Fiji

A powerful cyclone packing winds of up to 155 mph pounded some small islands in northern Fiji, but missed heavily populated areas as it swung to the southeast, officials said today. Cyclone Daman remained a Category 4 storm, forecaster Daini Donu said, but was slowly weakening as it moved toward the Tonga islands. Worst hit on the northern Fiji island was Cikobia, which was out of contact with disaster officials.

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.

Fiji's military ruler declared a state of emergency today and swore in his choice for caretaker prime minister, one day after seizing control in a bloodless coup, local radio reported. Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who seized power by claiming presidential powers and dismissing the elected government, swore in political novice Jona Senilagakali as caretaker prime minister at a ceremony in the main military barracks in the capital, Suva.

Fiji's military commander announced today he had taken control of the country from the elected government, confirming the South Pacific nation's fourth coup in less than two decades. "As of 6 o'clock this evening, the military has taken over the government, has executive authority and the running of this country," Commodore Frank Bainimarama told a news conference.

DORIAN VALLES and her family stopped in Fiji on their way to Australia in December 2003. The only problem? It's hot in Fiji in December -- over 100 degrees every day and humid. So when an afternoon thunderstorm broke and Valles saw this little girl throw up her arms in delight, she snapped a picture with her Olympus C-740. "It was so spontaneous. That is such a childlike thing, to enjoy the moment," said Valles, a competitive figure skating coach in Carlsbad, Calif.

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.

TAKE a tribe of international adventure-seekers and a remote South Pacific island and what do you get? In this case, not reality TV. Two 26-year-old British entrepreneurs, Ben Keene (a.k.a. Chief Bengazi) and Mark James (a.k.a. Chief Marika), are seeking 5,000 people to join Tribewanted.com, a sort of tribal timeshare with a three-year lease on a Fijian island. The goal: to build a sustainable eco-community and keep at bay developers with dreams of massive hotel complexes.

If England was trying to send a message during the USA Sevens rugby tournament Sunday at the Home Depot Center, it was delivered loud and clear. The British capped a dominant weekend performance in Carson with a 38-5 rout of Fiji in the championship game and moved into sole possession of second place in International Rugby Board Sevens series. England outscored its six opponents, 190-44, and served notice that its lackluster finishes in the last two tournaments on the IRB series were flukes.

There's a scene in Steve James' entertaining documentary "Reel Paradise" in which John Pierson, a pioneering independent film producer's rep, aptly compares himself to Allie Fox, Harrison Ford's bespectacled, slightly mad visionary in the Paul Schrader-Peter Weir adaptation of Paul Theroux's novel "Mosquito Coast." Both men uproot their families from the relative luxury of middle-class America to pursue a dream of tropical nirvana -- Honduras for the Foxes, Fiji for the Piersons.

WHETHER it was a projectionist drunk on homemade grog or faulty wiring that made equipment go up in smoke, independent film producer John Pierson was in for a challenge when he took over a rickety 288-seat movie theater on Fiji's remote island of Taveuni. At first, the New York transplant was comforted by the locals who reassured him with their oft-repeated slogan -- "no worries." That is, until he deciphered the code.