PINA

A new World Bank study examining the potential legal implications of sea-level rise on the maritime and legal rights of Pacific Island nations provides a pathbreaking review of the key legal questions and highlights that some international legal conventions may need to be reconsidered. The new study, Legal Dimensions of Sea Level Rise: Pacific Perspectives, sets out the latest developments...

Fiji has recorded 49 new cases of COVID-19 and four deaths Tuesday, increasing the total number of cases in the island nation to 51,203 and 636 deaths since the outbreak in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 62 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 8,871 active...

The minister in charge of next month’s crunch Glasgow climate summit has challenged Australia to nearly double its 2030 emissions reduction target and urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to attend the talks in person. Alok Sharma, the president of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, framed Morrison’s participation as a test of Australia’s friendship with Britain, warning the ravages of...

An Australian security expert says the Pacific would be at "at real risk" if military conflict did break out over Taiwan, as China steps up its military activity and Taiwan says it's preparing for war. Beijing has sent a record number of fighter jets into Taiwan's defence zone over its National Day weekend, amid a surge in nationalism on the...

Analysis of the total carbon dioxide emissions of countries since 1850 has revealed the nations with the greatest historical responsibility for the climate emergency. But six of the top 10 have yet to make ambitious new pledges to cut their emissions before the crucial UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November. The six include China, Russia and Brazil, which...

Journalists in Papua New Guinea have been reminded to uphold ethical standards when reporting on sensitive issues. Former managing director of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Joseph Ealedona, said journalists were duty bound to report fairly and accurately to avoid inflaming sensitive issues with their reports. He reminded journalists to be impartial and always be objective and truth-seeking reporting conflicts. He made...

The European Union removed Anguilla, Dominica and Seychelles from its tax haven blacklist Tuesday amid criticism that the trade bloc is letting countries off the hook, particularly in light of the recent Pandora Papers revelations. Anguilla, Dominica and Seychelles were placed on the list because they did not meet tax transparency criteria. EU finance ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, endorsed a...

The Australia Pacific Security College (PSC) in collaboration with the Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) have commenced a National Security Reporting Course for journalists based in Honiara and Gizo. “Leading the National Security Conversation” will be the topic of discussions for these journalist participants over the next four weeks. Speaking at the opening programme, MASI vice-president Douglas Marau in his...

A Tongan member of parliament hopes the country can copy El Salvador in adopting bitcoin as legal tender and pave the way for other Pacific islands to follow its revolutionary path, as enthusiasm for the potential of cryptocurrencies engulfs emerging economies. Bitcoin advocate, Tongan MP, barrister and hereditary Tongan landowner Lord Fusitu’a says he will table an El Salvador-style bill...

An array of organisations aiming to host events at November’s UN climate conference in Glasgow have raised concerns about delays and the unusually high cost of building pavilions at this year’s COP26 summit. Seven environmental and governmental groups told the Financial Times they were taken aback by the large sums quoted for the construction of pavilions, as labour and materials...