A road crash in New Caledonia. Photo: NC la 1ère
New Caledonia road deaths concern
New Caledonia is still struggling with a high number of road fatalities.
In 2023, 51 persons died on the roads, latest statistics reveal.
Over half of this number concerns persons aged between 18 and 49, mainly in the Southern and Loyalty Islands provinces, New Caledonia's road safety observatory stated earlier this week.
This is a slight decrease compared to 2022 (70 dead) but still remains worrying, the authority said.
The main causes of those road fatalities were excessive speed (over 60 percent of the cases), safety belts not worn (over 70 percent of the cases) and alcohol (59 percent), the same sources said.
The statistics show the proportion of road fatalities in New Caledonia, compared to the whole population, is four times higher than in mainland France.
Christian Karembeu was part of the FIFA World Cup winning team in 1998. Photo: Supplied
Sport icons among Olympics torch bearers
French Pacific sport icons have been selected among those who will relay the Olympics torch this year, Paris 2024 from 8 May to 26 July, the organising committee announced Monday.
The torch relay will travel not only through mainland France, but will also involve legs in France's overseas countries and territories.
One of the celebrities selected is New Caledonia's FIFA 1998 World Cup champion Christian Karembeu, who happens to live in Greece, historical home of the Olympics.
In French Polynesia, one of the first women to have been recognised in surfing competitions, in 1965, Annick Paofai, has also been selected to carry the torch between Teahupoo (where the Olympics' surfing competitions will take place) and the capital Papeete on 13 June 2024.
Annick Paofai and Mehiata Riaria will carry the Olympics torch in July. Photo: Instagram / Mehiata Riaria
French Polynesia plays host to the whole surfing chapter of this year's French Olympics, on the main island of Tahiti.
A total of 11,000 persons have been selected as part of a nation-wide contest, not necessarily requiring the candidate to be famous.
The names of the person who will finally light the Olympic cauldron on 26 July in Paris remain a well-kept secret.
It is rumoured world class icons such as footballer Zinedine Zidane, judoka Teddy Riner or triple Olympic champion runner Marie-Josée Perec could be among the final torch bearers' top list.
Genetic fight against mosquito in French Polynesia
In French Polynesia, scientists are preparing to release more genetically-modified male Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes in a bid to naturally reduce the proliferation of the disease-bearing insects.
The method, which was tested on a pilot basis for the past ten years on the luxury atoll resort of Tetiaroa, consists in releasing sterilised males who will then "contaminate" the females in order to render them sterile as well.
50-year-old Louis Malardé institute's entomology laboratory, says they have now developed an X-ray device that can mass-sterilise male mosquitoes.
Each week, the institute is now able to produce some 250,000 sterile male mosquitoes, ready to be released in infected areas.
The experiment is now scheduled to be extended to the small town of Paea (where the Institute is located) in July and later to the whole island of Tahiti.
Mosquitoes are responsible for transmitting such diseases as dengue, malaria, zika, chikungunya, or filariosis, causing millions of deaths worldwide.
A sterile male mosquito breeding facility at the Louis Malardé Institute entomolgy lab. Photo: Polynésie la 1ère
Wallis population keeps dwindling
Wallis-and-Futuna's ongoing downward population trend is continuing, with an uninterrupted flux of long-term emigration to New Caledonia, latest statistics show.
According to the latest 2023 figures, the French Pacific territory's population is now estimated at 11,620.
This is 3.8 percent less than the previous census in 2018.
The trend includes young adults moving to study, but also to settle for good in New Caledonia, where the Wallisians and Futunians community has been notoriously much larger than in their native islands.
New Caledonia signs MOU with Top14 club
New Caledonia's government has signed a letter of intent with Top14 French rugby Club of Pau, La Section Paloise, in order to set up a permanent training facility in the French Pacific.
The deal was signed between New Caledonia's minister for Sports Mickaël Forrest and La Section Paloise President Bernard Pontneau, the local government said in a release on Wednesday.
One of the major objectives is not only to physically train young New Caledonians rugby seeds, but also to prepare them to a whole array of challenges that a long-term recruitment in mainland France involves more generally in terms of community, culture and social interaction.
A similar approach and deals signed a few years ago between French and Fijian rugby clubs to better prepare the recruited players to an inevitable cultural shock.
Many French Pacific rugby men from New Caledonia and Wallis-and-Futuna are already playing in Top14 clubs, just like an estimated 200+ players from Fiji.
New Caledonia’s sports minister Mickaël Forrest and La section Paloise President Bernard Pontneau, sign a letter of intent on rugby training on 16 January 2024. Photo: Government of New Caledonia