By Alvise Armellini of Reuters, and is republished with permission
Pope Francis presides over the Easter Vigil in St Peter’s Basilica. Photo: AFP/Tiziana Fabi
Pope Francis has soldiered through a more than two-hour Easter Vigil Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, one of the longest services in Catholic liturgy, amid renewed concerns about the 87-year-old’s frail condition.
His voice at times sounded raspy and out of breath, but he read out all of his prepared texts, including a more than one-page long homily, and he smiled and waved at the congregation as he left in a wheelchair.
In other occasions, Francis has delegated longer readings to aides.
On Friday, the pope skipped at the last minute the night-time Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession at Rome’s Colosseum in what the Vatican said was a bid to “preserve his health” ahead of other Holy Week events.
The surprise move came after weeks in which Francis repeatedly limited his public speaking and cancelled engagements while struggling with what has been described as colds, bronchitis and the flu.
The pope is also restricted in his mobility due to a knee ailment, and regularly uses a wheelchair or a cane.
Francis looked in better shape on Thursday as he performed a foot-washing ceremony in a women’s prison, recalling Jesus’ gesture of humility to his apostles at the Last Supper, and at a Good Friday service in St Peter’s.
Holy Week consists of several solemn ceremonies leading to Easter on Sunday, the most important festivity in the Christian calendar, celebrating the day in which the faithful believe Jesus rose from the dead.
Saturday’s evening service, held in Christendom’s largest church, started in near total darkness before lights were turned on, signifying the passage from darkness to light when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead.
It was attended by about 6,000 people, the Vatican said.
In his homily, recalling that the stone sealing Jesus’ tomb was rolled back as he was resurrected, Francis urged Christians to keep their faith even when weighed down by sorrow, fear or other adversities.
He mentioned, among other things, “the rubber walls of selfishness and indifference that hold us back in the effort to build more just and humane cities and societies”, as well as “all our aspirations for peace that are shattered by cruel hatred and the brutality of war”.
Francis is set to conclude Easter celebrations on Sunday with Mass in St. Peter’s Square and his twice-annual “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
By Colin Peacock of rnz.co.nz, and is republished with permission
A review of the Cyclone Gabrielle response found the emergency management response was not fit for purpose – and not good for media providing critical ‘real time’ coverage of the disaster. But one broadcaster that’s criticised officials for being overconfident and underprepared also downplayed the danger at the time.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The independent review led by former Police Commissioner Mike Bush found Civil Defence officials were not prepared for Cyclone Gabrielle and were overwhelmed by its severity, speed and scale.
The review released this week also concluded they were “overconfident” and took a best-case scenario approach rather than preparing for the worst.
That review – which didn’t pull punches either – also had a thing or two to say about the media’s disaster response.
The news media were caught out by the downpour on a holiday weekend – and the severity of it wasn’t highlighted in warnings by forecasters.
When the water rose rapidly, the most useful information ended up on social media rather than traditional media channels – at least in the earlier stages.
Last Tuesday Mike Bush told RNZ that emergency planners had responded well to previous emergencies in Hawke’s Bay.
“That doesn’t mean that you can take a more relaxed approach to looming crisis,” he said.
Most of the report’s conclusions were specific to the emergency management organisations and hierarchies – and not the media. But some broadcasters – including TVNZ and RNZ – are ‘lifeline utilities’ obliged by law to offer coverage during a disaster.
The Bush report does say “the overall lack of a common operating picture . . . made it hard for staff with public information functions to respond to requests from government, communities and media.”
It also said overstretched staff had “little understanding of national communication assets and their role as lifeline communications channels, with the result that national media was arguably underutilised.”
The resulting communications “were seen by many in the community as generic, lacking timeliness” and “overly focused on social media as opposed to mainstream media channels.”
“I saw their comms. To me it was all just the usual Civil Defence spam,” the report quotes one person as saying.
“I got more from watching TV than from the councils,” said another.
“Why did the Council say to see Facebook for info when there was no bloody power? Why didn’t they just use the national media for more location specific info?” another complained.
They did – but evidently, national and local media alike didn’t always get news people could use from authorities.
The Bush report said NEMA should now develop “pre-planned emergency communications for use across multiple channels, along with clear criteria for the use of emergency mobile alerts.”
The report said alerts communicated by national media “could have given some families and communities more time to prepare” and “ driven a heightened communications tempo which improved public understanding of the potential seriousness of the event.”
