PINA

The three former Samoa ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP)MPs who resigned from the party to declare themselves independent have had their seats made vacant today triggering by-elections for their constituencies. The latest development followed an agreement between lawyers for the Speaker of the House, Papalii Lio Masipau and the three Members of Parliament in order for the legal proceedings...

More than 10,000 persons are being evacuated after the Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO) issued a Stage Three alert for the Mt Bagana volcano in Central Bougainville. South Bougainville MP Timothy Masiu has advised the people to remain calm as government officers focused on the evacuation exercise. “At the moment people are being encouraged to evacuate themselves from the danger zones as...

The Marshall Islands on Tuesday called on Washington to pay “full” compensation for the health, environmental and cultural damage caused by 67 nuclear tests carried out by the American government, refusing to accept the Joe Biden administration’s newest version of a strategic agreement that has steered bilateral ties for decades. It was the people of the Pacific nation who played...

U.S Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin III will depart next week for a trip to Papua New Guinea and Australia. As part of his eighth official visit to the Indo-Pacific region, Secretary Austin will travel to Papua New Guinea to meet with Prime Minister Marape, along with Minister for Defence Win Bakri Daki, Secretary for Defence Hari John Akipe,...

Samoa’s two-year-old Government has shown commitment towards removing itself from the list of countries on the European Union’s tax blacklist. Sujiro Seam, outgoing European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, made the comments in an interview with the Samoa Observer. He is on his last tour of the region and is currently in Apia, as he gets ready to vacate his...

Beneath the picturesque turquoise waters of Trinidad and Tobago, plastic pollution is wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems. Every year, more than 88,600 tonnes of plastic waste is deposited into the ocean around the Caribbean nation, harming marine life and ultimately impacting human health. "Plastic is everywhere. And plastic is overwhelming us,” says Sarah Sobrian, a 28-year-old environmental campaigner and member...

The negative impacts of climate change-induced Loss and Damage is already a lived reality for many Pacific countries. In Fiji, the impact is grim. In Vunidogola village on the island of Vanua Levu, more than 160 villagers have relocated 2km inland to avoid constant exposure to storm surges, inundation events and the impact of saltwater intrusion on agriculture and farming. These impacts...

Nauru's Acting President Martin Hunt has revoked the declaration of state of disaster for Aiwo District but declared a state of disaster for the whole of Nauru for the management of the impacts of the UXO bomb. On 07 July 2023, a large WW2 UXO 500lb bomb was found in Aiwo District. On Thursday 20 July 2023, the UXO bomb will...

A senior official of U.S Department of State told U.S Congress on Tuesday that the Biden administration was confident of reaching a strategic agreement with the Marshall Islands. The Pacific island nation's foreign minister had called for more U.S money to deal with the legacy of massive U.S nuclear testing to enable his country to extend a Compact of Free...

New Zealand has joined with Australia to reject claims that it withheld budget support from Solomon Islands, saying it has asked its top diplomat in Honiara to “set the record straight”. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has accused Australia and New Zealand of delaying financial support worth some $27 million (US$18 million) during an extraordinary and sometimes fiery press...