The Latest Breaking News from Pacific Island

Although they contribute less than 0.03% of the world’s total carbon emissions, the Pacific Islands are at the front line of the climate crisis. Entire countries could be submerged under water within the next two to three decades. How are these island states fighting for their survival?

China said it held a video meeting to discuss police cooperation with several Pacific island nations on Tuesday, with at least two nations telling Reuters their ministers and police commissioners were unavailable to attend.

Backpackers on working holiday maker visas have been a crucial source of farm labour for decades, alongside smaller numbers of temporary migrants from the Pacific Islands, international students, and Australians.

Both first-time and repeat U.S. homebuyers are now the oldest on record, and the proportion of purchases by Black, Asian and Pacific Island Americans is the lowest since 1997, the latest evidence that it’s increasingly difficult to buy a home.

New figures shows that foreign aid to the Pacific surged to record highs as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on regional economies, while Chinese development assistance fell to a new low.

South Pacific defence ministers will meet in Tonga on Tuesday, with Australia seeking a closer military relationship with the three island nations that have defence forces to counter China's security push in the region.

With a litany of logistical and legal hurdles between the vision for Satoshi Island and its reality, experts fear the project may eventually fall flat or run foul of local Vanuatu laws.

A week after the US and the Pacific signed a historic joint-partnership declaration, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says China had a "different approach to engaging with the Pacific" to the US, while an expert says Beijing will not be deterred from pushing for influence in the region.

The United States concedes it let its relationship with Pacific Island nations "drift" before reaching a historic new partnership agreement with the region.