In this bulletin:
1. PACIFIC — UNODC urges Pacific to follow the money to disrupt organised crime
2. PACIFIC — PINA eyes restructure for greater reach
3. PACIFIC — New Zealand’s Pacific diplomacy has created new choices: Foreign Minister Peters
4. PACIFIC — Traditional knowledge is key to climate resilience: Tuvalu PM
5. AUST — No avoiding the cost of inaction on climate, Anthony Albanese says in New York
6. PACIFIC — Tell the stories behind the data, journalists urged
7. PACIFIC — Community & Media Women Auditors Training focus on male allyship pilot
8. FIJI — Students draft blueprint for proposed Fiji Constitution
9. FIJI — Climate finance must reach villages, farmers and fishers
10. COOKS — PM Brown sacks Angene despite Manihiki petition
11. TONGA — Tonga dialysis centre project collapses as U.S sponsor unable to fund promised facility, Health Minister says
12. PACNEWS BIZ — Fiji Airways reconnects Fiji, New Caledonia with direct flights
13. PACNEWS DIGEST — UN panel calls for stronger safeguards as AI agents advance
14. PACNEWS DIGEST — Pacific Meteorological technicians workshop 2026 gets underway in Nadi
PAC – PACIFIC MEDIA SUMMIT/ORGANISED CRIME: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
UNODC urges Pacific to follow the money to disrupt organised crime
By Pita Ligaiula in Savusavu
SAVUSAVU, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—Pacific governments need to strengthen proceeds-of-crime laws, identify the real owners behind companies and share financial intelligence across borders to disrupt the money flows sustaining organised crime, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says.
UNODC Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Adviser Marie Pegie Cauchois told PACNEWS at the Pre-Pacific Media Summit workshop on Climate Change and Corruption in Savusavu that governments must focus not only on drug seizures but on the profits generated by criminal networks.
She said the scale of drug trafficking through the Pacific was difficult to determine, but the size of some seizures and wider regional trends showed the growing challenge.
“We don’t have the figures. We don’t know how much drugs are going through. New Zealand doesn’t know, Australia doesn’t know.
“But what we know is that the proceeds of crime are a little bit, and that’s where it’s important for all the entities in the region to be working together,” Cauchois said.
Cauchois highlighted wastewater data in Australia as one indication of the scale of the problem, saying cocaine detected in wastewater had increased by 98 percent over the previous year.
She said Pacific governments needed to use proceeds-of-crime legislation to seize assets linked to criminal activity and make the region less attractive to organised crime.
That includes strengthening the capacity to confiscate criminal proceeds and identifying who is behind companies and financial transactions.
“It’s important for all the entities in the region to be working together to consolidate their legislation, the Proceeds of Crime Act, capacity to seize, capacity to make the places really less attractive to do business,” she said.
Cauchois said access to information on beneficial ownership was critical to identifying the people behind companies used by criminal networks.
“Who are the real owners behind the companies that are set up in the region, but also in Australia?” she said.
She said authorities also needed better information about where criminal money was moving.
“Information on where’s the money moving? And that’s where it’s important,” Cauchois said.
She called for closer cooperation between transnational crime units, customs authorities and other agencies so intelligence can be shared and used to identify where criminal proceeds are being channelled.
“If I’m working with transnational organised crime units, I’ve been working with customs, that all this information is shared,” she said.
Cauchois said Pacific countries could not tackle organised crime and its financial networks alone.
She said cooperation also needed to extend beyond the Pacific to countries including Colombia, Mexico and countries in Southeast Asia.
“It cannot be done only by the region.
“It has to be done with groups in other places, like Colombia, Mexico, Southeast Asia, that really need to reduce the attractiveness of this region for organised crime,” she said.
Cauchois said disrupting criminal profits would require governments to combine legislation, financial intelligence, asset seizure powers and international cooperation rather than focusing only on the movement of drugs.
The Pre-Pacific Media Summit workshop on Climate Change and Corruption in Savusavu, brought together Pacific journalists to examine corruption, organised crime, climate finance and accountability……PACNEWS
PAC – PACIFIC MEDIA SUMMIT: FIJI TIMES PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
PINA eyes restructure for greater reach
By Anish Chand in Savusavu
SAVUSAVU, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI TIMES)—Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) president Kalafi Moala says the organisation needs to consider restructuring and expanding its reach to ensure media organisations in remote and underrepresented parts of the Pacific have a stronger voice.
