In brief: news from around the Pacific

Massive spike in Covid-19 cases in French Polynesia; Australia is accused of doing too little about climate change; the value of the Pacific Forum is praised; a Fiji MP has regained his seat, and more.

Big surge of Covid-19 cases in French Polynesia

A massive surge in Covid-19 cases have been recorded in French Polynesia in the last day.

Officials reported 2164 new cases and 13 deaths in the 24 hours to 8am Wednesday (local time).

There are 294 people currently in hospital, including 38 people in intensive care.

The territory now has 7213 active cases.

Since the start of the pandemic 32,705 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in French Polynesia and 224 people have died.

The vast majority occurred after the borders re-opened to tourism in July last year, but the Delta variant is responsible for the latest surge.

Vaccinations have reached 115,00 of the population of 283,000, with 85,000 people now fully vaccinated.

Australia dragging its heels on climate change action - US envoy

A leading US diplomat has issued a broadside at Australia for its weak response to climate change.

The US Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change Jonathan Pershing said Australia should be more ambitious in its plans to combat green house gases.

Pershing played a key role in having nations commit to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

He said the latest IPCC report had issued a dire warning of the danger the Earth faced, and gave a clear indication of what is needed.

But while some countries were on track to meet reduction targets, others were not.

He said planning for change wasn't straightforward, and each country could choose its own path to change, but science made it clear those actions needed to be more aggressive.

And if there is no halt on building new coal plants or deforestation, he said: "We cannot get on the right trajectory, [and] damages we already see will get worse."

Value of Pacific Forumemphasised

The Pacific Islands Forum is a crucial power in the goal to promote and safeguard the vision of a Blue Pacific continent, a former US congressman says.

The forum faces a crisis, as most of its northern membership has officially started the process to withdraw from the regional body.

Micronesian leaders are unhappy at the structure of the Forum and domination of its agenda by Polynesian countries, Australia and New Zealand.

The rift also raised questions about the relevance of the regional body, which had 18 member nations.

Robert Underwood, who served as a US congressman for Guam and is a former president of the University of Guam, said the idea of the Forum remains highly relevant as the force behind the concepts of a 'Pacific way' and a unique blue continent.

"All of these ideas and intellectual formations that are then turned into concrete steps originated out of the idea of being a band of brothers and sisters.

"Once that's broken, what happens is that it tends to highlight all the other distinctions that are usually made."

The forum was set up 50 years ago, and has just marked the anniversary.

New policewomen and policemen sworn in, in Samoa

The Samoa Police Force has had a new infusion of fresh blood, with 57 new officers sworn in yesterday.

The Samoa Observer reported the new recruits took their oath in the Supreme Court where Chief Justice Satiu Simativa Perese reminded them to be truthful when giving evidence in court.

Perese took the opportunity to push the significance of the law, and they were reminded that as police officers their duty was to serve the law.

Covid-19 testing offered in Northern Marianas schools

Students in the Northern Marianas Public School System will be offered antigen testing for Covid-19 on campuses.

Antigen tests detect the presence of a specific viral antigen, and a positive test implies infection.

The kit tests samples taken from minimally invasive nasal swabs, and can report the results after about 15 minutes.

Each school will decide how often students will be tested.