Australia tallies Pacific impact of U.S foreign aid cuts
Australia is racing to identify the South Pacific’s most pressing funding needs as the United States moves to slash its foreign aid budget, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Thursday. Crucial food, climate
Sir Arnold Amet appointed new PNG Ambassador to US
Former Papua New Guinea Chief Justice and Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet has been appointed as the new PNG Ambassador to United States of America. Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko announced Sir
U.S actions have serious impact on global health, WHO chief says
The United States’ pause on foreign aid contributions is having a serious impact on global health, hitting programmes fighting polio, HIV and other threats, World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros
Vanuatu’s new PM seeks stronger ties with the US
Newly appointed Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat has expressed a desire to strengthen ties with the United States, calling for increased US presence in the Pacific region. In his first official speech this week,
Trump withdraws from Paris Agreement on day one
US President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on his first day in office on 20 January that will impact Pacific Island nations – including the planned deportation of irregular migrants from the United
We say: Faith must find voice
When Mariann Budde, Episcopalian Bishop of Washington, addressed United States President, Donald Trump, about national unity, prayer, and action, she must have expected to be belittled, criticised andattacked. In a
CNMI governor says federal memo on funding freeze a ‘wake-up call’ for states and territories
CNMI Governor Arnold Palacios said the Office of the Budget Management’s rescinded memo that called for a pause on all federal assistance programmes served as a wake-up call for all states and
Tonga unprepared for deportee crisis, lacks legislation says ministry leader
Tonga is unprepared for the increasing number of deportees arriving from the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, says Reverend Semisi Kava, Chaplain for the Tonga Prison Service, warning that the lack of
Hundreds of Fijians, Tongans among 1.4 million facing deportation from US
A total of 151 Tongans is currently among the estimated 1.4 million people in the United States who are at risk of deportation, reports said. It comes after President Donald Trump held firm to his campaign promise of
Federal judge blocks President’s freeze, depts awaits info
American Samoa Government departments and non-profit organisations receiving federal grants are scrambling to get information from their federal grantors about how the freeze ordered by President Trump will impact local
Taiwan president, in Guam, says: We won’t bow to totalitarianism
Taiwan will not bow down to totalitarianism, President Lai Ching-Te said on Thursday in the U.S territory of Guam, calling Taiwan and the United States “brothers”. Lai arrived in Guam, a major U.S military base,
Samoa’s Tulsi Gabbard heads U.S. intelligence
United States President-elect Donald Trump has appointed former congresswoman and Samoan, Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of National
Palau says China ICBM test a ‘direct threat’, seeks U.S Patriot missile system
Palau’s re-elected President Surangel Whipps said on Tuesday he may ask the United States for a Patriot missile defence system, citing a recent Chinese missile
Trump, 1.5 C breach weigh on UN COP climate finance talks
Pacific delegates fear the implications of a Trump presidency and breach of the 1.5-degree Celsius warming target will overshadow negotiations on climate
U.S fires Minuteman III missile in nuclear drills after adversaries
The United States military test-launched an unarmed, but nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missile from California over the Pacific Ocean
Opinion: Donald Trump can’t stop global climate action. If we stick together, it’s the U.S that will lose out
Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House is a major setback for climate action but ultimately, it’s the US that could end up losing out, writes Bill
My missile is bigger than your missile
For the first time in more than 40 years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has fired an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile across the Pacific, to splash down in waters near French
Guam law firm lodges human rights complaint against U.S military
A Guam-based law firm has filed charges of human rights abuse against the U.S military, alleging violations of Chamoru people's indigenous rights to
Opinion: Harris and the Pacific Islands: Delivering on a Pacific vision
In the whirlwind of speeches to cement Kamala Harris’ presidential credentials, the Pacific Islands have hardly rated a
The “Palauan Dream”
Palau’s tourism industry may be slowly recovering, but there are concerns that its young people are not participating in the
Regional law enforcement initiative launched amid rising maritime crimes in the Pacific
The United States and the Pacific island states have rolled out a regional initiative to boost maritime patrol and curb criminal activities around the region, which has gained notoriety as a “drug highway.” The
New U.S COFA agreements offer $7.1b boost to Pacific Freely Associated States, but fiscal reforms are key, ADB report
The streams of U.S dollars that the three freely associated states will receive under their renewed bilateral agreements with the United States will go a long way if they implement stringent fiscal and debt policies and
Kurt Campbell pledges support for Forum, as US mobilises across the north Pacific
“Across the board, if you look at the nature of our step up in every arena, it is unmistakable, it is fulsome, it is deliberate and it will continue.” `-Kurt Campbell As Pacific leaders gather in the Kingdom of
Arkansas lawmakers approve emergency rule to grant SNAP benefits to Marshallese migrants
A legislative subcommittee on Thursday approved an emergency rule to comply with a new U.S federal law that extends certain public assistance programme benefits to migrants from the Marshall Islands. Arkansas is home to
