PINA

Samoa's Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) deputy leader Fonotoe Pierre Lauofo says no Government should be formed in Parliament until election-related legal issues have been sorted out of respect for the constitution. Fonotoe argues that the only way Samoa can have a constitutionally-aligned Government is to respect a Court of Appeal decision last Wednesday confirming that Parliament should be expanded...

The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) is stepping up efforts to stop the dumping of plastic waste at sea in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). The agency has completed a consultancy study into ways of improving compliance with the rules. It focuses on plastic waste dumped by tuna fishing vessels. Since 1 January 2019, the central fisheries management...

Operation Tui Moana, a regional fisheries surveillance operation covering the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu as well as associated high seas, marked 20 years of protecting this important Pacific resource. Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) Director of Fisheries Operations, Allan Rahari reflected that recognising the contribution of Operation Tui Moana...

International travel within OFC’s Member Associations continues to pose significant risks to the health and welfare of the Pacific community. Taking this into consideration, the OFC Executive Committee has agreed to a range of changes to the football calendar, including the cancellation of this year’s OFC Champions League. It will mark the second consecutive year that no winner of the Champions...

The UNCAC Coalition has responded to the very modest advances in the Political Declaration adopted today by world leaders meeting at the first-ever UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the topic of corruption with a call for strong action and leadership by governments truly committed to the fight against corruption. “Diplomatically-worded statements will not help the billions of people...

Fiji Rugby Chief Executive Officer John O’Connor has welcomed the opportunity for our Fijian and Fijiana 7s teams to play important lead up against tough opposition in lead up to the Olympic Games in Japan next month. Both the men and women’s teams will take part in the much-anticipated PacificAus Sports Oceania Rugby Sevens from the 25th to the 27th...

Former international sevens player Gordon Langkilde has been recalled to the Manu Samoa training squad. Lakapi Samoa General Manager, Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun, confirmed when contacted by the Samoa Observer that Langkilde will join the training squad in New Zealand when his travel documentation is finalised. He said the head coach Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua made the call to get Langkilde to...

Fiji Rugby names men and women squad for PacificAus Sports Oceania Rugby Sevens (Fiji Rugby) Fiji Rugby Chief Executive Officer John O’Connor has welcomed the opportunity for our Fijian and Fijiana 7s teams to play important lead up against tough opposition in lead up to the Olympic Games in Japan next month. He acknowledged and thanked the Almighty for...

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna has called for more answers and evidence-based science on Japan’s plans to dump more than a million tonnes of treated Fukushima wastewater in the Pacific. In a statement released by the Forum Secretariat, the new Secretary General who has replaced former SG Dame Meg Taylor, told forum member officials it was his first...

An area of land roughly the size of China needs restoring if the planet’s biodiversity and the communities who rely on it are to be protected, UN agencies said on Thursday. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) call to reinstate at least one billion degraded hectares of land by 2030 must also be matched by...