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Tongan protesters have scuffled with New Zealand police outside a residence of the king of Tonga in the northern city of Auckland. Civil servants on the impoverished South Pacific archipelago have been on strike for several weeks. A blaze engulfed one of the king's houses on Tonga on Monday, although it was not clear if this was related. New Zealand has said it will send a negotiator to Tonga to mediate between the government and civil servants. Some 3,000 government employees have been on strike since July, demanding pay increases. The unrest is now spreading to Auckland's large Tongan community....

The Cook Islands prime minister says depopulation is one of the biggest challenges facing the country. The nation has celebrated 40 years of self government in association with New Zealand this week. Its population has dwindled from over 20,000, 40 years ago, to about 12,000 now, with many Cook Islanders living in Auckland. The prime minister, Jim Marurai says about 500 people a year are leaving, despite the economy performing well. Mr Marurai says young people in particular are not interested in traditional work. Jim Marurai says the country has to work to provide better jobs to keep the young...

A medical study says the incidence of thyroid cancer in New Caledonia is the highest in the world. The study published in the Medical Bulletin of New Caledonia and French Polynesia says the rate is 17 times higher than the global average for women, and eight times higher for men. The study has failed to establish a reason why New Caledonia’s rates are so high, while detailing that Kanaks are three times more likely to get thyroid cancer than people of European descent. A link has been established between such cancers and exposure to radiation but looking at figures from...

SYDNEY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Two tropical cyclones are bearing down on three South Pacific island nations creating a "critically dangerous situation", weather officials said on Tuesday. Cyclones Olaf and Nancy, which are expected to hit Samoa, American Samoa and the Cook islands, could cross paths creating one giant, destructive storm centre where the two cyclones spin around each other until one is flung off. "For the South Pacific it is unusual to have two cyclones this close together," said Kevin Vang at the Australian-Pacific Centre for Emergency and Disaster Information. "This has the making of an absolute mess,"...

The positions over the situation in French Polynesia are becoming increasingly entrenched. Although a strong argument can be made that this is a political crisis rather than a constitutional or legal crisis, if two men claim to be the president of French Polynesia and if the main opposition party refuses to concede that it has lost power then a major constitutional crisis is in the making. Oscar Temaru, the leader of the Union for Democracy (UPLD), appears to have lost most of the legal battles he has waged. He wanted new elections to be held immediately after he lost two...

You police the Pacific: US THE US has formally recognised Australia's role as South Pacific policeman in the war on terror - but Canberra wants more back-up in the region from its superpower ally. Washington says Australia's professionalism in leading military coalitions in East Timor and the Solomon Islands has given the US confidence that it can let Canberra lead the way in future regional conflicts and assistance missions. But Australia, while generally happy with the direction of the 53-year-old ANZUS alliance, wants the US to take a more active role in providing financial and training support for Southeast Asian...

"Flyboys" is the latest example of how easy it is to be ambushed by mainstream popular culture. This book may have hit best-seller lists, but its popularity is no guarantee of the benign. Think of all the budding book lovers who raced out to read "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," only to be regaled with a gruesome showdown at the end of the story. Think of the audiences who briefly made the hyper-gory "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" the nation's hottest movie, only to discover that it had all the wit of a falling brick. And now look...

CANBERRA - Australia's latest strategic review, issued as its forces prepare for war in the Gulf, warns of a rising tide of terrorism, spurred by a wave of anti-Western anger and the belief the United States is leading a crusade against Islam. Announcing plans for a new shift in military emphasis away from defence of the continent, the review also warns of the spread of weapons of mass destruction and potentially violent instability in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In a chilling assessment, it says the September 11 attacks on the US and the Bali bombings could spur terrorists to...

The first name that Marine Pfc. William "Bill" Moore scratched on his canteen cup before his final battle of World War II was that of his dad, Earl Moore, a Marine in World War I. He was proud of his father, proud to follow in his footsteps and become a Marine himself. His sisters talked about their brother Monday as they held the rusted, battered canteen cup that became a family treasure last week. "Bill was still in high school; he didn't have to go," said Dorothy Saraga, one of his sisters, who now lives in Reseda. "He enlisted a...