PINA

Fiji's Attorney-General Siromi Turaga has confirmed the dismissal of the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) board and that the action had been taken in terms to the finding of irregularities in the union’s current operations. Turaga made the revelations after a meeting with the FRU this week, actions had been taken. “Following my meeting with the FRU Board of directors, those in...

U.S President Joe Biden’s plan to expand marine sanctuaries around the United States’ remote Pacific islands has been greeted with dismay in American Samoa, where officials fear a heavy blow to the U.S territory’s economically crucial tuna industry. American Samoa Governor Lemanu Mauga, in a recent letter to Biden, criticised zero consultation with the territory about the sanctuary expansion and...

People who fall prey to criminal networks and human traffickers are just looking for ways to better their lives, the United Nations says. UN Pacific coordinator on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Dr Rebecca Miller, said there were a lot of factors fuelling trafficking across the region. She said Covid-19 has exacerbated the crisis in the Pacific. “We’ve seen a lot of vulnerabilities...

Planning is underway for United States President Joe Biden to make a historic visit to Papua New Guinea on his way to Australia next month as the U.S continues to ramp-up its diplomatic push in the Pacific. PNG and U.S officials have told the ABC that Biden is likely to meet his PNG counterpart, James Marape, and other Pacific leaders...

The Pacific dialogue has brought together Ministers and high-level representatives of Pacific Island Nations and Denmark to build on the Port Vila Call for a Just Transition to a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific. In March, an ambitious and historical call to action for a fossil fuel free Pacific was endorsed in Port Vila by Pacific ministers that was held in...

Tuvalu says the impacts of climate change have forced it to create a digital copy of itself in the metaverse. But in the real world, not everyone's convinced. Tevaogali Elisala prefers spending time with children over adults. The single mother and primary school teacher from Tuvalu's capital Funafuti, admits occasionally they can be a “little headache” but Elisala sees it as...

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland has concluded a visit to Australia this week where she held discussions with government officials and civil society representatives on issues ranging from climate action to youth empowerment. During her visit, the Secretary-General met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss climate action in the Pacific. Whilst in Canberra, Secretary-General Scotland said: “Climate change is...

Plastics are found in all the world’s oceans - on remote shorelines, in coastal waters, in the seabeds of the deep oceans and even in uninhabited atolls and islands of the Pacific. Without new and effective control measures, plastic production is set to double in 20 years and plastic waste leaking into the ocean is projected to triple by 2040. The...

Fiji's Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign AffaiSitiveni Rabuka received a courtesy call from Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth of Denmark, Wednesday in Suva. The Crown Princess was accompanied by the UN Under-Secretary-General and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director, Dr Natalia Kanem and Denmark's Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy Dan Jørgensen. Prime Minister...

Australia said on Wednesday it would start domestic manufacture of guided missiles by 2025, two years sooner than expected, in a wide-ranging shakeup of defence arrangements to focus on long-range strike capability. On Monday, the Labor government said it accepted the recommendations of a defence review that said China had launched the largest military buildup of any country since the...