PINA

Former All Blacks back-rower Steven Luatua will make his Test debut for Manu Samoa when they tackle Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday. The 32-year-old last played for the All Blacks in 2016 and has now switched Test allegiances after 15 caps for New Zealand. Meanwhile, Luatua’s Bristol Bears’ former teammate Semi Radradra will captain Fiji at inside centre. Luatua...

Flying Fijians forward Joseva Tamani says he had to battle against all odds to earn a spot in the match day 23 against Samoa this weekend in Apia. Tamani said he is ready to take on a potential debut in the second-row position despite overcoming a challenging injury. The setback initially left him crestfallen, and it seemed as though his dreams...

U.S Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said on Thursday during a visit to Papua New Guinea that Washington was not seeking a permanent base in the Pacific Islands nation under a new defence agreement. Papua New Guinea and the United States signed a defence cooperation agreement in May that sets a framework for the U.S to refurbish PNG ports and...

The prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday accused China of “undermining” the balance of the South Pacific by signing a new police cooperation pact with the Solomon Islands. Anthony Albanese and Chris Hipkins said that the agreement, signed at the beginning of the month between Beijing and Honiara and similar to the one that the Solomon Islands...

French president Emmanuel Macron has denounced “new imperialism” in the Pacific during a landmark visit to the region, warning of a threat to the sovereignty of smaller states. “There is in the Indo-Pacific and particularly in Oceania new imperialism appearing, and a power logic that is threatening the sovereignty of several states – the smallest, often the most fragile,” he...

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Port Vila last night, just three days before Vanuatu’s 43rd Independence Anniversary. President Macron received a grand and gracious welcome at the airport where he was warmly greeted by a delegation led by the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jotham Napat, Malvatumauri and Vaturisu Councils of Chiefs, and Commissioner of...

Jim Skea of the United Kingdom is the newly elected Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). With nearly forty years of climate science experience and expertise, Jim Skea will lead the IPCC through its seventh assessment cycle. Skea was elected by 90 votes to 69 in a run-off with Thelma Krug. “Climate change is an existential threat to...

U.S Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland wrapped a weeklong trip to the Pacific Islands today, including visits to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia. Secretary Haaland led the U.S delegation for the inauguration of the 10th President of the Federated States of Micronesia, Wesley W. Simina. Vice President Aaron Palik...

Pacific health researchers are starting clinical trials in early 2024 to explore kava as an alternate treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study is undertaken by researchers from University of Waikato, New Zealand on how kava use in the traditional kava setting could facilitate trauma therapy. Its co-lead and Pacific health researcher Dr Apo Aporosa told NutraIngredients-Asia that the study...

As tensions grow over security in the Indo-Pacific region amid an increasingly assertive China, Tonga and the United States agreed that working together, guided by strategies such as the Pacific 2050 Strategy, would be key to ensuring that – the Pacific remain a region of peace, security, and prosperity, says Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni. PM Sovaleni made the statement...