PINA

The effects of corruption are “detrimental to all of society”, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Wednesday during the first day of a special session convened to galvanise political will to fight the scourge. “We cannot pretend that there were no issues before the COVID-19 pandemic”, said Volkan Bozkir. “Transnational financial crime and corruption are unfortunately commonplace in...

The United Nations General Assembly Special Session against corruption began at the UN headquarters in New York today with strong calls for the redoubling of efforts aimed at eliminating corruption. Leaders of the world body who spoke at the opening session stressed the importance of meeting the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations as the COVID19...

Solutions for sustainable waste actions in used oil management, marine debris and disaster wastes will be in place across the Pacific islands through a special project that began in 2020. The Committing to Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific Project, also known as SWAP, held its first steering committee in April, bringing seven Pacific island countries together to determine future...

A recession is not the time to cut government spending, it is a time when government is expected to front up and stimulate the economy, writes Prime Minister Mark Brown. What a lot has happened this past fortnight. With the arrival of our first tourists in more than a year two weeks ago, we are already starting to see the...

The recent pandemic shock will further affect fiscal revenue collections and increase expenditure commitments of the Government, forecasts the Reserve Bank of Fiji. In its May economic review, the RBF revealed that in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the Government recorded a net deficit of $905.0 million (US$445 million) (-9.7 per cent of GDP) as expenditure...

China Navigation is to sign for a revolutionary sail-assisted newbuild this month as part of a package of green measures announced today. The Swire subsidiary has also come out in favour of the proposal put forward to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) by the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands to establish a universal, mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) levy with...

The world must harness “clear, transformative and actionable solutions” to address the ocean crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Tuesday, opening a meeting to generate momentum towards the 2022 UN Ocean Conference, when public health safety measures allow. “Simply speaking, our relationship with our planet’s ocean must change”, Assembly President Volkan Bozkir told a high-level thematic debate...

It was the first time for the government to boycott itself from parliament Tuesday morning, said Vanuatu Leader of Opposition, Ralph Regenvanu. “We have never seen this kind of behavior in the parliament of Vanuatu before,” said Regenvanu who is serving his fourth term in Parliament. “It was a bizarre and irresponsible behavior since there’s business to attend to. “We have a...

-Today marks a historic moment for Vanuatu as the Ministry of Health launches its COVID-19 vaccination rollout. With the long-awaited and planned for COVID-19 vaccines arriving on 19 May, the 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca will be the first COVID-19 vaccines to be used in Vanuatu to vaccinate the first 20 percent of its population. The vaccine will be rolled...

Akaiti Puna was sworn in as Manihiki’s new Cook Islands Member of Parliament on Monday during a flash sitting. Puna, who won the Manihiki seat for the Cook Islands Party by 49 votes early last month, entered Parliament for the first time yesterday as an elected MP to take the oath of office. “I’m glad it’s over, I’m glad that bits...