Pacific News In Brief For 17 July
A dengue fever outbreak in Samoa has claimed the life of a second child.
The Sāmoa Observer reports Faith Melchior, 8, died in hospital on Monday night.
She is the second child to die from dengue in Sāmoa this year - 12-year-old Misiafa Lene died in April.
Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, French Polynesia and American Sāmoa have also declared outbreaks.
Tuvalu and Nauru are on alert for the disease.
Pacific - trade
A meeting of trade ministers from the Pacific Island Forum's African, Caribbean and Pacific States is underway in Suva.
New Zealand's Nicola Grigg said it is a timely opportunity to discuss the importance of the rules-based trading system, with the World Trade Organisation at its core.
She said the structure is vital for small Pacific island nations, including New Zealand.
Vanuatu/France - cable
France is committing around US$20 to new undersea technology linking Vanuatu and New Caledonia, which will better prepare the Pacific for natural disasters.
SMART will be the world's first Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications submarine cable.
French Ambassador to Vanuatu Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer said the cable will be fitted with sensors to measure sea temperature and seismic activity.
He said it will help monitor climate change and - crucially - provide early warnings for tsunamis.
The Vanutu Daily Post reported that the cable is expected to be in operation sometime next year.
It will link Port Vila with Lifou Island in New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands group, traversing the seismically active New Hebrides Trench.
Vanuatu - election
Vanuatu's Electoral Commission says the verification of ballot boxes for the recent Provincial and By-Elections should be completed later today.
According to the Vanuatu Daily Post, once that is done, the Commission can officially announce final results.
The election was held on 8 July and attracted good voter turnout.
The Commission has thanked all who participated - describing the election process as smooth and peaceful.
Political parties have already begun lobbying to form new provincial governments.
Fiji - HIV
Fiji's HIV prevention taskforce says the country's law enforcement is actively hindering public health efforts.
The United Nations reports a massive surge in HIV cases last year - numbers are up 284 percent.
Around half of all cases were caused by intravenous drug use.
Taskforce chair Dr Jason Mitchell told Pasifika TV there is a concerning lack of cooperation between the health sector and police.
Northern Marianas - cuts
Schools in the Northern Marianas are bracing for a possible fiscal cliff, according to the Board of Education.
Governor Arnold Palacios is planning substantial cuts to the education budget allocation.
The government is proposing a US$40 million dollar grant but the Public School System has requested just over 49 million dollars.
Board of Education has testified that if the government's proposal is implemented they could be forced to declare a state of emergency in education.
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Otago Daily Times
16 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Israel, US abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations
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French President Emmanuel Macron, responding to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, announced that Paris would become the first major Western power to recognise an independent Palestinian state. Britain and Germany said they were not yet ready to do so but later joined France in calling for an immediate ceasefire. British Prime Minister Keith Starmer said his government would recognize a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal. Trump dismissed Macron's move. "What he says doesn't matter," he said. "He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight." Israel and the United States withdrew their delegations on Thursday from the ceasefire talks in Qatar, hours after Hamas submitted its response to a truce proposal. Sources initially said on Thursday that the Israeli withdrawal was only for consultations and did not necessarily mean the talks had reached a crisis. But Netanyahu's remarks suggested Israel's position had hardened overnight. US envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas was to blame for the impasse, and Netanyahu said Witkoff had got it right. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Facebook that the talks had been constructive, and criticised Witkoff's remarks as aimed at exerting pressure on Israel's behalf. "What we have presented - with full awareness and understanding of the complexity of the situation - we believe could lead to a deal if the enemy had the will to reach one," he said. Mediators Qatar and Egypt said there had been some progress in the latest round of talks. They said suspensions were a normal part of the process and they were committed to continuing to try to reach a ceasefire in partnership with the US The proposed ceasefire would suspend fighting for 60 days, allow more aid into Gaza, and free some of the 50 remaining hostages held by militants in return for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel. It has been held up by disagreement over how far Israel should withdraw its troops and the future beyond the 60 days if no permanent agreement is reached. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister in Netanyahu's coalition, welcomed Netanyahu's step, calling for a total halt of aid to Gaza and complete conquest of the enclave, adding in a post on X: "Total annihilation of Hamas, encourage emigration, (Jewish) settlement." MASS HUNGER International aid organisations say mass hunger has now arrived among Gaza's 2.2 million people, with stocks running out after Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March, then reopened it in May but with new restrictions. The Israeli military said on Friday it had agreed to let countries airdrop aid into Gaza. Hamas dismissed this as a stunt. 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United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher also has demanded that Israel provide evidence for its accusations that staff with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were affiliated with Hamas, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The ceasefire talks have been accompanied by continuing Israeli offensives. Palestinian health officials said Israeli airstrikes and gunfire had killed at least 21 people across the enclave on Friday, including five killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City. In the city, residents carried the body of journalist Adam Abu Harbid through the streets wrapped in a white shroud, his blue flak jacket marked PRESS draped across his body. He was killed overnight in a strike on tents housing displaced people. Mahmoud Awadia, another journalist attending the funeral, said the Israelis were deliberately trying to kill reporters. Israel denies intentionally targeting journalists. Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli towns near the border, killing some 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages on October 7, 2023. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, health officials there say, and reduced much of the enclave to ruins.
NZ Herald
17 hours ago
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Trade on agenda as Trump lands in Scotland for diplomacy and golf
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RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Latest from the U.S
crime world 27 minutes ago A senior justice department official in the US has met with Jeffrey Esptein's long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell. She's in prison for sex-trafficking for the disgraced financier. It came as reports emerged this week that US President Donald Trump's name appears in the Epstein Files.
