"Deliberately grounded on a tiny reef in the #SouthChinaSea, part of an island chain claimed by the two Asian countries, the #BRPSierraMadre is now the unlikely base for a detachment of Filipino marines who stand guard over the atoll, scanning the turquoise waters for Chinese ships." #AyunginShoal#SecondThomasShoal#Philippines
#Beijing, based on the report, budgeted over $296 billion for its military in 2023, a 6% increase from its spending the year prior. The figure represents 12% of the world’s military expenditures and over 50% of the #Asia and #Oceania region.The figures are estimates of #SIPRI, as #China’s publicly declared military budget is much lower. #TootSEA#Philippines
Jenny Erpenbeck opens #Spring 2024 with Sloughing Off One Skin, a haunting #ShortStory that explores truth and identity, translated by Michael Hofmann.
We're on the lookout for perspectives that are currently under-represented on bookshelves in the UK and in the US, and material first written in languages other than English.
New Zealand’s central bank chief defended its use of the Maori language in official communications on Wednesday, as the country’s new centre-right government looks to roll back the use of the Indigenous language in the public sector....
Well, here's my #introduction to Mastodon. I'm a literary fiction writer and occasional journalist, currently travelling in #Oceania. Would love to connect with other writers, readers and anyone who cares about #books, and I'm up for some political and environmental discussions too. Happy to have found a corner of the web that feels something like what the web was meant to be.
French authorities have announced a controversial plan to amend the constitution to revoke birthplace citizenship on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, claiming it would help stem an immigration crisis. The reform was announced by interior minister Gérald Darmanin on Sunday after he arrived on the island, the...
FOR OVER three decades the Pacific island country of Tuvalu has implored industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions. For over three decades global temperatures have ticked up. Tuvalu’s government warns that its territory could slip underwater by the end of the century. “It’s a matter of disappearing...
I think someone else struggled with reefs, atolls were also a real hodgepodge, so this map for day 1️⃣ 6️⃣ of #30DayMapChallenge is more useful as a guide for cleaning data up in #Oceania than anything else.
I'd love to do a legend with overlapping circles to show the size (see @seav's map today), but have no idea how to do that in #QGIS (or even what the technique is called)
At least 20 people were wounded when police used batons, water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who joined rallies in Indonesia’s West Papua region on the 61st anniversary of an agreement that made the territory part of Indonesia, news agencies report....
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said on Thursday it has filed a collective complaint to a European rights body to demand that France urgently ensures access to drinking water in its Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe....
A sad chapter in the history of Oceania are the hundreds of nuclear tests that have been conducted by the #UnitedStates 🇺🇸, the #UnitedKingdom 🇬🇧, and #France 🇫🇷. This map shows the locations in #Australia 🇦🇺, the #MarshallIslands 🇲🇭, #Kiribati 🇰🇮, and #FrenchPolynesia 🇵🇫 where these three nations have detonated nuclear devices along with estimated yields in kilotons of TNT equivalent. #Hiroshima and #Nagasaki are also shown for comparison.
Federated States of Micronesia President Wesley Simina has declared a national emergency due to severe drought, and sent it to his country's Congress for review. The president's signed declaration said the nation has been experiencing "extremely and unusually low levels" of rainfall, and it is anticipated that this condition...
Activists decry ruling by top court as ‘a travesty of justice’ after two men sought to strike down colonial-era laws. A top court in St Vincent and the Grenadines has upheld laws that criminalize gay sex, in a blow to activists who have long decried the violence the LGBTQ+ community has faced on the conservative Caribbean...
Niue has nearly exhausted its climate mitigation options and its focus now is on adaptation, the island's Premier Dalton Tagelagi says. Tagelagi told RNZ Pacific that Niue's contribution to global warming is one-thousandth of a percentage point (0.0001%) and they are already halfway to achieving their renewable energy target of...
Genocide scholars have warned that India's plans to turn an uncontacted tribe’s island into a mega-port will wipe them out. Thirty-nine international genocide scholars have written to the Indian government warning it that its plans to turn an uncontacted tribe’s island into a mega-port and city will wipe them out....
The French Senate on Tuesday endorsed a Constitutional review project bearing significant modifications to the local electoral rules for New Caledonia, but with amendments. The text passed with 233 votes in favour and 99 against....
Indigenous peoples and local communities are reporting a series of tangible and nuanced impacts of climate change, according to a new study. The study collected 1,661 firsthand reports of change in sites across all inhabited continents and aggregated the reports into 369 indicators of climate change impacts, including changes in...
The Prime Minister has been heavily criticised after documents from his government criticising Australia and New Zealand against China were leaked to media. The leaked document from Tonga’s Foreign Affairs Ministry shows that kingdom’s officials sharply criticised Australia and New Zealand’s response to the security pact...
A project to reduce the number of plastics entering the country, focused on the food and beverage sector, was discussed during a workshop in Rarotonga this week. Like other countries around the world, the Cook Islands is an importer and end user of items with single-use plastic packaging....
The United Kingdom is the latest country calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining, making it the 23rd nation wanting a precautionary pause. The call came just before the International Seabed Authority or ISA meeting in Kingston Jamaica, for the third part of its 28th session, that started last Monday....
