PINA

The ONOC Medical Commission is one of the key Commissions that worked to bring confidence to athletes and National Olympic Committees in Oceania during the COVID-19 pandemic – its core work being the health and wellbeing of athletes before, during, and after the TOKYO 2020 Summer Olympics. The four other commissions at the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) are the...

Three former presidents, one former prime minister and six former ministers are among 16 leaders tasked with exploring options for reducing the risks of overshooting global temperature goals. The Climate Overshoot Commission launched on Tuesday with a majority of members from developing countries. It will address sensitive questions around the ethics and feasibility of ways to reverse warming. These include large-scale...

A new study says climate change could put Pacific Islanders at risk of losing their nationality and citizenship if countries in the region do not strengthen their laws. The study looked at 23 Pacific countries and found that some existing laws do not protect citizens when they relocate or migrate overseas. Professor Michelle Foster, Director of the Peter McMullin Centre on...

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...