PINA

A giant patch of garbage in the Pacific Ocean is now "an immense floating plastic habitat" for marine animals clinging to its plastic debris, researchers have found Coastal plant and animal species that have been carried out to sea on plastic debris aren't just surviving on an area of the ocean called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. They're building communities...

The President of Bougainville has taken a tough stance with Papua New Guinea in the latest talks over the independence referendum. Ishmael Toroama told the third joint consultative meeting that Bougainville has taken the negotiations as far as they can go. He pleaded with the PNG Prime Minister, James Marape, whom he called his friend, saying 'I appeal to you, it...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $150 million loan to improve state-owned enterprises (SOE) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). “ADB has long been engaged in SOE reforms in PNG, and built strong relationships with several SOEs,” said ADB Principal Public Management Specialist for the Pacific Pamela Wyatt. “The Government of PNG has made good progress on reforms and...

Out of 230 countries, a new research has found that Solomon Islands has the World’s most expensive power supply. The research, which analysed 3,883 tariffs across 230 countries, found that Libya offers the cheapest electricity in the world at just USD0.007 per KWh while the most expensive electricity in the world can be found in the Solomon Islands, where one...

Tuvalu will receive a significant boost with the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approving a US$17.5 million commitment to support its ongoing climate adaptation efforts. As one of world’s smallest and most disaster at-risk countries the new support aims to strengthen Tuvalu’s financial, social and environmental resilience to disasters. The Tuvalu Second Resilience Development Policy Operation with a Catastrophe-Deferred...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Samoa yesterday signed a $5 million grant to help fund the preparation of ADB-supported land transport projects in Samoa. The Minister of Finance Mulipola Anarosa Ale-Molio’o and ADB Director General for the Pacific Leah Gutierrez signed the agreement, which will fund assessments, planning, and capacity building to implement land transport projects....

Skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing are set to be added to the core Los Angeles 2028 Olympic programme - but boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon have been left off the list of guaranteed sports for the Games. The IOC said there would be a "pathway" for boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon to be part of the Games in the American...

The original Super Rugby Pacific draw is set to be the latest casualty of Covid-19-enforced disruption, with a revised schedule set to be released next week. The new competition was thrown into confusion after the New Zealand government revealed a border opening plan that made it impossible for the trans-Tasman competition to proceed as planned. However, Rugby Australia chief executive Andy...

The Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) has confirmed it is ending efforts to qualify for Birmingham 2022 in badminton, cycling, netball and squash. The organisation admitted in September that financial constraints and the impact of COVID-19 would likely impact their preparations for next year’s Games. FASANOC chief executive Lorraine Mar said as part of their qualification criteria...

Cartoons urging New Caledonians to vote no to independence from France in this weekend’s referendum have been accused of “profound racism and ridicule towards Pacific Islanders, especially the Kanak people”, in a legal submission lodged with France’s highest judicial body. An urgent appeal has been lodged against the broadcast of the animations, which have been running on television in...