PINA

Fiji has reported 241 new cases of COVID-19 infections and one death Monday. Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr James Fong says five cases are prison officers from Suva who are undergoing 14 days’ quarantine at the FSC Compound in Rakiraki as part of essential movement from red zone to green zone when they tested positive. “They were undergoing 14 days’...

The Australian Department of Defence has announced it will arm the Papua New Guinea Defence Force’s four new Guardian-class Patrol Boats. The equipment will be delivered through the Pacific Maritime Security Programme along with a ‘comprehensive support and training package’, the department said on Friday. Under the $2 billion (US$1.5 billion), 30-year programme, Australia will deliver 21 Guardian-class Patrol Boats to...

A new, much-awaited legal definition of “ecocide” has moved the world a step closer to recognising the plunder and mass destruction of nature as criminal. This raises the possibility of having ecocide included under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), alongside four already recognised international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. That,...

FASANOC’s Executive Board is making the following recommendations for Athletes and Officials to represent Team Fiji at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. National Federations have been working hard in preparing their teams with final submissions forwarded to FASANOC’s Selection Justification Commission (SJC). The SJC has vetted the nominations from the respective National Federations and forwarded its recommendations to the FASANOC Executive...

Papua New Guineans are expected to go to the polls to elect the 111 parliamentarians on 11 June 2022. Nominations will be received at 4pm on 14 April to 4pm on 21 April. Polling will start on 11 June. The return of writs will be on or before 15 July. Governor-General (GG) Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae’s acting official secretary Bill Toraso said...

Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) Australia, an agency of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, has launched its 2020 Annual Report, highlighting more than AUD$20 million (US$15 million) in export deals and a record nine investment deals facilitated in the region, despite the challenging environment. PTI Australia Trade and Investment Commissioner, Caleb Jarvis, noted the impacts of the pandemic on the Pacific...

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna says they are using the “Pacific Way” to assist Samoa resolve its two-months-running constitutional crisis. In his first talanoa session recently with the media from the region following his appointment, the former Cook Islands prime minister said they will use the “Pacific Way” and have offered their support to assist Samoa. “We’re trying...

The Samoa Supreme Court has declared the swearing in of the Faatuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party on the lawns outside Parliament was unconstitutional but has also ordered Parliament to convene within seven days from today, a decisive moment in the nation's power crisis. The Court has warned that any attempts to obstruct the Legislative Assembly meeting will...

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretary general Henry Puna has welcomed the input of civil society leaders to regional policy, saying that regional stakeholders must rally together to “face the multiple challenges before us”. At the opening sessions of the 2021 Pacific Civil Society forum today, Puna stressed that working together is imperative for the Forum and civil society groups. “The world,...

The head of the UN health agency expressed concern on Friday over the COVID-19’s delta variant, which he called “the most transmissible” mutation to date. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) told journalists at a regular briefing that delta has been identified in at least 85 countries and is “spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations”. “As some countries ease...