PINA

This year marks the 76th anniversary of the first use of nuclear weapons for the purpose of war. As the world solemnly observes the tragic anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we wish to highlight the Pacific's own and often overlooked nuclear history that followed. As guardians of the world's largest ocean, we emphasise again our continuing concern...

Super Rugby Pacific’s newest club, the Fijian Drua have welcomed the Super Rugby Pacific competition format announced by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and Rugby Australia (RA on Monday. The competition’s newest club will feature alongside five New Zealand clubs (Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes) five Australian clubs (Brumbies, Rebels, Waratahs, Reds and Western Force) as well as fellow Super...

Three former Prime Ministers have been pardoned by Vanuatu President, Pastor Obed Moses Tallis. They are Rialuth Serge Vohor, Joe Natuman and Charlot Salwai. The State Office confirmed to Daily Post that President Tallis signed the instrument of pardoning on 31 August 2021. The Pardon of Conviction Order was published in the official gazette Thursday. Vohor who is the President of the...

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has called on G20 members to urgently work with the Commonwealth and other partners, particularly the World Health Organisation and World Trade Organisation, to urgently put in place a robust plan to vaccinate the world's 42 smallest states and shield them from COVID-19. Speaking today at the annual Health20 Summit, she said: "As the pandemic unfolded,...

Pacific islanders living in Australia and New Zealand are sending money home more frequently than they were a year ago, according to ANZ’s international payment data. In July 2021, ANZ customers in Australia and New Zealand sent 11,668 International Money Transfers to family and friends in the Pacific, worth AUD$ $13.1m (US$9.6 million), a 21 percent increase in volume when...

Ministerial-level defence representatives from Japan and 13 Pacific island countries vowed on Thursday in an online meeting to tighten cooperation to maintain maritime order amid China's increasing military activity in the region. The participants in the first such gathering affirmed the importance of promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific, their joint statement said. The concept is an initiative by the...

Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa has called on the Head of States to have the suspended Attorney-General dismissed entirely from her role, effective immediately as of Thursday 02 of September 2021. In a statement released to the media on Thursday evening, Mata'afa outlined the reasons behind her decision to dismiss Savalenoa Mareva Betham-Annandale who was only appointed to the...

Fiji has recorded 250 new cases of COVID-19 and one death Thursday, increasing the total number of cases in the Pacific nation to 47,186 and 503 deaths since the outbreak in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said 186 cases are from the Western division, 51 cases are from the Central division in Vitilevu, Fiji's main island and...

Nauru President Lionel Aingimea has praised the University of the South Pacific (USP) for becoming ranked among the world’s top 10 percent of universities by The Times Higher Education rankings (THE). This is the first time that the university has achieved this recognition in its 53-year history. President Aingimea, who is outgoing chancellor and a law graduate and former teacher at...

A Travel Tracer App that will enable contact tracing in the event of the Covid-19 entering and spreading in Samoa, was launched by the Prime Minister Thursday. Samoa’s own Covid-19 contact tracing platform is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Health and the Samoa Tourism Authority. In her remarks, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa emphasised that the tracing app will...