Results for Opinion

“To the Captain and Members of the Tonga Rugby League Invitational XIII, individually, and to the Coach, for their great victory and triumph over the Great Britain Lions last Saturday. May the fountain of the Omnipotent Divinities, who died for the people, including Tonga, to continue to bless and inspire you all, as you prepare for this week’s game.” - Dr. Pohiva Tu‘i‘onetoa Prime Minister (Media release).

By broadening the nexus between economic interest and national security, Trump is encouraging the decoupling of the world’s two largest economies and the emergence of a bipolar world order led by rival hegemons. Beyond fragmenting the trade and financial system that has underpinned the global economy for decades, the stage would be set for a devastating conflict. By Paola Subacchi.

Voice Recording. Na‘e ‘i ai ‘a e hoha‘a lahi ‘a e tangata‘eiki palemia, ‘Akilisi Pohiva (78) ki he fa‘unga ‘a hono pule‘anga ‘i ha‘ane mavahe atu mei he mamani ‘oku tau ‘i ai. Ko e liliu fakapolitikale na‘e faka‘amu ki ai ‘oku kehe ‘aupito ia mei he me‘a ‘oku hoko. Na’e ‘i ai ‘a ‘ene manavasi‘i ki ha ngaahi fepakipaki ‘e hoko. Na‘e faka‘eke‘eke ai ‘e Pesi Fonua, ‘Etita ‘o e Matangi Tonga Online ‘o fekau‘aki pea mo e tu‘unga ‘oku ‘i ai ‘a e fonua, ‘osi eni ‘a e ta‘u ‘e hiva pea mei he liliu faka politikale na‘e fai ‘oku kei fai pe ‘a e ta‘e femahino ‘aki fekau‘aki mo e fakalelei faka politikale na‘e tali ‘e he Fale Alea ‘i he 2009. ‘Oku mau tukuatu heni ‘a hono faka‘eke‘eke ‘e Pesi Fonua ‘a e Palemia kuo unga fonua, ‘Akilisi Pohiva, na‘e fai ‘i he ‘aho 26 ‘o ‘Akosi ‘i hono ‘ofisi ‘i Nuku’alofa, ‘i ha ngaahi uike si‘i pe pea ne si‘i to tau ‘i he ‘aho 12 ‘o Sepitema 2019.

Geoengineering will save us from the climate crisis, its champions insist. By using technology either to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or to deflect some solar radiation away from the Earth, they claim, we can undo the damage wrought by humanity’s failure to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. But while it certainly sounds like a convenient solution, there is no proof that it will work – and no telling what the side effects could be. In the view of Pacific islanders, it barely merits discussion. By François Martel.

On September 24-25, world leaders will attend a United Nations summit in New York to review progress toward the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This will be the first UN summit on the SDGs since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015. Since then, we have collectively made progress toward a more peaceful, safer, healthier, and more prosperous world. Sadly, however, we are currently on track to miss most of the SDGs and targets related to children – without which the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda can remain only a distant dream.

Dear Australian Deputy PM ... Your fruit grows with the phosphate taken from the islands...where they can no longer bear fruit. Yuki Kihara 2019.

Digital technology has transformed how we communicate, commute, shop, learn, and entertain ourselves. But the current problems afflicting social media are a perfect example of what can happen when uniform rules are imposed with no regard for social context and evolved behaviors. The rich and variegated patterns of communication that exist off-line have been replaced by scripted, standardized, and limited modes of communication on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. As a result, the nuances of face-to-face communication, and of news mediated by trusted outlets, have been obliterated. Efforts to “connect the world” with technology have created a morass of propaganda, disinformation, hate speech, and bullying. By Daron Acemoglu.

How did the world’s two most venerable and influential democracies – the United Kingdom and the United States – end up with Donald Trump and Boris Johnson at the helm? Trump is not wrong to call Johnson the “Britain Trump” (sic). Nor is this merely a matter of similar personalities or styles: it is also a reflection of glaring flaws in the political institutions that enabled such men to win power. By Jeffrey D. Sachs.

Fifty years after astronauts first walked on the Moon, space wars have gone from Hollywood fantasy to looming threat. Not content with possessing enough nuclear weapons to wipe out all life on Earth many times over, major powers are rapidly militarizing space. Given the world’s increasing reliance on space-based assets, the risks are enormous. by Brahma Chellaney.