PINA

Samoa reopen to international tourists again on Monday, 865 days after closing borders due to COVID-19. For Western Australian Tuitaga Nathan Bucknall, the manager of the Taumeasina Island Resort near Apia, it's day that's been a long time coming. “We were the first to close and the last to open,” he told AAP. “But it's here. And we're ready. It's time.” It seems...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved US$13 million to expand lending for businesses in five Pacific countries. The five-year support will help government-owned banks in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu to increase the number and volume of loans to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). It will also support business development services to help MSMEs become more...

Any extension beyond the fifth anniversary of the date fixed for the return of the writs for the previous general election would be in violation of section 105 of the Papua New Guinea Constitution. A four-man Supreme Court in 2017 (SC1814) recognised this limitation to a certain extent, in that they all unanimously in answering question seven which reads “Whether...

Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet has ordered Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) to do self-censorship on its news and programmes. This means SIBC is not allowed to broadcast any news and paid programmes that are against the government. Acting Chairman of SIBC Board, Dr William Parairato met with staff of SIBC last Thursday and informed them that any news or...

By Jo Chandler When she first tried for a seat in the Papua New Guinea parliament in 2017, Rufina Peter was a political novice who’d had a gutful. While many candidates solicit votes with lavish feasts and hollow promises, her shoestring campaign – handing out copies of her CV – struck a chord. She won the highest vote of any...

The former two-time coup leader hoping to return as Fiji’s prime minister has ruled out a security pact with China if he wins government, saying it was time his country returned to its “comfortable niche” with Australia. Sitiveni Rabuka has also flagged he will be asking Canberra for greater freedoms for Fijians working in Australia. Rabuka made the comments in a...

A Chinese state-owned company is negotiating to buy a deep-water port and World War II airstrip in Solomon Islands, as new documents detail how money from Beijing has helped keep the Pacific nation's controversial leader in power. As a battle for influence plays out in the region, an investigation by Four Corners has found China is aggressively pursuing economic opportunities...

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation to establish three new embassies in the Pacific Islands region to strengthen America’s relationships there and counter China’s growing influence. The “Pacific Islands Embassy Act,” co-led by Senatorss. JON OSSOFF (D-Ga.) and TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.), would establish new U.S missions in Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tonga. As of today, America has a Fiji-based...

The U.S government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), launched a five-year partnership with The Asia Foundation (TAF) worth US$10 million to commemorate World Day Against Trafficking on 30 July. The purpose of the partnership is to implement counter-trafficking in persons interventions in Fiji, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Papua New Guinea, and Tonga. USAID’s Pacific...

A poll conducted by Cook Islands News has revealed a divided electorate in the lead-up to this year’s election, however a large percentage prefer Prime Minister Mark Brown to lead the country. According to the results, Brown, the leader of the governing Cook Islands Party, leads by 44.2 percent, with 16.7 percent of 120 voters polled preferring United Party leader...