PINA

Today, 56 of the world’s largest countries and smallest islands, across six oceans, continue to stand united and celebrate shared values for Commonwealth Day. Commonwealth Day is traditionally celebrated on the second Monday in March. The theme for this year’s Commonwealth Day and the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), is ‘One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth’. More...

The co-chairs of the bipartisan House Pacific Islands Caucus are hailing U.S House passage of legislation that renews and funds the Compacts of Free Association or COFA. The Compacts are the foundation for U.S relations with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau for the next generation. “As a representative from among...

The recent restructuring of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary command throughout the country by Commissioner David Manning has irked a few provincial political heads. Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG]) is one of them, putting claim that the decision of transferring Anthony Wagambie Jr to the Autonomous Region of Bougainville breaches the Peace Agreement. Wagambie Jr was Police Commander for NCD...

Millions of Commonwealth citizens will benefit from improved people-centred access to justice as law ministers concluded their meeting in Zanzibar today with a package of new measures and pledges. The package was shaped by four-day deliberations among ministers, with input from diverse stakeholders, including people with disabilities, civil society representatives and leading innovators in the legal sector. As part of this...

The U.S Congress has passed legislation that will fund key U.S agreements with Pacific Island nations, in an outcome that will spark relief across the Indo-Pacific after previous delays undermined efforts to counter China. The Senate on Friday provided US$7.1bn in funding over 20 years for the Compacts of Free Association (Cofa) — an agreement that provides the U.S with...

Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo has spoken for the first time since taking office with Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, a Tuvalu official says, after the Pacific Island leader called for changes to a landmark bilateral treaty. Teo, announced as prime minister after a January election, has said he wants changes to some security provisions in the security and climate migration...

Samoa's electoral laws have been amended giving citizens the right to register to vote from overseas, despite the opposition raising concerns about the country being governed by “outsiders”. The amendments to Samoa's Electoral Amendment Bill 2024 was passed last Friday by Samoa's Parliament in Apia. There had been concerns the amendments would result in Samoa's diaspora influencing general elections, as the...

The Fijian Drua have condemned the reigning champion Canterbury Crusaders to their worst start since the first season of Super Rugby in 1996 with a 20-10 victory in front of a passionate home crowd in Lautoka. The error-prone Crusaders struggled to deal with the steamy conditions as well as the power and pace of the Drua and slumped to three...

The Fijian Drua starts gearing up today for round four of Super Rugby Pacific against the Chiefs this weekend. They took a break Sunday after their first win against the Crusaders at home and are back today, aiming for their second away game victory in three seasons in the competition. The first time Drua won an away game was against Moana...

U.S Rep Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the U.S House Appropriations Committee, has announced that the U.S House today passed, on a bipartisan vote of 339 to 85, a US$565 billion measure for the current fiscal year that prevents a partial shutdown of the federal government. The massive house spending bill included language to adopt the renewals of the...