• Cyclone Evan batters Fiji

    Joshua Kuku / AFP - Getty Images

    Local resident Pita Turgagaviti clears away branches from a tree that collapsed on top of a car shelter outside a house in Laucala Bay Road near Suva, Fiji on December 17, 2012 as a monster cyclone, Cyclone Evan, threatened the Pacific nation with "catastrophic damage" after causing devastation in Samoa.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports — More than 3,500 people evacuated to emergency shelters in Fiji as the biggest cyclone in 20 years swept across the Pacific island nation on Monday, three days after the storm killed four people and destroyed thousands of homes in nearby Samoa.

    Tourist resorts on many of Fiji's palm-fringed islands have been evacuated and authorities warned people to remain under shelter as Tropical Cyclone Evan battered the country, blowing over trees and destroying houses. Read the full story.

    Thousands of residents in Fiji and Samoa are in evacuation centers due to the devastating rain and wind gusts of Cyclone Evan battering the island nations. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

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  • Jim Watson / Pool via Reuters

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, right, is greeted on her arrival at Rarotonga International Airport in Rarotonga, the most populous island of the Cook Islands, on August 30, 2012.

    Warm welcome for Hillary Clinton in the Cook Islands

    Hillary Clinton was greeted by Cook Islanders in straw grass skirts and headdresses dancing, chanting and playing drums, NBC News' Catherine Chomiak reports. By the end of the arrival ceremony garlands were piled high around the Secretary of State's neck, some of them so long they almost touched the ground.

    Read more about Clinton's visit to the South Pacific island chain that is home to just 10,000 people in this report from The Associated Press: Tiny Cook Islands a squeeze for Hillary Clinton.

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  • Scraping invasive species from Japanese tsunami dock that washed ashore in Oregon

    Oregon Parks and Recreation / AFP - Getty Images

    This handout photograph obtained courtesy of the Oregon Parks and Recreation (OPRD) and released June 7, 2012 shows a team of about a dozen staff and volunteers organized by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to remove marine organisms from the dock which landed on Agate Beach, Oregon.

    Oregon Parks and Recreation via AP

    This photo, taken by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Thursday shows an invasive species commonly known as "wakame" attached to a dock float that washed up on Agate Beach Tuesday near Newport, Ore.

    Miguel Llanos reports on msnbc.com's US News blog that the 66-foot dock is the largest debris to wash ashore in North America from the tsunami:

    A check for any radiation from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant came up negative, said Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation spokesman Chris Havel.

     The department is overseeing efforts to remove the dock but hasn't decided yet whether to demolish it on site or have it towed off. "You can't preplan for stuff like this," Havel told msnbc.com.

    A starfish native to Japan was found clutching to the structure, Havel said, adding that another concern is to keep out any nonnative species that might have hitched a ride on the dock.

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    Oregon Parks and Recreation / AFP - Getty Images

    This handout photograph obtained courtesy of the Oregon Parks and Recreation (OPRD) and released on Thursday shows a team member of about a dozen staff and volunteers organized by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to remove marine organisms from the dock which landed on Agate Beach, Oregon, after drifting at sea following the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Workers with shovels, rakes and other tools first scraped the structure clean, then briefly used low-pressure torches to sterilize the dock. The material was bagged and hauled up the beach well above the high tide line to store it temporarily.

    Oregon Parks and Recreation / AP

    This photo, taken by the Oregon Park and Recreations Department Thursday, June 7, 2012, shows exotic mussels attached to the dock.

    When a large dock that broke away from a Japanese harbor after the tsunami and washed up on an Oregon beach, it brought along millions of organisms. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

  • South Korean coastguard clashes with armada of Chinese fishing boats

    Dong-A Ilbo / AFP - Getty Images

    A picture taken from a South Korean helicopter shows Chinese fishing boats banded together with ropes being chased by a South Korean coastguard ship. The incident followed alleged illegal fishing by the Chinese boats in South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea off Buan, South Korea, on November 16.

    Dong-A Ilbo / AFP - Getty Images

    msnbc.com news services report:

    South Korea's coastguard has mobilized 12 ships, four helicopters and a commando squad for a special three-day crackdown on illegal fishing by Chinese boats, Agence France Presse reports.

    Ten Chinese boats alleged to have been fishing without permission in the Yellow Sea banded together with ropes in an apparent attempt to resist arrest.

    In dramatic scenes, some of the Chinese fishermen wielded sticks in an ultimately futile attempt to stop South Korean commandos - themselves armed with clubs - from boarding their vessels.

    The U.S. and smaller Asian nations have grown increasingly concerned about China's claims of dominion over Pacific waters and the revival of old territorial disputes, including confrontations over fishing rights.

    In a speech to the Australian Parliament on Thursday, President Barack Obama vowed to expand U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region and "project power and deter threats to peace" in that part of the world.

    Dong-a Ilbo / AFP - Getty Images

    Chinese fishermen wielding sticks try to stop an attack by South Korean coastguard commandos armed with clubs aboard rubber boats (right) during a crackdown on alleged illegal fishing in South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea on November 16.

    Dong-A Ilbo / AFP - Getty Images

    South Korean coastguard commandos board Chinese fishing boats during a crackdown on their alleged illegal fishing in South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea on November 16.