PINA

Fiji police have suspended an officer pending an investigation after a video showing what appeared to be the use of excessive force against a bus driver during an arrest was shared widely in the Pacific country. The video appears to show a police officer attempting to remove a handcuffed bus driver from his bus in Labasa on Vanua Levu, Fiji’s...

Papua New Guinea Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai has announced that nominations will be accepted from Thursday onwards and counting will be carried out in tandem with polling. Candidates for the 2022 National General Elections will have until 26 May to nominate, this would ensure a two-week grace period for United Labour Party to elect a new party leader and to...

A defence expert has issued a stark warning about the presence of Chinese ships in the Pacific region, suggesting more sightings could be “the new normal”. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Michael Shoebridge has warned the presence of Chinese naval vessels in the Pacific is “the new normal”. His comments come after a Chinese spy ship was detected “hugging” the Western...

Kiribati-born Tiibea Baure moved to Australia in 2008 as a nursing student with a plan for her extended family's future. “So when one day they have to migrate due to climate change, I'm here, ready to take them on board,” the Toowoomba-based aged care service manager said. But Baure said starting a life abroad came with its challenges. When she arrived in...

The Kanak people won't accept France's attempt to recolonise New Caledonia, a pro-independence delegate has told the United Nations. Addressing a UN's decolonisation committee seminar on the Pacific in Saint Lucia, Dimitri Qenegei said since 2020 the French President Emmanuel Macron and his overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu had been taking unilateral decisions. Qenegei said the signatories to the 1998 Noumea Accord...

By Catherine Putz The Pacific is young. In Fiji, more than 60 percent of the population is under 35; in the Solomon Islands it’s almost 75 percent. In “Youth in Fiji and Solomon Islands: Livelihoods, Leadership and Civic Engagement,” Aidan Craney, a research fellow at La Trobe University, dives deep into the social, political, and economic positioning of the...

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr on 13 May signed a Presidential Directive establishing the 2025 Pacific Games Organising Committee. Palau won at the bid to host the mini-games besting American Samoa and Niue who both lodged bids in the initial process. In Presidential Directive No. 22-50, the government stated that it wants to ensure that Palau is fully organized and “prepared...

Fijian Drua players are excited to go out on Friday and rub shoulders with some of Super Rugby’s best. The Crusaders is the best team in Super Rugby history, and the onus is now on the Drua to deliver the much-needed result. Captain Meli Derenalagi said if they could rattle table leaders, the Blues, they can also try and do the...

ormer Fiji 7s rep Sevuloni Mocenacagi has joined the Fiji Airways Fijian 7s squad in France. The Fiji Rugby Union has confirmed that Mocenacagi has shown his interest to pursue his sevens dream, especially with the World Cup and Commonwealth Games this year. Mocenacagi was dropped from the national sevens training squad in April last year by former coach Gareth Baber...

Cook Islands Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Mark Brown has met with his counterpart Edouard Fritch, President of French Polynesia to discuss expansion of bilateral co-operation in air links, ICT, trade and investment, labour mobility, health, culture and people to people ties. “I’m very pleased with the outcomes of my discussions with President Fritch as well...