Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — King Charles III will be offered the title of high chief in Samoa during a three-day visit, which started on Wednesday and be shown the impact of rising sea levels due to climate change.

Lenatai Victor Tamapua, a Samoan chief and member of parliament, said he planned to offer the title of Tui Taumeasina to the monarch during a traditional ceremonial welcome to King Charles and Queen Camilla on Thursday.

He will later lead the king through a walkway on a mangrove reserve highlighting the impact of climate change on the Pacific nations and its communities.

"The king tide today is about twice that it was 20, 30 years ago, and that is affecting our land, and it's eating away at some of the areas that are so hard for us to control, and people (have to) move inwards, inland now," Tamapua said.

King Charles has spent a lifetime campaigning on environmental issues and in 2020 described global warming and climate change as the greatest threat that humanity has faced.

The offer of a high chief title for the king comes after he was accused of "genocide" by an Australian Indigenous senator at Parliament House in Canberra during the monarch's six-day visit to Australia, which concluded on Wednesday.

The Australian royal tour was King Charles' inaugural visit to an overseas realm as sovereign, his first major foreign trip since being diagnosed with cancer, and his first visit by a British monarch to Australia in 13 years.

King Charles is head of state in Australia, New Zealand and 12 other Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom, although the role is largely ceremonial.

He is also the symbolic head of the Commonwealth and is traveling to Samoa, his first to the island of around 200,000 people, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. He is expected to leave Samoa on Saturday morning.

Over half of the Commonwealth's members are small states, many of them Pacific island nations facing the threat of rising sea levels caused by climate change. The leaders are expected to make a declaration on protecting the ocean, with climate change a key topic for discussion.

Britain has said it will not bring the issue of reparations for historical transatlantic slavery, demanded by Caribbean countries, to the table at CHOGM, but is open to engage with leaders who want to discuss it.

[Reuters & RNZ]

TULSI GABBARD JOINS REPUBLICAN PARTY

Former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is officially joining the Republican party.

Gabbard spoke at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump in North Carolina, a key swing state.

“It is because of my love for our country and specifically because of the leadership that President Trump has brought to transform the Republican Party and bring it back to the party of the people and the party of peace that I’m proud to stand here with you today, President Trump, and announce that I’m joining the Republican Party,” she said.

Gabbard served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District from 2013 to 2021.

Gabbard ran for president as a Democrat in 2020 before denouncing the party two years later and becoming an independent.

Gabbard publicly announced her endorsement of Trump back in August.

She is currently serving as an honorary co-chair for Trump’s presidential transition team.

(Hawaii News Now]

CONTAINERS RETRIEVED FROM SHIPWRECK

All three containers that fell off the HMNZS Manawanui when it capsized off the Samoan island of Upolu earlier in October have been retrieved.

The task was pulled off between the New Zealand Defense Force and local contractors and authorities.

“After four days of coordination and effort between the New Zealand Defense Force, local contractor Ark Marine and the support of the Samoan authorities, I am pleased to announce that we have removed all three containers that came off the ship,” senior national representative Commodore Andrew Brown said.

“This was a complex team effort where safety was paramount, and I want to thank and acknowledge all those involved in the process.”

Two of the three-metre shipping containers were empty, while the third contained food. The kai was buried at a landfill, with the three containers safely disposed of at the port.

Currently, Samoa is hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, with KIng Charles and Queen Camilla, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters in attendance.

During this time, the NZ Defence Force will be monitoring the Manawanui and the shoreline.

“This means one dive, one drone flight and one beach patrol daily, with the timing coordinated so as not to disrupt the event,” Brown said.

On October 6, the HMNZS Manawanui ran aground, the next day catching on fire and then capsizing.

There were 78 people on board, and all escaped.

(Teo Ao Maori News)

CNMI IN SUMMIT TALKS WITH US

The Northern Marianas and the US government will initiate 902 talks - relating to issues affecting their relationship - on Saipan.

Governor Arnold Palacios and Assistant Secretary of the Interior Carmen Cantor, who was chosen by US president Joe Biden as his representative, are leading the two-day summit.

Section 902 of the Covenant provides that the government of the United States and the CNMI will designate special representatives to meet and consider in good faith such issues affecting their relationship, as may be designated by either government and to make a report and recommendations with respect thereto.

The Covenant essentially established the present-day CNMI and outlined and defined its relationship with the US, which the Covenant calls a political union, meaning the CNMI is a self-governing entity within the American political system.

Palacios said there's still a lot of sensitive issues to be worked out.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself to give respect and courtesy to the federal side," he said.

"When they do all show up, we're going to have this conversation on how to approach [the issues]."

(RNZ Pacific)

SAMOAN YOUTH WINS PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE

A young Samoan photographer has won a landmark climate photography prize.

The competition was sponsored by the Commonwealth Foundation for 15 to 18 year olds to showcase climate action and resilience ahead of the heads of government meeting in Apia.

It’s the first time the event has been held on a Pacific island with the winners announced in a ceremony on Tuesday.

The winner in the 15-16 year old's category was Lomam Poe (16) with a photo of a girl collecting plastic waste, taken at Mulinuu ocean. (See photo elsewhere in this issue.)

"I took this to show that there is a right way of reducing littering. In the photo is also an ad that says "oute le fia ai uga" which means our littering has affected our seafood. It's important to me to show that we should stop littering and affecting our oceans and marine ecosystem," Lomam Poe said.

(RNZ Pacific)

LEAVE NO WOMAN BEHIND

Commonwealth leaders are being urged to work harder to get rid of the barriers and biases that continue to hold back women and girls in the 56 member countries.

This urgent appeal comes from a report that represents the voices of more than 400 delegates, including prime ministers, ministers, women's rights advocates and business leaders, who attended the Commonwealth Women's Forum in Apia, Samoa, from October 21 to 22.

The report will be presented to Commonwealth leaders this week to urge stronger action on transforming the status of women in government, business and society.

A recent United Nations report reveals that, while gender equality is achievable, the progress remains alarmingly slow. At the current rate, it could take 137 years to lift all women out of poverty and gender parity in parliaments will not be reached until 2063.

In their report to leaders, delegates responded with calls for greater protection from gender-based violence, policies to get more women into leadership, increased economic opportunities, and investment in women-led climate solutions.

A central theme in the report is the need for bespoke policies that address overlapping forms of discrimination, including disability, age and identity, to ensure all women and girls can live with dignity and safety.

Speaking at the closing session of the Women's Forum, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Dr Arjoon Suddhoo acknowledged the slow progress.

He said: "None of the Sustainable Development Goal 5 targets for gender equality and women's empowerment are on track. This must change now. There can be no more delays.

"The recommendations you made together will guide our 56 Commonwealth countries in taking bold action to make 2030 the expiry date for gender inequality."

(Samoa Capital Radio)