Ken Laban makes history as Pasifika candidates win across Aotearoa

Fauono Ken Laban has made history as Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Pasifika mayor, elected to lead Lower Hutt following the 2025 local elections. Photo: Hutt City Council / LDR Fauono Ken Laban has been elected Mayor of Lower Hutt, making history...

NZ’s first Pasifika mayor: Ken Laban makes history in Lower Hutt

Report from LDR by Mary Afemata Fauono Ken Laban has been elected Mayor of Lower Hutt, making history as New Zealand’s first Pasifika mayor. Fauono secured 8704 votes, comfortably ahead of Brady Dyer (6974), Karen Morgan (5529), and Prabha Ravi...

Airai State launches collaborative review of PAN Management Plan with Capacity building focus

Airai State, Palau – September 19, 2025 – Airai State officially launched the Working Group for the review and revision of its Protected Area Network (PAN) Management Plan today at the Airai State Office. This initiative marks a critical step...

All 5 WWE stars who pinned Roman Reigns since he became The Tribal Chief

Roman Reigns stunningly returned to WWE after several months off at SummerSlam 2020, attacking "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman after Wyatt had just won the title from his former follower. That night, something had changed. Reigns had...

Pacific Islands News Roundup – October 3 – 9, 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,...

Pulitzer-winning author returns with decade-in-the-making epic

The new novel from Adam Johnson, the Phil and Penny Knight Professor of Creative Writing and professor of English in the School of Humanities and Sciences, is an epic in every sense of the word. The Wayfinder (MCD, 2025) spans more than 700 pages...

Local elections 2025: Ben Fraser to join Alan Taylor as Whanganui’s Horizons representatives

“People may tell you they voted for you, or that they haven’t voted for you, but the people you talk to are only a tiny fraction of the constituency,” he said. “I intend to do the best I can, with Ben, to make the greatest impact we can for the...

Empowering Women Through Microfinancing: Turning…

Role Funding: In communities across Aotearoa and around the world, a quiet revolution is transforming lives – one small loan at a time. It’s called microfinancing, and for thousands of women, it’s the bridge between a dream and a thriving small...

This year’s whale migration has been bigger – and louder – than ever

According to Franklin, who with his wife, Trish, has created the largest database of images identifying whale flukes, the song sung along the migration changes each year. Compared with previous years, this year’s song is “robust and simple”. The...

The new president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will inherit a global faith far more diverse than many realize

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has spent the past few weeks in a moment of both mourning and transition. On Sept. 28, 2025, a shooting and arson at a Latter-day Saints meetinghouse in Michigan killed four people and wounded eight...

New president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints inherits a global faith far more diverse than many realize

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has spent the past few weeks in a moment of both mourning and transition. On Sept. 28, 2025, a shooting and arson at a Latter-day Saints meetinghouse in Michigan killed four people and wounded eight...

Council of State endorses Tinubu’s prerogative of mercy, national honours for 959 Nigerians, Bill Gates

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja In a remarkable demonstration of the constitutional power of prerogative of mercy and national recognition, President Bola Tinubu has approved a significant array of presidential clemency and honoured a wide...

Stronger border controls

BIOSECURITY officers from around the region met in Nadi to validate four years of training that has strengthened the Pacific’s defence against pests and diseases threatening agriculture, biodiversity and trade. At a workshop earlier this month,...

Celebrating Achievements and Progress in the Division – August 2025

Halo Olaketa from the SPTO Division of Sustainable Tourism! We are excited to provide you with another monthly issue of key updates from the Pacific on sustainable and responsible tourism developments and successes. In this August issue, we take...

London Broncos lock up another NRL forward for 2026

The London Broncos' proposed return to the English Super League is gathering momentum, with Siliva Havili becoming their second NRL signing this week. Fresh off confirming the addition of Gold Coast Titans prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard, the...

Debt, Dependency, and Defiance: Some Nations Push Back Against Beijing’s Debt Diplomacy

Two Chinese nationals were killed, one Chinese national was injured, and several Pakistani nationals were killed and injured in a terrorist attack in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi. (Photo: Xinhua) China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),...

Pacific region remains ‘a theatre of peace’: Cook Islands PM

As major geopolitical powers in the world look to strengthen and militarise parts of the Pacific, leaders of the Pacific have urged that ‘this part of the world remain a theatre of peace,’ not a theatre of conflict, says Prime Minister Mark Brown....

Can local communities curb illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing in Cameroon's Douala Edea National Park?

Some chiefs and members of the Local Collaborative Management Committees in Mbiako. Photo by Leocadia Bongbe. Used with permission. In the settlements along Douala-Edea National Park, a first-class park covering over 2,630 hectares (6,498.87...

Tinubu pardons Ogoni Nine, 175 inmates… honours 959 Nigerians, foreigners

President Bola Tinubu has approved clemency for 175 inmates and conferred national honours on 959 Nigerians and friends of Nigeria. Addressing State House correspondents in Abuja on Thursday at the end of the national council of state meeting, Uba...

New Travel Guide for American Samoa Marks Major Leap for Tourism

160+ In-Depth Articles Now Live on AmericanSamoaPocketGuide.com, Providing the Ultimate Encyclopedia for Traveling in American Samoa The tourism industry in American Samoa has taken a leap forward with the launch of American Samoa Pocket Guide,...