PINA

By Mereseini Marau The Blue Pacific has one message at the fourth session of the intergovernmental conference for the new legal instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdictions (BBNJ)- preserve the ocean for the future generations. After two years’ postponement, negotiators are gathering in New York to resume negotiations on BBNJ. Pacific Ocean...

There are 43 political parties eligible to contest the 2022 General Election after eight new ones were registered, and 11 de-registered, by the Papua New Guinea Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission. Registrar of Political Parties Dr Alphonse Gelu said only 43 registered political parties were eligible to field candidates. The 11 parties de-registered had failed to comply with provision...

Australia will boost its defence forces by some 30 percent by 2040, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday, describing it as the country's largest military build-up in peacetime. The force would grow by 18,500 personnel to 80,000 over the 18-year period, at a cost of some AUD$38 billion (US$27 billion), the prime minister said at an army barracks in Brisbane. Morrison,...

Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni has confirmed to Tonga’s Development Partners that a total of TOP$565.8 million (USD$240 million) is needed to fund the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai Recovery and Resilience Building Plan 2022-2025. The plan was recently endorsed by Cabinet and is government’s guiding document on the recovery and resilience building plan following the events of 15 January. Hu’akavameiliku made the statement...

Almost 500 million people have been infected with the coronavirus since March 2020 and new variants are still a threat. This Friday marks two years since the World Health Organisation (WHO) characterised the global spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic. The UN health agency’s assessment was made six weeks after the virus was declared a global health emergency when there were...

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for The Metals Company (TMC) deep sea mining test by its Nauruan subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), received over 600 comments across a range of critical issues. Government and non-government organisations declared it sub-standard and not fit for purpose as a risk management tool. Dr Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada (MWC) said, “The EIS has supposedly...

Niue, one of the only countries to remain Covid-free throughout the pandemic, has recorded its first case of the virus. The person, a traveller from New Zealand, arrived on a flight on Monday. They are now in quarantine. The person was double vaccinated and boosted and had returned a negative PCR test and rapid antigen tests prior to boarding their flight, a...

Pacific Island states are paying close attention as the world responds to conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Dr George Carter, an expert in geopolitics and director of the Australian National University's Pacific Institute, said island countries would be assessing their geopolitical ties. “The war Ukraine and Russia tells us that we are also living in a time that inter-war between...

Australia and New Zealand's long-standing spying operations in the Pacific have been brought back into the spotlight, following an investigation by journalist Nicky Hager for the publication Declassified Australia. Hager said conversations with a confidential source within the New Zealand government have led him to believe the surveillance programmes continue to this day. “If you're working in the government from a...

A growing Covid-19 outbreak has forced a postponement of the Hurricanes' Super Rugby Pacific match against Moana Pasifika on Saturday. The postponement was made on the advice of the Super Rugby Pacific Medical Advisory Group that the Hurricanes squad did not have enough players to form a match day 23. Newstalk ZB understands up to 20 people in the Hurricanes camp...