PINA

This week, to coincide with the World Ocean Day (WOD) on 08 June,  Pacific’s experts and stakeholders on the Oceans met in Suva to plan coordinated action at the United Nations Oceans Conference starting in Lisbon on 28 June. Speaking at the event, Fiji’s Fisheries Minister Semi Koroilavesau said that the enormous scale of the challenges facing the oceans today...

Op – Ed by Caleb Jarvis, Australia’s Trade and Investment Commissioner Across the world, we are experiencing an overwhelm of global crises. The continuing implications of the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, international conflicts, heightened climate recovery efforts, and interrelated social and economic tensions, are all placing cascading pressure on the world economy, world leaders, and our international community. Many developing countries,...

It is fitting that Lailanie Burnes will accompany Fiji to Rugby World Cup 2021, playing in 2022, as the Pacific Island nation makes its tournament debut. Burnes founded Fiji’s first women’s rugby club, Nadi Blazers in 2012, went on to captain the country and was part of the team that secured qualification to RWC 2021. The prop has since hung up...

Preparations for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022, the Commonwealth Games 2022 and Rugby World Cup 2021 will intensify in Oceania over the next six weeks. Oceania Rugby revealed details of two tournaments on Tuesday, both to be held in the Auckland region of New Zealand, that will help competing teams fine tune their plans for the global events. Navigation Homes Stadium...

Fiji National Rugby League has confirmed the Kaiviti Silktails is now not part of FNRL. Speaking during a press conference in Suva, FNRL Chair Viliame Naupoto cleared the air on this issue. Naupoto says the Memorandum of Understanding they signed with the Silktails states the FNRL also have a say in the Ron Massey Cup side. However, the FNRL is wondering why...

U. S Senior State Department officials were accused on Thursday of incompetence over China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific, with the United States and Australia blindsided by Beijing’s security pact with the Solomon Islands. Republicans grilled U.S Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu and his deputies during a Congressional hearing, saying the Biden administration’s response to China’s growing influence in the...

A judicial review of the Reserve Bank and New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s actions around money laundering laws has failed, leaving money remitters carting bags of cash around in an attempt to keep the low-cost money transfer practice alive. Pacific money remittance companies have found themselves deprived of bank accounts thanks to how banks have interpreted their anti-money laundering...

The inaugural Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders meeting, which will be hosted by the Fijian Government will be held virtually on Thursday, marking a significant milestone for the Pacific gender agenda. Forum Ministers for Women will examine the role of women and girls in Pacific futures, with a keen focus on the impact of the COVID19 pandemic, the climate change...

The surging costs of climate change-driven destruction have made vulnerable nations poorer by about one-fifth, 55 such countries said on Wednesday, as fears grow that UN discussions on money for states to repair and avoid harm could become a “talk shop”. “Loss and damage” caused by more extreme weather and rising seas is a key issue at mid-year UN climate...

The global community needs to “be inspired” to defend the world's oceans ahead of the second United Nations Oceans Conference in Lisbon at the end of the month, a Fijian policymaker says. Fisheries minister Semi Koroilavesau said the Pacific cannot protect its greatest resource through advocacy and action on its own. Safeguarding the ocean and its resources against future dangers “to...