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Hellen Saohaga's London performance second best for Solomon Islands at Olympics, Paralympics

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:56:04 GMT

Monday, September 10, 2012

Hellen Saohaga at the Paralympic Village on Friday
Image: Laura Hale.

The Solomon Islands during the Opening Ceremony, with Saohaga as flag-bearer
Image: Laura Hale.

London, England — When Solomon Islander Hellen Saohaga finished fifteenth in Saturday's women's shot put - F57/58, she set a personal best and became the second-highest finishing Solomon Islander ever in Olympic and Paralympic competition; only Olympic powerlifter Wendy Hale has bettered her performance, coming twelfth in competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Saohaga qualified for this year's Paralympics on the basis of being a wildcard invite; a representative of the Solomon Islands Paralympic Committee believes, with better coaching and additional training, she has the potential to qualify for the Rio Paralympics on performance grounds.

Saohaga's best throw in competition was a distance of 5.23 metres. This set a personal-best career throw for the athlete, and sees her finishing with a season's best score of 228. Her efforts saw her finish ahead of several competitors including: Nephtalie Jean Louis of Haiti, Rhodah Mutale of Zambia, Madinat Abdullayeva, of Azerbaijan and Nadia Medjedj of Algeria.

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Excerpt from an interview with Saohaga prior to competition
Image: Laura Hale.

In training at the practice athletics field in London, Saohaga spent time on-field at the same time as Oscar Pistorius, and got her picture taken with the "Blade Runner".

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Wikinews interviews Oceania Paralympic Committee President Paul Bird

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:12:55 GMT

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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Map of Oceania
Image: CIA World Factbook.

London, England — When Wikinews interviewed Oceania Paralympic Committee (OPC) President Paul Bird, the day before the start of this year's Summer Paralympics, he shared the idea that whilst Oceania may not be the first place one thinks of in connection with "Paralympics" or even "developing countries", Oceania is represented at the Games in London by athletes who have overcome many obstacles in order to compete.

According to Bird, two athletes from Oceania are regarded as medal prospects. One, Fijian high-jumper Iliesa Delana, missed out in Beijing due to his event being cancelled. He is currently ranked number two in the world, having won silver at the World Championships. The other is Francis Kompaon, a sprinter from Rabaul in Papua-New Guinea competing in the 100 and 200 metre sprints. These athletes qualified under the standard Paralympic processes. Other Oceania athletes are "wildcards", selected by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to broaden the number of nations taking part. Countries do not always get their preferred choices of wildcards; for a variety of reasons, the IPC may select a less-favoured athlete. In particular, women are more likely to be chosen to address the games' gender imbalance.

It's not easy being an athlete, or an official, from a developing country says Bird. Often people are confronted with a host of unfamiliar situations. For example: many of the required forms are now online; officials with little technology experience have to navigate an unfamiliar landscape of browsers, buttons and passwords.

The OPC consists of eight countries: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua-New Guinea. Papua-New Guinea and Samoa are sending two athletes each to the London Games. Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands are sending one each.

Bird says, in attempting to promote Paralympic sport in Oceania, the region's Paralympic Committee puts a priority on training local officials, coaches and classifiers. This helps member countries conduct their own events, without assistance from Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, the Committee organizes the Arafura Games, a regional competition.

Countries in the region are encouraged by the OPC to assemble teams, get athletes into work rankings, and plan ahead for the 2016 Paralympics to be held in Rio. Efforts are being made to strengthened ties between the region and international bodies such as the International Tennis Federation.

Bird, as head of the OPC, has been a member of the Australian Paralympic Committee since 1993. He won gold and silver medals in swimming at the 1984 Paralympics where he was the Australian Team Captain. He was the Australian Chef de Mission in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004, and the Assistant Chef de Mission in Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, and Beijing in 2008. He also currently sits on the Australian Paralympic Committee's board.

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Telecom Commission of Solomon Islands issues phone company US$1M fine

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:27:45 GMT

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Solomon Islands

Sources [edit]

Jemima Garrett. "PNG phone company bungim bikpela penalty long Solomons" — Radio Australia, Tok Pisin Service, March 2, 2011 (Tok Pisin)
Jemima Garrett. "PNG's B-Mobile faces fine for Solomons service failures" — Radio Australia, English Section, March 2, 2011
"Limp Bemobile doesn’t measure up; penalised for not meeting penetration targets" — PriMetrica/GlobalComms, March 2, 2011
"bemobile penalised" — Solomon Star Times, March 2, 2011

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Vanuatu hit by 7.2 magnitude earthquake

Thu, 27 May 2010 18:00:44 GMT

Disasters and accidents

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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Shakemap of the earthquake.
Image: United States Geological Survey.

Vanuatu has been hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake at 04:14 local time on Friday (17:14 UTC on Thursday). The epicenter was located 215 kilometers to the northwest of Luganville, Espíritu Santo, Vanuatu; 340 kilometers to the southeast of Lata, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands; 485 kilometers to the northwest of Port-Vila, Vanuatu; and 2,070 kilometers to the northeast of Brisbane, Australia.

The earthquake had a depth of 36.1 kilometers, approximately 22.4 miles. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning for Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia. They said on the report: "It is not known that a tsunami was generated. This warning is based only on the earthquake evaluation. An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines in the region near the epicenter within minutes to hours." The Vanuatu government Meteorological Office reported infrastructure cracks, and power outages, but does not foresee major damage. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, CNN reported. USGS initially reported the earthquake as 7.6, but they later downgraded it. Magnitude 5.7, 5.2 and 6.4 aftershocks were reported later by USGS.

The tsunami warning was cancelled an hour after it was issued. Geophysicist Barry Hershorn said to The Huffington Post that they had confirmed there was no tsunami from ocean buoys and from coastal sea level gauges in Vanuatu. The Vanuatu goverment said they were pleased the tsunami alert had been canceled. "We haven't received any reports yet about earthquake damage," said Salesa Kaniaha, Meteorological Office acting director of Vanuatu. "The very close proximity [of the epicenter] to Espíritu Santo [the closest island] meant there was nothing much we could do to alert residents to any danger," he added.

Vanuatu is an insular country located in southern Pacific Ocean, located 1,750 kilometers to the east of Australia.

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Sources [edit]

"Magnitude 7.2 - VANUATU" — USGS, May 27, 2010
"NOAA Tsunami Warning" — NOAA, May 27, 2010
"Magnitude 5.7" — USGS, May 27, 2010
"Magnitude 5.2 - VANUATU" — USGS, May 27, 2010
"Magnitude 6.4 - VANUATU" — USGS, May 27, 2010
"Magnitude 7.2 quake strikes off Vanuatu" — CNN, May 27, 2010
Reuters. "Powerful 7.3 earthquake rattles Vanuatu" — AlertNet, May 27, 2010
"Un terremoto de 7,6 grados frente a Vanuatu activa la alerta de tsunami en el Pacífico" — Europa Press, May 27, 2010 (Spanish)
"South Pacific Tsunami Warning Canceled After Vanuatu Earthquake" — The Huffington Post, May 27, 2010

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Magnitude 6.5 earthquake rocks the Solomon Islands

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:43:27 GMT

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Solomon Islands

Sources [edit]

"Magnitude 6.5 quake hits near Solomon Islands" — Reuters, January 3, 2010
"Strong quake strikes Solomon Islands" — The Australian, January 3, 2010
"6.5 Earthquake Hits Solomon Islands" — The Inquisitr, January 3, 2010
Ed Johnson. "Solomon Islands Hit by 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake" — Bloomberg, January 3, 2010

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