‘Everyone’s business’ – Vanuatu reopens to tourists

Vanuatu reopened to tourists on July 1, but there is still some work to do to reopen properties that have been shuttered for two years and fill frontline tourism positions.  Virgin Australia says it will resume its

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Eye disease trachoma eliminated in Vanuatu, leads the way for Pacific push

The Fred Hollows Foundation has welcomed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) confirmation that Vanuatu has eliminated the eye disease trachoma as a public health problem. The Foundation, with the support of The

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After 865 days, Samoa reopens to tourists

Samoa reopens to international tourists again, 865 days after closing borders due to COVID-19.  Tuitaga Nathan Bucknall, manager of the Taumeasina Island Resort near Apia, said it’s been a long time

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Precise Digital signs big Pacific names

New Zealand based company Precise Digital - a digital and online music distribution and publishing company - is concentrating on helping Polynesian and international artists to get full value from digital distribution

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USP “students are hurting” says Pro Chancellor

As Pacific leaders meet in Suva to discuss deepening regionalism through the  2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, USP, the region’s university continues to suffer the impacts of continued funding

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Bleaching distress signal

Recently we heard that widespread coral bleaching has occurred on the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland for the fourth time in seven years. Scientists say the frequency of these bleaching events mean there’s

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Tonga Rebuilds

“We gave the world a bit of a shake on the 15th of January this year,” Moana Kioa from Tonga’s National Emergency Management Office (NEMO)  told the Global Platform for Disaster Risk resilience in Indonesia

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FSM President rejects China joint communique plan

China will seek a region-wide deal with almost a dozen Pacific islands covering policing, security and data communications cooperation when Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosts a meeting in Fiji next week, documents seen by

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‘Quad’ security group to track Indo-Pacific illegal fishing

The U.S, Japan, Australia and India will on Tuesday unveil a maritime initiative aimed at curbing illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific, a U.S official said, in the latest effort by the “Quad” to counter Chinese

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Pacific Elders Voice on Climate Security

The Pacific Elders’ Voice reiterates that the primary security threat to the Pacific is climate change. This fact is clearly articulated in the Boe Declaration on Regional Security which states: “We affirm that

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Whispers

Samoan style Samoa’s former PM, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has been found guilty of contempt of court in relation to last year’s contentious election. But in a judgement that reflects the extraordinary way Samoans

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Additional COVID funding postpones aid cuts

Faced with the prospect of another cut to aid while the COVID-19 pandemic continues – and in some ways intensifies in our region – the government has again reached for the “temporary and targeted” lever to avoid

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