Speaking ahead of the 8th PINA Summit, Moala said he expected discussions to focus on changes that would make the regional media body more inclusive.
“I expect that we need to see some changes, changes in the way I think we are structured, so that we can expand and do more outreach, particularly to make the media that’s kind of in remote places a lot more inclusive,” he said.
Moala pointed to French Polynesia, New Caledonia and West Papua as areas where PINA could strengthen its engagement.
“The Pacific is a big place,” he said.
He said one option was to strengthen PINA’s presence through the three Pacific subregions of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.
“If need be, we restructure ourselves so that subregionally, from Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, we’ll be able to do more outreach to those places to be inclusive.
Moala said while artificial intelligence, misinformation and disinformation were important challenges for Pacific media, PINA also needed to address more fundamental questions about its purpose and regional reach.
“I think we need to find out what is our real reason for existence as an organisation. What’s our purpose? What are we there for?”
He said greater regional participation would also strengthen the media’s ability to address issues such as climate change.
“The people that are affected greatly by climate change, we’re not reaching,” he said.
Moala also welcomed the participation of Fiji’s Prime Minister at the summit, saying he believed the Government was aligned with the regional media’s vision on preserving media freedom.
“I’m thrilled that he has chosen to be part of it,” Moala said.
“His acceptance to come in and open our conference is basically his endorsement of what we stand for.”
Rabuka will open the summit on Wednesday morning…. PACNEWS
PAC – DIPLOMACY: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
New Zealand’s Pacific diplomacy has created new choices: Foreign Minister Peters
WELLINGTON, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand has undertaken the most intensive programme of Pacific diplomacy in its history, with the government using the region’s strategic importance to bring in new development partners and strengthen regional relationships.
Addressing the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs in Wellington, Peters said the Pacific had remained a core component of New Zealand’s foreign policy over the past three years.
“Working closely with Australia, New Zealand’s only formal ally, we have over the past three years undertaken the most intensive programme of Pacific diplomacy in New Zealand’s history,” Peters said.
He said New Zealand had set out to visit all 17 other Pacific Islands Forum members, completing the final visit to Kiribati in January 2026.
Peters said travelling across the Pacific had given the government a clearer understanding of the practical challenges posed by the region’s vast distances.
“The tyranny of distance is very real once you’ve experienced it,” he said.
He said the experience led New Zealand to provide Royal New Zealand Air Force transport to help Pacific leaders attend the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.
At this year’s Forum in Palau, New Zealand transported 12 delegations.
Peters said the arrangement was a practical demonstration of New Zealand’s support for PIF centrality.
“It’s a small investment by us but one that directly responds to the challenges of distance they face as well as our fidelity to PIF centrality,” he said.
Peters said New Zealand had also encouraged countries outside the Pacific to travel to the region and gain a better understanding of its economic and security challenges.
He highlighted Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates as new contributors to the Pacific Resilience Facility(PRF).
“We worked hard all term to entice new development partners into the Pacific,” Peters said.
He said New Zealand’s diplomatic efforts had been helped by the wider geopolitical disruption of recent years, which had increased recognition that developments in one part of the world could have consequences elsewhere.
“Events in one hemisphere create ripples in the other,” he said.
Peters also reflected on New Zealand’s engagement with New Caledonia following the violence that erupted there in May 2024.
He said New Zealand wanted to make clear to both the New Caledonian and French governments that it was prepared to support its Pacific neighbour.
“That was delicate diplomacy,” Peters said.
He said New Zealand was concerned about the collapse of New Caledonia’s economy while also recognising the need to address issues of institutional and democratic legitimacy.
Peters said New Zealand’s support included a study tour to Auckland in 2025 involving mainly young Kanak entrepreneurs and leaders seeking to learn about creating employment and economic opportunities.
“We stayed close to the New Caledonian Government throughout, and our enduring friendship with the French set the scene for the study tour,” he said.
Peters described the Cook Islands relationship as one of the most challenging foreign policy issues New Zealand had faced during the term.
