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Port Vila, June 1 (Xinhua)--Vanuatu President Tallis Obed Moses said on Wednesday that his country will always remain a true friend of China no matter how the international situation changes and what challenges it may encounter in the future. Moses made the remarks in a meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which fell on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Over the past 40 years, Moses said, Vanuatu and China have always respected each other, treated each other as equals and established solid mutual trust. China...

Bali monkeys are raiding people's homes for food after not receiving the normal amount of treats from tourists due to the coronavirus pandemic. Macaque monkeys have begun hanging on residents' roofs and waiting for the opportunity to strike as they have been missing out on the bananas and peanuts normally provided to them by tourists, The Associated Press reported. The Sangeh Monkey Forest sanctuary, located close to the villagers, is home to 600 monkeys who normally get plenty of food from the 6,000 visitors a month; however, pandemic travel restrictions have proven detrimental to Bali's tourism industry with the monkeys...

Operation Pacific Iron 2021 is scheduled to take place within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s area of responsibility in July to showcase the U.S. air force’s strategic flexibility, according to Pacific Air Forces.The announcement comes as U.S.-China tensions continue to simmer over the issues of Taiwan and the South China Sea.The exercise involves more than 35 aircraft and approximately 800 Airmen from Pacific Air Forces and Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces reported on July 13. Notably, 25 F-22 raptors—a seemingly unprecedented number of its kind to deploy to the West Pacific—will join the drill from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, and...

While it may be too costly for Beijing to attack the United States directly, Beijing is getting its message out at relatively minimal cost through attacking U.S. allies like Australia. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave his strongest response to Communist China this week after enduring months of bullying from Beijing. He let Beijing know loud and clear that Australia is “an open trading nation, but I’m never going to trade our values in response to coercion.”It all began back in April, when Australia led a draft resolution, which demanded the World Health Organization (WHO) conduct an “impartial, independent and...

The South Pacific had many major battles during World War II: Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, Wake Island, Dec. 7-23, 1941, Doolittle Raid, April 18, 1942, Coral Sea, May 4-8, 1942, Midway, June 4-7, 1942, Guadalcanal campaign, Aug. 7, 1942-Feb. 9, 1943, Gilbert & Marshall Islands campaign, 1943–44: Makin Island, Aug. 17-18, 1942, Tarawa, Nov. 20, 1943, Makin, Nov. 20-23, 1943, Kwajalein, Feb. 14, 1944, Eniwetok, Feb. 17, 1944, Truk Island, Feb. 17-18, 1944,  Mariana & Palau Islands campaign 1944: Saipan, June 16, 1944, Philippine Sea, June 19-20, 1944, Guam, July 21, 1944, Tinian, July 24, 1944, Peleliu, Sept....

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Wednesday that he’s traveling to three South Pacific island nations to see the effects of climate change firsthand. Speaking in Fiji, the U.N. leader said he wanted to learn about the work being undertaken by island communities to bolster resilience. He said the Pacific needs stronger international support because climate change is taking place faster than efforts to address it. “The last four years were the hottest on record. The loss of ice in Greenland and Antarctica is accelerating, meaning that sea levels will rise a full meter (over 3 feet) by 2100 if nothing...

When many Americans think of Australia, things like white sandy beaches, kangaroos, and Steve Irwin come to mind – an image that is at times more of a caricature than an actual country. What actually goes on in Australia, especially in its politics, is an unknown to most people not from the Land Down Under. It's usually not that well covered by the media, especially since the advent of Brexit and Donald Trump's presidency. There is, however, an extremely dangerous trend in Australian politics that should concern lawmakers and political regulatory bodies across the democratic world. That's the foreign interference...

As our two-engine speedboat starts the journey back to Port Denarau Marina, a major port on Fiji's main island, we lurch to an unexpected stop. A seal on the fuel injector on the engine has loosened, so we sputter back to the mainland at half the usual pace. But the possibility of such a transit hiccup is the chance you take when visiting a floating pizza bar in the middle of the South Pacific. Opened in 2013, Cloud 9 bobs above Roro Reef in the Mamanuca archipelago, about 45 minutes off the west coast of Fiji. "Prior to Cloud 9,...

Buried deep inside a very long Washington Post article about Barack Obama’s post-presidency is the revelation that his is supposedly writing his memoir during his month-long South Pacific retreat to French Polynesia. (hat tip: Caitlin Yilek) …he jetted off in a Gulfstream G550 to Tetiaroa, a South Pacific island once owned by Marlon Brando. He plans an extended stay there to start writing his White House memoir, according to a person familiar with his plans who asked for anonymity to discuss them. As ever long time reader of this site knows, Jack Cashill has covered the authorship of Dreams from...

