We Say: Learning from faith-based teachings
Between March and April this year, three of the world’s largest religions celebrate important dates.On March 1, the Muslim community started its annual fast of Ramadan, sometimes known as Ramzan.This month-long time
Whispers
Border movementsThere was much fanfare from the Fiji Navy and police after they seized a firearm and some ammunition on a ship arriving from Tonga. First it was reported that there were a number of firearms and bullets
Briefs
American Samoa The American Senate has unanimously passed a bill removing the 10% cap on local investments by the American Samoa Government Employees Retirement Fund (ASGERF). Supporters argue it will strengthen the
Wellington eyes strategic denial in the Cook Islands
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ row with the Cook Islands government in February was every bit as odd as his January quarrel with the President of Kiribati. It arose after the Cook Islands Prime Minister,
Confronting geopolitics in Pacific regional diplomacy
In the past two years, concerns about strategic competition and the increasingly uncertain and unpredictable global order have started to take a more central place in the foreign policy and security discourses of the
Risky business: Bridging the insurance gap
The insurance gap is not only a Pacific Island problem. Australia faces a massive insurance gap that leaves home and business owners increasingly vulnerable to either dealing with disasters without being fully insured
Parametric Insurance: A door of opportunity?
Less than a fornight after an earthquake devastated Port Vila on December 17, the Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) was on a plane to the Vanuatu capital, a US$1.2 million
Insurance sector taps into AI
The insurance industry is under pressure to transform. This shift is global, and is about improving customer experience and ensuring efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability in a highly competitive
Insurance grows but faces challenges
The general insurance sector in Fiji has maintained a positive performance in 2023, growing 8%.Despite facing challenges such as rising claims costs and increasing competition, the sector showed resilience and is poised
Misogyny on the rise: But women fight back
The opening session of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) meeting in New York this month heard that “misogyny is on the rise.” Sima Bahous, the Executive Director of UN Women, said women and girls are
PNG needs to end “Horrifying Violence”
A staggering 3.414 million Papua New Guinea women may experience intimate partner violence this year, according to statistics provided by the country’s National Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Secretariat this month. They
Movers and Shakers
Former Papua New Guinea Chief Justice and Madang Governor, Sir Arnold Amet, has been appointed asthe new PNG Ambassador to the United States of America. Palau has appointed Stan Shih, founder of Taiwan’s PC brand Acer
‘My parents always told me to dream for the stars: ‘CHamoru name makes it to the moon
Among other things, Marcus Manglona from Guam now has one claim to fame—his name is on the moon. The Blue Ghost lunar lander, which landed on the moon on 02 March, carried with it not just NASA scientific equipment
Researchers find active volcanic hotspot in Cook Islands seabed
Researchers have discovered a potentially younger and active volcanic hotspot beneath the Cook Islands’ waters, prompting excitement for geological understanding and raising calls for caution regarding seabed
Wasted millions: $8.3 million Tongiaki catamaran no longer serves Tonga, review finds
A vessel once celebrated for its speed and preferred as an alternative to air transport in Tonga has been revealed to be non-operational, barely five years after its launch. The Minister of Public Enterprises Piveni
Australia pivots foreign aid to Pacific to cover U.S. cut
Pacific Island nations will get a larger chunk of Australia’s foreign aid as spending is refocused after the United States slashed its aid agency. Foreign Minister Penny Wong asked her department to compile a
PNG superannuation funds attribute profits to offshore activity, BSP
Papua New Guinea’s largest superannuation funds – Nambawan Super Limited (NSL) and the National Superannuation Fund – have attributed profits to offshore investments and the Bank of South Pacific Financial
Solomon Islands Opposition leader Wale calls for halt of proposed mining on San Jorge
Solomon Islands leader of Opposition Matthew Wale has called on the Minister of Mines & Energy to halt the proposed granting of a mining license to Far East Resources Company Ltd for nickel mining on San Jorge.
2025 Australian aid update
Australia’s foreign aid (Official Development Assistance or ODA) for 2025-26 is budgeted at $5.097 billion as announced in Tuesday evening’s Federal Budget, a 2.7% increase over the 2024-25 aid budget of $4.961
Alliance Airlines granted FAOC to operate in Vanuatu
The Government of Vanuatu, through the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Utilities (MIPU) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vanuatu (CAAV), has granted a Foreign Air Operator Certificate (FAOC) to
Tonga’s Ministry of Finance CEO calls for unity to overcome Pacific’s economic challenges
Tonga’s Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Finance, Kilisitina Tuaimei’api, opened the Special Forum Economic Officials Meeting (FEOM) Tuesday, with a call for unity in addressing the unprecedented
Decades after the U.S. buried nuclear waste abroad, climate change could unearth it
A new report says melting ice sheets and rising seas could disturb waste from U.S. nuclear projects in Greenland and the Marshall Islands. Ariana Tibon was in college at the University of Hawaiʻi in 2017 when she saw
PNG Government confirms successful test of Facebook controls system
It seems the Papua New Guinea Government has now begun steps towards implementing system controls of Facebook and its use through mobile operators and the ICT industry regulator. Police Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jnr,
Convicted fraudsters stranded abroad after Marshall Islands revokes their passports
A pair of China-born scammers convicted of bribing officials via a fake United Nations agency have had their Marshall Islands passports revoked while outside the country, potentially leaving them stranded in permanent
