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BIZARRE: 2 | Mind Blowing Facts

Blinken to visit Papua New Guinea and sign defense, maritime agreements

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Papua New Guinea on May 21-22, sign bilateral defense and maritime security agreements and meet with Pacific Islands Forum leaders, the State Department said on Thursday, after President Joe Biden pulled out of a planned visit.

Reuters

Biden, India's Modi to meet Pacific island leaders, Papua New Guinea PM says

U.S. President Joe Biden and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will join Pacific Islands leaders next month for a "historic" future-oriented meeting, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Sunday.

Reuters

Biden to make historic visit to Papua New Guinea next month - PNG officials

U.S. President Joe Biden will briefly visit Papua New Guinea (PNG) on May 22, officials from the Pacific island nation said on Thursday, as Washington seeks to counter growing Chinese influence in the strategically important region.

Reuters

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Pacific islands tap Taiwan ally Nauru for next top diplomat

The top Pacific islands diplomatic post will pass to Taiwan ally Nauru next year, the 18-member regional bloc agreed Friday, as it resolved to face climate change and superpower rivalry as a united "family".

Reuters

Stronger Pacific in everyone's interests: Australia

Senator Penny Wong has made her ninth visit to the Pacific, taking in Kiribati and the critical Pacific Islands Forum leaders retreat in Fiji.

AAP

Pacific Islands fear brain drain from Australia job scheme

While work schemes offer Pacific Islanders economic opportunities, critics say they exacerbate labour shortages at home.

Al Jazeera

Why Pacific Islanders are staying put even as rising seas flood their homes and crops

Climate change is forcing people around the world to abandon their homes. In the Pacific Islands, rising sea levels are leaving communities facing tough decisions about relocation. Some are choosing to stay in high-risk areas.

The Conversation

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Australia and US take realist approach to regional influence

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III for the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) in Washington, DC, on December 6.

The Conversation

Pacific Island countries fight to ensure future before rising sea levels swallow them up

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?

France 24

Tuvalu first to call for fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty at Cop27

Pacific islands nation, which is acutely vulnerable to sea level rises, joins nearby Vanuatu in seeking phase-out of coal, oil and gas

The Guardian - UK

'Teaching our children from books, not the sea': how climate change is eroding human rights in Vanuatu

There’s a lot at stake over the next fortnight as nations gather at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt. But the stakes are perhaps highest for the Pacific islands and their people.

The Conversation

Australia's borders are open, so where are all the backpackers?

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.

The Conversation

Samoa thumps France at Rugby League World Cup to set up quarterfinal clash with Tonga

Samoa's shocking loss to England remains the headline of the World Cup, but there is still a chance for the star-studded Pacific Islands nation to relegate it to a footnote, writes Nick Campton.

ABC News

Aid spending soared to record level in Pacific islands as COVID-19 hit

A record $3.3 billion in aid flowed to the Pacific islands in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a 33% increase on the previous year, according to a report released by the Lowy Institute think-tank on Monday.

Reuters

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Reuters

Vanuatu calls snap election amid superpower contest in Pacific Islands

The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu will hold a snap election on Thursday with six former prime ministers contesting the poll, after parliament was dissolved in August to avoid a vote of no confidence in the government, said local media.

ABC News

Pacific Islands backed a partnership with the US, but China unlikely to be deterred in push for influence

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 Independent UK

Biden uses $130M in frozen Egypt aid to help Pacific Islands

The Biden administration will pay for $130 million in new climate initiatives for Pacific Island nations by reallocating money that originally been earmarked for military assistance for Egypt

Al Jazeera

Red carpet rolled out in US bid to woo Pacific Islands from China

Washington is in heated competition with Beijing for influence among Pacific island nations.

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Al Jazeera

US has agreed Pacific Islands deal, offering ‘big dollar numbers’

The US is looking to reengage in a region where China has been steadily expanding its influence.

Reuters

U.S. says it has agreed Pacific Islands partnership, offering 'big dollar' aid

The United States said at a summit with Pacific island leaders on Wednesday that it had agreed on a partnership for the future with them and held out the prospect of "big dollar" help to a region where it hopes to stem China's expanding influence.

Reuters

Solomon Islands tells Pacific islands it won't sign White House summit declaration -note

The Solomon Islands has told Pacific nations invited to a White House meeting with President Joe Biden it won't sign the summit declaration, according to a note seen by Reuters, prompting concern over the islands' ties to China.

ABC News

Pacific Islands brace for prolonged droughts and more flooding as La Niña continues for third year in a row

Some Pacific Island nations are still recovering from floods or facing severe drought conditions, and there is little reprieve in sight as a third La Niña is set to exacerbate extreme weather conditions across the region.

Al Jazeera

China strategy in Pacific islands a cause for US concern: Report

To counter China’s growing influence in the Pacific the US should bolster support for island states, new report states.

Reuters

Pacific islands a key U.S. military buffer to China's ambitions - report

China sees the Pacific islands as an area of significant strategic interest and the United States should strengthen its commitment to north Pacific island states, now in talks to renew a defence compact, to maintain a vital military buffer, a report released Tuesday by a U.S. Congress-funded think tank said.

Reuters

Pacific Islands students target U.N. court as key weapon to fight climate change

In the shadow of the United Nations' towering headquarters in New York City, law student Solomon Yeo from an island nation in the South Pacific is taking in what he describes as a “surreal moment.”

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