PINA

Lockdowns in Samoa and the Solomon Islands were extended Tuesday as Covid-19 outbreaks worsened in remote Pacific island nations that have previously held the pandemic at bay. Pacific nations, many just dots in the vast ocean, successfully used their isolation as a buffer to the pandemic when they closed their borders in early 2020. But two years later, the hyper-transmissible Omicron...

There is doubt in French Polynesia that the territory can sustain several domestic airlines. New carriers are being launched to challenge the dominant position of Air Tahiti, which flies to more than 40 island destinations. Newly approved airlines Motu Link and Air Moana hope to start flying from Tahiti to the most popular destinations, mainly in the Society Islands and the...

Report urges governments to build resilient education systems to ensure sustained learning for all A new education study has identified strategies governments can use to address the disruptions and learning gaps created by school closures and other responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Produced by the Commonwealth Secretariat and South Africa-based JET Education Services, the report urges governments to build more resilient...

The Western Force have confirmed Sunday's trial against the Fijian Drua in Ballina has been cancelled. The Force were expected to make the trip east for trials against the Drua and the Reds, however, further border controls have forced the club to remain in WA to 'protect the wellbeing of the players, coaches and staff.' Force CEO Tony Lewis revealed the...

The Tonga volcanic eruption unleashed explosive forces that dwarfed the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, NASA scientists have said, as survivors on Monday described how the devastating Pacific blast "messed up our brains". The NASA Earth Observatory said the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano spewed debris as high as 40 kilometres (25 miles) into the atmosphere during the January 15...

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna has launched a fundraising appeal to help Tonga’s recovery from the 15 January eruption and tsunami. Basic communications and transport links have only recently been established since the underwater eruption of the Hunga-Tonga, Hunga-Ha’apai volcano caused shockwaves and a tsunami rippled worldwide. “Our hearts go out to those in Tonga and the people...

Pacific Island Forum (PIF) ambassadors to the United Nations gathered virtually on the 21st of January 2022 to pledge their governments’ solidarity and coordinate international action in response to the volcanic eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai and subsequent tsunami which devastated the Kingdom of Tonga on 15 January 2022. PIF Chair and Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations Satyendra Prasad...

“The people that can withstand difficulties are those that stand together,” Tongan King Tupou VI said in an address to the nation that was recorded over the telephone from his residence in ‘Eua and broadcasted on local radio last Thursday. The King said Tonga has been affected by the devastation of the tsunami due to the volcanic eruption, which had...

In response to the violent eruption of an underwater volcano on January 15 near the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific, the European Union is providing €200,000 (513,000 Tongan paʻanga) in humanitarian aid funding to assist the most affected communities. The aid will benefit over 7,500 people in some of the hardest-hit areas in the main island groups of...

Digicel chooses SES for Tonga By Dionisia Tabureguci More communication services will be made available via satellite for Digicel Tonga's customers over the next few days, according to European satellite company SES, who announced today its partnership with Digicel to bring the island kingdom online. “SES announced today that it has enabled Digicel to restore vital communications with the outside world following...