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Survivor: South Pacific is the 23rd season of Survivor. It begins Wednesday, September 14, 2011 on CBS at 8/7c with a special 90 minute premier. References: Official Survivor site at CBSWikipedia article This season will repeat the Redemption Island theme from last season. There will also be returning players: Coach and Ozzy. See: 'Survivor' returns with Ozzie, Coach and 16 newbies In addition, Brandon is a nephew of Russell Hantz and Whitney is a country music artist. Savaii Tribe: Dawn, Elyse, Jim, John, Keith, Mark, Ozzy, Semhar, Whitney Upolu Tribe: Albert, Brandon, Christine, Coach, Edna, Mikayla, Rick, Sophie, Stacey Cast...

One of the first acts of the new Republican-controlled House is to take away the floor voting rights of six delegates representing areas such as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa. Five of those delegates are Democrats, while one, from the Northern Marianas Islands, is an independent. The GOP decision to rescind the ability of delegates to vote on amendments on the House floor was the predictable outcome of a longtime party divide. Democrats extended the voting rights in 1993 when they controlled the House, Republicans disenfranchised the delegates when they became the majority in 1995...

Shock at conference on climate change and creativity Clerics in the South Pacific have fingered the key cause of climate change - homosexuals. The revelation came at a conference at the University of the South Pacific considering the implications of Climate Change and Creativity. Academics were apparently thrown off their consideration of "Arts in the Age of Global Warming" and "Ecology in Poetry / Poetry in Ecology" by reports of Church Ministers who maintained that climate change in Samoa are clearly attributable to to homosexuals. The revelation prompted one attendee USP student, Shaiza Janif, to opine: "We need to educate...

Hello American Samoa! We’re from the government and we’re here to help you. We’re going to ensure you earn a living wage by forcing employers to pay you a minimum wage equal to workers in the United States. Sounds great right?

Which allows an American Samoan worker to have a higher standard of living: being employed at $3.26 per hour or unemployed at a wage scheduled to annually increase by 50 cents until it reaches federally mandated wages at $7.25? You say, "Williams, that's a stupid question. Who would support people being unemployed at $7.25 an hour over being employed at $3.26 an hour?" That's precisely the outcome of Congress' 2007 increases in the minimum wage. Chicken of the Sea International moved its operation from Samoa to a highly automated cannery plant in Lyon, Georgia. That resulted in roughly 2,000 jobs...

It's a question which has troubled science since Darwin: if homosexuality is, at least in part, inherited, how are those genes being passed down to new generations? Canadian researchers say they have found the first evidence to back up the theory that gay men have the evolutionary advantage of being "super uncles", a way of enhancing the survival prospects of close relatives and -- indirectly, at least -- making it more likely their genes are passed on. Paul Vasey, associate professor in the University of Lethbridge's department of psychology, said his research found evidence that gay men may be more...

A rep from the WWE tells TMZ their former superstar wrestler Umaga has died. Umaga, whose real name was Eddie Fatu, was 36 years old. The WWE has released a statement on their website saying, "The WWE would like to express its deepest condolences to Mr. Fatu's family, friends and fans on his tragic passing."

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – The tsunami that killed more than 200 people in the Samoan islands and Tonga earlier this year towered up to 46 feet (14 meters) high — more then twice as tall as most of the buildings it slammed into, scientists said Friday.

An openly gay Jewish attorney has been nominated by Barack Obama as America’s new ambassador to New Zealand. David Huebner, 49, who is currently based in Shanghai, is Obama’s first gay appointment, and the third openly gay ambassador in American history. Obama’s nomination Wednesday of Huebner, who has also acted as general counsel for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, must be approved by Congress. A graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, Huebner will also become the non-resident ambassador to Samoa, where homosexuality is illegal. Huebner is also on a list of Jewish leaders of the homosexual...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2009 – The USS Ingraham was one of the first responders to provide humanitarian relief to victims of a natural disaster in American Samoa, the ship’s commanding officer said. The U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean was hit by an earthquake-caused tsunami Sept. 29. Navy Cmdr. Matthew Ovios explained how his ship’s crew assisted with rescue efforts and humanitarian relief during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable Oct. 7. The Ingraham was deployed in the western Pacific Ocean and heading to American Samoa for a regular port visit when the crew was notified of a tsunami warning. The crew...

