PINA

Two of the last four remaining Covid-free nations in the world are preparing to open their borders to re-join the Covid world. The Federated States of Micronesia has announced its plan to open its borders without quarantine beginning 01 August. Meanwhile, the Marshall Islands has gradually reduced its quarantine requirements since late last year and the country’s top government administrator said...

The U.S, Japan, Australia and India will on Tuesday unveil a maritime initiative aimed at curbing illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific, a U.S official said, in the latest effort by the “Quad” to counter Chinese activity in the region. President Joe Biden and the other Quad leaders — Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and newly...

New Zealand's Budget will commit NZ$4.4 million (US$2.8 million) for a new transmitter for RNZ Pacific ensuring the future of the service. RNZ Pacific broadcasts into the wider Pacific on shortwave 24 hours a day, collaborating with 22 broadcasting partners across the region. Its current primary transmitter is nearing end of life, and its other transmitter has in effect already been...

Pacific Islanders who live as our forefathers lived celebrate biodiversity every day. Every day is biodiversity day. Our native and endemic species and the habitats in which they exist are woven into the fabric of our traditions, cultures, livelihoods and economies. Preserving our Pacific biodiversity is central preserving our identity and our future – it is the very ethos of...

Fiji’s men and New Zealand’s women turned on the style to win the HSBC France Sevens in Toulouse on Sunday. Ireland, led by the excellent Terry Kennedy, played some impressive rugby to reach their first ever men’s Cup final, but in the final the Fijians - off the back of gold in Singapore and silver in Vancouver, Canada – were...

Anthony Albanese will be Australia’s next prime minister, leaving the Coalition in disarray after it lost more than a dozen seats to Labor and independents in an election that has transformed the country’s political landscape. Declaring victory shortly before midnight on Saturday, Albanese thanked voters for the “extraordinary honour” of becoming the nation’s 31st prime minister, and said he would...

Australian voters have delivered a sharp rebuke to the centrer-right government, ending nine years of conservative rule, in favor of the centre-left opposition that promised strong action on climate change. Australian Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese appeared certain to form a minority government, though it was unclear as counting continued if the party would have enough seats for a majority,...

A proposal to double funding in the Pacific to reduce the Chinese infiltration in the region was knocked back by the Cabinet's National Security Committee months before the Solomon Islands security agreement. Foreign Minister Marise Payne proposed doubling Australia’s Pacific aid months before the Solomon Islands-China security pact but the Cabinet’s National Security Committee rejected the proposal. Payne presented the bolstered...

Former Fiji Opposition MP Niko Nawaikula will spend two years behind bars. The matter was called for sentencing in the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court in Suva today. On 03 May this year, High Court Judge Justice Thushara Kumarage found Nawaikula guilty and convicted him on one count of giving false information to a public servant and one count of...

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has concluded its consideration of the combined second to fourth periodic report of Kiribati, with Committee Experts congratulating Kiribati for raising the age of marriage to 18, while raising questions about birth registration and school dropout rates for boys. A Committee Expert congratulated Kiribati for raising the age of marriage to 18. Another...