CANBERRA, 25 NOVEMBER 2019 (Pacnews) —Earlier this month the latest Guardian-class patrol boat was handed over by Australia to Solomon Islands. It was the fifth of 21 Guardian-class boats to be gifted to 12 Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste. Next year Fiji, Palau, Kiribati and Tonga will receive their boats. Following this, a new patrol […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Some Pacific Island nations are Turning to China, climate Change is a factor
WASHINGTON, 25 NOVEMBER 2019 (NPR via Pacnews)—This month, the Trump administration formally began the year long process of pulling the United States out of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It will be the first and only country to quit the 200-nation deal to combat climate change. That’s a big concern for some of the world’s most […]
Posted inOpinion
The Great Game in the South Pacific
CANBERRA, 21 NOVEMBER 2019 (THE STRATEGIST via PACNEWS) —-The Great Game was played by Great Britain and Russia throughout the 19th century and reflected the two powers’ political and strategic jostling for influence across Central Asia. It was essentially about geographic positioning, and a 21st-century version is now being played in the South Pacific. The […]
Posted inOpinion
China, media freedom in the Pacific, and the great Australian silence
SYDNEY,20 NOVEMBER 2019 (THE INTERPRETER via PACNEWS) — The refusal of the Vanuatu government to allow high-profile Vanuatu-based journalist to fly home on Saturday has given a sharper edge to concerns about a wider trend of attacks on media freedom in the Pacific and highlights both China’s influence and Australia’s policy failure in broadcast and […]
Posted inOpinion
Is climate change worsening gender-based violence in the Pacific Islands?
SUVA, 15 NOVEMBER 2019 (OPEN GLOBAL RIGHTS via PACNEWS) — In the Pacific Islands, gender inequality and gender-based violence are being exacerbated by climate change, including through natural disasters, migration, and displacement. But these changes do not have to be inevitable. It is well-established that gender-based violence (GBV) and the climate crisis are interconnected, and […]
Posted inOpinion
UN mosquito sterilisation technology set for global testing, in battle against malaria, dengue
GENEVA, 15 NOVEMBER 2019 (UN NEWS CENTRE) — With more than half the world now at risk from mosquito-transmitted dengue fever, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN has taken the lead on a global effort to eradicate the disease – and many others – by measuring the impact of releasing millions of […]