PINA

Central Honiara MP Gordon Darcy Lilo has withdrawn his motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele after Speaker Patteson Oti ruled the motion could not be deferred. The motion, initially scheduled for debate on Monday, 16 December was widely expected to fail, with the Government for National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) declaring it “rock solid” and fully united...

Vanuatu's top court has dismissed a constitutional challenge to the dissolution of the nation's parliament, clearing the way for a snap election. Voters will go to the polls on January after the Supreme Court found a political powerplay to dismiss the last government was constitutional. It will be the third election in four years for the notoriously politically instable Pacific nation. Faced...

Op-Ed by Edward Clark Generating revenue has always been a challenge for Pacific Island nations, but the amount of funding required has dramatically increased with the need for large-scale climate resilience solutions, including expensive infrastructure. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change, and the United Nations has repeatedly stressed that access to finance, and...

A lawyer for a small South Pacific island nation told the world’s highest court to heed her warning. “Tuvalu will not go quietly into the rising sea,” Phillipa Webb said, hoping her ominous words last week would make a mark as two weeks of historic and closely-watched hearings on the threat of climate change wrapped up Friday. The International Court of...

Researchers have found that tuna spawn within the boundaries of the Palau National Marine Sanctuary, suggesting that the secured area potentially provides protection for tuna during key life stages. “This finding is in line with past research on tropical tuna larvae and spawning activity, which are widely distributed in the Pacific Ocean and have been previously observed within other large-scale...

Sea-level rise will render their islands uninhabitable this century, low-lying atoll nations told the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as they called for a definitive opinion that lack of action to reduce carbon emissions is a breach of international law. Starkly different dueling narratives have defined the two weeks of hearings, which were to wrap up on Friday in The...

Vanuatu’s Attorney General Arnold Kiel Loughman has delivered a forceful call for climate justice as landmark proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded on 13 December 2024. Speaking on behalf of Vanuatu and other Global South nations, Loughman argued that international environmental and human rights laws must hold historical polluters accountable for the catastrophic impacts of climate change. “The...

Vanuatu Chief Justice (CJ) Vincent Lunabek dismissed the constitutional case filed by the applicants (Former Opposition group) Friday, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the President had signed the dissolution order with a conflict of interest. The case centred around the claim that the President had violated Article 66(2) of the Constitution by acting with a conflict...

Fiji's Ministry of Health has confirmed all seven individuals who had consumed a cocktail at the Warick Resort and became sick have now been transferred to the Lautoka hospital. The Ministry said out of the seven, four were Australians, one American and two foreigners who are residing in Fiji. The Ministry of Health & Medical Services said in a statement ,...

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded its landmark hearings on Friday, 13 December 2024, addressing the obligations of states in the context of climate change and its impacts on vulnerable nations. The hearings, which gained significant international attention, highlighted the urgent need for accountability and action against climate change impacts, particularly on vulnerable nations. The ICJ is expected to deliver...