Pacific Islands leaders back Australia-funded joint policing plan


Pacific Islands states have backed an Australian-funded regional policing plan to improve training and create a multinational crisis reaction force. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said leaders endorsed the 400 million Australian dollars ($271m) proposal at their summit in Tonga on Wednesday.

Under the plan, four training centres will be established across the Pacific with a separate hub in the Australian city of Brisbane. The initiative will also create a multi-country policing force of about 200 officers to be deployed to countries in the region in the event of major events or crises.

Read more…
Source: Al Jazeera News


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Australia: Appeal for information after business firebombed overnight in Burwood

    June 16, 2026

    Burwood Police are appealing for public assistance after a business was targeted in a firebombing in Concord overnight. About 11.10pm yesterday (Monday 15 June 2026), emergency services were called to a business on Concord Road, Concord West, following reports of a fire. Officers attached to Burwood Police Area Command attended and found several devices had been detonated ...

  • Australia: Alleged Bathurst bomb maker charged with endangering someone’s life

    May 27, 2026

    A man accused of making bombs at a secret home laboratory near Bathurst has been charged with endangering someone’s life by negligently handling explosives. Bathurst Local Court today heard Paul Stephen Lowry had been charged with more than a dozen further offences related to the discovery of an alleged explosives facility in the small village of ...

  • Papua New Guinea: NZDF assists Bougainville in destruction of WWII-era bombs

    April 30, 2026

    Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel deployed to Bougainville to dispose of a 1000lb (454kg) bomb discovered at Aropa Airfield and a 500lb bomb found at Kieta Primary School. The six-person EOD team, equipment and aid packages were flown to Bougainville on a Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130J Hercules and then on to Aropa Airfield via ...

  • Canberra: Belconnen man charged in relation to 15 pipe bombs found along the shore of Lake Ginninderra

    January 18, 2026

    A 41-year-old man has been charged over the alleged manufacturing of pipe bombs found along footpaths in Canberra’s north this week. Fifteen explosive devices were found along the shore of Lake Ginninderra in Belconnen between Joynton Smith Drive and Ginninderra Drive. Some of the devices had detonated prior to being found, while others were detonated by ...

  • Solomon Islands: Bomb explodes at Townground area

    October 31, 2025

    An unexploded ordinance (UXO) went off this evening, Thursday, at Town Ground, West Honiara causing a huge bang and fear within the vicinity. Reports reaching Solomon Star said, the explosion occurred closed to the Scripture Union building along the Lengakiki road right opposite the Town-ground rugby field. A person was reportedly injured as a result of ...

  • Solomon Islands: Over 6k UXOs disposed off in 2024

    October 30, 2025

    The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) has safely disposed of 6,121 unexploded ordnances (UXOs) nation-wide in 2024. Of this total, 3,200 UXOs were cleared in Western Province under Operation Render Safe. Officer-in-Charge of the EOD Unit, Ansa Puaraua, revealed the figures during his presentation at the National UXO ...

  • Solomon Islands: World War II era weapons still threatening lives and development

    October 6, 2025

    Last century the remote Solomon Islands was the stage for some of the most intense battles fought during the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. But while Allied troops departed on the heels of victory, the military forces of both sides left a massive legacy of unexploded ordnance (UXO) which is still scattered across ...

  • Deadly threat of unexploded bombs in the Pacific persists 80 years on

    September 6, 2025

    This year is the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, but in some countries, the trail of death and destruction continues. Bombs, nearly a century old, are still exploding, killing and maiming people and contaminating land. Four years ago, a group of young people gathered for a barbecue in a residential backyard. ...

  • Japanese WWII destroyer torpedoed by U.S. boats discovered on Pacific seafloor – still armed with munitions

    July 15, 2025

    A famed Japanese destroyer sunk by U.S. torpedoes during a pivotal battle in World War II has been discovered on the floor of the Pacific Ocean more than 80 years after it sank, an exploration team has revealed. The warship was found still armed with unused depth charges, according to the explorers. The Imperial Japanese Navy ...

  • Papua New Guinea: World War 2 bomb explodes in Madang

    June 17, 2025

    An old World War II bomb exploded at Bilia Maus Rot settlement in Madang Town last night, causing widespread fear among residents. The blast, which occurred around 9:30 pm, was so powerful that it was heard across the town and nearby villages, with some mistaking it for a volcanic eruption, according to Provincial Police Commander (PPC) ...

