PINA

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...

Bougainville's political aspirations on independence must never be compromised, says ABG president Ishmael Toroama. He said this while speaking at the launching of the Bougainville Constitutional Planning Commission Awareness and Consultations in North, Central and South Bougainville. Toroama said if Bougainvilleans wish to fulfill the choice by 97.7 percent of the people who opted for independence from Papua New Guinea in...

There are over 1200 potentially polluting shipwrecks (PPW) in the Pacific Ocean, many from World War II. Chuuk Lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) contains the largest concentration of potentially polluting wrecks in the Pacific Ocean, 19 of which have been identified as posing significant environmental risks due to the volumes of toxic fuel oil and unexploded ordnance...

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu has warned Australia must pay more attention to China’s increasing presence in the Indo-Pacific, describing Beijing's new security pact with Solomon Islands as a threat to peace and stability in the region. In an exclusive interview with SBS News, Wu said his self-governed island was on the frontline of China’s expanding “authoritarianism”, but this threat...

The impacts of climate change drive people from their homes, what happens to their relationship with their home country? A new report, co-authored by Scientia Professor Jane McAdam AO, Director of UNSW’s Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, recommends steps to safeguard nationality rights and to future-proof the legal connection between Pacific Islanders and their homes. The Future of Nationality in...

A former president of the Pacific nation of Kiribati has blasted the influence of the fossil fuel lobby in Australia and the “politicisation” of climate policy, issuing a plea for leaders to adopt a “more moral” stance to cut emissions. In a forthright speech five days before the Australian election, Anote Tong called for a proper understanding of what the...

A former Australian envoy to the Solomons Islands has accused Australia’s government of losing the trust of South Pacific island countries and of ushering in greater Chinese influence. Retired career diplomat Trevor Sofield told a security summit on Monday he found it” inconceivable” that the Solomons government did not trust Australia enough to consult when a bilateral security pact with...