Super cyclone Yasa flattened entire villages as it tore through Fiji, aid agencies said Friday, with a baby among two confirmed deaths and rescue workers racing to the worst-hit communities.

Fiji's police chief said Tuesday his officers were investigating allegations of a plot to destabilize the government, refusing to deny it may have emanated from the force's own ranks.

Acting police commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho said the alleged plot was discovered when an Internet cafe owner found incriminating emails left open on one of his computers.

Fiji on Tuesday said it was delaying plans to create a new national flag amid intense public interest in designing one that does not feature Britain's Union Jack.

The Pacific nation originally planned to unveil the new flag on October 11, the 45th anniversary of its independence from Britain.

A shallow 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck the South Pacific off the coast of Fiji on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but it triggered no tsunami warnings.

The quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometers some 224 kilometers (139 miles) from Fiji at 1552 GMT, the USGS said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Fiji police arrested a local man following the grisly discovery of the decomposed body of an Australian woman on Viti Levu island, officials said Friday.

The body of Tracy Ann O’Brien Maw was found on Monday hidden in bushes near the small village of Vunavutu. 

The United States and Australia said Friday they were lifting sanctions against Fiji after elections in the Pacific island nation last month following eight years of military rule.

U.S. Ambassador Frankie Reed said that in recognition of Fiji's return to democracy, Washington was lifting restrictions on financial assistance and visas, as well as exploring fresh engagement with the country's military.

Amnesty International demanded an investigation Wednesday into claims Fijian soldiers assaulted a man involved in a dispute with the country's newly-elected prime minister, calling the case an early test of the government's human rights credentials.

The man, a 60-year-old teacher, is believed to have complained via text message to Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama about his songs being used without permission during Fiji's recent election campaign, the rights group said.

Fiji's return to democracy will not disrupt a burgeoning relationship with China forged when Western democracies shunned the South Pacific nation in the wake of a 2006 military coup, experts say.

Signs of Beijing's influence are everywhere in Fiji -- Chinese-flagged trawlers queue for berths at Suva docks, aid projects such as a huge hospital being built outside the capital teem with imported laborers and the University of the South Pacific's Confucius Institute works diligently to promote Chinese language and culture.

Fiji authorities have rejected claims of a corrupt election as the Fiji First Party of coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama closed in on a landslide victory Saturday.

With nearly two-thirds of the votes confirmed following the Pacific nation's first democratic vote in eight years, Fiji First had 57.6 percent of the vote, well clear of the Social Democratic Liberal Party trailing on 29.6 percent.

Coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama was poised Thursday to become Fiji's first elected leader in eight years as provisional results gave him a commanding lead after historic elections.