PINA

Free association deals have been central to Washington’s Pacific engagement for forty years. Will new deadlines be met? By Patricia O’Brien Little information has emerged about how negotiations for the renewal of the Compact of Free Association (COFA) between the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and the United States are progressing. The United States has signed new agreements with...

Vaea Fifita’s Rugby World Cup is over after he was banned for four games following his red card in Tonga’s 45-17 loss to Scotland. The former All Blacks and Hurricanes flanker was sent off after he charged into a ruck and rammed his shoulder into the head of Scotland’s Finn Russell in the 77th minute. Fifita was immediately shown a yellow...

Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua has made four changes to his starting XV from the team beaten 19-10 by Argentina. Taleni Seu comes into the back-row after making a team-high 25 metres - including 20 past the gain-line - during 26 minutes off the bench last week. Sa Jordan Taufua replaces Steven Luatua at number eight, earning his first start since...

Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua says his country and Tonga would benefit from a similar development model that has seen Fiji take the Rugby World Cup by storm. While Fiji look on course to reach the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2007 after beating Australia 22-15 in Pool C, Samoa's own Pool D hopes were dealt a...

The Flying Fijians is one of two teams with the best scrum success of 100 percent so far at the Rugby World Cup in France. Fiji side is the best in most carries per game with 132, the most dominant collisions with 45 a game, and the third-best success rate with that equaling 50 per cent of their total carries...

Vanuatu's opposition has filed a motion to call an extra-ordinary session of parliament Monday next week to debate a motion of no confidence against new Prime Minister Sato Kilman, who was elected for the top job. Kilman, 65, is the third prime minister of Vanuatu in three years since 2020. Bob Loughman was elected PM after the 2020 general election. He...

The Pacific Island state of Niue is one of the world’s tiniest. Covering just over 100 square miles and with a population of about 1,700, it has no military, is not a member of the United Nations and was not recognised as a sovereign nation by the United States until last year. But U.S President Biden was talking about Niue on...

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, Monday delivered his first statement at the U.S-Pacific Islands Summit held in Washington, marking the first day of this pivotal two-day summit. Prime Minister Rabuka emphasised the importance of trust, solidarity, and adherence to multilateralism and the rules-based order. “This Summit is timely because we need to further enhance trust and solidarity among ourselves for multilateralism...

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Government of Kiribati signed the MCC-Kiribati Threshold Programme Monday designed to spur economic growth and reduce poverty for I-Kiribati. The US$29.1 million grant, developed in partnership with the Government of Kiribati, is the largest direct grant investment in Kiribati by the United States to date. The partnership was formaliSed at the U.S Department of...

By Nic Maclellan In a major electoral upset, Kanak independence politician Robert Xowie has won one of New Caledonia’s two seats in the French Senate in Paris. His second-round electoral victory over Loyalist leader Sonia Backès came on 24 September, the 170th anniversary of France’s annexation of its Pacific dependency. Xowie is the Mayor of Lifou and a former provincial president in...