Pacific News Minute

The cost of illegal fishing in the western pacific may be much lower than believed.  Previous estimates ranged up to $2.4-billion dollars a year.  But this week, an independent, European funded study puts that figure at about a billion dollars a year, most of that in tuna.  And, as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News minute, the study also challenges beliefs, as to who's responsible.

"We imagine vast fleets of pirate boats," said James Movick, director General of the Forum Fisheries Agency. "The evidence doesn't support that."

Australia is the driest continental landmass on earth.  Right next door, the mountains of Papua New Guinea are some of the wettest places on the planet.  Now the government in Port Moresby has decided to fund a plan to build a fresh water pipeline to connect them.  More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

On another big day for presidential primaries, let's take time out to catch up on the voting in US pacific territories and on elections in two Pacific Island Nations.  As reported earlier Donald Trump swept the Republican caucus in the Northern Marianas Islands earlier today and won nine delegates.  In Samoa, The ruling party swept to a lop-sided victory, while last week voters in Kiribati opted for change.  Details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

As Spring training get underway on both sides of the Pacific, Japan's most famous baseball team is embroiled in a betting scandal...four of the team's pitchers have admitted betting on baseball, and now three team executives have resigned, including a powerful newspaper publisher. More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

The President of French Polynesia appeared in criminal court in Tahiti this week, on charges that he bribed a local radio station to support the political party then headed by his father-in-law, five time President Gaston Flosse...who was himself convicted on separate charges a couple of weeks ago.  Neal Conan unravels the story in the Pacific News Minute.

US flagged tuna boats are back on the water this week, after the State Department worked out a deal with Pacific Island Nations to cover the rest of this year.  Last December, the companies that operate the tuna boats reneged on an earlier agreement.  We have details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Two men who helped shape the modern Pacific died over the last few days.  In Honiara, Sir Peter Keniloria the first Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, and, in New York City, Stuart Beck, a lawyer and television executive who was also Palau's first Ambassador to the United Nations.  More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the three big state media outlets in Beijing to demand absolute loyalty to the Communist party.  He delivered that message to China Central Television, the People's Daily newspaper and the Xinhua news agency.  But this week it became clear that the party won't tolerate dissent on new media either.  We have more, from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wraps up a visit to Washington today, after talks with Secretary of State John Kerry.  Both reported progress toward a new UN Security Council resolution on North Korea, but tensions continue over disputes in the South China Sea.  China recently drew an interesting comparison - saying there's no difference between its defense of its islands and US defense of Hawaii. More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Coral bleaching hit Hawaii's reefs in 2014, and then again last year when as much as 30% of our reefs were affected by a surge of warm water.  Now, ocean scientists attending a meeting in New Orleans are hearing that what's already the longest coral bleaching event in history could extend through this year, and well into 2017.  More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

On a quick swing through the Pacific this week, French President Francois Hollande stopped over in Tahiti, where he agreed to reconsider compensation for nuclear tests and in the tiny territory of Wallis and Futuna, where he promised an ATM and dialysis equipment for a local hospital. More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

As South-East Asian leaders left a meeting with President Obama in California earlier this week, reports began to emerge of important new Chinese military projects on disputed islands in the South China Sea... Details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Yesterday, Fiji became the first country in the world to ratify the United Nations Climate Agreement reached by 195 nations last December in Paris.  In order to take effect, at least 55 countries, representing at least 55 percent of the world's annual carbon emissions must sign on – hopefully in time for a signing event in New York in April.  But some more ominous news yesterday on climate change as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

In Australia, protests continue over the government's plan to return 268 asylum seekers to an off-shore detention camp in the Pacific island nation of Nauru.  Doctors at a hospital in Brisbane refuse to discharge a one year old baby known as Asha until what they call a suitable home environment is identified.  But while most attention has focused on the plight of migrants in Nauru, Australia operates another, even bigger detention camp on a remote island in Papua New Guinea.  More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

 After surprisingly good numbers at the box office in New Zealand, a comedy shot on a shoestring in Samoa is now set for release in Australia. "Three Wise Cousins" came in at number seven, earning about two hundred thousand dollars in two weeks on just eight screens. More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Twenty Russian soldiers landed in Fiji earlier today to help with the transfer of a large shipment of weapons.  Both Moscow and Suva say the arms are intended to upgrade Fiji's battalion of peacekeepers, based on the Golan Heights in Syria, but, as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute, opposition leaders in Fiji worry that they might also be used to suppress dissent.