He said the Defence and Security Declaration signed earlier this year reinforced the relationship between the two countries.
He also highlighted the agreement signed in Palau between New Zealand, the United States and Cook Islands to develop a port in Penrhyn.
“The Agreement … was a rare triple win in foreign policy terms,” Peters said.
“All partners to the agreement benefit, and it’s what we can achieve with valued partners.”
Peters welcomed renewed US engagement in the Pacific, including announcements made at the recent Pacific Islands Forum in Palau.
“The United States is a Pacific power, and we need an engaged America in the Pacific in support of regional prosperity and security,” he said.
He also said greater U.S capability in the region was needed to disrupt what he described as the “evil scourge of drugs” affecting Pacific countries.
Peters said 60 percent of New Zealand’s aid budget was directed towards the development needs of Pacific countries.
“The Pacific Reset and the diplomacy that flows from it sit at the heart of New Zealand’s foreign policy,” he said.
He said New Zealand’s foreign policy had also expanded its focus on South and Southeast Asia, arguing that developments across the Indo-Pacific were increasingly important to New Zealand’s interests.
“In some respects we are living in the Asian century,” Peters said.
“What happens across the Indo-Pacific matters hugely for the trajectory of world affairs and for New Zealand interests.”
Peters said New Zealand’s foreign policy response had also been shaped by what he described as a changing and increasingly unstable international order.
He said weaknesses in international and domestic institutions were contributing to difficulties in responding to global crises…. PACNEWS
PAC – CLIMATE CHANGE: PACNEWS/TUVALU GOVT PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Traditional knowledge is key to climate resilience: Tuvalu PM
FUNAFUTI, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS/TUVALU GOVT) —Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo says traditional knowledge passed down through generations must remain central to the country’s response to climate change.
Addressing the virtual Island Summit 2026 under the theme “Knowledge That Carries: Scalable Island Adaptation Across Generations,” Teo said Tuvaluans had been adapting to their environment long before modern climate science and coastal engineering.
“Our ancestors did not call it climate adaptation. They simply called it survival,” Teo said.
He said traditional knowledge continued to guide Tuvalu’s efforts to respond to rising climate risks and strengthen the resilience of its communities.
Teo highlighted the *Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project (TCAP) as an example of how traditional knowledge and community experience can be combined with science, technology and innovation to strengthen coastal resilience.
“TCAP is Tuvalu’s message to the world: when knowledge is carried forward, it becomes resilience and when resilience is shared, it becomes a global resource,” he said.
Teo said traditional and Indigenous knowledge should not simply be recorded in reports or stored as historical information.
He said it must remain active by being passed from one generation to the next and integrated into modern climate adaptation efforts.
“Knowledge” that is carried across generations, he said, provides communities with practical experience that can complement scientific and technological approaches to climate resilience.
Teo was invited by Island Innovation to deliver a pre-recorded address for the official opening of the Virtual Island Summit 2026, held from 15 to 17 September.
The opening session brought together island leaders and communities to discuss how traditional and local knowledge can be preserved, strengthened and applied to challenges facing island communities.
Island Innovation thanked Teo for sharing Tuvalu’s experience with the global island community, describing his contribution as an important perspective on the role of traditional knowledge in building resilience.
The summit focused on how island communities can carry forward knowledge between generations while developing practical adaptation solutions for current and future climate challenges….PACNEWS
AUST – CLIMATE CHANGE: THE GUARDIAN PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
No avoiding the cost of inaction on climate, Anthony Albanese says in New York
NEW YORK, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (THE GUARDIAN)—Australia understands the dangers of global warming and the urgency of climate action as much as any other country, Anthony Albanese has said in a keynote speech shortly before the United Nations general assembly.
Speaking at the opening of the Climate Week event at the UN in New York on Monday, the prime minister said Australians had experienced the impact of climate breakdown up close with a series of disastrous bushfires and floods in the past decades.
People had faced up to the adversity, he said, but now it was the turn of politicians to match their “bravery” and take the strong action needed to try to tackle the problem.
“We need to come together, to meet the problem head on,” he told the assembly.
“There’s no avoiding the scale of our responsibility – or the cost of inaction.”
