PINA

The U.S Missile Defence Agency (MDA) is proposing to launch the initial flight test of Guam’s missile defence system in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, which would be followed by annual tests in subsequent years. According to the MDA’s environmental assessment published today, the proposed action would include up to two flight tests or tracking exercises per year. They...

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has assured the nation that it will be “business as usual” when parliament sits today, dispelling speculation of an early adjournment to September to avoid a no-confidence motion against him. “For the Government, it will be business as usual. The Opposition has been sensationalising the vote of no confidence (without having the required)...

By Inoke Rabonu A five-to-seven-minute drive outside of Lautoka’s central business district, one would find the Vunato Rubbish Dump - a grim testament to the challenges of waste management in Fiji. What was once a small landfill in the midst of the country’s second city has now ballooned into a ‘50-acre’ of extensive expanse of trash. The journey to Vunato Dump is...

Leaders of island nations and territories in Micronesia gathered in Guam on Monday for the 26th Micronesians Islands Forum. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero welcomed the Federated States of Micronesia and its states, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the CNMI, Palau and Nauru. “Our islands may be small, but we are not. Like the Pacific Ocean, our resources are many and...

The official counting of votes for Vanuatu's inaugural Referendum commenced Monday, with the process overseen by Edward Kaltamat, Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), and Principal Electoral Officer (PEO) Guilain Malessas, and members of the EC and Electoral officials. Kaltamat and Malessas explained that the counting procedure for this referendum is different from normal elections. The Electoral Office and the EC...

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell Monday opened the 60th Subsidiary Bodies session in Bonn with a clear and determined message. “People talk about the architecture of the Paris Agreement that all your nations collectively created and agreed. I prefer to think of its engineering,” Stiell stated at the opening meetings in Bonn. “The design phase is completed, and...

Pacific Islands Forum Chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown Monday welcomed the new Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Baron Waqa. “I am delighted to welcome the new Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Baron Waqa, as he begins his tenure at the Secretariat today” Brown said in a statement. Highlighting Waqa's experience, Brown noted, “A former...

Fiji's deputy Prime Minister, Professor Biman Prasad says the Coalition Government is strong, and they remain focused on serving the people of Fiji. In an interview with the media, Prasad said any differences of opinion between the coalition partners has no bearing on the support to the Prime Minister and the Coalition Government. When asked about his stand on the gazetted...

Governor for West New Britain and spokesman for the defected PANGU MPs, Sasindran Muthuvel says the Crown camp of likeminded leaders are ready for the Papua New Guinea Parliament sitting this week and expects normal procedures to take place. Muthuvel said on Wednesday this week, the Private Business Committee (PBC) will be deliberate on the rectified motion of no confidence...

France will send a total of 16 Centaure armoured vehicles from the gendarmerie to New Caledonia. Six of these vehicles will arrive next week, with the remaining ten being deployed progressively over the following weeks. This deployment follows recent unrest in New Caledonia after the adoption of a local electoral body reform, which triggered riots on the archipelago. These disturbances have...