News Roundup

Pacific Islands News Roundup – August 1 – August 7, 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, Peace and Security

  • Palau backs Solomon Islands’ move to exclude Pacific Islands Forum partner talks until 2026 (Talanoa ‘O Tonga)
  • Luxon announces trip to Papua New Guinea on 50th anniversary of bilateral relations (RNZ)
  • Parliament Unites to Pass Disability Services Bill 2025 (PNG Bulletin)
  • First ‘climate citizens’ approved by Nauru in world-first program (Marianas Variety)
  • US begins talks with Cook Islands on seabed mining, gears up to compete with China (Pacific Island Times)
  • House passes scholarship Reform Bill to Encourage student return, eases repayment rules (Island Times)
  • How Gov. Palacios’ death recasts the Northern Marianas’ political terrain (Pacific Island Times) 
  • Prime Minister Manele Reaffirms Solomon Islands–United States Partnership at U.S. 249th Independence Anniversary (SIBC)
  • PM rejects power grab claims, pledges legal process (FBC News)
  • Tanna recognised as birthplace of Vanuatu’s Independence movement (Daily Post)
  • Leave no-one behind: social protection reducing poverty in Kiribati (Devpolicy Blog)
  • Whistleblower bill to tackle Tonga’s culture of silence (Talanoa ‘O Tonga)
  • ‘Right to choose’ key to Cook Islands-NZ relationship, says Peters (Asia Pacific Report)

People-Centered Development

  • Bill honoring advocate Rebecca Koshiba seeks safer Homes for Palau’s children (Island Times)
  • ‘Boat Doctor’ and sons launch Chamorro canoe at Yona Festival (Marianas Variety)
  • Criminal justice high school program targets Guam’s future police force (Marianas Business Journal) 
  • Vanuatu Officially Reopens Nursing College After Three-Year Closure (VBTC)
  • China’s medical assistance boost healthcare development in the Kingdom of Tonga (Talanoa ‘O Tonga)
  • Pacific Kids Learning Launch Samoan Digital Stories Collection (Talamua)
  • OFC U16 Women’s Championship: Samoa secures semifinal spot after dominant win over Fiji (RNZ)
  • Te Maeva Nui 2025 showcases the heart of the Cook Islands (Cook Islands News)
  • Community hope and healing take root at a native planting project above Lahaina (HPR)

Climate Change and Disasters, Ocean and Environment

  • Big ocean: ICJ advisory opinion and marine boundaries (Island Times)
  • Pacific calls for global action as Coral reefs reach crisis point (Pasifika Environews)
  • Vanuatu and France Sign Landmark Climate Science Agreement (VBTC)
  • Turaga urges global responsibility (FBC News)
  • 1st month of ocean buoy data revealing dramatic wave differences across Guam (The Guam Daily Post)
  • Over 1,200 trees planted in 3 hours with UOG’s GROW initiative (Pacific Daily News)
  • Marshall Islands oceans talks highlight conservation, development (Marianas Variety)
  • Is there fresh water beneath the ocean floor? (Hawaii Tribune Herald)
  • Les îles Cook annoncent un accord avec les Etats-Unis sur leurs minéraux sous-marins (Tahiti Infos)
  • Hawaiʻi’s High-Priced Geothermal Consultants Are Getting Heat (Civil Beat)

Resources and Economic Development, Technology and Connectivity

  • Palauans weigh impact of goods and Services Tax two years in (Island Times)
  • Medicine outcry grows (Fiji Times)
  • Southeast Malekula communities struggle with 40-year-old water system (Daily Post)
  • K1 BILLION INVESTMENT TO BOOST SOUTHERN REGION’S DEVELOPMENT (PNG HAUS BUNG)
  • Women empowered to lead Vanuatu’s green energy transition (Pacific Island Times)
  • Evaluation of the Niue-Solomon Islands Labour Mobility Pilot (Solomon Star News)
  • Advancing Local Women Empowerment in Leadership and Economic Development (Island Business)
  • Tonga renews sponsorship agreement with Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd (Matangi Tonga)
  • ‘Stable’ credit outlook points to low likelihood of rate change for territory (Samoa News)
  • 60 years on: Is it time to re-visit Papa Arapati’s ‘big government’ economics? (Cook Island News)

Latest Content from the Pacific Islands Report

  • Pacific Islands Security In the Era of US-China Competition (Visions & Voices)
  • Tackling Systemic Inequities in The Solomon Islands Healthcare System: The Race-Health-Governance Nexus (Visions & Voices)
  • The Watchdogs of the Blue Pacific: Media Accountability in Regional Security (Visions & Voices)

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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