PINA

Solomon Islands Leader of Opposition Matthew Wale has described the Government’s 100-day policy programme as ‘sorrowful,’ lacking new ideas or strategic vision. Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Wale said 99 percent of what was in the Government of National Unity (GNUT) 100-day programme merely were inherited from DCGA. The Opposition Leader said, the excessively high number of policies announced in the...

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the trust and spirit of cooperation that existed within the coalition prior to 24 December 2022 is now gone. This comes in response to recent actions by the General Secretary of one of the ruling coalition partners, the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), Viliame Takayawa, who criticised the government delegation in Tonga. Rabuka confirmed that...

Tanya Plibersek has been moved out of the environment portfolio and into social services as part of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s reshaped cabinet, replaced by Queenslander Murray Watt as Labor pursues a new model for its stalled “nature positive” laws. Revealing his refreshed lineup following Labor’s emphatic election victory, Albanese on Monday named Michelle Rowland as the new attorney...

By Dr Transform Aqorau I’m writing with a deep sense of urgency—and a heavy heart. Everywhere I look across our beautiful islands, I see resilience. Not the kind written about in glossy reports or preached in policy seminars. But the kind that’s woven into fishing nets at dawn, sung in lullabies, passed down by grandmothers, and practiced in the quiet...

The Guam National Olympic Committee (GNOC) is set to welcome delegates for the Oceania National Olympic Committees' annual general assembly on 17 May. Ahead of the gathering, the organisation will also host a series of events and workshops to engage delegates and stakeholders. “The XLV ONOC Annual General Assembly represents a crucial moment for Oceania’s Olympic movement, as leaders and stakeholders...

By Nic Maclellan The main conservative anti-independence parties in New Caledonia have denounced French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls, after the breakdown of talks to forge a new political agreement for the Franch Pacific dependency. After a series of preliminary talks since February, Valls hoped that his third visit to New Caledonia this year would lead to agreement on a new political...

Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has told FBC News he is ready to break the coalition agreement and remove the Social Democratic Liberal Party from the coalition government. In an exclusive interview this morning, Rabuka expressed disappointment about SODELPA’s general secretary, Viliame Takayawa, and its leader, Aseri Radrodro. SODELPA GS Viliame Takayawa earlier this week criticised the government’s trade mission team...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Milan, Italy The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will now kick-start the process of due diligence to facilitate Fiji and Tonga’s request for the bank to raise local currency bonds in the Fijian dollar and Pa’anga. “We are going through a process of all of the legal, legislative, parliamentary requirements to allow us to put a...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Milan, Italy The Asia Development Bank (ADB) is stepping up its presence in the Pacific to be closer its 12 Pacific Developing Member Countries. Apart from Suva, Port Moresby and Sydney, ADB will set up a fully fledged office in Solomon Islands later this year. And, a possible office to serve the North Pacific is also...

U.S Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. After serving as missionary and archbishop in Peru, Prevost presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms of Pope Francis's pontificate, adding three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope. Prevost,...