PINA

Countries are uniting in the French city of Nice next month to save the marine environment. The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3) from 9-13 June will bring together Heads of State, scientists, civil society and business leaders around a single goal: to halt the silent collapse of the planet's largest – and arguably most vital – ecosystem. The ocean...

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown will lead a 11-member delegation to Australia this week for an “open dialogue” on seabed exploration activities. The delegation includes: Sonny Williams - Associate Minister for Seabed Minerals, Travel Tou Ariki - Kaumaiti Nui Ariki, Bishop Tutai Pere - chairman for Seabed Minerals Authority Advisory Committee, George George - member of the SBM Advisory...

Former Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF) Commander and senior officer of the Vanuatu Police Force (VPF) – Kalshem Bongran – from Southwest Bay, Malekula, has been appointed Commissioner of Police (COMPOL), emerging as the successful candidate among seven others. Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), John Taleo, confirmed this to the Vanuatu Daily Post following the appointment by President Nikenike...

The Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA) deeply deplores the criminal libel charge filed against a prominent Samoan journalist and urges the government of Samoa to repeal the country's criminal defamation legislation to comply with internationally recognised good practice. The Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiame Naomi Mataafa, is currently Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth. The CJA urges her to honour and respect this...

France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has spent tens of thousands of euros in an effort to counter research revealing that Paris has consistently underestimated the devastating impact of its nuclear tests in French Polynesia in the 1960s and 1970s. Days before a parliamentary inquiry presents its report on the tests, documents obtained by the investigative outlet Disclose, and seen by...

The Samoan cabinet has assumed the role of the caretaker government until a new government is elected and convenes its first parliamentary sitting, after the Head of State accepted the advice from Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa. Mata’afa met with the Head of State, Tuimalealiifano Sualauvi Vaaletoa II, on Tuesday to dissolve Parliament, allowing the country to head back...

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has appointed Samoa legal expert Vui Gemma Nelson as Ocean Adviser, under the Chairmanship of Palau. AOSIS, established in 1990, represents the interests of 39 small island and low-lying coastal developing states in international climate, sustainable development, and ocean negotiations. Though small in size, AOSIS member states have long played an outsized role...

By Nic Maclellan  Pacific Small Island Developing States and other developing nations are mobilising to call for new international legal norms, to ensure that industrialised nations meet their obligations on climate, development and oceans protection. As governments gather in France for this month's UN Conference on the Ocean, Vanuatu and other PSIDS have been seeking international court rulings on the responsibility...

Ardie Savea has been awarded Moana Pasifika’s highest honour – winning the Moana Man of the Year at the 2025 prizegiving held in Auckland on Tuesday evening. The captain has been hugely influential in elevating Moana to its most successful season in history, while also having a standout individual season. Along with taking home the top gong, Savea was also...

The Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) has awarded Jeffrey Poea the title of Male Technical Official of the Year during its congress held in the Cook Islands last week. President of the Athletics Solomon Association, Michael Kuali, who attended the congress and received the award on Poea's behalf, officially presented the honour to him at the Mendana Hotel, in the presence...