One of the starkest quotes from those affected was this one:
“We got helicoptered out after hours on the roof and with nothing to our names. We were taken to Napier and as we drove there, I could see people out mowing their lawns, with no idea of what was going on. It was surreal.”
Clearly the message did not get through to them.
Heather du Plessis Allan Photo: NZME
Media respond to report with blunt questions
“Is it true that when people were ringing Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence emergency management in the days before the flooding, they were told they were overreacting?” Newstalk ZB host Heather du Plessis Allan asked Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management joint committee chair Hinewai Ormsby, last Tuesday.
“In the findings, he’s picked up things that relate to that. And so it’s really important that we take those learnings and make sure that we build a stronger system going forward,” Ormsby replied.
That lack of clarity about why it happened in the first place disturbed du Plessis-Allan’s ZB colleague Kerre Woodham.
“To hear that word-soup from the chair of the Civil Defense response unit in Hawke’s Bay . . . are we better off coming up with a neighborhood plan and relying on each other?” she asked her listeners on Wednesday.
But when Cyclone Gabrielle was gathering strength in mid- February – and already caning Coromandel – Woodham was one of several voices on Newstalk ZB condemning over-reaction.
Kate Hawkesby was also dismissive of other media raising the alarm early on the 14th of February.
“It may well be coming in later on, but if it doesn’t then they have really done their chips on these warnings. One of the headlines I saw was Newshub saying: ‘There will be destruction.’ Have you ever seen anything more anxiety-inducing in your life?”
Mike Hosking. Photo: screenshot / Newstalk ZB
Mike Hosking took it up a notch knocking the experts who appeared on her show.
“What we’ve done is whip ourselves into this extraordinary frenzy. I’m listening to you with Mike from the MetService talking about 100k winds like a hurricane. Anyone who has lived in Wellington knows 100k wind is a breezy day. You’re still outside at the cafe,” he said.
Woodham and Hawkesby also criticised the closure of schools in Hawke’s Bay.
“Did we reeeeally need to shut all the schools? I reserve the right to be wrong – if it comes in like a wrecking ball this afternoon, then, you know, they were right. Maybe it was just a bit slower than we thought . . . but I don’t know,” said Hawkesby (who is now no longer on air at Newstalk ZB).
She also claimed it was evidence the country had become “paranoid and soft.”
Clearly the comments didn’t age well.
The Broadcasting Standards Authority eventually ruled the comments were “dismissive and insensitive” but that ZB listeners wouldn’t have been misled. But that was only because of regular news bulletins that were reliable, accurate feedback from affected listeners and interviews with experts who were taking the situation seriously (even if ZB hosts weren’t always giving them the same respect).
Emergency management officials criticised as over-confident and underprepared by the Bush report will have found it pretty galling to also be accused of that now by a broadcaster whose hosts were downplaying Cyclone Gabrielle stridently on the air even as it was intensifying.
Reflecting on the Mike Bush report this week on his daily ZB news podcast, Mike Hosking’s sidekick Glenn Hart said it should have asked questions about “prevention rather than the response.”
“I feel like the weather forecasting is terrible and it’s never accurate. Sack the lot of them if you’re basing their job performance on anything. They don’t know what they’re doing,” he said last Wednesday.
It was just a tongue-in-cheek throwaway line, but interesting when you consider it wasn’t the forecasters who failed to warn Cyclone Gabrielle was coming – and the emergency response of ZB front-rank hosts wasn’t entirely fit-for-purpose either when it was on the way.
By Niva Chittock and Danielle Clent of rnz.co.nz, and is republished with permission
Foodstuffs says its Wānaka New World stores have decided to stay open across Easter Weekend in breach of the holiday’s trading laws.
Almost all shops across the motu were required to close on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday, unless they were deemed essential or had an exemption, the Labour Inspectorate said.
But New World Wānaka and New World Three Parks were trading as usual, without an exemption or essential store status.
Both stores had previously been fined for trading on Good Friday, in 2021 and 2022, in breach of the Shop Trading Hours Act.
“Wānaka is part of the Queenstown Lakes District Council, and while Queenstown has an exemption to trade on Good Friday which dates back to the mid-1980s, Wānaka isn’t included in that exemption,” Foodstuffs spokesperson Emma Wooster said.
“With tens of thousands of visitors expected to come into town over the holidays, the two New World stores in Wānaka took the decision to open throughout the Easter holidays, including Good Friday and Easter Monday,” she said.
Wānaka was hosting its iconic air show, Warbirds Over Wānaka, for the first time in six years, following pandemic-related cancellations.
