PINA

Taiwan's government on Monday denied involvement in the recent bloody riots in the Solomon Islands after the leader of the former Pacific Island ally accused Taipei of being involved earlier in the day. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Monday survived a no confidence motion in parliament, after accusing the Pacific nation's most populous province, Malaita, of being "Taiwan's...

They want to create ‘world class’ surf waves by excavating two channels through coral reef off a pristine Fijian island group. But this Kiwi-led group, backed by some serious heavy-hitters, is being slammed for pushing what’s been described as essentially a dredging project. By Cass Mason and Melanie Reid A New Zealand-registered company is facing intense opposition to its proposal to...

Two Fijian citizens who had travelled back into Fiji from Nigeria on 25 November have tested positive of the Omicron variant. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services permanent secretary, Dr James Fong who says last week travellers who had arrived from an African state and were undergoing quarantine in a border quarantine facility had tested...

The leader of the Solomon Islands survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Monday following riots in the capital last month. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told lawmakers in a fiery 90-minute speech that he’d done nothing wrong and would not bow down to “the forces of evil” or to “Taiwan’s agents.” At one point he picked up his chair and...

The matter against six Fiji Opposition Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) Members of Parliament has been transferred to the Suva High Court. The Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) had made an application to transfer the matter to the High Court on the grounds that it is of public interest and the accused are parliamentarians. The matter involves SODELPA MP Salote...

Low-lying islands in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) are experiencing massive flooding that threaten the communities across the nation. “We are watching what’s happening,” FSM President David Panuelo said in a statement, “And, first and foremost, I would ask our citizens to feel assured that their government is aware of what’s happening and is ready to take action.” The FSM...

The Australian opposition has attempted to blunt a Coalition scare campaign by ruling out negotiating a stronger emissions reduction target if next year’s election results in a hung parliament. The senior Labour frontbencher Chris Bowen said his party had “paid a big price” in the “climate wars” over the past decade, and a central task of an incoming Albanese government...

The Cook Islands says its first case of Covid-19 is a good test ahead of the opening of its borders next month. The case is a weak-positive result from a 10-year-old boy who travelled from New Zealand with his family last week. The case was detected on arrival when the boy was asymptomatic. The family arrived on a repatriation flight with...

The new date for the reopening of the multi-billion-kina Porgera mine is April next year, according to Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape. He told The National that the country’s three other major resource projects – Papua LNG, P’Nyang and Wafi-Golpu – were “on track.” The Government also wants to get the Pasca A oil and gas project “over the...

Members of  Solomon Islands Parliament have defeated the motion of no confidence in Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare tabled by the Opposition Leader Mathew Wale. Those that voted in favour of the motion was 15, those that voted against the motion was 32 with 2 MPs abstained from voting. The Prime Minister has survived the motion with 32 voting against...