Australia understood the important role it must play and the need to back “something positive” and to move forward and “build a better future for the next generation”.
His government had set an “ambitious but achievable” target to reduce emissions by 62-70 percent on 2005 levels by 2035 and, with a mixture of renewable power backed by gas, Australia “will get there” he said.
“We are now a leader in home battery installation, with Australians installing 10,000 batteries each week – more than half a million in the past year.”
“In Australia, spring has arrived,” Albanese said. “With a record-breaking El Niño forecast, Australia and the Pacific nations are preparing for a potential summer of extreme heat, bushfires and floods.”
Last year, a collection of Pacific nations came together to create the Pacific Resilience Facility, a regional climate-financing mechanism. Australia has contributed AUD$100m (US$71 million) towards the fund and another AUD$350m (US$249 million) to further support climate resilient infrastructure in the Pacific.
“It is also a promise to our Pacific family that they will not face the climate crisis alone,” Albanese said.
“With Australia’s backing, Palau’s first large-scale solar and battery project is on track to supply more than 20 percent of its energy needs.”
Australia’s firefighters have stepped up to respond to fires and floods in countries much further away, such as the U.S, Canada and France. Albanese called these firefighters “an international fraternity of bravery”.
While Australia is exporting knowledge and finance to support other parts of the world dealing with the climate emergency, the country also continues to fuel the crisis with its continued reliance on natural gas.
“Our 2035 target is to reduce emissions by 62-70 percent on 2005 levels. It is ambitious. But achievable. Australia’s abundant renewable potential firmed by gas will get us there,” Albanese said.
While Australia’s domestic demand for natural gas has decreased, the country is one of the largest exporters of liquefied natural gas, exports continuing to increase over the past year….PACNEWS
PAC – PACIFIC MEDIA SUMMIT: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Tell the stories behind the data, journalists urged
SAVUSAVU, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN) —Journalists have been urged to look beyond statistics and tell the human stories behind data collected from communities.
At the Women Auditors training on the Kacivaka Tool in Savusavu, Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) executive director Vani Catanasiga said evidence could help strengthen reporting and ensure community concerns were clearly presented.
“Tell the stories behind the data,” Catanasiga said.
“The data should help journalists understand the experiences of people and communities, particularly where access to services remains a concern.”
Catanasiga said evidence-based storytelling could also help bring community issues to the attention of government agencies and decision-makers.
Journalist Viliame Tawanakoro said data was important in helping journalists understand what communities were experiencing at the grassroots level.
“As a journalist working with community workers and those who collect the data, it enables us to understand the person behind the data,” he said.
He said journalists played an important role in translating data into language that communities could understand.
“Every data represents something. It is more than just a percentage. Every data represents either a person or something that actually occurs in the community,” he said.
He said that understanding the data also gave stories greater weight by showing the scale and severity of issues affecting communities.
“It allows me to write a story to bridge that gap between the people who have collected the data and the community as well,” he said.
The Kacivaka Tool is being used to support community-level data collection and assessments of public services.
The training aims to equip women journalists and community leaders with skills to gather evidence that can contribute to stronger accountability and informed decision-making.
The programme is co-facilitated by FCOSS and Women in Media (WiM), with financial support from the Australia-Fijian Governance Partnership (AFGP) community engagement fund.
The WiM event is one of six pre-summit sessions being held ahead of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Summit, which officially gets underway on Wednesday.
PAC – PACIFIC MEDIA SUMMIT: FCOSS PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Community & Media Women Auditors Training focus on male allyship pilot
SAVUSAVU, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FCOSS)—Women in Media Fiji (WiM Fiji) and the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) will today pilot a groundbreaking Male Allyship Participation Protocol with select male allies from their respective sectors during Day 2 of the National Training of Women Auditors on the Kacivaka Tool.
Organised as an official side event to the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Summit, the two-day national workshop is funded through the Australia–Fiji Governance Partnership (AFGP) Community Engagement Fund. The session equips male allies alongside women community leaders and journalists with practical frameworks to advance transparent, gender-inclusive governance.
Day two focuses on inducting male media professionals and community leaders into a structured curriculum that translates male allyship from an abstract concept into measurable, daily action. The protocol draws directly from foundational research and consensus built earlier this year.
