GIFF JOHNSON With all Majuro wards tabulated, unofficial results show two incumbent Nitijela senators will lose their re-election bid, while a third is hanging onto fifth place by fewer than 30 votes — with absentee votes still to be included. At Kwajalein, a strong showing by newcomer Kitlang Kabua bumped seven-term incumbent Alvin Jacklick into […]
GIFF JOHNSON The big news coming from several hours of meetings on Pohnpei Monday between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Hilda Heine and leaders of the FSM and Palau is Pompeo’s announcement that negotiations to extend Compact funding agreements have begun. The post-2023 period, when US grant funding for RMI and FSM […]
A 10-year, $20 million project to improve the health of young children in the RMI is to be launched in January with World Bank funding, President Hilda Heine announced in her state of the nation speech Monday at Nitijela. The project has been under discussion since late last year when a survey showed high rates […]
A good time was had by all at the US Embassy’s July 4 party held at Jitak En Tuesday: Just the right amount of homage, just the right amount of lighthearted words, just the right amount of entertainment. The Embassy’s Political, Economic, and Consular Officer Dan Dolan emceed the well-attended event and also sang the […]
HILARY HOSIA What happened in Majuro early Wednesday morning by the airport water reservoir is the kind of unexpected accident that would show in one of Ripley’s Believe it or Not episodes. Here’s what happened: A National Telecommunication Authority cellular phone tower fell onto a moving flatbed vehicle around 1am Wednesday morning across from the […]
GIFF JOHNSON Just days after submarine cable repair crew provided a January 7 target date for completion of work last week Wednesday, the date was delayed again — to January 18 — when the search for the damage spot took longer than anticipated. As a result of more delays in getting the cable back into […]
GIFF JOHNSON The world of streaming movies, Facebook videos and Skype conversations will grind mostly to a halt for nine days at the end of October when NTA shifts Internet and phone links from the highly-reliable fiber optic cable to satellites. The “bandwidth” available to RMI customers for Internet and international calling will shrink from […]
The Executive Branch of the Marshall Islands reappointed Tom Kijiner as the Marshallese envoy to Japan Monday at the ICC Cabinet Room. Chief Justice Carl Ingram presided over the swearing-in ceremony witnessed by President Hilda Heine, First Gentleman Tommy Kijiner, Jr., Foreign Minister John Silk, other Cabinet members, and family members. Ambassador Kijiner has been […]
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 […]
