PINA

U.S President Joe Biden will host Pacific island leaders at the White House in September, a senior American diplomat said on Saturday, deepening a regional charm offensive to counter growing Chinese influence. Visiting Tonga, deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman said the leaders would be invited to Washington for a meeting and dinner late in the month. “This meeting will be...

U.S President Joe Biden sees strong ties with Pacific Island countries as a priority, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said in the Solomon Islands on Sunday, underscoring the stakes of a visit as geopolitical tensions have been mounting in the region. At a World War Two memorial event in the Solomons capital Honiara, Sherman rebuked governments which she said...

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said his party has the numbers to form a coalition government, after a national poll plagued by violence, fraud allegations and large numbers of voters missing from the electoral roll. PNG's general election, held every five years, is among the world's most challenging due in part to difficult terrain, extreme weather, poor transport...

The governing Cook Islands Party is all but confirmed to retain power after receiving support from the re-elected Independent Members of Parliament (MPs) from Atiu. Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Brown said he recognises government forming will come down to building coalitions. “We have our arrangements with our two independents who have been part of the government for this term. We will...

The governments of the Cook Islands and French Polynesia are delighted to announce the first inaugural commercial flight from Rarotonga (RAR) to Pape’ete (PPT), on Saturday 13 August, 2022, a momentous occasion that will open an official commercial air link between the two countries. This landmark event is the result of a series of high-level intergovernmental engagements and partnerships with...

I join the chorus of international support for the landmark resolution recognising the right to access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a universal human right, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 28 July 2022. I commend the global solidarity on this critical issue and congratulate all who contributed to this major milestone. As large...

ONOC is delivering this Digest in partnership with The Reporters’ Academy and the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA). Endurance and Resilience: Pacific Island Multi-Event Athletes Show Strength in Birmingham The Pacific Oceania nations were well represented at this Commonwealth Games in multi-event sports with Fiji and the Solomon Islands entering two triathletes each, whilst Papua New Guinea entered a heptathlete and...

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Vanuatu launched a new project to support the country in conducting its third National Census of Agriculture 2022. Under the USD$300 000 project, FAO, the National Statistics Office (NSO), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB) of Vanuatu will collect information on...

Counting for the Morobe Regional Seat successfully continued into exclusion 35, to have a Governor elected as of quarter past four this morning. Despite minor setbacks, a determined Simon Soheke who is the Provincial Returning Officer and Elections Manager, pushed on until People's Labour Party candidate, and former Governor Luther Wenge was declared as the new Governor. Wenge polled 130, 363...

A total of 34 seats remain to be declared as of midday today. From the total 118 seats, 84 seats have been declared, but one has been rejected by the PNG Electoral Commissioner. Two other seats of Markham and Kabwum Open in the Morobe Province, could be declared fail, because all the ballot papers and boxes for the two seats were...