In June 2026, FCOSS, in collaboration with Balance of Power, convened a three-day workshop in Nausori Village to examine, frame, and clearly define how male allyship operates within its membership at both national and district levels. Through that process, FCOSS articulated how male allyship is applied and observed across its diverse network.
“Across the four divisions, male allyship in practice operates across four interconnected dimensions,” said Vani Catanasiga, Executive Director of FCOSS.
“These dimensions have been structured into a curriculum that workshop participants will be inducted into, alongside an action-commitment framework that male allies will sign and put into practice over the next 90 days,” he said…. PACNEWS
FIJI – CONSTITUTION: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Students draft blueprint for proposed Fiji Constitution
SUVA, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—-Students at the University of Fiji’s Justice Devendra Pathik School of Law have put forward a proposed Constitution that reimagines how Fiji’s Parliament, elections and public institutions could operate.
The document was prepared by the Law 205 Class of 2026 and sets out a broad constitutional framework covering Parliament, representation, public participation, rights and Government accountability.
At the centre of the students’ proposal is a two-chamber Parliament, with an elected 71-member House of Representatives and an appointed Senate.
The proposed House would have 35 members elected from geographical constituencies and 36 through proportional representation.
The students envisage the Senate as a body that would provide additional scrutiny of legislation and give representation to communities that could otherwise be under-represented in the elected chamber.
The draft specifically identifies Rotumans, Banabans and other minority communities, women, youth, persons with disabilities, landowning communities, smaller and remote communities, and island communities.
The Senate could scrutinise Bills and recommend amendments but would not be used to frustrate the democratic mandate expressed through the House.
The students also propose an Independent Boundaries Commission to determine and periodically review constituency boundaries independently of political parties and Government.
Their proposed system would require public consultation on major Bills, including hearings, written submissions and community consultations, with Parliament required to consider submissions before final consideration.
The draft also tackles emerging issues, proposing constitutional rights relating to internet access, personal data, digital identity and the use of artificial intelligence in Government decision-making.
It proposes that people affected by significant automated decisions should be told when artificial intelligence is materially used, receive an understandable explanation, request human review and challenge unlawful or discriminatory decisions.
The students’ proposed rights framework also includes the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, as well as reasonable access to food, clean water, housing, healthcare, social security, education and essential public services, subject to available resources and progressive realisation.
The proposed Constitution would further strengthen parliamentary committees, giving them powers to summon witnesses, request documents, investigate Government programmes and examine public expenditure.
The proposed Constitution was also sent to Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka for his consideration…..PACNEWS
FIJI – CLIMATE FINANCE: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Climate finance must reach villages, farmers and fishers
NEW YORK, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Global climate commitments must translate into tangible projects that protect Fijian communities, livelihoods and the ocean, Minister for Information, Environment and Climate Change Lynda Tabuya says.
Speaking at UNGA81 in New York ahead of Fiji hosting the Pacific Pre-COP31, Ms Tabuya said climate finance needed to reach people on the ground.
She said Fiji’s message was simple: global climate promises must become real investment in communities.
“For the average Fijian, climate finance must mean something you can see and feel- stronger seawalls, safer homes and schools, clean water, protected fishing grounds, healthier reefs and communities better prepared for floods and cyclones.”
Tabuya said the Fiji-hosted Pre-COP31 must help turn international commitments into projects that protect people, livelihoods and the ocean.
COP30 called for efforts to at least triple adaptation finance by 2035, while the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap seeks to scale climate finance for developing countries to at least US$1.3 trillion annually by 2035.
“Our job now is to turn those billions discussed internationally into projects on the ground. Climate finance means little to our people if it cannot reach the village, the settlement, the farmer and the fisher.”
Tabuya also reinforced the Pacific’s position that maritime zones and the rights flowing from them must not be reduced because rising seas physically change coastlines.
“Our ocean is our food, our income and our inheritance. Protecting our ocean means protecting the livelihoods of ordinary Fijians.”
Fiji will host the Pacific Pre-COP31 in Nadi from October 5 to 8, providing a platform to advance Pacific climate priorities ahead of COP31.
