.
New scanner hindered by lack of expertise
Samoa's Ministry of Health has a new $US1.5 million Computerised Tomography Scanner but it faces a shortage of qualified radiologists to use it.
Talamua Online reports there are only two qualified radiologists but one of them, Dr Glen Fatupaito, is acting Director General of Health.
The new scanner will relieve the need to send patients to New Zealand and American Samoa at great expense.
Dr Fatupaito said there's been a dramatic increase in the number of patients needing CT scans a year.
"This CT Scanner is good for basically anything like brain tumours, looking inside our internal organs and bones so it's our first line of investigation that we use 256 slices which means the number of images it can take in basically one rotation in a few seconds; so the entire scanner is over within two minutes," he explained.
Hospital CEO defends decision not to hire nurses from Samoa
American Samoa's hospital Chief Executive Officer has defended the decision to hire nurses from Fiji and the Philippines instead of neighbouring Samoa.
In a letter obtained by Radio Polynesia, Moefaauo Bill Emmsley said that to address the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital's shortage-of-nursing conundrum, several plans were hatched.
He said that included recruiting from those two countries and elsewhere as a stop-gap measure.
Moefaauo said last month that a review of the curriculum used at the NUS nursing programme is not up to par with US licensing standards for nurses and this would be a challenge to acquire US certification for nurses from Samoa.
The president of Samoa's Nurses Association, Solialofi Papalii has called on Moefaauo to publically apologise for what he calls "degrading comments" on the curriculum of the nursing school at the National University of Samoa.
Australia gives more money towards Tonga's economic recovery.
Additional budget support of $US20.1 million was signed by Australia's Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, during his visit to Nuku'alofa this week.
Tongan Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni said the funding arrangement is to support Tonga's economic recovery from compounding shocks, including Covid-19, the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcanic disaster, and more recent global inflationary pressures.
A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed renewing the commitment to the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme.
A third arrangement will see the Tonga Civil Aviation Division work more closely with Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Albanese and Marape to meet next year
PNG Prime Minister James Marape says his Australian counterpart has deferred his visit to Port Moresby to next year.
This comes after Anthony Albanese tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, ahead of his planned trip to PNG next week.
The National reports Marape saying Australia remained an important bilateral partner to Papua New Guinea and the country valued Mr Albanese's visit.