“Their motivation is to make sure the local community and visitors alike, have the convenience of access to food and groceries from a full-service supermarket throughout the break,” Wooster said.
Neither store would be selling alcohol on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, she said.
In January 2023, MBIE put out a statement criticising the stores for ignoring warnings.
“Despite MBIE reminding the two stores and Foodstuffs’ South Island chief executive in early April 2022, the two stores opened on Good Friday, which was against the law,” Labour Inspectorate regional manager Loua Ward said then.
“As a leader and major employer in the retail sector, it is extremely disappointing to see a prominent group like Foodstuffs South Island’s having two owner/operators blatantly choosing to ignore their legal responsibilities and focus on profit making.
Confusion over shop restrictions
Labour Inspectorate compliance and enforcement head Simon Humphries said there was often confusion around the Easter trading restrictions and which shops could open.
There were three ways shops could get an exemption, he said.
“Shops are allowed to open if they’re classed as an essential shop or business permitted to trade, then some shops may have an area exemption, and finally councils might put local policies in place within their area,” Humphries said.
Essential shops or businesses allowed to open included dairies, petrol stations, pharmacies, restaurants, cafes, hairdressers and barbers.
Area exemptions were generally given in tourist areas such as Taupō or Queenstown, he said, though there had been calls to overhaul the trading hours across the motu.
The Inspectorate would not release the number of complaints or what enforcement action it had taken until after the restricted trading period ends, Humphries said.
Wānaka Business Chamber general manager Glenn Peat said it was time the town’s Easter trading restrictions were re-evaluated.
“The trading has been positive, it’s been good to see a lot of people around town. There is a lot of traffic around, I have to say that – it’s something we’re not used to,” he said.
“There is some trading that does go on, but at the same time there are equally opportunities that are missed, so that would definitely be something we need to look into.
“You can look at the Easter trading hours two different ways. Obviously it would be nice if trading was as per usual, but at the same time, we have to respect the laws that are in place and it does give the families of those businesses and their staff members an opportunity to join in on Warbirds as well,” Peat said.
Record crowds for the air show and perfect weather was helping foot traffic around businesses, he said.
“There is the pre and post of the event too, which certainly does help when you’ve got thousands of people in and around town.”
But it was not just Wānaka that would benefit from it, Peat said.
“It’s fantastic to see so many people around and I’m sure that the local economy, which does include Queenstown, because all the accommodation providers and hospitality over there, would be seeing an influx too.”
The Chamber thought it was time for a renewed debate around the holiday trading exemptions, he said.
“It’s not for us to decide, it’s got to be something that we can look into and advocate for with the Queenstown Lakes District Council. Remember, this is the first time we’re hosting Warbirds in six years and a lot’s changed in six years, maybe the regulations haven’t kept up.”
Police say illegal street racing took place across Auckland Saturday night.
The men were taken into custody on Henderson Valley Road in West Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
About 200 vehicles were involved, splitting into smaller groups across Penrose, Onehunga and Westgate.
Police said just after midnight, a car with three people was seen running a red light on Bush Road in Albany. The driver then fled from police.
Three young men were taken into custody when the vehicle eventually stopped on Henderson Valley Road in West Auckland.
The trio, aged 16,18 and 20, are due to appear in court this week.
Two others were taken into custody, but not charged, after a different vehicle was seen driving dangerously earlier in the evening, and then spotted in Karaka about 3am.
The page was launched on March 28 and had a target of $20,000 to be raised.
“I am fundraising for my brother Kelei Maea Latu’s funeral”,
Latu was in Australia to join Tongans who were in that country under the Seasonal Worker Program.
He was sent to work in a farm in Mildura before relocating to Melbourn, the GoFoundMe message read.
“Unfortunately, a tragedy accident happened and police had discover (sic) Kelei’s deceased body. Police are still investigating. This gofundme is to raise money in the hope of taking my brother’s deceased body back home. This is a devastating time for the family of sudden death of Kelei and wishes to reunite with him one last time before sending him off. Your help will be very much appreciated”, a sister of the deceased”, ‘Elenoa Fifita wrote.
Frank Bainimarama was given an absolute discharge in a packed Suva’s Magistrates Court on Thursday after last week being convicted of perverting the course of justice.
Frank Bainimarama in 2019 (file image). (Source: Getty)
An absolute discharge is the lowest-level sentence that an offender can get. It means no conviction is registered against Bainimarama.
State broadcaster FBC reports Magistrate Seini Puamau considered Bainimarama’s health.
The 69-year-old was sentenced alongside suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho, who was given an FJ$1500 (NZ$1109) fine without conviction as well.
