PINA

The Government of the Solomon Islands said it is confident that it can deliver the 2023 Pacific Games on time, despite the challenges that have came due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes after presentations to the Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and the Caucus last Wednesday (09 March) by the National Hosting Authority (NHA). The Games Organising Committee, the...

The findings of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) point to a “bleak future” for the Pacific, where people who have the least to contribute to the causes of climate change, live in fear of “catastrophic and extreme weather events.” Samoa’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, offered the reflection when he...

The Indo-Pacific region remains the priority theatre for the Defense Department, and China remains the pacing challenge for the U.S military, Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific Affairs, said. The United States is a Pacific power and works with allies and partners throughout the Indo-Pacific to uphold the free and open regional order, he told the House Armed...

There's been a rush to vaccination centres in Vanuatu with the whole country now in lockdown as Covid-19 spreads from the main island. Up until this week it had managed to keep the virus out of the country with strict border controls over the past two years. The outbreak started late last week with a hotel quarantine breach, the health...

Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) President David Panuelo has asked the European Union(EU)to establish an office in the Northern Pacific. In his opening remarks at a joint Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and French Institute of International Relations event Thursday, Panuielo said that he had written to French President Emmanuel Macron. Last 21 January, “I wrote to Emmanuel Macron, in...

Fiji Sun publisher and chief executive officer Peter Lomas passed away on Wednesday at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva after suffering from a short illness. Fiji Media Association (FMA) general secretary Stanley Simpson said in a statement the association was saddened by Lomas’ death, described the late Lomas as a giant of journalism and media development in Fiji...

Sport is a global industry that the Pacific Islands can stake strategic claims in, for economic, social, and cultural development, but good governance is key to sport organisations contributing to achieve this for sportspeople and economies. The Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) say this is not new knowledge but that its current Secretaries-General Workshop is emerging this as a core...

The global failure to deliver enough COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries “is prolonging the pandemic” and causing tens of thousands of preventable deaths every week, senior UN figures told the Human Rights Council on Thursday. To date, more than 10.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, “enough to protect the entire world population from severe symptoms, hospitalisation and death,”...

The multimillion-dollar Blackrock Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Camp at Votualevu in Nadi will officially be handed over to Fiji on Monday. Defence Minister Inia Seruiratu confirmed this during an interview with the Fiji Times, said the world-class facility would ensure the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) was well-equipped to meet future peacekeeping and humanitarian needs. Seruiratu has guaranteed that...

The world has a “once in a lifetime” chance to protect the high seas from exploitation, warned scientists and environmentalists, as negotiators meet at the UN headquarters in New York this week to hammer out a new treaty on the oceans. One scientist described the treaty, which will set out a legal framework to protect biodiversity and govern the high...