PINA

By Iliesa Tora Tongan Supervisor of Elections Pita Viki has two simple message for all 62,253 eligible voters who are going to vote around Tonga from 9am on Thursday, November 18 – go to vote and make it count. Vuki, who has been the man in the middle of voting in Tonga over the last three general elections and local town...

The Fijian Drua, Super Rugby’s newest franchise, today welcomed aboard the Australian Government’s PacificAus Sports programme as a sponsor of the Club. The three-year sponsorship deal is a continuation of new sports partnerships between Australia and Fiji exemplifying the heart and spirit of vuvale between the two countries. Senator Zed Seselja, Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, was in...

The Fijian Drua embark on their historic Super Rugby journey with an away match in Auckland against the Blues on 19 February 2022. The Super Rugby Pacific draw, which sees the inclusion of the Drua and fellow competition newcomers Moana Pasifika, was announced today by joint venture partners New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and Rugby Australia (RA). The 2022 fixtures see 14...

The Fijian Drua could yet play on home soil in the inaugural campaign in Super Rugby Pacific. The team was slated to play all their home games in Australia because of Covid-19 travel restrictions, while they bulk of the squad has already assembled at their base in Lennox Head in New South Wales for pre-season. The Drua will make their Super...

With just 10 days to go until the hotly anticipated kick off of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022, the pools and match schedule have been announced for the Emirates Dubai 7s on 26-27 November. The 12 team men’s competition will follow the Olympic format with three pools of four teams each, while the 10 team women’s event sees...

A report released today by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is the first step towards assessing the risk of extinction of sea turtles in the region and developing appropriate management plans for their effective conservation. The Review of the status of sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean 2021 brings together the most recent and relevant literature...

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) address delivered by the foreign minister of Tuvalu, Simon Kofe, went viral. But his creative thinking doesn’t stop there. The foreign minister of Tuvalu, an atoll nation of 11,000 whose highest point is just over four metres above sea level, is seeing the impacts of climate change in real-time. For Simon Kofe, the...

Foreign ministers from South Korea and 14 Pacific island countries held virtual talks on Tuesday during which they agreed to hold a summit of their leaders, Seoul's foreign ministry said. As they agreed to expand cooperation on climate change and other issues of regional concern, the top diplomats also agreed to increase the frequency of their talks, from once every...

The credibility of New Caledonia’s third and final independence referendum has been questioned after indigenous leaders warned that participation could be adversely affected by the Covid pandemic. The French government has announced that the referendum will proceed as planned in December after the coronavirus crisis eased. But the pro-independence FLNKS party has been calling for a postponement and has called on...

Representatives particularly disappointed by softened language on coal and a lack of funding to pay for loss and damages Pacific representatives and negotiators have condemned the outcome of the Cop26 meeting as “watered down” and a “monumental failure” that puts Pacific nations in severe existential danger, with one saying that Australia’s refusal to support funding for loss and damage suffered...