PINA

Thirty people in Papua New Guinea are reported to have been killed and many seriously injured in the worst tribal warfare on Kiriwina Island in the Milne Bay Province Monday. The number of deaths will be the highest ever recorded during a tribal warfare on the Island. Member for Kiriwina Goodenough and Deputy Opposition Leader Douglas Tomuriesa confirmed that 30 people...

The official results of the Snap Election has reconfirmed the unofficial results — none of the country's major political parties who contested the snap elections on 13 October have secured the simple majority of the 52 Members of Vanuatu Parliament (MPs) to form a majority government. The official results showed that the two pre-independence political parties -Vanua'aku Pati (VP) and...

Taiwan is open to possible discussions that may lead to regaining diplomatic ties with the Solomon Islands and Kiribati, whose decisions to switch to China in 2019 unsettled Washington and its Pacific allies. “We are very willing to establish special relations with any island country, not just the Solomons and Kiribati. We want to reach out,” said Paul Chien, director...

Civil society organisations and governments may have to cancel events at the UN climate summit in November as the Egyptian hosts have tightened security for the opening days. COP27 will open on Sunday 6 November in Sharm el-Sheikh, and on the Monday and Tuesday world leaders are due to descend on the conference centre for talks to direct their negotiating...

A year ago, on 1st October 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed the first Resident Coordinator Micronesia, Jaap van Hierden, to head the UN’s newest Multi-Country Resident Coordinator’s Office. Based in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the UN Multi-Country Resident Coordinator’s Office Micronesia (UNMCO Micronesia) covers the five Micronesian countries including Palau, the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI),...

Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama has stated that Bougainville’s future as an independent sovereign nation is inevitable and that there was nothing that can change the resolve of the government and people from achieving sovereignty. And he warned in the Autonomous Bougainville Parliament that no foreign government or foreign leader would dictate to Bougainville the outcome of the Bougainville Peace Process. Further,...

The Pacific looks set benefit economically, but some countries could also face “danger” to their democracies, after China's president cemented his grip on the country's leadership. As widely anticipated, Xi Jinping was elected as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party on Sunday, his third term in that role, which will also likely see him elected as China's president in...

Top Police leaders from twenty-eight Transnational Crime Units (TCU) across the Pacific are meeting in Samoa this week to address transnational crime such as drug trafficking, cyber-bullying and more. The three-day conference was opened by Samoa Minister of Police & Prisons, Faualo Harry Schuster, who highlighted that his hope is for member countries to boost efforts in combating transnational crime...

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has published version 3.0 of its fisheries standard, meaning fisheries entering MSC assessment for the first time have until May 2023 to adhere to the new standard, while certified fisheries have six years to come into compliance. MSC's standard review and uupdate, considered the most-comprehensive ever done by the organisation, began in 2018 and has...

A year ago, on 1st October 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed the first Resident Coordinator Micronesia, Jaap van Hierden, to head the UN’s newest Multi-Country Resident Coordinator’s Office. Based in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the UN Multi-Country Resident Coordinator’s Office Micronesia (UNMCO Micronesia) covers the five Micronesian countries including Palau, the Republic of Republic of Marshall...