Five days of exhaustive talks at the annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) yielded mixed results for Pacific island states. But the Parties to Nauru Agreement (PNA) said it was “deeply disappointed with the failure” of the WCPFC “to reach an amicable solution on bigeye tuna that would address its […]
Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony deBrum was recognized as one of the eight power players at the global Climate Summit as it got underway last week in Paris. In an article titled, “Meet the eight power players to watch at COP21,” Good Magazine named deBrum one of the “eight negotiators and diplomats who can make […]
GIFF JOHNSON One fact apparent from the impending shakeup in Nitijela membership — as 14 seats out of 33 will change hands on January 4 — is that with so many new senators, neither the current government nor the opposition KEA group will control a majority of 17 needed to elect a president and form […]
On December 4, Chief Electoral Officer Robson Almen issued “final, unofficial” results for the November 16 national election. This starts a 14-day clock ticking that allows candidates to request recounts or lodge other complaints before a declaration of “final, official” results. The posted results are for Nitijela and mayor for the atolls that have mayor […]
ISAAC MARTY A new way to improve overall mathematic skills and critical thinking for public elementary students is being undertaken by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) volunteer teachers. The pilot project is based on an electronic tablet device that engages students in virtual math practices, various game-like activities, and tests. According to project coordinators Hiroyuki […]
Election officials worked from mid-morning Tuesday until 5:30am Wednesday December 2 to check and sort all incoming postal absentee ballots that arrived by Monday, the 14-day deadline day for postals. This overnight work pushed the tabulation for postal ballots to Wednesday evening, with Chief Electoral Officer Robson Almen announcing the start of postal tabulating from […]
GIFF JOHNSON The Marshall Islands government was forced last month to take out a bank loan to meet a $1.2 million loan payment to the US Rural Utilities Service for the National Telecommunications Authority. Despite it being early in the new fiscal year, a cash flow shortage prevented the Ministry of Finance from making the […]
HILARY HOSIA The long-awaited Dornier 228 — purchased over a year ago by the RMI government from a Nepal airline — landed smoothly at the Amata Kabua International Airport Tuesday evening following a three-day-two-night journey from the Philippines. Air Marshall Islands’ Captains Vili Lomaloma and Iosabata Namakin and engineers Ishoda Allen and Dan Fitzpatrick flew […]
It took Electoral Administration staff 20 hours of non-stop work from Tuesday morning to early Wednesday to sort, review and approve or reject all incoming postal ballots. The tabulation of postal ballots was scheduled to begin about 5pm Wednesday at the ICC in Majuro. Chief Electoral Officer Robson Almen said Electoral tabulators would begin by […]
The Marshall Islands Electoral Administration released the final, unofficial domestic vote results today, December 1, 2015 (click the link below). This morning, CEO Robson Almen and Electoral Administration officials opened postal absentee ballot boxes to begin the process of checking the incoming affidavits to ensure they meet voting requirements before the ballots were separated from […]
