PINA

Japan will begin releasing a second batch of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant from this week, its operator has said, an exercise that angered China and others when it began in August. On 24 August, Japan began discharging into the Pacific some of the 1.34m tonnes of wastewater that has collected since a tsunami crippled the facility in...

The Pacific island nations are hoping they will not have to wait another 12 months for “much-needed” foreign aid promised by the United States. When President Joe Biden hosted more than a dozen Pacific leaders and envoys in Washington last week, he pledged US$200 million to help the region address the challenges of climate change, peace and security. The move, some...

Forum Secretary General, Henry Puna says it is a sad fact that everyday, thousands of criminals go to work with the sole intention of inflicting harm on innocent people across the globe, including here in the Blue Pacific Continent. “We cannot, and will not, let them win. “One only has to look around the region to see examples of this. “The Vanuatu...

Immigration reforms are urgently needed to create a pathway for climate migration to Aotearoa New Zealand from the low-lying atoll countries of Tuvalu and Kiribati, a researcher says. “There are currently no formal immigration pathways for Tuvaluans and I-Kiribati (Kiribati people) to migrate here for climate-related reasons,” says Dr Olivia Yates, a graduate of the University of Auckland’s School of...

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will formally propose his vision of the Pacific status as a ‘Zone of Peace’ during the Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting in Cook Islands in November. Rabuka said this idea was first mooted in Papua New Guinea during a summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year. The Prime Minister said that once adopted,...

Papua New Guinea’s seconded alternate director at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Damien Horiambe is using the opportunity to not only raise issues for his country and the countries it represents on the Board but also strongly advocate for the Pacific Developing Member Countries (PMDCs). Horiambe is based at the ABD Manila headquarters – serving in the office of the...

The United States struck security agreements last week with Pacific Island nations seen as a key part of U.S plans to counter China’s territorial expansion. But after three years of negotiations, one of those Pacific nations — the Marshall Islands — still has not reached a deal with Washington. A member of the U.S negotiating team blames the State Department’s legal...

Senior U.S officials said on Friday that a White House summit with a dozen Pacific Islands leaders last week was successful, and that Washington was listening to the region, not asking countries to choose between the U.S and China. U.S President Joe Biden met the Pacific Island leaders for a second summit in just over a year last Monday, pledging...

Invasive species are a threat to Pacific communities, they are destructive to native biodiversity and the natural environment and have major socio-economic impacts on communities and national development. Considered “the most significant driver of population declines and species extinctions in island ecosystems worldwide”, invasive species cause extensive economic loss and compromise human health. To curb the devastating impact of invasive...

Defending champions South Africa scored seven tries and moved a step closer to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a bruising 49-18 victory over impressive Tonga in their Pool B clash on Sunday. Many of the 60,387 in the crowd were rooting for the Pacific Islanders, but while Tonga put on a brave showing, South Africa fed off their errors...