From The Crowd

24th September

Cyberspace in geopolitics – International cybersecurity agreements

We continuously bemoan the fact that Big Tech has become larger than most countries and wield global power that would be incomprehensible in the past decades. China has recognised this as a threat to their...

Citizenship and belonging

In this article in this series, I focus on the struggle for political legitimacy in order to tackle the issue of citizenship, belonging and acceptance for Fijians of Indian descent in Fiji. The approach taken here uses lessons of history and is ultimately aimed at attempting to illuminate the difficulties in finding common ground among...

Who will reign – Deans and IDC trophies up for grabs

With bated breath, fans will witness rugby action from today’s Deans quarters and Rugby Championship. In the Deans quarters, the rivalry between schools will be brought out as favourites RKS and QVS will aim to make a statement at the HFC Bank Stadium, which hosted the match between the Fijiana and Canada last evening. This...

And now we wait- When will the election date be called?

On Friday, September 2, 2022, the Speaker adjourned Parliament “sine die”, or indefinitely. A “sine die” adjournment does not mean that Parliament has been dissolved. It means that no more parliamentary sittings have been scheduled, unless of course a situation crops up before elections. In August 2018, after being adjourned “sine die” in July, Parliament...

Sovereignty and money – The Marshall Islands mini-state plot

Last week’s news of a Chinese couple’s audacious plot to set up a ministate in the Republic of the Marshall Islands by allegedly bribing members of Parliament and officials was deeply disturbing. The pair, Cary Yand, Gina Zhou, are now facing corruption charges in the United States. If successful, their scheme could have seen the...

Childhood obesity: A growing epidemic

OBESITY is a major public health crisis, and the prevalence and incidence of obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century, and it has increased eight-fold since 1975. The problem is global and is steadily affecting many low and middle-income countries, particularly...

Making the difference – How many voters do you need?

Thinking people must be wondering why on earth the Supervisor of Elections (Mohammed Saneem) and the Elections Office are spending millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money in multiple rounds of voter registration in Fiji and abroad in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. I had to drive across Melbourne to get myself and...

22nd September

The state of play – Social protection in the Pacific and Timor-Leste

Social protection measures have played a core part of the Pacific’s response to the impacts of COVID-19. More than 80 schemes have been implemented, using cash and in-kind benefits, subsidies, and adjustments to contributory schemes. There is a common perception that formal social protection is limited across the Pacific and that, once COVID-19 temporary measures...

21st September

The unspoken truth – Restrictions on abortion care in the Asia-Pacific

The overturning of Roe versus Wade is a huge setback for reproductive rights in the United States, and worldwide. But closer to home, there are many countries in Australia’s Asia-Pacific neighbourhood where access to legal, safe abortion care has never been available. The US now joins El Salvador, Nicaragua and Poland in becoming the fourth...

20th September

Pacific youths make waves in NY rivers

Pacific activists and students, joined by New York climate activists and Indigenous representatives, held a climate justice flotilla on Saturday sailing past the UN HQ and the Statue of Liberty with banners calling on countries to vote yes to the Vanuatu-led bid for an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on climate change at...

19th September

The Queen’s influence

The long reign of Queen Elizabeth II saw large swaths of the world cast off London’s rule, but after her death a handful of British-installed monarchies still endure in the Middle East. They have survived decades of war and turmoil and are now seen as bastions of a certain kind of authoritarian stability. When popular...