PINA

NSW Origin stars Daniel Tupou and Kotoni Staggs have been named in the Mate Ma’a Tonga team for the upcoming Test against New Zealand in Auckland. Tonga coach Kristian Woolf named a 25-man squad ahead of the June 25 Test, with Tupou named on the wing and Staggs at five-eighth - despite the pair playing for the Blues in last...

St George Illawarra's Jack de Belin has delayed his call on whether to play for Papua New Guinea. St George Illawarra's Jack de Belin won't be included in Papua New Guinea's squad for their upcoming Test match against Fiji but newly appointed head coach Stanley Tepend is hopeful the lock will accept a call-up later in the year. Tepend and his...

Forum Secretary General Henry Puna says the Pacific ‘must protect the sanctity of our solidarity’ – as Blue Pacific Continent, as the interest of geopolitics in the region grows. Addressing pre- Forum session of the Forum Officials Committee(FOC) meeting in Suva, Puna said the Pacific have never held as much leverage and influence until now. “A little over 24 months ago,...

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will visit the Solomon Islands in her third Pacific trip since being sworn in. The trip will be the first from an Australian minister following the signing of a Sino-Solomons security pact as China continues to push for a region-wide security agreement. Senator Wong says her upcoming trip to New Zealand and the Solomons will reinforce...

Vanuatu, one of the last Covid hermit nations, is set to open up to international travel, but there are concerns the country is not ready to restart tourism, with a lack of deals with foreign airlines posing a significant problem. From 01 July, international tourists will be able to return to Vanuatu, a country of 300,000 people three hours from...

Tokelau's parliament has endorsed a proposal to start work on a referendum reviewing the territory's relationship with New Zealand. The move could see a vote on self-determination take place by 2025 — a first since two failed referendums more than ten years ago. Tokelau has been a territory of New Zealand since 1946, and is one of six Pacific nations that...

Opinion by Bob Loughman Weibur, Vanuatu Prime Minister Climate change represents the single greatest threat to Pacific Islanders and the Pacific way of life, now and increasingly into the future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC's) most recent report confirmed once again that the global climate has changed because of human-induced activities, and that those activities will lead...

It has been a very busy time since my last column, with a lot going on, so for this week I thought I would try and fill you in on some of the highlights, writes Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown. Kia Orana, Monday, I was in Sydney, but last weekend I had just landed in Fiji, where I spent several...

China's bid to set up a security pact with Pacific Island Countries should be considered by a regional Forum, the leaders of Samoa and New Zealand said on Tuesday, weeks after the Solomon Islands sparked uproar by signing a deal with China. The Pacific Islands and their old allies, including the United States, Australia and New Zealand, were caught off...

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister has told her Chinese counterpart that Beijing's engagement in the Pacific must advance the region's priorities and support established institutions like the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). Nanaia Mahuta met virtually with Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi on Monday as Beijing's presence in the Pacific remains in the spotlight following its controversial security agreement with...