PINA

The COVID-19 crisis is not going to end in October even if Fiji achieves its vaccination target, says National Federation Party(NFP) leader Professor Biman Prasad. During a debate on the 2021-2022 Appropriation Bill in Parliament on Monday, he said people would continue to fall ill and lives would continue to be lost even if inoculation targets were met. He also said...

By Kiley Price Despite their small size, Pacific Island nations and territories are a powerhouse in the fishing industry, contributing more than a third of the global tuna catch. However, the tide could soon turn for these islands — and not for the better. Fueled by greenhouse gas emissions, ocean warming will alter the habitats of tuna, causing these fish to...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Tokyo While Fiji’s gold medallist Olympian sevens team get on the long nine hours’ flight back home, hours after their historic win in Tokyo against rival New Zealand, the international media at Tokyo 2020 are still abuzz with the spectacular finish, the emotion and humility of the players after the final whistle at Tokyo...

Today, the European Union and the Cook Islands agreed to continue their successful fisheries partnership as part of the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement (SFPA), for a duration of three years. The agreement allows EU fishing vessels operating in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean to continue fishing in the Cook Islands fishing grounds. Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries,...

Pacific Foreign Affairs Ministers have concluded their virtual meeting this week reiterating the call that climate change remains the greatest threat facing the region right now. And while urging for global climate action to speed up not delayed as the world prepares for the United Nations COP26 meeting on Climate Change in Scotland later this year, the Forum ministers also...

Cocaine packages with a street value of around $2.3 million pa’anga(US$1 million) have washed up on beaches at Höleva and Ha’alaufuli in Vava’u, triggering a major search for further drugs by Tonga Police and HMAF navy today. Matangi Tonga Online reports the first packages found by locals were handed over to police last weekend Vava'uans are being urged to hand over...

Samoan Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa has announced that there is no rush for Parliament to meet as Cabinet needs more time to screen and review the financial arrangements in place by the caretaker government using an Emergency Budget. Fiame said last Saturday evening that Parliament was to meet in the first opportunity sometime this week to pass a budget. When...

AUSTRALIA)---The fifteenth Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) Pacific Business Monitor reports that sentiments among the Pacific business decision-makers remain critical and expected timelines for economic recovery are shifting back further. COVID-19 impacts on Pacific businesses have remained at severe levels since tracking began in May 2020, with between 79 to 92 percent of respondents consistently reporting a negative impact. The recent...

A hard lockdown for 14 days would cost Fiji $1billion (US$500 million). Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said this is based on an estimated loss of $300 million (US$150 million) in Gross Domestic Product and about $600 million (US$300 million) in income support for Fijians. Sayed-Khaiyum said this is the estimate for the entire country, adding that it does not take...

French President Emmanuel Macron has reasserted his nation's presence in the Pacific on a visit to French Polynesia, a trip aimed at countering growing Chinese dominance in the region. The trip was also designed to underline the French government's support for Polynesians and heal wounds over French nuclear testing on the former colony's atolls, half a planet away from Paris. Macron...