Pacific Islands News Roundup – Nov. 21-27, 2024 

Political Leadership, Regionalism, Peace and Security

• US expands defense ties with Fiji amid rising tensions in the Pacific (PACNEWS/ABC Australia)

• Uncertainty over whether Tonga’s PM can survive vote of no confidence (PACNEWS/ABC Australia)

• Thousands of Samoans to regain New Zealand citizenship rescinded in 1982 (Pacific Island Times)

• Fiji’s immigration minister steps down temporarily over ‘unauthorized’ passports issued to doomsday cult members (RNZ)

• Sir Jerry given six months to resolve outstanding matters on Bougainville’s political future (The National)

• American Samoa governor-elect asks for everyone’s support (Talanei)

• Emmanuel Tjibaou elected as Union Calédonienne president (Islands Business)

• Taiwan’s president to strengthen ties with Pacific allies during upcoming visit (RNZ)

• Guam-based law firm helps Palau youth file human rights complaint against US military (Guam PDN)

• “We have deep historical roots,” Xi tells Samoa PM (Samoa Observer)

• Samoa PM signs two agreements in China (Samoa Observer)

• Urgent constitutional application filed to challenge Vanuatu Parliament dissolution (Vanuatu Daily Post)

• ‘Maker of democracy’: New Caledonia’s Congress chief outlines vision for troubled French territory (PMN)

• EU Parliament votes to permanently end Vanuatu’s Schengen Visa waiver (PACNEWS/IMI)

• US deputy secretary of state hopes Trump works with Pacific allies (PACNEWS/Reuters)

People-Centered Development 

• Preventing violence against women/girls is a national priority, says Fiji PM (Fiji Village)

• People unite in fight against drugs: Stakeholders and communities called to action (Fiji Village)

• Cook Islands and New Zealand health discuss dialysis unit (RNZ/Cook Islands News)

• Solomon Islands assures Beijing +30 conference of its commitment to addressing gender-based violence (SIBC)

• Violence against women statistics paint grim picture in the Pacific (RNZ)

• Pacific health systems face urgent challenges – new report (RNZ)

• Pacific leaders meet in Rarotonga to discuss higher education (Cook Islands News)

• Solomon Islands loses women productivity worth $15.1 million due to violence, study shows (SIBC)

• Marshall Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu marching to universal health care (Pacific Island Times)

• Inauguration ceremony held for 35th Guam Youth Congress (KUAM News)

Climate Change and Disasters, Ocean and Environment

• COP29 outcome: Pacific countries demand more finance and ambition to fight climate change (SPREP)

• “We will not accept a treaty that does not recognize the special circumstances of SIDS”- Samoa as AOSIS chair (Pasifika /SPREP)

• Australia-Pacific bid to host COP31 in limbo (PMN)

• Pacific climate advocates decry COP29 outcome ‘a failure on every front’ (RNZ)

• COP29: Carbon credit trading scheme criticized as ‘get out of jail free card’ (RNZ)

• COP29 UN climate conference agrees to triple finance to developing countries (PACNEWS/UNFCCC)

• COP29: ‘We’re made to come here and almost beg to survive’ (PMN)

• Pacific Islands push for emissions and releases to be in new plastics treaty (Pasifika Environews/SPREP)

• Panguna mine landowners ink land access agreement with Bougainville Copper Ltd. (The National)

• Environment group labels Cook Islands govt-led seabed mining consultation ‘misleading’ (RNZ/Cook Islands News)

• American Samoa’s deep-sea mining advocate obtains observer status in International Seabed Authority (Pacific Island Times)

• NZDF prepares to remove pollutants from sunken Manawanui off Samoa (RNZ)

• ICJ seeks climate expertise: Top IPCC scientists brief judges in The Hague (PACNEWS/IPCC)

• UN special rapporteur on climate change to visit Vanuatu (PACNEWS)

Resources and Economic Development, Technology and Connectivity

• China returns to Pacific with aid and influence push, report shows (Islands Business/Reuters)

• New subsea routes to secure internet for Australia, Pacific (PACNEWS/AAP)

• Grave concerns for Pacific Australia Labor Mobility scheme (RNZ)

• Vanuatu launches action plan to address worker shortage, social problems caused by labor mobility schemes (ABC Australia)

• Int’l Monetary Fund praises Tonga’s economic recovery but warns of long-term challenges (Talanoa ʻo Tonga)

• Air Tahiti Nui to discontinue its Seattle-Paris route in January 2025 (TNTV)

• Cook Islands trade policy framework revised after nearly a decade (Cook Islands News)

• World Bank $60 million for Marshalls Energy Company (Marshall Islands Journal)

• Billions in US Dept of Defense and federal investments for the Northern Mariana Islands (MBJ)

• Call to modernize the Papua New Guinea Employment Act (Inside PNG)

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Latest Content from the Pacific Islands Report

• New Climate Resilience Tool for the Pacific Islands (Visions & Voices)

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Call for Submissions: Visions & Voices Quarterly Publication

The Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) invites students, scholars, researchers, and professionals to submit work to Visions & Voices, a quarterly publication dedicated to the Pacific Islands region.

Submissions of essays, articles, commentaries, and concise pieces that pertain to the Pacific Islands are welcomed. Next deadline: December 31.

For detailed submission guidelines, please visit: www.pireport.org/submissions

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The Pacific Islands Report (PIR) is a project of the Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) at the East-West Center and the Center for Pacific Islands Studies (CPIS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

This non-exhaustive news roundup, featuring open-access information, is organized with the thematic areas of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and its implementation plan.

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