"Thenceforth, the Battle of Milne Bay became an infantry struggle in the sopping jungle carried on mostly at night under pouring rain. The Aussies were fighting mad, for they had found some of their captured fellows tied to trees and bayoneted to death, surmounted by the placard, 'It took them a long time to die'."
– Samuel Eliot Morison, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, p. 38
Australian soldiers resting in the Finisterre Ranges of New Guinea while en route to the front line
Marines of the 1st Marine Division display Japanese flags captured during the Battle of Cape Gloucester
Bougainville: World's newest nation expected to form as islands vote in independence poll
"See US/UN/Australia past betrayal, bottom article. West Papua: Day of violence sees at least 27 dead 24 September 2019"
Region thought likely to break away from Papua New Guinea would be first new country since South Sudan
Nick Perry 3 days ago
Some voters are travelling to polling stations by boat ( AFP/Getty )
The Pacific islands of Bougainville are voting in a historic referendum to decide if it will become the world's newest nation by gaining independence from Papua New Guinea.
The vote will run over two weeks and is a key part of a 2001 peace agreement that ended a civil war in which at least 15,000 people died in the cluster of islands to the east of the Papua New Guinea mainland.
Experts believe the 250,000 people of Bougainville will vote overwhelming in favour of independence ahead of the other option, which is greater autonomy, but the vote will not be the final word.
The referendum is non-binding and a vote for independence would need to be negotiated by leaders from Bougainville and Papua New Guinea. The final say would go to legislators in the Papua New Guinea parliament.
The violence in Bougainville began in the late 1980s, triggered by conflict over an enormous open cast copper mine at Panguna.
The mine was a huge export earner for Papua New Guinea but many in Bougainville felt they got no benefit and resented the pollution and disruption to their traditional way of living.
The mine has remained shut since the conflict. Some believe it could provide a future revenue source for Bougainville should it become independent.
Papuan church leaders filmed burning masks in ‘symbolic prayer'
"See US/UN/Australia past betrayal, bottom article. West Papua: Day of violence sees at least 27 dead"
Faith or froth?
By Coconuts Bali Aug 4, 2021 | 3:07pm Bali time
Screengrab taken from the viral video via Instagram.
A video showing church leaders in Mimika, Papua burning masks and declaring they do not believe in COVID-19 and its vaccines are making national headlines in Indonesia, but a local official said today that the controversial scene has been taken out of context.
The viral clip showed dozens of people gathering before a bonfire, with formally-dressed men presumed to be church leaders standing at the front. The men were holding up masks in their hands, while one of the main speakers appeared to be holding a vaccine vial.
At one point in the 3-minute clip, one of the men said: “We do not believe in vaccines, vaccines and corona.”
The same man also likened COVID-19 to the devil in the video, and said that the viral disease will not lose to God’s power. Not long after, the men tossed the masks and vaccine vial into the fire, with spectators around them ?— who were without masks and were not observing social distancing ?— cheering on. According to reports, the video was taken in Kwamki Narama district on Sunday and that the people were members of the GKII church.
Kwamki Narama District Chief Hence Suebu said today the event was “symbolic” and not meant to be taken literally.
“What appears in the video is a type of prayer [for] release, that the [religious] service they conducted they are releasing [the promise that] COVID can be decimated through the blood of Jesus, that COVID can be destroyed through their service. But after that activity they still follow health protocols.”
Hence also offered an apology to the residents of Mimika for the spread of the unsettling video.
“The initial mistake is because there’s no narration in the video and so people thought this is a form of anti-government activity, but it’s actually not, they are very obedient with health protocols,” he said.
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