U.S. weighs stationing Patriot air defence systems in Palau
The U.S. and Palau are discussing the permanent deployment of advanced missile defense systems in the Pacific island nation, Palau President Surangel Whipps said part of Washington’s efforts to check China’s
WHO Western Pacific candidates vow to rebuild staff trust
Candidates vying for the regional director position at the World Health Organisation Western Pacific regional office fielded member states’ questions in a unique online public forum meant to gauge their priorities and
FSM becomes first country to sign oceans treaty
The Federated States of Micronesia has signed a global treaty that aim to protect oceans that lie beyond national boundaries, becoming the first country in the world to do so. The new Biodiversity of Areas beyond
‘Pacific Towing – Delivering More than Harbour Towage’
Melanesian marine services company, Pacific Towing (PacTow), assists an average of 3,500 vessels annually in five ports in Papua New Guinea, as well as in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Although harbour towage is PacTow’s
Don’t capitulate to foreign interests, Puna tells Foreign Ministers
The Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum has sounded a strongly worded call for greater regionalism in the Pacific by urging Foreign Ministers of the 18-member Forum meeting in Fiji today, not to capitulate to
Human rights violations in Pacific fishing industry ‘ignored’
Very little attention has been given to addressing human rights violations within the fishing industry in the Pacific, according to new research unveiled at a first-of-its-kind ocean science meeting underway in Nadi,
Pacific economies: driven to the brink of change
FANALEI. A 2-kilometre-wide island in the Solomon Islands. Once home to 500 people. Now, almost empty. The reason a young student and her peers are taking on the world. Just over 2000 kilometers away, a man in his
Fukushima discharge begins
Pacific remains divided As Pacific Ocean experts gathered in Fiji in August to discuss the role of the Pacific Ocean Commission, Japan begun discharging more than one million tonnes of treated radioactive water from the
Opinion: What happens now that MEPC80 is behind us?
Next year the delegates of the 6PAC Plus will be back in London to determine the basket of measures that will accompany the newly adopted strategy to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of international shipping. The
Whispers
WHO will be next regional health leader? Why is the Pacific Islands region fielding two candidates for the position of World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific? Tonga has
Briefs
American SamoaGovernor Lemanu P. S. Mauga said, “the livelihoods of over 2000 workers at the canneries are at stake” over a proposed Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Sanctuary. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