The remains of a U.S. Marine who was killed in action during World War II finally completed the 70-year journey from a South Pacific atoll to his home in Texas. His body has been missing since 1943. n November 1943, U.S. Marine Corps Private First Class Elmer “Rabbit” Mathies, Jr. was killed during the Battle of Tarawa. Private Mathies was one of 1,200 Marines killed during the 3-day battle battle. His remains were finally identified and have been returned to Hereford, Texas in time for Memorial Day, the Amarillo Globe-News reported.

The wreckage of the Endeavour, the storied British ship that 18th-century explorer Captain James Cook sailed through the uncharted South Pacific, may lie a few hundred feet off Rhode Island’s coast in Newport Harbor, researchers said Wednesday. The 105-foot (32-meter) long, three-masted bark, later renamed the Lord Sandwich, had been hired out by the British Royal Navy as a troop transport when it was one of 13 ships deliberately sunk by the British in 1778 in an effort to blockade the harbor.

The Internet says the ruins of the First Temple are in the South Pacific. Matthew Fishbane went to find them.A little over a year ago, Tablet Magazine’s Matthew Fishbane was emailed a grainy video of Papua New Guinea’s Gogodala people—in grass skirts, their bodies decorated with body paint and feathers—singing the Shema, the holiest of Hebrew prayers. A few Google searches later, he’d uncovered claims that the Lost Temple of Israel is hidden someplace in the South Pacific. And so he went to investigate…

It’s Time To Stop Looking For Amelia Earhart On July 2nd, 1937, Amelia Earhart's attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world came to an abrupt end over the Pacific Ocean. She lost radio contact with Itasca, the Coast Guard ship that was serving as her radio contact, and the plane supposedly went down near the tiny atoll of Howland Island. Now, 75 years and uncounted millions of dollars later, we haven't found a trace of Earhart, her plane, or Fred Noonan, her navigator. Today is Earhart's 115th birthday, and it's time for us as a society...

"I have a feeling that there is just about one more good flight left in my system, and I hope this trip is it," Earhart said before she left. Now, a group of historians, salvage workers and scientists think they know

THE Mexican Army is hunting a 12-year-old assassin who is allegedly employed by a drug cartel to torture and murder its enemies. Known simply as El Ponchis - which means "The Cloak" - the young boy has been accused of helping wage a turf war in the central Morelos state. Reports said he was paid $US3000 per murder and that he tortured his victims before killing them. He often cuts his victim's throat, leaving the head attached by just a thread. Videos of El Ponchis attacking one enemy with a stick and cutting the throat of another have appeared online,...

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 rattled the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu early Friday, briefly triggering a tsunami watch for the region, officials said. There were no immediate reports of damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck just after 4 a.m. local time and was centered 300 miles (485 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Port Vila, at a depth of 22 miles (36 kilometers). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning for Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, but canceled the alert about an hour later. The center's duty geophysicist...

AFP – This photo taken on September 29, after an 8.0-magnitude quake and tsunami struck in the early morning … APIA (AFP) – Dozens of aftershocks rocked the South Pacific Wednesday, 24 hours after a huge earthquake churned up towering tsunamis that killed at least 113 people when they wiped out villages and flattened tourist resorts. Huge waves that witnesses and officials said measured between three and 7.5 metres high pounded the remote Pacific islands of Samoa and Western Samoa after an 8.0-magnitude undersea quake struck early Tuesday. While the quake toppled buildings and sent thousands fleeing to high ground...

Spam at heart of South Pacific obesity crisis By Nick Squires In Sydney Last Updated: 12:32pm GMT 11/02/2008 It was lampooned by Monty Python and spurned by British shoppers, but Spam is fuelling a "raging epidemic" of diabetes, strokes and heart disease among the previously lithe inhabitants of the South Pacific. Another of Britain's colonial culinary legacies - corned beef - is also being blamed for a rise in obesity-related illnesses in countries once known for muscled warriors and slim-hipped maidens. Many islanders drive to the local shop to buy tins of spam Countries across the region - many of...

7.2 quake in Vanuatu:http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2007/us2007fmba/

A new volcanic island has risen from the South Pacific near Tonga, according to reports from two vessels that passed the area. The crew of the Maiken, a yacht that left the northern Tongan islands group of Vava'u in August, reported on their Web log on August 12 that they saw streaks of light, porous pumice stone floating in the water -- then "sailed into a vast, many-miles-wide belt of densely packed pumice." They posted photos of huge "pumice rafts" that they encountered after passing Tonga's Late island while sailing toward Fiji. "We were so fascinated and busy taking pictures...