PINA

The stench of death is overwhelming as the three hospital attendants opened the containers containing the bodies of those who died from Covid-19 at the Goroka Hospital, in Eastern Highlands Province. Nine to 15 people die each day in Goroka and its seven other districts. The figures are yet to be relayed to the National Control Centre (NCC). The 40 beds...

Papua New Guinea's Eastern Highlands will go into a two-week lockdown starting today in response to the surge in COVID-19 cases, provincial controller John Gimiseve announced. He said it is critical at this time to keep people in their districts with only selected shops in Goroka town allowed to operate between 8am and 2pm. Eastern Highlands Governor Peter Numu said the...

People’s Alliance Party Leader Sitiveni Rabuka has promised to promote, protect and defend the civil, political and religious rights of all communities. Speaking at the launch of the party in Nawaka Nadi today, Rabuka says 32 percent of Fiji’s population comprises of Indo-Fijians. Rabuka said his dedication to their interests will be no less than to the rights and aspirations of...

For Xavier Matsutaro, getting to the Scottish city of Glasgow for the COP26 climate conference will be one of the longest journeys of his life. It will take about four days for the negotiator to travel from Palau, a Pacific Island nation between the Philippines and Hawaii, to Scotland as he joins an international migration of some 25,000 delegates from...

In just 22 days the City of Glasgow will welcome leaders from around the world together with Government officials, civil society, business leaders and young people to launch COP26. COP26 will be the UN’s 26th global climate summit and the UK will assume its presidency. As President of COP26 the British Government is determined to make great strides to help...

Vanuatu Prime Minister Bob Loughman has sent a bid to the Pacific Games Association for their vote of confidence in Vanuatu to host the upcoming 2027 Pacific games. Vanuatu hosted the Pacific Mini Games back in 1993 and in 2017. According to PM Loughman’s statement, such events, more specifically, the 2017 event, has sharpened the nation’s understanding of the lasting legacy...

The Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) held a General Assembly online Saturday, highlighting successes from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and celebrating the organisation's 40th anniversary. ONOC President Robin Mitchell praised Tokyo 2020, calling the Games "magic" and thanked International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission chair and Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates for his work in preparing the Olympics. Mitchell also...

Fiji Airways has announced a return to commercial flying for fully vaccinated international travellers from 01 December 2021. The airline is scheduled a number of daily flights and weekly flights between Fiji and its major tourism destination markets, with the first commercial flight from Australia to Fiji since March 2020 scheduled to depart Sydney on the morning of the 1st...

Australia’s defence minister, Peter Dutton, has chaired a meeting with his counterparts from Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga with a view to driving ‘more effective regional cooperation with partners’. Dutton dialled into the virtual meeting on Friday, describing the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) as an ‘important forum’ given the significant changes the regional...

The French overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu is adamant that New Caledonia's independence referendum should go ahead on 12 December. The minister, who is in quarantine in Noumea after arriving last week, said only an out-of-control pandemic could justify a postponement. Lecornu said he doesn't want the Covid-19 outbreak to be used for political ends, adding that in democracies elections are held...