Fiji

Eight people have died and four more are missing after three days of torrential rain lashed the main island of the South Pacific nation of Fiji, officials said. Five of the dead were killed when their bus was swept into a raging river. Three others died as they tried to cross flooded rivers on Fiji's main island, Viti Levu. Disaster officials said four fishermen also were missing at sea. More than 130 homes also have been destroyed.

The remains of a U.S. fighter pilot are on their way home from a deep jungle ravine in Fiji, 64 years after his airplane disappeared during World War II. A 12-member team from the Hawaii-based Joint POW and MIA Accounting Command on Wednesday accepted the remains of the man, whose identity the U.S. Air Force has yet to disclose, from the residents of remote Naivucini village on Fiji's main island. Boar hunters stumbled upon the wreckage in 2004.

Having returned from a three-month trip to Fiji a while back, we must respond to the impudent article in Outtakes titled " 'Blue Lagoon II': To Hell and Back" (Sept. 30). We can only say that we hope there is not a "Blue Lagoon III." The quotation, "If this is paradise, I'll go back to hell, where I belong" strikes us as being the epitome of the ugly American abroad. What upsets us the most is that these oh-so-Western people (of the "Blue Lagoon II" movie production) have tainted still another beautiful section of Fiji instead of returning to the Yasawas where the first picture was done.

A powerful tropical cyclone packing gusts up to 155 mph headed toward northern Fiji, where islanders braced for heavy rain and coastal sea surges today, officials said. Cyclone Daman, rated Category 4 by the South Pacific nation's Nadi Meteorological Center, was expected to cause major flooding and "pretty serious damage" to houses and low coastal areas, senior forecaster Matt Boterhoven said.

Being an Olympic athlete from Fiji is challenging enough in the best of times. Now, the remote island nation is shaken by a coup and hostage crisis. And Tony Philp, a 30-year-old windsurfer, is left wondering about his country half a world away. Philp has represented Fiji at four Olympics. He's already qualified for the Sydney Games. He dreams of winning his country's first medal in his final Olympics. But the upheaval at home has left Philp stranded in Europe without equipment or a plane ticket to Australia.

Actor and director Mel Gibson has purchased a Pacific island hideaway in northern Fiji, but the sale faces a legal challenge from villagers who claim their ancestors were forced off the island, an official and news reports said Wednesday. The director of "The Passion of the Christ" and star of the "Mad Max" films purchased the 5,411-acre Mago Island from Japan's Tokyu Corp. for about $15 million.

Fiji's High Court convicted the vice president today for his role in a 2000 coup that ousted the first ethnic Indian premier. Jope Seniloli was accused of backing the coup led by ethnic Fijian nationalist George Speight and briefly serving as president. He was convicted of administering an illegal oath of office for swearing in Speight and a group of ministers in the rebel government. Seniloli could face eight years in jail when sentenced Friday.

A Fijian man stripped naked and went berserk on an Air New Zealand flight Tuesday, threatening to kill everyone on board and smashing bottles of wine before being subdued by passengers and flight attendants, police said. Passengers aboard the flight to Nadi, Fiji, said the man, who was not identified, yelled loudly about 10 minutes after the plane took off from Auckland, New Zealand, stripped off his clothes and marched up and down the aisles.