  • Japan: Blast occurs at US Kadena Air Base, injuring 4 Japan SDF members

    June 9, 2025

    An explosion occurred Monday near the U.S. military’s Kadena Air Base in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, slightly injuring four Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members who were working at a depot, local and Defense Ministry officials said. The ministry officials said there was an unidentified explosion while SDF personnel were preparing for bomb disposal operations, ...

  • Solomon Islands: NUXO team ends evaluation tour in Western and Choiseul

    June 8, 2025

    A team from the National Unexploded Ordnance (NUXO) Coordinating Office has successfully conducted a week-long evaluation and inspection tour across Western and Choiseul Provinces. According to Mr. Benzily Kasutaba, Director of the UXO Division under the Ministry of Police, National Security and Correctional Services, the purpose of the tour was to strengthen provincial commitment to addressing ...

  • Solomon Islands: World War II bomb discovered in Honiara

    May 28, 2025

    A World War II bomb (unexploded ordinance (UXO) was discovered on Tuesday, 27th May around around lunch time on the eastern side of the Ministry of Fisheries Headquarter in East Honiara. The discovery was made by a team of Explosive Ordnance (EXO) personnel, led by a retired Bomb Disposal Unit officer. The device is believed to be ...

  • U.S. Air Force holds epic exercise to blow stuff up, calls it ‘EPIC CRAB’

    May 21, 2025

    Airmen walk away from an explosive detonation during EPIC CRAB 25 Exercise at Northwest Field, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, May 1, 2025. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Adasha Williams. In the pantheon of great names for military exercises, few can rival “EPIC CRAB,” which pays tribute to the unique culture of the ...

  • Solomon Islands: World class training on UXOs delivered

    May 9, 2025

    The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Department of the Royal Solomon Island Police Force (RSIPF) has finished delivering world-class Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) training to international partners. The International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) EOD Level 2 course was conducted at Hells Point for 9 weeks for students from the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) and Papua New ...

  • Postured to respond – 18th MDG holds mass casualty exercise

    April 28, 2025

    KADENA AIR BASE, Japan — U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 18th Medical Group trained to deliver life-saving care during a large-scale medical readiness exercise at Kadena Air Base, Japan, April 17, 2025. Medics responded in full mission oriented protective posture gear to the area where simulated chemical weapons were suspected. Biomedical teams surveyed the ...

  • Japan: Okinawa construction unearths more US shells 80 years after WWII battle

    April 10, 2025

    Japanese troops recently removed and neutralized three World War II-era U.S. artillery shells uncovered at construction sites across southern Okinawa and detonated another offshore, according to local officials. The discoveries, made over the past two months, highlight the lingering danger of unexploded ordnance from the Battle of Okinawa, fought 80 years ago on the island. Two ...

  • ADF Sappers ensure Nauru is safe

    April 9, 2025

    A team of ADF explosives experts worked with Government of Nauru authorities to dispose of two World War 2-era unexploded ordnance (UXO) discovered in a residential area on March 18. Led by Sergeant Matthew Watson, of the 20th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron (20 EOD Sqn), the contingent, including explosive ordnance disposal technicians and an advanced medical ...

  • Battle continues in Solomon Islands against UXOs eight decades after WWII

    March 19, 2025

    More than 80 years since the Battle of Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands, communities today are still grappling with the unexploded devices left behind. The major battle in World War Two resulted in thousands of unexploded and abandoned ordnaces (UXOs/AXOs) that litter the islands today. Humanitarian group, The Halo Trust, has been surveying the country’s airfields, ammunition ...

  • Solomon Islands: EOD conducts multiple operations

    March 11, 2025

    The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team conducted simultaneous operation across Solomon Islands. EOD Supervising Director, Senior Sergeant Peter Ririvere, said two teams were sent out to Munda and Shortland Islands in Western Province and Taro in Choiseul Province. EOD teams responded to reports from communities in Munda, Shortland Islands and ...

  • Japan: Man who attacked ex-PM Kishida with homemade pipe bomb is convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison

    February 19, 2025

    A Japanese court on Wednesday convicted a man who threw a homemade pipe bomb at Japan’s former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a 2023 campaign event, sentencing him to 10 years in prison, court officials said. Ryuji Kimura, 25, was found guilty of attempted murder in the April 15, 2023 attack on Kishida at a small ...

  • Solomon Islands Police Force EOD Team ends operation in Western Province

    February 13, 2025

    The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Explosive Ordnance Disposal Department (EODD) team has successfully concluded a significant operation on Shortland Islands in the Western Province (WP) recently. Supervising Director of the EODD, Senior Sergeant Peter Ririvere, said the team safely located and removed more than 70 unexploded ordnances (UXOs) that have posed a threat to ...