PINA

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has unveiled the Pacific Games 2023 Baton and also launched the 100- day Baton Relay Friday. The paddle shaped baton will be flown to all nine Provinces with the courtesy of Solomon Airlines. The baton will return to the national stadium on the 19th of November, the date of the official opening of the Games. In...

The sixth Meeting of the Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-6), where officials have gathered to discuss and explore opportunities to strengthen weather, climate, water, ocean and related development services in the context of sustainable development, opened in Nadi, Fiji on Monday. More than 160 delegates observed a moment of silence in respect of the victims of the Maui wildfire in Hawaii...

Geostrategic contests in the Pacific region have “elevated” over the past few years. This was highlighted by newlyappointed Australian high commissioner to Fiji Ewen McDonald, when he appeared as a guest on The Fiji Times’ online news portal The Lens @177 last Friday. He was asked whether the Pacific had become increasingly significant as a theatre for strategic competition mainly due...

Young climate advocates will tell leaders at a UN summit next month that they are out of options: government and big business must work together on ambitious climate action that pushes the world faster towards sustainability and empowers youth with the ‘green skills’ that will secure our future. International Youth Day is marked annually on 12 August and the 2023...

Hawaii officials urged tourists to avoid traveling to Maui as many hotels prepared to house evacuees and first responders on the island that faces a long recovery from the wildfire that demolished a historic town and killed more than 90 people. About 46,000 residents and visitors have flown out of Kahului Airport in West Maui since the devastation in Lahaina...

By Pita Ligaiula With so many regional plans, strategies, frameworks – and now the 2050 Strategy, some Pacific countries are concerned with very less implementation and benefits flowing to member countries. There are now calls to review the ‘regional architecture’ to make regional organisations ‘fit for purpose’. The issue was raised at last week’s Forum Economic Minister Meeting (FEMM) in Suva. Forum deputy...

Tough questions need to be asked as the Pacific confronts climate change, lack of progress in sustainable development and the growing vulnerabilities in the region, Fiji’s government says. Addressing the Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers’ Meeting in Suva last week, Fiji deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad said a “business as usual” approach to these challenges would be “the surest...

The U.S aid agency will open its expanded mission to Pacific island countries this week, aiming to show commitment to a region that now has the option of turning to China for infrastructure and development assistance. The visit of the agency’s top official, former diplomat and journalist Samantha Power, to Papua New Guinea and Fiji from 13-16 August coincides with...

The British High Commission in Suva has announced a package of partnership support that will improve Pacific Island Countries access to and absorption of Climate Finance, and delivery of resulting projects. This support will be for two years, with a possibility of a subsequent second phase. The investment managed through the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is supported by the...

The Pacific Engagement Visa programme which could pave the way for 3,000 Pacific Islanders to gain citizenship in Australia is going through parliamentary processes in Australia, says newly appointed High Commissioner to Fiji Ewen McDonald. He spoke about the programme during an interview on The Fiji Times online news portal The Lens @177 last week. “Yes, there certainly has been progress...