Most evenings Persson launches into a couple of hours of Far Cry, a shooting game in which he must pick off evil scientists on a series of South Pacific islands.

FORBES: Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby

Many of these areas are found in Asia, such as the Ganges River Delta, the Mekong River Delta and islands in the South Pacific.

NPR: In a Strategic Reversal, Dutch Embrace Floods

Then attention turned to French nuclear tests in the South Pacific and the discovery of Chinese structures on islands in the Spratly chain that are claimed by the Philippines.

CNN: TEST OF WILLS

In an analysis of 504 world languages, Dr. Atkinson found that, on average, dialects with the most phonemes are spoken in Africa, while those with the fewest phonemes are spoken in South America and on tropical islands in the Pacific.

WSJ: Study Points to a Single, Original Language for All Humans

On the Galapagos Islands off the Pacific coast of South America, conservationists are waging a battle of man vs. goat.

NPR: Common Intruders Threaten Galapagos Species

England follow their game against the Pacific Islands at Twickenham with Tests against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

BBC: Cipriani returns to England squad

France's continuing nuclear tests in the South Pacific have turned the international spotlight, if only briefly, on Tahiti and the other islands in French Polynesia.

CNN: HE BRITISH FORCES LANDED

SYDNEY A powerful earthquake in the South Pacific triggered a tsunami that destroyed villages and killed at least five people in the Solomon Islands Wednesday, according to government and hospital officials.

WSJ: Tsunami Destroys Villages in Solomon Islands