Feb 04, 2021 10:48:18 AM The former Cook Islands Prime Minister, Henry Puna is the new secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum. Puna succeeds Dame Meg Taylor of Papua New Guinea who served two terms in office. Taylor had completed her six-year-term in January but stayed on because Pacific leaders were not able to appoint her successor. He ousted Marshall Islands ambassador to the United States of America Gerald Zackios by nine votes to eight. This, after Fiji reportedly withdrew its nominee in Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, before Tonga followed suit after the first round of votes. Solomon Islands’ nominee in former Pacific Community Director-General Dr Jimmy Rodgers was the fifth candidate and his second attempt at the role.
The Special Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr Jimmie Rodgers, has missed out in the election of the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).
Although the incidence of polio acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) has decreased in India, the nonpolio AFP (NPAFP) rate has increased. Nationwide, the NPAFP rate is 11.82 per 100 000 population, whereas the expected rate is 1 to 2 per 100 000 population.
Andre 5.1.1
A few questions:
Assuming for the sake of argument that the apparent increase in non-polio acute flaccid paralysis is in fact due to the version of polio vaccine being used in India being the cheaper of vaccines available (this assumption is by no means a clear conclusion from the available evidence), do you think this outcome is worse than the outcome would have been from not vaccinating and letting polio run rampant?
Just over 2 weeks after the announcement of a travel bubble between the two island nations of the Cook Islands and Niue, officials say the start of this travel bubble will begin at least 2 months earlier than previously announced. This bubble will allow travelers to side-step the mandatory 14-day travel quarantine. Niueans could also be able to travel to New Zealand without quarantine as soon as mid-January, and travel bubbles between the Cook Islands and Australia are also being developed.
Officials in the Cook Islands have indicated that a Cooke Islands – Niue travel bubble may start as early as January 2021. Niue island is a small island nation around 1500 miles off the coast of New Zealand. The news comes just over 2 weeks after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Brown released a joint media release officially announcing the travel bubble between the two countries.
Cook Islands, Niue travel bubble could start to open as early as January, according to local officials
29 Dec, 2020 01:14 AM
4 minutes to read
Officials in the Cook Islands have indicated that a travel bubble with New Zealand may start as early as next month.
That is at least two months earlier than what the Government here has said in the past few weeks - that the air bridge would be established by the end of March next year.
The office of the Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown, has told local media preparatory work is under way between the two countries.