PINA

By Leonard Louma Despite claims of a Pacific ‘Step-up’ and ‘Reset’, very little has changed in Australia and New Zealand’s attitude to the region, former Secretary of Papua New Guinea’s Department of Foreign Affairs Leonard Louma writes. I have been pondering the ways Pacific countries can work with their traditional development partners, particularly Australia and New Zealand, in the days...

The damage to people and livelihoods caused by climate change is happening at a scale that “people on the front lines cannot manage”, according to the UN’s humanitarian office, OCHA. OCHA says that “time is running out for millions of people who are already losing their lives, their homes and their livelihoods” due to “extreme weather” that is “decimating” communities...

Former Fiji Prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, says he wants next year's election to be about common beliefs and not personalities. Rabuka has emerged from what he describes as eight months in the political wilderness, to launch a new opposition party called the People's Alliance. It's now going through the official registration process, but the former leader of SODELPA is confident approval...

UK Government to support UNDP project to prevent and fight corruption in the Pacific region. The UK is providing £364,000 (US$503,000) in funding to UNDP as part of the UK’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) Pacific programme, which will provide £2 million (US$2.7 million) in funding support across the Pacific in 2021-22. Corruption costs the global economy approximately US$2.6 trillion,...

Solomon Islands government says the ongoing rumours of an armed group seeking to remove Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is not in the best interest of peace and stability, particularly at a time when COVID-19 poses a greater threat to the country. The government said in a statement that the ongoing media speculations pushed by journalist Alfred Sasako are nothing but...

Hawaii faces a range of environmental problems caused by global warming, impacts worsened by practices that critics say have ignored the local ecology. They say reviving traditional values can reduce the damage by limiting coastal erosion, reversing the rising acidity of coastal waters and lessening flooding from intense storms. Coastal hotels and homes already are seeing the effect of rising sea...

The Ambassador of the European Union in the Pacific, Sujiro Seam, has called on major emitters to be more ambitious in their reduction of carbon emissions. In a video posted on Twitter, Seam highlighted the findings of the recently issued Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which found that there is a slim chance that the world could stop temperatures...

Fiji has recorded 350 new cases of COVID 19 and 23 new deaths Monday, increasing the total number of cases to 40,517 and 392 deaths since the outbreak in the Pacific nation in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said 242 cases are from the Western division and 108 cases are from the Central division in Vitilevu, Fiji’s...

Vaccination reduces community transmission of the delta variant by seventy percent says Fijian Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete. Speaking in Parliament Monday, Dr Waqainabete said recent studies have shown that vaccination helps in reducing community transmission and this is the reason why the Ministry is encouraging the public to get vaccinated. “Research to date has revealed that the delta variant of...

The head of Vanuatu's Citizenship Commission says a Syrian national had his approval for citizenship revoked, and others are being investigated over concerns that international criminals are buying Vanuatu passports. It comes after The Guardian revealed last month the identities of some of the people who've gained Vanuatu citizenship through the controversial program including fugitives, politicians, disgraced business people from...