By Euan Moyle, an intern with the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program.
- Almost a month after Papua New Guniea’s deadly earthquake, aftershocks and damage to essential infrastructure are still hindering aid delivery to remote communities. American missionary Anton Lutz gives a first-hand report of the recovery in Western Province, and the role that NGOs and foreign governments are playing in disaster relief management.
- Busa Jeremiah Wenogo looks at how authorities in PNG capital Port Moresby could adopt a new, collaborative solution to the regulation of betelnut, after the backlash against partial and total bans in the past.
- The ABC investigates criticism of the Marshall Islands’ plans to establish a digital currency as its legal tender, with suggestions the country is not ready for digital finance and that it is disregarding the environmental impact of the computer systems required for digital currencies.
- A controversial letter from Tonga’s Ministry of Education that banned girls in public schools from participating in rugby and boxing has been reversed by Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva.
- Waste is a major issue in the Pacific Islands and is having a devastating impact on the marine environment. ABC’s Pacific Beat analyses a new initiative by shipping giant China Navigation to export rubbish and recyclables from Pacific Islands for free.
- Former French Polynesian President Gaston Flosse has lost his appeal to France’s highest court to be allowed to stand in next month’s territorial elections despite two suspended jail sentences for corruption.
- An expedition has found the long-lost wreckage of USS Juneau off the coast of Solomon Islands, a US warship sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942 resulting in the loss of almost 700 men.
