Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.

Amata welcomes ARPA Funds Extension from U.S. Department of Education
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is welcoming the decision by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to extend American Samoa’s time limit for their use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) education funds. Congresswoman Uifa’atali...
In pictures: 2025 Pacific Mini Games day one
Fiji women's indoor volleyball team (blue top) made a strong start on the first day of competition beating American Samoa 3–2 in their first Pool A match. Photo: Facebook / Team Fiji The 2025 Pacific Mini Games kicked off on Monday, with baseball,...

ASG faces mixed outcome as USDOE restores part of ARPA funds access
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The USDOE, as of June 26, 2025, in a letter from Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has restored the previous liquidation process to all states and territories that had been approved for late liquidation prior to...

Conference Counsel: Temples, missionaries, education part of hastening
Photo supplied, Intellectual Reserve Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles provides words of inspiration during the Saturday morning session of general conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on April 5, 2025....

Store clerk calls for help to remove allegedly intoxicated customer
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On May 2, 2025, a store cashier called the Fagatogo Police Station (FPS) asking for assistance regarding a man who was allegedly causing a disturbance at their store. The suspect fled the scene but was later arrested...

Team American Samoa departs for Pacific Mini Games
Half of the 59-member team that is representing American Samoa at the Pacific Mini Games in Palau departed the territory Monday night. The rest of the group leave Tuesday night. The mens and womens beach volleyball teams are already in Hawaii. On...
Palau Games are on
IT was a rainy evening in Koror, Palau, as Team PNG athletes and officials marched into the Palau National Stadium on Sunday evening (June 29) for the opening ceremony of the Pacific Mini Games. Twenty-two other countries and territories in the...

Catholic Church ordains new deacons
The Catholic Church in American Samoa celebrated the ordination of 12 permanent deacons and one transitional deacon on Friday, June 27. The deacons have successfully completed four years of study and pastoral work to be ordained. Both the deacons...

AG Ford backs bill targeting youth substance abuse
Attorney General Aaron D. Ford | Nevada Attorney General OfficeAttorney General Aaron D. Ford | Nevada Attorney General Office Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford, alongside 38 other attorneys general, has endorsed the bipartisan Youth Substance...
Taputu claims 2025 Pacific Mini Games' first gold medal as Tahiti dominates opening day
Tahiti dominated in the va'a (pictured) and the swimming on day one. Photo: Palau 2025 Pacific Mini Games/Facebook Tahiti's Teimoana Taputu claimed the first gold medal at the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau, taking out the V1 500 metres open...

American Samoa sends 59-member team to Pacific Mini Games
American Samoa is sending a 59-member contingent to the Pacific Mini Games in Palau which begins June 29 and will last for two weeks. Secretary General of the American Samoa National Olympic Committee, Vaiala Ethan Lake, says the group comprises...

Greenpeace USA Slams U.S. Seabed Mining Plans off American Samoa
Greenpeace USA has expressed deep disappointment that the US Department of Interior is considering seabed mineral leasing near American Samoa. Greenpeace USA’s Deep Sea mining Campaign Lead Arlo Hemphill said in a statement, “This move disregards...

McDonald’s American Samoa awards $104,000 in scholarships
McDonald’s American Samoa Wednesday presented scholarships totaling $104,000 to four graduates of the American Samoa Community College and three high school graduates to pursue higher education. The scholarships were presented at a luncheon that...

The voting controversy over American Samoans in Alaska, in context
Tensions between the US government and a small group of people of American Samoan descent have broken out in Alaska in recent weeks, raising questions about the future of birthright citizenship in America. About ten months after Tupe Smith, a...
OP-ED: American Samoa must have its say in the EEZ
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A federal official recently confirmed that seabed mining near American Samoa would take place in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) — waters beyond the 3-mile limit, under U.S. federal control. That may be what the law...

Finafinau represents American Samoa at United Nations Ocean Conference
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — From June 2– 13, 2025, the city of Nice, France, hosted the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), a global summit dedicated to the sustainable management and protection of the world’s oceans. Representing...

American Samoa's colonial history emerges in disputes over voting and citizenship
Squeezed between glacier-packed mountains and Alaska's Prince William Sound, the cruise-ship stop of Whittier is isolated enough that it's reachable by just a single road, through a long, one-lane tunnel that vehicles share with trains. It's so...

Greenpeace USA Slams U.S. Seabed Mining Plans off American Samoa
Victor Pickering, a Greenpeace International activist from Fiji displays a banner reading “Our Pacific Is Not Yours To Destroy” in front of the Maersk Launcher, a ship chartered by DeepGreen, one of the companies spearheading the drive to mine the...

Interior initiates first step for potential mineral lease sale offshore of American Samoa
WASHINGTON — [Date: June 12, 2025] Delivering on President Donald J. Trump’s bold agenda to restore American energy and mineral independence, the Department of the Interior today announced the publication of a Request for Information and Interest...

Cook Islands Cabinet approves significant increase in tobacco tax
Cook Islands Cabinet has approved a significant increase in tobacco tax, aiming to reduce smoking rates and combat non-communicable diseases. The Cabinet has recently approved the initiative set by Ministry of Health to increase the tobacco tax by...