PINA

Drought is a hidden global crisis that risks becoming “the next pandemic” if countries do not take urgent action on water and land management and tackling the climate emergency, the UN has said. At least 1.5 billion people have been directly affected by drought this century, and the economic cost over roughly that time has been estimated at US$124billion. The...

There could be a possible third wave of COVID-19 in PNG, however, this will depend on the risk of importation of variants. When asked to clarify about this potential third wave of COVID-19 in PNG, WHO PNG acting country representative Dr Anna Maalsen told Post Courier that they are currently keeping an eye on the testing and data reporting that...

Fiji has reported 91 new cases of COVID-19 and one death attributed to the virus. Ministry of Health and Medical Services permanent secretary Dr James Fong said these figures were for new case notifications received between Wednesday night and 8am Thursday. He said 49 of the new cases reported have been confirmed in the existing clusters: Waila – 1, Rewa EOC –...

Fiji has reported another staggering 121 new cases of cOVID-19 Wednesday marking another single occasion of three-digit case numbers recorded. Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr James Fong said 61 of those cases are linked to the existing clusters: Korovou – 1, IMT – 8, CWMH – 26, Tramline, Nawaka, Nadi – 5, Nawajikuma, Nawaka, Nadi – 1, Kinoya – 1,...

In a decision citing American Samoa cultural traditions, those born in the U.S. territory shouldn’t have citizenship automatically forced on them, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling reverses a lower court ruling that sided with three people from American Samoa who live in Utah and sued to be recognised as citizens. The...

The Speaker of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands, John Patteson Oti, on behalf of Parliament has congratulated Peter Kenilorea Jr, Member of Parliament for East Are and Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee (FRC), on his successful appointment as the President of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Parliamentary Assembly and Co-President of the ACP-EU...

Samoa caretaker Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, has accused the Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party as the primary factor behind Samoa's ongoing failure to convene Parliament. Speaking during his weekly programme with TV3 on Wednesday evening, Tuilaepa sought to counter reports from FAST which have stated that the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and the...

Fiji's Health Ministry chief medical adviser Dr Jemesa Tudravu is urging Fijians to not allow the number of COVID-19 cases to surpass the capacity of health services to cater for sick people. He said if this eventuated, it could make work even tougher. Dr Tudravu said the ability to achieve this was to follow COVID-19 safe measures. “Stay at home, only three...

By Christopher Pala It has been described as “the most remarkable achievement of the Pacific island countries in the last 50 years”. In 1982, eight, mostly minuscule Pacific island countries in whose waters much of the world’s skipjack tuna was caught got together and decided to do something to get a share of the profits, of which they received precisely...

Written by Ancuta Hansen As with their sisters around the world, many women in the Pacific Islands are victims of violence. While much of this violence occurs within the family, a socio-cultural environment accustomed to violence against women has repercussions for women’s participation in public life, particularly in politics. At times, police are not the solution but rather the...