PINA

Australia will provide a $68 million (US$49 million) loan to Fiji to upgrade its airports as part of a step-up in infrastructure lending across the Pacific to help the region recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and compete with China’s decade-long spending spree. In the first deal of its kind, the Australian government and the ANZ bank will use a $2...

Vanuatu has taken ownership of its new Guardian-class Patrol Boat. The RVS Takuare is the 12th vessel delivered under the Australian Government’s Pacific Maritime Security Programme and was handed over by Australia on Vanuatu’s Independence Day at a ceremony in Henderson, Western Australia. Samson Fare, Vanuatu’s High Commissioner to Australia, accepted RVS Takuare on behalf of the Republic of Vanuatu alongside...

Small island nations across the world are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, and their problems have been accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely affected their economies, and their capacity to protect themselves from possible extinction. We take a look at some of the many challenges they face, and how they could be overcome. Low emissions, but...

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has offered a “formal and unreserved apology” Sunday to the Pacific communities left traumatised by the dawn raids in the 1970s. The practice saw immigration officials target the homes of Pacific Islands people in the early hours of the morning, beginning in the 1970s, in a crackdown on alleged “overstaying” on their visas. The policy...

The princess of Tonga shed tears as she formally accepted Jacinda Ardern's apology on behalf of the Government that oversaw the dawn raids of the 1970s. The practice saw immigration officials target the homes of Pacific Islands people in the early hours of the morning, beginning in the 1970s, in a crackdown on alleged "overstaying" on their visas. Princess Mele Siu'ilikutapu...

Australia’s donations of COVID-19 vaccines to the Pacific last week topped the 1 million-mark, aided in part by some Australians’ reluctance to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca. More than half a million doses have been delivered to Fiji, which is racing to inoculate its population amid a serious outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta strain. About 278,000 doses have been given to...

Fiji has recorded 632 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths recorded Sunday. Ministry of Health and Medical Services permanent secretary, Dr James Fong said 62 cases were from the Western Division and 570 cases from the Central Division in Vitilevu, Fiji's main island. He said the first COVID-19 death was a 35-year-old man from Newtown who died at home (31/07/2021),...

The prime minister’s office in Apia, the capital of Samoa, which overlooks the harbour, has just been vacated by the man who held the job for 22 years. The bookshelves are still empty, but the room is filled with bunches of flowers, sent by well-wishers keen to congratulate the new incumbent. Last week, after the most contentious election in the Pacific...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Tokyo Fiji’s back to back gold medal win in sevens rugby at the Tokyo Olympics Wednesday will open up doors for young people in Fiji and the Pacific to get scholarships to study and play in Asia. The Fijian sevens gladiators denied New Zealand a chance to win he coveted gold medal, 27-12 match point...

Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Tokyo Fiji’s historical second gold medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Wednesday evening should be a cause for celebration not only for Fijians but the whole Pacific. That’s the view of Tuvalu Secretary General for National Olympic Committee, Elu Tataua who thinks that Tuvalu should ask Fiji for help in developing the sport in the...