Activists and academics are joining forces to fight plans by Japan to start dumping nuclear waste from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. It is scheduled to start next year and continue for 30 years. A statement of solidarity opposing the move was being drafted following the Nuclear Connections Across Oceania conference in Dunedin at the weekend. At least 800,000 tons of radioactive wastewater was scheduled to be dumped into the Pacific Ocean over 30 years from early next year. "We understand this is within Japan's jurisdiction but the ocean is not stagnant and Pacific Islands will be at the forefront of disposal," Pacific Network on Globalizatio Deputy Coordinator Joey Tau said. Pacific anti-nuclear activists, a Hiroshima bomb survivor and academics voiced their opposition at the event and set up a working group to tackle the issue. International law expert Duncan Currie told the conference Japan had not considered the impacts or conducted baseline studies, which he said was "completely unacceptable". He said modelling suggested the waste would travel to Korea, China, and then the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau. "Japan has other options like storing the waste on land which is costly, but countries need to take a stand now. It is an open and shut case," Curry said. "Very simply, any country, any Pacific country, Korea, China could take a case against Japan in the international tribunal of Law of the Sea demanding an injunction or what are called provisional measures in international law be exercised." Toshiko Tanaka, an 84-year-old survivor of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in 1945, urged the world to remember the suffering nuclear weapons cause. Marshallese 'still suffering' from nuclear testing The newly-elected Vanuatu Climate Minister Ralph Regenvanu said Vanuatu was against the move as the country was a member of the Pacific Islands Forum which had expressed its opposition to the dumping. Fiji-based Bedi Racule said hearing about Japan's plans and the potential impacts had been re-traumatising as Marshall Islands residents were still facing the impacts of nuclear testing by the United States. "We know a lot of people that have passed away from cancer," Racule said. She believed it was New Zealand that had a duty to take action, instead of leaving it up to small island nations. "I really feel for my nations' leaders, they're taking on so much, they have so much on their shoulders and to be constantly fighting for survival means we don't have time to focus on our people and develop our people. "So I think a nation like New Zealand should take the lead on Fukushima waste dumping issue," she said. Time and time again it was small Pacific Islands taking on these battles, Tau said. He called on New Zealand to support this call, if it saw itself as part of "this blue continent". Source: rnz.co

Prime Minister James Marape has urged Parliament to consider the increase in penalties for alcohol and drug related offences as a deterrent to alcohol-induced problems in the country, including returning a parliamentary committee to manage this issue in a bi-partisan approach. He has also called on provincial governors to step up by utilizing their powers to control alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in their respective provinces. The Prime Minister was speaking in Parliament while responding to Western Highlands Governor Hon. Wai Rapa who asked for a ban on alcohol production and sales as a way to solve these issues. PM Marape said to give perspective to beer-drinking and alcohol use, law & order problems associated with drinking was happening because of the abuse of alcohol more than the alcohol itself. “I suggest that, as a national approach, we increase the penalty for alcohol-associated problems, homebrew, and drug abuse as solutions going forward. “We can increase the penalty for alcohol related offence so it becomes a deterrent. Papua New Guinean parliamentarians and citizens: do not be afraid of us increasing the penalty. “You governors in each of your provinces, you have the power to make laws in relation to alcohol control in each of your provinces. You already have the power under provincial liquor licensing. Now utilize that power – restrict unnecessary drinking all over the place; control the times and place such as at proper clubs. “As for the police, I need not tell you your job. When someone is drinking and drunk in public space, you pick them and lock them up. Police personnel themselves must not drink when they are on duty. “These are the small things that need to be in place so we order the behavior of our citizens properly. “I cannot put a stop to someone’s right to drink beer but it has to be done in a proper manner. “It is an industry that also creates employment and generates revenue. “This Parliament is recommended to pass greater penalty for alcohol-related problems in our country,” said the Prime Minister.

A call has been made to the East New Britain Provincial Government (ENBPG) through the district administration and division of LLG and Ward Affairs not to turn a a blind eye on wards when they need support. The more than 100 Ward Development Committee (WDC) from Livuan Reimber LLG in the Gazelle district made this call during the swearing in program at their LLG chamber. Speaking on behalf of the WDCs Theonial Watmelik said the Provincial administration decision to endorse these ward policies in the direction to focus on ward level is the right thing and best way in the quest for a better ENB. She said the two weeks induction and mentoring plus now the swearing in is an eye opener and a beginning of a new chapter. "We are the genie pigs to the pioneer of the decentralization of the government of PNG in East New Britain at the local level government," said Mrs. Watmelik. She further stated that the the 1997 Provincial act is not a mistake majority has taken place and it is important that the sworn in WDCs now are the role models of the future generation. The 29 wards and the people in the LLG witnessed the swearing in of the WDCs and signing info oaths facilitated by magistrate Shiella Luben. The LLG president Sam Piniau also stressed that the district administration must not over see proposals from the wards but must prioritize them so that WDCs are also happy to do their job in serving the people in their respective wards. Mr Piniau thanked the ward and LLG affairs division and Provincial administration for the program as this will strengthen ward governance and make a change in the wards. The WDCs raised that they need more time for mentoring and induction of the WDCs and also do follow up and members must visit the wards from time to time and hear the cries of the WDCs. "We cannot do our work without funding or proper tools we have been empowered to do our work but there are challenges such as no community hall, funding and others and the province and district must work together with the WDCs to serve our people," said Mr Pinau.

