PINA

Convicted former Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama could contest the general election next year, his right-hand man claims. Bainimarama, who originally seized power in a military revolt in 2006, now wants his corruption conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum told RNZ Pacific this would allow the former military leader to contest the 2026 general election. “Many Fijian people want...

French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls, who is visiting New Caledonia this week for the third time in two months, has once again called all parties to live up to their responsibilities in order to make a new political agreement possible. Failing that, he said a potential civil war was looming. “We'll take our responsibilities, on our part, and we will...

Trump administration order issued in response to trade war with China built on flawed business case; threatens to unleash piracy of ocean floor minerals, experts say Ahead of a congressional hearing on deep-sea mining this week, the U.S government has issued an executive order enabling U.S companies and subsidiaries to apply for licenses to mine the deep-sea in international waters...

Team Fiji requires $3.5 million(US$1.75 million) to send its athletes to the Pacific Mini Games in Palau. Team Fiji will compete in 12 of the 14 sports featured in the Mini Games. These include archery, athletics, baseball, 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball, indoor women’s volleyball, para-athletics, para-table tennis, triathlon, swimming, va’a, and weightlifting. Chef de Mission Josaia Tuinamata revealed that national federations are...

The Fijian Drua is out of the top six Super Rugby Pacific race even with four rounds remaining. Drua side is at the bottom of the competition standings with 11 points. Head coach Glen Jackson said it’s been a disappointing few weeks for them but they’ll host three successive games which would have been good if it was earlier in the...

The U.S State Department is eliminating the Office of Global Change, which oversees international climate change negotiations for the United States. Staff were told about the move verbally Thursday afternoon, according to three people who were granted anonymity to speak about the decision to avoid reprisal. The news thrust the office into chaos and raised questions among staff about when...

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto shared the Indonesian government's vision for realising food self-sufficiency and boosting food crop production during a meeting with Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in Jakarta on Thursday. At the meeting, which took place at Merdeka Palace, Prabowo informed that national rice productivity has increased significantly in the six months since his tenure began. “We would be very...

U.S President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deep-sea mining industry, the latest attempt to boost U.S production of nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy. The broad order avoids a direct confrontation with the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority(ISA) and seeks essentially to jumpstart the mining of U.S waters...

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto stated that Fiji is an important partner and "good friend" of Indonesia, adding that the two countries share several similarities. Prabowo explained that diplomatic relations between the two countries had been established since 1919. He affirmed that the two countries share similarities as archipelagic countries as well as similar interests and challenges. The president remarked that both Indonesia...

The Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and Prime Minister of Tonga, Dr ‘Aisake Eke, is ramping up high-level advocacy in Washington this week, pushing for funding commitments to the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF). Joined by Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa, Prime Minister Eke met with U.S National Security Advisor Michael Waltz to discuss strengthening U.S-PIF engagement, with a...