EXPLAINER: Our navy expects to join a British-led flotilla which will pass through the contested South China Sea in a few months. Why does this bit of ocean matter, and why are we sending our navy there?
John Mitchell
26 April, 2021, 1:36 am
Photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the torpedo attack on ships moored on both sides of Ford Island in the centre of Pearl Harbour. Picture U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
According to written accounts from Rowland Gouch Michael “Mike” Varley, the first chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji (CAAF), Nadi was selected as an airfield site as it was relatively fl at. “The construction of a small grass air base at Nadi suitable for use by DH-89 Rapide aircraft was completed by March, 1941,” Mr Varley writes.
“However, while Nadi was still under construction, ‘Unit 20’ of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) consisting of four aircraft arrived in November 1940. It eventually became the number four reconnaissance squadron of the RNZAF in the South Pacifi c area.”
RNZ
Devastation wrought by Cyclone Yasa on the island of Vanua Levu, Fiji. Picture: FIJIAN GOVERNMENT.
Authorities in Fiji have distributed 10,000 food packs to people affected by Cyclone Yasa, as the aid effort in the country’s north gets underway.
The cyclone tore across the northern island of Vanua Levu on Thursday night as a category five, destroying entire villages and leaving thousands homeless.
A journalist on Vanua Levu, Serafina Silaitoga, said government relief teams arrived on Sunday.
“We’re expecting about 50 military officers who will be in Vanua Levu to assist the government officials,” she said.
About 7,000 people remain in evacuation centres across the country, the government said. The death toll currently stands at four, although local media are carrying reports of several people still missing.
Authorities in Fiji have distributed 10,000 food packs to people affected by Cyclone Yasa, as the aid effort in the country s north gets underway.
The cyclone tore across the northern island of Vanua Levu on Thursday night as a category five, destroying entire villages and leaving thousands homeless.
Photo: AFP/Fiji Red Cross
A journalist on Vanua Levu, Serafina Silaitoga, said government relief teams arrived on Sunday. We re expecting about 50 military officers who will be in Vanua Levu to assist the government officials, she said.
About 7,000 people remain in evacuation centres across the country, the government said. The death toll currently stands at four, although local media are carrying reports of several people still missing.