News Roundup

Pacific Islands News Roundup – December 12 – 18, 2025 

Happy Holidays! The Pacific Islands Report will be on break for the next two weeks. We will return to our weekly schedule on January 8, 2026.

Political Leadership and Regionalism, Peace and Security

  • Lord Fakafanua elected Tonga’s new Prime Minister after parliamentary vote (Talanoa O’ Tonga)
  • Marshallese families in Northwest Arkansas reel from Trump deportations (RNZ)
  • Pacific police mobilise against crime cartels (Islands Business)
  • Banabans and Kioans to be offered Fijian citizenship (Fiji Times)
  • U.S threatens to cut Fiji aid over impunity for doomsday cult (PACNEWS/OCCRP)
  • US imposes new entry restrictions on Tongan citizens (RNZ)
  • Tribunal finds France responsible for security failure during New Caledonia riots (RNZ)
  • Samoan government and journalists at odds over draft media rules (RNZ)
  • What could follow Bougainville’s exit – and why Papua New Guinea struggles to let go (RNZ)
  • UK strips Nauru of visa-free access over new citizenship programme (PACNEWS/IMI Daily)
  • CNMI governor prods military to accelerate projects (Pacific Island Times)
  • Koror, Palau Governor Responds to Concerns Over US Christmas Drop Aid Distribution (Island Times)
  • Free media, strong democracies – Solomon Islands media visit Canberra and Sydney (Island Sun)
  • Four Vanuatu MPs complete U.S. Congressional exchange (Vanuatu Daily Post)

People-Centered Development

  • Pacific health systems at breaking point as Australia, NZ labour schemes drain skilled workers: Report (PACNEWS)
  • India Becomes Palau’s Newest Hub for Advanced Medical Care (Island Times)
  • New exhibit ‘Ocean of Peace’ in Schaefer International Gallery opens Saturday, Dec. 6 (Kaselehlie Press/Maui Now)
  • Illegal sales undermine essential medicine supply in PNG (RNZ)
  • After 186 years, a Fijian chief comes home (PMN)
  • University In-State Tuition Bill advances to expand opportunities for Island students in US (Samoa News)
  • A proposal to amend the Morin law, improving compensation for victims of nuclear exposure in French Polynesia (Tahiti Infos)
  • Hawaiʻi Is Reviving A Risky Play To Get Hawaiians Into Homes (Civil Beat)
  • A University of Hawaiʻi professor’s book looks at women working toward food sovereignty (HPR)
  • Pacific Workers Stay Silent to Keep Their Jobs in Australia (In-depth Solomons)
  • Duff Islands to the Open Pacific: A Young Sailors Ancestral Legacy (Tavuli News)
  • One year after the Vanuatu earthquake, emotional aftershocks continue (RNZ)

Climate Change and Disasters, Ocean and Environment

  • Pacific Islands Forum eyes pre-COP Summit to advance regional climate priorities (Pasifika Environews)
  • From forklift driver to pastor: Tuvalu’s first climate migrants touch down in Australia (RNZ)
  • Korea, Pacific Ministers deepen ties on Climate, Oceans and Development (PACNEWS)
  • New modelling shows Mariana Trench and reefs amplify tsunami threat to CNMI – expert (RNZ)
  • ‘United we stand, divided we fall:’ Pacific island nations urged to create collective seabed regulations (Pacific Island Times)
  • Premier Siapu Condemns Unauthorised Foreign Vessel Activities in Three Sisters Islands Waters (Solomon Business Magazine)
  • DMWR supports reopening of Rose Atoll in American Samoa to commercial fishing (Talanei)
  • PNG strengthens fight against illegal fishing with new surveillance patrol boats (NBC)
  • Threads of Hope in Troubled Seas: How KAWAKI Women Are Defending Their Ocean and Their Future (In-depth Solomons)
  • DECEM and IOM launch Strategy to Enhance Accountability for Disaster-Affected Communities in FSM (Kaselehlie Press)

Resources and Economic Development, Technology and Connectivity

  • US Initiatives in the Pacific target measurable outcomes with new MCC partnership with Fiji (Islands Business)
  • The Tuvalu Vaka Cable: building connectivity and a Digital Nation (Islands Business/Dev Policy)
  • Google to build undersea cables in Papua New Guinea under Pukpuk Treaty (The National PNG)
  • Canada boosts support and development in the Pacific (Islands Business)
  • We Need to Guard The Minerals Sector ‘Jealously’, Says SI Opposition Leader Wale (In-depth Solomons)
  • Cook Islands named a top destination for 2026 (Cook Island News)
  • Guam establishes Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Task Force (Pacific Island Times)
  • PNG Porgera Mine Losing About K370 Million in Gold Each Year (Papua New Guinea Today)
  • Lahaina harbor opens for business (HNN)
  • Emau Leads First Island Trial of Ocean Use Survey for Vanuatu’s Future Economic Growth (VBTC)

Disclaimer:

The PIR seeks to include news coverage from news outlets across the Pacific, representing a diversity of coverage in the region. Please note that the inclusion of article links does not represent PIR or PIDP endorsement of the information presented in the articles.

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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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