CANBERRA, Australia — China’s declining aid to the South Pacific is increasingly targeted toward its political allies in the region as appetite there for Chinese credit declines and competition grows with the U.S. for influence, an independent Australian think tank reported Tuesday. Chinese overall economic influence among the 14 aid-dependent island nations in the region … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave Tropical activity abounds in both the Atlantic and the Pacific, where the oceans are churning out named storms as if it’s still September. Norma slammed into Mexico over the weekend and another storm seems eager to do the same, while Hurricane Tammy could soon have company in … Read more
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — Hurricane Norma came ashore near the Pacific resort of Los Cabos at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Saturday afternoon. Hours later, Hurricane Tammy made landfall on the Caribbean island of Barbuda. The storms were each Category 1 hurricanes when they hit. There was a threat of … Read more
LONDON — Health ministers in the Western Pacific nominated a surgeon from Tonga, Dr. Saia Ma’u Piukala, to lead the World Health Organization’s regional office at a meeting in Manila on Tuesday. Piukala’s nomination for WHO’s top job in the Western Pacific comes months after the U.N. health agency fired its previous director, Dr. Takeshi … Read more
Newly shaped Hurricane Beatriz is spinning alongside Mexico’s southwestern Pacific coast, threatening heavy rain for a number of southern states MEXICO CITY — Newly shaped Hurricane Beatriz spun alongside Mexico’s southwestern Pacific coast Friday night, threatening heavy rain for a number of southern states. The storm was centered about 70 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of … Read more