Blinken heads to Tonga, New Zealand, Australia as US shifts Indo-Pacific strategy into overdrive
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Tonga, New Zealand and Australia next week as the Biden administration shifts its Indo-Pacific strategy into overdrive in part to counter Chinaโs growing influence in the region.
China and Australia's dueling Pacific tours make final stops
The foreign ministers of Australia and China were both making their final stops Friday on what has become an island-hopping diplomatic duel in the South Pacific.
Tonga's virus outbreak growing rapidly; omicron confirmed
Coronavirus cases continue to rise rapidly in Tonga, and tests have confirmed that the particularly contagious omicron variant is behind the isolated Pacific island nationโs first community outbreak since the start of the pandemic.
Virus enters Tonga along with disaster aid, lockdown planned
Tonga will enter a lockdown Wednesday evening after finding coronavirus infections in two port workers helping distribute aid arriving in the Pacific nation after a volcanic eruption and tsunami.
Volcanic eruption more than 7,000 miles away detected in Cape Canaveral
City officials said more than 7,000 miles from the volcanic eruption near the island of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean Jan.15, Cape Canaveralโs weather stations picked up readings related to the eruption that day.
Peru: 21 beaches polluted by spill linked to Tonga eruption
Peru has declared an environmental emergency after announcing that 21 beaches on the Pacific coast were contaminated by an oil spill at a refinery run by Spain-based Repsol, following surging waves caused by the eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga.
Fishermen protest after eruption causes oil spill in Peru
An oil spill on the Peruvian coast caused by the waves from an eruption of an undersea volcano in the South Pacific nation of Tonga has prompted dozens of fishermen to protest outside the South American countryโs main oil refinery.
Tongaโs main island locks down after first coronavirus case found
Tongaโs government says the isolated South Pacific nation's main island will go into lockdown for a week after it reported its first case of the coronavirus.
This country just reported its first-ever COVID-19 case -- from airplane traveler
The island nation of Tonga has reported its first-ever case of COVID-19 after a traveler from New Zealand tested positive.
Think tank finds Chinese aid to Pacific nations has declined
A think tank says China gave significantly less aid to Pacific island nations in recent years despite Beijingโs diplomatic efforts to increase its influence in the region.
More than a shirtless flag bearer: How this Tongan athlete has made Olympic history
It will nearly impossible for Pita Taufatofua to outlast his original claim to fame as โthe shirtless flag bearer,โ which made him a legend on social media.
Pacific isles, secretive states among last virus-free places
The largest cluster of places without the coronavirus can be found in the scattered islands of the South Pacific. Here's a closer look:PACIFIC ISLANDS: The largest cluster of countries without the coronavirus is in the South Pacific. Much of the South Pacific is relatively poor and has basic health systems that would be ill-equipped to deal with major outbreaks. Not everywhere in the South Pacific has been spared, either. ___Associated Press reporters Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Daria Litvinova in Moscow contributed to this report.