Portugal have beaten Uruguay two-nil in an important Group H fixture at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, north of Doha this morning. A brace from Bruno Fernandes made all the difference in a game that Portugal dominated, despite a few moments of brilliance from Uruguay. Portugal's first goal was initially claimed with enthusiasm by Cristiano Ronaldo after he appeared to get the slightest of touches on Fernandes' cross but an official review later awarded the goal to the midfielder. Uruguay made a late charge after reviving their attack with the introduction of Luis Suárez and Maxi Gomez, with the latter clattering a well-struck curling effort into the post just seconds after being brought into the game. Portugal wrapped up the game with a penalty in added time after the hand of Uruguay defender José María Giménez collided with the ball as he fell backwards after being nutmegged by Fernandes. Fernandes stepped to the penalty spot to bury it low and slow into the net after his trademark hop step run up. The win has secured Portugal's qualification to the Round of 16, while Uruguay are left in need of a win against Ghana to keep their chances of progressing alive. Source: rnz.co

The 382 wards in East New Britain have been encouraged to create their respective ward business arms creating own revenue to benefit the people in the ward. The president of the Toma Vunadidir LLG Robert Mati raised this over the weekend during the swearing in of the 133 Ward Development Committees (WDC) in his LLG. He said that all wards under his LLG will have business arms as this is one of his many plans to roll out in his LLG as the current president. He said when wards and LLGs have business arms they can acquire plans from donors and that can be manage because if manage through the LLG administration it would not work well because politics will interfere so the way forward now is to establish a business arm at the LLG and business arms at the wards. He added that this is when people will see the chain will flow properly as they create extra money for the LLG and for the community and not waiting and depending all the time on government funds. “Now at the various districts some they already have business arms so I encouraged all the wards and LLGs in the province to create business arms this will help a lot,” said Mr Mati. Like for the Gazelle district they have Gazelle Development Corporation and the province is East New Britain Development Corporation and those are the links and that is only up at the top and it is good to bring down to the LLG and ward levels also. “The LLG and wards is the root it is where the real people live and people experience real problems and there are some things that are still missing and we have to fill the links this an opportunity that we have to grab.” “If we established more business arms we will look at more developments because they will operate as an entity on its own to find funding for the LLGs even the wards,” he said. He added that now with the ward government policy and recognition of the WDCs wards should create more revenue so that they themselves will pay the WDCs for the work that they do.

UNFPA and the Korean Internaonal Cooperaon Agency have launched a new project addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and sorcery accusaon related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea. “This project is a gamechanger for addressing GBV and SARV in PNG,” said UNFPA Country Representative Marielle Sander. “This violence is a destructive force in our communities and it is a problem towards achieving sustainable development for everyone. It is like a disease in our communities.” “We are calling on everyone across Papua New Guinea to take a stand against sorcery accusation related violence and gender-based violence because unless there is peace in our homes, in our communities, there will not be peace in Papua New Guinea.” The agreement was signed by Ms Sander and KOICA Country Director Kapchae Ra. They were joined by Ambassador of Korea Ho Jeung Kang, Department of Justice and Aorttney General Secretary Eric Kwa, and Department for Community Development and Religion Secretary Jerry Ubase. “One of the objectives of this four-year project is to ensure women and girls and vulnerable persons those who experience or who are at risk of GBV or SARV have access to quality and merly support, delivered as part of a coordinated response,” explained Ambassador Kang. Both Ambassador Kang and Ms Sander highlighted the importance of partnership, that this new project does not exist in isolaon but as part of ongoing, mul-sectoral responses to ending gender-based violence and establishing peaceful relaonships between individuals, families, and communies. Both Secretary Kwa and Secretary Ubase welcomed this new partnership to end the scourge of GBV and SARV in Papua New Guinea, speaking on the importance of supporting government in a coordinated approach to this immense challenge. “We need a lot more partners. We need a lot more friends,” said Secretary Kwa. “This violence takes on new faces and new forms. We need to be smart in our approaches. I hope that through this new partnership with KOICA we can work smarter.” The $4.7 million USD project will include strengthening services for survivors of violence and preventing both GBV and SARV through targeted outreach promoting peaceful interpersonal and intercommunal relationships. Tribal Foundation’s Yanamlyn Yana and UN Women’s Pearl Atuhaire joined this event to speak of how this new project complements the work of civil society and grassroots organizations in advocating for social norm change. This project accelerates gains delivered through the Spotlight Iniave, which addresses effective referral pathways among other interventions, and the Joint Highlands Programme, which includes development of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support services. Ms. Sander spoke of the data surrounding SARV, nong that of incidents reported over a four year period, 57% of accusations are made against women. 5% of those accused were 18 years old or younger, with two under the age of ten. UNFPA brings expertse in data-driven programming to this new project, understanding that approaches need to be flexible and need to be responsive to the different needs of each community in which this project will be implemented. The project will be implemented in Morobe Province, East New Britain Province, Enga Province, Southern Highlands Province, Eastern Highlands Province, and Western Highlands Province. The project is scheduled to be completed in September 2026.