“The message from Fiji is clear: less talk, faster access to finance, and more action where our people live,” she said….PACNEWS
COOKS – POLITICS: COOK ISLANDS NEWS PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
PM Brown sacks Angene despite Manihiki petition
RAROTONGA, 22 SEPTEMBER 2206 (COOK ISLADNS NEWS)—Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has sacked George “Maggie” Angene from Cabinet following a unanimous vote by the Cook Islands Party (CIP) central committee to expel him from the party for running as an independent candidate in Manihiki.
Brown sacked George “Maggie” Angene from Cabinet following a unanimous vote by the Cook Islands Party (CIP) central committee to expel him from the party for running as an independent candidate in Manihiki.
The former Tupapa Maraerenga MP from the governing Cook Islands Party (CIP), contested and won the Manihiki seat as an independent in the 2026 general election.
Angene defeated incumbent CIP MP Akaiti Puna, wife of CIP president and former PM Henry Puna, 56–51 in the August 12 election….PACNEWS
TONGA – HEALTH: KANIVA TONGA NEWS PACNEWS 2: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Tonga dialysis centre project collapses as U.S sponsor unable to fund promised facility, Health Minister says
NUKU’ALOFA, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (KANIVA TONGA NEWS)—Tonga’s long-awaited dialysis centre project, which the nation was told would be launched last year, has effectively collapsed after the United States-based organisation behind it failed to secure the funding needed to deliver the promised service, Health Minister Dr Siale ʻAkauʻola has revealed.
The disclosure marks a dramatic setback for a project that was initially presented as a major philanthropic initiative backed by a Utah-based family with medical and business connections and an interest in addressing Tonga’s growing burden of diabetes and kidney disease.
In 2019, Utah news outlet KSL reported that Dr Mansoor Emam, a U.S-based doctor who had visited Tonga and treated patients suffering from diabetes and related illnesses, and his brother-in-law Khosrow B. Semnani, a prominent Salt Lake City industrialist and philanthropist, were behind plans to build the dialysis facility in Tonga.
The 2019 report did not indicate that the project was dependent on raising funds from donors or other outside sources. By 2024, however, fundraising and donor support had become an explicit part of efforts to establish the dialysis service, indicating that securing sufficient funding had become a significant issue for the project.
Dr Emam’s son, Rod Emam, had close ties to Tonga through his friendship with the late Tongan-American Siaosi Brown.
Following Brown’s death while attempting to rescue a woman and child from dangerous waters in Utah, Emam proposed naming the dialysis facility the Siaosi Brown Dialysis Centre in his friend’s memory. KSL reported that Dr Emam and Semnani agreed to the proposal.
The dialysis centre was to form part of a larger facility known as the Semnani Health Centre and was promoted as bringing desperately needed dialysis treatment to Tonga, where no such service is currently available.
Tonga has a high burden of non-communicable diseases, particularly diabetes and hypertension, which can lead to chronic kidney disease and kidney failure. With no established dialysis service in Tonga, patients requiring dialysis have had to seek treatment overseas, including in Fiji, New Zealand and the United States, often at considerable financial and personal cost.
The project was linked from its early stages to prominent Utah philanthropist and businessman Khosrow B. Semnani, founder of the Semnani Family Foundation, which lists Tonga among the countries where it has undertaken humanitarian work.
The foundation focuses on health, education and other charitable causes and reported net assets of about US$92.5 million in 2019, the year the Tonga dialysis project was publicly reported. By 2024, its net assets had grown to about US$132.1 million, according to publicly available U.S tax records.
Over the following years, the initiative developed into a broader network of charitable partnerships and fundraising efforts, with signs that the project was moving forward. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Tonga in 2023, construction began, and international organisations became involved in efforts to establish the service.
The project moved even closer to becoming operational when 10 dialysis machines arrived in Tonga around April last year. This was followed by an announcement from then-Health Minister Dr ʻAna ʻAkauʻola at a press conference that the centre was expected to open in November, prompting widespread celebration on social media as Tonga appeared finally set to have its own dialysis service.
Dr Siale, the newly appointed Minister of Health, has now said that after reviewing the communications surrounding the project, it became clear that the sponsor had struggled to raise the necessary funds and lacked the financial capacity to deliver the service it had promised.
