PINA

U.S senator for Lousiana John Kennedy has introduced the U.S and Pacific Islands Forum Partnership Act to promote diplomacy and combat Communist China’s increased aggression in the Pacific. The proposed legislation would solidify the establishment of a special envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). “Communist China aims to broaden its sphere of influence across southeast Asia, and America’s diplomacy in...

Australian Prime Minister says he will host the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Sydney on 24 May. It will be the first time Australia has hosted the Quad Leaders’ Summit, and follows the Prime Minister’s attendance at the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo in May 2022. It will be the third in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit. The Prime Minister said he looks...

American Samoa has issued a public health emergency after an outbreak of measles has spread across the U.S territory. As of Tuesday, there has been one laboratory-confirmed case among an 8-year-old and 31 suspected and/or probable cases of the highly infectious disease, according to the Department of Health. During a press briefing, Dr Scott Anesi, the department’s lead epidemiologist, the suspected...

More than half the world is being left behind at the midpoint for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told Ambassadors in New York on Tuesday. Launching a special edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) progress report, he warned that their collective promise made in 2015 of a more green, just and equitable global...

New Ireland Province’s aspiration of attaining autonomy is slowing coming into fruition with the first reading on the proposed amendment to the Constitution on Autonomy which is expected to go through the next session of Papua New Guinea Parliament. Veteran politician and New Ireland Governor, Sir Julius, will present the amendment bill and is hopeful the House will give their...

“Saying No to single-use plastics” is not enough, much more must be done by our global community to address the plastic crisis we now face. Recognising this, the UN Environment Assembly passed a resolution in February 2022 to develop a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution including that within our marine environment. This must be completed by the end...

Contaminated cough syrup made by an Indian company has been found in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday, after a spate of child deaths linked to similar syrups in some countries last year. The WHO statement did not say whether any children in the Marshall Islands or Micronesia had fallen sick. But it said...

The Pacific Islands Forum has developed the Blue Pacific 2050 Strategy, which is a bold growth plan for our region. It lays out a thorough and well-rounded strategy for tackling the many difficult problems we face, such as climate change. Manoa Kamikamica, Fiji’s deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade said investing in disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation can be...

The SUN FLOWER 7, a fish carrier sailing under the flag of South Korea, was recently denied permission to unload a tuna catch of over 4,000 kgs, estimated to be worth 250 million baht (US$7.2 million), in Bangkok. However, subsequent Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) investigations have revealed this was not an isolated incident. EJF investigations have revealed this was not...

Vanuatu is set to be the pilot country for a new database that will improve insights on trade to enable better policy and business decisions. Vanuatu’s Director of Customs and Inland Revenue, Harold Tarosa and SPC Director of the Statistics for Development Division, Peter Ellis, signed a Data License Agreement on 21 April at the Oceania Customs Organisation’s Workshop that...