The world's largest active volcano, Hawaii's Mauna Loa, has erupted for the first time in almost 40 years. The lava flow is mostly contained within the summit, but residents have been placed on alert and were earlier warned about the risk of falling ash. The US Geological Service (USGS) has said the situation could change rapidly. The volcano's alert level has also been upgraded from an "advisory" to a "warning" - the highest classification. No evacuation orders have been issued and populated areas are unlikely to be impacted at this stage, emergency officials say. Mauna Loa, located inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, covers half of the US state's Big Island. The volcano rises 13,679ft (4,169m) above sea level and spans an area of more than 2,000 sq miles (5,179 sq km). It erupted at 23:30 local time on Sunday (09:30 GMT Monday) at Moku'āweoweo, the volcano's summit caldera. Calderas are hollows that form beneath the summit at the end of an eruption. It followed a series of warnings that an eruption was possible after a spate of recent earthquakes in the region, including more than a dozen reported tremors on Sunday. An advisory for ashfall - which can contaminate water supplies, kill vegetation and irritate the lungs - was in effect for the surrounding area overnight but has since been lifted. "Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa eruption can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly," the USGS said. If the eruption migrates beyond the walls of the summit caldera, lava flows could "move rapidly downslope", it added. According to the USGS, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843. The previous eruption in 1984 sent lava flows within 5 miles of Hilo, the island's most populous town. But the Big Island's population has more than doubled since 1980 to around 200,000 residents and Hawaii's civil defence agency has warned residents could face a "lava disaster". "These lava flows rarely present a risk to life, but they can be extremely destructive to infrastructure," said Dr Jessica Johnson, a British volcano geophysicist who has worked at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. She warned the lava flows posed a risk to Hilo and Kona, another major population centre, adding that the volcanic gasses could cause breathing problems for locals, Mauna Loa is the world's largest active volcano. There are other larger volcanoes but these are classified as dormant, meaning they have not erupted for a long time, or extinct, meaning they are almost certain not to erupt in future. Source: BBC

Iran's football federation has complained to Fifa after the Islamic Republic emblem was removed from its flag in social media posts by the United States team. Before their World Cup meeting on Tuesday, the US removed the Allah symbol in graphics posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The US said they decided not to use Iran's official flag to show "support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights", amid mass anti-government protests in the country. The protests in Iran, met with a fierce crackdown, have been sparked by the death in custody in September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly breaking the strict rules around head coverings. "In an unprofessional act, the Instagram page of the US football federation removed the Allah symbol from the Iranian flag," said Iran state news agency IRNA. "The Iran Football Federation sent an email to Fifa [football's world governing body] to demand it issue a serious warning to the US federation." A US Soccer spokesman later said the posts had been removed and replaced with ones using the correct Iran flag, but added: "We still support the women of Iran." Iran has accused the US and other foreign adversaries of instigating the protests, with the US government imposing sanctions on Iranian officials over the crackdown. Source: BBC Sports

The National Youth Development Authority in partnership with Milne Bay Provincial Administration recently concluded a week-long training on Tailoring & Fashion Design ( screen print, tie dye, paper stencil, garment construction & coloration, garment display). About 22 females from Alotau & Esa'ala District Youth Development Councils respectively participated in the life skills training at Wangili Center in Alotau. During their graduation on Friday (25/11), they were issued with sewing machines to kickstart what they learnt and empower themselves by creating thier own employment. On hand for the closing presentation was the Alotau DDA CEO, Mr Hilary Wilson, Director General- NYDA, Joe Itaki, Trainer Ms Anna Amos of PNG Fashion Week Ltd. In today's context, the youth population has grown higher than the opportunities available. Creating self- employment through specific skills development is the ideal approach to build our youths as stipulated in the National Youth Policy. By engaging with stakeholders at the subnational level, we intend to create hope for our out- of- school youths, and creating a leeway for them to contribute to nation building. Source: National Youth Development Authority

