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AVARUA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands (March 30, 2002 - Cook Islands News/PINA Nius Online)---An Aitutaki resident has tested positive for dengue, the first reported case on the island since the Rarotonga epidemic began, Cook Islands News reported.

Island medical officer Dr. Mata Strickland blamed two Rarotonga sports teams that visited the island for spreading dengue fever to Aitutaki.

Aitutaki is 225 kilometers (135 miles) north of Rarotonga, the heaviest populated of the Cook Islands and where the dengue outbreak at one stage forced schools to close.

Dengue fever is a viral infection that is spread via mosquito bites. The most severe form can kill but most people develop headaches and back, bone and joint pain.

The confirmation of the Aitutaki case came after earlier reports that local police threatened to remove the Rarotonga teams when they arrived on the island.

"They came here in spite of advice that it is not a good idea for groups from...

By Edith G. Alejandro

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (March 29, 2002 – Saipan Tribune)---Aircraft traffic at Saipan International Airport continued to see major reductions in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2002 as a result of the September 11 atrocities in the United States, the Commonwealth Ports Authority disclosed.

Based on a report submitted by the CPA Finance Committee, the number of enplanements—people boarding planes—from October to December 2001 dropped 31 percent compared to the same period in Fiscal Year 2001.

The report added that the number of deplanements—people disembarking—posted a 41-percent decline, while the number of landings went down by 2 percent during the October-December 2001 period.

"The significant drop on the traffic count or activities was caused by the September 11 attacks on America," the report said.

The ports authority noted that, comparing figures from FY 1998 through 2002, FY 2002 posted a record low in the...

SUVA, Fiji Islands (March 31, 2002 - The Fiji Times/PINA Nius Online)---Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and members of his Cabinet took shelter in a family home in the highlands of the country's main island Saturday after floods blocked the road.

Mr. Qarase and his ministers were in a convoy of four-wheel drive vehicles returning to Suva for Easter after visiting rural villages on Viti Levu.

They founded themselves stranded by flooding caused by heavy rain.

Irinieta Vula and her husband Viliame Vakamoce welcomed the prime minister and his party into their home while they waited for floodwaters to recede and rain to subside.

A small welcoming ceremony was accorded to Mr. Qarase and his Cabinet by Mr. Vakamoce, a retired Public Works Department employee.

Mr. Qarase, who had been given a roasted pig and a basket of dalo (taro) at the village they had earlier visited, presented the food to the couple as a token of appreciation for giving shelter...

NOUMÉA, New Caledonia (March 27, 2002 - Oceania Flash)---Officials in New Caledonia are concerned about alarmingly high alcohol-related delinquency statistics among youths, the daily newspaper Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes reports.

According to the latest statistics provided by Nouméa's municipal police, the number of minors (defined by French law as under 18) who were arrested last year in the capital for "public drunkenness" (an offense, according to French law) has risen by 370 percent, compared to the previous year.

In their annual activity report, Nouméa police say they have been particularly tough on excessive alcohol consumption, because this often leads to traffic accidents, sexual abuse or even assault on both locals and tourists.

Last year, security constables arrested 1,983 individuals for public intoxication. They usually were confined for a short time in so-called "de-tox" cells until they were deemed to have return to their senses.

Overall,...