More Top Stories
‘Nothing to worry about’: Prime Minister Brown on China agreement
16 February 2025
‘Serious questions’: Opposition challenges China partnership
15 February 2025
No-confidence motion against PM and his Cabinet faces delays
15 February 2025
Ruta Mave: People’s Republic of China red flag
10 February 2025
No debt in China deal
8 February 2025
Thomas Wynne: Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?
8 February 2025
‘Paedophile’ gets 13 years in prison
22 January 2025
Thomas Wynne: Where were our leaders while children suffered?
25 January 2025
$541.7m tourism earnings
25 January 2025
Cook Islands passport proposal
6 January 2025
Top cop position advertised
7 December 2024
Police need numbers and bigger budget
9 December 2024
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
10 December 2024
Solid and Hazardous Waste Bill referred to Parliament committee
10 December 2024
DPM defends CIIC finance and travel policies
6 December 2024
Cook Islands has its first mosque
14 November 2024
CI Muslim opens up about her faith and journey
16 November 2024
RAC to address mosque legality
19 November 2024
I don’t expect much change: PM Brown on US Elections
6 November 2024
Fifth weekly Sydney flight to Rarotonga announced
23 October 2024
CIIC directors seek $350,000 in damages over defamatory claims
21 October 2024
Man found guilty of rape, burglary
24 September 2024
Tenants face water bill burden
8 October 2024
Concerns over Minister’s role in inmate work releases: PAC
5 October 2024
Tourism contribution set to surpass half-billion dollar mark
25 September 2024
Parliament Clerk sparks outrage over deep sea mining statement
23 September 2024
Deep sea dilemma: Cook Islanders weigh the cost of mineral riches
21 September 2024
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
Cook Islands deep sea mining poll sparks controversy
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Pacific
Cook Islands seeking New Zealand expertise for Sovereign Wealth Fund
The Cook Islands government has taken further steps towards establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), with officials currently in New Zealand holding discussions with financial experts, Prime Minister Mark Brown told Parliament this week.
NZ DPM Peters meets China Foreign Minister, discusses Cooks constitutional relationship
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing this week where they discussed their strong relationships with Pacific countries, including New Zealand's special constitutional relationships with its Realm partners particularly the Cook Islands.
Government to provide $10k for Vanuatu cyclone relief
Prime Minister Mark Brown says he has indicated to his team at the Ministry of Finance that he is more likely to support initiatives that go to countries that are far more in need than New Zealand.
Historical day for Fijian journalism as ‘draconian’ media law scrapped
Twenty-nine (29) parliamentarians voted to repeal the Media Industry Development Act, while 21 voted against it and 3 did not vote.
Thousands of nurses are jumping across the ditch
Nearly 5000 New Zealand nurses have registered to work in Australia since August. It shows the extent of those crossing - or planning to cross - the ditch, often to take up lucrative short-term contracts of up to NZ$8500 a week.
Bill to repeal MIDA Act tabled in Fiji Parliament
Fiji’s Attorney General Siromi Turaga has tabled the bill to repeal the Media Industry Development Act 2010.
Palau bans e-cigarettes
Palau has outlawed e-cigarettes or ‘vaping’ after President Surangel Whipps Jr signed a law for ‘a total ban on the import, advertising, sale, and use of e-cigarettes’ on March 29.
Fundraiser for cyclone-stricken Vanuatu
The Office of the Prime Minister is pleased to pledge its support to a fundraiser for cyclone-stricken Vanuatu, which will take the form of a six-hour radiothon being held on Radio Cook Islands from noon to 6pm today (Friday, March 31).
World Bank opens new north Pacific office
The World Bank has opened its new permanent office to support the development needs of the north Pacific.
Fiji to scrap media law for ‘growth and development’ of independent journalism
The Fijian government has announced it will repeal the Media Industry Development Act 2010.
Vanuatu Minister: Harvests will take time to recover after cyclones
Vanuatu’s Minister of Climate Change warns “there's going to be a lot of hardship” for people waiting for their crops to grow back as dry rations are distributed to communities.
Pacific nation’s concern over Australia’s coal plans
Samoan Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa has expressed her concern over Australia’s potential to launch new gas and coal projects ahead of the country’s bid to host the world’s biggest climate conference.
Dame Meg Taylor: Pacific needs to sit up and pay close attention to AUKUS
A Pacific elder and former secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum says Pacific leaders need to sit up and pay closer attention to AUKUS and the Indo-Pacific Strategy and China’s response to them. Speaking from Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Dame Meg Taylor said Pacific leaders were being sidelined in major geopolitical decisions […]
International help needed for Kiribati water crisis
On World Water Day, March 22, David Kakiakia explained his hope for Kiribati, which is suffering from severe drought. Kiribati has the highest infant mortality rates in the Pacific linked directly to unsafe drinking water, according to Childfund. The country has very low ground water which is contaminated by salt and rubbish. Climate change is making […]
Cook Islands to participate in 2024 Pacific Arts Festival
Tauranga Vananga (Ministry of Cultural Development) Secretary Anthony Turua attended the 36th Council of Pacific Arts and Culture (CPAC) and Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FESTPAC) Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii last week.
Biden budget aims at China with billions for Pacific Is.
Alarmed by China’s success in wooing Pacific island nations, the Biden administration is proposing to spend billions to keep three of those countries in the U.S orbit.
Education crucial to curbing growing numbers of diseases
The occurrence of vector-borne disease in the Pacific is growing and people are being asked to do more to counter it.
Frank Bainimarama spends night in police cell, due in court today
Former Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama is due to appear for a special hearing in a Suva court this morning after spending the night in a police cell alongside the suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho.
Forum ready to help Vanuatu: Brown
The chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Mark Brown, says the cyclones and earthquake which have battered Vanuatu should drive home the vulnerability and the responsibility for the global climate crisis and its impact on small island developing states.
Brown assumes Forum chair
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has assumed the position of chair of the Pacific Islands Forum in lead up to the regional leaders meeting in the final quarter of the year in Rarotonga.
‘Fracture is history’: Pacific leaders commit to Forum reforms
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is now “a family reconciled” as its leaders reaffirmed their commitment to reforms to strengthen the regional body.
PM holds bilateral meetings, Puna and Maamau embrace as Pacific unites again
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has been on a busy visit to Fiji ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum later this year.
