Independent candidate wins by-election in Samoa; French Polynesia records more Covid-19 cases; Traditional myths and legends used in anti-violence programme; Qantas resumes flights to New Caledonia, and more.
Taufua Sili Apelu would love to see his regular New Zealand guests returning to his beach fale accommodation on Upolu s stunning southcoast at Lalomanu.
It s been a tough few years for Taufua Beach Fales - tourism took a hit with the measles epidemic in late 2019 before being finished off by covid the following year.
There is no domestic market for their once flourishing business.
But he doesn t want the borders open if there is a risk to people s health. Just look at the example in Fiji. This thing is destroying like crazy given the small population, and Samoa has an even smaller one, observed Taufua.
Covid-19: Samoa economy struggling without tourists, looks to open to NZ first stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fiji has accepted the return of its Boeing 737 Max aircraft to service.
The Civil Aviation Authority says it has adopted service requirements of the US regulator Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) for Boeing 737 Max aircraft operated by Fiji Airways.
The Fiji authority said the FAA had signed an order in November that allowed the 737 Max to return to the skies.
Earlier the Max was pulled from service after two planes crashed in Indonesia in 2019 and Ethiopia in 2018, killing all 346 people on board.
The authority said the re-design and re-certification of the B737 Max aircraft by Boeing and FAA respectively not only included software and hardware design changes, but changes to crew procedures as well as training enhancements, validating the aircraft as safe to fly .
The Sinalei resort which has been shuttered until the re-opening of borders.
Photo: Dominic Godfrey / RNZ Pacific
While the tragedy of the measles epidemic of 2019 prepared the country to act fast and avert another health crisis, it couldn t prepare them for an economic one.
A year into the pandemic and Samoa is one of a handful of countries to remain free of community transmission of the coronavirus.
It was also one of the first countries to close its borders which helped prevent Covid-19 s entry according to the country s Director General of Health, Leausa Dr Take Naseri, who said, with grief from the measles epidemic still fresh, the whole country rallied.