Pacific Islands focus: health and gender inequities, climate updates, and some hope for marine biodiversity

Introduction by Croakey: In breaking news on Thursday, Papua New Guinea’s cabinet has approved a landmark defence agreement with Australia. PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape said the agreement, known as the PukPuk treaty, “will elevate the two...

Scientists discover an amazing new creature at the bottom of the ocean

A new deep-sea coral species from the tropical western Pacific has a name that makes people smile – Iridogorgia chewbacca. The colony stands alone on rocky bottoms, with a shining stem and long branches that look a bit like flowing hair....

Revival of WW2-Era Tinian Airfield Picks Up with ‘Rehabilitation’ Work

As a part of its plan to revive old World War Two-era airfields in the western Pacific to counter China, PACAF (Pacific Air Forces) released on Oct. 1, 2025 images of works “rehabilitating” the runway at Tinian airfield, in the Northern Mariana...

Pacific islands bound by climate change, divided by deep-sea mining: Nauru swimming against the tide

Deep-sea mining equipment. Photo courtesy of Impossible Metals “The climate crisis is not up for debate,” Micronesian President Wesley Simina said. “The only question is whether we will act with the urgency it demands.” Pacific island leaders...

Pacific Islands Youth Group Wins Prize For Climate Legal Action

Stockholm, Sweden--A youth-led student group and a human-rights lawyer that took the issue of climate to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) received the Right Livelihood prize on Wednesday, dubbed an "alternative Nobel". The prize also...

Pacific islands youth group wins prize for climate action

A youth-led student group and a human-rights lawyer that took the issue of climate to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have received the Right Livelihood prize, dubbed an "alternative Nobel". The prize also honoured Sudan's humanitarian...

Activists from Sudan, Myanmar, Pacific Islands, and Taiwan receive human rights award

STOCKHOLM – The Right Livelihood Award was awarded Wednesday to activists from Sudan and Myanmar, where military and political violence devastates communities, to the Pacific Islands, where climate disaster threatens entire nations, and to Taiwan,...

Research published on invasive hornet's impact on beekeeping

The Guam Department of Agriculture has achieved a scientific milestone with the publication of its first peer-reviewed research on the invasive greater banded hornet, marking a shift from purely regulatory work to contributing data that could...

Pacific Islands Ocean Conference opens with call for unity and action

The Second Pacific Islands Ocean Conference opened in Honiara Monday, with a strong call for unity, science and traditional knowledge to guide Pacific-led solutions for sustainable ocean governance. Speaking on behalf of the Council of Regional...

China provides annual development cooperation funding to Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

The Government of the People’s Republic of China Wednesday provided an annual funding contribution of US$1.08 million to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat under the China – Pacific Islands Forum Cooperation Fund. In a virtual ceremony, the...

What Pacific Island leaders told the UN about climate, conflict and peace

A banner at UN Headquarters on the second day of the general debate of the General Assembly’s eightieth session. Photo: UN Photo / Loey Felipe Pacific Island leaders took turns addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York,...

Extremely offline: what happened when a Pacific island was cut off from the internet | Samanth Subramanian

For a while, Sam Vea had been smelling sulphur on the air – only mildly infernal, like a distant sniff of hell, but sulphur nonetheless. Still, on the Saturday evening when the explosion happened, he sat up in fright. It sounded so near he thought...

What Pacific Island leaders told the UN General Assembly about climate, conflict and peace

A banner at UN Headquarters on the second day of the general debate of the General Assembly’s eightieth session. Photo: UN Photo / Loey Felipe Pacific Island leaders took turns addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York,...

Expanding connection to science for the Pacific Fisheries people

Over one hundred participants from twenty-two Pacific island countries and territories met this week at the thirteenth SPC Heads of Fisheries meeting, focusing on important topics and fisheries priorities for Pacific people. Enhancing scientific...

COP is 'heartbreak' for the Pacific. Here is why they still want to host

Joseph Sikulu's long-haul journey home to the Pacific has felt fruitless after the recent world climate talks. It has become a "heartbreaking" exercise seeing the annual United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) summit achieve so little of...

Leopard sharks engaging in a 'threesome' mating ritual captured on video in a scientific first

For years, divers off New Caledonia have watched male leopard sharks dash after females, only to miss the main event. Now we finally have it on film – and it wasn’t just one pair. In a first for the species, two males sequentially mated with a...

NMI, War Department leaders strengthen partnerships on Saipan, Tinian

Department of War officials, local government, and federal agencies meet for a CNMI Stakeholders Meeting in Saipan, Sept. 25. The quarterly meeting’s aim is to share information and discuss current and future DoW projects in the region. U.S. Navy...

Science The Conversation As US ramps up fossil fuels, communities will have to adapt to the consequences − yet climate adaptation funding is on the chopping block

It’s no secret that warming temperatures, wildfires and flash floods are increasingly affecting lives across the United States. With the U.S. government now planning to ramp up fossil fuel use, the risks of these events are likely to become even...

Research Matters: UOG MAGIC Lab expands funding, research capacity in the Pacific

From land to sea—and now the skies—the University of Guam is expanding its research in all directions. While UOG is proudly a Land Grant and Sea Grant institution, it’s also launching new frontiers in space-related research through programs funded...

Pacific Islands News Roundup – September 19 – 25, 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,...