PINA

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland , will embark on official visits to Samoa and the Kingdom of Tonga from 25 March 2024. In both countries, she will hold discussions with Heads of Government, cabinet ministers and other public figures on issues of importance to the Commonwealth and the Pacific region, including Commonwealth assistance and cooperation. The Secretary-General will arrive in Samoa...

Fiji will continue police cooperation with China but won’t have Chinese officers stationed inside its force, a government minister said, following a review of security relations that highlighted the Pacific island country’s balancing act between economic reliance on China and security ties to the U.S and its allies. A police cooperation agreement between Fiji and China, signed in 2011 when...

Samoa Cabinet has approved Space X's Starlink satellite services to operate in the country. This was confirmed by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, La'auli Leuatea Schmidt. He said this was the government's vision for enhanced internet accessibility and affordability for all Samoans. Speaking during an interview on Soalepule on Wednesday night, La'auli disclosed that the Cabinet, in its weekly deliberations,...

By Satyendra Prasad The Blue Pacific as an Ocean of Peace has evolved as one the core ideas of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and the Fijian Government. An early outline of the Blue Pacific as an Ocean of Peace was presented to Pacific Leaders at their meeting in Rarotonga last year. Fiji’s Prime Minister intends to present a fuller...

It's win-win for Fijian Drua fans, who can't wait for Wallabies sensation Mark Nawaqanitawase and his NSW Waratahs cohorts to light up Lautoka. The Waratahs will play their historic first Super Rugby Pacific match in Fiji on Saturday after NSW's previous two “away” games fell in Super Round in Australia. One of several players in the squad with Fijian heritage, Nawaqanitawase's...

Moana Pasifika assistant coach Stephen Jones is conscious the team will have to manage what they have as travel and time off the pitch during the week has not matched up for the side. Moana Pasifika played Western Force in Perth last Friday night before flying back to Auckland to prepare for their next game against the Brumbies, who they...

The main reason for political instability in Vanuatu is that there are too many political parties and the frequent switching of sides by politicians. This was conveyed by Prime Minister Charlot Salwai at a press conference Wednesday in regards to the upcoming Referendum, as he listed these factors as major obstacles to maintaining Government stability. The PM reflected on Vanuatu’s political...

Fiji's former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho are at the centre of a legal case where the defence counsel has called for a suspended sentence, contrasting with the State’s push for a custodial sentence favouring the upper range of the tariff. Magistrate Seini Puamau had refrained from pronouncing Bainimarama and Qiliho guilty as directed by...

Despite compromises that have been reached on nuclear reparations, the lingering impact of the massive U.S nuclear testing in Bikini Atoll is likely to be the recurring centerpiece of future dialogues between the U.S and the Marshall Islands, a State Department official said. “This is a sensitive issue, and we remember just on 01 March, we commemorated Nuclear Remembrance Day,”...

U. S deputy secretary of State Kurt Campbell last week met with a high-level delegation from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) including Secretary General Henry Puna as well as the Prime Minister of Cook Islands Mark Brown. The deputy secretary highlighted the United States’ growing engagement in the Pacific region and ever closer U.S relationship with the PIF, as evidenced...