PINA

Tongan taekwondo player Malia Paseka of Tonga’s brief and bruising Olympic debut consisted of just two things: being kicked in the head and falling down. Neither ideal when you are the first female fighter from your nation ever to take on the best in the world at Olympic level. But Paseka insisted it was all “a pleasure and an honour” after...

Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa have qualified for the medal quarter-finals unbeaten on day two of the men’s Olympic Sevens tournament at Tokyo Stadium. New Zealand will get the last eight under way when they take on Canada, who qualified on points difference from Ireland, at 17:30 local time (GMT+9). Great Britain, who lost their first match of Tokyo 2020...

Samoa has turned a new political page as the country’s first female Prime Minister, took office today and conducted its first Cabinet meeting at the Government House in downtown Apia. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa was first elected into parliament in 1985 when she was 27 years old. Today, she occupied the Government’s seat of power in a building named after her late...

The Fiji 7s team defeated Great Britain 33-7 in its last pool match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games today. Asaeli Tuivuaka, Sireli Maqala and Jiuta Wainiqolo scored a try each in the first spell as Fiji led 19-nil at halftime. Tuivuaka grabbed a second while Aminiasi Tuimaba scored a try as well to secure their third win in as many...

The Cook Islands’ newest “secret agent” will keep threats at bay and protect the nation. National security director and former police commissioner Maara Tetava Ariki has confirmed the national security officer is a newly created position. Cook Islands News contacted the Office of the Prime Minister on Thursday with questions regarding the new position and was told by Tetava he would...

Forum Foreign Affairs Ministers will hear from Secretary General Henry Puna for the first time in their annual ministerial meet, the FFMM. The 2021 FFMM will be chaired by Tuvalu’s Minister of Justice, Communications and Foreign Affairs, Simon Kofe. The agenda will lead with the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic, the Blue Pacific response, and regional recovery including the Pacific...

Papua New Guinea’s competition regulator has rejected Kina Securities’ AUD$420 million (US$308.45 million) proposed stake acquisition in Westpac Banking Corp’s Pacific operations, Australia’s No. 2 lender said on Monday. PNG’s Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) raised concerns that the deal would not result in “benefits that outweigh detriments to public” and would lessen competition in the country’s market, Kina...

Former Samoa Prime Minister and leader of Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), Tuilaepa Dr Sailele Malielegaoi has conceded defeat and welcomed the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party led by Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa to take over Government. Holding a press conference at the HRPP headquarter in Petesa Monday, Tuilaepa took a deep breathe, recalling a...

Former Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, has met with the heads of the Samoa Government Ministries and urged them to give the new Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) administration their full backing, the Samoa Observer can reveal Tuilaepa, on Monday hosted a farewell meeting with all Government Ministry heads, encouraging all to give the new administration their...

Nine prominent opposition politicians – including two former prime ministers – have been arrested in Fiji for voicing concerns about a contentious land bill, leading to fears the Fijian government is using the police as a “political weapon” to intimidate and crack down on dissent. Six members of parliament and three other high-profile politicians were taken into custody by the...