PINA

Good news for Australian rugby fans, plans are underway to bring some Super Rugby teams over to play the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua. Drua Chief Executive Brian Thorburn says from next year, they are looking at having six Drua games played in Fiji. “It will be a combination of Australian and New Zealand teams and we will be going months beforehand...

The Fijian Drua, Super Rugby Pacific’s newest club, made a massive statement by recording the largest attendance of the Super Rugby Pacific season so far in the Drua-Highlanders Round 11 match at ANZ Stadium, Suva. A sell-out crowd of 15,102 witnessed the historic homecoming of the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua playing on home soil for the very first time. The match...

Sports watchers hope the Fijiana Drua's rousing Super W championship win can help usher in a new era of professionalism for women's sport in the Pacific, after the team powered its way to victory despite only picking up a sponsor after competition started. The new Fijian team overcame a 69th minute deficit to deny the NSW Waratahs a fifth straight...

By Dionisia Tabureguci Tuvalu’s revenue share from the management of its dotTV Internet domain name asset will now be based on the number of people purchasing the namespace instead of an annual flat fee. The new deal has been described as a “game-changer” by Tuvalu’s Minister for Justice and Foreign Affairs Simon Kofe, who led a government delegation to Dubai last...

The Solomon Islands Government is taking the advice of the Governor General, Sir David Vunagi seriously on matters relating to the deferment of the dissolution of the 11th Parliament, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told Parliament. Prime Minister Sogavare stated, “the Governor General outlined four options regarding this issue; i. Early dissolution of Parliament as early as May and hold a snap...

With Solomon Islands’ COVID-19 situation having significantly worsened over the past several months – with over 14,000 confirmed cases and 141 reported deaths – the World Bank has approved an additional US$8 million in emergency COVID-19 support. The additional $8 million adds to an existing US$5 million in support approved in February 2021; bringing the total World Bank support to...

First 100 percent sustainable tuna fishery celebrates 25 years of Western and Central Pacific fisheries partnerships on World Tuna Day Over the past 25 years, successful Pacific Ocean fisheries partnerships supported the world's largest tuna fishery—nearly 60 per cent of global tuna catch—to transform from a potentially unsustainable fishery to one of the most effectively managed large-scale fisheries in the...

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Task Force, which is reviewing Japan’s policy to discharge treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station against relevant international safety standards, Friday released its first report. The report summarises the overall progress in the technical preparations for the water discharge. It compiles the initial findings from the Task Force’s first review mission...

Climate change is not something that will occur in the future. For people living in the Pacific, it is something they are facing already. The reminder came from the Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Sefanaia Nawadra during the Pacific Islands Climate Change Forum (PICCF) last week. The three-day event was designed to present objective,...

Former Pacific island leaders have called on Australia to take “credible and urgent actions on climate change” and criticised a lack of consultation with the region after Solomon Islands’ shock decision to sign a security pact with China. In a statement released hours before Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare savaged Australia’s decision to sign the AUKUS pact without notifying...