Macron Backs Heritage Bid of Remote Polynesian Islands

Taputapuatea marae on Raiatea in French Polynesia Photo: AFP
Taputapuatea marae on Raiatea in French Polynesia Photo: AFP
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Macron Backs Heritage Bid of Remote Polynesian Islands

Taputapuatea marae on Raiatea in French Polynesia Photo: AFP
Taputapuatea marae on Raiatea in French Polynesia Photo: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday backed a bid by the Marquesas Islands to gain UNESCO world heritage status.

Macron, the first head of state to visit the remote archipelago in French Polynesia, was greeted by a traditional ceremony of 600 dancers and musicians from its six islands, said AFP.

He was the only person at the gathering wearing a suit -- with everybody else clad in costumes made of leaves from the local auti plant -- as he addressed a crowd from onboard a traditional Polynesian double-hulled canoe.

"This nature and this culture is our treasure," Macron said. "This is why I will fight alongside you for the Marquesas to get the UNESCO classification."

The UN cultural body awards world heritage status to sites judged to be of special universal value to humanity.

Top heritage sites include the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Machu Picchu in Peru and the Acropolis in Greece.

Marquesa Islands authorities have been campaigning for years to get the archipelago's unique combination of "nature and culture" recognized.

"We may just be a group of small rocks in the Pacific, but we have riches that deserve to become part of the world's heritage," Polynesian culture minister Heremoana Maamaatuaiahutapu said.

Macron is on his first official trip to French Polynesia, mostly dedicated to discussing the French overseas territory's strategic role, the legacy of nuclear tests and rising seas due to global warming.

The trip is seen as a chance for Macron to highlight the extent of France's global footprint through its overseas territories, which extend from the Pacific to the Caribbean to Latin America and the Indian Ocean.

The Pacific is of particular strategic importance in the context of China's rising power.



Japan Births in 2024 Fell Below 700,000 for First Time 

People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
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Japan Births in 2024 Fell Below 700,000 for First Time 

People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)

The number of births in Japan last year fell below 700,000 for the first time on record, government data showed Wednesday.

The fast-ageing nation welcomed 686,061 newborns in 2024 -- 41,227 fewer than in 2023, the data showed. It was the lowest figure since records began in 1899.

Japan has the world's second-oldest population after tiny Monaco, according to the World Bank.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called the situation a "quiet emergency", pledging family-friendly measures like more flexible working hours to try and reverse the trend.

Wednesday's health ministry data showed that Japan's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman is expected to have -- also fell to a record low of 1.15.

The ministry said Japan saw 1.6 million deaths in 2024, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier.

Ishiba has called for the revitalization of rural regions, where shrinking elderly villages are becoming increasingly isolated.

In more than 20,000 communities in Japan, the majority of residents are aged 65 and above, according to the internal affairs ministry.

The country of 123 million people is also facing increasingly severe worker shortages as its population ages, not helped by relatively strict immigration rules.

In neighboring South Korea, the fertility rate in 2024 was even lower than Japan's, at 0.75 -- remaining one of the world's lowest but marking a small rise from the previous year on the back of a rise in marriages.