The sponsor has indicated that it needs more time to consider the project, but the Minister’s comments have raised serious doubts over whether the original arrangement can still proceed.
The failure of the original funding arrangement now leaves the Government facing a more fundamental question: how Tonga can establish and sustain its own dialysis service, and whether another funding arrangement or international partner will be required.
Dr Siale said the problem now was that the Ministry was not prepared to operate such an expensive and sophisticated service. While obtaining some of the necessary equipment was relatively straightforward, he said the greater challenge was the high cost of securing the specialised medical professionals required to provide dialysis treatment safely and sustainably.
He said there was a signed agreement between the Government and the US sponsors, under which the sponsors were responsible for providing the dialysis equipment and the specialist medical personnel required to operate the service for up to 10 yeas, while Tonga’s contribution was limited to providing the land, buildings and staffing.
A website dedicated to the project, still states that Tonga’s first dialysis clinic will begin providing services in 2026. It says five dialysis machines will be available at a site in Veitongo, near Vaiola Hospital, with treatment provided free of charge.
The website also outlines plans for a larger Health Education Centre intended to serve hundreds of Tongans with chronic kidney disease, regardless of their ability to pay……PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
FIJI – AIRLINE: FIJI SUN PACNEWS BIZ: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Fiji Airways reconnects Fiji, New Caledonia with direct flights
NADI, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Travellers looking for a new Pacific escape now have a direct route to one of the region’s most unique destinations, with Fiji Airways officially reinstating flights between Nadi and Nouméa, New Caledonia.
The return of the direct service reconnects Fiji and New Caledonia for the first time in years, making it easier for holidaymakers, business travellers and families to move between the two Pacific neighbours.
From 22 September Fiji Airways will operate two direct flights each week, every Tuesday and Friday, offering more than 10,000 seats annually between Nadi and Nouméa.
For travellers, the restored service opens the door to exploring New Caledonia’s blend of French culture and Pacific island charm, from its white-sand beaches and turquoise lagoons to its vibrant cafés, markets and outdoor adventures.
Fiji Airways managing director and chief executive officer Paul Scurrah described the route’s return as an important milestone for both Fiji Airways and the wider Pacific region.
“Nadi to Nouméa opens up an exciting new way for our two countries to connect, reinforcing Fiji’s place as the Pacific’s connecting hub. For travellers in New Caledonia, this route means more than a link to Fiji – it’s convenient access to our wider network, with onward connections through Nadi across the Pacific, New Zealand, Asia, Australia and North America.
“This new service makes it easier for people to travel between Fiji and New Caledonia for holidays, business and to visit family, while giving New Caledonians seamless access well beyond our two countries. We’re proud to welcome New Caledonia onto our network and to strengthen Fiji’s role as the region’s gateway.”
The route also creates new opportunities for Fijians seeking a short-haul international getaway. Nouméa, often described as the “Paris of the Pacific”, offers visitors a mix of French cuisine, island culture and scenic coastal attractions.
At the same time, New Caledonian travellers will gain easier access to Fiji’s tourism offerings and the airline’s growing international network.
Beyond tourism, the service is expected to strengthen regional links, particularly between Nouméa and Suva, which host several key Pacific intergovernmental and development organisations. The direct connection will provide greater convenience for delegates, consultants and development partners travelling across the region.
Passengers travelling through Nadi can also connect to major destinations across the Fiji Airways network, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Honolulu, Sydney, Auckland, Singapore and Hong Kong.
The twice-weekly service will be operated by Fiji Link’s ATR 72-600 aircraft, further expanding connectivity within the Pacific and reinforcing Fiji’s role as the region’s aviation hub….PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
UN panel calls for stronger safeguards as AI agents advance
NEW YORK, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (UN NEWS CENTRE) —The UN-backed Independent International Scientific Panel on AI’s warning followed the hack of the online platform HuggingFace between May and July by “AI agents” during a test initiated by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
AI agents are software that can perform tasks independently and on behalf of a user, compared to chatbots, which are prompted by questions or instructions.
The panel issued its first thematic brief which found that the security breach was the result of a culmination of key risk factors, raising fears that humans will one day no longer be able to steer, constrain or stop AI.
