PINA

“Where the Pacific goes in relation to addressing the imminent threat of climate change, or lack thereof, is where the rest of the world will follow. If the global community does not stand together to curb the threat of greenhouse gas emissions, Small Island Developing States will bear the brunt of extreme weather events,” Siromi Turaga, Attorney General of Fiji,...

The US$886 billion defence spending policy for fiscal year 2024 authorises US$9.7 billion to expand the Pacific Deterrence Initiative which seeks to enhance the United States' defence posture in the Indo-Pacific region where it faces a rabid military competition with China. The amount represents an increase of $600 million over President Biden’s budget request, according to Rep, Ed Case of...

French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit will only be useful to Vanuatu if he accepts for France to return our two islands — Matthew and Hunter, says Johnny Koanapo, Vanuatu Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanna, Tafea Province. The French President is expected to arrive in Vanuatu on Wednesday. “After over seven decades of joint colonisation of New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) by...

The U.S Second Gentleman has pledged more aid for disaster risk reduction in Samoa as he met Women in Business Development Inc representatives on Monday as part of a five-hour visit. The husband of the U.S Vice President Kamala Harris, Douglas Emhoff arrived in Samoa a day later than scheduled which meant his visit to the island nation was cut...

A vast area at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean earmarked for controversial deep sea mineral mining is home to thousands of species unknown to science and more complex than previously understood, according to several new studies. Miners are eyeing an abyssal plain stretching between Hawaii and Mexico, known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), for the rock-like "nodules" scattered across...

By Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb, Margaret Young Climate change will wreak havoc on small island developing states in the Pacific and elsewhere. Some will be swamped by rising seas. These communities also face more extreme weather, increasingly acidic oceans, coral bleaching and harm to fisheries. Food supplies, human health and livelihoods are at risk. And its clear other countries burning fossil fuels...

The French president is pressing his country’s interests in the South Pacific this week and trying to make France’s voice heard in a region shaping up as a prime geopolitical battleground for China and the U.S. President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia starting Monday comes as French forces take part in massive U.S Australian-led...

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the Pacific this week – his third foray to the region – to discuss security co-operation with New Zealand and Australia. The State Department said Blinken would also attend the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Aotearoa. But first, he will dedicate the U.S embassy in Tonga on Wednesday – a move many...

United States Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro said the major multination military training exercise launched in Australia sent a message to China that America's allies were cooperating to defend their security and democratic values. Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the U.S and Australia, but has expanded this year to 13 nations and more than...

Defence officials and territorial delegates have pressed both houses of Congress to tie up the proposed new economic packages under the Compacts of Free Association, noting the freely associated states’ critical role in the U.S strategic vision for the Indo-Pacific region. “The compact renewal comes at a time of unprecedented U.S commitment to the Pacific islands,” said Siddharth Mohandas, the...