The absolute discharge and a fine without conviction were given despite the prosecutors last week urging Magistrate Puamau to order immediate custodial sentences towards the high end of the tariff for both men — which would be no less than five years in jail for Bainimarama and 10 years for Qiliho.
As Baimarama walked out of the courtroom, he was embraced by his family and supporters.
Responding to a journalist’s question on how he was feeling, he replied: “On top of the world”.
‘Surprising’ outcome
Fijian governance professor Vijay Naidu told RNZ Pacific the Magistrate has been sympathetic to both men.
“It is surprising that the sentencing is like the minimalist kind of approach,” he said.
“I didn’t expect the Magistrate to sentence them for the maximum of, you know, 10 …and five years, but the sentence now is quite farcical because these persons are found guilty, and they are given sentences that, to say the least, is quite ludicrous.”
He said Bainimarama is not out of the woods yet because there is a whole string of other charges that he will face in the coming months.
The sentencing of Fiji’s former prime minister Frank Bainimarama will take place at the Magistrates Court in the capital Suva on Thursday.
Frank Bainimarama and Sitiveni Qiliho Photo: AFP / Leon Lord
Bainimarama, an ex-military commander and a coup leader, will be sentenced alongside suspended police commissioner – also an ex-military officer – Sitiveni Qiliho.
The former PM was found guilty guilty of one count of attempt to pervert the course of justice and Qiliho was found guilty of one count of abuse of office by the High Court on 14 March.
Bainimarama is facing up to five years in jail while Qiliho is facing up to 10 years.
Acting Police Commissioner Juki Fong Chew is calling for Fijians to maintain order ahead of the sentencing at 11.00am local time.
“Our focus is on ensuring there are no disturbances or disruptions and reiterate the call to respect the rule of law and let the court process take its course,” he said.
A prominent Tongan linguist says the Tongan word for hello – “mālō e lelei” (Thanks for being well) – was not used as a common greeting in the Kingdom until it was mentioned in the works of an Australian missionary named Clerk Maxwell Churchward in the 1950s.
Malo e lelei is a phrase that wasn’t in common use in the past, Tongan researcher Vasalua Jenner-Helu says. Photo: RNZ Pacific
Vasalua Jenner-Helu, who is a researcher and senior lecturer at the ‘Atenisi Institute in Tonga, was recently accepted as a Visiting Academic in Linguistics at the University of Oxford in the UK where she brings her research on decolonising the Tongan language.
“When we look at the background of many Polynesian languages, they have been compiled and written by European missionaries who arrived to the Pacific mainly in the 19th and 20th century”, Jenner-Helu said.
“Our early wordlists which have been collected in Tonga by Europeans have not undergone any formal reviews…these people have conceptualised our language that we now accept as normal today.
“I’m trying to find Tongan words and phrases versus what Churchward has put in.”
Photo: Vasalua Jenner-Helu
Churchward was an Australian Methodist missionary who compiled and translated the entire Tongan language into English with the approval of the late King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV.
A fluent speaker in Tongan, Churchward authored the books Tongan grammar in 1953, and the bilingual Tongan dictionary: Tongan-English and English-Tongan in 1959 which was published by the Tongan government.
The former British Army chaplain is lauded in Tonga for his contributions to Tongan literature with his books still being used to teach the language at schools in the Kingdom and abroad.
“We must give credit to Churchward for his work”, Jenner-Helu said.
“There are many loan words like konifelenisi (conference) or siasi (church)….language is always evolving but at the same time, there are words, phrases and meanings that were not there in our original language.
“My study is an awareness study.”
Clerk Maxwell Churchward Photo: METHODIST CHURCH OF FIJI / ROTUMA/SUPPLIED
One of the phrases that Jenner-Helu said was not in common use in the past was “mālō e lelei” – now a standard greeting in contemporary Tongan. She said it may have been created by Churchward.
“Mālō e lelei is a made-up greeting, it’s very anglicised”, she said.
“We used to say ‘mālō ‘e tau lava’, ‘mālō e tau ma’u’ or ‘mālō e tau ma’u pongipongi ni’, these were the kind of greetings that were in Tonga before Churchward’s books.
“I guess Churchward had to create some kind of equivalent of hello but I don’t find mālō e lelei in any previous recordings of wordlists.”
Photo: John Martin
The phrase malo e lelei doesn’t appear to be mentioned in any literature prior to Churchward’s works.
The first fully translated bible in 1902 (still in use today) uses the salutation “Si’oto ‘ofa”.
