PINA

An exciting and even more action-packed season of Super Rugby Pacific is instore for Fijian Drua fans as draws for season 2025 are released. For the first time, Fiji’s favourite team will host the Brumbies on home soil. It will also be the first time for the Drua to host defending champions Blues and former champions the Crusaders in the...

The excitement for the third Cook Islands Games will reach a fever pitch as the much-anticipated biennial event kicks off with a grand opening ceremony marching parade on Friday, October 4, at 6pm at the National Stadium in Nikao. Over 3000 athletes young and old representing 11 individual island teams are grinding and gearing up to showcase their athletic abilities,...

Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas delivered a hard-hitting address to the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York Friday, slamming global inaction on climate change, international financial reform, and decolonisation. In his speech, Tabimasmas criticised the continued global inaction on climate change, calling it a betrayal of the international community's commitment to protecting vulnerable nations like...

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, James Marape, used his address at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York Friday to deliver a pointed critique of the international community’s failure to address major global threats. In his speech, Marape emphasised the pressing need for concerted global action on climate change, religious intolerance, and geopolitical tensions,...

Forum Chair and Tonga’s Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni spent time promoting the benefits of the new Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) at a UN side event last week. Hu’akavameiliku led Tonga’s delegation to New York for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and, as chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, he introduced the Pacific Resilience Facility...

New Zealand Climate Change Minister Simon Watts is travelling to Fiji on Monday to attend a Ministerial Meeting (Talanoa) with Pacific Island countries, Australia, and New Zealand. “Attending the Talanoa will reinforce New Zealand’s commitment to supporting climate resilience in the Pacific and advancing action in the areas of climate change,” Watts said. “The Talanoa will bring together Climate Change Ministers...

Buried in the hundreds of pages of the continuing resolution passed Wednesday by U.S lawmakers to prevent a government shutdown are Washington’s final steps to implement a 20-year security pact with Pacific Island allies, cementing a U.S commitment to the region in the face of an increasingly assertive China. The Compacts of Free Association, or COFA, provide economic support for...

The date for the Kiribati presidential - or beretitenti - vote has been set for 25 October. Notices were published by electoral districts across the country on Friday. There will now just be three candidates - all from the same party, the ruling Tobwaan Kiribati Party (TKP) - after one TKP candidate, Riteta Iorome, was dropped. There had been no public...

At the UN General Assembly on Friday, leaders from Asia and the Pacific underscored a dire reality: climate change is a clear and present danger for everyone on the Planet, but their countries and peoples will likely suffer the most. Prime Ministers of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Tuvalu and Tonga underlined the UN’s role as...

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has met with Tonga’s Prime Minister and Forum Chair Siaosi Sovaleni, congratulating Tonga for successfully hosting the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in August. During their talks, Guterres and Sovaleni discussed key regional issues, including early warning systems and the Pacific Resilience Facility, reflecting the broader priorities of the Pacific Islands Forum(PIF). The Secretary-General also held...