PINA

The 18 unsworn members of the Human Rights Protection Party(HRPP) will likely return to by-elections after the Samoan Speaker of the House denied their request to be sworn in on Tuesday. The Speaker of the House, Papalii Lio Masipau in a letter to to the leader of the HRPP Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi confirmed his decision to deny the members access...

The world's poorest countries say they are worried about getting to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November. Twenty are on the UK's Covid red list - meaning hotel quarantine for arrivals. They say the fortnight-long talks may involve being away for seven weeks as they will also have to isolate on return. And they warn that flights from Pacific islands...

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland called for urgent action to ensure improved climate resilience of small states and promised to amplify the concerns of small and other vulnerable states around climate change at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow this November. During visit to The Bahamas last week, the Secretary-General said: “Without a doubt, we are...

Fiji has recorded 128 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday, increasing the total number of cases in the island nation to 48,916 and 533 deaths since the outbreak that started in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said 90 cases are from the Western division and 38 cases are from the Central division in Vitilevu, Fiji's main island. “There have...

New Zealand has opted to take a “cautious approach” to Fiji's future travel initiatives as the Pacific island nation prepares to reopen its borders amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade says New Zealand will be guided by public health considerations. Fiji is preparing to reopen its borders on November 1 and only fully vaccinated travellers will...

The Fijian Government welcomes the appointment of Sefanaia Nawadra as the new Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). Nawadra's appointment was announced following the 30th SPREP Meeting of officials on Thursday 09 September 2021. In his new role, Nawadra will lead SPREP, a regional organisation guided by its vision for: “A resilient Pacific environment, sustaining our...

Pacific island workers employed at a Victorian abattoir are taking home little more than $9(US$6.62) an hour after hundreds of dollars are deducted from their weekly pay to cover airfares, visas, phone plans, housing and furniture rentals. Contracts between Pacific islander meat workers and labour hire firm Regional Workforce Management Pty Ltd show some workers are left with just $310...

The Prime Minister of the Cook Islands has called on the population to take seriously the threat from climate change. In November Mark Brown will represent the Cook Islands at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, where the aim is to complete the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees...

Australia recognises the importance of reopening of travel to Fiji but borders between the two countries will only open “when it is safe to do so”, Australian ambassador John Feakes said. He said the COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest challenge to the reopening of borders. The Fiji Times had asked Feakes on progress of discussions around a travel bubble between Australia...

By Neena Bhandari The UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP) Commonsensing is led by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) through its Operational Satellite Applications programme (UNOSAT), which is working with selected partners including the Commonwealth Secretariat, to improve resilience to the effects of climate change in Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Vineil Narayan, Climate Finance...