Marshall Islands

Hawaii 'vog' blankets Marshall Islands

United States weather officials on Guam issued a special weather update on Sunday about the "haze plume" that is expected to continue moving westward through the Federated States of Micronesia.

Hawaii residents refer to the haze caused by volcanic eruptions on the Big Island as "vog," a phenomenon now being experienced in the Marshall Islands, more than 2,300 miles to the southwest of the Hawaiian Islands.

The volcano in Hawaii is now in its fourth week of continuous eruptions.

Files from four Pacific registries in Paradise Papers

The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains more than 13.4 million documents mostly from the offshore law firm Appleby.

The papers also contained details from the corporate registries of the Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu as well as 15 other registries, mostly in the Caribbean.

The papers covered the period from 1950 to 2016.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is investigating the files along with a network of journalists around the world.

Marshall Islands hearing programme praised

Following a recent visit to Ebeye and Majuro, Marcus Gaffney, the team leader from CDC's Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) section and Eric Cahill, a health scientist also with CDC, joined audiologist Ray Miner for the visit to both islands, where they engaged with EHDI Coordinator Chinilla Pedro and hospital staff providing the services for babies and children.

Marshalls still to decide on UN nuke ban treaty

Tim Wright, the Asia Pacific Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said that the island countries that have said they would sign the treaty this week include Palau, Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine said her government was still considering whether to sign the treaty.

Tributes continue to pour in for the late Tony de Brum

The country’s President Hilda Heine issued a statement in Majuro today lamenting the untimely passing away of a Pacific Islands ‘legend’ who fought for climate change & nuclear justice.

“He fought for our independence, he fought against the tyranny of nuclear weapons and for nuclear justice for our people and he led the international fight against climate change.

“The very existence of the Paris Agreement owes a lot to Tony de Brum. He was a giant in history, a legend in every meaning of the word and a custodian of our shared future, said President Heine.

Marshalls birth numbers in continued decline

Figures from Majuro hospital show 659 babies were born from January through November, a monthly average of 60.

Majuro birth numbers have fallen from 1,136 in 2005 to 877 in 2013 and 744 last year.

Out-migration to the United States has continued steadily, and possibly increased in numbers while the number of babies born in the Marshalls has also steadily declined.

Rio Olympics a stepping stone for Marshalls

RNZ reports the Micronesian country has five athletes competing in Rio in weightlifting, swimming and athletics.

Twenty-three year old swimmer Giordan Harris is the veteran of the group, having competed at the London Games four years ago.

The other four are all between 17 and 19 years-old.

The Secretary General of the Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee, Terry Sasser, said they are building a group of athletes who would reach their peak over the next decade.

Marshall Islands take on nuclear powers UK, Pakistan, India in court

While nobody expects the Marshall Islands to force the three powers to disarm at Monday's hearing, the archipelago's dogged campaign at the International Court of Justice highlights the growing scope for political minnows to get a hearing through global tribunals.

All three are expected to argue that the Marshall Islands' claims are beyond the Hague court's jurisdiction and should be thrown out. But many activists and academics believe getting them into court is a victory in itself.

Marshalls declares state of health emergency over zika

Dr Heine says although only one case of Zika has been confirmed in the Marshalls, Zika cases reported in the Pacific region are rapidly increasing and the Marshall Islands is highly vulnerable.

The declaration activates the Ministry of Health's Epidemiology Network as the focal point for action to provide direction, updates and advice to the government's National Disaster Committee.

El Niño blamed for out-of-season central Pacific cyclone

Cyclone Pali is currently above the equator in the ocean between the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, about 1300km southwest of Hawaii.

A forecaster at the US National Weather Service in Hawaii, Alistair Foster, says Pali is one of the earliest recorded in the central Pacifc, where the cyclone season is not due to begin for another five months.

Mr Foster says it's not unprecedented to have out-of-season cyclones in an El Niño year, with warm ocean temperatures allowing them to develop.