Pacific News Minute

73 years after the liberation of Guam, the US government has started to process claims for reparations. A bill signed by President Obama last December resolved decades of disputes over payments to those who suffered under Japanese occupation but we hear from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute, the arguments aren’t over yet.

In December 1941, Nine-year-old Forrest Mendiola Harris fled when bombs started dropping on his village. Now 85, he told the Pacific Daily News “I just want to say that I’m lucky that I lived through the war.”

  Outbreaks of disease in two Pacific Island nations…dengue fever in Palau, and mumps in the Marshall Islands. We have more from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

Both outbreaks have an international aspect. Mumps in the Marshalls may be connected to an outbreak of the viral disease last year, in Arkansas. Half of the cases there were in the large Marshallese community…and, while precautions were taken, it’s possible that the virus travelled with Marshallese back home to the Pacific.

Flags in Vanuatu are at half-staff as the country mourns President Baldwin Lonsdale, who died Saturday of a heart attack at the age of 67. Lonsdale served as Secretary General of Torba Province and became an Anglican priest before he took office as head of state in 2014. We have more from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

A major turning point in the plight of detainees on Manus Island yesterday, when Australia agreed to settle a class action lawsuit, for $530 million. Almost two thousand men will share the compensation. We have details from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

Most projections of the impact of climate change and sea level rise focus on flooding and agriculture, but a new report from the UN suggests major changes in fisheries as well…we have more from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

On Sunday, voters in France overwhelmingly endorsed centrist candidates in the first round of legislative elections. President Emmanuel Macron’s brand new En Marche party looks set to win a commanding majority in the second round, two weeks from now, but results in France’s Pacific territories are more muddled; Neal Conan has more in today’s Pacific News Minute.

This week, we've been marking the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway. The dramatic victory turned the tide of the Second World War in the Pacific and paved the way for a long era of American dominance, but, as we hear from Neal Conan in today's Pacific News Minute, nervous allies are beginning to question whether that era is coming to an end.

This week, we’re marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. On the seventh of June, 1942, U.S.S. Yorktown slipped beneath the waves, in the last act of the battle. In Today’s Pacific News Minute, Neal Conan focuses on what happened next.

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Midway, the turning point of the Second World War in the Pacific, and a pivotal moment in Pacific history. Neal Conan has more in today’s Pacific News Minute.

Last week, we reported on plans to close the controversial Australian detention camp on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Now, documents obtained by The Guardian show shocking levels of violence, sexual assault, suicide and drug use by staff and detainees. We have details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

An extraordinary meeting is underway in central Australia, where aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders will discuss constitutional recognition, a treaty and compensation.  The summit’s being held at Uluru, the iconic rock revered by aboriginals…we have more from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

In Tonga, a constitutional amendment proposes to transfer more power from the King to the Prime Minister. Democratic reform, according to its supporters; critics call it a power grab. More from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

A tiny, uninhabited island in the south Pacific is, according to scientists, “the most polluted, most remote island in the whole world.” More on Henderson Island from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

The government of Papua New Guinea announced plans to close and demolish the controversial Australian Detention camp on Manus Island. About 900 men have been held there without charge for four years after trying to get to Australia by boat. We have more from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

The complicated politics of the former Soviet Union don’t often affect the South Pacific, but two disputed territories that broke away from Georgia are about to cause headaches in the impoverished and far off island nation of Nauru. Neal Conan unravels the diplomatic knot in today’s Pacific News Minute.

In April, the incumbent Governor of Jakarta lost his bid for election in a campaign dominated by allegations that he had committed blasphemy against the Koran. Yesterday, he was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Details, from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

Two years ago, we reported on the case of Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, arrested as he boarded a plane in Honolulu headed for China. Lin was charged with espionage in what government officials said was an epic sex for secrets scandal. As we hear from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute, it now looks as if the allegations were greatly exaggerated.

According to Reuters, the U.S. Military’s controversial anti-missile system has reached initial operating capacity in South Korea. The news agency quotes U.S. officials as cautioning that it will still be months before THAAD is fully operational – the acronym stands for Theater High Altitude Area Defense. And, as we hear from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute, there is growing sentiment to install the system in Japan.

The Olympic Gold Medal won by Fiji’s sevens in Rio de Janeiro validated the popularity of rugby in much of the Pacific, and the quality of its players. An estimated 800 Pacific Islanders play professionally in Europe, but both they and their clubs can have problems with culture shock…we have more from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

After an embarrassing mix-up, the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Carl Vinson is now close enough to Korea to launch airstrikes if needed.  Admiral Harry Harris, the Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, took responsibility for the confusion last week when the White House gave the impression that the carrier was racing towards Korea, when it was actually more than three thousand miles away, and steaming in the opposite direction. We have more from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

After the first round of voting in France's Presidential election on Sunday, Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen emerged to face off against each other next month. Neither finished first in New Caledonia or French Polynesia. More details from Neal Conan in today's Pacific News Minute.

As we look back to President Trump’s first hundred days in office this week, one campaign promise he did keep was to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal negotiated under President Obama. However, a different free trade agreement is about to be signed in the Pacific. We have details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

A sheriff’s captain from Nevada got an unusual assignment last month. Joe Duffy went to the Kingdom of Tonga to help authorities there with a rising drug gang problem. We have details from Neal Conan in Today’s Pacific News Minute.

Security will be tight as voters in Jakarta head to the polls tomorrow in an election seen as a test of Indonesia’s longstanding secular tradition. And, as we hear from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute, one candidate faces a blasphemy trial as soon as the election’s over.

This week, the Archdiocese of Guam asked a federal court to dismiss dozens of law suits filed by former altar boys who say they were raped and assaulted by priests as far back as the 1970s. The key to the suits was a law passed last year that lifted the statute of limitations, and as we hear from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute, that law is also the basis of the Archdiocese’s argument.

One of the leaders of Abu Sayyaf is reportedly among those killed in a shootout with the Philippine Army yesterday. Muamar Askali, also known as Abu Rami sometimes acted as a spokesman for the jihadist group. The firefight erupted on the island of Bohol in the central Philippines, with five rebels and four Filipino soldiers killed…we have background on Abu Sayyaf from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.

The man regarded as the father of his nation gave a farewell address to the parliament of Papua New Guinea this week. Sir Michael Somare helped write the constitution and served as PNG’s first Prime Minister after Independence…we have more from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

North Korea fired another ballistic missile yesterday and there are reports of preparations for another nuclear weapons test that could be timed for the U.S.-China summit later this week. With President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping set for their first meeting Thursday and Friday in Florida, two other East Asian powers took a step to repair relations…we have details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

Last month, we reported on Guam’s dispute with the Justice Department over voter eligibility in a plebiscite restricted to Chamorros. In another similar case, the Justice Department charges that Guam’s Chamorro Land Trust violates anti-discrimination provisions of the Fair Housing Act. We have details from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

People in North Western Australia are worried about how to protect a rich collection of dinosaur tracks that was made public earlier this month. Thieves and tourists could damage or even destroy what’s been called Australia’s own Jurassic Park. We have more from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute.