The image of Amna Ali telling her five-year-old son that his father is in heaven will forever be etched in my memory.

Mohammad was six months old when his dad Syed Jahandad Ali was killed at Al-Noor mosque.

As Amna sat there bravely telling me her story, a little voice said “Mama”.

• READ MORE: Muslims mark 5th anniversary of Christchurch mosque terror attacks
• Coalition government falling short on mosque attack anniversary – Islamic council
• Christchurch terror attack: Survivors finding new purpose five years on — Mahvash Ikram

Her son had been upstairs playing with his granddad while his mother talked to the strange lady who he’d never met before.

Clearly, his patience had run out.

She wanted to tell him to be quiet, but I asked her to bring her son down instead.

I had never met Syed, but had seen pictures of him.

Spitting image
Mohammad is a spitting image of his father.

He sat in Amna’s lap as she explained to him she was telling me about his “Baba”.

And then she told him is Baba is in heaven, “he’s in the best place” she told him to repeat.

Since Syed’s death Amna has completed two diplomas, travelled alone with her three children and is planning to start an IT career.

Ironically, her graduation ceremony is on March 15, and she planned to receive her diploma in person.

Even as she looked back at the most painful years of her life she didn’t shed a single tear.

On the other hand, I found it hard to fight the lump in my throat.

He was a foodie
After the interview, she had an elaborate morning tea on the kitchen counter — I was surprised how this mum of three young children found the time to prepare so much beautiful food.

Syed was a foodie she told me, he loved her cooking.

Just hours earlier I had left Auckland, like every other year it was time to do a story about the mosque attacks.

But this anniversary was going to be different I told myself. I had planned to meet survivors and families and talk about their achievements.

I had no idea their resilience and strength would be so overwhelming.

Most of the people in the mosques on the day of the attacks came from countries where terrorism isn’t rare.

Over the past five years many people have asked me, with no malice at all, why the Christchurch attacks left such a deep impact on the survivors and families.

Best answer?
Perhaps, survivor Faisal Abbas has the best answer.

He was in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 2014 when terrorists gunned down hundreds of teachers and students at the Army Public School massacre.

It was his school and he wanted to send his children there.

The principal who died saving her students had been his teacher.

To him, it was a final nail in the coffin. He told me he did not want to be where even his school wasn’t safe, so he picked the safest country he could find and moved to New Zealand.

For Faisal, he says, it’s his first hand experience of terrorism and choosing to get away from it that made the Christchurch attacks even harder to process.

‘Going with the flow’
Before the attacks, he said, he meticulously planned everything, but now he prefers to “go with the flow”.

He trusts in Allah’s plan and he knows whatever will happen is for the best.

And then he repeated a verse from the Quran where God tells Prophet Mohammad “Verily with hardship comes ease”.

I share the same religion as the survivors, but I pray my faith in God becomes as strong as theirs.

One of the toughest thing as a journalist is to decide what makes the final cut.

Farid Ahmed made headlines around the world for choosing to forgive the attacker who killed his wife.

When I interviewed him for my story on this trip he was in hospital fighting an infection — a detail that I didn’t put in the story.

Message of love, forgiveness
Being in a wheelchair hasn’t stopped him from spreading the message of love and forgiveness.

I told him perhaps now would be a good time to slow down and rest. He just smiled and said there was no time, otherwise it would be a disservice to his wife who died saving others.

One of my favourite parts of the trip was visiting Temel Atacocugu. Despite nine bullets and some 30 surgeries, his sense of humour is intact.

He has three pet goldfish all of whom he’s given Turkish names. Pakize — the pure one, Serafettin — the good boy and Abuziddin, Temel says that’s just a traditional name.

I didn’t imagine I would come back feeling so moved.

Five years ago, the survivors and families I met told me they would rebuild their lives. Every year they inched closer to that goal.

This time they seemed to have delivered on that promise.

I can only marvel at the miracle of their strength and resilience which is beyond my understanding.

And the only words that help me make any sense of it all are: “Verily with hardship comes ease”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

At least 20 people were wounded when police used batons, water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who joined rallies in Indonesia’s West Papua region on the 61st anniversary of an agreement that made the territory part of Indonesia, news agencies report.

The US-brokered 1962 New York Agreement allowed Indonesia to annex the Christian-majority region after the end of Dutch colonial rule, according to a report in the UCA News.

Riot police attacked peaceful demonstrators in three locations near the provincial capital Jayapura yesterday, alleged Emmanuel Gobay, a Catholic and an official of the Papua Legal Aid Institute.

• READ MORE: West Papuan solidarity group condemns arrest of 21 activists protesting 1962 ‘tragedy’
• Other West Papua reports

The demonstrators called on the international community to review the agreement and take action to end ongoing violence and repression in the region, said the report.

“In fact, they only held peaceful demonstrations,” said Gobay, who joined one of the rallies.

He stated that more than 20 people were beaten, with one of them later being treated in hospital.

“One person was seriously injured and was immediately transported to the hospital for treatment,” he said.

Listening to speeches
Videos and photos obtained by UCA News showed police attacked with water canons and fired tear gas while people were listening to speeches from leaders of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), the protest organiser.

Gobay said that although the authorities viewed the KNPB as a “separatist — pro-independence — group “they should have the right to express their opinion” as guaranteed in the nation’s constitution.

“Moreover, they submitted an official letter notifying police about the programme beforehand,” he added.

He condemned the use of water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators.

These should only be for anarchic demonstrations — “not peaceful demonstrations,” he said.

Gobay alleged that police committed criminal offences by torturing and beating protesters, and called on the Papuan police chief to immediately prosecute the perpetrators so that there was a deterrent effect, said the UCA News report.

Father Bernard Baru from the Jayapura Diocese’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission said that this repressive action was a repetition of the discriminatory treatment of Papuans by the state.

Brutal police action ‘normal’
“In Papua, police actions like this are considered normal. This only deepens discrimination against Papuans,” he said.

Police officials were not available for comment.

KNPB spokesman Ones Sahuniap issued a statement to condemn the police brutality and claimed those who were beaten suffered serious head injuries and bled profusely.

Suhuniap said the police used rattan and batons to beat and break up the demonstration.

The KNPB simultaneously held demonstrations in Papua and in other parts of Indonesia, asking the United Nations to review the 1962 New York Agreement.

During the rallies, KNPB leaders called the New York Agreement “a violation of human rights of Papuans” sponsored by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States and the United Nations.

Not party to agreement
As per the agreement, later added to the agenda of UN General Assembly, the Netherlands agreed to transfer the control of West Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, pending an UN-administered referendum.

The Papuans were not party to the agreement and it paved the way for the 1969 Act of Free Choice, an independence referendum favoring Indonesian rule in Papua whuch was largely regarded as a sham.

Indonesia’s annexation of Papua and use to force to crush dissent sparked an armed pto-indeoendence movement.

Thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced due to the conflict in the easternmost region in the past decades.

One year after Al Jazeera’s well known Palestine correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was fatally shot while reporting in the West Bank on 11 May 2022, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the lack of progress in the official investigations into her death and the failure to bring anyone to justice.

Several events are being held to pay tribute to Shireen Abu Akleh on the first anniversary of her death while covering an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

But justice has yet to be rendered even though many expert reports pointed to direct Israeli Defence Forces responsibility and the IDF even acknowledged that the fatal shot was “very probably” fired by one of their soldiers.

“When there is a will there is a way. Although all the investigations clearly show that Israeli forces were responsible for Shireen Abu Akleh’s death, the absence of political will still prevents justice from being rendered.

The systematic Israeli impunity is outrageous and cannot continue. RSF will remain mobiliSed on all fronts until those responsible have been identified and brought to justice.”

Churches across Tonga have commemorated the victims and the struggles endured as a result of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on 15 January 2022.

The eruption, the largest atmospheric explosion recorded during modern history, was estimated to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

It generated a huge sonic boom that could be heard as far away as Alaska — more than 9000km away.

• READ MORE: A year on, we know why the Tongan eruption was so violent – it’s a spectacular wake-up call
• Other Tonga volcano reports

Hundreds packed the Cathedral of St Mary in Nuku’alofa — one of the largest churches in Tonga — where sermons were delivered, commending Tongans for showing resilience over the past year.

“All the different churches are commemorating,” said Monsignor Vicar Lutoviko Finau, who overlooked the service at the cathedral.

“We’re coming together to thank God, and to encourage one another,” he said.

“Listening to the various people on the radio across this week, there’s been a lot of conviction from people that January 15th was a miracle.”

A conviction that is shared by vicar Lutoviko himself. The cathedral he oversees sits less than 100m away from Nuku’alofa’s waterfront. Remarkably, the church suffered little damage, thanks in part to a reef system entrenching Nuku’alofa’s bay area.

“I was with parishioners cleaning up this place, preparing for the liturgy on Sunday … all of a sudden I heard the big bang. We took off right away because we knew there would be a tsunami . . . I took my family and went to higher ground.

Tongan volcano eruption — relocation nothing easy.    Video: RNZ Pacific

“I couldn’t sleep that night because I wanted to know what happened to the cathedral because it [was] so close to the seafront,” vicar Lutoviko said.

“When I drove around to the seafront the next day . . . the seawater flooded the area of the cathedral, but there was none inside the cathedral . . . the only damage to the building was from the ashfall which . . . covered it.”

Three people died as a result of the eruption, a remarkably low number of deaths considering the magnitude of the disaster. Thousands of Tongans were left homeless as a result, and livelihoods destroyed.

“For myself, today marks history”, said Kilistiana Moala, a member of the congregation.

“Being alive today, I’m just glad to be still here.”

For many Tongans, the commemorations did not just pay tribute to Tonga’s survival of the eruption. Less than a month afterwards, the covid-19 pandemic reached Tonga, resulting in the deaths of at least a dozen people and leaving thousands ill.

“It was a very tough year,” Moala said. “I worked with Tonga’s Geological Services, so we did a lot of work in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption.

“After the volcanic eruption, we had to work during lockdowns because of the Covid outbreak . . . it was really hard because we couldn’t be with our families whenever we wanted.”

It is a sentiment shared by Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni Hu’akavameiliku, who came into power just days before the eruption. Three months later, he fell ill to covid-19.

“Thank the Lord that we are still here,” Hu’akavemeiliku told RNZ Pacific.

“Moving into a new year, hopefully things will continue to get better.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

On the first anniversary of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption two men share how they survived when they were unable to escape the tsunami that followed.

On 15 January 2022, the usually quiet seaside village of Kanokupolu was thrown into chaos.

The roar of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupting was followed by screams and shouts of people fleeing to safety.

• READ MORE:  A year on, we know why the Tongan eruption was so violent – it’s a spectacular wake-up call
• Tonga remembers devastating volcanic eruption one year ago today
• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC: Finau Finua reporting for Morning Report
• Other Tongan volcano and tsunami reports

Villagers took to their vehicles to escape, and as they drove away, tsunami waves could be seen approaching the beach.

But not everyone decided to leave — Tevita ‘Amaka preferred to risk death, rather than run away.

“I was ready to die, if I were to die, I would die in peace, because I am not afraid of the ocean, the ocean is my home,” said ‘Amaka, a 60-year-old man who lives alone, less than 200m from the shore.

“I remember so clearly how my children came to take me away but I refused to be forced out of my home and told them to leave me,” he added.

Two loud explosions
The eruption generated a sound that could be heard as far away as Alaska. NASA estimated the explosion to be more than 500 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, creating waves that reached up to 90 metres in height.

“There were two loud explosions and then the ash and small rocks started raining down following the ashes were small rocks. I looked up and saw the electric poles swaying from side to side,” ‘Amaka said.

“I told them that if this is my time then I’ll accept it wholeheartedly. They gave up and eventually left . . . the ocean has been a big part of my life so I don’t see a reason to be scared.”

Then came the tsunami waves, uprooting trees and destroying entire houses. Before the waves hit, ‘Amaka took shelter behind a mango tree and waited for his fate. He had spent his whole life living in Kanokupolu and was prepared to die there as well.

But miraculously, the mango tree stood its ground.

According to ‘Amaka, it was divine intervention that saved him.

“The tsunami came, taking down the electric poles, trees and a very big container. It destroyed everything except for me, not a single drop of water touched me and that was the work of God.”

“I guess God still has plans for me to be here.”

As well as ‘Amaka’s miraculous survival, there were no fatalities in Kanokupolu. Across Tonga only three deaths were recorded, in relation to the eruption, despite the magnitude of the eruption and the following tsunami.

Tonga’s ‘Aqua man’

Equally miraculous as ‘Amaka’s survival was the case of Lisala Folau, from the small island of ‘Atata.

The 57-year-old grandfather, who relies on a cane to walk, was unable to reach higher ground in time to escape the tsunami and was swept out to sea.

“When I heard the loud bangs, I went outside my house. I thought it was thunder at first, but then I heard people chattering about getting to higher ground,” Folau said.

‘Atata boasts just one village, with a population of about 70 people. The island’s interior consists of high cliffs, which provided protection against the tsunami.

Folau told his family to help get the others to high ground and to return to help him when everyone was safe.

“It was so difficult for me to walk and I couldn’t climb up the cliffs, so I told them to get everyone to safety first, and then come back for me.”

Folau’s brother and nephew returned to help him, but by then the waves had breached the beach and began smashing the village. Realising it was too late, they decided to climb up a mango tree.

Second wave came
“The second wave came, so we decided to climb up the fau tree because we couldn’t get away in time.

“The waves were fast and strong, and we had to climb higher as they got bigger.

“When it calmed, we climbed back down and headed for higher ground…”

As Folau, his nephew and brother waded through the flooded island, a huge wave suddenly appeared. He told them to run for it and braced for the wave.

“I reckon it was 8m or more. I couldn’t fight back the wave, so I just let it sweep me, hoping it would bring me back. I was forced underwater several times before grabbing on to a branch.”

Folau spent the entire night, struggling to stay afloat in the open sea. Luckily for him, volcanic ash rain heated the ocean significantly, keeping him warm.

“I felt the ash falling, and the sea felt so much warmer. My hair was full of ash and rocks.”

Struggling to breathe
“The water was very warm so I didn’t struggle with the cold, but I was struggling to breathe above water.

“While I was lost, I was too distracted to feel thirsty, exhausted to feel anything. I was too distracted by the thought to survive to live.”

Folau ended on a tiny atoll, less than a hectare size. It was almost bare; tsunami waves having stripped away most of the trees.

Unable to get the attention of rescue boats, Folau decided to swim to the nearby shore of Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu, which is just under an hour’s boat ride away.

He ended up at a beach at the end of Nuku’alofa, exhausted and drained of energy.

“At that point, my body was weak, and I could barely push myself up. I used a piece of wood to walk, I made my self walk towards the main road and waited. A car picked me up and driver was shocked when I told him I was from ‘Atata.”

Later on, Folau arrived at a relative’s home on Tongatapu where his evacuated family was staying. They were overjoyed to see him alive.

“I eventually found my family staying at a relative’s house. They were planning my funeral and had told my wife who was in Australia at the time that I was dead. My family stayed up all night singing hymns because I had miraculously survived.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

The Kingdom of Tonga exploded into global news on January 15 last year with one of the most spectacular and violent volcanic eruptions ever seen.

Remarkably, it was caused by a volcano that lies under hundreds of metres of seawater. The event shocked the public and volcano scientists alike.

Was this a new type of eruption we’ve never seen before? Was it a wake-up call to pay more attention to threats from submarine volcanoes around the world?

• READ MORE: Why the volcanic eruption in Tonga was so violent, and what to expect next
• Tonga eruption was so intense, it caused the atmosphere to ring like a bell
• Tonga volcano eruption: PM reflects ahead of one-year anniversary of disaster
• Other Tongan eruption reports

The answer is yes to both questions.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano was a little-known seamount along a chain of 20 similar volcanoes that make up the Tongan part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

We know a lot about surface volcanoes along this ring, including Mount St Helens in the US, Mount Fuji in Japan and Gunung Merapi of Indonesia. But we know very little about the hundreds of submarine volcanoes around it.

It is difficult, expensive and time-consuming to study submarine volcanoes, but out of sight is no longer out of mind.

Tongan eruption breaks records
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption has firmly established itself in the record books with the highest ash plume ever measured and a 58km aerosol cloud “overshoot” that touched space beyond the mesosphere. It also triggered the largest number of lightning bolts recorded for any type of natural event.

The injection of large amounts of water vapour into the outer atmosphere, along with “sonic booms” (atmospheric pressure waves) and tsunami that travelled the entire world, set new benchmarks for volcanic phenomena.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption has firmly established itself in the record books with the highest ash plume ever measured.

Covid hampered access to Tonga during the eruption and its aftermath, but local scientists and an international scientific collaborative effort helped us discover what drove its extreme violence.

Eruption creates a giant hole
A team from the Tongan Geological Services and the University of Auckland used a multi-beam sonar mapping system to precisely measure the shape of the volcano, just three months after the January blast.

We were astonished to find the rim of the vast submarine volcano was intact, but the formerly 6km diameter flat top of the submarine cone was rent by a hole 4km wide and almost 1km deep.

This is known as a “caldera” and happens when the central part of the volcano collapses in on itself after magma is rapidly “pumped out”. We calculate over 7.1 cubic kilometres of magma was ejected. It is almost impossible to envisage, but if we wanted to refill the caldera, it would take one billion truck loads.

It is hard to explain the physics of the Hunga eruption, even with the large magma volume and its interaction with seawater. We need other driving forces to explain especially the climactic first hour of the eruption.

Mixed magmas lead to chain reaction
Only when we examined the texture and chemistry of the erupted particles (volcanic ash) did we see clues about the event’s violence. Different magmas were intimately mixed and mingled before the eruption, with contrasts visible at a micron to centimetre scale.

Isotopic “fingerprinting” using lead, neodymium, uranium and strontium shows at least three different magma sources were involved. Radium isotope analysis shows two magma bodies were older and resident in the middle of the Earth’s crust, before being joined by a new, younger one shortly before the eruption.

The mingling of magmas caused a strong reaction, driving water and other so-called “volatile elements” out of solution and into gas. This creates bubbles and an expanding magma foam, pushing the magma out vigorously at the onset of eruption.

This intermediate or “andesite” composition has low viscosity. It means magma can be rapidly forced out through narrow cracks in the rock. Hence, there was an extremely rapid tapping of magma from 5-10km below the volcano, leading to sudden step-wise collapses of the caldera.

The caldera collapse led to a chain reaction because seawater suddenly drained through cracks and faults and encountered magma rising from depth in the volcano. The resulting high-pressure direct contact of water with magma at more than 1150℃ caused two high-intensity explosions around 30 and 45 minutes into the eruption. Each explosion further decompressed the magma below, continuing the chain reaction by amplifying bubble growth and magma rise.

After about an hour, the central eruption plume lost energy and the eruption moved to a lower-elevation ejection of particles in a concentric curtain-like pattern around the volcano.

This less focused phase of eruption led to widespread pyroclastic flows – hot and fast-flowing clouds of gas, ash and fragments of rock – that collapsed into the ocean and caused submarine density currents. These damaged vast lengths of the international and domestic data cables, cutting Tonga off from the rest of the world.

Unanswered questions and challenges
Even after long analysis of a growing body of eyewitness accounts, there are still major unanswered questions about this eruption.

The most important is what led to the largest local tsunami — an 18-20m-high wave that struck most of the central Tongan islands around an hour into the eruption. Earlier tsunami are well linked to the two large explosions at around 30 and 45 minutes into the eruption. Currently, the best candidate for the largest tsunami is the collapse of the caldera itself, which caused seawater to rush back into the new cavity.

This event has parallels only to the great 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia and has changed our perspective of the potential hazards from shallow submarine volcanoes. Work has begun on improving volcanic monitoring in Tonga using onshore and offshore seismic sensors along with infrasound sensors and a range of satellite observation tools.

All of these monitoring methods are expensive and difficult compared to land-based volcanoes. Despite the enormous expense of submarine research vessels, intensive efforts are underway to identify other volcanoes around the world that pose Hunga-like threats.

Dr Shane Cronin is professor of earth sciences, University of Auckland.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Part 1 of a two-part series on the one-year anniversary of the Taliban takeover. Read part 2 tomorrow: The Taliban’s return has robbed Afghanistan’s women and girls of their future

A year after the fall of Kabul and the end of the US military mission in Afghanistan, the country remains a place of misery.

No foreign government has recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government, and much of the modern economy has collapsed. The new rulers have not kept earlier promises, including high-school level education for girls and an amnesty for former Afghan government soldiers and civil servants.

Following a survey earlier this year, the United Nations pointed to many outrageous deficiencies in internationally recognised human rights. Moreover, the July 31 drone killing of 9-11 mastermind Ayman al-Zawahiri in a safe house in central Kabul showed that key elements of the Taliban leadership still harbour international terrorists, the original cause of the US intervention 21 years ago.

• READ MORE: Other reports on Afghanistan since the Taliban takover

Fragile rule
Afghanistan seems trapped in a vicious circle, and the 38 million people living in the country are the frontline victims of a profound and still deepening tragedy. Without human rights, the Taliban regime will not enjoy UN membership, widespread diplomatic recognition, robust international humanitarian assistance or a broader base of legitimacy.

Without outside support, which financially accounted for 40 to 50 percent of the Afghan GNP prior to the Taliban takeover, Taliban rule remains fragile.

The one positive element in this bleak picture is that military violence has lessened. Despite some resistance from the competing Islamic State Khorasan terrorist group, or ISIS-K, and various other factions, Taliban rule appears unchallenged in the short term.

But in the longer term, the inflexibility and fragility of the Taliban authorities raise fundamental questions about whether their victory a year ago was just another phase in a longer civil war.

In some rural areas of the south long under Taliban control, life goes on much as before. But the loss of jobs in the more modern urban sectors and the scarcity of food has forced many Afghans back into an almost primitive economy, selling household possessions and sometimes even children to survive.

The world cannot simply wash its hands of this situation. There are three overriding US and NATO interests; ensuring that Afghanistan does not again becomes a haven and training ground for international terrorists; easing the world’s largest humanitarian/human rights crisis; and assisting endangered Afghans eligible for emigration.

Honoring US commitments
The al-Zawahiri case demonstrated the need for a strong reminder to the Taliban of their obligation not to harbour terrorists. However, this goes beyond monitoring known terror groups and must include steps to prevent the rise of a new generation of extremists. There are reports and video evidence of madrassa religious schools being established all over Afghanistan, primarily by Pakistani extremist groups.

This must be a high priority in any international discussions with the Taliban.

On the humanitarian and human rights fronts, in the wake of the al-Zawahiri case the US initially terminated talks with the Taliban over a possible release of former Afghan government financial reserves for humanitarian assistance. But recently American officials decided to go ahead with the talks after all, in light of fears over a looming hunger crisis in the coming winter months.

Other humanitarian assistance is needed, but must be administered through established international humanitarian groups, not the Taliban itself. Moreover, the world needs to remain united in not recognising the Taliban until they extend fundamental, universally-recognised human rights to all citizens, including female ones.

One year on from Aotearoa New Zealand’s longest covid-19 lockdown, an epidemiologist says further lockdowns cannot be ruled out, instead preparing to do them better.

On 17 August 2021, New Zealand went to alert level 4 because the deadly delta variant had arrived.

Aucklanders had no idea that day that they would still be in lockdown until December, and that after 18 months of trying to keep covid-19 out, it would be here to stay.

• READ MORE: Covid-19 update in NZ: 16 further deaths, 4489 new community cases
• Other NZ covid reports

The city was asked to hold the line so the country could get vaccinated, something critics said should have happened much earlier.

Auckland University epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson was vocal in urging the country to aim high and vaccinate more than 95 percent of eligible people.

Reflecting back, he said New Zealanders responded well, with most areas hitting that mark or higher by the measurements at the time.

Much had been learnt about the virus — and how to respond to it — since then, with the highly contagious but less harmful omicron variant changing everything at the start of this year, he said.

But the danger was not over.

Random severity of variants
“I think there are a lot of people who think, ‘oh look, it’s getting less severe over time so we’re fine,’ but it’s pretty random whether the next variant is going to be less severe or not,” he said.

Either way, it would need to be at least as spreadable as omicron to take over, he said.

The government has said lockdowns are not part of any future covid-19 plans, with the traffic light system taking its place.

But Professor Jackson said that may not “cut the mustard” if the worst happened.

“If we get a new mutation that is more severe, that kills more people, then we’ve got something huge to worry about,” he said.

“If that happens, if people start dropping dead in the street like the original version of covid, we will have little choice but to lock down.”

That was why the country still needed to be prepared for the worst, he said.

Frontline of delta outbreak
As an Auckland GP and co-leader of Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā, Dr Rawiri McKree-Jansen was at the frontline of the delta outbreak and lockdown and the vaccine rollout.

Some Māori and Pacific health teams had initially struggled to be given the resources they needed, or to be listened to.

The work they were able to do for their communities and the country showed what they were capable of and should be a lasting legacy, Dr McKree-Jansen said.

They were crucial to the vaccine roll out and helped the most vulnerable, especially those isolating.

“The mobilisation was impressive, relentless and co-ordinated,” he said.

“Those features are remarkable and give us a great sense of optimism about the contribution that Māori communities and Māori health professionals can make and I hope that is enduring.”

When it came to new variants, he said while it was important to be vigilant about what may come next, it was also important to focus on what was happening now.

“Omicron’s not done with us yet … I’m keen that we don’t forget the lessons we’ve learnt from the Delta and Omicron outbreaks – and supporting communities is fundamental to that.”

Both Professor Jackson and Dr McKree-Jansen acknowledged the people who had died since pandemic began, many more since the omicron outbreak that reached so many people.

But they said they were also grateful that many were protected by the lockdown and the vaccine rollout.

16 more people die
RNZ News reports that another 16 people with covid-19 have died and there are 4489 new community cases today, according to the Ministry of Health.

There are 496 people in hospital, 13 of them are in a high dependency unit

Yesterday the ministry reported another 21 people with covid-19 had died and there were 533 people in hospital, including 12 in intensive care or a high dependency unit.

Deputy Director-General and Public Health Agency head Dr Andrew Old told media this afternoon that modelling from Covid Modelling Aotearoa showed New Zealand was continuing to track at the lower end of what was expected in terms of a second wave this winter.

“We passed a peak in cases earlier that the modelling suggested and now hospitalisations are also declining suggesting these too have peaked. It’s sitting somewhere between 800 and 850 occupied beds across the country in late July,” he said.

Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand interim national medical director Dr Pete Watson said the recent drop in covid-19 cases was an encouraging trend.

“By each one of us sticking to public health measures we are making a difference,” he said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Senior government and military leaders from the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Japan are in Honiara to mark the 80th anniversary of the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal.

Minister of Defence Peeni Henare is leading the New Zealand delegation along with Secretary of Defence Andrew Bridgman and the Commander of the Joint Forces Rear Admiral James Gilmour.

The New Zealand High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Jonathan Schwass, said New Zealanders from the army, air force and navy “served with distinction in the Solomon Islands between 1942 and 1945”.

• READ MORE: Solomon Islanders in World War II: An indigenous perspective
• LISTEN: RNZ Pacific Waves audio flashback from the 75th anniversary

“As WWII starts to slip beyond living memory, it is important that we continue to honour people of all nationalities who served and who died here,” he said.

Schwass said the remembrance ceremonies being organised this weekend showed that they were not forgotten.

A series of commemoration events start today.

Schwass said they were a reminder that the ties between New Zealand and Solomon Islands went back far into the past.

Solomon Scouts and CoastWatchers Trust chair Sir Bruce Saunders said filming the stories of those who served the US Marine Forces when they landed on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942 was under way.

He said Solomon Islands students did not know their own history and he hoped to change that.

More than 25,000 soldiers died in the battle including dozens of Solomon Islanders.

Sir Bruce said the stories of their grandfathers and their role in saving their country needed to be passed down.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

“Since it was first established on November 19, 2008, the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) has always been confronted by many challenges, including attempts at criminalisation and disbandment by the state through the institutions of the TNI [Indonesian military] and Polri [Indonesian police].”

The above was written by West Papua National Committee KNPB national spokesperson Ones Suhuniap in his notes in the lead up to the 13th anniversary of the KNPB on Friday.

“Attempts at criminalisation since 2009 until now in 2021 are still being continued through the TNI and Polri,” wrote Suhuniap.

The first challenge, he said, was the first coordination post at the grave of assassinated independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay in Sentani, Jayapura regency, which was forcibly dismantled by Indonesian security forces on the orders of the Jayapura regent at the time.

• READ MORE: Other West Papua reports

“Because the fist coordinating post was dismantled on December 30, 2008, in the end the KNPB established the Papua task force headquarters near Bapak [Mr] Theys Eluay’s grave,” he said.

Following this in 2009, the KNPB was listed by the government as a “terrorist” and “criminal” organisation.

“Australian academic Dr Jason MacLeod clarified that the KNPB was a civil movement organisation conducting a peaceful urban struggle. In the end, the KNPB’s status as a terrorist and criminal organisation was removed,” said Suhuniap.

Activists on ‘wanted’ list
When it was declared a terrorist and criminal organisation, all of the KNPB’s activists were put on the police wanted persons list (DPO). As a consequence, they all sought refuge in the forests, on Abe Mountain, some even hid in Sabron, Jayapura.

“In the forests on Abe Mountain, the KNPB held its first mass consultation (Mubes) in the jungle,” he said.

A year later, in 2019, Suhuniap said that the KNPB began promoting its first congress which was eventually held in Sentani.

“The congress gave birth to three resolutions, including diplomatic unity, Papuan military unity and civilian unity through representative institutions,” he said.

Attempts at criminalisation did not, however, end. In 2021 the KNPB was again accused of being an anarchist and criminal organisation.

“Several criminal actions which were part of a plot were concocted, and then KNPB’s chairperson Mako M Tabuni was shot dead by members of the Special Forces (Kopassus) and the Indonesian police at the State Housing Company (Perumnas) 3 complex in Waena. Then Hubertus Mabel was killed by the Indonesian military in Wamena.”

