Justin Tkatchenko has been cleared of allegations that he was unlawfully granted citizenship. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Lydia Lewis
Papua New Guinea - Tkatchenko
Papua New Guinea MP and former foreign affairs minister Justin Tkatchenko has been cleared of allegations that he was unlawfully granted citizenship.
The Australian-born MP had been under review from the national Ombudsman following allegations about the legitimacy of his citizenship.
The Post Courier reports the Ombudsman investigation had found that Tkatchenko met the eligibility rules and was legally naturalised.
The investigation was prompted by a petition from PNG's largest trade union - the Trade Union Congress - which called for Tkatchenko to be deported.
Tonga - houses
Tonga's prime minister has confirmed 25 houses out of 234 planned for victims of the Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption in January 2022 are left to be completed.
Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni said once these are completed the work on Government offices in Ha'apai and 'Eua will start.
Work on the 'Eua wharf with funding and assistance from the New Zealand government is also expected to be completed by mid-2024.
Hu'akavameiliku also revealed that repairs and reconstruction of 200 houses for the Senior Citizens project should start in February.
Tonga - anti-corruption
Tonga is set to get its first anti-corruption commissioner soon.
Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliu has confirmed some interviews for the position have been been done over the past few weeks.
He said government is focused on ensuring that the Commissioner's funding is available and the selection process is being handled independently by the panel selected.
Calls for setting up an anti-corruption commission has been ongoing since 2014, following the burning of Nuku'alofa.
Hu'akavameiliku said his government had taken it upon themselves to see the body set up.
Northern Marianas - dead
A woman who was found seriously injured in the Northern Marianas has since died.
She was found next to her unresponsive partner common law husband, who was pronounced dead at the health centre and a homicide investigation was launched.
The pair were Chinese nationals in their 50s who were legal residents of the CNMI and had lived on the island for a long time.
The CNMI Department of Public Safety continues to ask for the public's help in the investigation.
Guam - typo
A typo in Guam's Legislature's standing rules has meant employees need to be rehired.
The error mistakenly read 2024 instead of 2025, which means employees' appointments expired on the 5 January, a year before the current legislative term ended.
Pacific Daily News reports Legislature's executive director Joseph San Agustin asking senators to rehire employees.
A Sunday memo from the Legislature's executive director, Joseph San Agustin, asked senators to submit personnel action on appointments expiring 5 January 2024, and "subsequently submit an additional personal action to hire employee effective Jan. 8, 2024".
France/New Caledonia - Borne
France's Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne is to leave office after less than two years in the job.
Borne had announced last month a constitutional amendment to "unfreeze" New Caledonia's electoral roll.
The proposed constitutional change directly concerns New Caledonia's sensitive issue of the electoral roll, which had been "frozen" since 2007, as prescribed by the autonomy Nouméa Accord signed in 1998.
The Accord disqualified French citizens who had not lived in New Caledonia before 1998 from the electoral roll, in a move seen at the time as a step to ensure indigenous Kanaks were not at risk of becoming a minority in their own country.
The BBC reports Borne will remain in the post until a new prime minister takes over.
