PINA

Scientists studying tortoise and turtle shells near the Marshall Islands have found they contain nuclear contamination. An article in the journal PNAS Nexus considered 'Anthropogenic uranium signatures in turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles from nuclear sites'. The scientists studied a sea turtle collected at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1978. “In May 1977, one year prior to the collection...

People in Vanuatu believe politicians need to look beyond their own four walls and work to improve the livelihoods of ordinary citizens. And many who talked to RNZ Pacific said they believe the opposition is partly at fault by constantly blocking the government to carry out its mandate. On Friday, the Vanuatu Supreme Court ruled in favour of the opposition, who...

Palau and Papua New Guinea governments signed a bilateral Air Service Agreement on Wednesday, 23 August, 2023. PNG Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation Walter Schnaubelt, and Charles Obichang, Minister of Public Infrastructure and Industry of Palau, signed on behalf of their respective countries. The bilateral air agreement negotiations between the two nations began in 2018 and progressed in 2019 and...

On 22 August 2023, the Japanese government decided to discharge treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, and the discharge began on 24 August. WWF-Japan cannot support this decision because serious concerns remain regarding this ocean discharge. First, there is insufficient consideration of alternatives. The Citizens Commission on Nuclear Energy (CCNE) had proposed mortar solidification, which...

A one-year moratorium has been placed on Indonesia’s application to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Prime Minister James Marape said this was so that Pacific Island Forum could address the West Papua issue and specifically human rights allegations in the province. Marape also said that the MSG received interest from Australia, France and Indonesia to join the group. He explained that...

A West Papuan leader has condemned the Melanesian Spearhead Group for abandoning the West Papuan cause in favour of a “corrupt alliance” with Indonesia. Jeffrey P Bomanak, chairman of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM), declared last week’s MSG Leaders’ Summit ruling on West Papua a “betrayal” of the Papuan people and called for the regional group to be dissolved. His response...

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua has responded cautiously over the Melanesian Spearhead Group’s surprise denial of full membership at its leaders summit last week, welcoming the communique while calling for urgent action over Indonesia’s grave human rights violations. In a statement released by President Benny Wenda after the second ULMWP leaders’ summit in Port Vila, the movement said...

By Rowena Acraman The administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has highlighted the importance of collaboration and partnership in the region to tackle pressing global challenges. Administrator, Samantha Power delivered an inspiring message of empowerment and shared progress during the Talanoa session which included USP students last week in Suva. Power emphasised USAID's commitment to supporting Pacific...

Analysis by David Robie The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) has thrown away a golden chance for achieving a historical step towards justice and peace in West Papua by lacking the courage to accept the main Papuan self-determination advocacy movement as full members. Membership had been widely expected across the Pacific region and the MSG's silence and failure to explain West Papua's...

The Supreme Court of Vanuatu ruled on Friday that Vanuatu’s opposition party won a no-confidence vote regarding incumbent Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau last week. While the speaker of Parliament initially ruled that the motion failed, because it garnered less than the absolute majority of 27 votes, Judge Edwin Goldsbrough of the Supreme Court found that 27 votes should not constitute...