Suhuniap revealed: “The state through the security forces pushed through a proposal and proposed to the DPRP [Papua Regional House of Representatives], the DPR [House of Representatives] and the Mendagri [Ministry of Home Affairs] that they hold a plenary session to disband the KNPB after the murder of its chairperson and deputy chairperson.”

Extraprdinary congress
In the same year, despite pressure from the military, the KNPB held an extraordinary congress (KLB) in Timika.

“In 2016 the Papua regional police issued a proclamation prohibiting the KNPB from holding demonstrations and proposed to the central government that the KNPB be immediately disbanded,” said Suhuniap.

None of these efforts by the state made the KNPB retreat a single step.

Quite the opposite, said Suhuniap, the KNPB defied the regional police’s proclamation by occupying the Papua Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Command Headquarters in Kotaraja on May 1, 2016.

Despite ongoing mental terror and repression by the security forces and their accomplices, in 2018 the KNPB aggressively built a consolidation until it succeeded in holding the 2nd Congress at the Vietnam Village in the State Housing Company 3 Complex.

“The second congress gave birth to a political resolution, namely a national civil strike (MSN),” said Suhuniap.

In 2021 the KNPB was criminalised by blaming them for attacks committed by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and incessant propaganda by buzzers accusing the KNPB of wanting to thwart the 20th National Games in Papua.

Accusations ‘just nonsense’
“These accusations were just nonsense, because they were indeed not proven,” he said.

Finally, he said, last week plain clothes police arrived at the home of a resident in the Expo Waena area after hearing that KNPB activists were eating a meal together.

In the first incident on November 9, police arrived at the home of KNPB general chairperson Agus Kossay who was eating a meal. In the second, on November 13, police returned to the same location and, according to Suhuniap, raided local residents’ homes.

“Efforts at criminalisation, propaganda and plots which continue to be played out by the colonialists against the KNPB have made us stronger, more confident and even more mature in confronting the challenges of the struggle for West Papua,” said Suhuniap.

“None of these efforts have made the KNPB retreat from the struggle, rather what has been done by Indonesia against the KNPB has provided the strength to maintain the struggle for West Papua national liberation.”

KNPB chairperson Warpo Sampari Wetipo said that the KNPB as a media of the West Papuan ordinary people continued to be consistent in its mission of urban civil struggle.

Right to self-determination
“Regardless of the attempts and actions by Indonesian security forces against the KNPB it has never broken our spirit of struggle. The KNPB believes in the agenda of the right to self-determination which has been fought for up until now,” he said.

Wetipo said: “For as long as the Papuan people are not given the democratic space to determine their own future (self-determination), the KNPB will continue to exist throughout the land of Papua.

“The KNPB has broadened its roots in Papua, from Sorong to Merauke. together with the oppressed people fighting to regain West Papuan independence.”

Translated by James Balowski for Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “Jelang HUT ke-13, KNPB Konsisten Berjuang”.

Today marks one year since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the call to put New Zealand into a covid-19 lockdown.

At the time, Aotearoa had 102 confirmed cases of covid-19 and the Ministry of Health said the virus was spreading in the community.

The borders were already shut.

• READ MORE: Timeline: The year of covid-19 in New Zealand
• Other NZ covid-19 reports

The level 4 lockdown started at 11.59pm on 25 March 2020, two days after the prime minister’s announcement, and meant non-essential businesses and schools closed.

New Zealanders were urged to stay at home to save lives, and to leave home only for essential purposes such as grocery shopping.

Panic buying made headlines with long queues forming at supermarkets around the country just ahead of the lockdown.

Countdown pleaded with the public to only buy what they needed, but empty shelves and out-of-stock items, such as flour, were a common sight.

Felt like ‘the apocalypse’
Bella, who works in Auckland, had a glass of wine with her flatmates the night of the announcement, before jumping on a bus to Thames to spend lockdown with her family.

She said it felt like the apocalypse, but she found the first lockdown the easiest as she was with family and out of the city.

The successive lockdowns for Auckland were the real challenge as being stuck in the inner city took a toll on her mental health and that of her friends, she said.

For Auckland resident Fiona Cameron, the level 4 lockdown was manageable and she considered herself lucky.

Some of her work colleagues had to juggle many responsibilities at once during this time, including working, home-schooling and keeping the household running.

Six, who is from Auckland, believes the lockdown helped bring people together.

She lived in a Housing New Zealand complex where organisations delivered kai during the lockdown.

“One lady turned up in a Porsche with a whole load of frozen chickens. People were thinking about others,” she said.

She expected New Zealand to be in and out of lockdowns for the next year or so.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.