PINA

Cook Islands’ bid to qualify for the next Rugby League World Cup has become more difficult following the sport’s international governing body’s decision to reduce the number of teams by six to 10 in the 2026 tournament. The next Rugby League World Cup, to be held in 2026 in the southern hemisphere, will be played on a reduced scale. This was...

The Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation (PNGSF) with support from the PNG Olympic Committee (PNGOC) will host the 8th PNG Games in December in the National Capital District, PNGSF chief executive Albert Veratau confirmed. Usually hosted by provinces, PNGSF and PNGOC took over the hosting rights after Southern Highlands, NCD and Central, who initially agreed to host the games, withdrew...

Japan plans to start releasing treated radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean as soon as late August, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun daily reported on Monday, citing unnamed government sources. The release is likely to come shortly after the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, meets the U.S president, Joe Biden, and the South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol,...

Tuvalu Minister of Finance, Seve Paeniu today joined Pacific civil society on the island of Kioa, Fiji to launch discussions on accessibility to climate finance ahead of the Pacific Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) in Suva. The Kato Pacific Community Climate Fund was first discussed in October last year, when Pacific civil society representatives signed the Kioa Climate Emergency Declaration....

Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) vice-president Patrick Nisira has called on the Government to consider the politically sensitive environment of the region when voting for the ratification and endorsement of the referendum result in Parliament. Nisira said that no one could have predicted the result of the referendum. “But when the results were announced on 11 December 2019, people cried with joy...

As Pacific nations, Fiji and Samoa are determined to advance cooperation for sustainable economic growth and development. This was articulated at an introductory call received by the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Dr Lesikimacuata Korovavala from the Samoan High Commissioner to Fiji,Aliioaiga Feturi Elisaia. The meeting highlighted that the enduring and multifaceted, Fiji and Samoa relationship is based on trust and...

Pacific anti-nuclear advocacy groups and campaigners have condemned the Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka's backing of Japan's plans release over one million tonnes of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. Last Thursday, Rabuka announced he was “satisfied” with Japan's efforts to demonstrate that the release will be safe. He said he had read the International Atomic Energy Agency's report which...

Vanuatu Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau has made a cabinet reshuffle. MP for Santo Rural Samson Samsen has been appointed new Minister for Trade. Matai Seremaiah is now Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister replacing Jotham Napat. A motion of no confidence bearing the signatures of 29 Members of Parliament was lodged and received by the office of the Vanuatu Speaker...

Cook Islands Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown has arrived in Fiji for a series of bilateral and regional engagements focused on the Cook Islands and the Pacific economic resilience and partnerships for prosperity priorities. On Monday, Prime Minister Brown's schedule of engagements starts with a meeting with Fiji Airways Chief Executive and Managing Director Andre Viljoen and...

A bipartisan group of U.S senators has proposed legislation to support establishment of national security councils in strategic Pacific island states that are home to key U.S military installations and at risk of espionage and coercion by China. The provisions are contained in the sweeping National Defence Authorisation Act, which was passed by the Senate last month but is still...