Why has a Canadian company partnered with Nauru to fast-track deep sea mining?

Brown-black discharge gushed out of a pipe from a hulking ship, dispersing murky clouds of sediment into the international waters of the Pacific Ocean. The scene, captured in a video that’s garnered international

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New PNG media policy will lead to government control of media

The new media development policy being proposed by the Papua New Guinea Communications Minister, Timothy Masiu, could lead to more government control over the country’s relatively free media. The new policy

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The silent fight for equality in rugby: Sereima Leweniqila

While we hear a lot of lip service given to equality for women in sport, especially in rugby, what is it really like for women in the game? Fiji’s Sereima Leweniqila is a former Fijiana captain, Fijiana Drua captain

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Australia to build Vanuatu’s national security centre

Australia will build a new national security hub for Vanuatu and beef up its economic support for the Pacific island nation’s key sectors. In a joint statement released after a meeting in Canberra, Vanuatu Prime

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Pacific PhD candidates receive Norway scholarships

Ten PhD candidates from the Pacific have been named as recipients of the Norway Pacific Ocean Scholarship Programme (N-POC). This first cohort of the N-POC scholarship includes Peter Emberson (Fiji), Laura Williams

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NZ intercepts US$315m worth of cocaine floating in Pacific Ocean

New Zealand authorities have found a record-breaking amount of cocaine floating in Pacific waters, which they say was bound for Australia and would have been enough to supply the country for a year. The 3.2-tonne haul

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Vanuatu hopes to rebuild parliament of chiefs

Vanuatu’s government has vowed to rebuild the paramount meeting place of the country’s chiefs before the Pacific island nation hosts a Melanesian arts festival in July. The structure, known as Malvatumauri Nakamal,

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Pacific Islands Economic Outlook 2023

After two long years of COVID-19 and the tourniquet it applied to the lifeblood of Pacific economies— connectivity and tourism — what can our region expect in 2023? The United Nations predicts the global economy

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Workers to head overseas after Samoa lifts labour ban

Samoa’s Cabinet is set to resume sending off workers to the Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) scheme, which was suspended for all of January. This was confirmed by Acting Prime Minister Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio,

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Whipps responds to concerns over Chinese interests

Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr has responded to an investigative report that has revealed activity in Palau by “organised criminals with links to the Chinese Communist Party”, by stating that there is

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Whispers

USP boss ponders where to call home  The University of the South Pacific is preparing to welcome Vice Chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia back to its Laucala campus in Suva, after he was deported in February

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Rules-based order: Whose order?

Rules-based order and rules-based approaches are synonymous. The ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy of the US’ (IPSUS), specifically under ‘Our Indo-Pacific Strategy’, Objective No. 1: Advance a free and open Indo-Pacific,

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