Asylum seekers on Nauru going hungry despite government spending $1.5m a…

Refugees and asylum seekers held on Nauru claim they can’t afford to eat and are forced to skip meals. Their plight comes despite Australia spending $1.5m(US$989,504) per person for a U.S prisons operator to house them, although the contract does...

Asylum seekers on Nauru going hungry despite government spending $1.5m a year for each person

Refugees and asylum seekers held on Nauru claim they can’t afford to eat and are forced to skip meals. Their plight comes despite Australia spending $1.5m per person for a US prisons operator to house them, although the contract does not provide...

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...

Australian government extends use of Nauru as a refugee prison

Without any prior public notification or scrutiny, the Australian Labor government has just extended a contract for the running of an asylum seeker prison on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru until at least 2027. Accommodation in the Nauru offshore...

Commonwealth takes Nauru bank service

THE University of the South Pacific (USP) is proud to announce that five of its academics have been recognised among the world’s Top 2% scientists by Stanford University for 2025. This prestigious ranking identifies researchers whose work is among...

Silk Road Ark to arrive in Nuku’alofa with free medical services

The Chinese hospital ship Silk Road Ark will visit Tonga from October 13–20, offering complimentary health care. At a media briefing yesterday, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Mr Ruan Dewen confirmed Silk Road Ark is on its first overseas deployment...

OPINION | A health and development challenge for the Pacific

Diabetes The first article in this series reported on the latest trends in development assistance for health and the second focused on the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) globally and especially in low- and middle-income countries. This...

Nauru Airlines back in Suva

WHEN pre-eminent leaders of Fiji and Nauru – the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and Hammer de Roburt – shook hands some 50-plus years ago, ongoing flight connections between the two island nations were established, and continues unabated to this day....

New and important research findings about global health financing

FOUR important reports were published in July that shed new light on trends in international development assistance for health (DAH) — bilateral and multilateral aid financing specifically to the health sectors of developing countries. These...

Morning Mail: Alarm at Nauru detention contract price rise; LIV golf course plan threatens Indigenous site; Albanese backs Starmer

Good morning. We lead today with revelations that a US private prisons operator will be paid $790m to hold just over 100 people on Nauru after the government expanded its contract in a decision called “absurd” by critics. In South Australia, a...

‘We had to be bold and innovative to save our economy’: Nauru president

YAREN (Nauru Government/Pacnews) — Nauru President David Adeang has revealed for the first time that when he was elected president three years ago, he received advice from the government’s finance department that the nation was in “serious...

Phosphate mining ruined Nauru. Can it find its way again?

Imagine being one of the world’s richest countries – but amassing all of that wealth by exploiting a single resource that’s soon to run out. That was the conundrum facing the Pacific island nation of Nauru in the 1970s. Once the world’s top...

Exile to a vanishing shore: human rights, climate and the Nauru ‘solution’

The recently announced deal to send hundreds of refugees to Nauru raises serious questions about human rights and environmental obligations. Alison Battisson and Janet Pelly explain. The Nauru deal was triggered by a 2023 High Court judgment,...

High on Health: Child Obesity Hits a New Record

A new UNICEF report reveals a dramatic shift in global child nutrition. For the first time, there are now more overweight and obese school-age children and adolescents than those who are underweight. Child obesity has become a worldwide problem,...

Record dengue fever outbreaks challenge Pacific health systems

Dengue fever continues to surge across the Pacific, reaching record levels and pushing health systems to their limits. Since January, more than 16,500 cases and at least 17 deaths have been reported in the region, according to the Pacific...

Nauru Airlines starts flights to Clark in Philippines

Nauru Airlines has announced a further network expansion with the addition of services to Clark in the Philippines. “Adding the Republic of the Philippines to our network is a key development for us,” said Robert Eoe, CEO of Nauru Airlines. “Clark...

Silk Road Ark to visit Tonga during first and longest medical voyage

China’s hospital ship Silk Road Ark has departed Quanzhou for a 220-day “Mission Harmony-2025”, marking its first overseas journey and the longest yet. The vessel will deliver humanitarian medical aid across about a dozen countries, including...

China Deploys Naval Hospital Ship To US Backyard; What Does It Mean?

Washington: On September 5, a Chinese naval ship slid out of Quanzhou harbor. Painted white, marked with red crosses and fitted with 300 hospital beds, the CNS Silk Road Ark looked like a vessel of mercy. Officially, it is. Unofficially, it is...

General : Nauru Grants Citizenship To Stateless Kuwaiti Under Climate Resilience Programme 

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- A stateless Kuwaiti national has been granted citizenship in Nauru under its Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program, an initiative designed to strengthen economic growth and climate adaptation while...

UTT Inter-District & State TT Championship: Kohima dominates with 9 golds

The UTT 28th Inter-District and State Table Tennis Championship 2025 concluded on Friday at the Indoor TT Stadium, Kohima, with Kohima district emerging the overall champion, securing nine gold medals along with seven silvers and five bronzes. The...