PINA

A day after a US$95 billion foreign aid package left out economic help promised for the Indo-Pacific as the U.S tries to blunt China’s sway there, a senior official on Wednesday said the Biden administration stood committed to its partnerships in the strategically vital region. “At the State Department, the White House, we continue to advocate for the authorisation and...

The work to strengthen the capacity of Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) to engage and amplify the one Pacific voice in sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, has been applauded by Samoa, as the Chair of the 39 member Alliance of Small Island...

-Pacific Parliamentarians, Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), and Anti-Corruption Bodies (ACBs) are working together this week in Vanuatu to strengthen their key role as Triangle of Integrity partners to boost their oversight of corruption capture and prevention, with technical assistance from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC). Recognising that...

Papua New Guinea leader of Government Business and Minister for Finance Rainbo Paita has moved a motion of vote of confidence in Prime Minister James Marape. The Opposition in protest walked out with the numbers overwhelmingly in favour of PM Marape. Despite the shouts of protest by Leader of Opposition Douglas Tomuriesa and attempts by East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, the...

Given the negative impact of plastic pollution on Pacific communities, Pacific Leaders at the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum Meeting in the Cook Islands last year encouraged members to join the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, and continued to support the involvement in the ongoing sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding...

A senior Australian intelligence chief has acknowledged a landmark climate and security deal with Tuvalu may be at risk in the wake of the Pacific nation’s election. Andrew Shearer, who leads the government’s Office of National Intelligence (ONI), said his agency was “obviously aware of recent political change and turbulence in Tuvalu”. But he cautioned that he could not yet predict...

Australia’s Defence Force chief was unaware a Fijian officer who became a deputy commander of 3000 troops was alleged to have committed torture. Colonel Penioni Naliva was appointed the deputy commander of the 7th Brigade in Brisbane as part of an effort to embed Pacific officers in the ADF. Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell admitted normal processes failed and...

The Special Parliamentary Committee deliberating on the Vote of No confidence met Wednesday to discuss the motion to bring a no confidence vote to the floor of parliament against Prime Minister James Marape. NBC confirmed the sitting of the committee after the motion was filed on Tuesday following the end of the 18 months grace period last Friday. The committee verdict...

By Niuone Eliuta Tuvalu, a picturesque island nation nestled in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, is currently grappling with a relentless onslaught of storm surges and towering waves, wreaking havoc on coastal communities. While spring or king tides always come around in February, this year’s king tide is like nothing we have witnessed before. This week, the...

A last-minute bipartisan effort to add key funding aimed at countering China in the Pacific has failed in the U.S Senate even as a US$95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan moved forward. A renewal of the 20-year agreement known as the Compacts of Free Association or COFA was signed late last year, but US$7 billion dollars to...