PINA

The Fiji and Samoa sevens teams will be missing when the men's World Sevens Series gets underway in Canada this month. The new season kicks off in Vancouver on September 18, with another tournament in Edmonton the following weekend. But Fiji's Olympic gold medal winning team and Pacific neighbours Samoa have joined New Zealand, Australia and Argentina in opting to skip...

The Fijian Drua will be based in Australia in the next 2022 Super Rugby season. The team will march into quarantine in Australia in the middle of October and plan to start base camp in early November. This has been confirmed by Fiji Rugby Union Chair, Fijian Drua to be based in Australia In a press conference this morning, Begg says they...

Federated States of Micronesia(FSM) President David Panuelo said Wednesday he’ll continue to walk around his island nation without fear, despite an alleged death threat against him over his government’s vaccine mandate. A month ago, Micronesia became one of the few countries in the world to impose a broad rule requiring that all eligible citizens get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Soon after,...

Despite border closures and reduced air and sea travel because of COVID-19, Customs administrations in the region say threats in the Pacific remain high from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing fleets – as well as threats from illegal movements of people, drugs and weapons, which are often facilitated by trusted insiders. The issue was discussed at the Oceania Heads of...

The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Natural Resources and Environment in the South Pacific Region, also known as the Noumea Convention, officially convened today, with Parties and Observers joining virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemics and subsequent border closures across the Pacific. The Noumea Convention, which entered into force...

The XVII Legislative Assembly will convene in two weeks time on 14 September 2021, says Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa. Speaking to the media in a press conference on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said they have seen the 2021/2022 Fiscal Year Budget which will be tabled in the sitting of the Parliament. “We saw firsthand what the budget looks like...

A new coronavirus “variant of interest” named Mu – also known by its scientific name as B.1.621 – is being closely monitored by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the agency has said. In its weekly epidemiological update, published on Tuesday, WHO warned it was becoming increasingly prevalent in Colombia and Ecuador, and showed signs of possible resistance to vaccines. Mu was...

Were the 2014 and 2018 Fiji elections free and fair? This was one of the questions posed by prominent local lawyer and former Supervisor of Elections, Jon Apted said as he labelled Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s criticism of counsel who represented politician Niko Nawaikula – and the Supervisor of Elections and the Attorney-General – “baseless and unfair”. He said voters in Fiji,...

Climate change and increasingly extreme weather events, have caused a surge in natural disasters over the past 50 years disproportionately impacting poorer countries, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) said on Wednesday. According to the agencies' Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes, from 1970 to 2019, these...

The Pacific Islands Forum Chair and Fijian Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama Wednesday received a courtesy call from the new Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum PIF, Henry Puna. In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama acknowledged Secretary-General Puna for his exemplary leadership and assistance rendered by the Secretariat during the 51st Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. Reflecting on the successful...