PINA

Pacific Media Network and Sky join forces for ‘Ofa Atu Tonga with commentary in Lea FakaTonga (Tongan Language. Sky has long offered commentary in te reo Māori, and gagana Samoa, and this weekend will see a Tongan team from Pacific Media Network join the Sky Crew to call the history-making fundraising Super Rugby pre-season match between Moana Pasifika and the...

A foreign diplomat has found himself tangled up in a Border Force raid at a Christian missionary’s Queensland home. Christian missionary Jane Smith was asleep when her husband broke the news border security was about to raid their Queensland home. “I thought he was joking. I said, “Ah stop staking stupid, talking crap to me, taking sh*t,” she told a parliamentary...

Tuvalu has ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)last week. Given this momentous occasion, Tuvalu’s Foreign and Justice Minister Simon Kofe has made the following statement of support and encouragement: “Our Pacific region has suffered from the effects of decades of nuclear testing. By ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Tuvalu is reiterating its commitment to the elimination of all nuclear...

New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, starting at the end of February, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. It will be the first time the country has opened up since prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced its snap closure in the first month of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020....

At least three U.S senators want to know the extent of China’s influence in the CNMI. At the U.S Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing Tuesday in Washington, Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig was asked questions about labor violations involving Chinese companies, “birth tourism,” and China’s “moves in the Pacific.” “I want to... ask about some of the immigration...

France has declared a health emergency in New Caledonia because of the sharp resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government decision was announced by the spokesperson for the French prime minister Jean Castex, saying the situation amounts to a health catastrophe. Daily infection rates have shot up to more than 1500 a day - with now more than 7, 600 active...

A top Defence Force officer has said the Australian navy vessel HMAS Adelaide was not responsible for the emerging COVID-19 outbreak that has sent Tonga into lockdown. Australia has also promised to help the Pacific nation identify the source of the outbreak by testing samples from the two dock workers who tested positive on Tuesday. The number of COVID cases grew...

Australia is working in partnership with Kiribati as it responds to the country’s first COVID19 outbreak. A five-member Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) arrived in Tarawa Wednewsday along with a further 27,300 doses of Australian COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment from both Australia and New Zealand. The AUSMAT team will work closely with the Kiribati Ministry of Health and Medical Services...

A six-month-old is among eight people who died in Fiji from COVID-19 between 27January and 01 February. The baby was admitted at the CWM Hospital and her medical records reflect that she had a congenital medical condition that contributed to the severity of her illness and death on Monday. All eight deceased were from the Central division. 809 people have died due...

Vanuatu is now operating the COVID-19 emergency under the amended Public Health Act , after almost two years of powering responses under the Disaster Risk Management Act No.23 of 2019 ended early this week. Minister of Health, Silas Bule, declared a Public Health Emergency for the whole of Vanuatu, under the Public Health Act. This means that the original State...