Nauru, Cook Islands elect women MPs

The Pacific Islands region has often figured at the bottom of global gender parity statistics. The region has the fewest women parliamentarians, at no time in their histories since independence more than a handful

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Opinion: Samoa rolls out red carpet for post-colonial family function

When Commonwealth heads of government gather in Samoa next week it will be their first in the Pacific islands region and the first time with a British

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Australia’s coalmine decision ‘a direct threat to our collective future’: Tuvalu MP

Tuvalu’s climate minister says Australia’s decision to approve three coalmine expansions calls into question its claim to be a "member of the Pacific

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Opinion: It’s not just police who police

Captured on camera chatting with American diplomat Kurt Campbell in Tonga last month, Anthony Albanese described Pacific leaders’ support for a new Australian-led policing initiative as a big win.   “We had a

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Samoa abstains on UN vote to end Israel’s ‘unlawful presence’ in Palestine

Samoa abstained from voting at the United Nations General Assembly earlier today on a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demanded “Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied

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The power of a ‘toothless tiger’

Pacific Island experts have welcomed a new international treaty that aims to prevent biopiracy as a major step forward in global efforts to protect indigenous intellectual property, genetic resources and traditional

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Movers and Shakers

New Zealand’s first female Professor of Law of Pacific origin, and a former Supreme Court Justice from Samoa, Professor Tafaoimalo Tologata Leilani Tuala-Warren, has been appointed to lead the Te Piringa Faculty of

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The future of deep sea mining hinges on a contentious election

The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is playing an outsize role in an election that will determine whether companies can begin strip-mining the world’s oceans for critical metals.  Bloomberg reports that Leticia

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Briefs

American Samoa Three doctors and one dentist have reportedly left American Samoa’s Department of Health and more may be leaving soon, as benefits under their contracts have not been honoured due to lack of funding.

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Movers and Shakers

Former Nauru President, Baron Waqa has begun his term as the new Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). He succeeds Henry Puna. Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN) has appointed Rufino Varea as

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Guam eyed as Micronesian hub for Nauru Airlines

Guam leaders have begun a dialogue with Nauru Airlines to explore air service expansion and consider a proposal to create a regional hub on island. The meeting between Guam officials and Nauru Airlines executives

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‘Very early stages’ of talks on viability of Nauru Airlines’ direct Australia-Guam route

Visiting Nauru Airline officials on Tuesday met with Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and other local officials on the possibility of adding Guam to Nauru Airlines’ route, as it once did in the 1990s and early 2000s.

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