Cook Islands

The two leaders during their first meeting, discussed key areas of cooperation to further advance Fiji and Cook Island’s bilateral relations.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Rabuka emphasized that Fiji places great importance on its relations with the Cook Islands as Pacific Island Developing States and stewards of large maritime spaces.

He adds that the bilateral relations have grown over the years, through collective participation and advocacy in regional and at international forums.

The multiple Olympic gold medallist came with a delegation from FINA, the World governing body for Aquatic Sports.

The Cook Islands Aquatic Federation swimming programmes in the schools start with the kids at a young age, with some already looking out for a Cook Islands swimming representation at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.

In a statement issued from Mark Brown's office Sir Tom Marsters said he was "satisfied" that Mark Brown had the majority of the MPs elected to Parliament.

Following the final count of the Cook Islands general elections, the Cook Islands Party (CIP) gained 12 seats including the Ngatangiia seat which was initially tied between CIP's candidate Sonny Williams and Cook Islands United Party's Margaret Matenga.

Mark Brown thanked the community for a fair and peaceful election process.

Voters will have four parties, and a movement calling for a collegial approach to government, to choose from.

Cook Islands politics has been dominated for years by the Cook Islands Party led by the current Prime Minister Mark Brown - a man who is very confident of holding on to power.

He believes his government has done a very good job keeping the country together in very trying circumstances over the past two or so years.

There are 69 candidates in all contesting the poll, and one, marine scientist Teina Rongo, hopes this election will be third time lucky for him.

The election August 1 date was announced on Tuesday by The Queen's representative Sir Tom Marsters on national radio.

The Chief Electoral Officer, Taggy Tangimetua said the 49-day turnaround to polling day is the "shortest she has ever seen in the Cook Islands."

The Cook Islands Electoral office said voter registration is open until June 20th, while nominations for election candidates open on June 21st and close on June 30th.

The programme delivers maritime safety initiatives to seven Pacific Island countries – Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu.

The funding, from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2026, marks the fourth phase of the programme.

The PMSP is a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade programme, funded through the International Development Cooperation programme and delivered by Maritime NZ.

The 63-year-old woman died on the way to hospital on the island of Aitutaki, Prime Minister Mark Brown said in a statement.

"It is with great sadness that I announce that we have recorded our first in-country death attributed to Covid-19," Brown said.

"The deceased was a 63-year-old woman on the island of Aitutaki.

"She had had all three anti-Covid vaccinations, but also had several serious underlying health conditions."

"It is tragic, but not unexpected that we might lose someone to Covid.

There is an increase in the number of people who can gather at outdoor events from 50 to 100.

The maximum limit for indoor spaces will continue to be 50 people.

Contact sport has resumed with the requirement of players to return a negative RAT result on the day of play.

Prime Minister Mark Brown said some sports codes are delaying the resumption of competition until after the Covid-19 outbreak in the Cook Islands has peaked.

He said there has been some push back on the charging of RAT tests for players and this is being reviewed for a better solution.

With Vanuatu already out of the tournament in Qatar, Thursday's clash between Solomon Islands and Tahiti in Doha will now act as a single play-off match to determine the winner and runner-up of Group A, with both teams already assured of a spot in the semi-finals.

If the match is level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time will be played followed by penalties if required.

As of this morning there had been 676 cases in the Cooks, with 206 having recovered and 470 still active.

The vast majority of these cases have been on Rarotonga, with several on Aitutaki.

The Prime Minister, Mark Brown, says while none of the Covid-19 victims in the country have needed hospital treatment, one case does have moderate symptoms.

He said this person is being supported by Te Marae Ora and other government agencies.

Mr Brown also said there are 14 active cases aged 70 or over and these people are also being closely monitored.