Regional
Portland, OREGON — A 24-year old Samoan, along with six other people, have been arrested and face federal charges for their roles in this past weekend’s riots at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon.
Taimane Jame Te’o, 24, of Eugene, Oregon, is charged with assaulting a federal...
Apia, SAMOA — A Samoan man was kept in prison for nearly five years longer than he should have been because of an administrative error.
Sio Agafili, 45, was meant to have been released in December 2015, but the error was only picked up on by a judge when he appeared in the Supreme Court last week...
Honolulu, HAWAII — A Samoan man is among three former prison guards at the Hawaii Community Correction Center in Hilo, Hawaii that were indictment this past Wednesday at the federal court in Honolulu for the alleged assault of an inmate and attempting to cover up the incident, according to...
Rarotonga, COOK ISLANDS — There are renewed calls in the Cook Islands for an indigenous Māori name to replace the country's colonial era moniker.
Traditional leaders used the recent 30th anniversary of Rarotonga's Tākitimu monarch to push for the name change.
Tākitimu's paramount chief herself...
Hastings, NEW ZEALAND — Samoa's RSE workers who finished their contracts in May and June will be returned home on chartered flights organized by the New Zealand horticulture industry.
The date for the first flight is yet to be finalised but an assistant CEO of Samoa's Ministry of Labour who is the...
Apia, SAMOA — Samoa has extended the COVID-19 State of Emergency for another month, taking the country to an unprecedented four-month lockdown.
Samoa Observer reports that Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi announced that as long as there is still a threat of the virus reaching Samoa "we...
Honolulu, HAWAII — Pacific Islanders continue to face high rates of COVID-19 across multiple states, and in some areas the disparities are worsening.
The Arkansas consul general for the Republic of the Marshall Islands told Radio New Zealand that the virus has already claimed 30 Marshallese lives...
Hastings, NEW ZEALAND — Seasonal workers stuck in Hawke's Bay are suffering from depression and anxiety because they don't know when they can return home.
More than 1500 workers from the Pacific who were due to return home in May are still in the region, and with the season officially over there is...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A Samoan man who resides in Utah, pled guilty last Thursday at the federal court in Sacramento, California to a conspiracy to commit bank fraud that attempted to defraud financial institutions of more than $1.5 million.
As previously reported by Samoa News, Talalima...
Apia, SAMOA — Samoa has delayed the ban on Styrofoam products that was due to come into force July 1.
A nation-wide ban on the products was supposed to come into effect with businesses who continued to use or sell Styrofoam plates, containers and cups to face up to $US3700 fines or a six month...