New Zealand's central bank defends Maori language use (www.reuters.com)
New Zealand’s central bank chief defended its use of the Maori language in official communications on Wednesday, as the country’s new centre-right government looks to roll back the use of the Indigenous language in the public sector....
France unveils plan to curtail right to French citizenship in Indian Ocean islands of Mayotte (www.theguardian.com)
French authorities have announced a controversial plan to amend the constitution to revoke birthplace citizenship on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, claiming it would help stem an immigration crisis. The reform was announced by interior minister Gérald Darmanin on Sunday after he arrived on the island, the...
Island nation of Tuvalu plans for its own disappearance under water (www.economist.com)
FOR OVER three decades the Pacific island country of Tuvalu has implored industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions. For over three decades global temperatures have ticked up. Tuvalu’s government warns that its territory could slip underwater by the end of the century. “It’s a matter of disappearing...
Rapanui (Easter Island) invites the world to help it grow Cacao beans (www.teaonews.co.nz)
Rapanui has seen a huge decline in its ecosystem and sees this investment as helping it fund solutions to its climate change issues.
20 people wounded in Indonesian police crackdown on West Papua protest (asiapacificreport.nz)
At least 20 people were wounded when police used batons, water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who joined rallies in Indonesia’s West Papua region on the 61st anniversary of an agreement that made the territory part of Indonesia, news agencies report....
Rights groups petition European watchdog to secure clean water in Guadeloupe, French Caribbean (www.thestar.com.my)
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said on Thursday it has filed a collective complaint to a European rights body to demand that France urgently ensures access to drinking water in its Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe....
'Realities of climate change': Federated States of Micronesia declares state of emergency amid severe drought (www.rnz.co.nz)
Federated States of Micronesia President Wesley Simina has declared a national emergency due to severe drought, and sent it to his country's Congress for review. The president's signed declaration said the nation has been experiencing "extremely and unusually low levels" of rainfall, and it is anticipated that this condition...
St Vincent and the Grenadines court upholds laws criminalizing gay sex (www.theguardian.com)
Activists decry ruling by top court as ‘a travesty of justice’ after two men sought to strike down colonial-era laws. A top court in St Vincent and the Grenadines has upheld laws that criminalize gay sex, in a blow to activists who have long decried the violence the LGBTQ+ community has faced on the conservative Caribbean...
‘What is your backup?’: Niue's premier says complete phase out of fossil fuels 'very hard' (www.rnz.co.nz)
Niue has nearly exhausted its climate mitigation options and its focus now is on adaptation, the island's Premier Dalton Tagelagi says. Tagelagi told RNZ Pacific that Niue's contribution to global warming is one-thousandth of a percentage point (0.0001%) and they are already halfway to achieving their renewable energy target of...
Fiji joins Pacific fight against measles and rubella (www.fijitimes.com)
Fiji is joining a regional immunisation action plan to eliminate measles and rubella in the Pacific....
Experts say India risks genocide of uncontacted island tribe (Shompen People) with mega-port plan (www.survivalinternational.org)
Genocide scholars have warned that India's plans to turn an uncontacted tribe’s island into a mega-port will wipe them out. Thirty-nine international genocide scholars have written to the Indian government warning it that its plans to turn an uncontacted tribe’s island into a mega-port and city will wipe them out....
French Senate endorses new election rules for New Caledonia, but with amendments (www.rnz.co.nz)
The French Senate on Tuesday endorsed a Constitutional review project bearing significant modifications to the local electoral rules for New Caledonia, but with amendments. The text passed with 233 votes in favour and 99 against....
Maori king declares whales are people in push for legal rights (www.thetimes.co.uk)
Whales will be recognised as legal persons under a declaration signed by New Zealand’s Maori king and native leaders across the Pacific....
In largest ever study, Indigenous and local communities report the impacts of climate change (news.mongabay.com)
Indigenous peoples and local communities are reporting a series of tangible and nuanced impacts of climate change, according to a new study. The study collected 1,661 firsthand reports of change in sites across all inhabited continents and aggregated the reports into 369 indicators of climate change impacts, including changes in...
Tongan diaspora blasts PM Hu‘akavameiliku over leaked document supporting China against Australia, NZ over involvement in Solomon Islands (www.kanivatonga.co.nz)
The Prime Minister has been heavily criticised after documents from his government criticising Australia and New Zealand against China were leaked to media. The leaked document from Tonga’s Foreign Affairs Ministry shows that kingdom’s officials sharply criticised Australia and New Zealand’s response to the security pact...
Cook Islands: $10 million project aims to reduce single-use plastics (www.cookislandsnews.com)
A project to reduce the number of plastics entering the country, focused on the food and beverage sector, was discussed during a workshop in Rarotonga this week. Like other countries around the world, the Cook Islands is an importer and end user of items with single-use plastic packaging....
Calls grow for moratorium on seabed mining (www.rnz.co.nz)
The United Kingdom is the latest country calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining, making it the 23rd nation wanting a precautionary pause. The call came just before the International Seabed Authority or ISA meeting in Kingston Jamaica, for the third part of its 28th session, that started last Monday....