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AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Radio Australia, Jan. 9) - Rescuers are tonight trying to save a pod of pilot whales stranded off the far south coast of New Zealand.

Radio Australia says more than 80 whales have already died.

Conservation officials believe the pod of 159 came ashore on Stewart Island last night, before being noticed early this afternoon.

Locals rushed to try to save the surviving whales, though Greg Lind from the Conservation Department says they may be too late.

"They're highly stressed, highly dehydrated and the mortality rate is going to be very high.' Stewart Island has become notorious for whale stranding. 300 died there in 1998."

Stewart Island, which lies south of the main south island, has become a notorious spot for whale stranding.

Due to the remoteness of Stewart Island, rescuers believe the whales may have spent more than a day ashore before they were discovered.

A team of around 50 volunteers were working to save...

TINIAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 9) - Senator David M. Cing was scheduled to lead a delegation of Tinian officials last night to meet with representatives of a company interested in constructing a golf course and resort in what used to be cattle-grazing land of Micronesian Development Corp.

Cing, D-Tinian, expressed optimism that a "good deal" would be reached with Pioneer Corp.

He said prior discussions had been held on Tinian with the company’s officials.

He said it has been initially agreed that half the land occupied by MDC, which is now under Pioneer’s supervision, will be returned to Tinian residents while the other half will be converted into a golf course and resort.

MDC used to be the largest employer on Tinian. Cing, who used to work for the company, said "it recently went broke," and its ownership was transferred to a new company.

"We will meet the owner and president of Pioneer to make this a more concrete agreement," said Cing. "...

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (RNZI, Jan. 9) - The Vanuatu Government wants assurance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the U.S. that revenue from its shipping registry has not been confiscated.

Vanutu government spokesman Daniel Bangtor said he believes the FBI has frozen the accounts of Vanuatu Maritime Services, the New York-based company which runs the nation’s shipping registry.

The freeze follows the FBI’s arrest last month of prominent expatriate businessman, Robert Bond, who has been implicated in an alleged international money laundering scam.

The Government has expressed its concern that it has not been able to speak with Bond, who is a Vanuatu citizen.

He was arrested in New Orleans and is now in custody in Memphis.

Bangtor said the registry’s profits belong to the Vanuatu Government, not Robert Bond.

January 9, 2003

For additional reports from Radio New Zealand International, go to PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT News/Information...

AVARUA, Cook Islands (Cook Islands News/PINA, Jan. 8) - Schools throughout the Pacific Islands may eventually use a Ministry of Education learning program devised in the Cook Islands.

Te Araanga (The Awakening) is a second language-learning program that encourages student development through culture, language and drama.

It was officially launched at last year’s UNESCO Pacific Regional Conference of Experts on Arts and Education, attended by professional educators from throughout the Pacific.

A UNESCO report on the program will go to schools throughout the Pacific region in the hope that they will include some of its components in their education programs.

Te Araanga was devised by Cook Islands resident Paddy Walker within the Ministry of Education’s curriculum framework. It has been described as a showcase for Cook Islands initiative and innovative ideas.

Walker was asked to attend the high level meeting in Fiji because of her many years of work...