Vanuatu

Former MP Asang Sanick was among those whose convictions were pardoned.

The Daily Post reports his pardoning was done less than two months out from the Malekula by-election which is being held after the seat was vacated by Sanick, following the election petition case against him.

In 2021, he was convicted and received a suspended sentence of two years for domestic violence and for breaching the Leadership Code.

At the time of the conviction he was a deputy speaker in Parliament.

He completed 50 hours of community work as ordered by the presiding judge.

Ishmael Kalsakau made the statement over two southern islands - Matthew and Hunter - during the visit last week of the French President Emmanual Macron.

The two islands are held by New Caledonia but southern Vanuatu chiefs and politicians say they are sacred to the ni-Vanuatu people.

It comes after four chiefs handed a petition to Macron over the dispute.

The islands are also known as Umaenupne and Leka, and have traditionally been a place to perform religious and customary ceremonies.

It comes following reports of an Indonesian performance group being booed off the stage at the recent Melanesian Arts Festival in Port Vila last week.

In a letter, Mr Dalesa said Ni-Vanuatu people loved Indonesians but hated the treatment of West Papuans by Indonesians.

The Daily Post reported the Indonesian group had to stop halfway through their performance and leave for a nearby cafe.

This diaspora was composed of descendants of Vanuatu laborers who were brought to Fiji during the blackbirding period.

These proud ni-Van descendants never forgot their roots despite calling Fiji home for the past several decades.

Mateo Tomu Butuni, a fifth descendant of the Vanuatu laborers says it was an emotional day for this close-knit community on the outskirts of Suva as they celebrated the country of their origin.

The US Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat for the islands of Guam, Rota, Tinian or Saipan from the offshore quake, which hit at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The nearest city, Port-Olry, was 95 kilometers away.

Earthquakes are common along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

In May, an earthquake in Japan killed one person, injured dozens more and destroyed several buildings.

This partnership agreement formalises arrangements between the two parties for the dissemination of health messages during Vanuatu’s premier music festival.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) and Fest’Napuan Association have already experienced fruitful collaboration when in 2021, the MoH funded the broadcast of the festival, incorporating key health messages to protect against COVID-19.

This new agreement is another step forward in this partnership to support improved public health, which benefits both the MoH and Fest’Napuan Association.

The French Embassy has confirmed that Emmanuel Macron is due to arrive in Port Vila today for his two-day visit as part of his three-country Pacific visit which also includes New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea.

France and Vanuatu both claim sovereignty over the disputed, uninhabited islands which lie south-south-east of Port Vila and due east of Noumea.

Indigenous Kanaks from New Caledonia have previously said it belongs to Vanuatu.

The ministry's Director-General of Culture, Hilmar Farid, stated that Indonesia will present its Papuan and East Nusa Tenggara artists during the festival.

"The artists will perform a series of shows that promote friendship and raise awareness of environmental issues," he remarked in a statement received on Tuesday.

Indonesia hopes to strengthen ties among Melanesian communities in Indonesia and other Pacific countries through the festival, he said.

Both Elder Richard Carver and Sister Marina Carver, of Riverton, Utah, were taken to a local hospital and later transferred to a hospital in Port Vila. Sister Carver tragically passed away due to internal injuries on Saturday evening. Elder Carver is receiving additional medical evaluation but is expected to recover.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reports Napat met with the British High Commissioner Nicolette Brent in Port Vila "to seek justifiable explanation on the decision".

Napat said the Vanuatu government had been actively working to bring in the necessary reforms to its citizenship program to meet requirements set by the European Union.

The UK is no longer in the EU. However, the EU Council last year also decided to remove Vanuatu's visa-free-access to EU countries, a decision that came into effect on February 4 this year.