John Martin’s 1817 book, An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands in the south Pacific Ocean, contains a glossary of Tongan words compiled from William Mariner, an Englishman who was held captive in Tonga between 1806 and 1810. It outlines several Tongan salutations using “mālō” with no mention of “lelei” (wellbeing).
“Some of the things that someone who compiles a language does is to find something that could be equivalent to words in their own native tongue,” Jenner-Helu said.
“Say an English person conceptualises ‘hello’ into ‘mālō e lelei’ and the shortened ‘hi’ into ‘male’, which is quicker to say than the phrases ‘malo e tau ma’u a pongipongi or malo e tau ma’u a ho’ata ni.
“Language is always evolving but at the same time we need to know that some of these words, phrases and meaning were not in our original language.”
The Ministry of Education has started an urgent clean-up at Sommerville School in Panmure after images of mould, mushrooms, and leaky buildings hit headlines earlier this month.
The Ministry of Education has started an urgent cleanup at Sommerville School in Panmure after hazardous building conditions hit headlines earlier this month. Photo: LDR / Alka Prasad
School principal Belinda Johnston said the clean-up started two weeks ago after a public response to the school’s building crisis.
“Following the media intervention, we had a meeting with a group of people from the Ministry of Education and they committed to remediating the most urgent problems as soon as possible,” Johnston said.
She said progress had been quick since the meeting, but said “it only happened after all of the publicity”.
The school is based in Panmure but supports students by working with 15 other schools across eastern Auckland from Ōrākei Basin through to Maraetai, Johnston said.
“We haven’t got enough space. Everything’s crumbling. It’s not healthy.
“Just under 25 percent of our students are Pasifika and around 15 percent are Māori. That’s 40 percent of our school, so it’s a significant portion who are being affected by all of this.”
Sommerville School principal Belinda Johnston says the school is still waiting on a low-budget rebuild plan for the school. Photo: LDR / Alka Prasad
Johnston said the school currently had two closed classrooms and had had to close its roll due to a lack of space for more learners.
A lack of maintenance has made existing problems worse, she said.
“They’d become major issues by the beginning of this year, we had a flood due to really old plumbing. We had to close two classrooms, the bathrooms, the meeting room, the laundry, and then we had to find spaces for those learners in other areas of the school.”
In a statement sent to Local Democracy Reporting, Ministry of Education head of property Sam Fowler said: “The property at Sommerville School is in poor condition.”
Fowler added: “We’ll continue to undertake further works to improve the condition of the buildings and funding for ongoing maintenance is in place to support the school while they continue to operate in these facilities.”
Johnston said the immediate clean-up was to address surface-level issues and ongoing flood damage.
“Defogging and deep cleaning have been mentioned many times … getting everything clean and dry. Adding good ventilation for air flow, replacing floors and walls and furniture that’s been damaged,” Johnston said.
But she said urgent repairs would not be enough to fix the school’s structural problems.
The school is still waiting on confirmation from the Ministry of Education about when the school will be rebuilt and if new plans will be fit for purpose considering central government funding cuts.
“I think the Ministry of Education have always known that we needed urgent attention, but we’ve always been getting reassurance that our new school was just around the corner,” Johnston told Local Democracy Reporting.
“It needs to meet the needs of our learners. What particularly concerns us is space, because there’s not much space where we are now,” she said.
Johnston said the Ministry of Education would come back to the school at the end of the month with more information on a rebuild.
“We’re yet to see what that design looks like and whether or not we think it’s suitable for our learners is unknown yet.”
Belinda Johnston says promises of a rebuild have led to a lack of ongoing maintenance. Photo: LDR / Alka Prasad
On behalf of the ministry, Fowler said “a major redevelopment of the school is planned with construction expected to begin in the first half of 2025.
“The project to deliver Sommerville School’s new facilities has taken too long to deliver. We welcome the government’s inquiry of our school property function.”
Panmure-Ōtahuhu MP Jenny Salesa said the previous government committed to supporting the school’s rebuild to help vulnerable learners.
“In 2018, a Labour government announced an investment of $17 million into Sommerville School to support special education and ensure children with learning support needs are able to attend school and receive the best education possible,” Salesa said.
“The state of the buildings that our students learn in, many who are medically vulnerable, are unhealthy, leaky and in disrepair, which is why we invested in rebuilding a fit for purpose facility,” she said.
“These projects are deliverable, and this government needs to give certainty to the school … our schoolchildren need classrooms that are fit for them, and won’t get them sick,” Salesa said.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
