PINA

There are plans to stage a historic clash between two NRL sides in Fiji as early as next year as the game prepares to expand into another international frontier. The initiative is the brainchild of the Melbourne Storm, who are poised to announce on Tuesday a new partnership with Fiji Airways for at least the next three years. Storm officials...

Fiji Bati coach Waisake Kativerata believes that if Fiji can export plenty of local talents into the NRL with limited resources, Papua New Guinea can send more. Kativerata, a former NRL player who played at center for St George Illawarra Dragons, Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs between 2002-2004, said PNG had a lot of talent with potential. “We are lucky...

Kumuls veteran Rhyse Martin believes the introduction of a PNG NRL team would boost the competitiveness of the national side by creating opportunities for more players at the top level. Martin, who captained Papua New Guinea at last year’s World Cup, was the only player from outside the domestic competition in the Kumuls side when he made his Test debut...

Rugby league is also a national sport in the Cook Islands but it needs more exposure to grow the game and make it better, former Wests Tiger and Aitu center Esan Masters says. Masters who plays for the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League said Papua New Guinea had more exposure which had seen the game grow. The 27-year-old said tournaments...

The European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) has welcomed last month’s signature of the BBNJ agreement (biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction), also known as “Treaty of the High Seas”. This agreement is key to protect the ocean, promote equity and fairness, tackle environmental degradation, fight climate change, and prevent biodiversity loss in the high...

The final group of refugees still held in Papua New Guinea a decade after being exiled there by Australia will begin leaving “within weeks”, the country’s migration chief has committed, saying the majority will be resettled in New Zealand, while those suffering acute health problems will be brought to Australia for treatment. There is an increased urgency to resolve the...

The only Pacific MP in New Zealand's National Party has her eye on the Pacific peoples’ portfolio. “I want to make sure that I deliver,” 29-year-old Angee Nicholas said. “Being a really competent first time MP is the focus for me,” she said. The National Party will form the next government, but the exact structure is unknown until special votes come in. Special...

The president of the next UN climate summit, Cop28, has told government negotiators they must agree how to set up a new loss and damage fund before leaving the Egyptian city of Aswan. The United Arab Emirates’ Sultan Al Jaber addressed the 24 members of the transitional committee by video link on Friday, the last official day of talks. At Cop27...

Government officials from small island developing states (SIDS) have said they find it difficult to get money from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for projects to help them adapt to climate change. The GCF was set up in 2010 to distribute money from rich countries to poorer ones to help them cut emissions and adapt to climate change. The fund is...

A Cabinet Minister in the Samoa government has urged citizens not to worry about the effects of the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East on the country's finances. Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Chairman and Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, La'auli Leuatea Schmidt told the EFKS TV programme on Friday that the war in the Middle East is...