Vanua Levu is being overrun by invasive vines – and the increasing number of natural disasters, brought on by climate change, is only making things worseIn Vanua Levu, the second largest island of Fiji, every contour drips with green. The landscape is …
China holds talks on policing with Pacific island officials
Two countries said their police chiefs were unable to attend video meeting chaired by Chinese and Solomon Islands ministersChina said it held a video meeting to discuss police cooperation with a group of Pacific island nations on Tuesday, however at le…
7.0 magnitude earthquake in Solomon Islands briefly triggers tsunami warning
Power reported to be out in some areas and radio services off air after earthquakeAuthorities in Solomon Islands said no tsunami warning would be issued after two earthquakes his just off the south-west coast.A tsunami warning was issued by the United …
Pacific leaders celebrate Cop27 victory on loss and damage fund after decades of advocacy
Pacific countries have fought for fund to provide assistance to poor nations hit by climate disasters for three decadesPacific leaders and climate activists are celebrating the establishment of a loss and damage financing mechanism in the Cop27 agreeme…
Fiji dogged by strays after Covid breeding boom – in pictures
After neutering services were shut down during the pandemic, the population of stray dogs roaming the Pacific country has soaredAmid the iconic sounds of Fiji – the rolling of the ocean, a church choir – is an unexpected and unwelcome noise: the insist…
China and Australia must not turn Solomon Islands into a gun state again
There are many things we need more than high-powered weapons – and we remember what happened last time police lost control of their gunsMy country once lived in fear of the gun. Thousands of weapons, many stolen from police armouries, fuelled the years…
How do we mourn an islet? Where do we mark its grave? | Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner
Ellekan, an islet in Marshall Islands, has been reduced to a pile of sand in the middle of the reef. Those who loved it have already held its funeralBefore it is lost is series of essays from the Pacific islandsOn a trip to the islet of Kalalen, eight …
In my house is a Tuvaluan basket, a tiny piece of an island the world cannot fail | Kate Lyons
Each day this week, essay series Before it is lost will feature Pacific writers detailing the climate fight that threatens the survival of their islandsI own a basket I can never throw away.It is deeply impractical, with a wide base that means it takes…
Record support during Covid and declining funding from China: what new data on Pacific aid reveals
Lowy Institute’s Pacific Aid Map charts thousands of projects and activities from 67 donor entities, including Australia and the USChina is funnelling aid to Kiribati and Solomon Islands, while its overall spending in the Pacific region is in decline, …
More than 30 dead in tribal fighting on Papua New Guinea’s ‘island of love’
Another 15 people are missing after tensions between two groups boiled over into violenceTribal warfare on Kiriwina Island in Papua New Guinea’s east has left 32 people dead and 15 others missing, with fighting continuing.The fighting erupted on Monday…
Vanuatu to welcome first female MP since 2008 after snap election
Vanuatu Election Commission yet to declare official results but Julia King likely to be lone female voice in 52-member parliamentVotes are still being counted in Vanuatu’s snap election, but with the preliminary votes tallied, one change seems certain:…
Vanuatu goes to polls by air, sea and road in snap election after lightning campaign
First-time candidates vie with incumbents for 52 seats after government dissolved ‘Red Roof’ parliament to ward off no-confidence vote After a short and sharp 10-day campaign, voters in Vanuatu will on Thursday cast their ballots in a snap election to …
First Solomon Islands police head to China for training amid deepening security ties
Thirty-four officers travel to China as part of effort to improve cooperation between the two forcesA delegation of more than 30 Solomon Islands police officers has travelled to China to undergo training for the first time, in a sign of deepening ties …
Fighting off the bulldozers in the sacred kwila forests of Papua New Guinea
Villagers are pushing back against logging operations they say are encroaching on designated conservation areasIn mid-May, a bulldozer began clearing a logging road into an area of largely untouched rainforest near the village of Suburam, on Papua New …
Could a digital twin of Tuvalu preserve the island nation before it’s lost to the collapsing climate?
With rising seas expected to submerge the nation by 2100, official says ‘we should always be able to remember Tuvalu as it is, before it disappears’Get our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcastWhen Tuvalu vanishes beneath rising s…