PINA

UN member states gather in New York to hammer out a long-awaited treaty that, if agreed, will govern the planet’s last, lawless wilderness: the high seas. Two hundred nautical miles beyond the territorial waters and jurisdiction of nations, the high seas have been treated “recklessly”, according to environmental groups. Warning that the outcome of the talks – which run from Monday...

Vanuatu Prime Minister Bob Loughman, said he believes some of the Members of Parliament (MPs) who moved to the Opposition side were unhappy because the government was slow to increase their allowances and allocations. Changing side and forming a motion to destroy the government because of this reason is unfair and unjustifiable, he said Monday. PM Loughman explained that the...

Security measures at the Opposition’s Island Magic Resort camp on Efate was beefed up Monday after Members of Parliament (MPs) who signed the motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Bob Loughman and the other MPs who later joined, initiate the formation of a new Government. The strict measures were obvious as last week political supporters were still allowed in...

The prime minister of Vanuatu has called for a dissolution of parliament with over a-year-and-four-months still remaining in his four-year-tenure. Bob Loughman, who was elected in April 2020, is due to face a motion of no confidence in his leadership on Tuesday 16 August with the opposition group led by, Ralph Regenvanu, claiming to have the support of 29 MPs...

Papua New Guineans have knocked out 35 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the 111-seat 10th Parliament in the just concluded General Election 2022 (GE22). They have sent 50 new faces (including seats vacated by the seven deaths of incumbents and the seven new seats) to the expanded Papua New Guinea (PNG) 118-seat 11th Parliament. North Bougainville MP late William Nakin, the...

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Simon Stiell as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat based in Bonn, Germany. The appointment has been endorsed by the Bureau of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). From March 2013 to June 2022, Simon Stiell served as a senior minister in the Government of Grenada holding the...

For decades, United States officials have denied using a deadly chemical called Agent Orange on the islands of Guam, American Samoa and other Pacific locations. That changed last week, when President Joe Biden signed the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honouring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) act, which expands services and benefits to US veterans in the Pacific...

The Kiribati government has made an extraordinary attempt to deport suspended High Court justice, David Lambourne. Lambourne is an Australian and longtime resident of Kiribati. In a spectacular showdown on Thursday, he was taken to the airport and officials tried to force him to board a flight out of Kiribati. He is now out of immigration detention, but former president Anote...

-History is now in the making with Pacific Island representatives gathering in Suva, Fiji this week on the road to an international binding agreement on plastics. Our island region will establish its priorities before the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to negotiate a new binding global agreement covering the whole life cycle of plastics. This will help ensure our Pacific voice...

The Fiji Rugby Union is conducting an internal investigation with three staff members sacked while John O’Connor, the chief executive, has agreed to take annual leave. Over the years various Pacific Islands rugby unions have faced investigations over the financial handling of their affairs and now Fiji is dealing with speculation and rumour at a time when its sevens team...