Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.

Health, education, social welfare and government salaries receive boost in budget
In the government’s new $12.5 million deficit budget, health and education will receive the highest boost for the new financial year as well as boost to the social welfare budget. As announced by the Minister of Finance, last week the largest...

From tuna to treaty: Pacific powers push ocean agenda
Pacific leaders continue to push for more investment, stronger political will, and recognition of traditional knowledge to protect the region’s ocean future. The United Nations’ Ocean Conference (UNOC), held every three years, reviews...

Pacific Islands focus: health sovereignty, polio outbreak and regional relationships
Introduction by Croakey: As we wait to hear whether Australia will co-host COP31 climate negotiations next year with Pacific Islands nations, Vanuatu’s climate minister Ralph Regenvanu has expressed disappointment about the Federal Government’s...

Honouring Tukuitonga: New era of leadership in Pacific health at the Auckland University
Health leader and Pacific advocate, Sir Collin Tukuitonga, says Aotearoa New Zealand is facing a “terrible” political environment that “clearly attacks equity and fairness”. He urges academics, researchers, and the Pasifika community to continue...
Pacific news in brief for 1 July
Niue government buildings Photo: RNZ/ Sally Round Niue - budget Health, education, social welfare and government salaries have receives a boost in the Niue government's new NZ$12.5 million (US$7.6m) deficit budget. Last week, the island's finance...

Cook Islands Cabinet approves significant increase in tobacco tax
Cook Islands Cabinet has approved a significant increase in tobacco tax, aiming to reduce smoking rates and combat non-communicable diseases. The Cabinet has recently approved the initiative set by Ministry of Health to increase the tobacco tax by...

Pacific Island countries celebrate civil registration achievements
Surami Turaga, Fiji's minister of justice, speaks at the Third Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific on June 26, 2025. Photo courtesy of UN ESCAP Bangkok – “Cheehoo! Praise God, oue tulou!” Sonya...

Pacific Ocean Commissioner: Op -ED – Ripples to Waves:
By Dr Filimon Manoni, Pacific Ocean Commissioner KOROR, 30 JUNE 2025 (PIFS) — It’s been two weeks since the curtains fell on the third UN Ocean Conference. At this largest ever ocean summit, the Pacific voice echoed as a collective, calling for...

Tjibaou on New Caledonia talks in Paris: “We want to resolve this now”
Koror, Palau-It’s been two weeks since the curtains fell on the third UN Ocean Conference. At this largest ever ocean summit, the Pacific voice echoed as a collective, calling for more global ocean accountability, and offering transformational...

PACIFIC JOURNOS MEET CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL, PRAISE CHINA
Beijing, China – SIX Pacific Islands journalists met with the Director of the Pacific Island Division, Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Chinese Ministry on Foreign Affairs, Gu Xinqiang in Beijing and exchanged views within...

Our voyage to Statehood, 60 years on: understanding the nature and practice of free-association as we reflect on our development journey
Prime Minister Mark Brown. SUPPLIED. This year, the Cook Islands marks 60 years of self-governance, an historic milestone in our voyage to statehood, by Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. In 1965, our people chose to shape our own...

Ranked: Countries With the Most Children in 2025
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization Ranked: Countries With the Most Children in 2025 This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven...

‘It quickly becomes clear that things are not good. What follows is a blur of suppressed panic and a mad fumbled search of the boat…’
A terrifying medical episode in a remote anchorage tests liveaboards Miranda Baker and Elliot Russo – but reveals the strength of the cruising community Friday evening, 21 February, 2025, and we are anchored inside a reef lagoon in a remote part...

A drop in the ocean? Pacific nations tap local know-how for marine conservation
Pacific island nations are racing to enhance marine conservation, establishing sweeping “no-take” zones and pledging to sustainably manage vast swathes of their territorial waters despite facing limited resources and geopolitical pressure. Among...

Letter: New Zealand aid
Dear Editor, There is a claim by some doing the rounds, that New Zealand’s economy is struggling, and the aid freeze is just a convenient excuse to pull back funding. TBH (to be honest) think it through, that’s highly unlikely, budgeted foreign...

Full list of the countries where rabies is 'high risk' after UK tourist dies
A woman has tragically died in the UK after becoming infected with rabies in Morocco. She is said to have contracted the fatal viral disease while coming into contact with a stray dog during a visit to Morocco, the UK Health and Security Agency...

China in the Pacific – Joint statement of the Third China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
FROM May 28 to 29, 2025, the People’s Republic of China and Pacific Island Countries having diplomatic relations with China (hereinafter referred to as “All parties”) held the third China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. The...

The Clooneys charm Charles! Harry and Meghan's pals George and Amal show their warm bond with the King at star-studded palace reception
Hollywood superstar George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney turned on the charm as they warmly greeted King Charles at a star-studded reception at Buckingham Palace today. George and Amal, believed to be close friends with the Sussexes, were...

King hailed as nature ‘leader’ at event to drive private money into biodiversity
The King shook hands with a “gorilla” and was made a “care-holder” of an area of pristine Pacific ocean as he attended an event on driving finance into nature protection. Ministers, indigenous leaders and businesses and investors representing...
BEN MORGAN: Iran. A win for the US?
Holy shit look at what NZDF could have been like: Detail structure and equipment for a NZ Defence Force in 2030 if military spending had been constant at 5% GDP since 2015 ChatGPT said: If New Zealand had maintained military spending at 5% of GDP...