Breaking News English

The process is [under / over] way for the possible introduction of a new member to the global family of [nationals / nations] . The people of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea have voted overwhelmingly for independence [on / in] a referendum. The vote was [held / handled] on the island between the 23rd of November and the 7th of December. The vote was a non-binding referendum, which [meaning / means] the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government does not have to pass it [onto / into] law. However, PNG gave the vote its full [consensus / consent] and should now consider acting [on / in] the result of the vote. Voters had two [captions / options] - greater autonomy or full independence. Over 181,000 people [vast / cast] their ballot and nearly 98 per cent of them voted in favour of independence.

Bougainville is the largest island of the PNG [shackle / chain] of islands. It is geographically [party / part] of the Solomon Islands [archipelago / arpeggio] and used to be [known / knowing] as the Republic of North Solomons. It has a population of around 250,000 people. Bougainvilleans started a [fright / fight] to achieve their independence in the 1960s. This was a [decade / century] before Papua New Guinea was [gained / granted] independence in 1975. Bougainville was declared part of PNG in 1976. This sparked the Bougainville Civil War between 1988–1998. Over 20,000 people lost their lives in that [conundrum / conflict] . The Prime Minister of PNG said: "I ask for some time for the people of PNG to [absorb / osmosis] and process this result." He said his government was committed to [pasting / adhering] to the poll's result.