PINA

-Three individuals who have received their second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine were among the 13 new covid deaths reported by Fiji's Ministry of Health Wednesday. Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong said of the three individuals, two were infected with the virus before they received their second jab. “We know from the timeline of when their symptoms first developed...

The Covid-19 Delta variant has reached Guam, government officials disclosed this week. Five out of 21 samples sent to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention for testing contained the Delta variant. Of those five, four had no history of travel, which shows it is being spread within the community. The arrival of this new strain on the island has again...

Solomon Islands leader of Opposition, Matthew Wale has cautioned the government to tread very carefully and adopt a zero risk approach in its preparedness for further repatriation flights that are likely to introduce the delta variant into Solomon Islands. Wale made this call in response to the Prime Minister’s statement on Monday this week that the government has assessed the...

The cocaine haul seized in Vava’u has been weighed at just over 14 kilograms, with an estimated street value over $5 million pa’anga (US$2.2 million), Tonga Police said Acting deputy Commissioner Halatoa Taufa said a total of 12 people had so far been arrested and charged, regarding the cocaine that washed up on Vava’u beaches recently. He said 10 were arrested...

The Fifty-First Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Retreat was held virtually on 06 August 2021, and was attended by the Heads of State, Government, and Territories of Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Solomon Islands was represented at Ministerial level, and French Polynesia and Tonga by Special Envoys. Forum...

Our future got much bleaker with the release of the first report in the sixth series from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Monday. Released just days before World Youth Day, the Report does not bode well for our future generations, reinforcing the same key messages from earlier IPCCC Annual Reports. Urgent changes must be made to limit...

The Fijian government says it hopes “everybody can get on board” with a low carbon future, as pressure mounts on Australia to adopt stronger climate action in the wake of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. Fiji's Attorney General and Minister responsible for climate change, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, told RN the IPCC report had again highlighted the “existential...

The New Zealand Government has announced it was classifying Indonesia and Fiji as two “very high risk" countries, limiting travel from both countries to New Zealand. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said from 11.59pm on 15 August, travel from Indonesia and Fiji would be restricted to New Zealand citizens, their families, and parents of dependent children who were citizens. “Public health...

The Kaiviti Silktails will return to Fiji sooner than expected. The NSWRL Board has made the very difficult decision to abandon a number of major competitions for the 2021 season in response to the COVID-19 outbreak across the Greater Sydney region. The competitions affected include The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership, Jersey Flegg Cup, Ron Massey Cup...

Human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented and irreversible ways. This is highlighted in the latest report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released on Monday. The landmark study warns of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding, and a key temperature limit being broken in just over a decade. Fiji has more reasons than most having been battered by...