Bougainville results to be tabled in PNG parliament this year

Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba says the referendum results will be tabled in Parliament before the end of the year. “In accordance with section 342 of the Constitution, the minister responsible for

Read More

Cook Islands look to deepen NZ relationship, secure IMF and full Commonwealth membership

Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown, has spoken of the need for the Cook Islands’ voice to be heard at the highest levels of inter-government global gatherings, and to be able to participate autonomously in

Read More

Palau president visits Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr has called on Japan to raise the transparency of the decommissioning process at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Whipps made the statement on Tuesday in a meeting

Read More

Vanuatu’s Santo Island to be replaced by “Venia” in restoration of original Island names

The Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs and the Tavuemasana Council of Chiefs of Santo are urging the people of Vanuatu to replace the name “Santo Island” with its original name, “Venia.” This revival of the original

Read More

US$23 million to strengthen Tuvalu’s aviation sector

Tuvalu will soon receive US$23 million in grant financing to enhance its aviation sector, the World Bank has announced.  Through its Tuvalu Safe and Resilient Aviation Project, the Bank says it aims to improve the

Read More

PNG Parliament passes Ombudsman bill

A Member of Papua New Guinea Parliament found guilty under the Leadership Code and dismissed from office will stay out for five years before taking up a public office and not three years as it is under the current law.

Read More

AS Academy Feminine win first-ever OFC Women’s Champions League in Port Moresby

AS Academy Féminine have come from behind to beat Koloale FC 4-1 and deservedly win the inaugural OFC Women’s Champions League title in Port Moresby. The New Caledonian side, who needed at least a draw to clinch

Read More

Fijian Drua outdone by Crusaders, but fans can’t for 2024 season

The Fijian Drua had to sail through rough seas in Christchurch as they were outdone 49-8 by the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinals on Saturday night. The visitors took the field under less than desired

Read More

Rich world’s leaders fail to commit to Paris global financing summit

Two weeks ahead of a highly-anticipated climate finance summit, most developed country leaders have not confirmed their attendance, sparking concerns they are not taking it seriously. In sharp contrast, the leaders of

Read More

Amata, Kilili named co-chairs of bipartisan task force combatting Chinese government influence in Indo-Pacific

U.S. Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata of American Samoa and U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan of the CNMI have been named co-chairs of a bipartisan task force officially announced Wednesday at the U.S.

Read More

Global greenhouse gas emissions at all-time high, study finds

Greenhouse gas emissions have reached an all-time high, threatening to push the world into “unprecedented” levels of global heating, scientists have warned. The world is rapidly running out of “carbon budget”,

Read More

What happened to me must never happen again: Forum SG Puna

In a frank admission on the circumstances which forced his exit from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Secretary General of the Forum Henry Puna has told a closed function hosted in Samoa that what took place

Read More

PNG’s trade ties with China are set to strengthen

Richard Maru, PNG’s trade minister, was startlingly direct at the Australia–Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo held in Port Moresby last month. “Enough is enough,” he said, complaining that two-way

Read More

Turning the Tide on Plastics

Pristine, picturesque, paradise. Common words which are often used to describe our Pacific Island Countries. It is not unusual to hear that a visit to the Pacific region sits on the bucket lists of many people. With

Read More

Amount of warming triggering carbon dioxide in air hits new peak

The cause of global warming is showing no signs of slowing as heat-trapping carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere increased to record highs in its annual Spring peak, jumping at one of the fastest rates on record,

Read More

Japan’s decision to discharge radioactive waste water into Pacific ‘unconscionable’

Japan’s plan to discharge radioactive waste water into the Pacific has been described by Acting Forum Secretary General Dr Filimon Manoni ‘unconscionable’. Dr Manoni made the remarks at the World Ocean Day

Read More

“Papua New Guinea is my home”: Sidelined PNG Foreign Minister apologise

Sidelined PNG Foreign Minister and Port Moresby South MP Justin Tkatchenko has apologised to Papua New Guineans in Parliament Wednesday regarding his comments of primitive animals.  This was in response to

Read More

Collision course: Australia’s flatlining aid and its climate finance commitments

Recent data shows that official development assistance (ODA, “aid”) is increasingly being spent as a form of climate finance. The OECD reported that climate finance increased from 21.7 percent of bilateral ODA in

Read More

Solomon Islands and Fiji to enter bilateral security agreement

Solomon Islands will soon engage in a bilateral security agreement with the Republic of Fiji as part of efforts to fill the gaps in its security space. The Framework would allow the country to broaden and enhance its

Read More

Severe shortage of PNG health workers

An acute shortage of health professionals in hospitals around Papua New Guinea has prompted the Special Parliamentary Committee on Health Matters to propose an amendment to a law that prevents public servants who

Read More

Japan, Australia, U.S to fund undersea cable connection in Micronesia to counter China’s influence

Japan announced Tuesday that it joined the United States and Australia in signing a US$95 million undersea cable project that will connect East Micronesia island nations to improve networks in the Indo-Pacific region

Read More

West Papuan provisional government backs full membership of MSG

The self-styled provisional government of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua “with the people” of the Melanesian region have declared political support for full West Papuan membership of the Melanesian

Read More

Japan sends seawater into tunnel built for Fukushima nuke wastewater discharge

Japan has started sending seawater into an underwater tunnel built to release nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, local media reported on Tuesday. Tokyo

Read More

First steps agreed on plastics treaty after breakthrough at Paris talks

Nation-state representatives have taken the first concrete step toward a legally binding treaty to regulate plastic, described as the most important green deal since the 2015 international climate agreement. The banging

Read More