Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.
Hundreds of kids to be tested for disease after childcare rape charge
FBC News
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July 1, 2025
[Source: BBC News] About 1,200 children are being urged to undergo testing for infectious diseases after a Melbourne childcare worker was charged with a string of offences including child rape. Joshua Dale Brown was arrested in May and faces 70...
Fiji eyes $386M ADB deal for oceans and water projects
The Fiji Times
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June 30, 2025
Fiji Government is in discussion with the Asian Development Bank to secure a $386.3 million finance package to facilitate the Fiji – Healthy Oceans and Water Supply Improvement Project (HOWSIP). This is stated in the Economic and Fiscal Update...
PSH launches first-ever local pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Nadi
Fijivillage
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Great news for the people as Fiji’s first local pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, Pratima Pharmaceutical Industries, named in honour of the mother of Pacific Specialist Healthcare Hospitals Founder and CEO Parvish Kumar marks a groundbreaking...
80-acre farm – Fiji Water parent company to set up commercial farm
The Fiji Times
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July 1, 2025
FIJI Water’s parent company, The Wonderful Company is set to transform Fiji’s agricultural landscape with a 80-acre commercial farming pilot project in Vanua Levu. “We brought our agronomists here on at least three different trips, we’ve looked at...
Pratima Pharmaceutical Industries: Strengthening Sovereign Supply Chain Resilience
Fijivillage
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Pratima Pharmaceutical Industries: Strengthening Sovereign Supply Chain Resilience Named in honour of the mother of PSH Hospitals Founder and chief executive officer, Parvish Kumar, Pratima Pharmaceutical Industries marks a groundbreaking...
Former Miss Samoa heads NUS medical school
Samoa Observer
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Former Miss Samoa 1999-2000, Siiliili Dr Taralina Gae’e-Atefi, is the newly appointed Head of School of the School of Medicine at our National University of Samoa. She is a medical graduate from the Pacific’s longest-serving Institution in medical...
ACT Chief Minister to visit Fiji
The Fiji Times
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June 30, 2025
CHIEF Minister of the Australian Capital Territory Andrew Barr will lead an ACT government and Canberra Business Chamber trade mission to the Pacific this week. The trade mission will focus on the capital cities of Wellington in New Zealand and...
Fiji’s Dr Prasad unveils $4.8b budget as deficit widens
Asia Pacific Report
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June 30, 2025
By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist The Fiji government is spending big on this year’s budget. The country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, unveiled a FJ$4.8 billion (about NZ$3.5 billion) spending package,...
Fiji records 2,446 drug cases from May 2024 to 2025, majority involve marijuana
Fijivillage
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A total of 2,446 illicit drug cases were recorded from May 2024 to May 2025. Commissioner of Police, Rusiate Tudravu highlighted this during the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking event, where he stated that 2,098 cases...
Fiji Budget 25/26: Government delivers deficit budget
Islands Business
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June 29, 2025
The government has announced a drop in the VAT rate from 15% to 12.5% for the new financial year, effective from 1 August 2025. This reduction in VAT is expected to deliver estimated savings of around $250 million for all Fijians. In addition, the...
Fijian government unveils US$2b budget as deficit widens
RNZ
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June 29, 2025
Biman Prasad says that his government has guided the country to a better economic position than where he found it. Photo: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony The Fijian government is spending big on this year's budget. The country's Deputy Prime Minister...
Youths urged to reject drugs and protect Fiji’s future
FBC News
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June 30, 2025
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad has delivered a powerful message to the nation’s youth, urging them to say no to drugs and take control of their futures. Speaking amid growing concerns over drug abuse among...
$2b fix plan | $2b plan unveiled for health infrastructure
The Fiji Times
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June 30, 2025
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad has announced a $2billion prescription for Fiji’s health future. Prof Prasad unveiled ambitious plans to overhaul the nation’s health infrastructure over the next five to seven...
HIV crisis deepens in Fiji with alarming rise in child infections, deaths
Xinhua News Agency
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SUVA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Serious concerns continue to mount over the impact of HIV in Fiji, as eight children were among the 126 people who died from HIV-related illnesses last year. The grim figures were shared by UNAIDS Pacific Adviser Renata...
Government to build new Mortuary Units across Fiji
FBC News
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June 30, 2025
[File Photo] The government has allocated $1.2 million in the new fiscal year to construct new mortuary units in various locations across the country. As part of the initiative, new units will be built at the Rakiraki and Tavua Sub-Divisional...
Call for better rural health services as about 4 Moala women travel to Suva for maternal care each month
Fijivillage
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Call for better rural health services as about 4 Moala women travel to Suva for maternal care each month A heartfelt plea for better resourcing of rural health services has been made by Moala District Council of Social Services as calls are being...
Fijians welcome 2025-26 budget with hope
FBC News
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June 28, 2025
[file photo] As families across Fiji begin to unpack the details of the 2025-26 National Budget, a collective sigh of relief and a sense of hope are emerging. From increased social welfare to cheaper bus fares and a significant drop in VAT, many...
Fiji: 2025/2026 National Budget—A Socially Responsive Budget
Scoop
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27 June The Consumer Council of Fiji welcomes the 2025/2026 National Budget as a timely and decisive response to the financial strain felt by thousands of consumers across the country. This morning’s Budget announcement can be seen delivering a...
Fiji Celebrates Clean Water And Safe Sanitation In Healthcare Facilities
Scoop
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Nayavuira, Fiji, 25 June 2025 – More than 30,000 people in the Ra Province, Western Division, including around 9,100 children, will now be able to access nine healthcare facilities with cleaner, safer and climate resilient water, sanitation, and...
INC Ransom group claims responsibility for health system cyberattack
Talanoa 'O Tonga
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June 29, 2025
A notorious ransomware group has claimed responsibility for crippling Tonga’s Health Ministry IT systems and leaking sample data. Two weeks after the National Health Information System outage, the INC Ransom gang published four sample documents on...