PINA

Samoa have named their line-ups for the Rugby League World Cup. The team are packed with NRL stars, including some considered the best in the sport, and who have turned down lucrative offers by Australia and New Zealand. The polite declines by several NRL stars to wear the Green and Gold jersey of Australia in particular, has shocked many Aussie fans....

Thirty schools in Honiara and the province of Guadalcanal have been identified to take part in ceremonies at the 2023 Pacific Games. Students from the schools are poised to play a role in medal ceremonies, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and a planned Adopt a Nation scheme. Of the 30, 11 are operated by Honiara City Council, nine by churches, five...

Solomon Islands foreign minister Jeremiah Manele said veiled references to China in an American-led Pacific declaration were one of the reasons his country was reluctant to sign up to the deal at first. Solomon Islands signalled it would not sign the 11-point declaration between the United States and Pacific Island nations, a blow to Washington which had hoped to bring...

As government representatives begin the finalise the agenda for the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt next month, for pre-COP planning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo capital, Kinshasa, Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists in New York that the work ahead is “as immense as the climate impacts we are seeing around the world”. “A third of Pakistan flooded....

More than 100 passengers - including elderly and young children - were forced to sit and sleep on the ground of a cold corridor at Auckland International Airport after being refused entry to a departure lounge with seats just metres away. Those affected had just arrived on a flight from Samoa in the early hours of Sunday morning, which touched...

Solomon Islands says consultation between Pacific nations could be improved, ahead of a foreign affairs bilateral meeting in New Zealand. The Solomons' Foreign Affairs Minister Jeremiah Manele will sit down with his Aotearoa counterpart Nanaia Mahuta in Wellington today. Pacific Security expert Anna Powles said Mahuta would be looking to solidify bilateral relations between the two nations after intense geopolitical scrutiny...

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, has had a very productive engagement at the U.S President Joe Biden Summit with Pacific Island Leaders last week in Washington DC. “Day one begun with a working lunch for all Pacific Island Leaders hosted by the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken. The lunch was followed by a leaders meeting discussing opportunities to enhance...

The Solomon Islands may not shed its least-developed country status by the 2024 target after suffering economic setbacks, Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele said Monday. More than 40 countries are classified by the UN as least developed due to having income per head as low as US$1,000 and problems such as high infant mortality and chronic economic vulnerability. “Our economic growth is...

-Australian deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has visited Nauru on his way from Hawaii where he had met with Japan’s defence minister and the U.S defence secretary. Marles, who is also defence minister, said he had met with Nauru’s newly elected president, Russ Kun. “President Kun and I discussed emerging priorities, challenges, and our common goals for a stable, sovereign, and...

Fiji Kava (FIJ) has executed an agreement to acquire ready-to-drink kava brand Leilo in the United States. The company will acquire 100 percent of Leilo stock in a share swap transaction, which will give it access to Leilo’s more than 700 doors of retail distribution in North America and Amazon.com. FIJ said the purchase will further its foothold as the global...