AI training advancing
“Researchers have long warned that three conditions could lead to loss of control: a misaligned goal, the capability to pursue it and an environment that allows it. This summer, all three came together in a real system, not a laboratory,” said scientific panel co-chair Yoshua Bengio.
“Since this is not an isolated observation of misaligned goals, this raises serious questions about the way AI agents are currently trained.”
The panel’s independent experts stress that the incident provides no assurance that humans can reliably keep AI agents under control, particularly as they become more capable, harder to monitor and better at finding loopholes or hiding their activity.
Going rogue
The brief said AI agents bypassed testing safeguards, coordinated across separate runs through an internal software tool not designed to enable communication between agents, and gained unauthorized internet and administrator access.
Agents concealed attempts to cheat cybersecurity evaluations, with some opting to “sacrifice” themselves for the benefit of the group.
Around 1,200 agents exchanged more than 70,000 messages and files during the period examined, and activity extending beyond HuggingFace to an OpenAI research cluster.
Current safeguards ‘unravelling’
For the panel, the immediate lesson from the incident is that basic cybersecurity practices were overlooked, while safeguards are not keeping pace.
However, they pointed to a more insidious concern: that current training methods can lead AI agents to adopt their own goals, knowingly violate safety instructions and conceal their actions.
“This is not only a question of speed,” the panel’s experts said. “It leaves open whether safeguards designed today will work once agents can understand them and plan around them. In simple terms, the traditional model of safeguarding is unravelling.”
Wider context, future risks and governance
The AI panel’s brief sets the HuggingFace incident against wider research on two issues: agentic misalignment – that is, when AI agents act in a similar way to a threat – and AI control.
Another issue examined is how governance is moving from AI models, which use algorithms to recognise patterns, to AI agents.
Learn and adapt
The brief also reviews practical approaches already in use in other high-risk sectors such as aviation, medicine and cybersecurity where incident reporting, independent scrutiny and layered safeguards are in place.
“But those practices may not be enough as AI agents become more capable, autonomous and difficult to monitor,” said panel member Qinghua Lu.
About the panel
The Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence was established by the UN General Assembly in August 2025.
It produces annual reports on the opportunities, risks and impacts of AI in the non-military domain, alongside thematic briefs on emerging issues, that will inform the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance to be held at UN Headquarters in New York in May 2027….PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Pacific Meteorological technicians workshop 2026 gets underway in Nadi
NADI, 22 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI MET) —Meteorological technicians from across the Pacific have gathered in Nadi for the Pacific Meteorological Technicians Workshop 2026 (PMT-TEWO 2026), a five-day regional training focused on strengthening the technical skills needed to maintain and troubleshoot the observation systems that underpin weather, climate and early warning services.
The workshop, supported under the Weather Ready Pacific Program with technical support from Earth Sciences New Zealand (ESNZ), brings together technicians to strengthen their understanding of Automatic Weather Station (AWS) systems and develop practical, transferable troubleshooting skills.
Opening the workshop, Andrew Harper, Principal Technician – Climate, Earth Sciences New Zealand, highlighted the importance of reliable hydrometeorological observations, which underpin weather forecasting, climate monitoring, early warning services, water resource management, disaster risk reduction, and national and international reporting.
“Observation systems only deliver value when they are properly sited, correctly configured, well maintained, effectively monitored and competently diagnosed when faults occur,” Harper said.
He said the workshop is designed to strengthen technician capability through a deeper understanding of AWS system architecture, improved diagnostic reasoning, knowledge that can be transferred across different AWS platforms, and stronger maintenance and operational practices.
A key focus is helping technicians move from reactive troubleshooting towards structured system understanding, independent diagnosis and management.
For the technicians working behind the scenes, this knowledge is critical. Weather stations and observation systems may differ across countries and manufacturers, but the principles behind how they operate remain connected.
Through practical exercises, technical discussions, troubleshooting scenarios and regional knowledge sharing, participants will explore how sensors, dataloggers, power systems, communications equipment and data management systems work together to produce reliable observations.
Ultimately, the equipment in the field is only one part of the picture. The people who maintain, monitor and understand these systems play a vital role in ensuring that reliable information reaches forecasters and decision-makers — supporting stronger weather services and safer, more resilient Pacific communities…..PACNEWS
