PINA

Managers and stakeholders from the disaster and emergency management sectors in 15 Pacific Island countries convened in Nadi, Fiji, to review progress, obstacles, and prospects in regional cooperation to enhance disaster preparedness and response. The Pacific Regional Disaster and Emergency Managers Meeting (PRDEMM), convened by the Pacific Community (SPC), includes participants from the directors of National Disaster Management Offices (NDMO),...

Vice-Admiral David Johnston will become the new chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). He will succeed the present chief General Angus Campbell in July, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today. “Vice-Admiral Johnston is a proven leader with the experience, intellect and resolve to lead the ADF in a complex and rapidly changing global strategic environment,” Albanese said. “Vice-Admiral Johnston joined the...

A leaked document from Tonga's Foreign Affairs Ministry shows that officials in the Pacific Island country sharply criticised Australia and New Zealand's response to the security pact signed by China and Solomon Islands, while declaring that Pacific diplomacy from Western nations was “failing”. In 2022, the Morrison and Ardern governments tried to rally Pacific nations to press Solomon Islands not...

Papua New Guinea Government will soon offer visa-on-arrival for Philippine passport holders. Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko made this announcement at a joint press conference with Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in Manila recently. Papua New Guineans traveling to Philippines currently access visa on arrival. Philippines have a large diaspora in PNG numbering nearly 30,000 Filipino workers, permanent residents and naturalised...

The opening of the Pacific Regional Vessel Boarding and Searching Training facility will boost and strengthen the Maritime surveillance and Protections of the Blue Pacific region. This was highlighted by the Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, Pio Tikoduadua while delivering his address at the opening ceremony held at the Republic of Fiji Naval base on Monday. Minister Tikoduadua highlighted that...

The new Ambassador of Japan to Fiji Rokuichiro Michii says over four tons of methamphetamine seized in Nadi are enough to make every Fijian citizen intoxicated more than 4,000 times. Speaking at the RFNF Viti base in Togalevu outside of Suva, Ambassador Michii said evidence suggests that 0.001 to 0.005 grams of meth is enough to make a person intoxicated. He...

An Australian project which “all but eliminated dengue fever” in Far North Queensland has been successfully extended to Fiji, Kiribati and Vanuatu. The programme uses a naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia that modifies the ability of mosquitoes to carry the dengue virus. If the mosquitoes can’t carry the dengue virus, then they can’t transmit it between susceptible humans. Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes were...

Bougainville is making changes to its mining law with the aim of introducing a tax on gold that leaves the region. President Ishmael Toroama said the amendments to the Bougainville Mining Act, expected to be completed soon, will allow the government to earn revenue from a levy on gold leaving Bougainville. President Toroama told the Bougainville parliament recently that the Minerals...

By Jon Letman The Marshall Islands is a nation of atolls – hundreds of small islands carpeted in coconut palms and pandanus trees. While these atolls in the Pacific Ocean are a picture of tropical beauty, they are also home to explosive remnants of war. Eight decades after the guns fell silent, munitions left by the U.S and Japan still...

Strength and conditioning coaches from the region have gathered in Fiji this week with an aim to work towards accreditation under the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA). A collaboration between the Oceania National Olympic Committees’ (ONOC) signature programme, the Oceania Sport Education Program (OSEP), and ASCA sees 25 strength and conditioning coaches come together to work towards ASCA’s Level...