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Pago Pago, American Samoa— The Micronesian Games opened in Majuro on Saturday night with sports delegations from the region’s 10 islands parading in uniforms, carrying flags and banners on a newly opened athletics field.
Participants also watched rare traditional Marshallese stick dances, Marshallese flag dances, and performances by numerous local and off-island bands. The event ended with a fireworks display.
The Micronesian Games, held in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro, showed the country’s “resilience” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and severe power generation problems before the opening ceremony on Saturday, said Tony Muller, chairman of the Micronesian Games organizing committee.
Two hours before the evening show began, dark clouds covered Majuro and the capital was inundated with heavy rain, flooding the roads. But 30 minutes before the show began, the sky cleared and the rain stopped for the entire night, allowing the show to go on smoothly without being affected by the weather. The speaker at the opening ceremony said that the rain brought blessings.
Thousands of residents packed the athletic field to watch the opening ceremony of the largest event in Marshall Islands history.
More than 1,000 athletes from other islands and more than 200 from the Marshall Islands will compete in 13 sports over the 10 days of competition.
Earlier Saturday, three-on-three basketball and beach volleyball games began so that all sports can be completed during the 10th Micronesian Games from June 15 to 24. As expected, Guam dominated in both events.
Tonga supervolcano
Scientists from New Zealand’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) have just returned from an expedition leading a team to the supervolcano that could erupt near Tonga in 2022.
In January 2022, the Hunga submarine volcano erupted, the largest eruption on record since the Krakatoa eruption in 1883.
The tsunami triggered by the earthquake struck Japan and the Americas and devastated Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu, damaging homes and infrastructure and killing three people.
GNS says New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone contains several volcanoes similar in appearance to Hunga.
The RV Tangaroa returned to Wellington last Wednesday after a month-long voyage collecting geological, geophysical and water column data from inside the crater. GNS scientist Cornel de Ronde led the voyage.
Constitutional Reform in Vanuatu
Vanuatu voters have voted in favor of two changes to the constitution in the country’s first referendum, a move aimed at helping to sort out its troubled political scene.
The government’s goal is to end party hopping and force independents to join political parties, with the public having the final say on this.
The country has previously proposed a series of no-confidence votes and experienced three changes of government in 2023.
The provision has been passed by Parliament and the outcome of a referendum will determine whether it will come into effect or be revoked.
According to the Vanuatu Electoral Commission, the referendum results are in and the ball is now in Prime Minister Charlotte Salwai’s court as the constitutional amendments need to be published before they can take effect.
Commission chairman Edward Kaltamat said preparations were underway to support independent MPs and political parties in making the necessary transition once the law comes into force.
Vanuatu’s Minister of Climate Change, Ralph Regenvanu, said on X (formerly Twitter) that it was “now up to us, the parliamentarians and politicians, to respect this outcome and discharge this mandate and obligation as fully as possible”.
Papua New Guinea Census
Papua New Guinea’s first population census in more than a decade is due to begin next week.
Administrative Services Minister Richard Masere told The Courier-Mail preparations were “progressing well”.
They started preparing in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the preparation by three years.
A total of 22,000 tablets are being distributed to census takers.
More than 15,000 census takers are teachers.
The Australian High Commission supported this challenging task by providing satellite imagery of remote areas to help the team overcome landscape, infrastructure and remoteness issues.
Solomon Islands elections
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremaia Manele has welcomed the legal challenge to his election.
The High Court has confirmed that the case sought an interpretation from the court on the process of selecting the prime minister from the nomination period to the election day.
Local media understands that the case was filed by Opposition Leader Mathew Wale.
Speaking in parliament this week, Manele said this was an opportunity for the court to interpret the law and provide reasoning for the process.
“There are cases filed in court questioning the legitimacy of the prime minister. I have only informed Parliament of this matter. As the matter is before the courts, I will not make any further comments.”
“However, I welcome this as it is an opportunity for our courts to clarify the issues raised,” he said.
On May 2, Manele was elected Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands.
Coroner criticises care
A coroner has criticised the care of a Tongan woman with a disability after she was found dead in Auckland, New Zealand.
Ruth Finau, 30, hadn’t been cared for by a paramedic for two days.
She was found at supported accommodation in South Auckland a day earlier after staff spotted her in bed, thinking she was sleeping.
Coroner Tania Tetitaha said the standard of care Ms Finau received was inadequate, Kaniva Tonga reported.
Tetitaha’s findings revealed that Finau died suddenly and without taking medication.
Human Rights Watch
A researcher at Human Rights Watch Indonesia said it was difficult to compare the situation in West Papua with Gaza.
Earlier, a spokesman for the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) said that Indonesia’s condemnation of the Gaza conflict was hypocritical because Indonesia has occupied West Papua for 61 years.
Andreas Harsono said one of the reasons why Indonesia supports Palestine is its religious ties with Palestine.
“Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank are of course recognized by more than 130 countries in the United Nations,” he said.
“Meanwhile, the West Papua issue is mainly discussed by seven or ten other countries, so it’s difficult to make a comparison.”
(Source: RNZ Pacific)
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