{"id":49438,"date":"2000-01-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2000-01-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/954a4659-1dfb-11e4-aedf-250bc8c9958e"},"modified":"2000-01-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2000-01-12T00:00:00","slug":"954a466d-1dfb-11e4-aedf-250bc8c9958e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/954a466d-1dfb-11e4-aedf-250bc8c9958e\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific Region News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese whalers attack Greenpeace activists<\/p>\n<p>MELBOURNE, Australia &#8212; Japanese whalers in the far South Pacific have fired high-pressure hoses on activists in small inflatable boats in an effort to drive them away.<\/p>\n<p>The incident occurred Sunday night when protesters from the international environmental organization attempted to interrupt whaling activities<br \/>\nsouthwest of Perth.<\/p>\n<p>The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise has been following the Japanese fleet for two weeks in an attempt to stop the whaling, which it says is illegal.<\/p>\n<p>Two Samoas want joint law enforcement<\/p>\n<p>PAGO PAGO, American Samoa \u2013- A recently signed agreement between the territory and neighboring independent Samoa calls for the development of cooperative procedures in a wide range of law enforcement areas.<\/p>\n<p>Included in the proposal, signed by Governor Tauese Sunia and Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, are recommendations for &#8220;joint investigations&#8221; and &#8220;joint operations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The agreement includes plans to share customs enforcement information in an effort to reduce trade in illegal drugs, weapons and pornography.<\/p>\n<p>PNG tourism threatened<\/p>\n<p>PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea &#8211;Tour operator Peter Barter wants the government adopt stricter guidelines to combat crime threatening the country&#8217;s visitor industry.<\/p>\n<p>Barter&#8217;s demand comes in wake of attacks on tourists along the popular Kokoda Trail, used by allied soldiers to defeat Japanese forces during World War II.<\/p>\n<p>Barter said that some parts of PNG should be declared off limits to tourists<br \/>\nand maps and brochures should contain warnings.<\/p>\n<p>It is necessary, he said, &#8220;if we want to put a halt to the decline in tourists visiting PNG.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Opposition says gov&#8217;t discriminates ethnic Fujians<\/p>\n<p>SUVA, Fiji Islands &#8212; Opposition leader Ratu Inoke Kubuabola has accused the Indo-Fijian-led government of being racist toward ethnic Fijians.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed that $750,000 approved for small business development loans was not being awarded to indigenous entrepreneurs, and the matter now may have to be addressed by the Great Council of Chiefs.<\/p>\n<p>Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry has rejected the claims, saying Kubuabola &#8220;as usual, opens his mouth without knowing the facts, as he has consistently done since assuming the position of leader of the opposition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>PNG soldiers demand salary hike<\/p>\n<p>PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea &#8212; Defense Force soldiers have given the government until next month to respond to demands for better living<br \/>\nconditions and a 100 percent pay raise.<\/p>\n<p>Soldiers at several military bases caught the defense hierarchy by surprise Friday when they told their superiors that &#8220;enough was enough&#8221; and they wanted improvements.<\/p>\n<p>They said they are underpaid and don&#8217;t have proper uniforms, living accommodations or food services.  The soldiers said their last pay review was in 1988.<\/p>\n<p>Military and government officials have promised to investigate the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese whalers attack Greenpeace activists<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}