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By Scott Radway

HAGÅTÑA, Guam (October 1, 2002 - Pacific Daily News)---Guam officials expanded an embargo on live bird shipments to the island to include newborn birds and chicks of any age, as fear the West Nile virus could spread here from the mainland continues.

The embargo announced Friday followed similar action taken in Hawai‘i as the West Nile virus was confirmed in California, where many of the islands' shipments originate.

The embargo now bans all live bird and poultry shipments to the island except hatching eggs and shipments that originate from Hawai‘i, where no signs of the West Nile virus have been detected.

West Nile virus is primarily a wild bird disease that can infect humans, mosquitoes, horses and some other mammals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is spread to humans by mosquitoes that have fed on birds with high concentrations of the virus.

Most people infected with West Nile virus experience...

SUVA, Fiji Islands (September 30, 2002 - PINA Nius Online)---Major trade partnership negotiations, which have just opened in Brussels, are part of wider efforts to improve living conditions of Pacific Islanders, a European official said in Suva.

They are also intended to help the Pacific Islands as a region benefit from integration into world markets, said Maria Ralha, of the Delegation of the European Commission for the Pacific.

Ms. Ralha, Counselor - Economics at the Suva-based delegation, was commenting on the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP)-European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations.

These began with formal ceremonies in Brussels on Friday, and are due to be completed within seven years. They are a key component of the Cotonou Agreement, which continues the major aid, trade, and development partnership between the EU and the ACP group.

Ms. Ralha, commenting on differences between the new Cotonou Agreement and the former Lomé...

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (September 30, 2002 - SIBC/PINA Nius Online)---The Solomon Islands is currently heading into an El Niño drought, just like neighboring Papua New Guinea, Meteorological Service acting director Chanel Iroi said.

The country will experience reduced or below average rainfall for much of this year, continuing into next year, he added.

El Niño is a weather anomaly blamed for worldwide droughts and floods. It involves an above average warming of waters in the eastern Pacific that occurs every four to five years. This distorts wind and rainfall patterns.

Mr. Iroi warned that the expected reduced rainfall will affect the growth and supply of agricultural crops, dry up streams and otherwise decrease water supply.

He said other sectors that will be affected include:

The drought comes as a blow to a country already facing an economic crisis because of the more than two years of ethnic conflict and continuing law and order problems...

SAN DIEGO, California (September 30, 2002 -- Marianas Variety/ Reuters)---The prime suspect in the July disappearance of former basketball player Bison Dele and two others in the South Pacific has died at a San Diego area hospital, hospital officials said on Saturday.

Kevin Williams, Dele’s brother, died on Friday at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista, where he had been in a coma since authorities located him in Tijuana on Sept. 15, hospital spokeswoman Monica Montano said.

"He did pass away yesterday evening. He was in critical condition, and he never really changed while in the hospital," Montano said, adding that the local medical examiner’s office was determining the precise cause of death.

Williams, who also went by the name Miles Dabord, had been wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Dele, his girlfriend Serena Karlan and Bertrand Saldo, who were last seen in July sailing their catamaran near Tahiti with Williams.

Local authorities...