Last week, Australia's highest court upheld the government's controversial immigration policy.  On Monday, a senior official said the decision clears the way for to send more than 260 people, including 80 children, back to a migrant detention camp on the remote island of Nauru.  More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Carly Fiorina hope to be the first woman elected President of the United States but both still need to secure the nomination of their parties.  Last week, the Republic of the Marshall Islands crossed that barrier with the election of Hilda Heine as its first female chief executive.  We have more on that and another update on Pacific politics from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Last week, Malaysia's attorney general cleared the country's prime minister of all charges in a long running corruption investigation of a state development fund. Then, just a couple of days later, authorities in Switzerland said they have evidence of bribery, money laundering and other crimes involving the same Malaysian fund. We have more, from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Over the weekend, a US Navy Destroyer challenged Chinese claims to islands in the South China Sea...not the Spratleys, this time, but the Paracel Islands, occupied by China but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. We have more from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

For many years, we've heard that climate change will make the low lying islands of many Pacific nations uninhabitable over the next few decades. Now a new study shows that despite the effects of sea level rise and more powerful storms, most reef islands have persisted and even grown. But as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute, prospects for many Pacific Island nations remain gloomy.

Australia's High Court is considering a challenge to the country's controversial off shore detention camps - all migrants who try to reach Australia by sea are sent to facilities  either on the Pacific Island nation of Nauru or to an atoll in Papua New Guinea. Now an Australian Doctor has challenged the government to prosecute him, for speaking out about conditions in the camps. Details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Results are in from Vanuatu's snap election, which followed a scandal that saw 14 members of Parliament convicted on bribery charges.  Several prominent politicians lost their seats, but, as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute, no clear winner emerged.

The fallout from North Korea's nuclear test earlier this month continues. En route to Beijing, a senior US diplomat warned that if China does not act to rein in its ally - the United States will take steps that China may not like.  More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

After American companies refused to honor an agreement reached with Pacific Island nations, the US announced yesterday that it will withdraw from a treaty that's covered tuna fishing rights in much of the South Pacific for almost 30.  Seventeen countries depend on the promised payments for this year's budget while American Samoa could lose its biggest industry....we have more from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands vows that a new battlefield memorial will be completed on Guadalcanal in time for ceremonies on the 75th Anniversary of the battle.  US Marines waded ashore on Red Beach on August 6th, 1942, beginning a six month struggle that marked a turning point of the Second World War in the Pacific.  We have more from Neal Conan, in the Pacific News Minute.

Yesterday, a week after North Korea tested a nuclear weapon - South Korean troops opened fire on a drone as it crossed the demilitarized zone from the north.  The Yonhap news agency reports that the unmanned aircraft turned back after about 20 shots. North and South Korea are also blasting propaganda at each other from huge loudspeakers along the DMZ; all part of a difficult week for South Korea's president, as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the Philippines approved an agreement that allows American Forces to use Philippine bases for the next ten years.  Manila is among the most vocal critics of China's ambitions in the area but lacks the military strength to dispute its claims.  Now, that could begin to change, as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

US tuna boats in American Samoa are said to be losing $8-thousand every day the fleet sits, tied up at the dock.  As we've reported, when US operators failed to make a payment due December 31st, the Pacific Forum Fisheries association lifted their licenses.  Efforts to resolve the impasse continue, but as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute - that's not the only dispute involving Pacific Nations, Tuna and foreign fishermen.