PINA

Tongan Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni has met King Tupou VI in Niuafo'ou as the two sides worked on ironing out differences that had surfaced in early February. While there has been no official update from either the Prime Minister's Office or the Royal Palace Office in Nuku'alofa, RNZ Pacific has confirmed that the meeting took place last Wednesday. Accompanying Hu'akavameiliku...

The Australian government has committed AUD$20 million (K50 million) towards the Climate FIRST program which will assist PNG to access climate change funding of US$400 million (K1.5 billion) by 2028. The Climate Finance Initiative for Resilience and a Sustainable Transition programme launched Monday falls under the PNG-Australia partnership and will see the endorsement of climate finance proposals towards securing funding...

The Australian Government and Queensland Rugby League will deliver a four-year AUD$9.7 million (about K24.5m) investment to support women’s rugby league and high-performance in partnership with the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League. Feakes said the partnership through PacificAus Sports would build the capacity and credentials of local rugby league coaches, support staff and administrators for both the women’s and...

Osea Kolinisau the newly appointed head coach of the Fiji 7s team conducted his first team briefing Monday. According to Stonewriters, the session was enriched by the presence of Olympians Vatemo Ravouvou and Jerry Tuwai. Kolinisau laid out his vision for the team and spoke about the critical values of hard work, dedication, and unity. He insisted on discipline as a cornerstone...

Thousands of people are being impacted by drought in the Federated States of Micronesia. The four states - Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae - have all been experiencing drier than normal weather since December last year with the U.S National Weather Service predicting things are likely to worsen under current El Nino conditions. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),...

The United States President Joe Biden has signed into law the Compact of Free Association (COFA) agreements after about a five-month delay. The new COFA agreements include an additional 20 years of funding at higher levels for the freely associated states - Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The U.S Senate on Friday provided US$7.1 billion in...

No legal immunity will be granted to people found guilty of crimes related to the 18 February massacre in Enga, Papua New Guinea Police commissioner David Manning says. “People need to be held accountable. Our intent is to resolve and take serious actions and interventions towards ending the conflict,” Manning said. He was speaking in reference to a weekend-long roundtable discussions...

Today, 56 of the world’s largest countries and smallest islands, across six oceans, continue to stand united and celebrate shared values for Commonwealth Day. Commonwealth Day is traditionally celebrated on the second Monday in March. The theme for this year’s Commonwealth Day and the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), is ‘One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth’. More...

The co-chairs of the bipartisan House Pacific Islands Caucus are hailing U.S House passage of legislation that renews and funds the Compacts of Free Association or COFA. The Compacts are the foundation for U.S relations with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau for the next generation. “As a representative from among...

The recent restructuring of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary command throughout the country by Commissioner David Manning has irked a few provincial political heads. Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG]) is one of them, putting claim that the decision of transferring Anthony Wagambie Jr to the Autonomous Region of Bougainville breaches the Peace Agreement. Wagambie Jr was Police Commander for NCD...