Movers and Shakers

Pacific health expert and Niue national Dr Collin Tukuitonga has been recognised with the Knight Companion of the New Zealand order of Merit in this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours. Dr Tukuitonga said: “It’s

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Cook Islands: “Uphold the decision making process of our Forum leaders”

The Cook Islands representative to the Pacific Islands Forum, Tepaeru Herrmann says they respect Kiribati’s decision to withdraw from the Forum, but that upholding the decision to appoint former Henry Puna to the

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Historic deals on maritime boundaries at the Forum

Many Pacific island states are really large ocean states, with vast Exclusive Economic Zones. As local enterprises and overseas corporations seek to exploit the region’s vast ocean resources – from fisheries to deep

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Pacific Sustainable Tourism Criteria in the works: SPTO

The Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) will be working with TRC Tourism to develop the PacificSustainable Tourism Criteria. “Sustainable tourism development is now more important than ever as we begin to plan tourism

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Pacific states push for TPNW assistance to nuclear survivors

Pacific delegates will play a key role at a major nuclear disarmament conference this week in Austria, as governments discuss the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons and implementation of the new Treaty on the

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We have no choice but to fight for our future

“The threat of nuclear weapons is an existential crisis and we feel the weight that this places on us for our future,” says Bedi Racule. “It can be really hard to face these things, but we have no choice but to

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An Umbilical Cord Between New Caledonia and Fiji

When the Gondwana 2 submarine cable linking New Caledonia and Fiji was landed in Suva last month, FINTEL CEO George Samisoni described it as an “umbilical cord” linking the Pacific. Samisoni said it took seven years

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Briefs

American Samoa Local inflation reached double digits in the first quarter of 2022. The rate was 11.6%, an increase from 9.7% at the end of 2021, says American Samoa’s Statistics and Analysis Division. Price rises were

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Movers and Shakers

Jane Waetara is Solomon Islands’ new Permanent Representative to the United Nations and High Commissioner to Canada after officially tendering an early resignation as the nation’s first female Chief Electoral

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COVID-free Pacific island nations to open borders

Two of the last four remaining COVID-free nations in the world are preparing to open their borders. The Federated States of Micronesia has announced its plan to open its borders without quarantine beginning August

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Safeguarding Pacific Livelihoods and the Pacific’s Vital Kava Sector

Well before Australia announced it was opening up to commercial imports of kava, cultivation of the crop in Pacific Island nations such as Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands had been

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Briefs

American Samoa Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga has signed a Bill into law which will establish a Samoan Language Commission and recognise both Samoan and English as the official languages in the Territory to “preserve our

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