PINA

This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 20 April 2021. The 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows that journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is completely or partly blocked in 73% of the 180 countries ranked by the organisation. This year’s Index, which evaluates the press freedom situation in 180 countries and territories annually,...

Super Rugby is about to get a Pacific injection with Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua officially confirmed as entrants in a new competition next year. New Zealand Rugby confirmed the addition of the two Pacific franchises in a new competition for 2022 at a media conference this afternoon after months of rumours swirling around their involvement. “In a significant step forward...

he Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) today welcomed New Zealand Rugby’s announcement that it would award a conditional license to the Fijian Drua to participate in the Super rugby competition from 2022 onwards. Although still subject to finalisation of private capital funding, FRU is in advanced stages of discussions and remains confident that it will finalise funding from one of those...

Samoa’s Electoral Commissioner, Faimalōmatumua Mathew Lemisio confirmed today that some voters voted twice in last weeks’ elections and they will face legal action. Double voting surfaced during the official count for Sagaga 2 constituency that started yesterday and was put on hold as officials tried to sort out the double voting issue. Faimalōmatumua could not give the actual number of those...

As Samoa awaits the official declaration of its 2021 General Elections, results of special votes are eagerly anticipated by those constituencies for which the preliminary results had the first and second placed candidates in a close race. One such Constituency is Faleata 1 – where the gap between incumbent Member of Parliament and former Associate Minister Salausa Dr. John Ah...

Pacific Games Council has approved the CNMI’s request to include three more sports—tennis, weightlifting, and va’a (outrigger canoe)—to the calendar of events for the 2022 Pacific Mini Games in the CNMI. Andrew Minogue, Pacific Games Council chief executive officer, confirmed the council’s decision to approve the CNMI’s request following the local government’s financial commitment of US$4 million in the staging...

It’s now 101 days to the long-awaited Tokyo Olympics. The uncertainties and delay in staging of the 2020 Games, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on training, qualification processes and mobility, means that for Pacific islands athletes, just making it to Japan will be a feat in itself. Globally, 61% of the athlete quota places have already been allocated....

In my capacity as Depositary of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga), as Pacific Ocean Commissioner, and on behalf of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific: we note, with deep concern, the decision by the Government of Japan to discharge the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) Treated Water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear...

The International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), said on Tuesday that it will work closely with Japan which is preparing to release a million tonnes of contaminated seawater used to cool the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that Japan’s solution was both “technically feasible and in line with international practice” – and that the agency...

A recent report by Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) focusing on the impacts of COVID-19 on Tonga’s private sector has found that less than a quarter of businesses in Tonga were fully operational over 2020, compared to 36% across the Pacific Islands. The Pacific Business Monitor Tonga Focus 2020 Report aggregates results from respondents in Tonga across all the PTI Pacific...