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PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (August 10, 1997 - Samoa News)---American Samoa's school lunch program will not use bananas imported from Samoa during the next school year, says Department of Education Director Dr. Laloulu Tagoilelagi.

Dr. Tagoilelagi made the announcement last week during a House Government Operation Committee hearing.

"Importing ripe bananas from Apia was my decision and no one else's," Dr. Tagoilelagi told Committee members. "The program was a trial test only for three months and it ended after the current school year."

Dr. Tagoilelagi told the committee that using ripe bananas on the menu was prompted by a meeting last March in San Francisco about school lunch nutrition.

Governor Tauese Sunia had asked him to attend that meeting, during which he was queried by federal officials about the quality of American Samoa students' nutrition, especially concerning vegetables and fruits. He was also asked if students in the Territory were provided...

SUVA, Fiji (August 10, 1997 - PACNEWS)---Fiji's efforts to rejoin the Commonwealth has received the support of the Caribbean nation of Barbados.

Prime Minister Owen Arthur made the offer to endorse Fiji's membership while meeting with a visiting Fiji ministerial delegation.

The four member group, led by new Fiji Foreign Minister Berenado Vunibobo, was in the Barbados capital of Bridgetown, briefing Arthur about Fiji's new constitution, which again allows Fiji citizens of any ethnicity to hold ministerial positions, including prime minister. Until the change, only indigenous Fijians were permitted to hold cabinet rank.

Fiji's membership in the Commonwealth, which lapsed in 1987 after two coups led by current Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, is expected to be renewed during the biennial Commonwealth leaders' conference in Scotland next October.

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (August 7, 1997 - Marshall Islands Journal)---Bikini Atoll's web site on the Internet was recognized this week for being in the top five percent of thousands of sites reviewed by Lycos, a service that rates pages on the World Wide Web.

In the 25 web sites listed under "travel," Bikini was listed number one and tied with four others for the top overall rating of 92 points out of a possible 100.

"Part travel brochure, part historical commentary, it is a remarkable tale of a place plucked from obscurity for all the wrong reasons," commented Lycos on Bikini's web site.

Internet World Magazine called Lycos Top 5% page the number one website review service.

Lycos rated Bikini's web site above such heavyweights as National Geographic Television, Fodor's travel guide, the Czech Republic, the Heart of Texas and L.L. Bean's (national) Park Search.

"I'm stoaked," said Bikini liaison agent Jack Niedenthal, who has developed the web...

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (August 10, 1997 - Samoa News)---Hawaii Senator Daniel Akaka's office has pledged to help American Samoa set up its own Job Corps Center, says Speaker of the House of Representatives Ma'ilo Sao T. Nua.

During a recent visit to Honolulu, Ma'ilo said Senator Akaka's aides met with him to discuss what still must be done before a Job Corps activity can be established in the U.S. South Pacific territory.

"They were very supportive of the idea and Senator Akaka's staff have pledged their support to lobby Senators (in Washington), that American Samoa needs a Job Corps training facility," Ma'ilo noted.

While the U.S. Department of Labor allocates funds to the Job Corps, it is the U.S. Senate that gives the final okay for a job training school organization to be established in a given location.

The Speaker told Samoa News that he had planned to meet with Labor Department officials in San Francisco but the meeting was canceled due to the...