PINA

A multi-million dollar grant for the provision of a new tugboat for Tonga was signed by the Japanese Ambassador to Tonga Kensaku Munenaga and the Prime Minister, Dr Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa. The agreement, worth approximately US$10 million from the Japanese Government under its Non-Project Grant Aid scheme, will be used for the provision of a new tugboat for the Port of...

Nauru President Lionel Aingimea said Micronesian nations have not changed their position on leaving the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) but that the sub-region is engaging with the other leaders to discuss the rift. President Aingimea, in a virtual press conference at the 20th Micronesian Presidents’ Summit conclusion, told reporters that the issue of the fracture has been “discussed at length...

Micronesian countries look to Palau as leader of tourism bubble success, Nauru President Lionel Aingimea told reporters Thursday. President Aingimea said transportation and people moving from one country to another is not the easiest task during the coronavirus pandemic. “We not only have countries closing borders, but bigger countries like Australia having within their own states closing borders to the other...

This year marks the 76th anniversary of the first use of nuclear weapons for the purpose of war. As the world solemnly observes the tragic anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we wish to highlight the Pacific's own and often overlooked nuclear history that followed. As guardians of the world's largest ocean, we emphasise again our continuing concern...

Super Rugby Pacific’s newest club, the Fijian Drua have welcomed the Super Rugby Pacific competition format announced by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and Rugby Australia (RA on Monday. The competition’s newest club will feature alongside five New Zealand clubs (Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes) five Australian clubs (Brumbies, Rebels, Waratahs, Reds and Western Force) as well as fellow Super...

Three former Prime Ministers have been pardoned by Vanuatu President, Pastor Obed Moses Tallis. They are Rialuth Serge Vohor, Joe Natuman and Charlot Salwai. The State Office confirmed to Daily Post that President Tallis signed the instrument of pardoning on 31 August 2021. The Pardon of Conviction Order was published in the official gazette Thursday. Vohor who is the President of the...

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has called on G20 members to urgently work with the Commonwealth and other partners, particularly the World Health Organisation and World Trade Organisation, to urgently put in place a robust plan to vaccinate the world's 42 smallest states and shield them from COVID-19. Speaking today at the annual Health20 Summit, she said: "As the pandemic unfolded,...

Pacific islanders living in Australia and New Zealand are sending money home more frequently than they were a year ago, according to ANZ’s international payment data. In July 2021, ANZ customers in Australia and New Zealand sent 11,668 International Money Transfers to family and friends in the Pacific, worth AUD$ $13.1m (US$9.6 million), a 21 percent increase in volume when...

Ministerial-level defence representatives from Japan and 13 Pacific island countries vowed on Thursday in an online meeting to tighten cooperation to maintain maritime order amid China's increasing military activity in the region. The participants in the first such gathering affirmed the importance of promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific, their joint statement said. The concept is an initiative by the...

Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa has called on the Head of States to have the suspended Attorney-General dismissed entirely from her role, effective immediately as of Thursday 02 of September 2021. In a statement released to the media on Thursday evening, Mata'afa outlined the reasons behind her decision to dismiss Savalenoa Mareva Betham-Annandale who was only appointed to the...