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By Katalina Uili Tohi

NUKU‘ALOFA, Tonga (January 3, 2001 - PIDP/CPIS)---Vava‘u was the worst hit of the Tonga island groups by Tropical Cyclone Waka New Year’s Day.

Damage is running into the millions and food shortages are expected.

Waka left a trail of devastation in the Vava‘u island group, with damage to properties and crops estimated in the millions of pa‘anga.

Almost all villages throughout Vava‘u and nearby smaller islands shared the frightful impact of Waka, with over 90 percent of crops destroyed.

House roofs were blown off and many trees were uprooted, some falling on and damaging houses.

Commercial crops, such as vanilla and kava, are almost completely destroyed, as are essential food crops, including taro, yams and bananas.

Vava‘u is headed for a major food shortage.

The people of Vava‘u went through similar incidences in the past, including a 1961 hurricane and Cyclone Isaac in 1982. But Waka is the strongest in...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (January 4, 2002 - Post-Courier/PINA Nius Online)---Sixteen panic-stricken people seeking to escape bullets in Mendi town in Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands made a daring escape in a Twin Otter as it prepared to take off.

A Civil Aviation Authority witness said yesterday that people from a crowd escaping gunfire from warring tribesmen scaled the airport perimeter fence and forced themselves into the taxing aircraft.

The witness said the crowd had spilled onto the runway and it was a wonder that the aircraft found the room to actually take off.

The incident has earned the ire of the Civil Aviation Authority and an investigation is now under way.

Dozens of people are estimated to have been killed in weeks of tribal fighting around Mendi, in which high-powered weapons are being used.

"It was like a movie scene. People were running in all directions. Many headed for the safety of the airport buildings," the officer...

SYDNEY, Australia (January 4, 2002 – Sydney Morning Herald/PINA Nius Online)---The powerful earthquakes that rocked Vanuatu this week ruined the launch of the country’s new international online gambling center, the Sydney Morning Herald reported today.

The first undersea quake measured 7.4 on the Richter scale and was the worst Vanuatu has experienced since 1994. The second quake measured at least 6.7.

In the first quake, a large landslide blocked access to the wharf in Port Vila. A bridge linking the capital with the north of the island of Éfaté sustained major damage.

The earthquakes disrupted plans by Kerry and James Packer's PBL to launch its Vanuatu-based online casino yesterday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

PBL is now confident that the Web site will be up and running within 24 hours, the newspaper said.

The PBL gaming office in Vanuatu is located in one of the most structurally sound buildings in the capital, Port Vila, and suffered...

By Johnety Jerette

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (January 4, 2002 - PINA Nius Online)---Damage caused by the strong earthquake that shook Vanuatu this week is likely to cost millions of dollars

The director of the National Disaster Management Office, Job Esau, said the damage appears to be substantial in parts of the main island of Éfaté.

The earthquake destroyed bridges and damaged the main wharf in the capital, Port Vila. It also caused major damage to buildings and goods in the shops.

Food gardens were destroyed and drinking water contaminated by landslides.

So far, there have been no reports of any injuries. But some people have had to be evacuated from their homes. The Vanuatu Red Cross Society has distributed tents to evacuees.

The Tioma Bridge, which is, the main bridge linking north Éfaté with the capital, Port Vila, has been destroyed. The main wharf area is totally cut off.

The earthquake also caused major damage to the two bridges...