5th Pacific Human Rights Film Festival raises awareness of human rights

20 October 2025 Suva, Fiji – Over 3,000 people across the Pacific are seeing human rights in a new light thanks to the 5th Pacific Human Rights Film Festival’s powerful regional screenings. This year’s festival, on the themes of ‘Loss, Damage,...

SI pledges USD $1m to Pacific Resilience Facility

Washington D.C.,- Pacific leadership and solidarity were on full display last week as the Government of Solomon Islands and Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) announced a pledge of USD $1 million [SBD8m] to the Pacific Resilience Facility...

Solomon Islands Pledge and Marshall Islands ratifies PRF Treaty

Pacific leadership and solidarity were on full display this week as the Government of Solomon Islands and Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) announced a pledge of USD$1 million to the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF). Pledges to the PRF now...

China's struggle for growth is reshaping its Pacific diplomacy

China's rise in the Pacific isn't just about aid or diplomacy — it's about survival and power. As domestic demand slows and Western tariffs squeeze exports, Beijing has been forced to turn its industrial surplus outward. Behind the roads, mines...

Marines bid farewell to the Assault Amphibious Vehicle

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — The Assault Amphibious Vehicle was officially decommissioned during an AAV Sundown Ceremony at the Assault Amphibian School at Camp Pendelton, California, Sept. 26. The ceremony honored both the vehicle’s 53 years...

Reimagining Commercial Underwriting in the Age of AI

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Strategic Minerals and the False Promise of Seabed Mining

By Drake Long On April 29, a small seabed mining enterprise known as The Metals Company (TMC) formally submitted an application to NOAA to commence commercial-scale mining in an area of the ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. This followed...

SI amongst world’s top fish consumers

The Solomon Islands has been ranked 33rd in the world for fish consumption per capita in 2025, according to the latest global data on fish consumption by country. According to Fish consumption by country 2025, the data shows that an average person...

The European Union and the Pacific Community boost border security in Marshall Islands with advanced X-Ray technology

Photo: European Union Ambassador Barbara Plinkert and Marshall Islands Minister Anthony Muller, key handover of the Airport X-ray machine The Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) has received a state-of-the-art X-ray machine to reinforce border...

To graduate or not to graduate: Nepal faces dilemma over LDC upgrade

Kathmandu, Oct. 12: Amidst the estimated 3-5 per cent loss to the economy due to arson and vandalism of the public and private property and businesses during the Gen-Z movement in September this year, and fear of poor economic performance,...

Placing priority on diversification

An economy is a continuum. One finance minister who manages an economy for ten continuous years hands either a jewel or a disaster to his replacement. What has former finance minister Colm Imbert handed his successor Davendranath Tancoo? Jewel or...

Pacific Islands News Roundup – October 3 – 9, 2025

Editor’s Note: We are undergoing a web host migration process and may need to make necessary modifications to our format and frequency over the next several weeks. Thank you in advance for your understanding. Political Leadership and Regionalism,...

Department of Defense holding public meeting about restoration progress of Waikōloa Maneuver Area

Marines observe a tank training exercise at the Waikoloa Maneuver Area. (Courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers) A meeting to update the community on progress made to restore the Waikōloa Maneuver Area Formerly Used Defense Site is set for...

IAC endorses two new Marine Spatial Planning Micro-Qualifications

The Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) met at the Heritage Park Hotel this week to formally validate and endorse two new Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Micro-Qualifications (MQs). The meeting marked the committee’s fourth and final session since it...

This Canadian island has a dire warning: small islands may be losing their water lifeline

Aerial photo of ponds amongst the dynamic dune landscape. Image credits: Dalhousie University. Throughout centuries, Sable Island, a remote sand island near Canada, has provided sanctuary to rare seabirds, wild horses, plants, and insects, all...

 Pacific Islands Forum’s exclusion of great powers and its consequences

Pacific island leaders gather in Honiara, Solomon Islands for the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leadership Meeting in September. Photo courtesy of the FSM government These Islands By Robert Underwood In the prelude to the September 2025 Pacific...

Marines Bid Farewell to the Assault Amphibious Vehicle 

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (June 29, 2021) U.S. Marines with 3d Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, emerge from the water in an AAV-P7/A1 amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) during water operations training at Marine Corps Base Camp...

Pacific Growth to Accelerate in 2025 on Resource Strength — ADB

Economic growth in the Pacific is expected to pick up next year, buoyed by strong resource output in Papua New Guinea (PNG), according to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) September 2025, released on 6 October by the Asian Development Bank...

Australia signs defence pact with Papua New Guinea to counter Chinese threat

Australia and Papua New Guinea have signed a defence pact, widely viewed as an attempt to strengthen regional security against China’s growing influence in the Pacific. Under the Pukpuk Treaty – meaning “crocodile” in pidgin – Papua New Guinea...

Australia, Papua New Guinea ink defense treaty

The leaders of Australia and Papua New Guinea yesterday signed a major bilateral defense treaty that China believes targets it unfairly. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Papua New Guinea counterpart, James Marape, described the...