PINA

An Australian project which “all but eliminated dengue fever” in Far North Queensland has been successfully extended to Fiji, Kiribati and Vanuatu. The programme uses a naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia that modifies the ability of mosquitoes to carry the dengue virus. If the mosquitoes can’t carry the dengue virus, then they can’t transmit it between susceptible humans. Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes were...

Bougainville is making changes to its mining law with the aim of introducing a tax on gold that leaves the region. President Ishmael Toroama said the amendments to the Bougainville Mining Act, expected to be completed soon, will allow the government to earn revenue from a levy on gold leaving Bougainville. President Toroama told the Bougainville parliament recently that the Minerals...

By Jon Letman The Marshall Islands is a nation of atolls – hundreds of small islands carpeted in coconut palms and pandanus trees. While these atolls in the Pacific Ocean are a picture of tropical beauty, they are also home to explosive remnants of war. Eight decades after the guns fell silent, munitions left by the U.S and Japan still...

Strength and conditioning coaches from the region have gathered in Fiji this week with an aim to work towards accreditation under the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA). A collaboration between the Oceania National Olympic Committees’ (ONOC) signature programme, the Oceania Sport Education Program (OSEP), and ASCA sees 25 strength and conditioning coaches come together to work towards ASCA’s Level...

The United States will have an expanded right to board vessels in Samoa’s waters under an amended maritime law enforcement agreement that could boost the effectiveness of patrols by a Coast Guard ship recently deployed to the Pacific. The updated shiprider pact signed Friday shows the U.S is “committed to safeguarding and ensuring security of Samoa’s economic exclusive zone,” its...

Majuro Mayor Ladie Jack is raising the alarm about criminal behavior involving Marshallese deported from the United States, saying the “impact of these deportees on our local community has been nothing short of devastating.” Marshallese deported from the United States have been convicted over the past three years of a murder, a knife assault, and rape, while two additional assaults...

The U.S, UK and Australia are to begin talks on bringing new members into Aukus as Washington pushes for Japan to be involved in the security pact aimed as a deterrent against China. The Aukus defence ministers will announce on Monday that they will launch talks related to Pillar II of the alliance, which involves collaboration on technologies such as...

Angela Telupe watched her backyard flood as a king tide tightened its grip on the main island of Tuvalu. Outside her home in northern Funafuti, her children swam in an area the family usually uses for picnics. “On the second day the tide just kept coming up,” Telupe said. “It didn't go down. It just kept coming up for three to four...

It has been 60 years since Indonesia has refused humanitarian agencies and international media access to enter West Papua. According to Benny Wenda, the President of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Indonesia is comparable to North Korea in terms of media access. North Korea does not allow international media visits, and the situation in West Papua is...

By Aubrey Belford (OCCRP), Dan McGarry (OCCRP), Ofani Eremae (In-Depth Solomons), Charley Piringi (In-Depth Solomons), Gina Maka’a (In-Depth Solomons), and Ronald Toito’ona (In-Depth Solomons) Manasseh Sogavare, the four-time prime minister of Solomon Islands, speaks proudly of his humble origins as a school dropout who once earned a living cleaning toilets and making tea for British colonial officials. The 69-year-old premier...