8 dead, 40 missing after Vanuatu tsunami<\/p>\n
PORT VILA, Vanuatu—Eight people are dead and at least 40 others are still missing after a tsunami generated by a strong earthquake swept onto Pentecost Island early Saturday.<\/p>\n
The National Disaster Management Office said the tsunami struck the villages of Ena and Vemagely.<\/p>\n
A church and many houses were destroyed, landslides blocked roads and communication to some parts of the island was cut.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the French Earth Sciences Observatory in Strasbourg reported an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale was recorded in the area.<\/p>\n
Pentecost has a population of about 12,000 people.<\/p>\n
American Samoans oppose gambling<\/p>\n
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa—A Samoa News Public Opinion Poll of 743 eligible voters has found that the territory\u2019s citizens overwhelmingly oppose the introduction of casino gambling proposed by some legislators.<\/p>\n
Only 25 percent of those polled agree that the American Samoa government \u201cshould allow and regulate casino gambling.”<\/p>\n
PNG told to back independence<\/p>\n
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea—The government must support the Irian Jaya independence struggle, Melanesian Solidarity general secretary Powes Parkop told a University of Papua New Guinea seminar Friday.<\/p>\n
He said the Indonesian province, which shares the island of New Guinea with independent PNG, \u201chas a moral obligation to assist West Papuans by changing its policy and supporting Irian Jaya\u2019s right to independence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irian Jaya also is known as West Papua. Indigenous people there have been expressing their desire for self-determination since the province became a part of Indonesia in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Second TV station for Fiji<\/p>\n
SUVA, Fiji Islands—Minister of Telecommunications Meli Bogileka has announced plans to establish a second commercial television station next year.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Parliament, Bogileka said the public had been penalized for far too long because of the present monopoly.<\/p>\n
Fiji Television, the only commercial station in the country, has been operating under an exclusive license granted by the previous government in 1994. (Pacific Islands Report)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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