PINA

French forces launched a "major operation" on Sunday to regain control of a road linking New Caledonia's capital Noumea to the main international airport, after a sixth night of violent unrest. Officials said more than 600 heavily armed gendarmes were dispatched to secure Route Territoriale 1, the main artery connecting the restive capital with air links to the outside world. Furthermore,...

The U.S military is proposing a new defence site in Palau as part of its strategy to beef up regional security amid escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific. According to a statement from the Joint Region Marianas, engineers from the U.S Navy, U.S Air Force and U.S Marine Corps brief Palauan leaders and citizens about the proposed new projects that include...

The fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) is heading to Antigua and Barbuda later this month with “human survivability and protecting our planet” topping the agenda when it comes to containing climate change, according to the Caribbean nation’s Prime Minister. This year’s conference will focus on “charting the course toward resilient prosperity” by assessing small States’ ability...

As Australians stranded in New Caledonia amid unrest beg for help to come home, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says the defence force is “ready to fly” once commercial flights to the territory resume. Six people have been killed in the French-ruled Pacific Island territory during the upheaval, sparked over contested electoral reform, and a state of emergency has been...

Responding to ongoing unrest in the non-self-governing French territory of Kanaky New Caledonia after the French Parliament adopted a bill changing the territory’s voting rules, Amnesty International’s Pacific Researcher Kate Schuetze said: “The state of emergency declared by the French government and the deployment of the French army, coupled with a ban on the social media app TikTok, must not...

French President Emmanuel Macron's ambitions to deepen French influence in the Pacific, where China is expanding its security ties, could be put at risk by the heavy-handed response to civil unrest in New Caledonia, Pacific analysts and officials said. Deadly riots erupted last week among indigenous Kanak, after Paris changed voting rules to allow more French residents to join electoral...

Fiji is grappling with a methamphetamine crisis that has infiltrated every part of society, from villages, schools, and the police sworn to protect them. Ilisapeci Veibuli from the Fiji Womens Crisis Centre has watched the rapidly spiralling meth use with alarm and says it's so extensive it's been normalised. “People are actually doing it out in public. They are not scared...

France unfit to administer decolonisation process The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance joins the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) and other Kanaky-New Caledonia leaders calling for calm and peace amidst violence and unrest in the Pacific Island territory sparked by the French Government’s insistence on proceeding with proposed constitutional changes expressly rejected by pro-independence groups. The Alliance also...

The Pacific Elders’ Voice is extremely concerned with the turn of events in New Caledonia, leading to unrest and loss of life and livelihoods. We urge a speedy resolution to the situation through dialogue and underscore the importance of listening to indigenous Kanak voices and the Pacific wide support for self-determination. We call for the peaceful and positive response to...

Tensions between the NRL and Australian government have been eased during "productive" talks at Magic Round, but deliberations on the future of a mooted Papua New Guinean team are set to continue. Minister for the Pacific Pat Conroy met with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo and Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys for an hour on Friday night over...