Three countries have raised concerns that they have been offering visa on arrival for Papua New Guineans while Papua New Guinea (PNG) does not offer their citizens the same. Israel, Indonesia, and the Philippines complained that they were not happy about the frustrations that their citizens were going through to obtain visas to enter PNG. “These three countries are now offering visa on arrival for Papua New Guineans, and they find it hard to understand why Papua New Guinea is still not offering visa on arrival for their citizens under reciprocal visa agreements,” said the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru. Minister Maru said that the PNG Government has to sort this out immediately if it was serious about attracting investors to come to PNG. “If we are serious about business, then the whole world is opening up and offering visa on arrival and PNG needs to do the same if it wants to attract investors. If PNG is serious to attract investors from other countries, then it must no longer continue to make it difficult for investors to arrive in PNG, including tourists. The rest of the world has now moved to giving visa on arrival as a deliberate strategy to attract more investors and tourists. PNG needs to do the same especially when we have agreements with countries to do so under reciprocal visa arrangements,” said Minister Maru. As an example, the Agreement with Israel was signed in Jerusalem on October 15, 2013, between the Government of the State of Israel and the Government of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea to issue visa on arrival for their citizens. Israel had done its part by ratifying the agreement and offering visa on arrival to Papua New Guineans since January 11, 2016, while PNG has not done its part. “We are now 7 years behind in meeting our obligations under the Agreement with Israel for reciprocal visa on arrival. We need to get our house in order if we want investors. Small things like this can make a big difference in whether investors will come into the country or not. We must realize that PNG is competing with the rest of the world for investment dollars, and we must shape up to attract the investors. We have not been able to attract large scale investors outside of the Mining and Petroleum sector in the last three years. Our biggest need is investment; we need investments to create much needed jobs for our citizens and to create wealth for our citizens and our country,” said Minister Maru. Minister Maru is writing to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Justin Tkatchenko to sort out this embarrassing situation for our county as a matter of priority.

Sustainable energy has the power to transform livelihoods across the country, especially for rural communities who have spent their lives planning activities around daylight hours. Reliable light creates more time in the day to prepare food, do homework, sew bilums, and can extend the hours for public services like healthcare and education. It can also bring profound benefits to the safety of women and girls, people living with disabilities, the elderly, and other marginalised groups in society who face increased risks of violence during the night. The Papua New Guinea-Australia Partnership’s Pawarim Komuniti GrantsProgram is providing clean, reliable, and sustainable energy solutions for rural and remote communities across PNG, through the provision of solar home systems and solar streetlights. More than 324,000 people – over half of which are women and girls – are benefiting from solar lighting projects in households and communities. A female health worker from Buna village, Northern Province said: “It is much safer to be in the health facility late at night now that we have the solar lights. The lights provide protection from intruders and wild animals, which are deterred by the lights surrounding the facility, and I am safe to be inside with the lights on now.” Another community health worker from Ajeka village also in Northern Province added: “Before the lighting came, I was afraid to go into the aid post after darkness. The lights now make it much safer for me to tend to patients who are in emergency situations at night and who need me to give them treatment in the aid post facility. I can be in there all night with a other going into labour and the light can assist with clear visibility for the birth and for any complications that might go wrong.” The PNG-Australia Partnership is committed to ensuring a safe, equitable, and empowering future for women and girls across PNG, and is supporting PNG to reach its goal of electrifying 70% of the country by 2030, including through renewable and clean energy solutions.

50 students from Paradise College who completed basic first aid training this year graduated in a small ceremony at school this week and received certificates of completion and merchandise bags from the Sir Brian Bell Foundation. Ms Isau from Paradise College thanked St John Ambulance Papua New Guinea and the Sir Brian Bell Foundation for running the program for their year 9 students. First Aid In Schools Program coordinator Zoe Saulep encouraged the students to utilise their new learnings to help save lives should an accident or emergency strike. Congratulations again to the fifty students of Paradise College! Well done! The First Aid in Schools program will be extending out to Morobe, ENB and Simbu early next year; equipping more young students with basic first aid life savings skills across the country to be able to assist anyone who is ill or injured until medical help or an ambulance arrives. Source: Sir Brian Bell Foundation