Biden's Papua New Guinea no-show takes shine off US pact

The people of Papua New Guinea were ready to party in honour of a special guest - the president of the United States.

Monday was even declared a public holiday, but the guest of honour was a no-show.

Joe Biden was supposed to be the first US president to visit a Pacific Island nation on Monday, but he cancelled his trip and instead flew home to Washington from the G7 summit in Hiroshima to focus on domestic problems.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken instead, but after six months of preparations, this is not the history making moment they'd longed for.