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KOROR, Palau (Palau Horizon/PINA, Jan. 7) - Law enforcement officers of Palau's Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection want to carry firearms, citing the danger they face from poachers when performing their duties.

Kammen Chin, division chief, said he has sent letters of requests to Swenny Shiro, director of the Bureau of Public Safety, and Justice Minister Michael Rosenthal.

"We receive a lot of threats," Chin said. "We face a lot of dangerous people in our line of work, and they are armed with machetes, air guns, spear guns and spears."

The division has seven officers, including Chin. They are requesting approval to carry pistols and rifles.

Said Chin: "We often go out at night when it is really dark in the forest and in the waters, because that’s when hunters and poachers conduct their illegal trade. Sometimes we hear gunshots coming from .22 pistols and even shotguns. We have to equip the officers if we want to improve the protection of the...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Radio Australia, Jan. 8) - Cyclone Zoe has focused world attention on the culture of the people of Tikopia - who belong to the Solomon Islands’ small Polynesian minority.

For generations the Tikopia have learned to live with the devastating impact of cyclones, and have managed to find refuge on different parts of the island to minimize loss of life.

But other practices, such as abortion and infanticide, are also believed to be an integral part of traditional Tikopia society, where survival hinged on the ability to control population growth.

Dr Judith Macdonald, a lecturer in anthropology at New Zealand's Waikato University says the island is on the typhoon belt, or the cyclone belt, so every year they will deal with heavy winds, sometimes they will deal with cyclones every five or ten years.

A cyclone the size of Zoe, however – with winds approaching 200 miles per hour - comes along only once in a hundred years, weather experts...

HAGATNA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Jan. 8) - Newly elected or appointed directors on the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) board met yesterday, armed with goals to revive an industry that stumbled after two major storms struck the island last year.

At the meeting, the board:

· Established a transition period, not exceeding 30 days, for former Sen. Tony Lamorena to phase himself in as Guam Visitors Bureau general manager as General Manager James Nelson exits; and

· Chose David Tydingco chairman of the GVB board. The GVB chairmanship is a community service that doesn't come with a paycheck, so Tydingco said he also will keep his full-time job as president of the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Tydingco replaced ex-Chairman Tony Sgro who, in his parting speech yesterday, thanked visitors bureau staff and tourism supporters for their efforts and issued a warning to the visitors bureau membership.

"Don't listen to the media," said Sgro, who last year...

KOROR, Palau (Palau Horizon/Marianas Variety, Jan. 9) - The Bureau of Marine Resources of the Ministry of Resources and Development has been training Palau local fishermen on modern methods and techniques.

Theo Isamu, bureau director, said they have conducted month-long training sessions for fishermen at least three or four times last year, the last of which were held from Nov. 4 to Dec. 4.

Isamu said this was part of the bureau’s efforts to develop inshore fisheries by transferring modern fishing techniques to Palauan fishermen for the purpose of enhancing subsistence and commercial fishing.

He said the training was successful, adding that each of the events were participated by around nine to 12 local fishermen, including sports fishermen.

The fishermen learned about fish quality preservation and surface long line fishery, among others. These techniques, Isamu said, will greatly enhance the local fishermen’s capability for commercial and subsistence...