PINA

The weak but significant La Niña weather event that began in December is likely to be brief, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has announced. La Niña, a natural climate phenomenon, results in cooler Pacific Ocean temperatures and influences weather conditions worldwide. The latest forecasts from WMO indicate sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific are expected to return to normal. The...

The Cook Islands has welcomed the Marshall Islands by signing the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Rarotonga. In welcoming RMI’s signing, Cook Islands Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Tepaeru Herrmann, reflected on discussions between Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Mark Brown, and President of the RMI, Dr Hilda Heine, during the 2024 Pacific...

Samoa Speaker of Parliament Papalii Lio Masipau once again rejected a proposed motion from the cabinet to remove him and his deputy Auapaau Mulipola Aloitafua. Growing tension in parliament in the past week saw the Prime Minister and cabinet continuously flagging conflict of interest from the Speaker and his deputy in wearing two hats when convenient; as party members and...

The Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S Agency for International Development is a boon to Beijing’s designs on Pacific Island nations and weakens America’s national security, the former China policy lead for USAID told lawmakers Wednesday. “Destroying a crucial national security tool, the trust of our allies — basically overnight — has not made the United States safer, stronger and...

The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Baron Waqa, will visit Japan next week for a series of high-level engagements, including a meeting with Japan's Foreign Minister, Iwaya Takeshi. During his visit, Secretary General Waqa will discuss key priorities of the Blue Pacific region, including the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), a critical initiative aimed at strengthening climate and disaster...

Super Rugby Pacific officials say they will use a road trip from hell for the Fijian Drua in New Zealand – which saw the team forced to get a late-night lift in a luggage truck – to improve their travel processes. In farcical scenes reminiscent of the 1987 film Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the Drua had to negotiate a drama-filled...

Lote Tuqiri has slammed Super Rugby Pacific's "unacceptable" mistreatment of the travelling Fijian Drua and hopes such a "ridiculous" turn of events never happens again. The Fiji-born legend and dual Australian international also took aim at New Zealand's "lack of hospitality" after learning the Drua were forced out of their hotel room in Napier, with nowhere to go and rest,...

Governments have delayed for the third time a key decision on the timing of an influential climate science assessment, after failing to resolve deep divisions at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) over whether and how to align its work with UN climate policy. While officials agreed on the outline of the IPCC’s three flagship reports...

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces must never again be seen as an institution that dictates political outcomes, but as a pillar of national security, democracy and public service. Minister for Defense Pio Tikoduadua made the statement in Parliament this morning while responding to President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu’s speech during the opening of the parliament. Tikoduadua said their vision for Fiji’s...

A pair of Chinese scammers who served short sentences in the United States for conspiring to bribe Marshall Islands officials have been stranded for nearly a week in the terminal of Manila’s international airport after both Palau and the Philippines denied them entry because of their criminal backgrounds. Cary Yan and Gina Zhou first made international headlines in 2022 when...