France Pacific News Brief, June 29, 2024

“From Earth with Love”, Google

Reo Tahiti from French Polynesia is one of many Pacific languages ​​currently supported Google Translate, The company announced.

This new functionality is part of a major global initiative that will include approximately 110 languages ​​worldwide.

These include a range of Pacific languages, such as Reo Maohi (Tahitian) in French Polynesia, Chamorro, spoken on Guam and the Mariana Islands’ Rota, Tinian and Saipan, Marshallese in the Marshall Islands, Fijian, Tonga and Tok Pisin (commonly used in Papua New Guinea, but also in slightly different forms in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu).

The upgrade will reportedly rely on Google’s artificial BroadCast Unitedligence tool PaLM 2 Google said Isaac Caswell, senior software engineer at Translate.

The number of people speaking the newly introduced languages ​​is said to be around 500 million.

So far, Google Translate covers 133 of the most widely spoken languages.

The company plans to eventually offer a global list of one thousand languages.

2024 Olympics: French surfing ‘dream team’ announced for Te Hoop

This week, France presented to the media its “dream team” for the 2024 Paris Olympics surfing competition, which will be held in Tahiti.

The team will compete at Teahupoo (west coast of Tahiti), an iconic venue in Tahiti, and includes 22-year-old Vahaine Fierro (born in French Polynesia, who made history by taking first place at the World Surf League Tahiti Pro in May 2024) and Johanne Defay.

Competing in the men’s race are 22-year-old Kauli Vaast, also born in Tahiti, and 35-year-old Joan Duru.

Both Waster and Fierro are widely considered favorites to win the tournament, which will be held July 27-August 5, 2024, at Teahupoo.

Vast grew up near the iconic surf break of Vairao and began surfing there at the age of eight.

Fierro, now known as the “Queen of Te Ahupu,” began surfing there when she was 15 years old.

The announcement, made unsurprisingly by French Surfing Federation president Jacques Lajuncomme, came at a news conference at the French National Olympic Committee headquarters in Paris on Monday.

“This is the most beautiful team of our dreams,” field manager Jérémy Florès said Monday.

Court orders Tahiti prison to provide hot water

The Papeete Administrative Court ordered this week that Tahiti’s main prison at Nutania must install hot water for all inmates within the next two years.

The complaint came from the French Polynesian Bar Association, which initially asked the court to order the closure of the prison.

While rejecting a request to close the prison, the judge agreed that the lack of hot water in inmate showers was a cause for concern and should be rectified.

The prison has often been the focus of intense criticism for its living conditions, including overpopulation and a state of dilapidation.

French Polynesian chosen to restore Seattle’s historic Air Force One

For the first time, a French Polynesian expert has been selected to join a team of volunteer “detailers” tasked with restoring vintage aircraft, including a retired Air Force One presidential plane.

Taianui Goubrey, 38, a self-taught businessman who makes a living by refurbishing old cars and boats, told Tahiti Nui TV One of his tasks was to oversee the development of the first presidential aircraft, initially known as SAM 970 Special Air Mission.

It has carried Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Gubre at the Restoration Center and Reserve Collection of the Museum of Flight In Seattle (USA), other ships will also be assigned, Included are a Concorde G-BOARG Alpha Golf, first versions of the Boeing 727 and Boeing 747, a Lockheed 1049G Super Constellation Connie and a B-29 Superfortress T Square 54.

The Museum of Flight’s Restoration Center and Reserve Collection is a 23,000 square foot facility where volunteers restore aircraft to exhibition quality.

New Caledonia unrest on New Zealand regional tour agenda

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Thursday that the current unrest in New Caledonia will be on the agenda of a high-level political delegation led by New Zealand to visit the Pacific next week.

Peters will lead a “high-level political delegation to the Solomon Islands, Nauru and Niue” from July 1 to 6.

The deputy prime minister added in a statement that “important regional issues will be on the agenda, including the New Caledonia incident”.

New Caledonia has been facing severe and destructive political unrest since riots and violence broke out in mid-May, causing widespread destruction, arson, looting and roadblocks, estimated losses of around €1.5 million and nine deaths.

This also led to the indefinite postponement of Peters’ planned visit to New Caledonia in May as part of another regional tour. Since then, Peters has expressed “strong concern” about the situation in the French Pacific islands and called for “calm, wisdom (…) peace, calm and open dialogue on all sides.”

More than 3,500 French security forces are deployed there, still struggling to restore law and order and quell the quasi-insurgency.

“We look forward to engaging with political leaders in the Solomon Islands, Nauru and Niue next week to discuss urgent developments and strategic challenges in the region.

Mr Peters was accompanied on the visit by Police Minister and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee (FADTC) chair Tim van de Molen, FADTC members Damien O’Connor and Teanau Tuiono, and Labor Pacific Caucus chair Jenny Salesa.