PINA

French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls will return to New Caledonia for further political talks one week later than originally planned, local media report. After an initial one-week visit to New Caledonia, which ended on 01 March, Valls said he was planning to come back for more political talks sometime around 22 March. However, the revised plan now mentions a four-day...

Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua lock Carletta Yee will be the youngest Drua player ever to make her debut when she runs out against the Brumbies in this week’s Round 3 of the Smartech Super Rugby Women. The 17-year-old will make her first appearance, as will Olympics Bronze medallist and former Fijiana 7s captain Rusila Nagasau. True to his word, Head Coach...

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved an unprecedented US$12.9 million in grant financing to scale up life-saving early warning systems in Fiji. This support, as part of the UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, will ensure all Fijians, especially those in vulnerable and remote communities, have access to timely, reliable, and actionable information before climate-related disasters strike. With...

Nauru’s Parliament has approved a significant constitutional amendment, allowing the president to appoint up to seven cabinet ministers, up from the previous limit of six. In a secret ballot held Tuesday, the amendment passed with 15 votes in favour and two against. The amendment, introduced by President David Adeang, modifies Article 19 of the Nauru Constitution, which governs the appointment of...

Samoa’s CEO for Women, Community, and Social Development, Loau Donina Va’a, has told Commonwealth delegations at the United Nations’ annual gender meeting (CSW) that Samoa’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) last October was a ‘defining moment’ for gender equality. Loau is part of the seven-member delegation to CSW69, which includes two civil society organisations (CSOs) and...

Fiji's Constitution Amendment Bill has not managed to get the 75 percent majority that is required for the amendments to take place. The final vote count was 40 in favour, 14 against, and one did not vote. The 40 included Independent Opposition MP’s Sachida Nand and Shalen Kumar. Opposition Member of Parliament, Sanjay Kirpal did not cast his vote last night that...

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says visa-free travel for Pacific Islanders is not a priority for the Government now. He says the Coalition’s focus is on investor and workforce visas. In response to a petition from the Green Party advocating for extended visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations. “We’ve got a number of visa and immigration considerations at the moment,” Luxon...

The Fiji Rakavi Union (FRU) has commissioned the establishment of a Fiji Rugby Players' Association, with player welfare as its primary focus. It has also endorsed the appointment of former Wallaby and Flying Fijian Ilivasi Tabua as the association's first chairman. FRU Board chairman John Sanday told RNZ Pacific on Tuesday that the new move is a "pivotal moment in the...

The head of the UN climate change body has urged countries to submit new “first-rate” climate targets by September, after only a handful of countries published updated plans to cut emissions ahead of a February deadline. Under the Paris Agreement, adopted nearly a decade ago, countries are expected to submit targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, and set...

Gender equality is a critical goal at a time when the demand for rights faces a global backlash, top UN officials told thousands of diplomats, business and civil society delegates gathered at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday for the world’s largest annual conference focused on women’s issues. The 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of...