PINA

Peace is in our DNA as Pacific people. Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama made this comment as he reassured the Pacific Vuvale of his duty, as Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), to urge the international system to make irreversible progress in eliminating nuclear weapons. The Prime Minister, while hosting the Pacific Community at the UN on the margins of the...

The effects of climate change is causing Pacific Islands, including Fiji to experience what is termed “catastrophic debt”. Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Director Programmes & Initiatives, Zarak Khan said this is where countries are now engaged in a cycle of debt, where they have to borrow more to mitigate the impacts of climate change and pandemic on their economies. “So if...

By Nick Bainton, Emilka Skrzypek Plundering the Pacific for its rich natural resources has a long pedigree. Think of the European companies strip-mining Nauru for its phosphate and leaving behind a moonscape. There are worrying signs history may be about to repeat, as global demand soars for minerals critical to the clean energy transition. This demand is creating pressure to...

At the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Eileen Cikamatana won weightlifting gold for Fiji. Four years later in Birmingham she repeated the achievement, this time for Australia. Cikamatana represented her adopted country with a bang in Birmingham, setting new Commonwealth Games records in the women’s 87kg on Wednesday and becoming the first woman to win gold medals for two different nations. The...

ONOC is delivering this Digest in partnership with The Reporters’ Academy and the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA). OCEANIA’S DAY AT THE GAMES - DAY 5 BIRMINGHAM, 04 AUGUST 2022 (ONOC MEDIA)---Our Oceania teams have had an incredible day on the fifth day of competition. Today we’ve had medals, personal bests, season bests and most importantly, every athlete is doing an...

The Pacific Regional Law Enforcement Conference (PRLEC) this week discuss the implications of drug trafficking in the region, community-based approaches to addressing crime, and illegal activity in the maritime domain. In the context of illicit drugs, the Pacific is caught between crime syndicates, and the Australian and New Zealand drug markets. Experts outlined that there have been significant increases in the...

The first meeting of the 11th Papua New Guinea Parliament is set for Tuesday, 09 August. Parliament Clerk Kala Aufa announced this following the official gazettal notice for the extension of time and date of the meeting of the parliament. Aufa has put out a notice to all members-elect requesting their attendance. “The Governor-General, Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae, by virtue of...

Lord Fohe was sworn in as the new Tongan Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forests, when Parliament resumed sitting Monday 01 August. He entered parliament as Tongatapu 3 Noble's Representative, after being elected for the first time in the 2021 Election. His letter of ministerial appointment was effective from 29 July. Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni had recommended his appointment, in accordance...

Countries need to work more together to stop the rapidly spreading outbreak of monkeypox, “no matter the nationality, skin colour or religion of the affected population,” the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday. Speaking from Dakar, Senegal, WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergencies Ibrahima Soce Fall said that “we have been working on monkeypox in Africa for several years, but...

The Solomon Islands Government through the Ministry of Mines and Energy will be taking pre-cautionary approach when it comes to opening up the country to deep sea mining. This was echoed by Minister of Mines and Energy Bradley Tovosia in parliament in response to a question raised by Opposition Leader on the floor of parliament asking government’s position on deep...