Pictures of before and after the devastation of the tsunami in Samoa.

Wife just rang from Samoa, reported second earthquake 5.9 magnitude, no tsunami warning yet, happened about 20 mins ago.

It took only eight minutes after the most powerful earthquake she'd ever felt knocked her to the ground, for a wall of water to slam through the sleepy Samoan surf resort where she was staying and sweep it away. As she fled in a van, Cristiane "Kiki" Martins said she and others screamed at villagers to escape to higher ground. But the Paia resident said she saw some families stay behind in their homes, waiting for a warning or evacuation order that wouldn't come in time. Back home safely on Friday, but still fragile and shaky from her ordeal, Martins...

HONOLULU — On a search-and-rescue mission in a tsunami-stricken American Samoa village, Capt. Nate Duff and his Hawaii Air National Guard troops waded through knee-deep swampland and under trucks hanging from trees in hopes of finding missing children. Duff's medical team was the first government relief agency to reach the fishing town of Leone following the tsunami, one of dozens of American rescue squads spread throughout the wrecked islands delivering personal help, food, tents and medical supplies. "The air stunk with ... hundreds of dead fish and animals, and rotting food and debris," Duff wrote in an e-mail to his...

Samoa is planning a mass burial for victims of the tsunami, the government said Friday. The funeral will take place next Tuesday, a week after the deadly waves swept ashore following a powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake. There were 123 confirmed dead in Samoa with another 16 people missing, government spokeswoman Vaosa Epa said Friday. There were 32 confirmed dead in neighbouring American Samoa and nine killed in nearby Tonga. Samoan families who have already buried their dead in their own villages would have the choice of leaving them to rest in the family plot or transferring them to the mass grave...

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 2, 2009 – A physician assistant from the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 154th Wing provided his unit at Hickam Air Force Base with a first-hand account from tsunami-torn American Samoa. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Carissa Maxson of the Hawaii Air National Guard studies the shorelines of Pago Pago, American Samoa, Oct. 1, 2009, while conducting assessments of the area after a tsunami stuck there Sept. 29. Maxson is with the 154th Medical Group's Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear and Explosives Enhanced Response Force Package. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Cohen A. Young  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2009 – The medical support situation in American Samoa has stabilized amid ongoing U.S. relief efforts after a massive tsunami devastated the area this week, a Defense Department official said today. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kimo McKee, Hawaii Air National Guard loadmaster, directs the loading of humanitarian aid supplies into a C-17 Globemaster III bound for American Samoa to assist in relief efforts in the wake of tsunamis triggered by Sept. 29, 2009, undersea earthquake. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mike Meares  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Medical triage, casualty care, shelter and bedding...

A POWERFUL earthquake has struck off Tonga and the Samoan islands as the Sumatran death toll rises further. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Tonga and the Samoan islands today, two days after a giant tremor caused a devastating tsunami which killed almost 150. No immediate tsunami alert was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii.

Surfer 'rode Samoa tsunami' to escape death October 02, 2009 11:00am A SURFER escaped death in the Pacific tsunami by riding out the giant waves that surged over the Pacific Island. New Zealand student Chris Nel was surfing on the south coast of Savai'i island when the 8.3 magnitude quake struck on Wednesday morning, The Dominion Post newspaper reported. He had been in the water with four other New Zealand surfers and an Australian when the tsunami appeared. Meanwhile, Samoan disaster officials said they fear up to 150 people may have died in a massive tsunami that pounded the Pacific...

APIA, Samoa (AP) — Convoys of military vehicles brought food, water and medicine to the tsunami-stricken Samoas on Thursday as victims wandered through what was left of their villages with tales of being trapped underwater, watching young children drown and hoisting elderly parents above the waves. The death toll rose to 160 as grim-faced islanders gathered under a traditional meetinghouse to hear a Samoan government minister discuss a plan for a mass funeral and burial next Tuesday. Samoans traditionally bury their loved ones near their homes, but that could be impractical because many of their villages have been wiped out....