PINA

U.S lawmakers connected some sides of the aisle are coming retired with an array of bills and resolutions aimed astatine expanding the Biden administration's engagement successful Asia, including strengthening ties with Pacific nations and expanding enactment for Taiwan. Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee connected Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and Nonproliferation, and Rep. Steve...

American and Australian national security is at risk because U.S Congress has blocked the Biden administration from signing up to a convention on the world’s oceans that covers seabed mining, say experts including a US commander and Department of State official. Political gridlock had left the U.S unable to join the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea, implemented...

Climate negotiators, small island decision makers and Rwanda's Justice Minister came together Tuesday at the Commonwealth People's Forum to discuss how the coalition of 54 Commonwealth member states can advance climate justice. It's the first time civil society in the Commonwealth has convened in four years at this scale, owing to the pandemic, with the discussion spanning how civil society...

Commonwealth Secretariat secures US$10 million in extra funding for Small Island Developing States as Cambridge Collaboration pays dividends. The Commonwealth Secretariat’s ground-breaking collaboration with Cambridge University has unlocked more than US$10 million of private financing for Small Island Developing States, despite the project only being halfway through its research phase. Sixty percent of the Commonwealth’s 2.5 billion population is under the...

-Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO) is carrying out inspections and audits of aeroplanes remotely. Pacific Aviation Safety Office legal adviser Sam Jennings said audit and inspection activity are being carried out on zoom, telephone and email. Jennings said the Pacific Aviation Safety Office has been using civil aviation authorities within countries to sort of be the arms and legs of the...

By Joe Lo and Chloé Farand The EU has blocked developing countries’ call for a facility to distribute money to victims of climate disasters, despite finally recognising the need for this money to flow. European and other rich nation negotiators believe they have shifted dramatically in recognising the need for funding in addition to that for carbon-cutting and adaptation efforts. One...

Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) has announced its Fijian and Fijiana 7s traveling squads for the Oceania Rugby Super Sevens in Auckland, New Zealand this weekend. FRU will field two women’s and a men’s team in the tournament which also consists of three teams from New Zealand {All Blacks 7s, Black Ferns Ma and Black Ferns Pango}, two Australian and Papua...

Fijiana XV’s Head Coach Senirusi Seruvakula has named 18 new players in his 28-member squad travelling for the Oceania Championship to New Zealand next month. Seruvakula has retained 10 players who were part of the Rooster Chicken Fijiana Drua which won the Super W Championship in Australia earlier this year. Seruvakula said “We have a depth chart with a good pool...

Banuve Tabakaucoro won the men's 100 metres title as the Pacific Mini Games continued in the Northern Mariana Islands. The Fiji runner, known as the “Bau Bullet”, came home to win the flagship race in 10.56sec. In weightlifting, Australia won three overall titles. Oceania's powerhouse nation does not send its strongest team to the regional event but is competing in weightlifting and...

Weightlifter Apolonia Vaivai has marked her return to the sport with Team Fiji’s first gold medal at the Pacific Mini Games in Saipan, Northern Marianas. Vaivai won gold in the women’s 76kg snatch competition. She was pushed by Olivia Kelly of Australia but Vaivai came out stronger to win in the end. Vaivai returned to weightlifting last year after a lapse of...