Category Archives: Pacific islands

Papua New Guinea killings: what’s behind the outbreak in tribal fighting?

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Up to 150 killed in Enga Province as experts say weaker legal systems, weapons access and ‘loss of hope’ fuel deadly clashes

An outbreak of violence has killed up to 150 people in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, local police said, in what one expert described as a “bushfire that has got out of control” as more forces are sent to calm clashes in the region.

While tribal fighting is not unusual in parts of Papua New Guinea, the issue attracted international attention last week after disturbing footage appearing to show three naked men, tied-up and dragged behind a truck as onlookers cheered, circulated on social media.

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Australia tells big development banks to ‘lift their game’ in the Pacific

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There are concerns the World Bank and ADB are giving contracts to low-price bidders who then demand more when budgets blow out

The Australian government has told big development banks to “lift their game” in the Pacific amid concerns they are approving poor-quality, cut-price projects only for the budgets to blow out.

Largely funded by governments, development banks provide grants and low-cost loans to developing countries to help them build infrastructure and other projects.

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Fiji prime minister warns against US and China attempts to ‘polarise’ Pacific

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Sitiveni Rabuka says island countries must be ‘zone of non-aligned territories’ and hopes big powers will avoid military conflict

The Pacific islands should be a “zone of peace”, Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, has said, adding that he hopes a rivalry between the US and China in the strategic region does not develop into a military conflict.

Rabuka was speaking after attending a summit meeting of several Pacific island leaders, where climate change and regional security dominated the agenda. The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia’s ruling FLNKS party met in Vanuatu on Thursday.

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US delegate says Solomon Islands PM was too ‘busy’ to meet him

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Congressman Neal Dunn, part of select committee on competition with China, says failure to meet Manasseh Sogavare was a ‘missed opportunity’

Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare declined a request this week to meet members of a high-profile US congressional delegation who are focused on competition with China.

The visit to Solomon Islands by representatives from the US select committee on the Chinese Communist party comes amid a growing struggle for influence between the US and China in the Pacific region. Last year, Solomon Islands signed a controversial security pact with the Chinese government and in July, the prime minister agreed a new deal on police cooperation while on a trip to Beijing.

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Australia warns of economic weakness in Pacific as it outlines development goals – without mentioning China

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Government updates development policy for the first time in a decade amid rising debt levels and competition with China for influence

Australian officials have sounded the alarm about rising debt levels and economic “fragility” among Pacific countries amid increasing competition with China for influence.

On Tuesday the Australian government will publish the first update of its international development policy in a decade, with a focus on the Pacific, south-east Asia and south Asia.

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Solomon Islands newspaper pledged to promote ‘truth about China’s generosity’ in return for funding

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The Solomon Star denies accusations of ‘giving away’ its independence by accepting thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment

Local media in Solomon Islands have been accused of compromising their independence by entering into agreements with Chinese news organisations and accepting thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment from the Chinese embassy.

Since the Solomon Islands government signed a high-profile security agreement with China in March 2022, some newspapers in the Pacific country have received cars, cameras, phones and printing machinery that costs thousands of dollars from the Chinese government, via its local embassy, according to local journalists. Some have raised concern about the gifts and the continued close dialogue between media organisations in China and Solomon Islands.

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Home affairs may have misled Senate over Nauru contracts linked to man convicted over bribery

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Exclusive: Department claimed accommodation contracts with companies linked to Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani could not be cancelled – despite containing termination clauses

The department of home affairs appears to have misled the Senate over controversial contracts it signed with a company linked to a man under investigation for foreign bribery.

In a written response this month, the department told the Senate it had no power to cancel Nauru accommodation contracts with Radiance International Inc – linked to Mozammil (Mozu) Gulamabbas Bhojani, ultimately convicted of bribing politicians on the Pacific island state – but the department’s contracts explicitly allowed it to tear up the contracts for any reason.

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Scientists battle to save Guam kingfisher after snakes introduced

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A species almost wiped out by tree snakes is being returned to the wild and, eventually, to its Pacific island home

As arks go, the shipping container that has been placed inside Sedgwick County Zoo, in Wichita, Kansas, looks an unlikely vehicle for saving species.

Nevertheless, work there is expected to play a key role in undoing one of the world’s worst conservation disasters: the accidental introduction of brown tree snakes to the Pacific island of Guam. The snakes’ arrival, at the end of the second world war, eventually wiped out huge numbers of indigenous birds, mammals, and lizards including the Guam kingfisher, the Guam rail, and the Guam flycatcher.

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Bankman-Fried planned to buy Nauru and build apocalypse bunker – lawsuit

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Lawsuit filed against FTX founder, 31, includes memo that detailed plans to purchase Pacific island in case world came to an end

The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded the FTX exchange, had planned to purchase the small Pacific island nation of Nauru in case the world came to an end, according to a new lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday by FTX against its 31-year-old founder and three other former executives, and seeking $1bn, included a memo created by Bankman-Fried’s younger brother Gabriel and an FTX Foundation executive. The memo detailed plans to buy Nauru.

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Marshall Islands calls for US to pay more compensation over nuclear tests

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Pacific nation plagued by environmental effects of 67 bomb tests between 1946 and 1958, including Castle Bravo detonation in 1954

The foreign minister of the Marshall Islands has called for more US compensation over the legacy of massive US nuclear testing to enable the renewal of a strategic agreement governing bilateral relations.

Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of 67 nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included Castle Bravo at Bikini Atoll in 1954 – the largest US bomb ever detonated.

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Solomon Islands signs controversial policing pact with China

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Solomons’ prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, meets with leaders as part of week-long visit to China

China and Solomon Islands have signed a deal on police cooperation as part of an upgrade of their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, four years after the Pacific country switched ties from Taiwan to Beijing.

The police cooperation pact was among nine deals signed as the prime minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, met with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing, underlining the Solmons’ foreign policy shift.

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Future of deep-sea mining hangs in balance as opposition grows

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Ireland and Sweden join countries calling for moratorium on extraction of metals from seabed as UN-backed authority prepares for crucial talks

The list of countries calling for a pause on deep-sea mining continued to grow this week ahead of a key moment that mining companies hope will launch the fledgling industry, and its opponents hope could clip its wings, perhaps for good.

Ireland and Sweden became the latest developed economies to join critics, including scientists, environmental organisations and multinationals such as BMW, Volvo and Samsung. The carmakers have committed not to use minerals mined from the seabed in their electric vehicles.

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‘We depend on our beautiful reefs’: Fukushima water release plan sparks concern across Pacific

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Some fishers say they lack information and worry about Japan’s plan to discharge treated wastewater into the sea

Every day fisher Charlie Maleb takes his string lines and his nets out from Wala Island, Vanuatu, into the Pacific Ocean.

The 54-year-old drops his net around 5am and waits an hour before pulling it out, hoping to catch sardines, poulet and mangrove fish. Later in the day Maleb drops a line attached to a traditional fishing rod, fashioned out of a long tree branch.

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Banks stick to rate hike predictions – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Historical societies say banning hate symbols could impact history preservation

Historical societies are also concerned about the proposal to ban Nazi and Islamic State symbols, AAP reports. They worry it will limit education and the preservation of history, and impact memorabilia value.

Modellers need to be able to purchase these items (and) symbols, let alone the basic right of Australian citizens to partake in the legitimate hobby of collecting modelling military items.

The words inscribed on the Islamic flag are sacred words and written by Muslims on a daily basis.

These words are taken directly from our scripture, the Holy Quran, and therefore cannot be subject to a ban.

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‘We could lose our status as a state’: what happens to a people when their land disappears

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Small island countries press for guarantees as rising sea levels risk leaving their citizens stateless

Small island nations would rather fight than flee, but rising sea levels have prompted apocalyptic legal discussions about whether a state is still a state if its land disappears below the waves.

The Pacific Islands Forum, which represents many of the most vulnerable countries, has invited international legal experts to consider this question and begun a diplomatic campaign to ensure that political statehood continues even after a nation’s physical fabric is submerged.

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US military will have ‘unimpeded’ access to Papua New Guinea bases under new security deal

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Deal signed last month gives US ‘exclusive use’ of parts of bases, as Palau PM says he has asked US to step up patrols after Chinese incursions into its waters

The US military can develop and operate out of bases in Papua New Guinea, according to a landmark security pact that is part of Washington’s efforts to outflank China in the Pacific.

The full text of the deal was tabled in Papua New Guinea’s parliament on Wednesday evening and obtained by AFP, shedding light on details that have been closely guarded since the pact was signed in May.

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Paul Keating sent explosive email to Labor cabinet two hours before attack on Aukus, FOI documents reveal

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Exclusive: Former PM directly warned cabinet ministers over China, the Pacific and US hegemony prior to his pointed speech at the National Press Club

At 10.45am on Wednesday 15 March, an explosive email landed in the inboxes of all of Anthony Albanese’s cabinet ministers.

“Dear cabinet colleagues,” wrote Paul Keating, Labor luminary turned chief Aukus critic.

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Typhoon Mawar tears through Guam, leaving most of island without power

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Electricity lines and trees downed and ‘what used to be a jungle looks like toothpicks’ as governor declares the worst is over

Much of Guam was without power and running water after a typhoon packing ferocious winds and torrential rains battered the western Pacific island but caused no reported fatalities or serious injuries.

Residents in the US territory were ordered to boil their water until further notice amid water contamination concerns as crews repaired generators damaged by Typhoon Mawar, according to local media and Guam’s water authority.

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Morrison government paid corrupt businessman millions for offshore processing on Nauru

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Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani was convicted of bribing two Nauruan officials with more than $120,000

The former Australian government continued to pay millions of taxpayer dollars to a businessman convicted of corruption to provide offshore processing services on Nauru, even after he had pleaded guilty to bribing Nauruan government officials.

In August 2020 Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani was convicted of paying more than $120,000 in bribes to two Nauru government officials, including an MP and government minister, for favourable deals on phosphate mining contracts for his Radiance International group of companies.

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Papua New Guinea won’t be base ‘for war to be launched’, says PM, after US security deal

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James Marape says agreement has clause saying Pacific country is not to be ‘used as a place for launching offensive military operations’

Papua New Guinea will not be used as a base for “war to be launched”, prime minister James Marape has said, as the Pacific country signed a defence agreement with the US amid a race against China for influence in the region.

Marape said on Tuesday the agreement – which he said he would release in full for public scrutiny on Thursday – prohibited “offensive military operations”.

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