PINA

The PNG Hunters head coach, Stanley Tepend has stepped down as head coach, due to personal reasons and no longer feels that he can give the role the attention it deserves. SP PNG Hunters Board and Management have reluctantly accepted the resignation. They expressed disappointment to see Tepend go but would like to thank him for his services over the past...

Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis and Table Tennis are among the first to kick off sports competitions at this year’s 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara. According to the recently released Games Sports Schedule, all five sports will start Thursday 17 November, two days prior to the Games Opening Ceremony. Football competitions will kick off at Lawson Tama and the new SIFF Academy...

Japan began releasing a second batch of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on Thursday, the plant's operator said, as tensions with neighbouring countries over the move continue to fester. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) started the process at around 10:20 a.m. “We would like to continue approaching this with the utmost caution,” Kenichi Takahara, a...

Forum Secretary General, Henry Puna says the signing of the Samoa Agreement – the successor to the Cotonou Agreement next month will be a historic occasion for the Pacific sub-region. Puna made the remarks at the Pacific ACP Trade Ministers Meeting at the Forum Secretariat in Suva. “The Pacific ACP Ministers and high-level representatives from the 27 EU member states will...

Australia will rejoin the world’s major global climate finance fund, reversing a Morrison government decision to withdraw from the United Nations initiative. The Abbott and Turnbull governments provided $200 million (US$126 million) to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) between 2015 and 2018 before then-prime minister Scott Morrison announced he would no longer “tip money into that big climate fund”. The Morrison...

A drought has been declared for Tongatapu and ‘Eua, with alerts for Niuafo’ou and Niuatoputapu, and warnings for Ha’apai and Vava’u this month by Tonga Meteorology. A rain deficit is forecast for the coming months within this El Nino period. In the last three months, the rainfall in Tongatapu was below the the average rainfall within three months. Tonga Met reported drier...

A new synthesis report designed to help governments reach a decision on the global stocktake at COP28 has been published by UN Climate Change. The report reflects the views of governments and their perspectives on the main elements that could constitute such a decision. The global stocktake is part of the Paris Agreement and a key means to assess the world’s...

The Pacific Islands Forum secretary general says time will tell if the U.S will follow through with its latest Pacific funding pledge. Henry Puna has arrived back in Fiji after the second U.S-Pacific summit in Washington where he met President Joe Biden, which he described as a “childhood dream come true” US$200 million of new aid was promised this year. But Australia's...

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s absence from the Second Pacific Islands Forum-U. S Summit will not in any way affect Solomon Islands ability to receive assistance from the United States. Sogavare’s decision not to attend the Summit and sent his Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele had caused a stir in the region. “We are disappointed that PM Sogavare of the Solomons...

The implementation plan for the 2050 strategy is being finalised and will be endorsed by Forum leaders during their convening in the Cook Islands next month. Pacific Islands Forum Director of Governance and Engagement, Sione Tekiteki said the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting will have a detailed agenda, and the leaders will consider several issues and recommend the best...