PINA

By Shaun Burnie 70 years ago, on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, a thermonuclear weapon with codename Castle Bravo, exploded with an energy of 15 megatons. The mushroom cloud reached 40 kilometres into the atmosphere, resulting in thousands of square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean being contaminated by radioactivity. Its explosive yield was 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima...

Measles cases went up 255 percent from 2022 to 2023 in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Western Pacific Region, an increase caused by gaps in vaccination coverage and disease surveillance and travel of people from countries experiencing outbreaks. The Western Pacific Region had lower levels of measles infections in 2021 (1080 cases) and 2022 (1422 cases), but in 2023 cases...

Former Fiji 7s reps have now teamed up with one voice and are calling for the removal of current coach Ben Gollings. This follows our winless run after 19 tournaments as Gollings and the team have failed to deliver a Cup title. Fiji bowed out of the LA 7s quarter-final after going down 19-21 to Spain. Olympic gold medalists like Vatemo Ravouvou...

Exhausted Moana Pasifika players have been left praying and rejoicing after resisting a fierce fightback to hang on for an historic 39-36 Super Rugby Pacific win over Fijian Drua. Down to 13 men for much of the last 15 minutes, Tana Umaga's entire Pasifika outfit dropped to their knees in triumph and relief after denying the Drua an improbable comeback...

New Zealand lobbied France’s territories in the Pacific to respond to news of a controversial security pact between China and the Solomon Islands that set off alarm in Western capitals, newly released documents reveal. Within days of a draft version of the security pact leaking online in March 2022, representatives of New Zealand, Australia and France were meeting to discuss...

This week the ABC hosted the inaugural Pacific Australia Media Leaders Meeting in Ultimo, Sydney, Australia. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Managing Director David Anderson and PINA (Pacific Islands News Association) President and National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) PNG Managing Director Kora Nou hosted 27 CEOs, MDs and Editors from media houses in 12 countries across the Pacific. Australian attendees included...

Tonga's nobles are collectively calling on the Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni to resign his defence portfolio as Minister of His Majesty's Armed Forces, and to respect the decision of King Tupou VI, who has withdrawn his consent to three ministerial appointments. The Nobles' Representatives told parliament Thursday that the PM's response (a refusal) to the King had stirred concern...

The One Pacific are this week reviewing the outcomes of the world’s largest climate change negotiations platform and preparing for the next steps on the 2024 journey through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations. The UNFCCC’s 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates last year was the biggest of its kind, with...

In the peaceful water of the Pacific, beneath the gentle sway of the tides lies a hidden world crucial to the health of our oceans: seagrasses. Dr Shalini Singh, Assistant Professor in Fisheries, College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry at Fiji National University (FNU) sheds light on the often-overlooked wonders of these underwater meadows and their pivotal role in our...

As the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) nears its conclusion, Pacific Island countries have been calling on the biggest subsidisers to halt subsidies to overcapacity and overfishing, and to pledge to lower bad subsidies in future, this week. The world’s biggest subsidisers provide US$20 billion a year to their own fleets to empty the seas of fish. As these countries deplete...