Pacific Islands News Roundup – February 5 – 11, 2026

Political Leadership and Regionalism, Peace and Security

• “Violent, often disproportionate repression” in New Caledonia (Islands Business)
  
• US Congress tries to link Chinese Pacific projects to military threat (Islands Business)
  
• National Fight Over Immigration Enforcement Roils Maui County (Civil Beat)
  
• ‘We don’t care what you think’: Panel says deep-sea mining, more show issues with US territorial status (Guam PDN)
  
• Cook Islands and U.S. forge strategic alliance on critical minerals (Cook Islands News)
  
• Palau Senate Rejects Key Whipps Appointments, Deepening Executive-Legislative Rift (Island Times)
  
• Renewed chapter’: Marshall Islands President Heine meets PM Albanese in Canberra (Island Times)
  
• Wale Raises Concern Over Lack of Polynesian Representation in Solomon Islands Cabinet (In-depth Solomons)
  
• Bill on Guam political status voting eligibility continues to draw opposition (Guam PDN)
  
• U.S bars Palau Senate president, former Marshall Islands mayor from entry (PACNEWS/Reuters)
  
• King Charles III honours 100-year relationship between Tokelau and Aotearoa New Zealand (PMN)
  
• DHS decertifies ‘secure room’ on Guam for classified national security info; Gumataotao, Adelup clash over what it means (Guam PDN)
  
• Decolonization: French Polynesia’s legal proceedings at a standstill (Tahiti Infos)
  
• Fiji yet to decide on Gaza stabilisation force invitation (Fiji Times)
  
• Pacific visa petition tests NZ First as political tensions rise (PMN)
  
• Ambassador Soram presents Letters of Credence as FSM Ambassador to Canada (Kaselehlie Press)

People-Centered Development

• Labelled, judged and far from home: Marshallese deported by ICE ‘having the hardest time’ (RNZ)
  
• First dengue-related death in the Cook Islands triggers emergency response (Cook Island News)
  
• Gender inequality persists across the Blue Pacific, regional report finds (PACNEWS)
  
• Fiji risks losing a generation to drugs, faith leaders warn (Fiji Sun)
  
• Cook Islands community turns to full immersion education to save Māori language (RNZ)
  
• Super Bowl champion George Holani makes his Tongan family proud (Matangi Tonga)
  
• Labour law reform: Fiji women’s rights group pushes for stronger menstrual leave provisions (RNZ)
  
• Polio outbreak slows in Papua New Guinea, health officials say (RNZ)
  
• ‘At 15 she should be in school, not married’: Pasifika push Solomon Islands to protect youth (PMN)
  
• NZ-born toddler denied visa despite severe brain injury and faces risk of unlawful status (PMN)
  
• Pacific queens gather in Fiji as pageant spotlight turns on regional issues (PMN)
  
• Hawai‘i Doctor Shortage Has Patients Paying Fees For Fast Care (Civil Beat)

Climate Change and Disasters, Ocean and Environment

• 2025 confirmed as one of the warmest years on Record in the Western Pacific (PACNEWS/SPREP)
  
• Vanuatu introduces draft UN resolution on ICJ demanding full climate compensation (PACNEWS/Vanuatu Govt)
  
• Pacific move Pacific Resilience Facility from agreement to action (PACNEWS)
  
• SPREP regrets U.S exit, warns Pacific still in Climate emergency (PACNEWS)
  
• Fiji and Palau vie to host a pre-COP meeting (ABC/Audio Report)
  
• 60,000 drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) per year: French Polynesia says stop to strandings (Tahiti Infos)
  
• Dead fish reports echo pre-Cyclone Winston warning signs, says Fisheries Minister (The Fiji Times)
  
• Coastal clean-up collects 50,000 pieces of plastic during King’s Baton Relay Week in Tonga (Talanoa ‘O Tonga)
  
• Researchers track risk of avian malaria to future of Hawaii’s native birds (Hawaii News Now)
  
• High Seas Treaty takes effect as New Zealand misses the first vote (Te Ao News)

Resources and Economic Development, Technology and Connectivity

• Analysis: Technology-facilitated threats are silencing Pacific journalists (DevPolicy)
  
• Pacific unites for financial disaster defence (Islands Business)
  
• MCC visit signals renewed U.S. development focus on Vanuatu (Vanuatu Daily Post)
  
• PNG to Host APEC Leaders’ Meeting Again in 2033 (PNG Today)
  
• A sliver of hope amid economic fragility: With economic ‘diversification’ still out of sight, CNMI clings on to tourism (Pacific Island Times)
  
• New digital currency used in the Marshall Islands for universal basic income payments (Marianas Business Journal)
  
• US Small Business Administration issues notice withdrawing access of loans to non-US citizens, withdrawal could affect Pacific islands (Marianas Business Journal)
  
• Australia pushes for deeper economic integration with Fiji (Islands Business)
  
• ‘Stronger today than seven years ago:’ Guam governor says she kept her promises and stabilized public finances (Pacific Island Times)
  
• Air visitors bring over VT10 billion in 2025, Snapshot shows (Vanuatu Business Review)
  
• Samoa Tuna Processors Plant sold to StarKist Co. (Talanei)

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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