Pacific Islands News Roundup: July 26 - Aug. 1, 2024

Political Leadership, Regionalism, Peace and Security

• US State Department official underscores US commitment to Pacific Islands region (Pacific Island Times )

• Solomon Islands govt reaffirms commitment to One China principle, PM directs govt officials not to deal with, invite, or visit Taiwan (In-Depth Solomons )

• Papua New Guinea govt told to protect people after ‘barbaric killings’ in Angoram (RNZ )

• Voting with their feet: demographic shifts in New Caledonia (DevPolicy )

• Cook Islands PM calls for stronger Pacific borders (Cook Islands News )

• Papua New Guinea serious about its role in ASEAN Regional Forum (PNG NBC )

• Planned US missile defense tests divide Guam residents (Benar News )

• 114 candidates to contest Kiribati election, including 18 women (RNZ )

• Vanuatu president reflects on Independence struggles, calls for unity on Independence Day (Vanuatu Daily Post )

• Fiji gains access to Australia’s C27J aircraft for humanitarian, surveillance missions under new MOU (Fiji Village )

• ‘We cannot be subtly coerced into meekly accepting aid’ – Bougainaville leader (RNZ )

• Palau US defense project delayed by construction issues (MBJ )

• Fiji PM Rabuka meets with Tuvalu PM Teo (PACNEWS )

• Indian President Murmu to visit Fiji, New Zealand and Timor-Leste (PACNEWS )

• Second advance visit reviews Samoa’s preparations to host CHOGM 2024 (Samoa Observer )

People-Centered Development

• Pacific women leaders want action on nuclear legacy and gender disparities (Pasifika Environews )

• Abuse in care inquiry: Call for Pacific-focused redress pathway (RNZ )

• Fiji, PNG fail to secure UN human rights mission to Indonesia’s Papuan provinces (Benar News )

• Melanesian national universities to spearhead pathway for the region (Solomon Star )

• Save the Children Vanuatu launches report on child protection, exposure to violence (Vanuatu Daily Post )

• Papua New Guinea national census is progressing well, says administrative services minister (EMTV )

• Notice of intent to award issued for contractor to build new hospital in American Samoa (Talanei )

• Women’s business leadership is growing in Solomon Islands, but significant gender gaps persist – PSDI (Solomon Business Magazine )

• French Polynesia’s Marquesas Islands join UNESCO’s World Heritage list (RNZ )

• Hawai?i state govt announces historic public preschool expansion with 44 new classrooms, including 2 Hawaiian immersion classrooms (HPR )

• Preserving U Municipality’s cultural heritage in the Federated States of Micronesia (SPC )

Climate Change and Disasters, Ocean and Environment

• Pacific delegates highlight ocean governance at key Int'l Seabed Authority Council session in Kingston (PACNEWS )

• Vanuatu pushes Int’l Criminal Court to recognize ecocide as international crime (PACNEWS )

• Nations join ranks to delay deep-sea mining approval by UN regulator (Benar News )

• American Samoa governor places moratorium on seabed mining (Talanei )

• New research reveals mental health impacts of climate change in the Pacific (ABC Australia )

• Papua New Guinean Noan Pakop appointed new FFA Director General (Talanoa ?o Tonga )

• Pacific ‘increasingly investing in renewable energy’, resulting in lower costs – briefing paper (RNZ )

• Vanuatu govt secures US$5m Climate Development Fund grant to strengthen climate resilience (Vanuatu Daily Post )

• Fiji govt to receive US$70m loan from ADB for climate resilience and sustainable growth (Fiji Village )

• Tonga secures US$23m in grant funding to reduce climate risks and improve coastal resilience (Kaniva Tonga )

• ‘Hit by tidal wave’ – Federated States of Micronesia atoll calls for seawall (RNZ )

• Compliance gaps and policy issues found in FSM vehicle disposal audit (Kaselehlie Press )

• New low-carbon cargo-passenger vessel hailed on arrival in Majuro (Marshall Islands Journal )

Resources and Economic Development, Technology and Connectivity

• Pacific economies at a crossroads: Forum Economic Officials Meeting chair calls for unity (PACNEWS )

• Pacific Island nations owe ‘astronomically high’ debts to China, says researcher. Can they repay? (ABC Australia )

• Pacific Islands Forum SG calls for unity and resilience at Pacific economic ministers meeting (PACNEWS )

• Anti-fraud measures sought to protect billions in military construction investments in Guam and other Pacific Island areas (Pacific Island Times )

• Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and New Caledonia sign historic agreement for enhanced cooperation in fisheries (FFA )

• Australian foreign minister announces new Cable and Connectivity Resilience Center to boost Pacific connectivity as Quad meets in Japan (ABC Australia )

• Solomon Islands PM opens National Economic Summit with a call to seriously grow the national economy (SIBC )

• New Caledonia’s ENERCAL gets financial buoy from France to avoid bankruptcy (RNZ )

• Niue and Solomon Islands launch first labor mobility pilot program for workers (PMN )

• Vanuatu PM reaffirms govt’s commitment to resolving Air Vanuatu’s future (Islands Business )

• Australian govt invests in new Solomon Islands coconut processing facility to boost local production (Tavuli News )

• Tonga outer island internet outage continues as repairs delayed and Starlink access limited (Talanoa ?o Tonga )

• Cook Islands housing crisis hits tourism industry (Cook Islands News )

• Deadline extended for federal review of Hawaiian-Alaska airline merger (KHON2 )

• Bougainville eyes seaweed market in China (PNG Post-Courier )

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: September 30.

For detailed submission guidelines, please visit the Pacific Islands Report website .

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 Hawai?i at Mānoa.

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

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